Episode
Dharma & Greg: The House That Dharma Built
Overview
Gail Mancuso seems to direct all the best episodes, and this is no exception: A friendly game of strip poker between the newlyweds is interrupted by an emergency visit from Larry and Abbie (who are willing to wait a half hour until the sex is finished, an offer Greg can't accept). It turns out that their property is under siege by an unscrupulous developer who happens to be a former, and hated, classmate of Greg's. After Dharma invites the developer and his wife to dinner, then has to fight off his sexual advances, she is forced to accept Greg's viewpoint -- that he is evil -- and to seek a flattered Kitty's advice on how to get rid of him and save her parents' beloved home. The solution involves Jane, Pete, a trampoline, some garbage cans, and the IRS... and a wonderful coda using the trampoline. (In the course of the episode we also learn that Dharma has been both a magician's assistant and a professional casino dealer.)
Details
- Series
- Dharma & Greg
- Season
- Season 2
- Episode
- Episode 11
- Air date
- 1998-12-09
- Runtime
- 30 min
Episode context
The House That Dharma Built is Episode 11 in Season 2 of Dharma & Greg. It aired on 1998-12-09. The runtime is 30 min.
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Episode 10: Yes, We Have No Bananas (or Anything Else for That Matter)
A gently surreal episode whose humor derives from escalating skewed logic in the Preston Sturges mode: Greg's hostile secretary Marlene (at last the wonderful Yeardley Smith returns!) is offended by her annual staff evaluation as ""Satisfactory,"" while Greg is overjoyed by his ""Superior"" rating until he learns Pete got the same rating. When Greg confronts his boss, he is driven to desperation by the man's apparent complete inability to discriminate between similar items (Tahiti vs. Buffalo as a honeymoon destination, freshly baked bread vs. moldy supermarket bread), and almost unhinged by the boss's decision to put Pete in charge while he is in medical leave. At the same time Greg must deal with Dharma's impulse decision to open a store without first deciding what she will sell, and the fact that the place quickly becomes packed with people who find Dharma's environment strangely soothing and establish a barter economy amongst themselves. There is of course only one ""logical"" conclusion
Episode 12: Are You Ready for Some Football?
When Greg convinces Dharma to accompany him and Pete to a football game, despite her lifelong aversion to competitive sports, he is unprepared for her sudden and total conversion into a fanatical San Francisco 49ers fan--and the term ""fanatical"" is not used lightly. When Dharma sneaks out to a game in the middle of dinner with her parents, Greg decides she needs help, and arranges an intervention involving quarterback Steve Young.
More episodes from this season
Episode 9: Brought to You in DharmaVision
Dharma is surprised when both Jane and her parents accuse her of having changed because she is busy attending a society fundraiser with Kitty then alarmed when Kitty congratulates her on having changed to the extent that young socialites thinks she's ""a hoot and a half."" Her identity crisis is confirmed by a visit from the spirit of her Indian friend, George, who directs her to retreat to the Redwoods to find herself and conveys a cryptic message to ""save the young one."" An uncomprehending Greg reluctantly lets her go, persuading her to take Jane with her; then, upon seeing George in a dream, rushes to the woods in Larry's van to save Dharma and Jane, who have adopted a bear cub while remaining oblivious to the nearby presence of its angered mother. Best lines: George to Dharma: ""You might have mentioned that you moved. I scared some skinny guy in the shower half to death!""; Larry, fleeing from the mother bear, slips on something in the woods and mutters, ""That answers that question!""
Episode 13: Death and Violins
Edward's mother Beatrice is dying and knows it, despite the efforts of everyone around her to deny the fact except Dharma, who argues for honesty and gets a priceless Stradivarius as a keepsake, much to the horror of Kitty who believes it belongs in a museum -- especially after everyone has heard Dharma trying to learn ""Three Blind Mice"" on the instrument. Then Dharma learns something very surprising: Edward and Kitty's marriage was a whirlwind courtship bitterly opposed by Beatrice, who has never forgiven her ""free-thinking"" daughter-in-law and refuses to pass on the family heirloom engagement ring to her. Dharma tries to help mend fences before it's too late -- then tries to respect Beatrice's dying wish to pass on the ring when it is much, much too late. In a coda, Greg is more than happy to let Dharma's violin teacher borrow the Strad for a recital, then learns Dharma has taken up the trombone instead.
Episode 8: Like, Dharma's Totally Got a Date
Dharma discovers Greg is really the only man for her when she agrees to attend a dance with a nerdy high school kid, but meets with some serious competition from the younger crowd. Meanwhile, Larry sings his ""You guys are okay"" song to Edward and Kitty, causing Kitty to fall and hurt herself; this prompts Kitty to sue Larry after she is embarrassed by her donut-cushion in front of the mayor. Larry represents himself, while Pete arbitrates.
Episode 14: Dharma and Greg on a Hot Tin Roof
Role playing at a golf shop, the couple put on fake Southern accents and wind up endearing themselves to a genuine Southerner -- who turns out to be the federal judge before whom Greg must argue a cast the next day. After an evening's panic, he decides to tough it out and wins the case hands down (while mystifying Pete). But he discovers he has succeeded only too well: Judge Harper becomes the couple's best friend and constant companion, and Greg despairs at having to keep up the pretence forever -- especially when the judge comes to meet the entire extended family.
Episode 7: Valet Girl
Greg is forced to make a very embarrassing public admission when he sees the first girl he claims to have slept with and her jealous husband makes some serious threats. Meanwhile, Dharma and Greg attend the wedding of Kitty's housekeeper and offer to park cars as a wedding gift.
Episode 15: Dharma and the Horse She Rode In On
It's Dharma's birthday, but the surprise she gets isn't what Greg was planning. First his parents take them on a mock foxhunt, and the uncontrollably wild stallion at the stables becomes meek as a lamb as she as he meets Dharma (who nicknames him ""Steve""). Groom Joaquin swears it's because the horse has fallen madly in love with Dharma -- and sure enough Steve starts showing up unexpectedly (and inexplicably) at the apartment. Meanwhile, Greg's old flame Barbara (guest Coyle reprises her role from episode five) is assigned to work with him on a case with an overnight deadline, but has to go home to deal with a plumbing emergency, so Greg accompanies her, and over several hours of hard work they both fall asleep. When Dharma gets back from returning Steve to the stables, it's 3:00 am and Greg is missing, so she calls Pete, who assumes the worst and swears that Greg is passed out drunk on his floor. When Greg is late leaving work for Dharma's party and still has to stop off at the jewele
Episode 6: A Closet Full of Hell
A hilariously spooky Halloween episode finds the couple engaged in amorous horseplay (Dharma showing Greg how to do a strip-tease for her) on the eve of their house-warming party when the dogs sniff out something eerie in their new apartment: a hidden storage closet full of antique dolls. Although Dharma senses evil, Greg talks her into going ahead with the event while he cleans away the dolls, but in the middle of the party Dharma discovers the dolls have quietly returned to their former positions, together with two new dolls which bear an alarming resemblance to Dharma and Greg. Abbie intervenes with an exorcism (to Pete's amusement), then all seems well until the newlyweds hear heavy footsteps in the attic at midnight, and discover a single doll hung from the ceiling. Greg determines to spend all night in the attic to find out once and for all what is going on, joined by a reluctant Dharma, and they are both terrified when a trapdoor opens to reveal a screaming elderly woman who dem
Episode 16: See Dharma Run
After a dehumanizing experience with bureaucratic red tape, Dharma is inspired to run for office, and thanks to a pair of wacky opponents and a hefty campaign contribution from Edward, she may have a real shot. Meanwhile, Pete and Jane find a shocking way to fight the alone-on-Valentine's-Day blues.
Episode 5: Unarmed and Dangerous
In the middle of a typical in-law squabble, Dharma and Greg answer an emergency call and rush to hospital. There they find a partially immobilized Pete, who has dislocated both shoulders in a bizarre car accident. Greg is not too pleased at Dharma's offer to nurse Pete back to health, and after a traumatic visit to Pete's apartment to pick up his cat gives her far too much insight into Pete's life (or lack thereof) Dharma finds herself committed to cleansing her house guest both physically and spiritually.
Meanwhile, Kitty convinces Abby's ""Save the Ducks"" fund raising committee that rather than making $800 with a bake sale, they can raise $80,000 with a fancy celebrity dinner featuring ""Alan Alda, or one of the Baldwin boys."" Trouble is when the event gets under way, the celebrity turns out to be not exactly environmentally aware Andrew Dice Clay.
Jane becomes addicted to the one acceptable item in Pete's apartment: his vibrating, um, massage chair; and Pete's final act of chauvinism
Episode 17: Run, Dharma, Run
As Election Day approaches, Dharma and Greg's relationship hits stormy seas due to clashes over her campaign strategy. Meanwhile, an aggressive opponent may really rain on Dharma's parade.