Howard and paul. No mention they are identical.
"Howard's Girl" is a very strange episode. This is because in this show, Paul Arnell (Richard Schaal) is Mary's new boyfriend...and Schaal already appeared on the show in the second episode as Howard Arnell...Paul's brother. So here's why it's so weird...Richard Schaal plays BOTH characters and both are NOT supposed to be identical twins. This must have confused a few people, that's for sure. It also must have felt funny to Valerie Harper (Rhoda), as Schaal was her real life husband at the time! Confusing!
The episode begins with Mary telling Rhoda and Murray that she was interested in Paul Arnell, as she's seen him a few times recently about a congressman he's working for and they've hit it off. She hopes he'll ask her out...and he does. However, when he brings her home, his parents act as if Mary is Howard's girlfriend and they're looking forward to a wedding...even though she only went out with him a few times and prefers Paul. Talk about awkward.
While this isn't a bad episode, it sure is confusing (as I talked about above). It's interesting and worth seeing...but strange.