Writer: David Rosenthal
Director: Andy Cadiff

Episode Length: 21:38

Guest Stars:

Rating: n/a

Rating:  TV-PG-DL

First Broadcast: February 23, 1999

Storyline #1: Great Scott!! It's God!
Mike's mentor, Owen Kingston is coming in to town to head up the city's new Millenium Project.  And wouldn't you know it, he looks remarkably like a wild-eyed scientist from a mid-80's time travel movie.  Anyway, much handshakes and welcoming hugs are shared.  But it seems Owen has a bit of a religious complex about him.  First, he requests that the office give thanks for the daily donuts.  Then, he sprinkles water on Stuart and tries to shun him.  Add this to the  fact that he seems to know about everyone's secret affairs (The Mayor & Jannelle and Mike & Nikki).   Mike begins to wonder aloud about these events when Owen shares his secret:   he's the son of God.  Needless to say, Mike is somewhat taken aback.   Mike asks Owen to cut bag on the dogma-spewing, but Owen refuses to back down from his claims.  When Mike threatens to take Owen off the Project, Owen relents.   But at the first meeting, Owen re-creates the Last Supper.  Before Mike can respond, Owen resigns from the Project and makes his peace with Mike.  Apparently, there are more important things to do, like fight Satan.  But before he leaves, he heals Rags (See Storyline #3), leaving everyone guessing about his true nature.

Storyline #2: Loving Your Elders II
James continues his adventures from last week by continuing his affection for Stacey's aunt Marie.  When they meet at James's apartment, Marie shares that she has never "been with" another man.  James, suddenly neurotic about having to live up to her expectations, goes to Stuart for advice on the ladies.   After consulting with Stacey, it is decided that viewing 9 1/2 Weeks will help him to get some.   Back at the apartment, James begins the preceedings by strip tease.  But instead of the 9 1/2 Weeks soundtrack, he gets 9 1/2 Weeks to Learn the Banjo.   Once James gets going, he entertains Marie thoroughly.  Then Stacey breaks in, with Stuart's assistance.  She escorts Marie away and tells James "You're dead tomorrow."  Stuart dances a celebration jig.

Storyline #3: The Premature Death of a 23 Year Old
Seems Rags can't be left alone.  He's upped his suicidal attempts and now needs to be looked after 24 hours a day.  Mike declines, especially after Rags licks a lamp and blows a circuit.  Carter gets Paul to agree to watch him, but only with the help of a large amount of cash.  In addition to looking after him, Paul is charged with dispensing Rags's medication.  Paul obliges and starts to use some of the medication when his paperweight gets knocked off his shelf and lands right on good ole Rags.   Paul tries everything:  shaking him, mouth-to-mouth, even yelling at him.   But nothing works.  Carter tries to come in and Paul sets it up for Carter to think that Carter killed him.  When Carter hits the corpse with the door, he goes into shock.  Carter has a mini-wake in the Office, reliving so many memories of his beloved dog.  All seems lost, until Owen walks by and touches Rags.  A few seconds later, Rags wakes up and seems as alive as ever.  But in inimitable Rags fashion, he says that he will continue to try.

Review: Back to the Future IV:  Judgement Day.

Overall, a divine episode. This is the third straight outing that was an instant classic.  Discounting the appearance of Lloyd, the Rags story helped propel this episode to the top of the heap.  If they can continue to capture this magic, the show's future is bright.

As expected, this week's highlight was the reunion of Fox and Lloyd.  They did keep the Back to the Future reminiscing to a minimum, only referring to it when they first greet each other.  But it still would have been nice for Lloyd to rip off a "Great Scott!"  or for someone to call Mike chicken.  It would have been nice.

Anyway, Lloyd once again shows off his flair for being eccentric.  He actually brings with him the self-confidence to pull it off.  Sure, there were some jokes recycled from those George Burns movies.  But the rest of the story was refreshing.   I'm sure we probably won't see him again.  But for one week, it was a joy.

James picks up where he left off last week in his conquest of Marie.  We don't rehash territory from last week, which was pleasant.  Instead, we learn that James is Marie's first.  While regretably unbelievable, it was fun to see James try to build himself up by living up to her supposed expectations.  And while I normally don't enjoy an episode prominently featuring Stuart, his hoe-down at the end made up for his abscence.  Plus, we get to see James act like a country boy when he dances to the banjo.  And that's something we never see.

At long last, Rags finally gets his wish.  He gets clobbered by Paul's paperweight and thus ends the tragic tale of Rags, right?   Not so.  When Owen heals him, Rags returns to be a spotlight for a cavalcade of celebrity voices.  This week, it's Regis.  While I like the novelty of the talking dog and the revolving door of big names, can't we at least up the occurance?  (If you haven't got your fix of talking dogs, Providence ripped off the idea last night with Jay Leno as the mutt.)   And please, David Letterman was pleasant because he wasn't an ABC employee.   How about Clooney?  He's had experience speaking as a  dog...

To review, an outsanding effort.  Mike and The Mayor's romances were both referenced but were kept in the background.  Next week, The Mayor goes on Politically Incorrect and spills the beans.  (I'm sure that the same D-Day will hit Mike and Nikki as well.)  In addition, we were reminded that The Mayor still has an election to win. I hope he does, because the show is now starting to hit it's stride.

Rating [5 pt. scale]: 5.0

Did you notice ...

	Itching
	Wheezing
	Diarrhea
	Flatluence

	[3-1] Dead Dog Talking
	[3-6] Three Men and a Little Lady
	[3-9] The Kidney's All Right
	[3-12] Monkey Business
	[3-15] Not in the Line of Fire

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