Stark Raving Mad
Henry (Harris) is a book editor assigned the task of un-blocking horror author Ian Stark (Shalhoub). Henry is nebbish and a "germophobe"; he always has his antibacterial lotion on hand. Ian is always pulling morbid practical jokes to obstensibly learn how people would react to horrific situations.
- 1999-2000
- 1 season
- NBC
- Comedy
- TV-PG
Henry (Harris) is a book editor assigned the task of un-blocking horror author Ian Stark (Shalhoub). Henry is nebbish and a "germophobe"; he always has his antibacterial lotion on hand. Ian is always pulling morbid practical jokes to obstensibly learn how people would react to horrific situations.
Season 1 Episode Guide
22 Episodes 1999 - 2000
Episode 1
Pilot
Thu, Sep 23, 1999
Phobic book editor Henry McNeely reluctantly takes a job editing eccentric horror author Ian Stark's new manuscript.
Episode 2
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Thu, Sep 30, 1999
Ian goes snooping and discovers disturbing details about Henry's sex life.
Episode 3
Sometimes a Fritter Is Just a Fritter
Thu, Oct 7, 1999
When Ian renames a character in his latest novel, Henry concludes that he's in love with the waitress by that name. Meanwhile, Maddie's professor presumes that she's hot for him.
Episode 4
Four Colds and a Funeral
Thu, Oct 14, 1999
When a beloved children's author dies of complications from the common cold, Henry believes that he's responsible.
Episode 5
The Lyin' King
Thu, Oct 21, 1999
During Halloween, Ian helps Henry pay back his cousin Lori for an old prank she pulled on him; Maddie's date might or might not be an actual humpback.
Episode 6
Fish Out of Water
Thu, Nov 4, 1999 30 mins
Henry plans to dazzle the other guests at a dinner party, but complications arise when Tess falls ill and Ian plays a practical joke with the host's prized fish.
Episode 7
Engaged to Be Engaged
Thu, Nov 11, 1999 30 mins
After Henry and Tess announce that they're "engaged to be engaged," a practical joke gone wrong leaves Tess believing that Henry slept with Maddie. Meanwhile, Jake uses Ian's dog Edgar to try to pick up women.
Episode 8
The Stalker
Thu, Nov 18, 1999 30 mins
Ian befriends a creepy fan who threatens to replace Henry.
Episode 9
The Dance
Thu, Dec 2, 1999 30 mins
Tess attempts to fix up Ian and Maddie.
Episode 10
Coffin to Go
Thu, Dec 9, 1999
The coffin that Ian buys as a conversation piece for his living room arrives--complete with a corpse.
Episode 11
Christmas Cheerleader
Thu, Dec 16, 1999 30 mins
Tess tries to cheer up Christmas for a bunch of social outcasts.
Episode 12
The Crush
Thu, Jan 6, 2000 30 mins
Ian develops a crush on a girl he keeps seeing in the bar, but it's Jake who winds up in her bed.
Episode 13
My Bodyguard
Thu, Jan 13, 2000 30 mins
When Ian, Henry, and Tess go out, they are nearly mugged and Ian saves them. Tess can't help but be turned on by his actions and even dreams about him, which drives Henry mad. Ian and Jake try to make Henry be the hero by letting him smack a guy in front of Tess--only it's Tess who does the smacking.
Episode 14
The Hypnotist
Thu, Feb 3, 2000 30 mins
Jake and Tess vanish after Ian hypnotizes them into believing that they're Romeo and Juliet.
Episode 15
Therapy
Thu, Mar 2, 2000 30 mins
After Ian and Henry go to a therapist, Henry wants to know what the therapist told about him, and Ian lies that she thinks Henry is paranoid.
Episode 16
Secrets & Lies
Thu, Mar 9, 2000 30 mins
A young intern begins snooping around in Ian's past.
Episode 17
The Grade
Thu, Mar 16, 2000 30 mins
Ian helps Maddie with a paper for her English class. But when the professor gives her a low grade, Ian confronts the man to the point of saying he wrote the paper which lands Maddie in hot water, so Henry must try to convince the professor that Maddie did write it and the man claiming to be Ian Stark is a impostor.
Episode 18
The Pigeon
Thu, Jul 13, 2000 30 mins
Through a friend, Tess arranges for Ian to meet with her father, an author Ian admires. But when he accidentally knocks a pigeon's nest which had eggs in it off the ledge, Jake warns him that the pigeon will be after him, which he ignores. But when he thinks the pigeon is following him wherever he goes, he doesn't think he will be OK for his meeting with the author. Meanwhile, Maddie finds a mink in the bar and decides to wear it.
Episode 19
He's Gotta Have It
Thu, Jul 20, 2000 30 mins
Henry throws Tess a birthday party and invites her sister without knowing that the two don't get along. When her sister and Ian go at it, literally, Tess feels that she's just trying to upstage her, and when she lets her sister know that, she retaliates by banging Ian more.
Episode 20
Dog Gone
Thu, Jul 27, 2000 30 mins
Henry loses Ian's dog Edgar and tries to find him by putting up a flyer with the dog's picture on it. Shortly afterward, a woman who saw the flyer claims that Edgar is her dog whom she lost around the same time Ian found him, and she wants him back. Ian tries to make Edgar less desirable so that she won't take him.
Episode 21
The Psychic
Thu, Aug 3, 2000 30 mins
The gang goes to see a psychic doorman whose predictions come true, causing Henry to worry about "traveling and blood" in his future.
Episode 22
The Big Finish
Thu, Aug 10, 2000 30 mins
Ian has just finished his book but refuses to give it to his publisher; Henry, who's being pressured by the publisher to submit it, is egged on by Maddie and Jake to just take it, which he does. Later, Ian wants it back but Henry has already submitted it, so Ian goes to her office to get it--as does Henry, who's worried that she might not like the job he did on it.