Ellen: The Tape

Ellen: The Tape
ABC
May 14, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Confusingly, this is one of two Season One (These Friends of Mine era) episodes that popped up towards the end of Season Three, long after Anita (Maggie Wheeler) and Holly (Holly Fulger) left the series.  Anita's parents (TV vet Elinor Donahue and Who's the Boss's Earl Boen) are in town and through a somewhat predictable series of events, written by series creator David S. Rosenthal, Anita and her friends try to prevent her sex tape from falling into her parents' hands.  Meanwhile, Ellen is uncomfortable with the idea that her boyfriend may've talked to her on the phone while on the toilet.  (In a time when people didn't take cell phones, or landlines, everywhere.)  The episode contains four spit-takes, although most of these involve more than one person.  And, yes, it's weird to see Adam again, especially goateed.  (I watched the episode along with its TFoM cohorts and then again today.)  I can't see the main plot happening with Paige because she's presented as sluttier than any of Ellen's other friends, and it wouldn't surprise anyone if she made a sex tape.