# Hot in Cleveland season 5

The fifth season of the TV Land original sitcom Hot in Cleveland premiered on March 26, 2014 with the series' second live episode. It consisted of 24 episodes, including the series' 100th episode. The series stars Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, Jane Leeves, and Betty White.

## Production

On March 20, 2013, TV Land renewed Hot In Cleveland for a fifth season. Production of the fifth season began on September 16, 2013, and premiered on March 26, 2014 with their second special live episode. Season five also featured the 100th episode, titled "Win Win" which filmed on May 2, 2014, and a cross-over episode with fellow TV Land series Kirstie where the girls visit New York City and run into Kirstie Alley's character Maddie Banks, who is Victoria's former roommate. This season also had a special animated episode, titled "The Animated Episode", that featured homages to Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, The Walking Dead, and Frankenstein.
Guest stars for this season include: Jason Priestley as Corey Chambers, a movie star that Melanie had a crush on in high school, Thomas Lennon as a by-the-book FBI agent, who investigates the disappearance of Victoria's husband and has a profound effect on the ladies, Chris Elliott as Luke, Elka's new laid-back boyfriend, Sarah Hyland as Ivy, an actress who threatens Victoria's chances of an Oscar nomination, Tim Daly as Mitch Turner, the new owner of the detective agency where Joy works, Chevy Chase as Ross Barkley, a man with a deep dark secret who goes on a date with Melanie, Max Greenfield as a con man who poses as a pet adoption consultant, Nora Dunn, Emily Rutherfurd and Morgan Fairchild as actresses cast in Elka's new play about herself, Angela Kinsey as the Headmistress of a pre-school that Joy wants to get her grandson into, and Chris Isaak as Melanie's favorite singer. Bill Bellamy has a recurring role this season as Councilman Powell, Elka's opponent for a Cleveland City Council seat. Previously recurring guest stars returning for season five include: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Susan Lucci, Craig Ferguson, John Mahoney, Michael McMillian, Jay Harrington, Dave Foley, Georgia Engel, Juliet Mills and Carl Reiner.

## Release

Season five was released in Region 1 on November 4, 2014. The DVD includes all 24 episodes on 3 discs.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 81 | 1 | "Stayin' Alive" | Andy Cadiff | Laura Solon | March 26, 2014 (2014-03-26) | 519 | 1.35 |
| In a live episode, as Victoria wonders aloud where Emmett may have fled, Elka mentions a remote cabin that her mobster ex-husband used as a hideout. The girls all go there, but find it occupied by Chester (D. W. Moffett, Victoria's former "man-boobs" date) and his now-wife/accomplice Lily (Constance Zimmer), who have robbed a bank and are hiding out. Detective Bob (Dave Foley) joins them, after misreading an auto-corrected text from Joy. A Korean plastic surgeon (Ken Jeong) arrives to alter Chester's appearance, but he recognizes Victoria from her adult underpants commercials and obsesses over her. In the end, it is up to Alex Trebek (who introduced the live episode, but is now working his weekend park ranger job) to rescue the clan. ||||||||
| 82 | 2 | "Surprise!" | Shelley Jensen | Sam Johnson & Chris Marcil | April 2, 2014 (2014-04-02) | 501 | N/A |
| An FBI agent (Thomas Lennon) hooks up all four ladies to a polygraph to see if any are lying about not knowing where Emmett is. The agent frustrates Victoria by saying he cannot reveal details of his investigation, not even if Emmett is alive or dead, but she does later get a note from Emmett. Melanie tells Alec that she's pregnant, only to find that he has moved on to another girlfriend (Jaime Pressly). Melanie later learns that her pregnancy test was a false positive, caused by a tumor on her pituitary gland. Joy starts to get hit on by numerous men, which Elka attributes to Joy no longer giving off a "stench of desperation" now that Simon is back in her life. Meanwhile, Elka is just happy that the polygraph proved she has been telling the girls the truth about once sleeping with Frank Sinatra. ||||||||
| 83 | 3 | "Dr. Who?" | Shelley Jenson | Aaron Shure | April 9, 2014 (2014-04-09) | 502 | 1.21 |
| Owen's first meeting with his father, Simon, coincides with an interview to get Wilbur into an exclusive preschool. So Simon, Joy and Owen must act like a perfect, close-knit family in front of the headmistress (Angela Kinsey). Elsewhere, Victoria has been entering Wilbur in pageants and Melanie has a hard time choosing a doctor to treat her tumor. ||||||||
| 84 | 4 | "The Undead" | John Whitesell | Rachel Sweet | April 16, 2014 (2014-04-16) | 503 | 1.10 |
| Victoria receives a mysterious box containing a pair of hiking boots (which she would never wear), and is then visited by an FBI agent who tells her that Emmett has died in a plane crash over an Asian mountain range. Victoria then finds a note from Emmett in a boot stating that he faked his death, and he wants her to join him. She then sets the girls in motion to announce her own fake death to the press and set up a memorial service. Victoria attends her own service wearing a veil, and is not gone long before she returns to the girls, stating she cannot uproot her current life to be with Emmett. Meanwhile, Simon announces to Joy that he's quitting the paparazzi business and has been offered a job working on a documentary in sub-Saharan Africa. ||||||||
| 85 | 5 | "Elka Takes a Lover" | John Whitesell | Laura Solon | April 23, 2014 (2014-04-23) | 504 | 1.02 |
| Emmy arrives for the premiere of Victoria's movie, and announces she's 8 months pregnant and had earlier eloped with her schoolteacher boyfriend. Melanie and Joy both attend the premiere with unintended dates -- Melanie with her creepy dentist (Larry Miller) and Joy with Detective Bob after he pretended to be a fake cousin named Stone Van Buren. Meanwhile, Elka has a much younger lover, a free spirit named Luke (Chris Elliott). ||||||||
| 86 | 6 | "Rusty Banks Rides Again" | Andy Cadiff | Sebastian Jones | April 30, 2014 (2014-04-30) | 505 | N/A |
| Desperate for votes to be nominated for an Oscar, Victoria sets the girls on a task to sway the two known Academy members living in Cleveland. Elka is assigned to the actor who played Western star Rusty Banks as a child (which turns out to be her ex-boyfriend Roy), while Melanie must talk to her childhood crush, actor Corey Chambers (Jason Priestley). Meanwhile, Joy is tasked with trying to convince the young Ivy (Sarah Hyland), a critics' favorite for an Oscar who is in therapy trying to deal with her sudden fame, to drop out of the race. While Victoria fails to get any favors done, things work out well for the other girls. Elka and Roy start dating again, Joy makes a date with Ivy's therapist, while Corey agrees to accompany Melanie to her upcoming high school reunion. ||||||||
| 87 | 7 | "The One with George Clooney" | Andy Cadiff | Suzanne Martin | May 7, 2014 (2014-05-07) | 506 | N/A |
| The girls all want to adopt an adorable dog, but learn that an animal shelter representative (Max Greenfield) must first visit with them to determine if they are qualified to own a pet. The man cons Melanie, Joy and Victoria into sleeping with him before they realize he is just a volunteer at the shelter who uses their database to prey on older women. The girls eventually get to keep the dog, and name him George Clooney. Meanwhile, Elka finds Mamie Sue at Roy's house, and Roy admits he was dating Mamie Sue before he reconnected with Elka and couldn't bear to tell either one of them. They briefly consider a threesome before both Elka and Mamie Sue find a reason to end things with Roy. ||||||||
| 88 | 8 | "Brokeback Elka" | Andy Cadiff | Laura Solon | May 14, 2014 (2014-05-14) | 507 | N/A |
| Melanie and the girls start taking advantage of the sympathy surrounding her brain tumor, but then have to decide whether to continue milking the condition after Melanie gets news from her doctor that she is cancer-free. For example, Melanie gets backstage passes to see her favorite singer, Chase Jackson (Chris Isaak), who is sympathetic to her condition, but is conflicted when the singer shows up at the house and writes a song for her. Joy dates a radio morning show personality, but soon regrets it after he insults her on the air for laughs. Also, Victoria falls for an online boyfriend, but it turns out to be Elka impersonating a rugged rancher from Wyoming. ||||||||
| 89 | 9 | "Bad George Clooney" | Andy Cadiff | Sebastian Jones | June 4, 2014 (2014-06-04) | 509 | 0.87 |
| A radio pet psychologist (Cheri Oteri) tries to help the ladies figure out why George Clooney is causing trouble with the neighbors. She suggests the ladies' own stresses -- Victoria losing Emmett, Melanie's health scare, and the constant bickering between Joy and Elka -- are being transferred to the dog. She recommends that Victoria date a so-called "regular guy", convinces Melanie to follow her passion now that she is healthy again, and has Joy and Elka agree to quit hurling insults at each other. ||||||||
| 90 | 10 | "Bucket: We're Going to New York" | Andy Cadiff | Rachel Sweet | June 11, 2014 (2014-06-11) | 508 | 0.78 |
| Victoria tries to gain some "Oscar karma" by going to New York and finally apologizing to her old acting school roommate, Maddie Banks (Kirstie Alley, playing her character from the sitcom Kirstie). It seems Maddie had received an audition call for the film Sophie's Choice back in the day, but Victoria, angry with Maddie for sleeping with her boyfriend, never gave her the message. The girls all tag along, as Elka wants to meet some Madison Avenue-types who might be interested in her silver polish, Joy wants to fulfill a lifelong dream of auditioning for The Rockettes, and Melanie sees an opportunity to cross some "bad girl" items off her bucket list. Mark Valley guest stars as Jason, a man that Melanie has sex with in an elevator before she realizes he is the boyfriend that had dumped Maddie only a day earlier. Things get worse when Elka ruins Maddie's tony, Joy shoe fell off and hits Maddie. ||||||||
| 91 | 11 | "Undercover Lovers" | Andy Cadiff | Jessica Wood & Jameson Lyons | June 18, 2014 (2014-06-18) | 511 | N/A |
| Joy and Detective Bob are tailing a couple as part of an undercover assignment, which has them sharing a hotel room. Melanie's radio station decides a publicity stunt is needed to make her new "Ask Melanie" call-in show more widely known, so she has to do the show for 24 straight hours. Victoria's strategists have told her that supporting a cause will boost her chances for an Oscar nomination. She decides to run for a city council seat in order to save dog parks that will otherwise be closed, but she recants her candidacy when she sees her opponent, Councilman Powell (Bill Bellamy), is African American and uses a wheelchair. Elka, determined to save the dog parks, runs against Powell instead. After spending time with Bob, Joy decides he really is a good guy and puts the moves on him, but Bob reveals he has to leave to be with his new girlfriend in Canada. ||||||||
| 92 | 12 | "I Just Met the Man I'm Going to Marry" | Andy Cadiff | Aaron Shure | June 25, 2014 (2014-06-25) | 512 | 1.02 |
| Joy meets her new employer Mitch (Tim Daly) and thinks he is perfect for her, but she is quickly disappointed when he falls for Melanie. Victoria, still hoping for her elusive Oscar nomination, is invited to Los Angeles to present the nominations on live TV. The girls all head to L.A., and Victoria is seated on the plane next to a Price Waterhouse rep who may have the nominations in a locked briefcase. She fails to sneak a peak inside the briefcase, but is later thrilled when she announces her own name at the nomination ceremony. Meanwhile, Elka has an uphill climb in her city council race, but gets a boost from a stunt during Victoria's presentation. ||||||||
| 93 | 13 | "People Feeding People" | Andy Cadiff | Alex Herschlag | July 2, 2014 (2014-07-02) | 513 | N/A |
| Melanie announces that she is breaking up with Mitch after just a few dates, so Joy finally admits to her that she is interested in Mitch. Melanie says she's meeting Ross Barkley (Chevy Chase), the head of the "People Feeding People" charity, for dinner. Elka asks Melanie if she can get Ross's endorsement for her city council bid, while Victoria is hoping Ross will allow her to be a spokesperson for the charity in order to keep her face on TV for the Oscar voters. Joy uses the opportunity to try and convince Mitch that Melanie is moving on. But Melanie becomes creeped out by Ross soon after he reveals gruesome details about a past incident. ||||||||
| 94 | 14 | "Murder House" | Andy Cadiff | Suzanne Martin | July 2, 2014 (2014-07-02) | 510 | N/A |
| A big storm coincides with the 50th anniversary of a murder that occurred in the house, and Elka fears the ghost of the victim will reappear. Victoria returns home from a trip to the Caribbean with her new island pal Chill (Rob Schneider) in tow. Melanie's high school friend Rachel (Maggie Wheeler) is stuck at the house after the storm blocks the road. Joy's mother Philippa arrives following an emergency plane stop in Cleveland, along with a new, younger boyfriend named Daniel (Harry Van Gorkum). Compounding things is the fact that Joy once slept with Daniel, though he doesn't seem to remember. ||||||||
| 95 | 15 | "Playmates" | Andy Cadiff | Aaron Shure | July 9, 2014 (2014-07-09) | 514 | N/A |
| The girls attend a play that Elka wrote about her life, and are taken aback by the characterizations of "Melanie" (Emily Rutherfurd), "Victoria" (Nora Dunn) and "Joy" (Steve Valentine). But after talking to the actors, the girls get a new perspective on themselves. Morgan Fairchild plays the part of Elka in the production. ||||||||
| 96 | 16 | "Auction Heroes" | Anthony Rich | Suzanne Martin | July 16, 2014 (2014-07-16) | 515 | N/A |
| Victoria meets J.J. (Dan Lauria), the "Junior from Cleveland State" who wrote a script for an independent film that she fell in love with, but the guy is nothing like what she expected. Joy decides to finally tell Mitch how she feels, but Mitch's "date consultant" Baz (Coby Bell) gets in the way. When Baz falls for Joy, he sabotoges Mitch and Joy's first date. Elka holds a fundraising auction for her city council bid, auctioning off a date with each of the girls without telling them beforehand. ||||||||
| 97 | 17 | "Straight Outta Cleveland" | Andy Cadiff | Jessica Wood & Jameson Lyons | July 23, 2014 (2014-07-23) | 518 | 0.89 |
| Victoria's son Tony (Chris Colfer) pays a visit accompanied by his business partner. Victoria assumes the man is her son's lover, as she's always been convinced that Tony is gay, but Tony tries to figure out a way to tell his mother that he's straight. Elsewhere, Joy and Mitch are tracking a cheating man and try to use Melanie as their "honey bait", but she's terrible at it. Joy and Mitch also see a couples counselor and consider that they may not be right for each other after they fail the counselor's compatibility test. ||||||||
| 98 | 18 | "The Animated Episode" | Andy Cadiff | Sam Johnson & Chris Marcil | July 30, 2014 (2014-07-30) | 516 | 0.69 |
| The girls finally go into the caretaker's house where Elka lives, and it turns out to be entirely animated. While visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they meet Steven Tyler, who grants them three wishes. The three wishes pay homage to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Walking Dead, and The Wizard of Oz. ||||||||
| 99 | 19 | "Strange Bedfellows" | Anthony Rich | Rachel Sweet | August 6, 2014 (2014-08-06) | 517 | 1.00 |
| Melanie sleeps with Donald, then discovers he is the campaign manager for Elka's city council opponent, Councilman Powell. She leaks that Elka can't hold her liquor, which Powell tries to use to his advantage during a public debate, but Elka gains the upper hand. Meanwhile, Victoria and J.J. begin a relationship. Queen Latifah guest stars as Councilman Powell's aunt. ||||||||
| 100 | 20 | "The Italian Job" | John Whitesell | Sebastian Jones | August 13, 2014 (2014-08-13) | 520 | 0.85 |
| Victoria meets J.J.'s children, but finds they are still hurting from their mother's passing. When Victoria dresses as J.J.'s wife for a film rehearsal and sees his reaction, she realizes that he too needs more time to heal. Elsewhere, Melanie deals with her new chauvinistic co-host (Will Sasso), while Joy and Elka scheme to get a professor to allow a make-up test after they fail his final exam. ||||||||
| 101 | 21 | "Mystery Date: Oscar Edition" | Andy Cadiff | Alex Herschlag | August 20, 2014 (2014-08-20) | 521 | 0.76 |
| With the Oscar Awards just three weeks away, Victoria gets her Red Carpet invitation with a "plus one" notification. She cannot decide between Melanie and Joy, so the two friends embark on a series of favors for Victoria to prove who is her true "best" friend. As the favors have increasingly drastic effects, Melanie and Joy finally decide to call a truce and tell Victoria to take Elka. Of course, Elka has already planned for this, evidenced by her Oscar dress being delivered to the girls' door at the end of the episode. Perez Hilton guest stars as spa receptionist Teddy. ||||||||
| 102 | 22 | "Win Win" | Andy Cadiff | Lisa Slopey | August 27, 2014 (2014-08-27) | 522 | 0.82 |
| Convinced that she won't react well if another nominee wins the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, Victoria decides to fake an illness and stay home in bed, but she has a camera and live feed ready just in case. Elka pulls some dirty tricks against her city council opponent on election eve, and throws Mamie under the bus in the process. Melanie wants to look more like her heavily-Photoshopped promo poster for her radio show, but her diet plans get tougher when her mom (Debra Monk) shows up. In the end, Elka wins the election for city council and Victoria wins her first Oscar. ||||||||
| 103 | 23 | "Don Elka" | Andy Cadiff | Sam Johnson & Chris Marcil | September 3, 2014 (2014-09-03) | 523 | 0.84 |
| After winning her city council election, Elka gets carried away with her newfound power. As Joy becomes increasingly happy with Mitch, Simon announces that he is returning, and Joy is conflicted with who she loves more. Simon arrives and influences Joy to remember her love for him through the use of many disguises, including a priest, a masseuer, and even a Scottish nanny after Mamie Sue brings up Mrs. Doubtfire. Meanwhile, a delivery mix-up ruins the expected arrival of Victoria's Oscar statue. ||||||||
| 104 | 24 | "The Bachelors" | Andy Cadiff | Jameson Lyons & Lisa Slopey & Jessica Wood | September 10, 2014 (2014-09-10) | 524 | 0.91 |
| On the annual day when the women set up dates for each other, Joy backs out because she is going out with her steady boyfriend Mitch. Later, Mitch, Simon and Detective Bob all propose marriage, and Joy must choose one of them. Meanwhile, Melanie dates a man who fell in love with her on-air personality, but now loves his sex surrogate. Victoria dates a former model (Luke Perry) who has decided to donate his ample forehead for scientific causes. Elka is set up on a date with her first love from Poland, Stan, but finds he is now a woman (Marion Ross). As Joy's three suitors fight, she is accidentally punched by Simon, landing her in the hospital before she can make a choice. ||||||||