Ellen: Shake, Rattle and Rubble

Ellen: Shake, Rattle and Rubble
ABC
September 13, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
C+

I'd forgotten that Ellen's cousin Spence (Jeremy Piven) shows up so early in the series' run, in fact overlapping with Adam.  I don't think it's just my preference for Adam over Spence that makes this Heisler & Heline Season Three Opener not quite work.  It tries to do too much-- including two earthquakes!-- and a lot of the jokes just don't hit.  The opening is deliberately awkward, with Ellen apologizing for the new credits sequence not being ready, and if I recall correctly this would turn into a running joke, possibly all the way into Season Four.  (Details are fuzzy, and for various reasons I was watching even less TV than I had in the '94-'95 season.)

Note that Paige is attracted to Spence (in the dark) when she hears he's a doctor, but it turns out he's been kicked out of his practice.  And Adam/Audrey are still going strong.  No word on Ellen's love life, and I believe this was the season where they stopped trying to pretend Ellen Morgan was straight but they weren't yet ready to have her come out.  As for Ellen's career, she will have to rebuild the bookstore after the quakes.

Noelle Hannibal is yet again an Uncredited Customer.  The Customer with lines is played by Ruth Manning, who has a ton of TV credits, including Nurse Engel and Harriet Hadley on Three's Company.  Reporter Rick Fitts had played villain Martin Jackson on Generations, but not on any episodes I have on tape; he would be a Doctor on Roseanne in '97.  This is the first of twenty-five Ellen episodes (I'm guessing all of Season Three) directed by Robby Benson, yes, that Robby Benson.