Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - M.Y.O.B.: Cast Photo

M.Y.O.B. aired from June 6-27, 2000 on NBC.

Riley ( Katherine Towne) was a sarcastic, worldly teenager, raised in a foster home in Ohio, who made her way to Gossett, California, 20 miles south of the Oregon boarder, in search of her long lost birth parents. Enrolling in Gossett High, she immediately dumped herself on the doorstep of assistant principal Opal( Lauren Graham), whom she announced was her aunt.. Opal, a lonely arrogant woman, didn't believe her at first, but it appeared to be true. There were some laughs and a lot of heartfelt emotion as persistent Riley moved in with the reluctant Opal and got her to help, while using her street smarts to track down clues. Was her mother, Opal's sister, a psycho who got pregnant in High School and then moved to Finland? Maybe, maybe not. Clever Riley also helped Opal break out of her shell, getting her promoted to principal, and helping her open up. Mitch ( Paul Fitzgerald) was the hunky assistant principal and object of Opal's unrequited affection; Lisa ( Amanda Detmer), a sexy teacher who was dating Mitch, and A.J.( Colin Mortenson), the dumb office assistant.

The title , by the way, stood for " mind your own business."

A Review from The New York Times

TELEVISION REVIEW; Mom Died in a Shootout, but This Kid's O.K.
By RON WERTHEIMER
Published: June 6, 2000

''M.Y.O.B.,'' which begins tonight on NBC, is electroplated with attitude. That coating scratches easily, though, revealing the sentimentality underneath.

The sitcom, from a concept by Don Roos, writer and director of the film ''The Opposite of Sex,'' strikes a subversive pose, as if it were the opposite of network television. Much of its humor is directed at the medium's dumb conventions. But the darts it throws have rubber tips; they hit the target without inflicting damage.

From the first lines of narration from a 16-year-old girl named Riley (Katherine Towne), you can hear the show straining to be cool. When first encountered, Riley, a tough-talking little blonde in tight clothes, has just flown into San Francisco. She accepts a cab ride from a giggling ninny with a lecherous look.

''Don't worry,'' Riley tells you. ''Nothing bad happens to me. This isn't a TV movie where I like end up murdered and my mom has to pose as a hooker to help track down the murderer.'' True to her word, Riley outfoxes the guy after she gets a free meal in his hotel room, meanwhile sprinkling her narration with wry remarks about television in general and other NBC series in particular.

But speaking of her mom: that's who she's looking for. See, Riley was adopted as a baby, but when she was 4 her adoptive mother died in a post office shootout. (''She was the idiot with the gun.'') How she got from then to now isn't specified.

Riley has a copy of what might be her birth certificate, hacked from a government computer, which leads her to a woman she thinks is her birth mother's sister Opal (Lauren Graham), an earnest assistant principal in a Northern California high school. Opal's sister, Pearl (yes, some of this is funny), who moved to Finland with her guru 14 years ago, says by e-mail that she never had a baby. But even Opal allows that crazy Pearl might not remember.

In short order the love-starved Opal must cope with the arrival of someone claiming to be her kin, the sudden death of the school's principal and his quick replacement by Opal's crumb of an ex-boyfriend, Mitch (Paul Fitzgerald), whom Opal still loves even though he dumped her long ago and has now stolen the job she deserved. Whew!

Anyway, Opal takes Riley home. They start bonding. Riley tells her, ''Maybe you're worth more than you think.'' Then Riley blackmails the school superintendent (the creep who picked her up at the airport) into making Opal principal after all.

Next week Riley plays little miss fix-it again when Opal has a falling-out with her best friend.

So which is it? Subversive anti-sitcom or warm and fuzzy? ''M.Y.O.B.'' -- that stands of course for ''mind your own business,'' which Riley cannot do -- tries to split the difference. And despite its ironic veneer, the show just doesn't have enough difference to split.

At the end of tonight's episode, which Mr. Roos wrote, Riley throws down a challenge: ''So you don't wanna watch? Hey, that's O.K. 'Law and Order' is bound to be on somewhere.'' Great. Where?

M.Y.O.B.
NBC, tonight at 9:30
(Channel 4 in New York)

Don Roos and Ann Donahue, executive producers; David Codron, consulting producer; Mimi Friedman and Jeanette Collins, co-executive producers; Amy Engelberg, Wendy Engelberg, Jack Clements, Jimmy Aleck and Jim Kelly, producers; directed by Bryan Gordon. An NBC Studios Production.

WITH: Katharine Towne (Riley Veatch), Lauren Graham (Opal), Paul Fitzgerald (Mitch Levitt), Colin Mortensen (A.J.) and Amanda Detmer (Lisa Overbeck).

For some more pictures of Katherine Towne go to http://www.icelebz.com/celebs/katherine_towne/

For pictures of Lauren Graham go to http://www.hollywood.com/photo/Lauren_Graham_Lauren_Graham/2400555/3804015

Are you addicted to Lauren Graham? Go here... http://www.laurengraham.de/

For another Lauren Graham website go to http://lauren-online.net/