Madhouse

In the late 80's and early 90's, Thursday night tv on NBC was the most popular night on television. So it made sense that Hollywood would come calling on the stars of Must See TV. A lot of these films tanked, but some of them were pretty entertaining. Case in point, 1990's Madhouse.

Night Court's John Larroquette and Cheers' Kirstie Alley star as Mark and Jessie Bannister, yuppie newlyweds who have just moved into there dream home. Everything seems pretty idyllic until Mark's henpecked cousin Fred and his obnoxious, pregnant wife Bernice pay a visit. When Mark reminds Fred of how much fun he was before marriage, Fred hits the road, leaving his now bedridden wife behind for Mark and Jessie to tend to. To make matters worse, Jessie's recently jilted sister Claudia, Alison La Placa, crashes their pad, as well as their neighbor Dale. Robert Ginty, and his family after their house is destroyed. Mark and Jessie's happy home quickly becomes hellish as the couple begins to lose their minds.

Although it's not a laugh riot, Madhouse is a lot of fun thanks to the two leads and a great supporting cast, that also includes Dennis Miller. I've been a fan of Larroquette's ever since Night Court, and it's nice to see him as the leading man. I remember seeing Miller in concert back in the 90's and somebody in the crowd asked him why he did this movie. He said it was a chance to work with Larroquette. Alley was kind of a go to lady for these kind of comedies around the time and her and Larroquette work well together. Diehl, who worked with Larroquette previously on Stripes, and La Placa would go on to be regulars on The John Larroquette Show.

There's a lot of laughs in Madhouse and it has a nice pace.

It's available on dvd and blu ray.