Writers:  Gayle Abrahms and Kirk J. Rudell
Director: Andy Cadiff

Episode Length: 21:53

Guest Stars:

Rating: n/a

Rating:  TV- PG - D

First Broadcast: May 6, 1998

Storyline #1: Beer - Bringing Enemies Together
Mike and Stuart have some extra cash floating around, so they decide to invest in a bar.  One small problem; it's in a predominantly homosexual neighborhood.  In order to make the venture work, they have to "gay up".  After being ridiculed by Carter, Mike drops out.  Stuart bemoans this but Carter quickly jumps into the business.  After all, who knows better how to run a gay bar than a gay man?   "I'm here, I'm queer.  Let's sell some beer!"  Opening night goes extremely well, and the boys quickly begin to recoup their investment.  One problem though:  Stuart didn't get a cabaret license, so there can't be any dancing.   That can be a problem for their "fruit stand".  Carter receives the citation and chides Stuart for not making the necessary arrangements.  That night, the jukebox gets turned off and the fun quotient decreases dramatically.  Things get so bad that Mike's girlfriend is invited to perform.  Just as her act begins to flounder, Janelle plugs in the jukebox and turns on the tunes.  People start to dance.  The place gets shut down.  Stuart and Carter lose a bunch of money.

Storyline #2:  Love is a Magical Thing
Mike invites a female magician to perform for some kids.  In addition to her act, she also puts a spell on Mike, who asks her out.  The two wind up at Mike' place afterward, and they end up in bed.  However, Kari slips an "I love you" into the mix which throws Mike for a loop.  After all, we know that Mike isn't looking for any kind of commitment.  And when Kari springs it on him, he seems less than prepared.  Mike begins to be scared off and wants to end it, but Kari's got other plans.  For starters, she brings a tiger into Mike's office when he threatens to break up with her.  The plan works and Mike gets back together with her, but not before finding out she's on psychotherapeutic drugs.  She invites herself and her family over to dinner, which Mike purposely screws up in order to fall out of favor.   This backfires, since Kari isn't fond of her folks either.  But when Kari makes an appearance at Stuart & Carter's bar, Mike finally gets up the nerve to break it off, but not before Paul is sawed in half.

Storyline #3: Charitable Contribution
Stacy has been fundraising, and The Mayor owes her $100.  He can't cover it at first so James steps up and loans him the cash.  Trouble is, he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to pay the money back.  James, being a government worker and all, doesn't have time to wait around for $100 to come his way and he begins to scheme with Stacy on how he can get the money back.  Through Janelle, he finds out where The Mayor keeps his wallet and gets the money out.  However, The Mayor finds that it's missing and threatens to find out who stole from him.  But with some quick thinking, Stacy is able to return it to Mayor Winston's jacket pocket just in time to save James's bacon.   The Mayor even gives James an envelope, presumably with the returned money.   But when James opens it, he finds a card saying that The Mayor will only "pay him back soon."

Review: Lady or the Tiger

Overall, a entrepreneurial episode.     This was the episode everyone wanted to see:  Stuart and Carter working together.  For two years, these two fellows have grated at each other and have seemed to have forged something of a friendship, albeit an adversarial one.  So when the two have to go into business together, the expectations are enormous.  And darned if they didn't pull it off.

We start where we always do, with Stuart being his acerbic self and Carter being offended at the latest outrageous stunt.  But the two band together in an unlikely-but-anticipated pairing and the bar starts out as an unqualified success.   This gives us a few brief glimpses of the two in a perfect partnership as they do their victory dance in front of Paul.  Life returns to normal however as Carter receives the citation and the dynamic of the friendship returns to normal.  The rest of the episode plays out the story the way we would have expected, and we aren't disappointed.  Stuart begins to show some remorse for his actions just long enough to sucker Carter in.  Then he breaks out the "Don't touch me!" and we know that the duo has put on quite a show.

It's almost a shame that such a winning story had to be latched onto yet another Mike's-date-turns-into-a-disaster routine that we've come to know and love.  Striptease.  The Thirty Year Itch.   My Life is a Soap Opera.  Hot in the City.  We've seen this before.  Granted, we hadn't seen Mike and a tiger before.  But we have seen Mike wiggle out of some relationship with oddball partners.  Add the commitment angle AGAIN and we've got essentially a first-run repeat.

Also taking the road more traveled is James and Stacy taking on The Mayor.  This was a direct cross between Same Time Next Year and Deaf Man Walking.  When James isn't rattling on about Wisconsin, he's being taken advantage of by Stacy and / or The Mayor.  Make the madness stop!

I really wish I could have given this a higher grade.  The story sets up the next episode nicely and is a great idea that everyone's been looking forward to almost since The Great Pretender and their first date.  The Stuart and Carter angle is one of the best things they've ever done.  It's just too bad that the rest of the show doesn't measure up.

Rating [5 pt. scale]: 4.0

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