Settings
Click Here To PrintWhoopi Episode Guide
1 :01x01 - Pilot
Writer: Terry Turner, Bonnie Turner
Director: Terry Hughes
Guest star: David Fofi (I.N.S. Agent), Enrico Colantoni (Victor)
Whoopi Goldberg plays sassy Mavis Rae, a former pop star who owns and runs a small Manhattan hotel. In the opener, Mavis locks horns with a TV salesman and feuds with her conservative brother (Wren T. Brown), a lawyer who aids her in an INS tangle involving the hotel's emotional handyman-turned-concierge, Nasim (Omid Djalili).
2 :01x02 - Don't Hide Your Bag
Writer: Mike Chessler, Chris Alberghini
Director: Terry Hughes
Guest star: Bryan Hearne (Kid)
In the tumultuous aftermath of a bomb scare at the hotel that sends guests scurrying, Mavis confronts her worst fear: claustrophobia.
3 :01x03 - Once Bitten...
A ferret bite sends Mavis to an emergency room, where she gets rabid with a nurse while waiting, and waiting, to be treated for her wound. Back at the hotel, Nasim attempts to take charge and winds up tangling with housekeeper Jadwiga.
4 :01x04 - Shout
City-code violations rile Mavis and Nasim, who's cited for spitting after eating a hot pepper. It's a case Mavis decides to take to court, despite Nasim's insistence that he'll plead guilty to avoid a judicial confrontation.
5 :01x05 - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Ice-hockey buff Mavis scores a prime seat---right beside a vision-impaired, romantically inclined fan (Ruben Santiago-Hudson). The NHL's Anson Carter and Scott Stevens play themselves in cameos.
6 :01x06 - The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
A surprise visit to the hotel by President George W. Bush (Steve Bridges) rattles liberal Mavis, who's misquoted as being his “No. 1 fan.” Later, Mavis reluctantly attends a presidential soiree, with awestruck Courtney in tow.
7 :01x07 - She Ain't Heavy, She's My Partner
Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Moesha”) plays a flashy member of Mavis's former pop trio, whose arrival reawakens catty jealousies and proves especially discomforting to Courtney, who has a very private reason for chagrin.
8 :01x08 - Rita Plays Poker
Luck is a lady for Rita at a poker game with Mavis and her cronies, while Courtney makes a big deal of her “misbehavior.” When he acts like what his sister calls “a baby,” he imperils a meeting with lawyers who might hire him.
9 :01x09 - Sticky Fingers
On this episode, Mavis is a shoplifter? No way. Still, she's riled by the bogus charge and seizes the chance to clear her name on TV. Big mistake. Keith Richards and Phil Collins appear in cameos.
10 :01x10 - Mother's Little Helper
Diahann Carroll plays Mavis's mom Viveca, whose mood swings from sweet to sour when she's off her antidepressant medication. Carl Gordon (“Roc”) portrays Viveca's husband, a sympathetic, subdued spouse.
11 :01x11 - The Fat and the Frivolous
On this episode, a lawsuit ensnarls Mavis with the emotional-distress claims of a hotel guest, represented by a hotshot lawyer (Michael Emerson) who intimidates Courtney, but not Mavis.
12 :01x12 - American Woman
On this episode, Eli Wallach plays a pot-smoking hotel guest, using marijuana medicinally with his free-spirited caretaker, Marian (Rue McClanahan). Their stay outrages Courtney until he gets high over Marian's specially flavored lemon squares on it.
13 :01x13 - Airplane!
Fear of flying besets Mavis, who's forced to confront her phobia at a flight-simulating school. She tangles with the psychologist in charge and has a telling wrangle with Rita. Anderson: Christopher Evan Welsh.
14 :01x14 - Is Rita Pregnant?
When Rita suspects she's pregnant, Courtney decides to get a job, and a ring. Rita: Elizabeth Regen.
15 :01x15 - The Last Dance
Patrick Swayze, Whoopi's costar in “Ghost,” plays Mavis's former choreographer, a onetime party animal who has “found Jesus” and drastically changed his ways. The guy even seeks to convert hard-living Mavis.
16 :01x16 - No Sex in the City
On this episode, It's party time for the girls, all dolled up, boozing it up and whooping it up at a trendy nitery to celebrate Soo Lin's upcoming wedding, which she's beginning to dread. It's not long, of course, before the party gets way out of hand.
17 :01x17 - What Child is This?
A bratty boy pesters Mavis, who's further piqued by the lad's pesky dad, a GOP functionary (Scott Bryce) who offers Courtney a job with President Bush's reelection campaign.
18 :01x18 - Don't Hide Love
A gay marriage troubles Mavis because one of the parties is her cousin (Portia), who wants to hold the event at the hotel on a booked night. Seems that Courtney is hosting a GOP soiree: the Republican Inclusion Coalition.
19 :01x19 - The Squatter
Celeste Holm plays an addled, testy hotel resident who provokes Mavis and is relocated to an assisted-living facility that is far from cozy.
20 :01x20 - Identity Crisis (a.k.a. Identity Theft)
After becoming a victim of idenitity theft, Mavis starts to secretly suspect Rita (Elizabeth Regen), who has a secret of her own about a poker game she has set up to help Mavis make some fast cash.
21 :01x21 - Strange Bedfellows
A dating service lures Nasim, whose matchup bears a startling similarity to his tormenting nemesis: the smart-alecky Jadwiga. Also, Rita's insouciance bewitches a GOP functionary, who has ulterior motives in hiring her.
22 :01x22 - Sins of the Sister
Dirty politics entangle Mavis with an old crony, an assemblyman who's smearing an opponent, Courtney, who hasn't a clue about how to retaliate. Mavis, however, does know how to play hardball