Glee
Oh, I see, they had Quinn get in a car accident so they could throw her in a wheelchair (in spite of there being no physical evidence whatsoever that she sustained so much as a paper cut) and pair her up with Artie, because this is the show that unimaginatively paired up two Asians, two Blacks, two Jews, two blonds, and two cheerleaders. According to Glee, you need to have something visibly in common with someone in order to hook up with them. Or you need to be Sam and Mercedes, who couldn't have less in common visibly but that's okay because their relationship was never visible, either. And the star quality of Blaine's brother was greatly exaggerated. He's been in ONE series of commercials, but everyone kept saying how he was such a big, successful superstar. His fame level would, in reality, be just under that of the Old Spice guy, yet everyone's pretending he's Justin Bieber. However, I did find his terrible acting advice funny, so at least there was something about this episode I enjoyed.
New Girl
A somewhat average episode this week, except for the scenes where they played "True American". I have no idea what that is, but I have played my share of "The Floor is Lava" in my youth. Good times.
Survivor: One World
This episode was mostly just a lot of scrambling as each gender became paranoid about the other, but the highlight was Tarzan losing the immunity challenge even before Jeff finished saying "This challenge is on." That was just funny, and probably the fastest challenge elimination in Survivor history.
Community
Sad but true that women with low self esteem are into guys who treat them like crap. And low self esteem is common thanks to media pressure and inter-female cattiness, so all the douchebags are getting way more women than they deserve. However, I don't understand how that would make Britta full-on addicted to Blade rather than just attracted to him. Nowhere near my favourite episode of the season, but still some good laughs, such as everyone constantly asking why the Dean was at Troy and Abed's apartment, Pierce finally becoming a welcome member of the group - for about two minutes, and Abed's extremely specific stand-up routine.
30 Rock
The Woggles song at the end was great, and in addition to "Dean Cain", I believe I saw "The Lorax" on Jenna's sexual walkabout list. I don't really have any warmth for Jack's relationship with his mother, though. I'm more a fan of his unusual friendship with Liz.
The Office
I liked the opening tag with everyone forgetting whether Stanley had a moustache or not, and Jim and Pam sabotaging the magician was mildly amusing, but otherwise this episode was a little hard to watch. It made almost every character look like a jerk at various points, and as I've said in the past, I don't find Nellie funny.
Up All Night
This was probably the best episode since the pilot, which isn't saying much, but thanks to the use of Julian and the semi-sweet re-proposal scene, it was largely a success. The "wife lost her ring" is another sitcom story that's been done a lot, but I think they improved on it by setting up the idea that Reagan originally proposed to Chris first, and then having her give him the moment back at the end. If there's one good thing that came out of this show, it's that it humanized Will Arnett when people have stated that they find his screen presence weird or creepy.
Awake
Not as epic as last week (seems to be the case for most of the shows this week), but entertaining nonetheless. It feels like they teased us with the conspiracy thing just to remind us that it's there, and then didn't really make much progress with it (interesting tidbit, though, that Harper has enough of a heart not to want Mike dead). But I shouldn't be expecting a TV show plot to be fast-paced, because that's not how serialized television works.
Fringe
The scene where Astrid gives her alternate self (perhaps she can be called Asprid, since she has something akin to Asperger's?) a can of coffee is probably the cutest thing that's ever happened on Fringe. But I thought the frequency matching to cause destruction to both sides was an interesting idea, even though I have no clue why Jones would want to do that, assuming he has a motive beyond being psychotic. Fauxlivia seemed fairly distressed over Alt-Lincoln's death. I'm betting it will push her toward our Lincoln finally landing himself a Dunham.
Hero of the Week: Both Astrids from Fringe. If you watched it, you know why.
Douchebag of the Week: Nellie from The Office. Please go back to England.
Showing posts with label up all night. Show all posts
Showing posts with label up all night. Show all posts
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
This Week in Television - Apr. 1-6, 2012
Once Upon a Time
I'm not sure why they want us to sympathize with Regina, but it doesn't work. She's already been too horrible for me to feel sorry for her. This episode might have worked better than the one earlier in the season where she lost her father, except wanting vengeance on someone who wronged you inadvertently because they don't know any better isn't exactly a just cause. But it turned out to be brilliant casting, having the little girl from Bridge to Terabithia play young Snow White. Her resemblance to Ginnifer Goodwin in her facial expressions and performance was eerie.
New Girl
Winston's monologue at the end of the episode was worthy of applause, clearing people out and fixing everything just so he could enjoy his weekend. Nick's highly disturbed and disgusted reaction to Schmidt and Cece was also a highlight, in a different way than Winston's was last week. And I enjoyed the cameo by David Wain, who directed this episode, as a runner in the marathon. But I have to say it: can't blame the guys for thinking about Jess when they go solo.
Survivor: One World
Kim was the star of this episode, and seems to be the smartest person left in the game, so I am rooting for her. Although I don't like the idea of Alicia being carried by that alliance.
Community
While I had some minor problems with last week's episode, I wasn't expecting part two to arbitrarily be a parody of a Civil War documentary. The awesomeness of that makes me more forgiving of last week's outing because it was a set-up for this. It was done so perfectly. They even added the PBS telethon at the end, which was a nice touch, and snuck in a little Dan Harmon cameo in one of the "historical" paintings.
30 Rock
30 Rock has more or less already done versions of the stories in this episode (remember when Jack got Pete to wear a hairpiece to instill confidence, Jenna got revenge on the writers by locking them on the roof naked, and Tracy became more responsible at his job when he and Liz switched minority roles?), and perhaps last week's episode about repetition was a way for them to sneakily get away with this week's plot recycling, but the important thing is that it was funny. 30 Rock usually puts jokes above story and character, anyway, and that's fine with me. I think my favourite was Dr. Spaceman's line as he inserted the mini troll pencil topper into Tracy's nose: "Goodbye, only evidence tying me to my ex-wife's disappearance."
Up All Night
The one thing I chuckled at this time was Fred Armisen as Ava's physical trainer, inexplicably using Don Henley as a motivator for her. But otherwise it was mostly going for the easy, predictable jokes, as this show often does. On an unrelated side note, why did NBC feel they had to put Parks and Recreation on hiatus when The Office hasn't aired a new episode in a month? The whole reason they took it off was because there were too many Thursday comedies and not enough timeslots, but they just wasted four weeks of opportunity (okay, three, because 30 Rock had a double in there). Ah well, Up All Night finishes next week and then Parks is back.
Awake
That was one of the most entertaining episodes yet, and highly thought-provoking throughout, thanks to Mike's confusion and hallucinations. Being injected into unconsciousness in the red world made the green world, once again, seem like the dream, because it just feels more logical to go into a dream from that rather than wake up from it, live a whole day in the green world, then go back to sleep and continue right where you left off. The penguin, in my opinion, is meant to be a red herring. It appears in both worlds, but it showed up in green first and then, also in green, we learned where it came from. Seeing as it is a hallucination either way, it doesn't really matter where it came from. Being in both worlds just makes green's reality a little more deceptively plausible due to the uncertainty of the penguin's genesis - i.e. it is as equally possible that Mike pulled it out of the dream as it is that he put it into the dream, because the penguin book exists in his memory. Hallucinating Dr. Lee in the hospital, however, is different. If the green world turns out to be real then Lee is a major clue, because if Mike can imagine Lee and his stock of psychological advice whenever he wants, who's to say he isn't always imagining Dr. Lee? But it is for this reason that Lee may also be a red herring if the red world is real. The fact that Dr. Lee never made an appearance in the green world may also be significant. My brain is hurting now.
Fringe
I'm actually kind of surprised that Lincoln became a big enough character to have an episode centered on him, because to me he's always felt somewhat insignificant to the show. I mean he's important to the Fringe team, but to the show itself, he's just kind of there not being noticed by Olivia. But he was used very well here to demonstrate why the current iteration of our universe, which had gotten along without an adult Peter until recently, is slightly different than we remember it. It's not just the absence of Peter, because the alt-world was always Peterless; that this iteration had no Peter in either universe, yet they still differ from each other, lends credence to free will and the idea that if you kept resetting the world, it would play out a little differently every time. But not 100% different; there are still certain time landmarks that will always happen and can be used by the observers as checkpoints. Or something.
Hero of the Week: Winston from New Girl, for his awesomely funny and effective monologue that was topped off by having a bowl of cereal.
Douchebag of the Week: Regina/Evil Queen from Once Upon a Time, because she apparently doesn't understand when vengeance is justified.
I'm not sure why they want us to sympathize with Regina, but it doesn't work. She's already been too horrible for me to feel sorry for her. This episode might have worked better than the one earlier in the season where she lost her father, except wanting vengeance on someone who wronged you inadvertently because they don't know any better isn't exactly a just cause. But it turned out to be brilliant casting, having the little girl from Bridge to Terabithia play young Snow White. Her resemblance to Ginnifer Goodwin in her facial expressions and performance was eerie.
New Girl
Winston's monologue at the end of the episode was worthy of applause, clearing people out and fixing everything just so he could enjoy his weekend. Nick's highly disturbed and disgusted reaction to Schmidt and Cece was also a highlight, in a different way than Winston's was last week. And I enjoyed the cameo by David Wain, who directed this episode, as a runner in the marathon. But I have to say it: can't blame the guys for thinking about Jess when they go solo.
Survivor: One World
Kim was the star of this episode, and seems to be the smartest person left in the game, so I am rooting for her. Although I don't like the idea of Alicia being carried by that alliance.
Community
While I had some minor problems with last week's episode, I wasn't expecting part two to arbitrarily be a parody of a Civil War documentary. The awesomeness of that makes me more forgiving of last week's outing because it was a set-up for this. It was done so perfectly. They even added the PBS telethon at the end, which was a nice touch, and snuck in a little Dan Harmon cameo in one of the "historical" paintings.
30 Rock
30 Rock has more or less already done versions of the stories in this episode (remember when Jack got Pete to wear a hairpiece to instill confidence, Jenna got revenge on the writers by locking them on the roof naked, and Tracy became more responsible at his job when he and Liz switched minority roles?), and perhaps last week's episode about repetition was a way for them to sneakily get away with this week's plot recycling, but the important thing is that it was funny. 30 Rock usually puts jokes above story and character, anyway, and that's fine with me. I think my favourite was Dr. Spaceman's line as he inserted the mini troll pencil topper into Tracy's nose: "Goodbye, only evidence tying me to my ex-wife's disappearance."
Up All Night
The one thing I chuckled at this time was Fred Armisen as Ava's physical trainer, inexplicably using Don Henley as a motivator for her. But otherwise it was mostly going for the easy, predictable jokes, as this show often does. On an unrelated side note, why did NBC feel they had to put Parks and Recreation on hiatus when The Office hasn't aired a new episode in a month? The whole reason they took it off was because there were too many Thursday comedies and not enough timeslots, but they just wasted four weeks of opportunity (okay, three, because 30 Rock had a double in there). Ah well, Up All Night finishes next week and then Parks is back.
Awake
That was one of the most entertaining episodes yet, and highly thought-provoking throughout, thanks to Mike's confusion and hallucinations. Being injected into unconsciousness in the red world made the green world, once again, seem like the dream, because it just feels more logical to go into a dream from that rather than wake up from it, live a whole day in the green world, then go back to sleep and continue right where you left off. The penguin, in my opinion, is meant to be a red herring. It appears in both worlds, but it showed up in green first and then, also in green, we learned where it came from. Seeing as it is a hallucination either way, it doesn't really matter where it came from. Being in both worlds just makes green's reality a little more deceptively plausible due to the uncertainty of the penguin's genesis - i.e. it is as equally possible that Mike pulled it out of the dream as it is that he put it into the dream, because the penguin book exists in his memory. Hallucinating Dr. Lee in the hospital, however, is different. If the green world turns out to be real then Lee is a major clue, because if Mike can imagine Lee and his stock of psychological advice whenever he wants, who's to say he isn't always imagining Dr. Lee? But it is for this reason that Lee may also be a red herring if the red world is real. The fact that Dr. Lee never made an appearance in the green world may also be significant. My brain is hurting now.
Fringe
I'm actually kind of surprised that Lincoln became a big enough character to have an episode centered on him, because to me he's always felt somewhat insignificant to the show. I mean he's important to the Fringe team, but to the show itself, he's just kind of there not being noticed by Olivia. But he was used very well here to demonstrate why the current iteration of our universe, which had gotten along without an adult Peter until recently, is slightly different than we remember it. It's not just the absence of Peter, because the alt-world was always Peterless; that this iteration had no Peter in either universe, yet they still differ from each other, lends credence to free will and the idea that if you kept resetting the world, it would play out a little differently every time. But not 100% different; there are still certain time landmarks that will always happen and can be used by the observers as checkpoints. Or something.
Hero of the Week: Winston from New Girl, for his awesomely funny and effective monologue that was topped off by having a bowl of cereal.
Douchebag of the Week: Regina/Evil Queen from Once Upon a Time, because she apparently doesn't understand when vengeance is justified.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
This Week in Television - Mar. 25-30, 2012
Once Upon a Time
It was interesting that they gave a reason behind the Mad Hatter making all those hats, but like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland I don't think it's within the spirit of the original setting to apply logic to any of the characters or events from Carroll's work. I like that Emma is starting to believe in the fairy tales, because it takes the show in a new direction. Maybe that mysterious "writer" who came to town intended to make Emma believe so that she could break the curse and then, if he really is a writer, he intends to write the fairy tale book about Emma saving Storybrooke.
New Girl
While funny, I think this episode was somewhat forgettable, but the best part for me was Winston's reaction to Schmidt and Cece. Way to be funny again, Winston. Not really buying the chemistry between Jess and Russell as a romantic couple. Friends, maybe, but I think there is too much difference in both age and lifestyle for it not to be a little weird. But as I said last week, I support the prolonging of a Jess/Nick hookup.
Survivor: One World
Sometimes the players get rid of "threats" way too early, and sometimes they don't get rid of them at all even when there's a perfect opportunity. Why is everybody worrying about the jury when there isn't even a jury yet? If you're going to vote out a threat when there's 12 people left, you vote for someone who is good at challenges, not Jonas. But Tarzan trying to convince everyone that it was dirt in his underpants and not poop was funny.
Community
I can't put my finger on it, but something about the storylines in this episode didn't quite feel like Community. Maybe it was because there were three seperate sub-groups and not enough time with the whole cast together. I don't know. It felt off. But the Britta/Subway romance was funny, which also led to Pierce hilariously drinking a dangerously unhealthy amount of ink. I don't think I enjoyed the fort-building as much, because Troy and Abed are so great to watch as friends that I actually feel a sense of melancholic disharmony watching them fight. Maybe that's what nagged me about this one.
30 Rock
I love Jack's "shower principle." It's completely true: the mind creates good ideas to entertain itself when the body is busy with mundane activities. Or at least mine does. I like the idea that a journal can be a cheat sheet for a predictable, repetitive lifestyle, although it suggests that Liz's solutions are just temporary fixes and not preventative measures. While Liz drew comparisons between Hazel and Kenneth because they're both weird pages, Hazel actually acted more like Jenna in this episode: psychotically selfish.
Up All Night
Surprisingly, I found something funny in this episode, and that was Julian's sleaziness ("Is this the 'ladies I'd like to do it with' convention?"). I wish they would use him more, but he is a sparse tertiary character.
Awake
When they throw out these episodes that hint someone knows about Mike's double life, it makes the show more interesting than just a police procedural with a cool twist, so I'm all for it. If this Gemini knows about the dual worlds, then it's possible that either he is himself experiencing the same thing, or, because I believe the green world is a dream, he is the part of Mike's subconscious that secretly wants to know which world is real, the part that Mike has to fight if he wants things to remain the way they are. I kind of want Mike to go to Oregon just to see what that would be like.
Fringe
It's almost ingeniously lazy to reuse a case from a previous season but be able to tweak it because of the new rules of this season. I really liked the idea of Walter saving up gifts for Peter; it provided some nice moments. In fact, I think I enjoy Walter and Peter's father/son relationship more than the Peter/Olivia romance. Lincoln tasting the smoothie antidote was also a highlight due to how funny it was. Poor sap is into Olivia in every universe but he's stuck in the friend zone. It's his own fault for not liking peanut butter.
Hero of the Week: Walter from Fringe, for caring enough to get his dead son some beer and porn.
Douchebag of the Week: Vice Dean Laybourne from Community, for disturbing the Troy/Abed friendship. THEIR HANDSHAKE INVOLVES HEART PATTING!
It was interesting that they gave a reason behind the Mad Hatter making all those hats, but like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland I don't think it's within the spirit of the original setting to apply logic to any of the characters or events from Carroll's work. I like that Emma is starting to believe in the fairy tales, because it takes the show in a new direction. Maybe that mysterious "writer" who came to town intended to make Emma believe so that she could break the curse and then, if he really is a writer, he intends to write the fairy tale book about Emma saving Storybrooke.
New Girl
While funny, I think this episode was somewhat forgettable, but the best part for me was Winston's reaction to Schmidt and Cece. Way to be funny again, Winston. Not really buying the chemistry between Jess and Russell as a romantic couple. Friends, maybe, but I think there is too much difference in both age and lifestyle for it not to be a little weird. But as I said last week, I support the prolonging of a Jess/Nick hookup.
Survivor: One World
Sometimes the players get rid of "threats" way too early, and sometimes they don't get rid of them at all even when there's a perfect opportunity. Why is everybody worrying about the jury when there isn't even a jury yet? If you're going to vote out a threat when there's 12 people left, you vote for someone who is good at challenges, not Jonas. But Tarzan trying to convince everyone that it was dirt in his underpants and not poop was funny.
Community
I can't put my finger on it, but something about the storylines in this episode didn't quite feel like Community. Maybe it was because there were three seperate sub-groups and not enough time with the whole cast together. I don't know. It felt off. But the Britta/Subway romance was funny, which also led to Pierce hilariously drinking a dangerously unhealthy amount of ink. I don't think I enjoyed the fort-building as much, because Troy and Abed are so great to watch as friends that I actually feel a sense of melancholic disharmony watching them fight. Maybe that's what nagged me about this one.
30 Rock
I love Jack's "shower principle." It's completely true: the mind creates good ideas to entertain itself when the body is busy with mundane activities. Or at least mine does. I like the idea that a journal can be a cheat sheet for a predictable, repetitive lifestyle, although it suggests that Liz's solutions are just temporary fixes and not preventative measures. While Liz drew comparisons between Hazel and Kenneth because they're both weird pages, Hazel actually acted more like Jenna in this episode: psychotically selfish.
Up All Night
Surprisingly, I found something funny in this episode, and that was Julian's sleaziness ("Is this the 'ladies I'd like to do it with' convention?"). I wish they would use him more, but he is a sparse tertiary character.
Awake
When they throw out these episodes that hint someone knows about Mike's double life, it makes the show more interesting than just a police procedural with a cool twist, so I'm all for it. If this Gemini knows about the dual worlds, then it's possible that either he is himself experiencing the same thing, or, because I believe the green world is a dream, he is the part of Mike's subconscious that secretly wants to know which world is real, the part that Mike has to fight if he wants things to remain the way they are. I kind of want Mike to go to Oregon just to see what that would be like.
Fringe
It's almost ingeniously lazy to reuse a case from a previous season but be able to tweak it because of the new rules of this season. I really liked the idea of Walter saving up gifts for Peter; it provided some nice moments. In fact, I think I enjoy Walter and Peter's father/son relationship more than the Peter/Olivia romance. Lincoln tasting the smoothie antidote was also a highlight due to how funny it was. Poor sap is into Olivia in every universe but he's stuck in the friend zone. It's his own fault for not liking peanut butter.
Hero of the Week: Walter from Fringe, for caring enough to get his dead son some beer and porn.
Douchebag of the Week: Vice Dean Laybourne from Community, for disturbing the Troy/Abed friendship. THEIR HANDSHAKE INVOLVES HEART PATTING!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
This Week in Television - Mar. 18-23, 2012
Once Upon a Time
I can buy that David remembered a fragment from the fairy tale world - I knew it would happen as soon as he stepped into the psychiatrist's office - but how would he not mention the part where Mary Margaret had long hair and was wearing medieval adventurer gear? If he wasn't supposed to have remembered what she looked like at the time, then they didn't do a good enough job illustrating how hazy the memory was. I also noticed that this episode was heavy with catchphrase-type lines (though Kitsis and Horowitz, the creators, did write TRON: Legacy, so it's not surprising), and seemed like it was attempting to fit in nearly all of the show's established characters. But they are finally building toward something, and for that I thought this was ultimately one of the series' stronger episodes.
New Girl
The storyline with Winston and his lady friend worked better with Schmidt added in, and I think I much prefer it when Schmidt is a more self-aware douchebag, voluntarily stuffing cash into the douchebag jar even when no one is around. That is a funnier, more likable (and tolerable) version of the character. Nick is becoming more and more a pathetic bum with every episode, but again I think it's a funny direction to take the character, so no complaints. I'm proud of this show's progress, as I recall in the pilot when Jess was the only character I found funny, and now we have a more well-rounded cast. I am wary of the show's hints that Jess will end up with Nick (this week her description of the guys she dates sounded like him), because I think romances on comedies work better with guest stars than between castmembers. So it's good that this cool rich guy showed up, at least for now.
Survivor: One World
Evil Colton gets taken out by karma! Awesome. Now if only the same thing would happen to Alicia. She and Colton were just being unnecessarily mean to Kristina. They're not good people. And Jeff seems to be catching the fever, as he has now taken his biased commentary one step further to outright insulting poor challenge performers. To be fair, he was mostly insulting Alicia, who deserves no sympathy due to her behaviour, but knowing Probst I'm sure it had less to do with who she is and more to do with her performance in the challenge, so he's still a dick.
Community
With all of the crazy impersonators running around in addition to the unusual amount of graphics and special effects, this episode was weird, but in a good way. It was still funny - Dean Pelton's reaction to Jeff in aviator glasses was priceless - but it also went to some serious character places, such as Troy and Abed having to confront the problem of excessive escapism, and Jeff struggling with his ego. If they continue those quirky peeks into Jeff's internal organs, we might one day get a Jeff Winger Operation game that includes a slot machine heart and ego apple.
30 Rock
For the record, I know who Krang is and would love to see a sketch about him. But I would settle for characters just repeatedly using "Krang" in sentences. I was surprised that they would pull Kenneth out of his new job so soon after spending the last few episodes lining it up so the character had something fresh to do. Maybe the writers just said "it would be funny if Kenneth was a janitor, but he would never quit his page job and we already fired him, so how do we get him there?" and the promotion story was born. But it does leave room for potential parallels to when Jack worked his way back to the top from the bottom.
30 Rock
Like the last time they aired double 30 Rocks, one of the episodes was clearly more awesome, and that was this one. Billy Baldwin playing an actor playing Jack Donaghy in a TV movie? Nice touch. (I imagine Billy is the brother Alec is closest to, but I don't know why I imagine that.) Weird Al Yankovic parodying Jenna's song, and then reverse-parodying her when she tries to outsmart him by writing one that's already silly? Genius. Kenneth's admission that he lies to himself every day and is close to breaking point, in what is the most depressing Kenneth moment in the entire series? ...Disturbing. In Canada they cut off the ending tag where Weird Al sings the theme song, but thanks to Youtube I was able to enjoy the extra meta joke about 30 Rock's ratings and fans.
Up All Night
It was kind of obvious Chris was going to do all the things Reagan told him not to do when he got on air, and then they just went to the old "working with spouse = bad" storyline. This show just doesn't have much imagination comedically - or often even dramatically - and with the way the writing has been, it probably would have worked better as a laughtrack sitcom. And when I say "better", I still mean lame, but the live format is more appropriate for unimaginative humour.
Awake
Apparently this episode was aired out of order, which shows because Rex is still distant and angry when he was supposed to have grown closer to his dad last week. But it was interesting that they used the dual realities this week to explore someone's life going in two opposite directions, even if one of them isn't real.
Fringe
The love potion thing was an interesting concept, but they didn't explain what happened to that dude's face. I know the deformity was likely his motivation for wanting to create a love potion, but seeing as this is Fringe, I was expecting some kind of horror story behind it. But I can't say I was moved by Peter and Olivia's reunion; they've been apart so long now, I can't even remember if I ever "shipped" them.
Hero of the Week: Weird Al Yankovic on 30 Rock. I may have mostly outgrown his music, but he's still Weird Al.
Douchebag of the Week: Alicia from Survivor, because it horrifies me that she is actually a special ed teacher. What does she teach them, gym?
I can buy that David remembered a fragment from the fairy tale world - I knew it would happen as soon as he stepped into the psychiatrist's office - but how would he not mention the part where Mary Margaret had long hair and was wearing medieval adventurer gear? If he wasn't supposed to have remembered what she looked like at the time, then they didn't do a good enough job illustrating how hazy the memory was. I also noticed that this episode was heavy with catchphrase-type lines (though Kitsis and Horowitz, the creators, did write TRON: Legacy, so it's not surprising), and seemed like it was attempting to fit in nearly all of the show's established characters. But they are finally building toward something, and for that I thought this was ultimately one of the series' stronger episodes.
New Girl
The storyline with Winston and his lady friend worked better with Schmidt added in, and I think I much prefer it when Schmidt is a more self-aware douchebag, voluntarily stuffing cash into the douchebag jar even when no one is around. That is a funnier, more likable (and tolerable) version of the character. Nick is becoming more and more a pathetic bum with every episode, but again I think it's a funny direction to take the character, so no complaints. I'm proud of this show's progress, as I recall in the pilot when Jess was the only character I found funny, and now we have a more well-rounded cast. I am wary of the show's hints that Jess will end up with Nick (this week her description of the guys she dates sounded like him), because I think romances on comedies work better with guest stars than between castmembers. So it's good that this cool rich guy showed up, at least for now.
Survivor: One World
Evil Colton gets taken out by karma! Awesome. Now if only the same thing would happen to Alicia. She and Colton were just being unnecessarily mean to Kristina. They're not good people. And Jeff seems to be catching the fever, as he has now taken his biased commentary one step further to outright insulting poor challenge performers. To be fair, he was mostly insulting Alicia, who deserves no sympathy due to her behaviour, but knowing Probst I'm sure it had less to do with who she is and more to do with her performance in the challenge, so he's still a dick.
Community
With all of the crazy impersonators running around in addition to the unusual amount of graphics and special effects, this episode was weird, but in a good way. It was still funny - Dean Pelton's reaction to Jeff in aviator glasses was priceless - but it also went to some serious character places, such as Troy and Abed having to confront the problem of excessive escapism, and Jeff struggling with his ego. If they continue those quirky peeks into Jeff's internal organs, we might one day get a Jeff Winger Operation game that includes a slot machine heart and ego apple.
30 Rock
For the record, I know who Krang is and would love to see a sketch about him. But I would settle for characters just repeatedly using "Krang" in sentences. I was surprised that they would pull Kenneth out of his new job so soon after spending the last few episodes lining it up so the character had something fresh to do. Maybe the writers just said "it would be funny if Kenneth was a janitor, but he would never quit his page job and we already fired him, so how do we get him there?" and the promotion story was born. But it does leave room for potential parallels to when Jack worked his way back to the top from the bottom.
30 Rock
Like the last time they aired double 30 Rocks, one of the episodes was clearly more awesome, and that was this one. Billy Baldwin playing an actor playing Jack Donaghy in a TV movie? Nice touch. (I imagine Billy is the brother Alec is closest to, but I don't know why I imagine that.) Weird Al Yankovic parodying Jenna's song, and then reverse-parodying her when she tries to outsmart him by writing one that's already silly? Genius. Kenneth's admission that he lies to himself every day and is close to breaking point, in what is the most depressing Kenneth moment in the entire series? ...Disturbing. In Canada they cut off the ending tag where Weird Al sings the theme song, but thanks to Youtube I was able to enjoy the extra meta joke about 30 Rock's ratings and fans.
Up All Night
It was kind of obvious Chris was going to do all the things Reagan told him not to do when he got on air, and then they just went to the old "working with spouse = bad" storyline. This show just doesn't have much imagination comedically - or often even dramatically - and with the way the writing has been, it probably would have worked better as a laughtrack sitcom. And when I say "better", I still mean lame, but the live format is more appropriate for unimaginative humour.
Awake
Apparently this episode was aired out of order, which shows because Rex is still distant and angry when he was supposed to have grown closer to his dad last week. But it was interesting that they used the dual realities this week to explore someone's life going in two opposite directions, even if one of them isn't real.
Fringe
The love potion thing was an interesting concept, but they didn't explain what happened to that dude's face. I know the deformity was likely his motivation for wanting to create a love potion, but seeing as this is Fringe, I was expecting some kind of horror story behind it. But I can't say I was moved by Peter and Olivia's reunion; they've been apart so long now, I can't even remember if I ever "shipped" them.
Hero of the Week: Weird Al Yankovic on 30 Rock. I may have mostly outgrown his music, but he's still Weird Al.
Douchebag of the Week: Alicia from Survivor, because it horrifies me that she is actually a special ed teacher. What does she teach them, gym?
Monday, March 19, 2012
This Week in Television - Mar. 11-16, 2012
Once Upon a Time
Interesting twist. I wasn't expecting that Ruby would be Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, but mostly because this show, while altering the original fairy tales, hasn't been huge on reversal plot twists. Not really that interested in what happened to David's wife, though.
New Girl
There was a lot of focus on Schmidt playing bongos, and it wasn't a funny gag, but I like that they at least used this episode to establish him as the one who keeps the place clean. It was understandable that Jess might try to change him, but if the state of the apartment is that horrible without him, then they need Schmidt to be the way he is. The stuff with Nick owing Winston money was funnier, but kind of made Nick look like a douche.
Survivor: One World
The promo spoiled the twist again, so I was nowhere near as shocked as Survivor wanted me to be because I knew a tribe switch was coming. Tribal council was funny, with Tarzan having trouble with names and Leif complimenting Monica, they made it look like Colton's vote was going to be screwed. I would've loved it if that happened. But I'm hoping that Kim and Chelsea can use their new idol to mess up Colton and/or his idol, once the merge happens.
Community
It's so nice to finally have Community back. That hiatus was, in a way, worse than a summer break, because during a hiatus it's off the air when it doesn't need to be. I think it was smart of them to use "Season One Pierce", i.e. the more lovable, senile old goofball, because as fans we want to be happy to see the characters back, and it would be a little grating if they slapped us in the face with "Bully Pierce". And of course a lot of great gags, including the racist camera, the callback to Jim Belushi's mediocrity, Troy and Abed trying to act normal, and the contents of Jeff's slot machine heart (I think I saw Alicia Witt in there). While I love the more creative episodes, like the multiple timeline one earlier this season, this was the perfect one to return with, because it was just some warm, joyous time spent with the characters we love being themselves - even Troy and Abed, because their peculiar attempts to be different people were still indicative of who they are.
30 Rock
I enjoy watching characters play games, so seeing Jack Donaghy get stomped at a roleplaying tabletop game and then figure out how to get back on top was awesome. It's also funny every time Dennis tries to win Liz back, but luckily Liz has learned not to get sucked into his vortex of destructive failure. Also, there were Hulk hands.
The Office
As much as I liked Andy and Erin together in the past, I wasn't feeling their chemistry in this episode. And I'm not really enjoying the character of Nellie, and not because she seems to have stolen Andy's job. More because her comedy seems forced, as if the writers think that the more Catherine Tate keeps talking, the funnier she'll get. Unfortunately, there is news that James Spader's leaving, which means Tate's probably sticking around. Robert California wasn't as awesome this season as he was in his job interview in last season's finale, but he was at least interesting. I don't know how many guest star bosses they intend to have, or when the series will finally wrap up, but here's my idea for an ending: Ricky Gervais finally gets the manager position, makes a "that's what she said" joke in his first five minutes on the job, and then cut to a talking head of Jim, who says, "Aaaaaand we're back where we started."
Up All Night
I don't like this new boss dude at all, and his presence in the episode somehow made it feel like a Canadian sitcom (meaning very dry). But I didn't see it coming when Ava's "little sister" back-stabbed her to get in with the cool girls, so I appreciated the surprise. Ava's attempts to insult them were clearly lame, but I thought the girls would just walk away unaffected and Ava would shout some more unfunny insults at them or something. Bonus: Will Arnett said "I've made a huge mistake" in this episode.
Awake
It seems to me that the red world (where his wife survived) is the real one, and the green world is the dream, because in this episode and last week's he used the red world to gain information for the green world. Information that it would have been very unlikely for him to know subconsciously. It's more reasonable that he would seek out knowledge in real life and then use it in the dream, because the other way around implies that he basically has psychic abilities, and I don't think this is that kind of show. But it's only episode three, so who knows.
Hero of the Week: Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock, for turning a barren desert into a field of glass.
Douchebag of the Week: Nellie from The Office. I'd rather she went away.
Interesting twist. I wasn't expecting that Ruby would be Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, but mostly because this show, while altering the original fairy tales, hasn't been huge on reversal plot twists. Not really that interested in what happened to David's wife, though.
New Girl
There was a lot of focus on Schmidt playing bongos, and it wasn't a funny gag, but I like that they at least used this episode to establish him as the one who keeps the place clean. It was understandable that Jess might try to change him, but if the state of the apartment is that horrible without him, then they need Schmidt to be the way he is. The stuff with Nick owing Winston money was funnier, but kind of made Nick look like a douche.
Survivor: One World
The promo spoiled the twist again, so I was nowhere near as shocked as Survivor wanted me to be because I knew a tribe switch was coming. Tribal council was funny, with Tarzan having trouble with names and Leif complimenting Monica, they made it look like Colton's vote was going to be screwed. I would've loved it if that happened. But I'm hoping that Kim and Chelsea can use their new idol to mess up Colton and/or his idol, once the merge happens.
Community
It's so nice to finally have Community back. That hiatus was, in a way, worse than a summer break, because during a hiatus it's off the air when it doesn't need to be. I think it was smart of them to use "Season One Pierce", i.e. the more lovable, senile old goofball, because as fans we want to be happy to see the characters back, and it would be a little grating if they slapped us in the face with "Bully Pierce". And of course a lot of great gags, including the racist camera, the callback to Jim Belushi's mediocrity, Troy and Abed trying to act normal, and the contents of Jeff's slot machine heart (I think I saw Alicia Witt in there). While I love the more creative episodes, like the multiple timeline one earlier this season, this was the perfect one to return with, because it was just some warm, joyous time spent with the characters we love being themselves - even Troy and Abed, because their peculiar attempts to be different people were still indicative of who they are.
30 Rock
I enjoy watching characters play games, so seeing Jack Donaghy get stomped at a roleplaying tabletop game and then figure out how to get back on top was awesome. It's also funny every time Dennis tries to win Liz back, but luckily Liz has learned not to get sucked into his vortex of destructive failure. Also, there were Hulk hands.
The Office
As much as I liked Andy and Erin together in the past, I wasn't feeling their chemistry in this episode. And I'm not really enjoying the character of Nellie, and not because she seems to have stolen Andy's job. More because her comedy seems forced, as if the writers think that the more Catherine Tate keeps talking, the funnier she'll get. Unfortunately, there is news that James Spader's leaving, which means Tate's probably sticking around. Robert California wasn't as awesome this season as he was in his job interview in last season's finale, but he was at least interesting. I don't know how many guest star bosses they intend to have, or when the series will finally wrap up, but here's my idea for an ending: Ricky Gervais finally gets the manager position, makes a "that's what she said" joke in his first five minutes on the job, and then cut to a talking head of Jim, who says, "Aaaaaand we're back where we started."
Up All Night
I don't like this new boss dude at all, and his presence in the episode somehow made it feel like a Canadian sitcom (meaning very dry). But I didn't see it coming when Ava's "little sister" back-stabbed her to get in with the cool girls, so I appreciated the surprise. Ava's attempts to insult them were clearly lame, but I thought the girls would just walk away unaffected and Ava would shout some more unfunny insults at them or something. Bonus: Will Arnett said "I've made a huge mistake" in this episode.
Awake
It seems to me that the red world (where his wife survived) is the real one, and the green world is the dream, because in this episode and last week's he used the red world to gain information for the green world. Information that it would have been very unlikely for him to know subconsciously. It's more reasonable that he would seek out knowledge in real life and then use it in the dream, because the other way around implies that he basically has psychic abilities, and I don't think this is that kind of show. But it's only episode three, so who knows.
Hero of the Week: Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock, for turning a barren desert into a field of glass.
Douchebag of the Week: Nellie from The Office. I'd rather she went away.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
This Week in Television - Mar. 4-9, 2012
Once Upon a Time
It felt a little like a rehashing of the tremendous Beauty and the Beast episode, only not as good but still better than most episodes. I have to say it wasn't easy to take that actor seriously as a dwarf in love when I remember him as the angry guy who tried to steal George's parking space on Seinfeld. I don't think his infatuation was subtle enough. Having Emilie de Ravin show up again made it slightly better, but when I saw her name in the beginning credits I was hoping we'd see the locked up Storybrook version of her.
New Girl
Another enjoyable episode, except for the part with the singing and rapping, and the fact that Winston not wanting to let go of his crappy van felt way more like a Nick story. Maybe it actually was written originally for Nick, but Nick already had something to do and Winston didn't, so they threw it in. Speaking of Nick, "I can taste my spine" was one of those brilliantly simple lines that worked better than any other joke in that scene. I didn't think it was possible for Zooey Deschanel to be even more adorable, but then she did the Daffy Duck lisp. Well played, Zooey.
Survivor: One World
That was just insulting at the reward challenge when they made the tiles glow so we could see how they lined up when it was already the most obvious thing in the world. I know reality shows regularly insult viewer intelligence, but wow, that was even worse than Americans putting a blue dot on the puck during televised hockey games. And the tribal council was so stupid. Colton is a spoiled, self-centered prick and none of his reasons for hating Bill were even valid, but for some reason Bill is so unbearable that it warrants giving up immunity just to get him out as soon as possible? No. Everything Bill said was reasonable and sensible. The only person who requires that kind of emergency boot is Colton himself. Between that and Probst unnecessarily rubbing in the womens' immunity loss both during and after the challenge, I'm not sure which one of them should win Douchebag of the Week. ...Okay, yes I am.
30 Rock
Jack always seems to underestimate his nemeses and get easily duped by them. It was obvious Kaylie was lying even before Liz suggested it to Jack, because she did it in her previous appearance, and similar things have been done with Devon Banks. But you can't be disappointed with a preface like "Jack vs. Kaylie Round 2: No Subtitle Necessary." Or a silly Mrs. Doubtfire style ending tag with Liz trying to keep up the male persona she invented when comforting Kenneth in the bathroom.
Parks and Recreation
I was actually thinking about Andy's Women's Studies class not too long ago and wondering if they would ever get back to that. Glad to see that they did. I like that April is becoming like this quiet little guardian angel who secretly likes cheering people up. Her explanation about Chris leaving her alone if he gets a girlfriend may have been in part what motivated her, but I think the other half is that she knows how much it sucks to be in that heartbroken position because she went through it with Andy. It was perhaps a step in the right direction that Tom was so focused on not breaking up with Ann again, and it was nice to see them not fighting for a bit even if they felt more like friends than anything more, but then it was two steps back when he presented her with flavoured condoms. Oh, Tom, you lovable douche.
The Office
This felt like one of those transition episodes where nothing is really great about it because it's too busy setting up for a (hopefully) more promising follow-up episode. There were only a couple of little gems this week, like Dwight's treasure trap at the beginning and Kevin thinking that Toby bangs hot supermodels (and Toby subsequently letting him by neither confirming nor denying it). I think Toby's glasses, which I don't recall having seen him wear before, added to his dweeby loser look and thus enhanced any jokes directed at him. I have always found Toby's bored, dissatisfied facial expressions funny but the glasses somehow made him even more hilariously pitiful. Actually, a season or two ago they also had Ryan suddenly wearing similar glasses out of the blue, but because it's Ryan I immediately understood that he was doing it as part of nerd chic. Toby either actually needs them or is jumping on the bandwagon too late because he's Toby. An interesting subtlety if it's the latter.
Up All Night
Comedically unsatisfying, but I enjoyed watching Chris and Reagan with their new friends, accepting the double-edged sword that is spending time with someone who is exactly like you, and then falling out over parenting conflicts. But they were completely right. Way too many parents have no clue how to properly discipline their children, yet think they do. The stuff with Ava and the new boss was boring, though. I'm not sure if her quips during the poker game were supposed to be funny-funny or ironic-funny, but for me they were neither.
Awake
Interesting. In some ways, this was like the reverse of the pilot: last week, Mike solved his cases by using clues from opposite universes; this week, he was able to slightly improve his family life by using that technique at home, but only one case got solved at work. There's no way of knowing why someone would have wanted to destroy his family and not just him, but I've realized that if Mike only seems to switch over when he goes to sleep, meaning he spends a day at a time in each universe rather than the same day both times, and no one ever says "Why were you missing for a whole day?", then that could quite possibly prove that one of them actually is a dream. Hmm...
Hero of the Week: April from Parks and Recreation, for secretly caring.
Douchebag of the Week: Colton from Survivor. He's not a Russell Hantz or a Johnny Fairplay. He's just a horrible human being.
It felt a little like a rehashing of the tremendous Beauty and the Beast episode, only not as good but still better than most episodes. I have to say it wasn't easy to take that actor seriously as a dwarf in love when I remember him as the angry guy who tried to steal George's parking space on Seinfeld. I don't think his infatuation was subtle enough. Having Emilie de Ravin show up again made it slightly better, but when I saw her name in the beginning credits I was hoping we'd see the locked up Storybrook version of her.
New Girl
Another enjoyable episode, except for the part with the singing and rapping, and the fact that Winston not wanting to let go of his crappy van felt way more like a Nick story. Maybe it actually was written originally for Nick, but Nick already had something to do and Winston didn't, so they threw it in. Speaking of Nick, "I can taste my spine" was one of those brilliantly simple lines that worked better than any other joke in that scene. I didn't think it was possible for Zooey Deschanel to be even more adorable, but then she did the Daffy Duck lisp. Well played, Zooey.
Survivor: One World
That was just insulting at the reward challenge when they made the tiles glow so we could see how they lined up when it was already the most obvious thing in the world. I know reality shows regularly insult viewer intelligence, but wow, that was even worse than Americans putting a blue dot on the puck during televised hockey games. And the tribal council was so stupid. Colton is a spoiled, self-centered prick and none of his reasons for hating Bill were even valid, but for some reason Bill is so unbearable that it warrants giving up immunity just to get him out as soon as possible? No. Everything Bill said was reasonable and sensible. The only person who requires that kind of emergency boot is Colton himself. Between that and Probst unnecessarily rubbing in the womens' immunity loss both during and after the challenge, I'm not sure which one of them should win Douchebag of the Week. ...Okay, yes I am.
30 Rock
Jack always seems to underestimate his nemeses and get easily duped by them. It was obvious Kaylie was lying even before Liz suggested it to Jack, because she did it in her previous appearance, and similar things have been done with Devon Banks. But you can't be disappointed with a preface like "Jack vs. Kaylie Round 2: No Subtitle Necessary." Or a silly Mrs. Doubtfire style ending tag with Liz trying to keep up the male persona she invented when comforting Kenneth in the bathroom.
Parks and Recreation
I was actually thinking about Andy's Women's Studies class not too long ago and wondering if they would ever get back to that. Glad to see that they did. I like that April is becoming like this quiet little guardian angel who secretly likes cheering people up. Her explanation about Chris leaving her alone if he gets a girlfriend may have been in part what motivated her, but I think the other half is that she knows how much it sucks to be in that heartbroken position because she went through it with Andy. It was perhaps a step in the right direction that Tom was so focused on not breaking up with Ann again, and it was nice to see them not fighting for a bit even if they felt more like friends than anything more, but then it was two steps back when he presented her with flavoured condoms. Oh, Tom, you lovable douche.
The Office
This felt like one of those transition episodes where nothing is really great about it because it's too busy setting up for a (hopefully) more promising follow-up episode. There were only a couple of little gems this week, like Dwight's treasure trap at the beginning and Kevin thinking that Toby bangs hot supermodels (and Toby subsequently letting him by neither confirming nor denying it). I think Toby's glasses, which I don't recall having seen him wear before, added to his dweeby loser look and thus enhanced any jokes directed at him. I have always found Toby's bored, dissatisfied facial expressions funny but the glasses somehow made him even more hilariously pitiful. Actually, a season or two ago they also had Ryan suddenly wearing similar glasses out of the blue, but because it's Ryan I immediately understood that he was doing it as part of nerd chic. Toby either actually needs them or is jumping on the bandwagon too late because he's Toby. An interesting subtlety if it's the latter.
Up All Night
Comedically unsatisfying, but I enjoyed watching Chris and Reagan with their new friends, accepting the double-edged sword that is spending time with someone who is exactly like you, and then falling out over parenting conflicts. But they were completely right. Way too many parents have no clue how to properly discipline their children, yet think they do. The stuff with Ava and the new boss was boring, though. I'm not sure if her quips during the poker game were supposed to be funny-funny or ironic-funny, but for me they were neither.
Awake
Interesting. In some ways, this was like the reverse of the pilot: last week, Mike solved his cases by using clues from opposite universes; this week, he was able to slightly improve his family life by using that technique at home, but only one case got solved at work. There's no way of knowing why someone would have wanted to destroy his family and not just him, but I've realized that if Mike only seems to switch over when he goes to sleep, meaning he spends a day at a time in each universe rather than the same day both times, and no one ever says "Why were you missing for a whole day?", then that could quite possibly prove that one of them actually is a dream. Hmm...
Hero of the Week: April from Parks and Recreation, for secretly caring.
Douchebag of the Week: Colton from Survivor. He's not a Russell Hantz or a Johnny Fairplay. He's just a horrible human being.
Monday, March 5, 2012
This Week in Television - Feb. 27-Mar. 2, 2012
Smash
Okay, I'm dropping this show. The characters are just too insufferably full of themselves. I mean most shows might have one character like that, but an entire cast? On top of that, the writing and directing was so heavy-handed this episode, with all of the lingering glances, and Karen being physically pushed and bumped by Ivy, and the uninspired attempts at humourous lines that were clearly not written by anyone who knows anything about comedy. It's surprising that I have to say this, but as frustrating as Glee is, it at least has a very small amount of merit, and rather than be annoyed by the New Directions kids I'm just indifferent to them. I suppose it's an accurate depiction of show business if everyone involved is egocentric, it just doesn't make for a good collection of characters that I would want to care about. I might not mind so much if Karen was the center of the show, and they didn't go off into these B and C stories where they try to pretend these other snobs are likable or interesting, but this is not a show about Karen, it's about a cheesy Broadway play, and so I quit.
Survivor: One World
They usually do a memory challenge later in the season, after everyone's mental prowess has deteriorated. I almost feel like the producers condescendingly said "The women are too weak to win at a physical challenge, let's throw them a memory thing." Very glad to see Matt go, as he seemed like the biggest douche on the tribe.
30 Rock
I think the best part of this episode was Tracy and Jenna playing detective (loved Jenna's terrible cop show parody with poor attempts at character development in her blatant referencing of a dead husband), but it put Jack into an interesting perspective when he was so preoccupied with getting ahead at work that he couldn't even recognize a friendship as a friendship. A lot of people complain about Kenneth these days, and 30 Rock seems to be listening because they've actually given him a multi-episode arc so he'll have something to do for a while. Don't know if he'll get high enough to succeed Jack's job, but it might make for an epic season finale if they're forced to go head to head.
Parks and Recreation
I didn't believe that Bobby Newport's vacation canoodling was actually some international deal; Leslie shouldn't have fallen for it. It was obvious in the newspaper photos that it was purely for leisure, and after meeting Bobby in a previous episode, it was clear that he wasn't going to be working hard in favour of the city. Also, ramps are still better than electric lifts because if the lift breaks down, you're screwed. Why would nobody bring that up? The water fountain and water fight stuff were fun, though when they solved the problem I almost expected Andy to just put his mouth on the spout hole.
The Office
The whole B-plot with Andy being beaten up by kids was mostly unfunny. It's already been done many times elsewhere. But it was mildly amusing for the idea of Toby conducting a martial arts seminar and plugging his mystery novel, and for Creed's demonstration of "strike, scream, run". I enjoyed the Sabre store more, and all of the dishonesty that went into its opening and promotion as the employees played characters and created false scenarios. Lying is a business, too, folks.
Up All Night
A couple of chuckles this week, and it was nice to see Will Forte back, but Up All Night is still the most average comedy of the week for me. I never hate it, but it's never amazing, either.
Awake
I've been excited to see this show ever since the trailer showed up last summer. The only problem is that the trailer spoiled at least 40% of the episode, but otherwise it was highly engaging thanks to a cool concept and strong performances from the actors. I just hope the big twist isn't that the accident put Mike into a coma and he's imagining both worlds, because that would feel unoriginal. Side note: it's kind of funny that the actor who played Jack's "son" on Lost is once again playing a possibly non-existent son.
Hero of the Week: Mike from Awake, for having no intention of ever making progress.
Douchebag of the Week: Jennifer Barkley from Parks and Recreation, for being too good a campaign manager to Bobby Newport when neither her nor her client really care about it.
Okay, I'm dropping this show. The characters are just too insufferably full of themselves. I mean most shows might have one character like that, but an entire cast? On top of that, the writing and directing was so heavy-handed this episode, with all of the lingering glances, and Karen being physically pushed and bumped by Ivy, and the uninspired attempts at humourous lines that were clearly not written by anyone who knows anything about comedy. It's surprising that I have to say this, but as frustrating as Glee is, it at least has a very small amount of merit, and rather than be annoyed by the New Directions kids I'm just indifferent to them. I suppose it's an accurate depiction of show business if everyone involved is egocentric, it just doesn't make for a good collection of characters that I would want to care about. I might not mind so much if Karen was the center of the show, and they didn't go off into these B and C stories where they try to pretend these other snobs are likable or interesting, but this is not a show about Karen, it's about a cheesy Broadway play, and so I quit.
Survivor: One World
They usually do a memory challenge later in the season, after everyone's mental prowess has deteriorated. I almost feel like the producers condescendingly said "The women are too weak to win at a physical challenge, let's throw them a memory thing." Very glad to see Matt go, as he seemed like the biggest douche on the tribe.
30 Rock
I think the best part of this episode was Tracy and Jenna playing detective (loved Jenna's terrible cop show parody with poor attempts at character development in her blatant referencing of a dead husband), but it put Jack into an interesting perspective when he was so preoccupied with getting ahead at work that he couldn't even recognize a friendship as a friendship. A lot of people complain about Kenneth these days, and 30 Rock seems to be listening because they've actually given him a multi-episode arc so he'll have something to do for a while. Don't know if he'll get high enough to succeed Jack's job, but it might make for an epic season finale if they're forced to go head to head.
Parks and Recreation
I didn't believe that Bobby Newport's vacation canoodling was actually some international deal; Leslie shouldn't have fallen for it. It was obvious in the newspaper photos that it was purely for leisure, and after meeting Bobby in a previous episode, it was clear that he wasn't going to be working hard in favour of the city. Also, ramps are still better than electric lifts because if the lift breaks down, you're screwed. Why would nobody bring that up? The water fountain and water fight stuff were fun, though when they solved the problem I almost expected Andy to just put his mouth on the spout hole.
The Office
The whole B-plot with Andy being beaten up by kids was mostly unfunny. It's already been done many times elsewhere. But it was mildly amusing for the idea of Toby conducting a martial arts seminar and plugging his mystery novel, and for Creed's demonstration of "strike, scream, run". I enjoyed the Sabre store more, and all of the dishonesty that went into its opening and promotion as the employees played characters and created false scenarios. Lying is a business, too, folks.
Up All Night
A couple of chuckles this week, and it was nice to see Will Forte back, but Up All Night is still the most average comedy of the week for me. I never hate it, but it's never amazing, either.
Awake
I've been excited to see this show ever since the trailer showed up last summer. The only problem is that the trailer spoiled at least 40% of the episode, but otherwise it was highly engaging thanks to a cool concept and strong performances from the actors. I just hope the big twist isn't that the accident put Mike into a coma and he's imagining both worlds, because that would feel unoriginal. Side note: it's kind of funny that the actor who played Jack's "son" on Lost is once again playing a possibly non-existent son.
Hero of the Week: Mike from Awake, for having no intention of ever making progress.
Douchebag of the Week: Jennifer Barkley from Parks and Recreation, for being too good a campaign manager to Bobby Newport when neither her nor her client really care about it.
Monday, February 27, 2012
This Week in Television - Feb. 19-24, 2012
Once Upon a Time
Well, after last week's terrific episode, we're back to a lukewarm show. While what David did to his fiance was not cool, I don't entirely feel sorry for her; partly because she is uninteresting and not likable, and partly because they are both responsible for what happened. They both knew a long time ago that he didn't love her, but they chose to drag it out and remain in denial. The mayor says "relationships take work", but I don't really agree with that. Call me a romantic, but I think if it's the right person, there shouldn't be much work involved. If you have to force someone to love you, or force yourself to love someone, then they're probably not your soulmate.
Smash
This wasn't a very good episode. I hate to say it, but while this show is mechanically less flawed, Glee is still more entertaining, and while I'm indifferent to most of the Glee characters, they're generally still more likable than these pretentious showbiz snobs on Smash. I think I'm mostly referring to Tom and Julia when I say "showbiz snobs", but most of the cast has it to some degree. I did enjoy Anjelica Huston throwing drinks in her ex-husband's face, but it feels like Karen didn't really do anything in this episode. I couldn't care less about the Marilyn musical, but Karen is actually doing stuff when she's a part of it.
Glee
Season three has been the most horrendous season yet, but this episode was almost good. I think the stuff with Karofsky was handled without being exaggerated, misguided, inaccurate, or glossed over, and that is rare for Glee and its sloppy, unrealistic writing. But we still got the usual ridiculousness elsewhere, like Finn and Rachel moving their wedding up AGAIN, and Quinn getting in a random car accident just for the sake of shock value. Also, it stands out too much when choirs other than New Directions perform, and they have one person singing lead and everyone else on backup just because the one on lead is a paid guest star with lines on the show.
New Girl
Some funny stuff again this episode. I think the "Jerksica" line rings true for the lack of creativity in a lot of bullies. I mean let's be honest, how many bullies are actually smart? Speaking of creativity, that Youtube video with the CG animation was way too good for any 12 year-old to have done, especially within the implied timeframe. Schmidt could have just as easily been involved in the bullying story, as he was once fat and most likely bullied for it, but he had the Cece thing, and it gave Winston something to do, which was no doubt funnier than any scene involving his girlfriend would have been, so it worked out. I think Nick kind of got the dud story this week, but it was interesting watching his emotional state at the science fair. On a side note, I was glad to see no volcanoes at the science fair, because that is one of the hugest school cliches out there, although they could have used that as an opportunity for a joke about it. The flashlight duct-taped to the ball was a hilarious one.
Survivor: One World
Colton (which might be in my top 10 least favourite baby names) is already shaping up to be the villain of the season, although he seems to vary between arrogantly thinking he's going to control the game and wandering around helplessly because nobody wants to be his friend and he doesn't know how to do anything. But as much as the guys are dicks, I have to at least give them credit for not being homophobic and not being, as I said last week, disrespectful toward the little person. Although Leif is so far this season's Rick, because we haven't gotten any talking heads or interactions with him yet, so we wouldn't know if someone dissed him to his face.
30 Rock
There aren't many TV shows that do an episode about February 29th, let alone invent an entire holiday - complete with mascot and traditions - for it. Awesome. I also loved the Leap Day Williams movie starring Jim Carrey and Andie McDowell, because when 30 Rock does those kinds of pop culture parodies (e.g. Queen of Jordan, MILF Island, America's Kids Got Singing), they're always just on the edge of ridiculousness but completely accurate to the point of being something that could really, truly, actually exist. Or I suppose they're accurate because they already exist in some form: Leap Day Williams would basically be the same movie as Evan Almighty or The Santa Clause. And as disturbing as the final image of Leap Day William turning into a horrifying sea monster was, I laughed. I like to think that had the hot supermodels not shown up, Liz would have backed out at least half way through having sex with Stevie from Eastbound and Down. Not out of dignity or anything, just out of disgust.
Parks and Recreation
I wasn't expecting that Tom would be complaining about Ann's faults, because as the viewers we know that while Ann is not perfect, she's far from insufferable, and Tom is not an easy guy to date without being embarrassed after five minutes. But it made it interesting when it went that way, and at least Tom is now thinking about more than just her looks. Kind of funny and sad at the same time that Jerry's wife celebrates his birthday by going out alone with her friends.
The Office
I liked the ending of this episode, with Jim and Dwight eating dessert together as they hide from the women who want to sleep with them. Good for them for not doing it. Who would have thought Dwight's insanity would come in handy to Jim? Ryan is just 100% douchebag now. I think the last time he was even a tiny bit likable was probably during the Michael Scott Paper Company, and that likability came more from his situation than his character. I have yet to get on board with Daryl and Val, though. They just don't have the chemistry that Jim and Pam had during the beginning seasons, or even that Erin and Andy had before Gabe stole her from him. Val's not a significant enough character to get the screen time for chemistry, or even character development. She's been in a number of episodes now and I still feel like I know nothing about her.
Up All Night
I felt like this episode was almost funny, but all of the jokes just fell short of a laugh. So close. But I do appreciate the truth in most relationships seeming to have one who is easygoing and one who has to be the hard-ass.
Fringe
This week's episode was epic! There has been talk that this may be Fringe's last season because of the ratings it's been getting in its (bad) timeslot, so it's good that we got this episode explaining the observers, just in case. It also nicely tied together the storyline of the entire series to prove the relevance of everything we've seen so far, and dealt with what I pointed out last week about Peter having to leave this Olivia and return to his own. I'm excited for what is to come, because it feels like it is moving toward the series finale now.
Hero of the Week: Both Jim and Dwight from The Office, for helping each other not to have inappropriate sex.
Douchebag of the Week: Ryan from The Office, for transparently not wanting to wait six months for appropriate sex.
Well, after last week's terrific episode, we're back to a lukewarm show. While what David did to his fiance was not cool, I don't entirely feel sorry for her; partly because she is uninteresting and not likable, and partly because they are both responsible for what happened. They both knew a long time ago that he didn't love her, but they chose to drag it out and remain in denial. The mayor says "relationships take work", but I don't really agree with that. Call me a romantic, but I think if it's the right person, there shouldn't be much work involved. If you have to force someone to love you, or force yourself to love someone, then they're probably not your soulmate.
Smash
This wasn't a very good episode. I hate to say it, but while this show is mechanically less flawed, Glee is still more entertaining, and while I'm indifferent to most of the Glee characters, they're generally still more likable than these pretentious showbiz snobs on Smash. I think I'm mostly referring to Tom and Julia when I say "showbiz snobs", but most of the cast has it to some degree. I did enjoy Anjelica Huston throwing drinks in her ex-husband's face, but it feels like Karen didn't really do anything in this episode. I couldn't care less about the Marilyn musical, but Karen is actually doing stuff when she's a part of it.
Glee
Season three has been the most horrendous season yet, but this episode was almost good. I think the stuff with Karofsky was handled without being exaggerated, misguided, inaccurate, or glossed over, and that is rare for Glee and its sloppy, unrealistic writing. But we still got the usual ridiculousness elsewhere, like Finn and Rachel moving their wedding up AGAIN, and Quinn getting in a random car accident just for the sake of shock value. Also, it stands out too much when choirs other than New Directions perform, and they have one person singing lead and everyone else on backup just because the one on lead is a paid guest star with lines on the show.
New Girl
Some funny stuff again this episode. I think the "Jerksica" line rings true for the lack of creativity in a lot of bullies. I mean let's be honest, how many bullies are actually smart? Speaking of creativity, that Youtube video with the CG animation was way too good for any 12 year-old to have done, especially within the implied timeframe. Schmidt could have just as easily been involved in the bullying story, as he was once fat and most likely bullied for it, but he had the Cece thing, and it gave Winston something to do, which was no doubt funnier than any scene involving his girlfriend would have been, so it worked out. I think Nick kind of got the dud story this week, but it was interesting watching his emotional state at the science fair. On a side note, I was glad to see no volcanoes at the science fair, because that is one of the hugest school cliches out there, although they could have used that as an opportunity for a joke about it. The flashlight duct-taped to the ball was a hilarious one.
Survivor: One World
Colton (which might be in my top 10 least favourite baby names) is already shaping up to be the villain of the season, although he seems to vary between arrogantly thinking he's going to control the game and wandering around helplessly because nobody wants to be his friend and he doesn't know how to do anything. But as much as the guys are dicks, I have to at least give them credit for not being homophobic and not being, as I said last week, disrespectful toward the little person. Although Leif is so far this season's Rick, because we haven't gotten any talking heads or interactions with him yet, so we wouldn't know if someone dissed him to his face.
30 Rock
There aren't many TV shows that do an episode about February 29th, let alone invent an entire holiday - complete with mascot and traditions - for it. Awesome. I also loved the Leap Day Williams movie starring Jim Carrey and Andie McDowell, because when 30 Rock does those kinds of pop culture parodies (e.g. Queen of Jordan, MILF Island, America's Kids Got Singing), they're always just on the edge of ridiculousness but completely accurate to the point of being something that could really, truly, actually exist. Or I suppose they're accurate because they already exist in some form: Leap Day Williams would basically be the same movie as Evan Almighty or The Santa Clause. And as disturbing as the final image of Leap Day William turning into a horrifying sea monster was, I laughed. I like to think that had the hot supermodels not shown up, Liz would have backed out at least half way through having sex with Stevie from Eastbound and Down. Not out of dignity or anything, just out of disgust.
Parks and Recreation
I wasn't expecting that Tom would be complaining about Ann's faults, because as the viewers we know that while Ann is not perfect, she's far from insufferable, and Tom is not an easy guy to date without being embarrassed after five minutes. But it made it interesting when it went that way, and at least Tom is now thinking about more than just her looks. Kind of funny and sad at the same time that Jerry's wife celebrates his birthday by going out alone with her friends.
The Office
I liked the ending of this episode, with Jim and Dwight eating dessert together as they hide from the women who want to sleep with them. Good for them for not doing it. Who would have thought Dwight's insanity would come in handy to Jim? Ryan is just 100% douchebag now. I think the last time he was even a tiny bit likable was probably during the Michael Scott Paper Company, and that likability came more from his situation than his character. I have yet to get on board with Daryl and Val, though. They just don't have the chemistry that Jim and Pam had during the beginning seasons, or even that Erin and Andy had before Gabe stole her from him. Val's not a significant enough character to get the screen time for chemistry, or even character development. She's been in a number of episodes now and I still feel like I know nothing about her.
Up All Night
I felt like this episode was almost funny, but all of the jokes just fell short of a laugh. So close. But I do appreciate the truth in most relationships seeming to have one who is easygoing and one who has to be the hard-ass.
Fringe
This week's episode was epic! There has been talk that this may be Fringe's last season because of the ratings it's been getting in its (bad) timeslot, so it's good that we got this episode explaining the observers, just in case. It also nicely tied together the storyline of the entire series to prove the relevance of everything we've seen so far, and dealt with what I pointed out last week about Peter having to leave this Olivia and return to his own. I'm excited for what is to come, because it feels like it is moving toward the series finale now.
Hero of the Week: Both Jim and Dwight from The Office, for helping each other not to have inappropriate sex.
Douchebag of the Week: Ryan from The Office, for transparently not wanting to wait six months for appropriate sex.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
This Week in Television - Feb. 12-17, 2012
Once Upon a Time
Wow, I wasn't expecting any episode of this show to blow me away, but I really liked this one. Well, the girls night out subplot was dull, but Robert Carlyle and Emilie de Ravin nailed their chemistry together, and just when I thought the Storybrook segments were useless this week, we got that awesome scene near the end with the mayor visiting Mr. Gold in jail. That scene was huge, because it was the first time either of them has openly acknowledged the fairy tale world. This show has been somewhat lukewarm for the most part but, damn, I loved this episode.
Smash
I actually thought they were just going to give the part to both girls, and have Ivy play Marilyn while Karen plays Norma Jean. Although that would be a cop-out, and has been done in the TV movie Norma Jean and Marilyn. I'm finding I don't really care for most of the characters, because everyone except Karen is a showbiz snob, and I'm not on board with Julia's adoption plans because a) they're boring, b) I haven't known this character long enough to start caring about her family, c) she already has a kid, greatly diminishing the whole "strong desire to be a mother" angle, and d) why is that kid as obsessed with having a new baby as she is? Teenage boys have other things to care about. Also, this show is astoundingly terrible at cliffhangers. All of the commercial breaks and episode endings are at odd and abrupt times that in no way leave you wanting more.
Glee
Not only was the Artie vs. Irish kid thing very uninspired, but Sugar just turned down Artie like two episodes ago, so why is she suddenly open to him courting her? And it was painfully predictable that Kurt's secret admirer was going to be Karofsky (or at least not Blaine), because of the way Kurt kept insisting, in a lazy attempt at a mislead, that it was Blaine. Irish kid is still a sneaky prick. The one thing I did enjoy was the slightly meta moment with Santana complaining that she's not allowed to kiss Brittany when Finn and Rachel make out all the time, because the show itself has pretty much had that mentality since Santana came out. I was glad to see they finally addressed something. Only about 9,000 more problems to fix.
New Girl
I think it's official that Winston is boring in scenes with that girl he likes. But there was otherwise some really funny stuff in this episode, like the club pack box of condoms, Jess's failed attempt at doing a sexy cherry trick, any time Schmidt mentioned "youths", and the flashback of Nick entering a cock fight "as a person". On principle, I would have been pissed if Jess slept with Schmidt. We dodged a bullet there.
Survivor: One World
Not much to say yet, except that the men are arrogant pricks, and that it was nice that nobody made a big deal out of the little person. Usually when someone has some kind of disability or anything that makes them different, the show is all over it, but we just got people commenting on his strength.
30 Rock
The Liz and Jack stories turning into a Batman/Joker reference was a weird and random reference to go to, but a funny one nonetheless. I don't mind Jenna and Paul, but I think their regular weirdness was funnier than the "normalling".
Parks and Recreation
It was cool to see Louis C.K. back, but Officer Dave didn't seem like as good of a guy as I remember. He was chivalrous toward Leslie, I guess, but he was also really awkward and unable to hide his jealousy of Ben. But I laughed at his idea that he and Leslie, after reconciling, would go back to the bathroom and uncuff Ben together, like it was something romantic. Speaking of romance, Tom trying to mack is always funny, and I'm almost disappointed in Ann for giving in, but then he would have kept being annoying if she hadn't, so I can see how he wore her down (the four sweetest words in the English language!). Also the little subplot with April helping Ron hide/destroy the Duke Silver memorabilia was great.
The Office
I guess we're not done with Tallahassee, because there was no mention of Erin's possible departure or Cathy hitting on Jim (other than some obvious but fruitless attempts to talk to him). The opening with Dwight waking everyone up was funny. I think some of The Office's strongest moments these days are montages like that one, where we see the characters' individual reactions to something. I enjoyed Andy at reception, because it does seem like it would be a better fit for him, and it served to highlight that he doesn't really do anything as regional manager, which isn't necessarily his fault - that's just how management positions are.
Up All Night
I think this show stepped into the "obvious joke" shoes again with all of the stuff about saying "bomb" in an airport. But the part I did find somewhat interesting was their whole baby plan/schedule to avoid the dreaded fuss of having a baby on an airplane. I haven't seen that before. The "Back it Up" song wasn't that great, but as I am a fan of impressions when they are either really good or really bad, Chris doing Michael Keaton characters was funny.
Fringe
If I were Peter, what I would be worried about is the inevitability of this Olivia getting hurt when he leaves her to go back to his timeline. Unless he's either planning to stay, or take her with him for an Olivia threesome. It was interesting watching Jackson and Torv play this episode, though; Olivia was kind of giddy with her new-found feelings, and Peter was troubled by them. Maybe I wasn't watching closely enough, but the ending seemed to come out of nowhere. Not a complaint, though; I know it will be expanded on next week. It was just a good "WTF" moment.
Hero of the Week: Belle from Once Upon a Time, for coming back with the straw.
Douchebag of the Week: The tribe of men on Survivor. Get over yourselves, meatheads.
Wow, I wasn't expecting any episode of this show to blow me away, but I really liked this one. Well, the girls night out subplot was dull, but Robert Carlyle and Emilie de Ravin nailed their chemistry together, and just when I thought the Storybrook segments were useless this week, we got that awesome scene near the end with the mayor visiting Mr. Gold in jail. That scene was huge, because it was the first time either of them has openly acknowledged the fairy tale world. This show has been somewhat lukewarm for the most part but, damn, I loved this episode.
Smash
I actually thought they were just going to give the part to both girls, and have Ivy play Marilyn while Karen plays Norma Jean. Although that would be a cop-out, and has been done in the TV movie Norma Jean and Marilyn. I'm finding I don't really care for most of the characters, because everyone except Karen is a showbiz snob, and I'm not on board with Julia's adoption plans because a) they're boring, b) I haven't known this character long enough to start caring about her family, c) she already has a kid, greatly diminishing the whole "strong desire to be a mother" angle, and d) why is that kid as obsessed with having a new baby as she is? Teenage boys have other things to care about. Also, this show is astoundingly terrible at cliffhangers. All of the commercial breaks and episode endings are at odd and abrupt times that in no way leave you wanting more.
Glee
Not only was the Artie vs. Irish kid thing very uninspired, but Sugar just turned down Artie like two episodes ago, so why is she suddenly open to him courting her? And it was painfully predictable that Kurt's secret admirer was going to be Karofsky (or at least not Blaine), because of the way Kurt kept insisting, in a lazy attempt at a mislead, that it was Blaine. Irish kid is still a sneaky prick. The one thing I did enjoy was the slightly meta moment with Santana complaining that she's not allowed to kiss Brittany when Finn and Rachel make out all the time, because the show itself has pretty much had that mentality since Santana came out. I was glad to see they finally addressed something. Only about 9,000 more problems to fix.
New Girl
I think it's official that Winston is boring in scenes with that girl he likes. But there was otherwise some really funny stuff in this episode, like the club pack box of condoms, Jess's failed attempt at doing a sexy cherry trick, any time Schmidt mentioned "youths", and the flashback of Nick entering a cock fight "as a person". On principle, I would have been pissed if Jess slept with Schmidt. We dodged a bullet there.
Survivor: One World
Not much to say yet, except that the men are arrogant pricks, and that it was nice that nobody made a big deal out of the little person. Usually when someone has some kind of disability or anything that makes them different, the show is all over it, but we just got people commenting on his strength.
30 Rock
The Liz and Jack stories turning into a Batman/Joker reference was a weird and random reference to go to, but a funny one nonetheless. I don't mind Jenna and Paul, but I think their regular weirdness was funnier than the "normalling".
Parks and Recreation
It was cool to see Louis C.K. back, but Officer Dave didn't seem like as good of a guy as I remember. He was chivalrous toward Leslie, I guess, but he was also really awkward and unable to hide his jealousy of Ben. But I laughed at his idea that he and Leslie, after reconciling, would go back to the bathroom and uncuff Ben together, like it was something romantic. Speaking of romance, Tom trying to mack is always funny, and I'm almost disappointed in Ann for giving in, but then he would have kept being annoying if she hadn't, so I can see how he wore her down (the four sweetest words in the English language!). Also the little subplot with April helping Ron hide/destroy the Duke Silver memorabilia was great.
The Office
I guess we're not done with Tallahassee, because there was no mention of Erin's possible departure or Cathy hitting on Jim (other than some obvious but fruitless attempts to talk to him). The opening with Dwight waking everyone up was funny. I think some of The Office's strongest moments these days are montages like that one, where we see the characters' individual reactions to something. I enjoyed Andy at reception, because it does seem like it would be a better fit for him, and it served to highlight that he doesn't really do anything as regional manager, which isn't necessarily his fault - that's just how management positions are.
Up All Night
I think this show stepped into the "obvious joke" shoes again with all of the stuff about saying "bomb" in an airport. But the part I did find somewhat interesting was their whole baby plan/schedule to avoid the dreaded fuss of having a baby on an airplane. I haven't seen that before. The "Back it Up" song wasn't that great, but as I am a fan of impressions when they are either really good or really bad, Chris doing Michael Keaton characters was funny.
Fringe
If I were Peter, what I would be worried about is the inevitability of this Olivia getting hurt when he leaves her to go back to his timeline. Unless he's either planning to stay, or take her with him for an Olivia threesome. It was interesting watching Jackson and Torv play this episode, though; Olivia was kind of giddy with her new-found feelings, and Peter was troubled by them. Maybe I wasn't watching closely enough, but the ending seemed to come out of nowhere. Not a complaint, though; I know it will be expanded on next week. It was just a good "WTF" moment.
Hero of the Week: Belle from Once Upon a Time, for coming back with the straw.
Douchebag of the Week: The tribe of men on Survivor. Get over yourselves, meatheads.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
This Week in Television - Feb. 6-11, 2012
Smash
Well, it's a lot less flawed than Glee, but then practically everything is. It seems Katharine McPhee is actually a capable actress, so she was a good choice for the lead role (or maybe not lead, because Debra Messing got just as much screen time, if not more). Ivy - the blonde antagonist - was instantly annoying to me, because she is the type of performer who always goes too big in order to show off. There actually can be such a thing as too much talent, and when you go over the top it ruins a role. While I find Broadway music to be bland, I do appreciate that the music was more seamless and didn't feel like song after song was being crammed down my throat, as is sometimes the case with Glee. My one little nitpick - and it's not just Smash that did this, but a lot of movies and shows do - is the representation of Youtube (or whatever resembles Youtube when copyright is an issue). They always do it as if anything you put on Youtube automatically gets millions of views just because it's on the internet. Unless you have a famous channel with tons of followers, the chances of someone stumbling on your video and then sharing it enough to make it a hit - and in a short amount of time, no less - are about the same as stumbling on a raisin in the sand while walking along the beach. And I doubt that assistant's mother is an internet superstar. But anyway, in spite of an abrupt ending (maybe I'm just too used to cliffhangers) I didn't mind the pilot, so I'm going to keep watching.
Glee
How do they expect us to care about the Sam/Mercedes relationship when 90% of it happened off camera? I don't even care about Finn and Rachel, and they're all over this show. And if Mercedes likes Sam so much, why has she not broken up with her boyfriend? I know we see that kind of behaviour all the time in adults, because sometimes certain circumstances keep you from leaving a person you're not satisfied with, but that does not apply to high school students, because there are no circumstances where it would. I don't think artificial insemination is a fitting storyline for Sue, and I hate that this new coach is still around because she's just an unfunny version of Sue Sylvester. As much as I enjoy Sue, we don't need two of her, especially if one isn't funny. And Santana was right: Mr. Schue's Latino Elvis remix was awful and offensive.
New Girl
Though it may have been a bit of a stretch, I laughed at Jess charming the angry driver with the gun, and Nick and Jess playing chicken with the landlord threesome (is "Underpants Captain" a real thing? ...Never mind, I don't want to know.) The joke about the guards thinking Schmidt was raping his boss in the parking garage didn't quite work, because the view on the monitors just looked like exactly what it was: two people making out. She wasn't struggling, he wasn't restraining her, and they were both standing up. The ending with the Japanese conference call was even worse because it was so predictable and an overused joke. But I really liked the Jess/Nick/Landlord portion of the episode, that stuff was fun.
30 Rock
I like Mary Steenburgen, but I think it was obvious she and Jack were going to develop feelings for each other as soon as she showed up. Their scenes together weren't hilarious, but they had chemistry - probably actually more than Alec Baldwin has with Elizabeth Banks. As a character, Lutz works best when he is the butt of a small, quick joke. When a story is centered around him, like in this episode and the one with everyone catering to him for security in the event of an imaginary apocalypse, it's just more uncomfortable than funny. I don't get the Ikea observational humour because it's not something I've experienced or heard about, but the flashbacks to Liz's bad Valentine's days were fun.
The Office
I liked this one because it seems like it's been a really, really long time since we actually saw anybody working. Dwight trying to put together a team and fighting with Andy about who he's allowed to bring was fun, and it was a nice touch when the final team, whom he despised, surprised him by taking the project seriously and actually contributing good ideas. The way they pulled out those setups at the end, though (Erin claiming she won't return, Cathy hinting that she's going to make a move on Jim), it made this feel like the second last episode of a season.
Up All Night
I know this was a Valentine's episode and all, but I don't think it's necessary to end almost every episode with Chris and Reagan realizing how much they love each other. The show is about a married couple raising their new baby. We know they're not about to get divorced anytime soon, because their marriage is part of the show's premise. I like their characters and it's nice that they're in love and all that, but it doesn't have to be a romantic comedy. It's allowed to be just a comedy that is sometimes romantic. You have to ration those sweet moments or your show just gets too mushy.
Fringe
For characters who are way smarter than I am, they should have figured out before me that two universes were blending together. They did not, but I guess the writers had to drag it out a little for dramatic purposes. It was a cool episode, though, and the ending with Olivia raises some interesting questions. For instance, if Peter's Olivia is blending into this one, does that mean both will be destroyed? If not, will he even want to go home if he has Olivia back? Or are other things/people going to follow suit?
Saturday Night Live
I don't always watch SNL, and I never write about it, but I'll make an exception because this week it was hosted by my future wife Zooey Deschanel. Now there are times when some of the hosts (probably more often the female ones) get stuck playing the straight man while the cast has all the fun playing their wacky recurring characters, but I was glad to see them allowing Zooey to be funny, because she does have that comedic talent. I don't understand the appeal of those "Les Jeunes de Paris" sketches. I've seen them do it a few times, and I get the references to French culture and French cinema, I just don't see how it is potent as a comedy sketch. Abby Elliot's Zooey impression was fairly good, as was Zooey's Mary Kate Olsen impression, and Taran Killam's Michael Cera impression had the perfect enunciation, but was about three octaves too high. I'm not sure if the squeaky voice was a joke or if for some reason he just can't do it any lower. Bill Hader's Clint Eastwood is also great, but most of his impressions are. I was excited by the return of the technology humping sketch, because it was my favourite part of the last Emma Stone episode. It wasn't as good as the first time, but I enjoy that it can be so filthy while also remaining completely G-rated. The crab sketch was, like the content of it, a predictable build-up to pretty much nothing, and while I liked the fast-talking 1940's sketch, its ending felt weird and abrupt - or, in other words, non-existent. But overall it was a decent episode; I've seen far worse. And we even got a surprise cameo from Nicolas Cage!
Hero of the Week: Zooey Deschanel on Saturday Night Live, for not being the unfunny one in ANY of the sketches.
Douchebag of the Week: Coach Roz from Glee, because there's only one Sue Sylvester.
Well, it's a lot less flawed than Glee, but then practically everything is. It seems Katharine McPhee is actually a capable actress, so she was a good choice for the lead role (or maybe not lead, because Debra Messing got just as much screen time, if not more). Ivy - the blonde antagonist - was instantly annoying to me, because she is the type of performer who always goes too big in order to show off. There actually can be such a thing as too much talent, and when you go over the top it ruins a role. While I find Broadway music to be bland, I do appreciate that the music was more seamless and didn't feel like song after song was being crammed down my throat, as is sometimes the case with Glee. My one little nitpick - and it's not just Smash that did this, but a lot of movies and shows do - is the representation of Youtube (or whatever resembles Youtube when copyright is an issue). They always do it as if anything you put on Youtube automatically gets millions of views just because it's on the internet. Unless you have a famous channel with tons of followers, the chances of someone stumbling on your video and then sharing it enough to make it a hit - and in a short amount of time, no less - are about the same as stumbling on a raisin in the sand while walking along the beach. And I doubt that assistant's mother is an internet superstar. But anyway, in spite of an abrupt ending (maybe I'm just too used to cliffhangers) I didn't mind the pilot, so I'm going to keep watching.
Glee
How do they expect us to care about the Sam/Mercedes relationship when 90% of it happened off camera? I don't even care about Finn and Rachel, and they're all over this show. And if Mercedes likes Sam so much, why has she not broken up with her boyfriend? I know we see that kind of behaviour all the time in adults, because sometimes certain circumstances keep you from leaving a person you're not satisfied with, but that does not apply to high school students, because there are no circumstances where it would. I don't think artificial insemination is a fitting storyline for Sue, and I hate that this new coach is still around because she's just an unfunny version of Sue Sylvester. As much as I enjoy Sue, we don't need two of her, especially if one isn't funny. And Santana was right: Mr. Schue's Latino Elvis remix was awful and offensive.
New Girl
Though it may have been a bit of a stretch, I laughed at Jess charming the angry driver with the gun, and Nick and Jess playing chicken with the landlord threesome (is "Underpants Captain" a real thing? ...Never mind, I don't want to know.) The joke about the guards thinking Schmidt was raping his boss in the parking garage didn't quite work, because the view on the monitors just looked like exactly what it was: two people making out. She wasn't struggling, he wasn't restraining her, and they were both standing up. The ending with the Japanese conference call was even worse because it was so predictable and an overused joke. But I really liked the Jess/Nick/Landlord portion of the episode, that stuff was fun.
30 Rock
I like Mary Steenburgen, but I think it was obvious she and Jack were going to develop feelings for each other as soon as she showed up. Their scenes together weren't hilarious, but they had chemistry - probably actually more than Alec Baldwin has with Elizabeth Banks. As a character, Lutz works best when he is the butt of a small, quick joke. When a story is centered around him, like in this episode and the one with everyone catering to him for security in the event of an imaginary apocalypse, it's just more uncomfortable than funny. I don't get the Ikea observational humour because it's not something I've experienced or heard about, but the flashbacks to Liz's bad Valentine's days were fun.
The Office
I liked this one because it seems like it's been a really, really long time since we actually saw anybody working. Dwight trying to put together a team and fighting with Andy about who he's allowed to bring was fun, and it was a nice touch when the final team, whom he despised, surprised him by taking the project seriously and actually contributing good ideas. The way they pulled out those setups at the end, though (Erin claiming she won't return, Cathy hinting that she's going to make a move on Jim), it made this feel like the second last episode of a season.
Up All Night
I know this was a Valentine's episode and all, but I don't think it's necessary to end almost every episode with Chris and Reagan realizing how much they love each other. The show is about a married couple raising their new baby. We know they're not about to get divorced anytime soon, because their marriage is part of the show's premise. I like their characters and it's nice that they're in love and all that, but it doesn't have to be a romantic comedy. It's allowed to be just a comedy that is sometimes romantic. You have to ration those sweet moments or your show just gets too mushy.
Fringe
For characters who are way smarter than I am, they should have figured out before me that two universes were blending together. They did not, but I guess the writers had to drag it out a little for dramatic purposes. It was a cool episode, though, and the ending with Olivia raises some interesting questions. For instance, if Peter's Olivia is blending into this one, does that mean both will be destroyed? If not, will he even want to go home if he has Olivia back? Or are other things/people going to follow suit?
Saturday Night Live
I don't always watch SNL, and I never write about it, but I'll make an exception because this week it was hosted by my future wife Zooey Deschanel. Now there are times when some of the hosts (probably more often the female ones) get stuck playing the straight man while the cast has all the fun playing their wacky recurring characters, but I was glad to see them allowing Zooey to be funny, because she does have that comedic talent. I don't understand the appeal of those "Les Jeunes de Paris" sketches. I've seen them do it a few times, and I get the references to French culture and French cinema, I just don't see how it is potent as a comedy sketch. Abby Elliot's Zooey impression was fairly good, as was Zooey's Mary Kate Olsen impression, and Taran Killam's Michael Cera impression had the perfect enunciation, but was about three octaves too high. I'm not sure if the squeaky voice was a joke or if for some reason he just can't do it any lower. Bill Hader's Clint Eastwood is also great, but most of his impressions are. I was excited by the return of the technology humping sketch, because it was my favourite part of the last Emma Stone episode. It wasn't as good as the first time, but I enjoy that it can be so filthy while also remaining completely G-rated. The crab sketch was, like the content of it, a predictable build-up to pretty much nothing, and while I liked the fast-talking 1940's sketch, its ending felt weird and abrupt - or, in other words, non-existent. But overall it was a decent episode; I've seen far worse. And we even got a surprise cameo from Nicolas Cage!
Hero of the Week: Zooey Deschanel on Saturday Night Live, for not being the unfunny one in ANY of the sketches.
Douchebag of the Week: Coach Roz from Glee, because there's only one Sue Sylvester.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
This Week in Television - Jan. 29-Feb. 3, 2012
Once Upon a Time
I don't know how we were supposed to sympathize with the genie when he seemed to only love the queen for her looks. I felt worse for the king because he was nice enough to free him and it got him stabbed in the back. I saw Emma's failure coming; it was too easy (and, in the series, too soon) for that to be able to stop the mayor. I'm wondering if this mysterious writer guy was the original author of the fairy tale book and has come to finish it or something.
Glee
Rather than go on another rant, perhaps I should just say this: Worst. Episode. Ever. And that's saying a lot when it comes to Glee.
New Girl
I thought Julia was a more fun person in her scenes with Nick last episode, but this week there weren't any signs of that as her being mean was a driving force behind the story. It didn't quite feel consistent, but I did laugh at the bathroom-crying jokes. Winston's storyline was a little dull, but at least it was a bit of character development for him. Schmidt's parts weren't so much a storyline as one very simple joke, which worked best at the end when Nick revealed how little he washes things.
30 Rock
I don't think anyone will disagree that the best line in this episode was "It's the ultimate game... Jack Donaghy playing with himself... It's a Jack-off." I thought Liz using Jack's negotiation tactics against him was an awesomely fun episode idea, and it didn't disappoint. However, Tracy and Jenna at the bar mitzvah didn't work as well for me. It just felt like one joke gone on too long, and a potential platform for character growth that probably won't actually result in any growth from either of them. And I was actually kind of looking forward to the possibility of Kenneth having a different job at NBC, just to change things up, but I guess that was a cop-out, too.
Parks and Recreation
I almost thought this episode was a rerun when it opened with "Galentine's Day", which a season 2 episode also did, but then Leslie mentioned that April was married and my confusion became delight at the show's continuity. Sometimes when The Office does a certain event like that, we never see it again even if it's supposed to be happening regularly. Chris DJing the party with sad music was predictable, but it was interesting seeing him in a depressed state because it's so contrary to what we're used to from him. Ron, Andy, and Ben as the clue-hunting team was awesome; especially Ron's transition from hating riddles (or at least pretending to) to outright loving them and having so much of a blast that he requests a clue hunt from Leslie for his birthday. I kind of hope we get to see that now. Ann and Tom was a pretty big surprise; I know they were using the idea of Ann and Chris reuniting as a red herring, but because it seemed apparent so early in the episode I thought it was just going to be a very predictable plot point. I like being surprised, so that was an interesting twist, and while it was unclear whether that relationship will continue (it ended with Ann remarking that it was a mistake, but that could be interpreted as a joke), it might be fun if it does. Also very interesting that we've had two episodes in a row where April shows compassion for someone who annoys her. Something's going on there!
The Office
I think the whole jury duty thing was a little over the top, and the web of lies became excrutiating rather than funny. The better part of the episode was actually Angela's baby, with Kevin gleefully calling it "Little Kevin" and Oscar being so amused at her being involved in two shams at once (the gay senator husband and the non-premature baby) that he didn't know which thread to follow first.
Up All Night
It's always fun to see Dennis Duffy from 30 Rock, but once again this show still has trouble making their guest stars funny. The brotherly competitiveness is nothing remotely new to television, and I think I've clarified by now that extended jokes lasting the whole episode are a big drag unless it's a really, really funny joke. This show is only bringing the occasional laugh now, but when it's not funny, it's not excruciatingly unfunny, so I still find it watchable because I enjoy Arnett and Applegate. But I do wish it were funnier than it is.
Fringe
I can't believe it took them four seasons for Astrid to be so heavily featured in an episode, but I'm glad that episode now exists. It was oddly fascinating seeing Alt-Astrid as something of a semi-autistic, semi-childlike savant with no apparent dark side to her, and Jasika Nicole killed that performance. But the scenes with Walter and Fauxlivia felt off. He has no reason to despise her in this timeline if she couldn't have seduced and deceived a non-existent Peter. With two death prediction cases in a row, I thought they were going to come back to Olivia's impending death, but instead they showed us a piece of Observer technology and revealed an Observer's name. I'll take it.
Hero of the Week: Jack from 30 Rock, for both winning and losing the "Jack-off" with grace.
Douchebag of the Week: No one really stood out, but I guess I'll say Dwight from The Office. His glee over the possibility of getting Jim fired was a little annoying.
I don't know how we were supposed to sympathize with the genie when he seemed to only love the queen for her looks. I felt worse for the king because he was nice enough to free him and it got him stabbed in the back. I saw Emma's failure coming; it was too easy (and, in the series, too soon) for that to be able to stop the mayor. I'm wondering if this mysterious writer guy was the original author of the fairy tale book and has come to finish it or something.
Glee
Rather than go on another rant, perhaps I should just say this: Worst. Episode. Ever. And that's saying a lot when it comes to Glee.
New Girl
I thought Julia was a more fun person in her scenes with Nick last episode, but this week there weren't any signs of that as her being mean was a driving force behind the story. It didn't quite feel consistent, but I did laugh at the bathroom-crying jokes. Winston's storyline was a little dull, but at least it was a bit of character development for him. Schmidt's parts weren't so much a storyline as one very simple joke, which worked best at the end when Nick revealed how little he washes things.
30 Rock
I don't think anyone will disagree that the best line in this episode was "It's the ultimate game... Jack Donaghy playing with himself... It's a Jack-off." I thought Liz using Jack's negotiation tactics against him was an awesomely fun episode idea, and it didn't disappoint. However, Tracy and Jenna at the bar mitzvah didn't work as well for me. It just felt like one joke gone on too long, and a potential platform for character growth that probably won't actually result in any growth from either of them. And I was actually kind of looking forward to the possibility of Kenneth having a different job at NBC, just to change things up, but I guess that was a cop-out, too.
Parks and Recreation
I almost thought this episode was a rerun when it opened with "Galentine's Day", which a season 2 episode also did, but then Leslie mentioned that April was married and my confusion became delight at the show's continuity. Sometimes when The Office does a certain event like that, we never see it again even if it's supposed to be happening regularly. Chris DJing the party with sad music was predictable, but it was interesting seeing him in a depressed state because it's so contrary to what we're used to from him. Ron, Andy, and Ben as the clue-hunting team was awesome; especially Ron's transition from hating riddles (or at least pretending to) to outright loving them and having so much of a blast that he requests a clue hunt from Leslie for his birthday. I kind of hope we get to see that now. Ann and Tom was a pretty big surprise; I know they were using the idea of Ann and Chris reuniting as a red herring, but because it seemed apparent so early in the episode I thought it was just going to be a very predictable plot point. I like being surprised, so that was an interesting twist, and while it was unclear whether that relationship will continue (it ended with Ann remarking that it was a mistake, but that could be interpreted as a joke), it might be fun if it does. Also very interesting that we've had two episodes in a row where April shows compassion for someone who annoys her. Something's going on there!
The Office
I think the whole jury duty thing was a little over the top, and the web of lies became excrutiating rather than funny. The better part of the episode was actually Angela's baby, with Kevin gleefully calling it "Little Kevin" and Oscar being so amused at her being involved in two shams at once (the gay senator husband and the non-premature baby) that he didn't know which thread to follow first.
Up All Night
It's always fun to see Dennis Duffy from 30 Rock, but once again this show still has trouble making their guest stars funny. The brotherly competitiveness is nothing remotely new to television, and I think I've clarified by now that extended jokes lasting the whole episode are a big drag unless it's a really, really funny joke. This show is only bringing the occasional laugh now, but when it's not funny, it's not excruciatingly unfunny, so I still find it watchable because I enjoy Arnett and Applegate. But I do wish it were funnier than it is.
Fringe
I can't believe it took them four seasons for Astrid to be so heavily featured in an episode, but I'm glad that episode now exists. It was oddly fascinating seeing Alt-Astrid as something of a semi-autistic, semi-childlike savant with no apparent dark side to her, and Jasika Nicole killed that performance. But the scenes with Walter and Fauxlivia felt off. He has no reason to despise her in this timeline if she couldn't have seduced and deceived a non-existent Peter. With two death prediction cases in a row, I thought they were going to come back to Olivia's impending death, but instead they showed us a piece of Observer technology and revealed an Observer's name. I'll take it.
Hero of the Week: Jack from 30 Rock, for both winning and losing the "Jack-off" with grace.
Douchebag of the Week: No one really stood out, but I guess I'll say Dwight from The Office. His glee over the possibility of getting Jim fired was a little annoying.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
This Week in Television - Jan. 15-20, 2012
Once Upon a Time
Oh, Hansel, you dope. How many times did they tell you not to eat anything in the witch's house? Decent episode, though. The orphan storyline finally got Emma to admit how much she cares about Henry, but the ending was more interesting.
Napoleon Dynamite
I'm a fan of the movie, but I'm not sure what to make of these first two episodes of the new animated series because it doesn't really resemble the film. It's more like the director wanted to make an animated series and, as an excuse to garner some initial attention ratings, used the characters and settings from his most successful project. The humour is not the same as in the movie - it's more like season five of Futurama, as in mildly amusing but never laugh out loud hilarious and probably would have been funnier about 15 years ago. The cartoon medium completely changes the tone into something more blatantly wacky and fast paced, and I understand that it's just how animation works, but that's not what the movie was. The movie was more lethargic and quiet, full of moments with Napoleon silently gawking at things because he wasn't a big conversationalist. He does a lot more talking in the cartoon because Jon Heder needs something to do. However, that is this show's biggest strength: all of the actors from the movie came back to do the voices. Given how strange and unique all of those voices are, it would have been way too noticeable had the roles been recast. But there's still one thing to nitpick there, and that is Uncle Rico. It's still the same actor playing him, but he's either completely forgotten the role since doing the movie or they asked him to exaggerate the southern accent so the character would sound more...cartoony. It definitely threw me off because he didn't sound like Uncle Rico, but all of the other voices were perfect. Also, this show doesn't seem to be canon with the film, as Lafawnduh is nowhere in sight even though Kip married her in the movie. I don't think I'll bother to keep watching.
Glee
I can imagine how many fangirls squealed when Finn proposed to Rachel, but I was laughing at what a terrible gimmick it is. And being that their characters are only about 17-18, it makes me think even less of them for even thinking about marriage that young. Though Rachel didn't respond yet, but supposedly they kind of stole that ending from one of the Twilight movies, which is the least surprising thing ever. I don't like how they used that musical number with the girls in black dresses singing about their loved ones to try and imply that those relationships are as meaningful as the adult one between Mr. Schue and Emma, when we know they'll probably all be dating different people by next season. And then they took it even further by having them come to tears while singing it, and then even further by having Mercedes remark afterward how beautiful and moving it was. Nope. I'm somewhat easily moved, and that had zero effect on me. I also found it offensive when they had Becky's voiceover voiced by Helen Mirren, as if they were trying to make a sarcastic joke by making her inner voice classy and intelligent. And offense #3: all of the stuff about Emma's OCD - which was already exaggerated - and how the general opinion was that she is unable to function as a normal human being and for some reason it means she shouldn't get married, except that Mr. Schue is a hero and he'll be there to rescue her. Yes, Glee, that's exactly what OCD is like, thanks. When Artie wheeled himself into the pool during Mr. Schue's ridiculous over the top proposal (the walking on water was definitely too much; it doesn't say "I love you", it says "I'm so awesome I'm doing something Christlike, wanna marry me? Yeah, course you do."), I was like "Well, he's dead," and then he magically reappeared on an inflatable chair. But seriously, how did he get over there? Because doggy paddling doesn't work for humans when your legs are dead weight. And apparently Mr. Schue has literally no friends whatsoever outside of the high school, because that's the only reason I can think of why a grown man would choose Finn to be the best man at his wedding (but really it's because they want an excuse to have the glee club perform a song during the inevitable wedding episode). This was one of the kitschiest Glee episodes ever, but I laughed at a couple of the one-liners in this episode, such as Sue calling Coach Beiste "Michael Chiklis in a wig" and Becky telling Artie that her mom says she has "get down syndrome".
New Girl
Sometimes it feels like this show is too Schmidt-centric, but that may be because of his large personality. Surprisingly, this episode had a character who was even douchier than Schmidt, and got what he deserved from Lizzy Caplan; I was puzzled when Nick was horrified by it, because I'm all for douchebags getting beat up. Does that make me a bad person? And why did they send that white dude if Jess asked for an Asian stripper? I like how offended Nick was by Schmidt's toolish hat and tanktop outfit. I wouldn't want to be associated with someone wearing that, either. The douchebag jar is fun, but if it was meant to deter Schmidt from acting the way he does, it doesn't seem to be working. There's gotta be like a thousand dollars in there by now.
30 Rock
There we go. Much better than last week's episode. Tracy's offensive comments on the show were a lot less offensive than what he said in real life (I believe it was something to the effect of "if I had a gay son, I'd shoot myself"), but I think this episode poking fun at it was a fair punishment and was handled well. It sort of managed to chastize and condescend to Tracy while also apologizing to the public and reminding everyone that Tracy's not the kind of dude who would mean it, it was just a bad joke in bad taste. Basically, it hit all the bases while still being funny so as not to waste our time getting caught up in the show's own politics. Kenneth and Jenna's simple lightbulb-changing plot escalated quickly and became funny (those two are often funnier playing off each other than on their own), and the ending when they called Kelsey Grammer was one of those moments where you know it's going to be him because he was in the beginning of the episode, and then when it's him you just go "Yesss!" I loved the tag with his James Bond-like theme song - probably the highlight of the episode. Well, that and the pie chart about TGS's viewers, because every time Jack pulls out a pie chart, the segments on it represent hilarious things.
Parks and Recreation
You know, out of all of NBC's Thursday night comedies, Parks and Recreation is the one that is the most consistently funny. Another solid, hilarious episode this week. Loved Ben, Jerry, and Tom trying to do sinister voiceover voices, every single thing Andy said and did (especially his extremely wide hammering attempt), Chris thwarting Ron's automatic door-closer by slipping in before the shut-out, and Leslie's campaign commercial with the very long list of things she supports. Also, I've always found attack ads funny because they're so dramatic in their accusations, so it was fun to see it here, and cute to see how little Leslie has changed since she was 10 years old.
The Office
This was probably the first episode of the whole season where Andy felt like Andy and not Michael. Maybe because they were outside of the office for a reason not driven by him, so for the writers this episode didn't need a Michael in it. It wasn't one of the funnier episodes, though. I can't recall any jokes that stood out, though the cold opening with Dwight and Stanley "turning the tables" on Jim for free meatballs was such a weird and unexpected ending to that prank that it was kind of funny for that reason.
Up All Night
Megan Mullally has been appearing on almost every comedy show out there, and lately it's been fun to see her, but so far Up All Night hasn't really been putting their guest stars to great use. But I do like the subject of idea stealing, whether coincidental or otherwise, because that sort of thing does happen in the entertainment industry; usually with two very similar movies coming out around the same time, or a few instances I've pointed out on this blog where some TV shows make the same joke in the same week. I don't suspect plagiarism when that happens, but it's fascinating when two seperate people can have the same idea at the same time, and I can imagine how it might make them feel, not being able to prove or disprove intent. But this episode didn't go down that road anyway, as sneakiness is more interesting than coincidence. I'm not sure if I agree with "emotional cheating" being a real thing, though. I understand it, but the only thing that makes it emotional cheating is gender. No one ever calls it that when a dude is having a night out with a male friend.
Fringe
This week's episode had some very cool scenes. Notably the one where Peter was freaking out Jones in the interrogation room, however short-lived that may have been once Jones' contacts came to his rescue. And it was cool to see both sides finally working together, and Walter reuniting with Walternate's wife, although the problem is that all of that theoretically goes away when Peter returns to his timeline. We're into Lost season 6 territory right now, where we're not sure if and why this world we're seeing is going to be relevant, and that makes viewers cautious about getting invested.
Hero of the Week: Julia (Lizzy Caplan) from New Girl, for taking down the douche and generally being a cool date.
Douchebag of the Week: Schmidt's friend Benjamin from New Girl. As he played Todd on Community earlier this season, I think he might be the first actor to win Douchebag for two different roles.
Oh, Hansel, you dope. How many times did they tell you not to eat anything in the witch's house? Decent episode, though. The orphan storyline finally got Emma to admit how much she cares about Henry, but the ending was more interesting.
Napoleon Dynamite
I'm a fan of the movie, but I'm not sure what to make of these first two episodes of the new animated series because it doesn't really resemble the film. It's more like the director wanted to make an animated series and, as an excuse to garner some initial attention ratings, used the characters and settings from his most successful project. The humour is not the same as in the movie - it's more like season five of Futurama, as in mildly amusing but never laugh out loud hilarious and probably would have been funnier about 15 years ago. The cartoon medium completely changes the tone into something more blatantly wacky and fast paced, and I understand that it's just how animation works, but that's not what the movie was. The movie was more lethargic and quiet, full of moments with Napoleon silently gawking at things because he wasn't a big conversationalist. He does a lot more talking in the cartoon because Jon Heder needs something to do. However, that is this show's biggest strength: all of the actors from the movie came back to do the voices. Given how strange and unique all of those voices are, it would have been way too noticeable had the roles been recast. But there's still one thing to nitpick there, and that is Uncle Rico. It's still the same actor playing him, but he's either completely forgotten the role since doing the movie or they asked him to exaggerate the southern accent so the character would sound more...cartoony. It definitely threw me off because he didn't sound like Uncle Rico, but all of the other voices were perfect. Also, this show doesn't seem to be canon with the film, as Lafawnduh is nowhere in sight even though Kip married her in the movie. I don't think I'll bother to keep watching.
Glee
I can imagine how many fangirls squealed when Finn proposed to Rachel, but I was laughing at what a terrible gimmick it is. And being that their characters are only about 17-18, it makes me think even less of them for even thinking about marriage that young. Though Rachel didn't respond yet, but supposedly they kind of stole that ending from one of the Twilight movies, which is the least surprising thing ever. I don't like how they used that musical number with the girls in black dresses singing about their loved ones to try and imply that those relationships are as meaningful as the adult one between Mr. Schue and Emma, when we know they'll probably all be dating different people by next season. And then they took it even further by having them come to tears while singing it, and then even further by having Mercedes remark afterward how beautiful and moving it was. Nope. I'm somewhat easily moved, and that had zero effect on me. I also found it offensive when they had Becky's voiceover voiced by Helen Mirren, as if they were trying to make a sarcastic joke by making her inner voice classy and intelligent. And offense #3: all of the stuff about Emma's OCD - which was already exaggerated - and how the general opinion was that she is unable to function as a normal human being and for some reason it means she shouldn't get married, except that Mr. Schue is a hero and he'll be there to rescue her. Yes, Glee, that's exactly what OCD is like, thanks. When Artie wheeled himself into the pool during Mr. Schue's ridiculous over the top proposal (the walking on water was definitely too much; it doesn't say "I love you", it says "I'm so awesome I'm doing something Christlike, wanna marry me? Yeah, course you do."), I was like "Well, he's dead," and then he magically reappeared on an inflatable chair. But seriously, how did he get over there? Because doggy paddling doesn't work for humans when your legs are dead weight. And apparently Mr. Schue has literally no friends whatsoever outside of the high school, because that's the only reason I can think of why a grown man would choose Finn to be the best man at his wedding (but really it's because they want an excuse to have the glee club perform a song during the inevitable wedding episode). This was one of the kitschiest Glee episodes ever, but I laughed at a couple of the one-liners in this episode, such as Sue calling Coach Beiste "Michael Chiklis in a wig" and Becky telling Artie that her mom says she has "get down syndrome".
New Girl
Sometimes it feels like this show is too Schmidt-centric, but that may be because of his large personality. Surprisingly, this episode had a character who was even douchier than Schmidt, and got what he deserved from Lizzy Caplan; I was puzzled when Nick was horrified by it, because I'm all for douchebags getting beat up. Does that make me a bad person? And why did they send that white dude if Jess asked for an Asian stripper? I like how offended Nick was by Schmidt's toolish hat and tanktop outfit. I wouldn't want to be associated with someone wearing that, either. The douchebag jar is fun, but if it was meant to deter Schmidt from acting the way he does, it doesn't seem to be working. There's gotta be like a thousand dollars in there by now.
30 Rock
There we go. Much better than last week's episode. Tracy's offensive comments on the show were a lot less offensive than what he said in real life (I believe it was something to the effect of "if I had a gay son, I'd shoot myself"), but I think this episode poking fun at it was a fair punishment and was handled well. It sort of managed to chastize and condescend to Tracy while also apologizing to the public and reminding everyone that Tracy's not the kind of dude who would mean it, it was just a bad joke in bad taste. Basically, it hit all the bases while still being funny so as not to waste our time getting caught up in the show's own politics. Kenneth and Jenna's simple lightbulb-changing plot escalated quickly and became funny (those two are often funnier playing off each other than on their own), and the ending when they called Kelsey Grammer was one of those moments where you know it's going to be him because he was in the beginning of the episode, and then when it's him you just go "Yesss!" I loved the tag with his James Bond-like theme song - probably the highlight of the episode. Well, that and the pie chart about TGS's viewers, because every time Jack pulls out a pie chart, the segments on it represent hilarious things.
Parks and Recreation
You know, out of all of NBC's Thursday night comedies, Parks and Recreation is the one that is the most consistently funny. Another solid, hilarious episode this week. Loved Ben, Jerry, and Tom trying to do sinister voiceover voices, every single thing Andy said and did (especially his extremely wide hammering attempt), Chris thwarting Ron's automatic door-closer by slipping in before the shut-out, and Leslie's campaign commercial with the very long list of things she supports. Also, I've always found attack ads funny because they're so dramatic in their accusations, so it was fun to see it here, and cute to see how little Leslie has changed since she was 10 years old.
The Office
This was probably the first episode of the whole season where Andy felt like Andy and not Michael. Maybe because they were outside of the office for a reason not driven by him, so for the writers this episode didn't need a Michael in it. It wasn't one of the funnier episodes, though. I can't recall any jokes that stood out, though the cold opening with Dwight and Stanley "turning the tables" on Jim for free meatballs was such a weird and unexpected ending to that prank that it was kind of funny for that reason.
Up All Night
Megan Mullally has been appearing on almost every comedy show out there, and lately it's been fun to see her, but so far Up All Night hasn't really been putting their guest stars to great use. But I do like the subject of idea stealing, whether coincidental or otherwise, because that sort of thing does happen in the entertainment industry; usually with two very similar movies coming out around the same time, or a few instances I've pointed out on this blog where some TV shows make the same joke in the same week. I don't suspect plagiarism when that happens, but it's fascinating when two seperate people can have the same idea at the same time, and I can imagine how it might make them feel, not being able to prove or disprove intent. But this episode didn't go down that road anyway, as sneakiness is more interesting than coincidence. I'm not sure if I agree with "emotional cheating" being a real thing, though. I understand it, but the only thing that makes it emotional cheating is gender. No one ever calls it that when a dude is having a night out with a male friend.
Fringe
This week's episode had some very cool scenes. Notably the one where Peter was freaking out Jones in the interrogation room, however short-lived that may have been once Jones' contacts came to his rescue. And it was cool to see both sides finally working together, and Walter reuniting with Walternate's wife, although the problem is that all of that theoretically goes away when Peter returns to his timeline. We're into Lost season 6 territory right now, where we're not sure if and why this world we're seeing is going to be relevant, and that makes viewers cautious about getting invested.
Hero of the Week: Julia (Lizzy Caplan) from New Girl, for taking down the douche and generally being a cool date.
Douchebag of the Week: Schmidt's friend Benjamin from New Girl. As he played Todd on Community earlier this season, I think he might be the first actor to win Douchebag for two different roles.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
This Week in Television - Jan. 8-13, 2012
Once Upon a Time
Rumplestiltskin's reason for turning evil was a little Star Wars-like, but it did set up a nice juxtaposition in showing that Emma made the decision he could not: to sacrifice the greater good and keep your integrity intact for the sake of your child. I found it predictable that David's wife supported the Mayor's sherriff candidate. The set-up was too obvious when he and Mary Margaret were posting posters next to each other.
30 Rock
I'm really glad 30 Rock is back because it helps soften the disappointment of Community's hiatus, but this episode wasn't really the strong start I was hoping for. It seemed like an episode that belongs in season four, 30 Rock's weakest season. I think my favourite joke of the episode was probably when Kenneth said Aroused Dog Heaven is the same place as Women's Hell. America's Kidz Got Singing was another of those things that is a terrible idea for a show, but still sadly in the realm of something somebody would actually do, and even sadder, it would probably be a monster hit. Happy Liz isn't really as fun to watch as miserable Liz.
Parks and Recreation
The scene on the ice rink with everyone shuffling along, falling and almost falling, panicking about the three-legged dog, and the stopping and restarting of the "Get on Your Feet" song were all very simple elements, but damn if it wasn't a hilarious scene anyway. The music especially is what made it - I kept forgetting about the song, thinking it was done, and then it would start up again and make me laugh. One slight criticism about Ben's claymation video: that is a lot less than three weeks' worth of animation, unless he's including all of the preparation and model building in that three weeks, or is just so inexperienced that he really is that slow with it.
The Office
I laughed at "The Einsteins" getting the Albert Einstein question wrong. The thing about trivia is that you don't have to be smart to do well, and you don't have to be dumb to do poorly. It is a random mix of common knowledge and obscure facts, and so it is possible for a gang of idiots to win if the right collection of questions comes up. I like that they had them losing the championship in the tag, just to quell concerns over plausibility and to show that it really was a fluke. When Gabe said that Robert has him "toilet" people for him all the time, I saw the ending to that segment coming (or I suppose the middle of it, because I didn't exactly predict Dwight going to Robert's home and watching him wrestle a physical trainer). But I wonder if Robert's promise to consider Dwight if a position opens up will result in anything.
Up All Night
I actually thought this episode was going to be Jason Lee's exit from the show, because it looked like Ava was overly interested in Missy's boyfriend, and Missy running off combined with Ava and Kevin hitting a rough patch would typically equal Ava leaving him for Missy's boyfriend. I'm glad it didn't turn out to be that predictable. I liked the stuff with Reagan and Chris listing each other's flaws and then erasing them, because I think that's what a relationship should be. Anyone and everyone you know is going to have things about them you hate if you know them long enough and well enough, but rather than force them to change, it's better to accept that the things you love about them are just more important.
Fringe
It might dilute the show somewhat, having four universes now instead of the initial two. I guess we have to be subjected to how different they are so that we, too, feel Peter's longing for the original universe we know. But I'm interested, now, in the idea of the universes working together. And if that Observer dies (if he can die?), I'm assuming there is no alternate version of him anywhere because those guys are outside the laws of time and space. Man, that ending was three cool reveals at once. It almost felt like a season premiere, but it sort of was, too; a mid-season premiere.
Hero of the Week: Ben from Parks and Recreation, because calzones and claymation are both awesome, even if everyone else seems to think they're not.
Douchebag of the Week: Ryan from The Office, for abandoning trivia just because he couldn't go a couple of hours without texting on his phone.
Rumplestiltskin's reason for turning evil was a little Star Wars-like, but it did set up a nice juxtaposition in showing that Emma made the decision he could not: to sacrifice the greater good and keep your integrity intact for the sake of your child. I found it predictable that David's wife supported the Mayor's sherriff candidate. The set-up was too obvious when he and Mary Margaret were posting posters next to each other.
30 Rock
I'm really glad 30 Rock is back because it helps soften the disappointment of Community's hiatus, but this episode wasn't really the strong start I was hoping for. It seemed like an episode that belongs in season four, 30 Rock's weakest season. I think my favourite joke of the episode was probably when Kenneth said Aroused Dog Heaven is the same place as Women's Hell. America's Kidz Got Singing was another of those things that is a terrible idea for a show, but still sadly in the realm of something somebody would actually do, and even sadder, it would probably be a monster hit. Happy Liz isn't really as fun to watch as miserable Liz.
Parks and Recreation
The scene on the ice rink with everyone shuffling along, falling and almost falling, panicking about the three-legged dog, and the stopping and restarting of the "Get on Your Feet" song were all very simple elements, but damn if it wasn't a hilarious scene anyway. The music especially is what made it - I kept forgetting about the song, thinking it was done, and then it would start up again and make me laugh. One slight criticism about Ben's claymation video: that is a lot less than three weeks' worth of animation, unless he's including all of the preparation and model building in that three weeks, or is just so inexperienced that he really is that slow with it.
The Office
I laughed at "The Einsteins" getting the Albert Einstein question wrong. The thing about trivia is that you don't have to be smart to do well, and you don't have to be dumb to do poorly. It is a random mix of common knowledge and obscure facts, and so it is possible for a gang of idiots to win if the right collection of questions comes up. I like that they had them losing the championship in the tag, just to quell concerns over plausibility and to show that it really was a fluke. When Gabe said that Robert has him "toilet" people for him all the time, I saw the ending to that segment coming (or I suppose the middle of it, because I didn't exactly predict Dwight going to Robert's home and watching him wrestle a physical trainer). But I wonder if Robert's promise to consider Dwight if a position opens up will result in anything.
Up All Night
I actually thought this episode was going to be Jason Lee's exit from the show, because it looked like Ava was overly interested in Missy's boyfriend, and Missy running off combined with Ava and Kevin hitting a rough patch would typically equal Ava leaving him for Missy's boyfriend. I'm glad it didn't turn out to be that predictable. I liked the stuff with Reagan and Chris listing each other's flaws and then erasing them, because I think that's what a relationship should be. Anyone and everyone you know is going to have things about them you hate if you know them long enough and well enough, but rather than force them to change, it's better to accept that the things you love about them are just more important.
Fringe
It might dilute the show somewhat, having four universes now instead of the initial two. I guess we have to be subjected to how different they are so that we, too, feel Peter's longing for the original universe we know. But I'm interested, now, in the idea of the universes working together. And if that Observer dies (if he can die?), I'm assuming there is no alternate version of him anywhere because those guys are outside the laws of time and space. Man, that ending was three cool reveals at once. It almost felt like a season premiere, but it sort of was, too; a mid-season premiere.
Hero of the Week: Ben from Parks and Recreation, because calzones and claymation are both awesome, even if everyone else seems to think they're not.
Douchebag of the Week: Ryan from The Office, for abandoning trivia just because he couldn't go a couple of hours without texting on his phone.
Friday, December 9, 2011
This Week in Television - Dec. 4-9, 2011
Once Upon a Time
I really liked this episode, although I have trouble not rolling my eyes when someone pulls out the "secret twin sibling" twist. But I think it may have been the absence of Henry that made this one more enjoyable. Not that I dislike him, but it gets a little tiring to have him keep speaking in fairy tale terms every week while Emma and everyone else continue to be concerned for his sanity. And I do root for real world Charming and Snow White, not because they really have much of an emotional connection, but because it pisses off the mayor/queen. Bonus points for having both Mr. Widmore and a bottle of McCutcheon's Whiskey in this episode. I will never not love Lost references.
Glee
Not only has Sam never previously been described as having "star power", but after going to the trouble of recruiting him, they didn't even give him any solos at Sectionals, making his return totally unnecessary (though the one thing in this episode I liked was Santana's list of trouty mouth insults). Mr. Schue should've been arrested and fired for giving champagne to underage students on school grounds. Unless I missed somebody clarifying that it was non-alcoholic or something, which is possible because I was busy laughing at the illegality of it, but I doubt it. And, really, another song about a cup? Why didn't they just sing Brittany's version? I'm not even going to get into how annoyingly one-dimensional Quinn has been about her baby. About 98% of this episode sucked.
New Girl
I was surprised to see Schmidt get his own story where we see him at work, because we haven't really gone away from the apartment to isolate a character yet, and for some reason I wasn't expecting it to happen. But I don't like Schmidt enough to want to watch him independently of our regular cast. But Jess and Paul awkwardly trying to have sex was funny, because Jess being weird is always funny, and Zooey Deschanel in her underwear is always awesome.
Survivor: South Pacific
Not much happened this week. Just Brandon's dad showing up to boss everyone around and Edna complaining about being on the bottom. I'm not a fan of either Brandon or Edna, so I would've been fine whichever way the vote went.
Up All Night
I liked Ava's pronunciation of "diamonds" and Reagan's reaction to the bracelet. The Christmas decorations stuff and Chris' adventures at the mall have been done before, but I guess there are only so many Christmas stories you can do.
Suburgatory
Sorry, but this episode was lame. The gay principal's little arc at the party didn't seem to go anywhere or serve much of a purpose, Zoe's exaggerated reaction at finding out Noah was married seemed like something out of a bad children's movie, and Tessa realizing she'd made a mistake in inviting Zoe seemed like something out of a bad laughtrack sitcom - at that point I actually imagined a studio audience going "ooohhh", and even in my imagination I still hate studio audiences.
Community
The music didn't really wow me (though Alison Brie's Bettie Boop impression was accurate), but I'm always down for Community making fun of Glee, like the bearded piano player who randomly shows up in the music room and the overly wholesome sweater vest-wearing teacher. And Britta's song and dance at the end, terrible in true Britta fashion, was hilarious. Sadly, this was the last episode before Community's hiatus, which may last until Spring but hopefully it will be shorter than that - ideally in the opening of a timeslot after Whitney is canceled. Please cancel Whitney, NBC.
Parks and Recreation
For me, this was the best episode of any show all week, and a very strong contender for best Parks and Recreation episode of the season. Leslie's Christmas gifts to her friends and co-workers managed to be both funny and perfect, and it was an interesting flipside look at Leslie doing pretty much her usual job, but on the other side as a regular citizen. Plus it was bursting with loads of hilarious moments, like Marshmallow Ron Swanson (including both April's explanation of it and Ron trying not to show how incredibly pleased with it he was); the guy at the PCP meeting who tried unsuccessfully to start up a "her daughter is an idiot!" chant; Leslie warning Ann not to touch her pickles at the restaurant; Dennis Feinstein's scapegoating of Eddie the accountant at Ben's interview; and to top it all off, an appearance by one of my favourite guest characters, Jean-Ralphio, whose hair seems to get bigger every time he shows up. I found myself getting a little teary-eyed by the ending, too. I'm starting to love these characters almost as much as the cast of Community.
The Office
The show has been using the Jim/Dwight pranks a little less often than they used to, but I like that they found something new to do with it by having Andy place a "no pranking" rule on them, leading to the two of them trying to frame each other. Andy is still coming off too much like Michael - "my ex is meeting my sex", for example, is totally a Michael line. It's like the writers are just continuing to use stories and/or jokes they had planned for Michael rather than write new stuff that is more suited to Andy. But I did enjoy this episode. The gift-opening montage was fun, though not as awesome as Parks and Recreation's gift-opening montage.
Hero of the Week: Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation, for her truly uncanny gift-giving ability. It's not easy to make Ron Swanson emotional!
Douchebag of the Week: The evil queen/mayor from Once Upon a Time. Since when is the mayor of a town allowed to tell someone who they can't fall in love with?
I really liked this episode, although I have trouble not rolling my eyes when someone pulls out the "secret twin sibling" twist. But I think it may have been the absence of Henry that made this one more enjoyable. Not that I dislike him, but it gets a little tiring to have him keep speaking in fairy tale terms every week while Emma and everyone else continue to be concerned for his sanity. And I do root for real world Charming and Snow White, not because they really have much of an emotional connection, but because it pisses off the mayor/queen. Bonus points for having both Mr. Widmore and a bottle of McCutcheon's Whiskey in this episode. I will never not love Lost references.
Glee
Not only has Sam never previously been described as having "star power", but after going to the trouble of recruiting him, they didn't even give him any solos at Sectionals, making his return totally unnecessary (though the one thing in this episode I liked was Santana's list of trouty mouth insults). Mr. Schue should've been arrested and fired for giving champagne to underage students on school grounds. Unless I missed somebody clarifying that it was non-alcoholic or something, which is possible because I was busy laughing at the illegality of it, but I doubt it. And, really, another song about a cup? Why didn't they just sing Brittany's version? I'm not even going to get into how annoyingly one-dimensional Quinn has been about her baby. About 98% of this episode sucked.
New Girl
I was surprised to see Schmidt get his own story where we see him at work, because we haven't really gone away from the apartment to isolate a character yet, and for some reason I wasn't expecting it to happen. But I don't like Schmidt enough to want to watch him independently of our regular cast. But Jess and Paul awkwardly trying to have sex was funny, because Jess being weird is always funny, and Zooey Deschanel in her underwear is always awesome.
Survivor: South Pacific
Not much happened this week. Just Brandon's dad showing up to boss everyone around and Edna complaining about being on the bottom. I'm not a fan of either Brandon or Edna, so I would've been fine whichever way the vote went.
Up All Night
I liked Ava's pronunciation of "diamonds" and Reagan's reaction to the bracelet. The Christmas decorations stuff and Chris' adventures at the mall have been done before, but I guess there are only so many Christmas stories you can do.
Suburgatory
Sorry, but this episode was lame. The gay principal's little arc at the party didn't seem to go anywhere or serve much of a purpose, Zoe's exaggerated reaction at finding out Noah was married seemed like something out of a bad children's movie, and Tessa realizing she'd made a mistake in inviting Zoe seemed like something out of a bad laughtrack sitcom - at that point I actually imagined a studio audience going "ooohhh", and even in my imagination I still hate studio audiences.
Community
The music didn't really wow me (though Alison Brie's Bettie Boop impression was accurate), but I'm always down for Community making fun of Glee, like the bearded piano player who randomly shows up in the music room and the overly wholesome sweater vest-wearing teacher. And Britta's song and dance at the end, terrible in true Britta fashion, was hilarious. Sadly, this was the last episode before Community's hiatus, which may last until Spring but hopefully it will be shorter than that - ideally in the opening of a timeslot after Whitney is canceled. Please cancel Whitney, NBC.
Parks and Recreation
For me, this was the best episode of any show all week, and a very strong contender for best Parks and Recreation episode of the season. Leslie's Christmas gifts to her friends and co-workers managed to be both funny and perfect, and it was an interesting flipside look at Leslie doing pretty much her usual job, but on the other side as a regular citizen. Plus it was bursting with loads of hilarious moments, like Marshmallow Ron Swanson (including both April's explanation of it and Ron trying not to show how incredibly pleased with it he was); the guy at the PCP meeting who tried unsuccessfully to start up a "her daughter is an idiot!" chant; Leslie warning Ann not to touch her pickles at the restaurant; Dennis Feinstein's scapegoating of Eddie the accountant at Ben's interview; and to top it all off, an appearance by one of my favourite guest characters, Jean-Ralphio, whose hair seems to get bigger every time he shows up. I found myself getting a little teary-eyed by the ending, too. I'm starting to love these characters almost as much as the cast of Community.
The Office
The show has been using the Jim/Dwight pranks a little less often than they used to, but I like that they found something new to do with it by having Andy place a "no pranking" rule on them, leading to the two of them trying to frame each other. Andy is still coming off too much like Michael - "my ex is meeting my sex", for example, is totally a Michael line. It's like the writers are just continuing to use stories and/or jokes they had planned for Michael rather than write new stuff that is more suited to Andy. But I did enjoy this episode. The gift-opening montage was fun, though not as awesome as Parks and Recreation's gift-opening montage.
Hero of the Week: Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation, for her truly uncanny gift-giving ability. It's not easy to make Ron Swanson emotional!
Douchebag of the Week: The evil queen/mayor from Once Upon a Time. Since when is the mayor of a town allowed to tell someone who they can't fall in love with?
Saturday, November 26, 2011
This Week in Television - Nov. 21-25, 2011
Last year during the short American Thanksgiving week, I supplemented the post by watching some pilots for shows I hadn't seen. I think I'll continue that this week and make it an annual tradition.
Survivor: South Pacific
Recap this week.
Up All Night
Jason Lee doing the Will Arnett voice was great because it reminded me of the classic Arnett vs. Baldwin "talking like this" contest on the first season of 30 Rock. But the rest of the episode was kind of forgettable, and the revised opening credits are stupid; they were relevant last week because they contained shots of scenes from that episode, but to continue using it in every episode that isn't that one makes no sense to me. In particular, the shot of Chris playing hockey might give the impression to newcomers that he is a professional hockey player, or even that he plays hockey regularly, when so far it has been specific only to that one episode.
Suburgatory
The only funny part of this episode was Ryan's description of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, because still referring to Jim Carrey as "Ace Ventura" nearly 20 years after the fact is even funnier than continuing to call Mark Wahlberg "Marky Mark". This show's situational humour tends to be pretty bland, the best example in this episode being Lisa's nakedness. I felt like they could have done more to make that funny, but apparently the writers felt that Lisa being naked was funny enough on its own. It also feels like they want to keep having parties in order to shoehorn Dalia's relevance to the plot into each episode. She's still a useless character; all she did this week was yell at the dog, which was another missed opportunity for jokes because instead of some sort of funny one-liners, the writers chose to go with the likes of, "Oh my god, shut up, I hate you!" To be fair, that's probably about as creative as a character like Dalia could come up with, but still, it only proves how little she adds to the show.
The Wire (Pilot Episode)
Normally I would have walked right by this show, as crime shows don't really interest me, but it seems to be widely regarded as one of the best TV series ever made, so I decided to give it a shot. My reason for shunning crime procedurals is because they tend to be formulaic, cookie-cutter, case-of-the-week type deals and that doesn't appeal to me. Being an HBO series and not a mass market network show, The Wire is different. It doesn't need to use action or murder mysteries to garner attention; in fact, it's more about the legal, bureaucratic aspect of police work, but it's not a courtroom drama, either. More of a legal thriller, only it ingeniously lets the viewer figure out why it's thrilling instead of laying it out on screen. It's not for dumb people - it's intelligent and can be dense and hard to follow if you're not concentrating (as Michael Scott once said, "Been watching The Wire recently. I don't understand a word of it.") - and it's probably also not for people who bore easily, because this whole pilot episode was mostly just a lot of talking. But I was interested in the story of Detective McNulty (Dominic West) creating a hiccup in his department when he informs a judge that a drug kingpin may have gotten as many as 10 murders overturned in court by intimidating witnesses and working the system. And it was cool to see Lance Reddick and Idris Elba in the cast, because they have intense screen presences. There was no actual "wire" used in the first episode, but there was talk of using one, and according to Wikipedia it appears that every season has a different setting. Consider me intrigued.
Deadwood (Pilot Episode)
I think Deadwood is mostly famous for its cursing (and the only word used as commonly as the f-word is "cocksucker"), but I came into it looking for some badass characters plotting against each other. There's a little bit of that, but it turns out most of the profanity is not even used in anger, it's just indicative of the crude, daily speech patterns in a town with no laws. I'm not sure yet if I like it enough to want to watch three seasons of it, but it does have a large number of familiar faces in it, and I've always had a soft spot for ensemble casts, so I might watch more at some point.
Boss (Pilot Episode)
Boss is a new series this season, one I probably would've never heard of if Alan Sepinwall hadn't reviewed it on his Hitfix blog. Right at the top of the pilot, we find out Tom Kane (Kelsey Grammer) is coming down with a disease that is like a horrible mix of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Then we find out he's the mayor of Chicago. The kind of mayor who is all smiles and jokes and friendly gestures in front of the cameras, but a tyrannical douchebag when there's no reporters around. Grammer was a natural choice for the role, as he has that deep, authoritative voice that can be kind of scary when he wants it to be, and even though he might be more famous for comedy, he is the kind of actor able to pull off that emotional weight when necessary. Anyway, Kane hides his newly discovered condition from as many people as possible, including his own wife and daughter, though he makes some miniscule efforts to reconnect with them after they've grown distant. As I'm going through Breaking Bad, Dexter, and Weeds, I'm realizing I find it interesting when a character has a huge secret he or she is trying to hide, so I really, really enjoyed this pilot. I'm looking forward to more, but I think I'll be waiting a while for a DVD/Blu-ray release. Hopefully not too long, though: the season one finale airs in about two weeks.
Hero of the Week: Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) from Deadwood, for rescuing a survivor after Indians killed her family, and because he was born in the same town as me (Etobicoke). Represent, cocksucker!
Douchebag of the Week: Tom Kane from Boss. Boy do I love watching him, but what a dick.
Survivor: South Pacific
Recap this week.
Up All Night
Jason Lee doing the Will Arnett voice was great because it reminded me of the classic Arnett vs. Baldwin "talking like this" contest on the first season of 30 Rock. But the rest of the episode was kind of forgettable, and the revised opening credits are stupid; they were relevant last week because they contained shots of scenes from that episode, but to continue using it in every episode that isn't that one makes no sense to me. In particular, the shot of Chris playing hockey might give the impression to newcomers that he is a professional hockey player, or even that he plays hockey regularly, when so far it has been specific only to that one episode.
Suburgatory
The only funny part of this episode was Ryan's description of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, because still referring to Jim Carrey as "Ace Ventura" nearly 20 years after the fact is even funnier than continuing to call Mark Wahlberg "Marky Mark". This show's situational humour tends to be pretty bland, the best example in this episode being Lisa's nakedness. I felt like they could have done more to make that funny, but apparently the writers felt that Lisa being naked was funny enough on its own. It also feels like they want to keep having parties in order to shoehorn Dalia's relevance to the plot into each episode. She's still a useless character; all she did this week was yell at the dog, which was another missed opportunity for jokes because instead of some sort of funny one-liners, the writers chose to go with the likes of, "Oh my god, shut up, I hate you!" To be fair, that's probably about as creative as a character like Dalia could come up with, but still, it only proves how little she adds to the show.
The Wire (Pilot Episode)
Normally I would have walked right by this show, as crime shows don't really interest me, but it seems to be widely regarded as one of the best TV series ever made, so I decided to give it a shot. My reason for shunning crime procedurals is because they tend to be formulaic, cookie-cutter, case-of-the-week type deals and that doesn't appeal to me. Being an HBO series and not a mass market network show, The Wire is different. It doesn't need to use action or murder mysteries to garner attention; in fact, it's more about the legal, bureaucratic aspect of police work, but it's not a courtroom drama, either. More of a legal thriller, only it ingeniously lets the viewer figure out why it's thrilling instead of laying it out on screen. It's not for dumb people - it's intelligent and can be dense and hard to follow if you're not concentrating (as Michael Scott once said, "Been watching The Wire recently. I don't understand a word of it.") - and it's probably also not for people who bore easily, because this whole pilot episode was mostly just a lot of talking. But I was interested in the story of Detective McNulty (Dominic West) creating a hiccup in his department when he informs a judge that a drug kingpin may have gotten as many as 10 murders overturned in court by intimidating witnesses and working the system. And it was cool to see Lance Reddick and Idris Elba in the cast, because they have intense screen presences. There was no actual "wire" used in the first episode, but there was talk of using one, and according to Wikipedia it appears that every season has a different setting. Consider me intrigued.
Deadwood (Pilot Episode)
I think Deadwood is mostly famous for its cursing (and the only word used as commonly as the f-word is "cocksucker"), but I came into it looking for some badass characters plotting against each other. There's a little bit of that, but it turns out most of the profanity is not even used in anger, it's just indicative of the crude, daily speech patterns in a town with no laws. I'm not sure yet if I like it enough to want to watch three seasons of it, but it does have a large number of familiar faces in it, and I've always had a soft spot for ensemble casts, so I might watch more at some point.
Boss (Pilot Episode)
Boss is a new series this season, one I probably would've never heard of if Alan Sepinwall hadn't reviewed it on his Hitfix blog. Right at the top of the pilot, we find out Tom Kane (Kelsey Grammer) is coming down with a disease that is like a horrible mix of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Then we find out he's the mayor of Chicago. The kind of mayor who is all smiles and jokes and friendly gestures in front of the cameras, but a tyrannical douchebag when there's no reporters around. Grammer was a natural choice for the role, as he has that deep, authoritative voice that can be kind of scary when he wants it to be, and even though he might be more famous for comedy, he is the kind of actor able to pull off that emotional weight when necessary. Anyway, Kane hides his newly discovered condition from as many people as possible, including his own wife and daughter, though he makes some miniscule efforts to reconnect with them after they've grown distant. As I'm going through Breaking Bad, Dexter, and Weeds, I'm realizing I find it interesting when a character has a huge secret he or she is trying to hide, so I really, really enjoyed this pilot. I'm looking forward to more, but I think I'll be waiting a while for a DVD/Blu-ray release. Hopefully not too long, though: the season one finale airs in about two weeks.
Hero of the Week: Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) from Deadwood, for rescuing a survivor after Indians killed her family, and because he was born in the same town as me (Etobicoke). Represent, cocksucker!
Douchebag of the Week: Tom Kane from Boss. Boy do I love watching him, but what a dick.
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