Hello and welcome. ;D
I was fairly surprised, after coming to this board, to find that there were so many overseas fans. Growing up in America at the time of the original airing, in the late 1980s, was a unique atmosphere and had a lot to do with the show's impact.
I was 11-16 during the original run. It's no coincidence that for me and the other fans in that bracket, we were going through our first years of dating, getting used to socializing and dealing with the opposite sex. A show about the dynamics between men and women appealed to us as funny in itself, also as a sort of 'initiation' into the next step up in life. The show was brisk and very funny; it also had a dramatic edge, but wasn't somber or too dense to understand like the shows purely for older people often were.
It was a detective story, a comedy and a love story all at once. There were other good shows at the time, but most of them seemed to focus on just one or perhaps two elements. Not many ever went after all of them.
We got to like these characters because they seemed to be a lot like real people would normally act. David was every guy, brash and funny; Maddie was every woman, smart and hard-working, very much aware of her beauty but always wanting to be taken seriously as well. Characters from shows for the older set always seemed to be very somber and dry. Not these people. They by contrast were very bold and lively. You could really believe that these people were who they said they were.
I think that's why people really took them to heart. For a long time they really were "America's kids," and people would talk about the developments in the show as if they really happened to one of their friends. People rooted for either Maddie or David depending on the various turns of fate in the scripts. We were very happy or very sad with the progress of the show as much as if that had been real life. Also, especially with younger fans, it divided up along gender lines as well. And we're talking tens of millions of viewers a week--it was a huge national obsession. I guess you could compare it to the
telenovelas in Spanish-speaking countries.
The couple worked, fought, loved and fell apart the way real people do. No static characters, no perfect people--when they got mad, they yelled, when they didn't know what to say they stuttered or got frustrated. They did
not solve everything very easily like characters will do on a sitcom or something. The two were a little bit older than us young fans, but not so much that they were out of reach; it had the allure of 'sneaking a look' into the adult world, while they were also funny and dashing like we imagined ourselves to be.
The two of them had real personality quirks like people do every day: when David got upset he'd have a few drinks; he liked music and partying; Maddie was a bit of a loner, in bed almost every day after a microwave dinner at home, and preferred the arts and symphony. It was the freewheeling life versus the serious. Just like fans would choose their favorite character, they also divided up into those types as well; yet in a way, we learned to see a little merit in each of them.
They had different approaches to their love lives as well. David played the bachelor, running from one casual relationship to the next. Maddie was very solemn in matters of the heart, looking for solidity and meaning, and not often being satisfied with what she found. Each of them was convinced the other's type was 'wrong,' but just as the writers never allowed either of them to really 'win or lose' in a fight, but to always have something of a point, they grew to switch places and to be attracted to the other's type...even if it killed them. ;D
Both of them seemed to think they'd never get along together.
We know how
that turned out. ;D
To answer your question about favorite episodes, I have many and the list changes with time and different reasons, but I'll start off with a recap of a few of them:
1.
Sam and Dave. This is perhaps the only one that doesn't change for me. You just can't beat David's tragic verbal battle with Sam in the restaurant. I get catches in my throat every time I see it. No contest. This is a great script, and it's acted to a T.
2.
The Pilot. Okay, it's an easy one, but the story was jarring and the set-up for the characters is perfect. In fact, Maddie is almost more brash here than she is anywhere else--showing David that unique way to punch (it involves standing in front of her...) and David
completely ignores the way people conventionally talk to their bosses. He treats Maddie like she is either the next potential girlfriend or some diabolical, scheming creature of whom he should be suspiscious. He really looks like a bottom-feeder when you first get to know him, but there's a lot more to the man than meets the eye. The plot is complicated and makes for what's essentially almost a movie. Very watchable, fresh and with new things to discover even after you've seen it many times.
3.
Brother, Can You Spare a Blonde? --David's brother shows up with a ton of money out of nowhere--and with intentions to try and get Maddie's interest as well. David is puzzled by the quick wealth but far more jealous of his brother's success in charming Ms. Hayes. David loses his temper violently, before an uneasy truce is established and the money matter is solved. Regarded as some of the best writing and acting in the show.
4.
Somewhere Under the Rainbow. --Okay, so the 'Irish' lady won't win any awards for vocal impressions! I liked the story anyway. The 'bits of guy!' line is still one of my favorites. It's a dramatic (if confusing) plot and it's touching the way David carries on his habit of being very protective of Maddie, no matter how crass the mood is on the surface.
5.
Every Daughter's Father is a Virgin. --Addresses the unique theme of the relationship between Maddie's parents and the drastic highs and lows therein. Also deals with the way Maddie herself is swept up in the very troubling proceedings. Even though it's not her and she is in her 30s, supposedly long past the time when one would be directly affected by this, Maddie is torn quite in two by the things that happen to them, suffering major strikes against her loyalty to each parent and to her image of their happiness. It's still hard for me to watch this one without tearing up. Usually I can't. I'm shameless. The acting from Eva Marie Saint and Robert Webber is terrific. Poor Dave tries to save Maddie from the trouble of some bad news; quite in contrast to his usual crass and funny mood, he really feels quite upset about this and doesn't want her to be further hurt. But that's one thing that made this show so great: they don't gloss over anything-- if it hurts, they let it, and then you move on.
So there's a ton of reasons to love our dear show. Glad to have you aboard (and don't worry about your English). ;D
Thanks again!