Ned & Stacey

Plot

A pre-Sideways Thomas Haden Church and a pre-Will & Grace Debra Messing were the deliberately ill-matched stars of the short-lived Fox sitcom Ned and Stacey. Messing played Stacey Colbert, a left-leaning writer for The Village Voice (and later for the fictional cheap in-flight magazine "Skyward"), while Church played Ned Dorsey, a ruthless (but somewhat zany) ad executive. Ned needed a wife to improve his image with the advertising firm of Kirkland & Haywood; Stacey simply needed a new apartment. The two entered into a marriage of convenience orchestrated by Stacey's sister Amanda Moyer (Nadia Dajani), the wife of Ned's top clerk and close friend Eric "Rico" Moyer (Greg Germann). Occupying separate rooms in Ned's lavish apartment, Ned and Stacey agreed never to consummate their marriage, and energetically carry on separate social lives, with Ned trying to fix up Stacey with dates and vice versa. The rest of the time, the couple carried on arguments so loud and nasty that the viewer might be obliged to turn down the sound a few notches to avoid a ticket for noise pollution. Though they were considering divorce at the end of the first season, Ned and Stacey remained together for season two, under the same "in name only" conditions. By this time, however, the series' emphasis had shifted to Amanda and the various harebrained business ventures which she talked Ned into. Ultimately, Ned and Amanda became partners in an operation called "Amanda's Amuffins," with Stacey and Eric largely shunted to the background. Debuting September 11, 1995, Ned and Stacey was canceled halfway through its second season on January 27, 1997. Eleven of the series' 46 episodes remained unaired until they were picked up for syndication and home-video release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Credit

Michael J. Weithorn - Executive Producer, Michael J. Weithorn - Show Creator

Episodes

Ned and Stacey: Season 01 (1995)
Here's the premise for season one of Ned and Stacey: abrasive counter-culture journalist Stacey (Debra Messing) is in desperate need of an apartment. Arrogant advertising executive Ned (Thomas Haden Church) needs a wife to improve his image at the ad firm of Kirkland and Haywood, which caters heavily to the "family values" crowd. It so happens that Stacey's sister Amanda (Nadia Dajani) is married to Ned's chief accountant and best friend Eric (Greg Germann). At Amanda's urging, Ned and Stacey enter into an in-name-only marriage, with the understanding that they can continue going out with others. Not surprisingly, the couple find it impossible to get along for any more than a few minutes at a time, but they do manage to find prospective dates for one another. As the season progresses, Stacey leaves her job at The Village Voice and signs on with "Skyward," a cheap in-flight magazine for a cut-rate airline. Ned finally fixes Stacey up with "Mr. Right" and she falls deeply in love -- thus neatly bollixing up the couple's marriage of convenience. The season ends with a spirit of hearty recrimination and a determination on the part of both Ned and Stacey to get a divorce. But how can one dismiss that long, passionate kiss between them in the middle of Ned's apartment? Recurring characters during season one include Harry Goz and Dori Brenner as Stacey's parents Saul and Ellen; Andrew Arons as Eric and Amanda's son Howard; and James Karen as Ned's boss Patrick Kirkland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

• Pilot
• Thanksgiving Day Massacre
• Sleepless in Manhattan
• Threesome
• Accountus Interruptus
• Portrait of a Marriage
• Take My Wife, Please
• Cover Story
• Model Husband
• Saul and Ellen and Ned and Stacey
• Here's to You, Mrs. Binder
• Halloween Story
• Reality Check
• New Year's Eve
• Paranoia on the 47th Floor
• A Tender Trap
• Promotional Rescue
• Friends and Lovers
• The Gay Caballeros
• Gut Feeling
• Pals
• It Happened One Night
• You Bet Your Wife
• The End?

Ned and Stacey: Season 02 (1997)
Season one of Ned and Stacey concluded as selfish ad executive Ned (Thomas Haden Church) and abrasive left-wing journalist Stacey (Debra Messing) were on the brink of divorcing, thus breaking up the "marriage of convenience" that had been brokered by Stacey's sister Amanda (Nadia Dajani) so that Ned could keep his job with the firm of Kirkland & Haywood and Stacey could get a new apartment. However, there seems to be a bit of subliminal lust holding the couple together at the outset of season two, else how can one explain why this mismatched couple has decided to remain together? Even so, the series seems to be gradually morphing into "Ned and Amanda," as Stacey's sibling Amanda begins to figure more prominently in the proceedings with every succeeding episode. After getting Ned mixed up in a train wreck of a real-estate deal, Amanda still manages to talk him into becoming her partner in a small business concern, "Amanda's Amuffins" (Ford Rainey is added to the cast at this juncture as elderly Nate, the muffin shop's best customer). Meanwhile, back at the ad agency, Ned works hand and glove with Amanda's husband Eric (Greg Germann), chief clerk for Kirkland & Haywood, to thwart the machinations of such duplicitous clients as Les MacDowell (John Getz). Apparently, audiences weren't impressed by the shift of emphasis in Ned and Stacey. The second season had barely gotten under way when the Fox network decided to pull the plug, freeing up Debra Messing and Thomas Haden Church for more artistically fulfilling projects like Will & Grace and Sideways -- and leaving eleven of the series' completed episodes unaired. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

• The Other End
• Dorsey vs. Dorsey
• The Muffins Take Manhattan
• Computer Dating
• Les Is More or Less Moral-less
• Loganberry's Run
• Saved by the Belvedere
• Where My Third Nepal Is Sheriff
• Sex, Lies and Commercials
• Scenes from a Muffin Shop
• The Skyward's the Limit
• The Errand Girl
• No Retreat, No Surrender
• The Truth Shall Set You Back
• I Like Your Moxie
• Please Don't Squeeze the Eric
• All that Chazz
• Skippy's Revenge
• Best of Luck on Future Projects
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Eric
• Fifteen A-Minutes
• Prom Night