# Stark Raving Mad (TV series)

Stark Raving Mad is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 23, 1999, to July 13, 2000. The series starred Tony Shalhoub and Neil Patrick Harris.

## Synopsis

Shalhoub stars as odd horror novelist Ian Stark, who is obsessed with practical jokes, and whose first book Below Ground was a best seller. Neil Patrick Harris is Stark's reluctant editor Henry McNeeley, who has a variety of phobias and possibly obsessive–compulsive disorder.
On January 10, 2000, the sitcom won a People's Choice Award for Favorite New Television Comedy Series. The sitcom premiered on September 23, 1999, and was officially cancelled by NBC on April 15, 2000, despite being ranked 19th among all programs with an average of 15.5 million viewers, as it held poor retention rates from its lead-in, Frasier, and was consistently beaten by Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the same timeslot.

## Cast
### Main

* Tony Shalhoub as Ian Stark
* Neil Patrick Harris as Henry McNeeley
* Eddie McClintock as Jake Donovan
* Dorie Barton as Tess Farraday
* Heather Paige Kent as Margaret 'Maddie' Keller (this role was originally to be played by Jessica Cauffiel who appeared in several early cast photos)

### Recurring and Guest Stars

* Harriet Sansom Harris as Audrey
* Chris Sarandon as Cesar
* Dina Waters as Katherine 'Kit' Yate
* Kellie Waymire as the other Tess, Tess Farraday's co-worker in the museum

## Episodes

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
| 1 | 22 | 22 | September 23, 1999 (1999-09-23) | July 13, 2000 (2000-07-13) | 19 | 15.5 |
* ↑ Episodes 19-22 unaired during original run.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Pilot" | James Burrows | Steven Levitan | September 23, 1999 (1999-09-23) | 1ADM79 | 18.62 |
| Henry McNeely gets a promotion he doesn't want. He's now the editor for the eccentric horror novelist Ian Stark. Ian's practical jokes are done at the expense of Henry. |||||||
| 2 | "The Man Who Knew Too Much" | Ted Wass | Alan Kirschenbaum | September 30, 1999 (1999-09-30) | 1ADM01 | 19.52 |
| Trying to pull another joke on Henry, Ian learns things he did not want to know about Henry's girlfriend. |||||||
| 3 | "Sometimes a Fritter Is Just a Fritter" | Ted Wass | David A. Goodman | October 7, 1999 (1999-10-07) | 1ADM03 | 17.58 |
| Henry's misunderstanding of a change of a name of a character in Ian's manuscript ruins Ian's morning routine of fritters and long walks. |||||||
| 4 | "Four Colds and a Funeral" | Gail Mancuso | Eric Zicklin | October 14, 1999 (1999-10-14) | 1ADM05 | 17.03 |
| Henry accidentally kills a man named Professor Huggles (a character obviously inspired by Dr. Seuss) |||||||
| 5 | "The Lyin' King" | Gail Mancuso | Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones | October 21, 1999 (1999-10-21) | 1ADM06 | 18.38 |
| During Halloween, Ian helps Henry to pay back his cousin Lori for an old prank she pulled on him, while Maddie's date may or may not be a humpback for real. |||||||
| 6 | "Fish out of Water" | Ted Wass | Jeffrey Richman | November 4, 1999 (1999-11-04) | 1ADM04 | 16.17 |
| Everyone is at Audrey's dinner party where a fish needs to be put back into the tank. |||||||
| 7 | "Engaged to Be Engaged" | Gail Mancuso | Gayle Abrams | November 11, 1999 (1999-11-11) | 1ADM07 | 15.04 |
| Henry tries to make a commitment to Tess. |||||||
| 8 | "The Stalker" | Ken Levine | Steven Levitan | November 18, 1999 (1999-11-18) | 1ADM09 | 15.23 |
| Ian's obsessed fan wants to take Henry's place. |||||||
| 9 | "The Dance" | Gail Mancuso | Steven Levitan | December 2, 1999 (1999-12-02) | 1ADM08 | 14.71 |
| Tess attempts to fix up Ian and Maddie. |||||||
| 10 | "Coffin to Go" | Ted Wass | Lynnie Greene & Richard Levine | December 9, 1999 (1999-12-09) | 1ADM02 | 16.99 |
| Ian discovers that the funeral place accidentally sold him a coffin with a corpse in it. |||||||
| 11 | "Christmas Cheerleader" | Michael Lembeck | David A. Goodman | December 16, 1999 (1999-12-16) | 1ADM10 | 20.85 |
| Tess tries to cheer up Christmas for a bunch of social outcasts. |||||||
| 12 | "The Crush" | Michael Lembeck | Eric Zicklin | January 6, 2000 (2000-01-06) | 1ADM11 | 18.80 |
| Ian has a crush on a woman, but Jake cannot be trusted with letters. |||||||
| 13 | "My Bodyguard (a.k.a. Guarding Tess)" | Steven Levitan | Gayle Adams | January 13, 2000 (2000-01-13) | 1ADM12 | 15.79 |
| Henry, Ian and Tess get mugged. Ian head-butts the mugger and saves the day. Henry soon feels sexually inadequate when he learns that Ian's heroics caused Tess to have an erotic dream about Ian. Ian sets up a similar incident, designed to make Henry look like a hero in Tess' eyes. |||||||
| 14 | "The Hypnotist" | Michael Lembeck | Alan Kirschenbaum | February 3, 2000 (2000-02-03) | 1ADM15 | 15.58 |
| Ian professes to be a hypnotic expert and the situation gets out of hand. Note: Ian claims to have once suffered from OCD, but cured it with hypnosis. Tony Shalhoub would later find success in Monk, playing a detective with OCD. |||||||
| 15 | "Therapy" | Sheldon Epps | Eric Zicklin | March 2, 2000 (2000-03-02) | 1ADM16 | 12.91 |
| Ian and Henry go to a therapist. After the session Henry wants to know what the therapist told about him. Ian lies that she thinks Henry is paranoid. |||||||
| 16 | "Secrets and Lies" | David Lee | Jeffrey Richman | March 9, 2000 (2000-03-09) | 1ADM18 | 11.66 |
| A Yale student turns up some shocking secrets about where Ian was nearly twenty years ago. |||||||
| 17 | "The Grade" | Steven Levitan | Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones | March 16, 2000 (2000-03-16) | 1ADM21 | 12.55 |
| Ian helps Maddie by writing a book report for her, but then is furious when her professor only gives her a "B". |||||||
| 18 | "The Pigeon" | Sheldon Epps | Joe Piscatella & Craig A. Williams | July 13, 2000 (2000-07-13) | 1ADM17 | 6.68 |
| Ian accidentally knocks a pigeon's nest filled with eggs off his balcony's ledge. Later he becomes paranoid, thinking the mother pigeon is back with vengeance. |||||||
| 19 | "He's Gotta Have It" | Joyce Gittlin | Lynnie Greene & Richard Levine | Unaired | 1ADM13 | N/A |
| Tess' sister visits and Ian becomes uncontrollably attracted to her. |||||||
| 20 | "Dog Gone" | Gail Mancuso | Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones | Unaired | 1ADM14 | N/A |
| Henry loses Edgar, and when he finds him, new problems arise. |||||||
| 21 | "The Psychic" | Jeff Melman | Dana Gould | Unaired | 1ADM19 | N/A |
| The gang gets their fortunes read. |||||||
| 22 | "The Big Finish" | Robert Egan | Richard Levine & Lynnie Greene | Unaired | 1ADM20 | N/A |
| Henry tries to retrieve Ian's latest manuscript. |||||||

## International airings

In some countries the series was renamed: Loco enloquecido (Latin America), Stark, loco de atar (Spain), Splitter Pine Gal (Norway), Kreisi kynäniekka (Finland) and "En förläggares mardröm" (Sweden).