What I’m Watching: Married

Married: Season 1, Episode 5 “The Playdate” (B+)

This episode’s opening scene was another hilarious intro to this show, featuring Russ telling his daughter’s teacher about the extramarital permission granted to him by Lina. We haven’t seen much of the two of them as parents, and this episode gave them an opportunity to realize that they didn’t actually have any friends, which might explain why their daughter was a loner. The playdate turned out to be quite entertaining, thanks in part to the nature of the two parents. It was a pleasure to see two very familiar TV faces who have contributed to a number of shows as guest stars. Michaela Watkins, who was most recently a cast member on “Trophy Wife,” was a perfect fully crazy nut obsessed with plattered food dishes and vicariously enjoying stolen wine through Lina while breaking into her neighbor’s sauna. Patrick Fischler, who has appeared on “Mad Men,” “Californication,” and “Lost,” didn’t have as big a part, but was still great as the disgruntled husband robbed of his every pleasure by his wife and constantly policing his son’s porn usage. I like that Russ was so enthralled by the fact that the house they were in was a famous porn house, and that he befriended the son rather than the father. A.J.’s latest situation was pretty ridiculous, and it was fun to watch Jess try to resolve it. I love that Paul Reiser’s Shep was the one who ultimately managed to resolve it, even though it meant he didn’t make it in time for brunch food much to his very vocal chagrin.