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Private Notes
Norm MacDonald is one of those rare performers who has a great natural comic gift. He can just stand there with that silly look on his face and crack me up. His Burt Reynolds impression is hysterical, as are several other of his celebrity characterizations. But it's a puzzler as to why he can't do sustained comic work. He was often hilarious on Saturday Night Live in skit work, but his sitcom "Norm" was flaccid and suffered from the presence of tedious and boring side players. This new half-hour Comedy Central presentation is similarly lazy and loose. It feels as if it might have been written over a weekend and never rehearsed before shooting. The only flickering bright spots were the Andy Rooney bit and the skit with the guy who wanted a threesome for his birthday. But even they were weirdly paced and ended up being sort of one-trick ponies. Norm, we love you. Get some discipline and get to work.
Norm Henderson is an ex-hockey player who was banned from hockey for life for gambling and tax evasion. Now he must do 5 years of community service as a social worker or go to prison. His client today is a prostitute who works at a massage parlor. He tries to get her into a group home but she refuses to go so he forces into one. She files a report stating that he paid her 50 bucks to lie to his boss about having gotten a new job but it gets intercepted by Laurie and his boss doesn't find out about it. Also Norm gets a dog.
Norm meets a woman in a bar while trying to help a pathologically shy guy. He starts dating her but finds out she's one of Laurie's clients. Dating a client can get you fired so she stops her sessions. Laurie warns Norm that this is still a bad idea but he doesn't listen until it's too late. Danny has to help a client who has a phobia about water.
Danny's dad comes to town and takes a liking to Norm. Norm fears he might be hitting on him. Danny feels neglected by his father.
Laurie gets a new boyfriend but can't seem to fall asleep with him so she gets Norm to put her to sleep. Larry gets a girlfriend but finds out that she works for a toupee company she's just using him because he got a new toupee. Norm likes a girl who's in love with his fiery temper he used to have during his hockey years.
Norm goes drinking with a client and wakes up in rehab. He finds out that if he's an alcoholic he has less work to do so he fakes being an alcoholic. When he's asked to give a speech he exposes his lie.
Mr. Curtis leaves when he tries to kill Norm. Laurie thinks she's the new boss but the job is appointed to someone else. Norm loves Mr. Denby, the new boss, because he doesn't want Norm to do anything. Laurie on the other hand hates him. That is until he gives the job of co-supervisor. She hates the job when she learns she has to fire a co-worker, so she quits. Norm and Danny try to get her job back by getting Mr. Denby fired for racial slurs. Mr. Denby however never said anything wrong but Norm tells him that he's a Gypsy(which is a lie) and was offended when Mr. Denby said that he had gotten gypped. The trick worked and Laurie got her job back.
Norm tells Mr. Denby's son that he should follow his dreams but Mr. Denby wants his son to go to military school. Norm thinks that if he Jason prepares a meal for his father (Mr. Denby) he'll see that his son a real talent. After eating the meal Jason tells Norm that the secret ingredient is marijuana. Norm and Mr. Denby are stoned and Norm has to face his probation officer.
Norm goes drinking and accidentally sleeps with a really annoying and rude woman everyone at the office hates. Danny has a client who's extremely hairy. Laurie needs to get her driver's license to drive a van for ""Meals For the Homeless"".
Norm, embarrassed about being the new "Agony of Defeat" on ABC's Wide World of Sports, asks to be reinstated into hockey so he can play in a charity game and regain his somewhat good name. They choose against it so he takes on a high profile case in hopes that they'll change their minds.
Norm's old coach comes back to train him so he can play in the charity hockey game. His coach is not as Norm remembers him, he is now really overweiht Norm also finds out that his coach is the one who ratted him out to the IRS. So he fires him and hires Danny.
Norm asks Laurie to help him get a date with a new probation officer. He also gets Taylor Clayton a job as a receptionist at the office.
Norm tries to impress Shelly by getting her little brother a Hank Aaron rookie card. To get the money for the card he has to breed Wiener Dog.
Norm's half brother comes to town and he helps Laurie get toys for orphans.
Danny copes with the loss of his father. Laurie helps Norm get over his fear of death.
Norm starts gambling again, which ruins his chances with Shelly, or so he thinks.
Laurie runs for public office and Norm tries to help her destroy the opposition.
Norm accidentally tells Shelly he loves her. Laurie's campaign video is inappropriately shown right after the news of Councilman Krantz's death.
While trying to help a guy quit gambling Norm starts gambling again and lands himself, Laurie and Danny in jail.
Norm, Laurie and Danny get bailed out of jail but there isn't money to get Artie out so Norm has to gamble to get him out. Taylor fears she might get fired.
Norm and Mr. Denby compete for the same woman. Laurie confronts a ghost from her past.
Norm gets a kid off the streets and trains him to become a boxer but later finds out that he's no kid, he's 27.
Norm tries to instill some Christmas cheer into Laurie. Danny shows Taylor how much he likes her by giving her a 5000$ bracelet for Christmas. Laurie accidentally shoots Artie.
Laurie's twin sister visits and she sleeps with Norm because she thinks that Norm is Laurie's boyfriend. Taylor and Danny finally go out and Danny punches out a guy who calls Taylor a hooker.
Norm's landlady decides to move in until Norm pays the three months rent he owes her. So to earn money he takes a job driving models, only they're not models but hookers. He quits when he finds out and becomes a male prostitute because it pays 2000$ an hour but Taylor intervenes and Norm quits.
Laurie sets Norm up with a friend of hers who just broke up with a millionaire.
Norm tries to win back Jenny but Kevin, Jenny's fiancé, tries to bribe Norm so he'll stop talking to Jenny. He offers to get Norm back into professional hockey and a date with the Dahm triplets but Norm won't accept his offer.
Norm crashes Jenny's wedding because he doesn't want her to marry Fitz. He tells her he wants to marry her but he wants to wait until her mother dies. Her mother drugged Norm and locked him in a closet so he couldn't ruin the wedding but Norm kicked a hole through the door to free himself. Jenny told Fitz she didn't love him and she went back to Norm.
When Norm throws his back out he's afraid to go to the doctor so Laurie, Danny and Artie tell him that they'll conquer their fears if Norm will conquer his and go to the doctor's.
Fitz tries to get even with Norm for stealing Jenny from him by trying to ruin his and Jenny's lives.
Norm tries to cheer up Laurie by giving her a party and inviting all her success stories but accidentally invites all of her failures, which incites her to work harder. Danny is afraid that an old friend of Taylor's is trying to steal her away from him.
When Mr. Denby's job is on the line he threatens to be a tougher boss unless Norm starts showing him some respect and stops making fun of him. Laurie is dating an overacting soap opera star.
Someone in the office has a crush on Norm and Laurie finds out that it's Taylor. Danny wants to ask Taylor to marry him but when Norm finds out that Taylor's the one with the crush he tries to stop Danny from proposing but it's too late and Taylor already accepted.
Norm tries to discourage Taylor from being attracted to him but it doesn't work because she leaves Danny. Norm faces eviction.
When Norm causes a prison riot Mr. Denby has a law passed called the Norm law requiring social workers to be properly trained in the area of social work.
Norm has an after school study group and he takes them trick-or-treating but the rich won't give them candy so he goes to a Halloween party dressed up as a fireman to impress Shelley but it doesn't work because the fire department shows up after Mr. Denby, dressed up as Gene Simmons, accidentally sets fire to one of the bathroom stalls. Laurie is looking for a man but winds up getting hit on by a woman. Danny starts to date a new woman and he dresses her up to look like Taylor.
Norm tries to get Laurie's lesbian friend to sleep with him but it doesn't work so he tries to get her to switch teams. Danny tries to cope with his break-up by cleaning.
When Laurie starts dating a younger guy Norm tries his hand at dating a younger woman.
Norm starts dating an older woman and finds out that she's Dale's mom. Laurie and Dale break up because she wasn't mothering him and Danny finds out that he's related to Hitler.
Norm plays tennis with Shelly and he starts to let her win when he finds out that winning turns her on. Artie seeks Laurie's help when he wants to lose weight.
Norm, Shelly, Laurie, Danny and Mr. Denby take in orphans while they can find a family who's willing to adopt all of them. They find a family that's willing to take them all but one because he has a criminal record.
Norm and Mr. Denby have to go to social workers school and they get kicked out when Mr. Denby tries cheating off of Norm. Danny and Shelly pretend to be the married couple who where Billy's previous foster parents so he can be adopted.
Norm agrees to go to group therapy and discovers that the reason he has problems with Mr. Denby is because he has issues with his father. Danny and Artie invest in a weight loss gadget but then discover the horrible side effects.
Norm confronts his father and his father has a heart attack. Laurie discovers that Norm's father is verbally abusive towards Norm because his father is the same way towards him. Mr. Denby thinks he and Shelley are dating because they attended the symphony and it makes Danny jealous.
When Mr. Denby can't get Norm fired for invading his privacy he quits and Laurie is put in charge but she can't handle the work load so Norm gets Mr. Denby fired from his other job so he can come back to work. Danny tells Shelley he has feelings for her and wants to know if she has feelings for him and she responds by holding his hands.
Laurie teaches Mr. Denby how to dance. Danny tells Norm that he and Shelley are dating and Norm tries to find new friends to replace Danny and Shelley but then Taylor returns and Norm makes out with her.
After sleeping with Norm Taylor tells him that she's still in love with Danny but she doesn't want Norm to tell him. Norm tells him anyway and Danny suggests that Taylor and Shelley both date him at the same time. Mr. Denby complains to Laurie about the conditions in the men's room.
Mr. Denby takes Norm to court for possession of the puppies that his dog Fifi had with Wiener Dog. Norm is thrown out when he can't pay the rent.
Mr. Denby and Danny go on a business trip and try to pick up women but have no luck. Norm uses Mr. Denby's apartment for a date and gets him evicted when the landlady finds out he has a dog so he has to move in with Laurie as well.
When Shelley returns she sees that Norm is fat so he recounts the story that led to his vast weight gain.
Norm and Laurie fake a relationship and it helps Laurie get a man while Norm discovers that Shelley is still in love with him. Mr. Denby is afraid to catch Danny's cold.
Norm and Laurie take care of an orphan from Cuba until he comes clean and tells them that he's not an orphan he just ran away from home.
Norm is freed from his community service early and a monkey attacks Danny.
Norm is hired as Mr. Sweeney's assistant and he then blackmails him to get the benefits back. A psychic tells Shelley that she and Norm will be married.
After being shocked Norm gains the ability to hear other men's thoughts and he uses it to his advantage when he finds out that an old boyfriend of Shelley's is trying to steal her away from him.
