The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987)

Molly's mother introduces Molly, talks about her divorce 3 years ago and a bit about her life now. In the elevator, Molly reads Davey her new poem. Molly arrives at her job at Dennis Widmer's real estate agency. She's been having an affair with him and confronts him for not telling her he was married, which she's just discovered through an anonymous phone call. Molly sells a condo to a rich Indian guy, Birmanyi. Molly has lunch with her mother. Her mother complains about Molly's father retiring and doing nothing more than sitting on the barcalounger and about her brother living on an Indian reservation. She compares Molly with her sister, who's married with kids. In the elevator, Davey offers literary criticism. Later Molly plays piano and her ex-husband Fred uses his apartment key and comes in to listen. We find out that Molly is 33. Fred tells Molly that he's getting married. Molly takes a shower and breaks a cosmetic bottle (thus the episode title).

Begins with Molly writing a poem in the park and her mother's commentary about being uncomfortable with the sensualness of her poems. The door across the hall from her apartment opens and closes and Molly yells at it that inhabitants have been spying on her for years. Davey lets her on the elevator with a load of pregnant women and comments on her biological clock. Her mother is waiting in the lobby and talks with Molly about her irritation with Molly's father. Biranyi (Bill) signs on the condo and asks Molly out for dinner. Molly quits her job. She goes to a jazz club to hear Fred play. (He's a sax player.) She has a flashback to meeting him. He introduces his fiancee, Kirsten. Molly has dinner with Bill. She gets spinach in her teeth (thus the title).

Intro: Florence narrates as Molly waits for a job interview at an advertising agency. Molly meets her garbage man, Nick Donnatello, played by the show's creator, Jay Tarses; Nick asks her on a date and she declines. Davey tells her that Fred visited in the morning and that her mother is upstairs waiting for her. Molly's mother is cleaning her cabinets and tells Molly that she's staying over and going to a doctor for tests the next day but she won't talk about what kind of tests. No one but Molly knows that she's going for tests. Fred calls and asks Molly to meet him. Molly meets him at the planetarium, where he's composing music for a planetarium show. He asks for her help. He's convinced that an album and fame and fortune will follow. She refuses to help. Fred invites her for coffee at Spiro's and she goes along. It is apparently ""their"" old place; people greet them as if they're still a couple. The guys from the ""old gang"" (The Fred Dodd Quintet?) show up. Molly greets them as she le

intro: Fred plays sax as Florence narrates, talking about Molly's love of music and Molly's father's musical career Florence continues narrating, explaining that she's fine and will be back, as Molly gets in a cab to go home from a composition setting. Molly sees Nick and they talk; he hits on her. Molly tells Davey that her mother is lost; she isn't in the hospital and can't be found but left a message saying she's fine. When she gets in her apartment, there's another message that her mother is fine. Fred calls. Molly goes to his apartment. She and Fred argue. The phone rings; it's Kirsten. Molly is at a recording session with the whole band. Alex, the trumpet player, freezes up. A woman in the sound booth comes on to Fred. Molly goes to a restaurant with Alex. Molly goes to the Waldorf-Astoria and knocks on a door; her mother answers. Florence explains that something happened to her in the hospital and she's considering her life. Molly goes back to the studio and Fred says he can't p

Out on a date with pilot Blake Novack, Molly spots her father, Edgar, dining with a woman who is not her mother. Molly and Blake are again interrupted when Edgar, not realizing Blake is in the bedroom, arrives at her apartment early in the morning to explain.

Molly Dodd, on the verge of a breakdown, decides to see a psychologist after she tells Blake, a new boyfriend she thinks is perfect, she can't see him anymore. She realizes she has a problem when she rearranges her living room furniture in the middle of the night.

opens with Florence talking about Nina and Molly's friendship, as Molly and Nina are making pasta Nina encourages Molly to visit her therapist. Fred stops by to get his moon boots. Davy and Molly talk about her considering seeing a therapist; he encourages her to do it. Her mother stops by and they talk about Molly considering seeing a therapist. Molly visits the therapist, Dr. Litchfield. At first she mistakes the therapist for a receptionist. The session starts out awkward, with the therapist taking pesonal calls and molly chattering awkwardly. Flashback to Molly and Fred's first anniversary. Then Molly settles in to talk about Fred and the therapist turns her attention to her, ignoring the next incoming call.

Martin is talking about writing jingles as he and molly are composing one Martin and Molly compose a jingle about eggs. Martin talks about what he does when he's stuck composing. Martin prods Molly to sing the jingle to Davy. She reads it to him. Davy gives his commentary. Martin and Molly walk around the city and talk. They hear a jingle they've written and dance. Martin approaches Molly and she gives him a ""let's be friends"" speech. They get on the Staten Island Ferry. Molly and her mother meet for lunch at a place with a WWII theme. Molly finds out that her mother was engaged to someone before Molly's father. Fred shows up. He invites Molly to a gig the group is putting on the next night, at which he's planning to play some of the planetarium music. Molly and Martin walk by as Fred is playing in an alley outside the club where he's playing. Martin goes in to get a table. Molly and Fred talk; he reminisces about their relationship. Molly goes into the club. Fred and the guys play. Fr

The intriguing Birmanyi offers Molly a lucrative job, but the fringe benefits are questionable. Ex-husband Fred is having problems with his fiancée, Kirsten, and asks Molly to help her understand him. Molly and her mother, Florence, take a college extension course together.

Molly and her two best friends, Nina and Robin, celebrate their 35th birthdays and share dramatic news: Robin is pregnant, and Nina is separated from her husband. But the most personal item Molly can offer is that she had a poem published in an obscure magazine. Molly's mother, Florence, threatens to move into Molly's apartment building.

Molly tries to get a comission check from her former boss and lover, who delays paying in order to see her again.

Molly's unappealing poetry instructor, Duke, makes a pass at her and kills her desire to be a poet. Also, Molly's mother, Florence, wants to move to Manhattan, but her father, Edgar, refuses.

Molly is irritated by ""cousin"" Mike who seems to be staying on indefinitely at her apartment, borrowing her money and eating her food. Molly arrives at the bookstore to find Moss' father in the aisles and they end up going to brunch together. Moss returns to the store and he and Molly share an awkward conversation about earlier in the day. Molly tells Dennis she wants him to disappear from her life forever, that she has no intention of turning him in.

intro: wind/snow storm, Molly's mother talking Molly goes to the bookstore in the storm. Moss has bandages on his face from flying a kite off a statue in Central Park the night before. Moss kisses Molly just as Fred walks in the door. Fred invites them to a jazz show. Molly goes to Central Park with Moss to fly a kite and gets a cold. Her mom comes over to take care of her. Molly leaves to bail Dennis out of jail and a woman in the elevator talks about a tenant meeting for her building, which is going co-op. Nate is in the lobby, and Molly warns him not to come close because she's sick. Nate talks her out of going to bail Dennis out and takes her back upstairs and takes care of her. Molly has a dream about Dennis. She wakes up and sees a kite flying outside her window.

The future looks bright for Fred, who has just released an album and hired Molly as office manager for the band. Molly's future also holds great promise, as she begins to fall in love with black detective Nathaniel Hawthorne. And perhaps for the first time in their lives, Molly's life parallels that of her mother's, who has fallen in love with Arthur Feldman.

Molly finishes Davey's book and in doing so learns many surprising facts about its author. When Nathaniel takes Molly home for dinner, her nerves are put to the test. But just when she thinks all's well with the world, two ex-flames reappear in her life, causing her confusion and concern.

With the reappearance of Moss Goodman, Molly tries to sort out her feelings with the help of a fortune teller. Unfortunately, the psychic's warnings of danger go unheeded by Molly, who is about to become another New York City crime statistic.

Molly and Davey try to help the police find her assailant, although Davey comes close to being arrested himself. Against her better judgment, Molly becomes involved with Goodman's Bookstore again, though she finally gets a commitment too, by moving in with Arthur Feldman.

While Molly anticipates her arrival into the 9 to 5 world, her friend Nina announces that Molly will be her Lamaze coach. It that weren't enough responsibility, she is called to jury duty and misses her first days of work. However, Nick Donatello, her former garbageman, begins popping in and out of Molly's life and often becomes a welcome alternative to the situation at hand.

intro: Molly's mother narrates as Molly works New York Times crossword Molly orders Chinese food. She looks through a box that her mother sent. The Chinese delivery boy arrives by ""astral projection"". Molly's mother and Arthur arrive to invite Molly to dinner. They eat Chinese food with her. In the middle of the night, Molly hears clattering in her kitchen. It's her father's ghost, washing the dishes and making cocoa. They chat. He tells Molly to cut her mother slack about dating Arthur. The next morning as she's leaving for her new job at the publishing house she finds the 2 cups of cocoa on the counter. She and her new boss, Sara Redick, talk about what her job will be like. Molly might help write a biography of the tango czar of Buenos Aires. She gets home and talks with Davey, who prods her to read his manuscript. Moss shows up at the elevator. He's written her a note and left it on the door. They ride upstairs and get stuck in the elevator. Moss grabs her and kisses her. He starts

Two weeks into her new job, Molly worries about her frequent nausea and what it might mean. Molly attempts to clarify her relationship with Moss but ends up more confused. Then, when she cooks a special dinner for Hawthorne, he becomes violently ill just as he's about to ask her a very important question.

intro: Molly is looking out the window, her mom is narrating about spring rains Molly arrives at Arthur's apartment drenched from rain. The two chat while waiting for her mother to arrive. Molly apologizes for not having been accepting of Arthur dating her mother. Her mother arrives. Molly says her stomach is feeling funny. Molly meets Fred and his female band member at a cafe. The food arrives and she runs to throw up. Molly runs into Davey and they talk about the toaster oven she just bought. They take a walk in the park. Molly runs into Bing Shalmar (played by Nathan Hale), who almost hired her as a girl friday. Molly admits to herself that she might be pregnant. She pictures herself in a ""mom"" dress, very pregnant, singing ""It could happen to you."" She and Davey resume their stroll.

The results of a home pregnancy test send Molly into a panic, but things pick up at work when she gets the go-ahead on her proposal for a book on the life of a real cop, which is to be based on Nathaniel Hawthorne. At the end of the day, however, Molly's worst fears are confirmed by the doctor, and then, upon arriving home, she learns from Davey that her apartment building is really going co-op.

While Molly waits in the doctor's office, she agonizes over who the father of her child might be—Nathaniel Hawthorne or Moss Goodman—and tries to imagine what the child will be like. When she finally gets to see the doctor, she learns that she'll have to wait another five months before they'll be able to identify the father.

Molly's unstable employment history comes back to haunt her when she applies for a loan for the down payment on her apartment. A few rejections later, she reluctantly takes her mother's advice and asks Arthur Feldman to lend her the $7,000 she needs. After a brief encounter with her chatty new neighbors, Ron and Ramona Luchesse, Molly meets her ex-husband, Fred, for dinner and lets him in on her little secret.

As part of her research for her book, Molly spends the day at the courthouse with Hawthorne and his partner, Uribe. As the hours tick away, Molly fantasizes about her first day on the beat, but the real thing doesn't turn out to be nearly as glamorous or exciting. On a coffee run for Hawthorne and Uribe, though, she gets more excitement than she bargained for.

Molly invites Florence over for breakfast and a talk, but doesn't feel like doing much of either. Later, while browsing in the pregnancy and childbirth section of a bookstore, she's surprised to find Moss Goodman assembling a pregnancy book display and makes a date with him for dinner. That night, on their way to a police awards banquet, Molly breaks the news of her pregnancy to Hawthorne, who doesn't know quite how to react when he learns he may not be the father.

Molly visits Nina and her baby, Ruby, at their new home in the country, but the weekend doesn't turn out to be quite as idyllic as she had expected. Instead of heart-to-heart talks and hikes in the woods, Molly winds up babysitting for Ruby on a stormy night while a preoccupied Nina goes out on a date. When the power fails and the basement begins to flood and the baby to cry, Molly doesn't know where to turn for help. A phone call to the city brings Davey to the rescue.

Molly may be in trouble at the office when she incurs the wrath of her boss, Sara. Later, over dinner and a game of ""Twist of Fate,"" Molly learns more about her new neighbors, Ron and Ramona, and winds up with a bag full of maternity clothes. Then, a nostalgic visit with Fred ends with a surprising gift for Molly.

Arthur comes to visit Molly to re-extend his loan offer, but Molly senses there's something about him and Florence that he's not telling her. Nate takes Molly out for a very special dinner, but Molly is plagued by indecision. The next day, the excitement of seeing her baby for the first time on the sonagram is dampened because she has no one to share it with. But just when she's feeling most alone, Molly has an unexpected visitor.

Scrambling for the down payment right down to the last minute, Molly finally settles on her apartment. At the office, Molly's boss, Sara, is agitated and her assistant, Brice, seems to know more than he's telling. At day's end, Molly and Ramona bump into Fred on their way out to dinner. Fred's got the money he promised Molly, but finds out he's too late...in more ways than one.

It's Halloween morning and Molly returns home from a long night out to discover a strange woman in her apartment. At work, the guest of honor is missing from her own party. After getting some relieving news from the doctor, Molly goes home to find Florence dressed as a pirate with a tray full of candied apples. But the only trick-or-treater who comes to the door is a mysterious transvestite.

Molly invites Florence and Arthur over for Thanksgiving dinner and, at long last, to meet Nate, but Florence arrives feeling a bit ""under the weather"" and immediately retires to the bedroom. When Nate arrives, Molly is disappointed to see that he is accompanied by his partner, Uribe. What, was supposed to be an intimate family dinner turns to chaos when several other unexpected guests arrive and Molly's oven chooses this night to malfunction.

It's the morning after Thanksgiving, but Molly's got work to do on her book. After a strange visit from her neighbor, Ron Luchesse, Molly heads for the office in search of some peace and quiet, only to find an unusually chatty Brice there. She decides to return home, but is intercepted in the lobby by Fred, who has some important things on his mind. Alone at last, she discovers a message from her doctor on her answering machine and finally learns who the father of her baby is.

Over dinner in a restaurant, Molly confronts the father of her baby, who proposes marriage. Molly, caught off guard, accepts and subsequently arranges a dinner meeting between her fiance and Florence, her apprehensive mother. What begins as an awkward evening ends pleasantly for Florence and her soon-to-be Son-in-law, leaving Molly feeling strangely alone.

At work Molly discovers she has not been credited as the author of her book. Florence and Arthur go to Molly's apartment to deliver an engagement present, with unexpected results. Molly and Ron, her neighbor, discuss childbearing with another couple in a cappuccino cafe. Back at Ron and Ramona's apartment, Fred is waiting to give Molly a baby present.

Molly and Florence go to Ramona's beauty salon to get ready for a night at the opera. Later, in Molly's apartment, her fiance gives her a wedding ring. That evening, Molly grows anxious when her fiance does not pick her up in time for the opera. The eventual knock at Molly's door brings bad news.

Molly goes through tough times as she tries to cope with an unexpected tragedy, as the birth of her baby approaches and as she experiences jitters about her impending motherhood.

Molly breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the camera, indulging her every whim: For the duration of this episide, Molly is not pregnant, is the star employee at work and is in control of her life.

While friends and family are gathering at Ron and Ramona's apartment for Molly's baby shower, Molly goes into labor. Only one person, having seen Molly on the street hurriedly making her way to the hospital, is present for the birth.

Davey and his son Jimmy disagree about their work styles, with Jimmy looking for change and Davey hanging on to tradition. Molly, home from the hospital, spends the first few days alone with her baby. Arthur and Florence drop by Molly's apartment on their way to the Rainbow Room, leaving Molly to ponder the increasing demands of motherhood.

Molly returns to work and learns she has been ""promoted"" to a human resources position, the first assignment of which is to fire her friend Bernie because of an ""economic decision."" At home that evening she finds Bernie both in her hallway and on her answering machine, pleading for his job back. On seeing the fee her new baby-sitter Dora has charged for a day's work, Molly makes a second ""economic decision.""

Molly and Fred join Arthur and Florence for the opening night of the play Arthur is producing. At a gathering in Sardi's after the play, everyone is excited about Arthur's work--and keeping their fingers crossed for good reviews. Later at Molly's apartment, Fred volunteers to be a regular baby-sitter and a part of the baby's upbringing.

Molly is caught in the middle of her feuding neighbors, Ron and Ramona, who have separated but for economic reasons continue to share an apartment. Florence and Arthur stop by Molly's apartment to check on Fred, who is trying to conduct business over the phone while babysitting. Molly returns home to find Davey depressed, Florence and Arthur about to depart on a trip to an undisclosed location and Fred musing about his blossoming music career ... in Los Angeles.

Florence and Arthur have some surprising news for Molly about their relationship. Later that day, as Molly takes her baby for a stroll through the park, they unexpectedly run into an old, familiar friend, who stirs up old feelings. After this encounter, Molly strikes up a conversation with a mysterious woman, Vanise, who makes some predictions about the baby and leaves Molly a little disconcerted.

Molly celebrates her 40th birthday with her best friend, Nina. On her way back home, Molly unexpectedly meets Nick Donatello, the garbage man, who reveals the true nature of their ""chance"" meetings over the years. Ramona and a new date visit Molly's apartment to wish her a happy birthday and run into Ron, who was babysitting. Florence, away with Arthur, checks in with Molly but forgets her birthday. Fred comes over to give Molly a birthday present and say good-bye.

Molly recalls her days in The Fred Dodd Quintet, and at a grocery store recognizes her old guitarist, Harry, of whom she was fond; Florence and Arthur leave on a cross-country trip.