Helen Hunt began a prolific acting career as a child, appearing in several television series and made-for-TV movies, beginning with her debut in Pioneer Woman (1973). Fame finally found her with Mad About You (1992—1999), an NBC sitcom about the evolving relationship of the Buchmans, a young married couple. As Jamie Buchman, a role that earned her several Emmys, Hunt explored the difficult marital and career challenges of the 1990s. Her success with both the public and the critics in Mad About You and in the movie The Waterdance (1992) earned Hunt leading roles in the special-effects blockbuster Twister (1996) and the moving comedy-drama As Good As It Gets (1997), for which she won an Academy Award.