Spin City [3-1] Dead Dog Talking

Writer: Tom Hertz
Producers: Steve Rose, Amy Cohen & Michelle Nader
Director: Andy Cadiff

Episode Length: 21:13

Guest Stars:

Rating: n/a

First Broadcast: September 22, 1998

Storyline #1: Saving the Baby
It's September and Election time is just around the corner. Mike and the staff start to prepare for the re-election push. At first, the staff is hesitant but decides it is in their best interests when Mike reminds them where they'll be if they lose. The kick-off press conference is scheduled to take place in the zoo where there has been a recent remodeling. At the press conference, there is a runaway baby carriage that Mike attempts to save. He comes close, but the actual saving is done by a guy who just happened to be standing there. When the guy (Conan O' Brien) declines to take the credit and leaves, Mike becomes the baby saver by default. At first, he basks in the glory of being a hero until James lays it on thick. Mike then gets drunk and talks to Carter's dog. (See Plotline #2.) After the discussion, Mike comes clean and puts the focus back on the Mayor's re-election push.

Storyline #2: The Old Dog and The Men
Carter decides his dog, Rags, would do better living at Stuart and Carter's apartment. Carter shares that the dog is 19 (which is about 142 in dog years) and he doesn't think it's ready to be put to sleep. Stuart disagrees and puts up a poster in defiance / decorating. When Carter tears it, it creates a riff between the roommates and Stuart leaves. Carter chases after him leaving Rags alone with Mike. Suddenly, Rags becomes talkative and begs to be killed. Although Rags never passes on, he does get off some good one-liners.

Storyline #3: Dumb Paul Hobbling
Mike chides Stacey for forging a sick day. However, Stacey discovers that Paul is faking his foot injury to gain sympathy, and more important, sick time, for his "illness." Stacey becomes jealous and tries to convince Mike and the others that Paul is faking. However, Paul continues to work his magic and keep everyone believing he's legitimatly injured. Stacey tries to setup a showdown when she steals his crutches, but Paul ingeniously slams a door on his ankle to create real pain to fool the others.

Review: Dead Dog Talking

Overall, a hairy episode. Between Rags shedding and half the staff with new haircuts, there seemed to be less focus on the action and more on remembering what the characters used to look like. MJF was on Conan's show earlier in the summer with his shaved head and goatee and complained that he couldn't wear his hair like that during the show's taping. After this episode, I don't see why not.
But on to the action. I was dissapointed that Conan didn't get more face time. It would have been funnier to see him juggle with the new-found fame then watch Mike fret about not being a true hero. However, getting David Letterman to voice Rags (how did they do that?) was outstanding. He even looked a little like Dave.
That being said, the episode was a little uneven. Aside from Mike's fortune telling of the staff's future, the talking dog, and the Jerry Macguire bit ("You had me at proud."), the episode fell a little flat. The Paul-Stacey plot was anemic at best, and we saw little if any of Janelle and Nikki. Stuart and Carter had their first roommate fight but it was never seen resolved. (This has a lot of potential but not if they keep leaving stories unfinished.) Here's hoping the show hits it's stride in the next few weeks.

Rating [5 pt. scale]: 4.0 (on the strength of the dog)

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