The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd

charming. quirky. surreal. trippy. sweet. sad. disappointing. rewarding. alluring. intellectual. musical. ENTRANCING!

This show finally nabbed me when I was at someone else's house, and Molly was reporting on an undercover police investigation. This was a chick show, and I'd have been damned if anyone caught me enjoying a chick show. But the quirky comedy was just my style. I was hooked. Obviously influential on the self-satisfied Ally McBeal, Molly Dodd is in serious need or some new time in syndication.

Molly's middle-of-the-night chats with her dearly departed dad.

Marion Ross playing the role of her overly-concerned mother.

Her all-knowing doorman.

Perpetually unlucky in love.

Bizarre fantasy sequences.

Her neighbors (Ron [who later turned up in 'Mad About You'] reading the paper, and the back page headline shouting "Ron Wants Out" when their marriage was crumbling.)

Gut-wrenching loss (anaphylactic shock.)

Hope from despairing loss.

David Strathairn.

New York.



Lordy, I miss this show!

The show started on NBC, which foolishly cancelled it, then the Lifetime cable network picked it up. Molly Dodd was similar to Ally McBeal, but she was not as neurotic. She was just a single woman trying to make it out in the world, and helped (and sometimes hindered) by the quirky characters surrounding her. My favorite was her doorman, who apparently had lived quite a life before he took the job in her building. My other favorite character was her crazy boss at the publishing company she worked at right before the series ended for good. There have been very few good shows with good women characters, and this is one of the best.

This show and her acting impacted my idea of comedy so much. It is a classic.

I remember this show fondly because it was filmed in New York City on location without a laugh track or studio audience which was quite a departure for a sitcom about a single woman in the thirties played by the wonderful Blair Brown as Molly Dodd. She must deal with her mother played by the equally wonderful Allyn Ann McLerie. I don't remember ever seeing Molly's brother and sister twins, Mamie and Dwight Dodds who lived in the suburbs. Molly's single life is far from the Sex in the City girls. It was more realistic and believable about Molly trying to find the right man and job. I remember it first on network later on lifetime before it ceased completely from television. The cast and crew were first rate and the writing was simply wonderful just like Molly's life.

Every time I look up a Molly Dodd listing, I see requests for this incredible series to be produced on DVD. Who can we let know there is a market for this and it should be out on DVD? It's one of the best series ever, yet it seems to have dropped off the face of the earth (except for a run on GoodLife, which many cable affiliates don't seem to offer).

What needs to be done to get Days and Nights of Molly Dodd released on DVD???