After a brief stint as a staff writer during the tumultuous 1989-90 season of "Roseanne", Paymer served as a story editor on ABC's "Davis Rules", an amiable family sitcom vehicle for Randy Quaid and Jonathan Winters. This led to a two-year tenure as co-producer and writer on NBC's well-regarded "Mad About You", where he made his first guest shots as Dutch, a fast-talking video store clerk. Paymer went on to co-produce the unsuccessful Dabney Coleman vehicle "Madman of the People" (NBC, 1994-95) and part of the first season of the "The Single Guy" on the same network before leaving to pursue an acting career as a regular on "Boston Common".