Ellen: Thirty Kilo Man, Part 1

Previously on Ellen

Ellen: Thirty Kilo Man, Part 1
ABC
May 10, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
B+

It's a shame Vicki S. Horwitz didn't work on any other of my shows, because her script is easily the best of the season (unless Part 2 tops it of course).  Dan (William Ragsdale) returns from Italy after six months and he's no longer delivering pizzas but is instead in the international import/export business.  They start seeing each other again and fall in love, but then she starts to suspect he's a drug smuggler.  Before that suspicion, Ellen is deliriously happy, and her female friends are happy for her that she's, one, in love, and two, had sex.  (Adam starts to regret moving out, as if feeling threatened that Dan may move in, and Joe is seldom happy anyway.)  Meanwhile, Audrey's cop boyfriend is jealous of Adam, which is of course Audrey's fault.

The episode is playful, from opening to closing credits (President Clinton gives Ellen a fancy VCR in the flashbacks, and both the main plot and the subplots are "to be continued"), sweet, romantic, and very funny.  Obviously, Ellen, even more than Roseanne's Jackie, can't be happy with a man for long (and not just because this character will eventually come out), since this is a show about singles.  But it is charming to see Ellen so giddy, and I was and am a hardcore Ellen/Dan shipper.  I don't remember what happens in Part 2, so it'll be interesting to see how this is resolved.

Patrick Warburton, who was Brent earlier in the year, is Jack here and in Part 2.  Noelle Hannibal makes another of her uncredited appearances as a Customer, while Dean Fortunato would again be a nameless Man on Part 2.  And Jerry Penacoli plays Paige's date Richard in a flashback (a man she's already forgotten, although Dan asks about him).  Note that Paige claims to have dated approximately 100 men.