Kirstie Episode Rating Graph

Maddie's over-the-top attempt to give Arlo a special first Christmas with her is upended when he invites her abrasive mother (Cloris Leachman) as a surprise.

When Kathy Griffin looks at a penthouse across the hall, Maddie goes to great lengths to remain the biggest star in her building. Unknown to Maddie, Arlo has been a huge fan of Griffin's for years. Arlo also develops a crush on Griffin's chef, Lucila (Lucila Sola), and convinces Maddie to hire her despite the fact that Lucila is an awful cook.

After firing a stagehand named Mickey (John Travolta), Maddie consoles him with a one night stand, but then can't get rid of him. Frank asks Lucila, Arlo's crush, to be his tango partner in a dance competition.

After learning that Arlo is a virgin, Maddie pays her understudy Brittany (Kristin Chenoweth) to seduce him. But things go awry when, after the act, Arlo says he is in love with Brittany and makes plans to spend the rest of his life with her.

When Maddie encounters the real Madison Banks (Kristen Johnston), a waitress whose audition (and name) she stole over 25 years ago, she asks what she can do to make things right. The real Maddie suggests that they exchange lives for an evening, but she soon kidnaps Frank until the current Maddie agrees to a re-do of the audition in front of the original director.

After Frank irritates Maddie by not putting her name in his "Tony Nomination Pool" with other limo drivers, Arlo wonders how they ever got along. This leads Frank, Thelma and Maddie to recall when the three of them met in the 1980s.

Thelma's ex-husband Duke (George Wendt), a professional pool player, is in town to tell Thelma his womanizing days are over. Maddie finds a ring in Duke's coat pocket, fears that the two will get remarried, and freaks out over the prospect of losing Thelma. But Maddie couldn't be more wrong about Duke's intentions. Meanwhile, a bird gets loose in the apartment, causing Frank to slip and break Maddie's Tony Award.

Maddie has a hard time trying to fire her agent (Jason Alexander), whom she considers useless but can't get rid of because she fears firing people. Thelma must face her fear of identical twin girls who live in the building that creep her out like the children from The Shining, while Frank must face his fear of tunnels. Elsewhere, Arlo is being bullied by a coworker named Ahdoot, but he turns the tables when Ahdoot makes a pass at Lucila.