“The Flirt” (season 1, episode 6, originally aired Sept. 19, 1992)
Opening credits guests: Mimi Rogers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Richards
Hank’s introduction of Larry in the opening credits: “Because we’ve got the name that says goodness…”
“The show was a sexual buffet for me,” writes Larry in a chapter of his “autobiography,” Confessions Of A Late Night Talk Show Host, called “Celebrity Sex.” Not only were there “actresses and models and magician’s assistants and beauty queens,” but once he even had on a woman who lost her house in a hurricane, simply because she looked hot in The New York Times.
“Let’s book her,” I said to Artie.
“Are you kidding? This story’s a tragedy. Besides you don’t know if she’ll look that good in person.”
“Let’s take a chance. That’s what television is all about.”
Tellingly, the book barely mentions Jeannie, Larry’s second wife, though “Celebrity Sex” has a list of the 57 famous women Larry had sex with, which includes both Mariah Carey and a Mariah Carey look-alike, a bunch of famous movie stars, and at least three lesbians (“both of the Indigo Girls” and Ellen DeGeneres). Oh, and Andy Dick.
But back to Jeannie. Although previous episodes have alluded to it, “The Flirt” makes plain Larry’s tenuous hold on marital fidelity. In the episode, Larry faces a beautiful movie star—Mimi Rogers—who practically says “I want to fuck you” while being interviewed on the show. The temptation is real, the opportunity waiting—how will (ostensibly) former adulterer Larry deal with it?
If the first step in beating temptation is to remove yourself from the situation, Larry fails right away. When his flirtatious banter with Rogers runs long, without even covering all of his assigned interview topics and bumping Michael Richards in the process, Larry invites her back the next night. He’s never done that before, and he immediately regrets setting the precedent.
He also knows how the interview will play at home, so he nervously fidgets as he and Jeannie watch the show in bed. When Larry tries to change the channel, Jeannie says, “No, no, honey, I want to see if she straddles you.” Not missing a beat, she adds, “So honey, do you fuck her on the desk or on the couch? I’m guessing the desk because Hank is on the couch, and I know you’re not into that.”
“Spiders” showed some of the issues Larry has in his marriage, first with Jeannie being thoroughly annoyed when they had Jon Lovitz over for dinner, then in passing mention of Larry’s fear of having children. The former shows a disconnect between Larry and Jeannie; she has limited patience for the world in which he operates. Fundamentally, Larry is a comedian, and so are his friends. They try to make each other laugh—sure, their riffing could be grating, but that’s who they are. Understanding that is the price of admission with Larry, and it doesn’t seem like Jeannie gets that. It becomes much more apparent later on in season one, in “Party,” when we see her completely ignore some personal and professional boundaries.
Here, though, she has a right to be concerned, though she has faith in Larry. “I trust you,” she says, then motions to his image on the TV. “I don’t know that I trust him.”