The Cape
Vince's Australian gangster impression wasn't very... impressive. He doesn't do "careless tough guy" well, and I caught more than one flaw in his accent. But at least they kept his family to a bare minimum this episode.
V
The stuff with the little girl with the strong immune system and the live aboard program was weak. "Let's live on the alien spaceship now that I know my daughter might have ONE friend who she's never met and may not even get along with! That's preferable to her living on earth where she has 6 billion people to choose from!" Then we have Tyler catching Lisa with Raphael, and instead of asking a simple question like "What's going on here?", he storms in and does nothing but repeatedly shove the guy like an ape. Do the writers even want viewers to like Tyler? And the Erica/Hobbes thing seems rushed, as the "sexual tension" only showed up last week when they had their cliche moment of laying next to each other and looking into each other's eyes before getting embarrassed and sitting up. When the series began, I actually thought they were going to pair her up with Jack.
Survivor: Redemption Island
So they finally got Russell out. I'm not necessarily optimistic for his chances of dominating Redemption Island (he has won individual immunity challenges in the past, but was never known as a challenge master), but I am quite positive that he'll be around long enough for Boston Rob to be voted off just so they can have their showdown. And, you know, if he does make it back into the game, maybe the jury will actually respect him enough to let him win this time.
Hero of the Week: Hard to say, because it was a shorter week and nobody stood out as being awesome... I suppose I'll go with Lisa from V, because she's probably the most likable character on that show now.
Douchebag of the Week: Tyler from V. Sorry for the lack of surprise.
Showing posts with label the cape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the cape. Show all posts
Friday, March 4, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
This Week in Television - Feb. 21-25, 2011
The Cape
I have to admit, I was bored. This episode was trying to be creepy and unsettling with the Orwell/Lich stuff, but it just didn't work out that way, and I almost thought they were trying to rip off Inception with Orwell's dream sequences. At one point she mentioned that she didn't remember how she got there, and she kept looking over at a door that I assume all of her secrets would have been behind if someone was pulling an extraction job on her. Also I am realizing that Trip is kind of a spoiled kid. If you look at all the moments with him, he bosses his parents around and always gets what he wants. No wonder I don't care for him.
Glee
Rachel's headband song was kind of funny once I realized what it was, and this actually turned out to be one of the better episodes. I attribute the principal referring to Ke$ha as "Key Dollar Sign Ha" not to his ethnicity but to being an uncool principal. It's funnier and less racist to think of it that way. I laughed when Blaine kissed Rachel for the second time and said "Yup, I'm 100% gay", because it felt like a cheesy and blatant way for the writers to say "Don't worry, Kurt fans, Blaine's experimentation is over forever! Already!" If Mr. Schue starts dating Coach Bieste, that'll just be...gross.
V
I enjoyed this episode, but my one problem was when Erica and Hobbes let the doctor jump out the window. They both have guns, and neither of them think to shoot her in the legs to stop her from running away? But I liked Lisa playing a larger role in this episode, because after discovering her grandmother and turning completely against her mother, she has become one of the more interesting characters on the show. Ryan shouldn't be alive, though - okay, a second problem I just thought of. He was inside the building that exploded last week, and this week he just shows up all "I survived!" without even a throwaway explanation like "V's are resistant to fire" or something.
Survivor: Redemption Island
Phillip may not go on about warriors and samurais like Coach, but he does love to talk about animal instincts and manliness. So weird that there was a blindside and an immunity idol played in the second episode though. Who does that?
Community
Not necessarily the funniest episode, but an accurate representation of how fickle school politics are (or even regular politics, but school politics especially). The DVD will be good for catching the myriad of written jokes flashed all over the screen in the Troy/Abed coverage segments. Jeff's Real World audition tape was brutal because even in 1997 the George Michael impersonation would have been too late to be cool. Giving Abed a possible love interest who may also have Asperger's was interesting. Maybe they can double date with Troy and the librarian.
The Office
Todd Packer can be funny to have around once in a while, but if Michael's going to be leaving then so should he, and as Holly turns Michael into a better man, it feels right that he would outgrow that sleazebag. Jim and Dwight working together is always fun, as is Andy and Pam, who has fallen into a cute version of corruption that basically only screws the company but benefits her co-workers, so it's not an evil corruption. I didn't agree with Andy taking Erin's computer, but it may have been the way it was edited, because they made it look like he only wanted a better computer to watch internet videos, not to do his job. Perhaps he did.
Parks and Recreation
Poor Ron. By now they've built up his love of food - especially meat - to make his agony believable and effective when the steak house closed down. Also poor Tom for being shut out by the arrogant fragrance guy, even if "Tommy Fresh" did smell terrible. But Andy and April's first date was really fun and sweet, and the Chris/Ann break-up plot twist was a smart resolution that worked perfectly because of their characters. Another strong episode!
30 Rock
I liked the social commentary about female comedians, and there is some truth that some sitcoms probably hire certain actresses for their looks and not their comedic talent. Cirie on this show probably would be one of them, except her character actually is supposed to be the hot one and was never meant to provide humour beyond a few lines about believing Liz to be a married mother, so they snuck by on that one. But a woman (or anyone, really) doing baby talk is not sexy, it's just creepy/weird. And Chloe Moretz continues her coolness streak by getting into childish arguments with Jack Donaghy (“I hate the ocean; it’s for tools.” “The ocean is awesome and for winners. You’re for tools.”)
Fringe
I don't really like the idea that Peter and Olivia met as children. It's something The Simpsons did more than once in later episodes with Homer and Marge that undercut and destroyed the great original story of their meeting in high school. You could say it makes it more romantic because it's like they were fated to be together, but that kind of thing just has the opposite effect on me, especially since there is no explanation for why they don't remember each other. Peter didn't even remember his kidnapping. But that being said, I do like when Fringe goes back to the 80's, and there was at least an explanation for how Walternate found out about the other universe.
Hero of the Week: It's a tie! April and Andy from Parks and Recreation, for giving the money back at the end of their wonderful date.
Douchebag of the Week: Trip from The Cape. That passively spoiled brat.
I have to admit, I was bored. This episode was trying to be creepy and unsettling with the Orwell/Lich stuff, but it just didn't work out that way, and I almost thought they were trying to rip off Inception with Orwell's dream sequences. At one point she mentioned that she didn't remember how she got there, and she kept looking over at a door that I assume all of her secrets would have been behind if someone was pulling an extraction job on her. Also I am realizing that Trip is kind of a spoiled kid. If you look at all the moments with him, he bosses his parents around and always gets what he wants. No wonder I don't care for him.
Glee
Rachel's headband song was kind of funny once I realized what it was, and this actually turned out to be one of the better episodes. I attribute the principal referring to Ke$ha as "Key Dollar Sign Ha" not to his ethnicity but to being an uncool principal. It's funnier and less racist to think of it that way. I laughed when Blaine kissed Rachel for the second time and said "Yup, I'm 100% gay", because it felt like a cheesy and blatant way for the writers to say "Don't worry, Kurt fans, Blaine's experimentation is over forever! Already!" If Mr. Schue starts dating Coach Bieste, that'll just be...gross.
V
I enjoyed this episode, but my one problem was when Erica and Hobbes let the doctor jump out the window. They both have guns, and neither of them think to shoot her in the legs to stop her from running away? But I liked Lisa playing a larger role in this episode, because after discovering her grandmother and turning completely against her mother, she has become one of the more interesting characters on the show. Ryan shouldn't be alive, though - okay, a second problem I just thought of. He was inside the building that exploded last week, and this week he just shows up all "I survived!" without even a throwaway explanation like "V's are resistant to fire" or something.
Survivor: Redemption Island
Phillip may not go on about warriors and samurais like Coach, but he does love to talk about animal instincts and manliness. So weird that there was a blindside and an immunity idol played in the second episode though. Who does that?
Community
Not necessarily the funniest episode, but an accurate representation of how fickle school politics are (or even regular politics, but school politics especially). The DVD will be good for catching the myriad of written jokes flashed all over the screen in the Troy/Abed coverage segments. Jeff's Real World audition tape was brutal because even in 1997 the George Michael impersonation would have been too late to be cool. Giving Abed a possible love interest who may also have Asperger's was interesting. Maybe they can double date with Troy and the librarian.
The Office
Todd Packer can be funny to have around once in a while, but if Michael's going to be leaving then so should he, and as Holly turns Michael into a better man, it feels right that he would outgrow that sleazebag. Jim and Dwight working together is always fun, as is Andy and Pam, who has fallen into a cute version of corruption that basically only screws the company but benefits her co-workers, so it's not an evil corruption. I didn't agree with Andy taking Erin's computer, but it may have been the way it was edited, because they made it look like he only wanted a better computer to watch internet videos, not to do his job. Perhaps he did.
Parks and Recreation
Poor Ron. By now they've built up his love of food - especially meat - to make his agony believable and effective when the steak house closed down. Also poor Tom for being shut out by the arrogant fragrance guy, even if "Tommy Fresh" did smell terrible. But Andy and April's first date was really fun and sweet, and the Chris/Ann break-up plot twist was a smart resolution that worked perfectly because of their characters. Another strong episode!
30 Rock
I liked the social commentary about female comedians, and there is some truth that some sitcoms probably hire certain actresses for their looks and not their comedic talent. Cirie on this show probably would be one of them, except her character actually is supposed to be the hot one and was never meant to provide humour beyond a few lines about believing Liz to be a married mother, so they snuck by on that one. But a woman (or anyone, really) doing baby talk is not sexy, it's just creepy/weird. And Chloe Moretz continues her coolness streak by getting into childish arguments with Jack Donaghy (“I hate the ocean; it’s for tools.” “The ocean is awesome and for winners. You’re for tools.”)
Fringe
I don't really like the idea that Peter and Olivia met as children. It's something The Simpsons did more than once in later episodes with Homer and Marge that undercut and destroyed the great original story of their meeting in high school. You could say it makes it more romantic because it's like they were fated to be together, but that kind of thing just has the opposite effect on me, especially since there is no explanation for why they don't remember each other. Peter didn't even remember his kidnapping. But that being said, I do like when Fringe goes back to the 80's, and there was at least an explanation for how Walternate found out about the other universe.
Hero of the Week: It's a tie! April and Andy from Parks and Recreation, for giving the money back at the end of their wonderful date.
Douchebag of the Week: Trip from The Cape. That passively spoiled brat.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
This Week in Television - Feb. 14-18, 2011
The Cape
This episode just ended up feeling like a Fringe rip-off, with Orwell playing Olivia, Cape playing Peter, and the circus folk playing Walter. And I would think it would be a really bad idea to seek the help of a man who betrayed you and now works for your nemesis. Even if he is chief of police.
Glee
Wow, were they hinting that Glee is finally going to do an original song for once? They should really consider it; the combination of the Justin Bieber tributes and Lauren's TERRIBLE performance (she really can't sing) in this week's episode made my ears die a little inside. And I can believe that Sue might enjoy singing with the sick kids at the hospital, but having her perform a song with the glee club was a stretch. But I like the idea of her coaching the third team, and I hope she crushes the other two at Regionals.
V
I liked that we got a snippet of back story on Hobbes with the mention of a mysterious woman he apparently cares a lot about, but I don't like that they pretty much just recycled the Ryan blackmail arc and applied it to him. And I don't like that they killed Tyler's dad. Not because I liked the character, but because it's just going to make Tyler even whinier and less likable, and because once again I was hoping it would be Tyler as the collateral damage (alas, he arrived on the scene after the gunfire ended). But Erica going into raging assault mode at the end was cool, and I hope it makes the next episode decent.
Survivor: Redemption Island
Wow, only the first episode and Phillip is already the new Coach. I can see those two being good buddies in a future All-Stars season. I like how they put a question mark after the "Former Federal Agent" in his description. And I feel like the only reason they added the "redemption island" twist is for an inevitable Rob/Russell showdown on that island after they're both voted off.
Community
I knew this week was going to be an episode revolving around Pierce in the hospital, but I didn't know it was going to be a documentary parody. And I thought it might get too sentimental, but instead they turned it into Pierce using the opportunity to mess with everyone, which was great. Last season Abed used his knowledge of the group to predict everyone in his films, and this is sort of Pierce's version of that, knowing exactly how to push everyone's buttons, though I guess he has no beef with Annie or Abed. All of the LeVar Burton stuff was hilarious too, and I loved the shout-out to "the unjust cancellation of Firefly". Awesome episode.
The Office
Oh. My. God. I never would have predicted that season 7 would produce one of the funniest episodes of the entire series. The table reading of the script in a past episode was another of the season's most memorable moments, but seeing it produced as a "so stupid its epically awesome" movie directed by Michael Scott and starring his co-workers? Please tell me the full, uncut version of Threat Level Midnight will be on the season 7 DVD. Loved all of the stupid little details, like the newspaper clippings that only seemed to establish Michael Scarn as someone who saves sporting events; the photoshopped pictures of him with "Catherine Zeta-Scarn"; Darryl leaning into it as Michael smashed the Abe Lincoln painting down on his head; the terrible "Go PUCK yourself!" line, and various misused hero catchphrases; Scarn's "emotional" moments as he remembers dead loved ones; Toby's head repeatedly exploding for Michael's own personal satisfaction, etc. Every bit was fantastic.
Parks and Recreation
Nice to see Ben getting a chance to go crazy for once instead of playing the straight man. Didn't really like the Ira and the Douche gag though, because the shock jocks with sound effects thing was already done on Family Guy, and possibly even an old episode of The Simpsons but I don't remember for sure because it's been a while. The Andy and April stuff was, again, sweet, and Ron typing out every word he knows on the annoying typewriter was classic.
30 Rock
Though I find Tracy hilarious, him being gone gives more screen time to the often benched supporting characters like Pete and Frank, in an amusing little shout-out to famous band feuds. Glad Liz's storyline worked out the way it did, because her boyfriends always lead to funny stuff, and Jack's was only good in the payoff scene where he does his best impression of his daughter's nanny at an NBC/Kabletown negotiation.
Fringe
As much as I love Fringe's ongoing serialized storyline, I didn't really like that this episode's "monster of the week" story took a back seat to the Peter/Olivia romance. Actually I guess what I mean to say is niether of the two parts really interested me. I like that Olivia is making an effort to have a good time with Peter, but much like last week's pregnancy reveal, it didn't really have to take the entire episode. Or maybe it did, might've been too fast without this one step.
Hero of the Week: Michael Scott (or perhaps I should say Agent Michael Scarn) from The Office, because Threat Level Midnight was, for me, the best thing all week.
Douchebag of the Week: Phillip from Survivor. At least Coach's ridiculous personality was amusing, but this guy is a dick.
This episode just ended up feeling like a Fringe rip-off, with Orwell playing Olivia, Cape playing Peter, and the circus folk playing Walter. And I would think it would be a really bad idea to seek the help of a man who betrayed you and now works for your nemesis. Even if he is chief of police.
Glee
Wow, were they hinting that Glee is finally going to do an original song for once? They should really consider it; the combination of the Justin Bieber tributes and Lauren's TERRIBLE performance (she really can't sing) in this week's episode made my ears die a little inside. And I can believe that Sue might enjoy singing with the sick kids at the hospital, but having her perform a song with the glee club was a stretch. But I like the idea of her coaching the third team, and I hope she crushes the other two at Regionals.
V
I liked that we got a snippet of back story on Hobbes with the mention of a mysterious woman he apparently cares a lot about, but I don't like that they pretty much just recycled the Ryan blackmail arc and applied it to him. And I don't like that they killed Tyler's dad. Not because I liked the character, but because it's just going to make Tyler even whinier and less likable, and because once again I was hoping it would be Tyler as the collateral damage (alas, he arrived on the scene after the gunfire ended). But Erica going into raging assault mode at the end was cool, and I hope it makes the next episode decent.
Survivor: Redemption Island
Wow, only the first episode and Phillip is already the new Coach. I can see those two being good buddies in a future All-Stars season. I like how they put a question mark after the "Former Federal Agent" in his description. And I feel like the only reason they added the "redemption island" twist is for an inevitable Rob/Russell showdown on that island after they're both voted off.
Community
I knew this week was going to be an episode revolving around Pierce in the hospital, but I didn't know it was going to be a documentary parody. And I thought it might get too sentimental, but instead they turned it into Pierce using the opportunity to mess with everyone, which was great. Last season Abed used his knowledge of the group to predict everyone in his films, and this is sort of Pierce's version of that, knowing exactly how to push everyone's buttons, though I guess he has no beef with Annie or Abed. All of the LeVar Burton stuff was hilarious too, and I loved the shout-out to "the unjust cancellation of Firefly". Awesome episode.
The Office
Oh. My. God. I never would have predicted that season 7 would produce one of the funniest episodes of the entire series. The table reading of the script in a past episode was another of the season's most memorable moments, but seeing it produced as a "so stupid its epically awesome" movie directed by Michael Scott and starring his co-workers? Please tell me the full, uncut version of Threat Level Midnight will be on the season 7 DVD. Loved all of the stupid little details, like the newspaper clippings that only seemed to establish Michael Scarn as someone who saves sporting events; the photoshopped pictures of him with "Catherine Zeta-Scarn"; Darryl leaning into it as Michael smashed the Abe Lincoln painting down on his head; the terrible "Go PUCK yourself!" line, and various misused hero catchphrases; Scarn's "emotional" moments as he remembers dead loved ones; Toby's head repeatedly exploding for Michael's own personal satisfaction, etc. Every bit was fantastic.
Parks and Recreation
Nice to see Ben getting a chance to go crazy for once instead of playing the straight man. Didn't really like the Ira and the Douche gag though, because the shock jocks with sound effects thing was already done on Family Guy, and possibly even an old episode of The Simpsons but I don't remember for sure because it's been a while. The Andy and April stuff was, again, sweet, and Ron typing out every word he knows on the annoying typewriter was classic.
30 Rock
Though I find Tracy hilarious, him being gone gives more screen time to the often benched supporting characters like Pete and Frank, in an amusing little shout-out to famous band feuds. Glad Liz's storyline worked out the way it did, because her boyfriends always lead to funny stuff, and Jack's was only good in the payoff scene where he does his best impression of his daughter's nanny at an NBC/Kabletown negotiation.
Fringe
As much as I love Fringe's ongoing serialized storyline, I didn't really like that this episode's "monster of the week" story took a back seat to the Peter/Olivia romance. Actually I guess what I mean to say is niether of the two parts really interested me. I like that Olivia is making an effort to have a good time with Peter, but much like last week's pregnancy reveal, it didn't really have to take the entire episode. Or maybe it did, might've been too fast without this one step.
Hero of the Week: Michael Scott (or perhaps I should say Agent Michael Scarn) from The Office, because Threat Level Midnight was, for me, the best thing all week.
Douchebag of the Week: Phillip from Survivor. At least Coach's ridiculous personality was amusing, but this guy is a dick.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
This Week in Television - Feb. 7-11, 2011
The Cape
I liked the idea of Fleming hiring a duo to kill The Cape, and how Goggles and Hicks were like a bizarro Cape and Orwell, but they seemed like amateurs. I don't see the point in tagging The Cape with a tracking device when they could've just sniped him (and Scales) in the face. It was a secluded location and everything, it's not like the timing was bad. Then Hicks tries to fight The Cape (who has broken ribs) hand-to-hand and, from what I could tell, does not a scratch of damage. Come on, guys, I get that your hero needs to win at the end of every episode, but you could at least make it look like there's a chance the villain might prevail. But in spite of my complaining I did like this episode more than some of the others, for the Goggles and Hicks characters.
Glee
Not realistic that Puck would want to date the heavy girl. Not in high school, anyway. In real life she would be one of the least popular students in the entire school, no one would want to date her and everyone would make fun of her. That's just how high school is. It's not a place where people throw slushies on you for singing even though you're good looking; good looking people are NEVER unpopular. It's not even a place where all of the cheerleaders and football players are automatically popular. That's like a 1950's high school. They should call Glee a fantasy instead of a comedy. Maybe I'm just ranting because there was no Sue Sylvester in this episode.
V
I actually liked this episode. Finally they make a plan to assassinate Anna, even though I knew it wasn't going to pan out. But I was pleading with my TV for them to accidentally shoot Tyler when Marcus called him up on stage. The fact that they didn't was the biggest disappointment of the week. I did really like Chad getting a partner so that he can play devil's advocate and let the other person attack the Vistors while he stays under Anna's trust by pretending to defend them. But Ryan is being too much of a tool. Was the phrasing not suspicious when Anna said "only my bliss, and my bliss alone, can ease her pain?" There's probably some other cure she's keeping from him.
Community
The Troy and Abed story felt a little underdeveloped, but I did enjoy them yelling "BOOKS!" at the hot librarian. The Britta storyline worked the only way it could have worked: because the other girl was exactly as self-righteous as Britta, and because it tied well into Pierce's ongoing assumption that she is a lesbian. And now that Pierce has OD'ed, everyone will probably forgive him for being a douche in the last couple episodes. Nice to see "streets ahead" used again, too.
The Office
The cold opening with Andy pummeling Darryl's stomach as Darryl looks into the camera with a tear in his eye is something that should be made into an animated GIF and passed around the internet. Michael and Holly varied from gross to funny, and Jim and Pam being drunk and looking for a place to have sex was much more fun than all of the baby stories they've been having lately.
Parks and Recreation
"Ron and Tammy" was one of the standout episodes from last year in my opinion, so I was happy to see another episode involving their ridiculous PDA (as opposed to Michael and Holly's slightly more lovey-dovey PDA on The Office, Ron and Tammy's is just wildly sexual). Ron in cornrows and a dissected mustache was funny, but my favourite part was the return of Burt Macklin, Andy's FBI alias whom I'd forgotten about until his name was mentioned in a sweet attempt at a favour to April. And calzones are awesome, dammit!
30 Rock
The exchange between Jack and Liz in the cold opening was amazing, from Jack stating he doesn't sleep on planes because he "doesn't want to get Incepted" to Liz and Jack predicting each other with handwritten notes in envelopes, to Liz having a pencil sticking out of her fly. The rest of the episode was just okay, but the epic beginning makes up for that. The Liz and Carol story didn't have much room for jokes and only served as a way to end their relationship, and the one quick line explaining the delay (traffic on the runway) didn't seem enough to justify what I assume was an extremely long wait for the passengers as Carol strung them along. The joke about the "Gals on the Town" sitcom pilot, and its theme song and B-list cast, was really funny though.
Fringe
I wasn't expecting to have an episode in the alt-universe again so soon, and at first there didn't seem to be a reason for it, until the reveal that Fauxlivia is pregnant, increasing the stakes for Peter's future decision. But while Fauxlivia is probably a little more interesting than Olivia, the other universe has kooky Walter, Peter, and Broyles (and I suppose Nina, because I don't recall an alt-Nina), and thus is more entertaining overall.
Hero of the Week: Jack from 30 Rock, for predicting Liz's prediction in the opening and letting his daughter be born in Canada.
Douchebag of the Week: Ryan from V. Just grab your daughter and run already!
I liked the idea of Fleming hiring a duo to kill The Cape, and how Goggles and Hicks were like a bizarro Cape and Orwell, but they seemed like amateurs. I don't see the point in tagging The Cape with a tracking device when they could've just sniped him (and Scales) in the face. It was a secluded location and everything, it's not like the timing was bad. Then Hicks tries to fight The Cape (who has broken ribs) hand-to-hand and, from what I could tell, does not a scratch of damage. Come on, guys, I get that your hero needs to win at the end of every episode, but you could at least make it look like there's a chance the villain might prevail. But in spite of my complaining I did like this episode more than some of the others, for the Goggles and Hicks characters.
Glee
Not realistic that Puck would want to date the heavy girl. Not in high school, anyway. In real life she would be one of the least popular students in the entire school, no one would want to date her and everyone would make fun of her. That's just how high school is. It's not a place where people throw slushies on you for singing even though you're good looking; good looking people are NEVER unpopular. It's not even a place where all of the cheerleaders and football players are automatically popular. That's like a 1950's high school. They should call Glee a fantasy instead of a comedy. Maybe I'm just ranting because there was no Sue Sylvester in this episode.
V
I actually liked this episode. Finally they make a plan to assassinate Anna, even though I knew it wasn't going to pan out. But I was pleading with my TV for them to accidentally shoot Tyler when Marcus called him up on stage. The fact that they didn't was the biggest disappointment of the week. I did really like Chad getting a partner so that he can play devil's advocate and let the other person attack the Vistors while he stays under Anna's trust by pretending to defend them. But Ryan is being too much of a tool. Was the phrasing not suspicious when Anna said "only my bliss, and my bliss alone, can ease her pain?" There's probably some other cure she's keeping from him.
Community
The Troy and Abed story felt a little underdeveloped, but I did enjoy them yelling "BOOKS!" at the hot librarian. The Britta storyline worked the only way it could have worked: because the other girl was exactly as self-righteous as Britta, and because it tied well into Pierce's ongoing assumption that she is a lesbian. And now that Pierce has OD'ed, everyone will probably forgive him for being a douche in the last couple episodes. Nice to see "streets ahead" used again, too.
The Office
The cold opening with Andy pummeling Darryl's stomach as Darryl looks into the camera with a tear in his eye is something that should be made into an animated GIF and passed around the internet. Michael and Holly varied from gross to funny, and Jim and Pam being drunk and looking for a place to have sex was much more fun than all of the baby stories they've been having lately.
Parks and Recreation
"Ron and Tammy" was one of the standout episodes from last year in my opinion, so I was happy to see another episode involving their ridiculous PDA (as opposed to Michael and Holly's slightly more lovey-dovey PDA on The Office, Ron and Tammy's is just wildly sexual). Ron in cornrows and a dissected mustache was funny, but my favourite part was the return of Burt Macklin, Andy's FBI alias whom I'd forgotten about until his name was mentioned in a sweet attempt at a favour to April. And calzones are awesome, dammit!
30 Rock
The exchange between Jack and Liz in the cold opening was amazing, from Jack stating he doesn't sleep on planes because he "doesn't want to get Incepted" to Liz and Jack predicting each other with handwritten notes in envelopes, to Liz having a pencil sticking out of her fly. The rest of the episode was just okay, but the epic beginning makes up for that. The Liz and Carol story didn't have much room for jokes and only served as a way to end their relationship, and the one quick line explaining the delay (traffic on the runway) didn't seem enough to justify what I assume was an extremely long wait for the passengers as Carol strung them along. The joke about the "Gals on the Town" sitcom pilot, and its theme song and B-list cast, was really funny though.
Fringe
I wasn't expecting to have an episode in the alt-universe again so soon, and at first there didn't seem to be a reason for it, until the reveal that Fauxlivia is pregnant, increasing the stakes for Peter's future decision. But while Fauxlivia is probably a little more interesting than Olivia, the other universe has kooky Walter, Peter, and Broyles (and I suppose Nina, because I don't recall an alt-Nina), and thus is more entertaining overall.
Hero of the Week: Jack from 30 Rock, for predicting Liz's prediction in the opening and letting his daughter be born in Canada.
Douchebag of the Week: Ryan from V. Just grab your daughter and run already!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
This Week in Television - Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 2011
The Cape
I didn't find Dice to be a very interesting villain. Ironically, I knew she was going to tell Fleming "You're the one who's going to kill my father" before she even said it, just because it seemed like an obvious plotline. And I didn't like that The Cape and Orwell were somehow "blind spots" in Dice's predictions, because there was really no reason or explanation for it. Just a really easy deus ex machina for the writers to make her lose in the end, because otherwise she would always be a step ahead of them and thus undefeatable. If you're going to include a character like that, you have to either explain their defeat better, let them win, or not include them at all. Also The Cape should've just ziplined across the rope or something instead of going through the trouble of trying to master tightrope walking in a short period of time.
V
This episode was boring (not to mention aggravating thanks to the massive tool that is Tyler Evans) but it got a little more interesting toward the end. Don't really like when V goes into religion, but I kind of enjoy the stuff with Anna and her mother, and anything involving Visitors killing each other, even if the special effects are distracting because they're so cheesy.
Community
Wow. I knew they were doing a Dungeons and Dragons episode, but that was even better than I thought it would be. It was like the equivalent of South Park's World of Warcraft episode, with everyone teaming up to take down an enemy who was ruining the game. The sound effects and music were a nice touch to fill out the scenario rather than going into fantasy sequences where we actually see everything acted out (though Chang did apply some hilarious makeup for his character). I wonder how long they can keep casting Pierce as the villain in this type of episode though, because after this and the trampoline episode, they should know by now that he gets pissed off when you exclude him.
The Office
The joke about Erin not liking Holly is getting old. She's already expressed it to the cameras several times, I don't see why it needs to continue. The caption contest had potential but then everyone's captions weren't really as funny as they would have been if that were done a few seasons ago, or if Michael was involved. I guess it was all filler for the real purpose of this episode, which was to show how well Holly knows Michael. It would have been sweet, but then I remembered it had been done before on The Simpsons when Homer went off looking for his soulmate and Marge found him by using her knowledge of his habits and interests. Kind of a disappointing episode after the last few were getting good again.
Parks and Recreation
The last thing I expected Will Forte's character to be was an obsessed Twilight fan, but I think they did a good job of representing the phenomenon. The books aren't really relevant in any historical context, nor are they "good" in the critical sense, but they're like pop fiction because people still love to read them (and, apparently, argue over their values without having an actual opinion on the books themselves). But putting the video of the meeting in the time capsule was a good idea. Has anyone ever put a video recording in a time capsule before? Loved Andy listing his best qualities ("I'm nice... I'm in a band... and that's it!") and Tom's line "Twilight is DOPE." But I was sad to see Tom and Lucy break up so soon, because they were awesome and we didn't get much time with them together.
30 Rock
It may not have been the funniest episode this week, but it was interesting seeing Jack try to adjust to the Kabletown boss's methods because he is used to a system where classes are seperate and nobody is equal. The Tracy/Jenna story seemed incredibly small and irrelevant, and the Liz pretending to be pregnant story didn't really lead to a lot of good jokes, except when she claimed to be eating for two and ordered "two egg sandwiches...times two is four!"
Fringe
Nice little easter egg when a book with "Dr. Spock" written on the spine was found among William Bell's things. I don't know if I like the idea of the universe's fate resting on Peter having to choose an Olivia, because unless the genre is straight up romance, love stories should always be more of a subplot than that kind of plot device. And the mind reader being overwhelmed in public places thing has been done to death on other shows, and they didn't do anything new with it here, so I was disappointed by that, too. But it was cool to see the mysterious bowling alley guy again, I wasn't expecting that. And we got another classic Walter moment, getting excited at spotting a "punch buggy".
Glee (Superbowl Episode)
Being the Superbowl episode, I knew this one had to be football heavy, but I don't buy that a bunch of chauvinist, homophobic jocks would join glee club (even temporarily) just to play football, or that wearing zombie makeup and chanting "brains!" would do anything at all to freak out the other team. I also don't buy that Sue would win "loser of the year" just for having to forfeit the cheerleading competition. I mean a bigger loser than Mel Gibson or Dina Lohan? Please. The Thriller halftime show was decent though.
Hero of the Week: Annie from Community as Hector the Well-Endowed. She satisfied that maiden real good. Lemme see those notes, Troy.
Douchebag of the Week: Pierce from Community. I actually like Pierce because I think he's funny, but this week he just seemed like more of a relentless dick than usual. But still funny.
I didn't find Dice to be a very interesting villain. Ironically, I knew she was going to tell Fleming "You're the one who's going to kill my father" before she even said it, just because it seemed like an obvious plotline. And I didn't like that The Cape and Orwell were somehow "blind spots" in Dice's predictions, because there was really no reason or explanation for it. Just a really easy deus ex machina for the writers to make her lose in the end, because otherwise she would always be a step ahead of them and thus undefeatable. If you're going to include a character like that, you have to either explain their defeat better, let them win, or not include them at all. Also The Cape should've just ziplined across the rope or something instead of going through the trouble of trying to master tightrope walking in a short period of time.
V
This episode was boring (not to mention aggravating thanks to the massive tool that is Tyler Evans) but it got a little more interesting toward the end. Don't really like when V goes into religion, but I kind of enjoy the stuff with Anna and her mother, and anything involving Visitors killing each other, even if the special effects are distracting because they're so cheesy.
Community
Wow. I knew they were doing a Dungeons and Dragons episode, but that was even better than I thought it would be. It was like the equivalent of South Park's World of Warcraft episode, with everyone teaming up to take down an enemy who was ruining the game. The sound effects and music were a nice touch to fill out the scenario rather than going into fantasy sequences where we actually see everything acted out (though Chang did apply some hilarious makeup for his character). I wonder how long they can keep casting Pierce as the villain in this type of episode though, because after this and the trampoline episode, they should know by now that he gets pissed off when you exclude him.
The Office
The joke about Erin not liking Holly is getting old. She's already expressed it to the cameras several times, I don't see why it needs to continue. The caption contest had potential but then everyone's captions weren't really as funny as they would have been if that were done a few seasons ago, or if Michael was involved. I guess it was all filler for the real purpose of this episode, which was to show how well Holly knows Michael. It would have been sweet, but then I remembered it had been done before on The Simpsons when Homer went off looking for his soulmate and Marge found him by using her knowledge of his habits and interests. Kind of a disappointing episode after the last few were getting good again.
Parks and Recreation
The last thing I expected Will Forte's character to be was an obsessed Twilight fan, but I think they did a good job of representing the phenomenon. The books aren't really relevant in any historical context, nor are they "good" in the critical sense, but they're like pop fiction because people still love to read them (and, apparently, argue over their values without having an actual opinion on the books themselves). But putting the video of the meeting in the time capsule was a good idea. Has anyone ever put a video recording in a time capsule before? Loved Andy listing his best qualities ("I'm nice... I'm in a band... and that's it!") and Tom's line "Twilight is DOPE." But I was sad to see Tom and Lucy break up so soon, because they were awesome and we didn't get much time with them together.
30 Rock
It may not have been the funniest episode this week, but it was interesting seeing Jack try to adjust to the Kabletown boss's methods because he is used to a system where classes are seperate and nobody is equal. The Tracy/Jenna story seemed incredibly small and irrelevant, and the Liz pretending to be pregnant story didn't really lead to a lot of good jokes, except when she claimed to be eating for two and ordered "two egg sandwiches...times two is four!"
Fringe
Nice little easter egg when a book with "Dr. Spock" written on the spine was found among William Bell's things. I don't know if I like the idea of the universe's fate resting on Peter having to choose an Olivia, because unless the genre is straight up romance, love stories should always be more of a subplot than that kind of plot device. And the mind reader being overwhelmed in public places thing has been done to death on other shows, and they didn't do anything new with it here, so I was disappointed by that, too. But it was cool to see the mysterious bowling alley guy again, I wasn't expecting that. And we got another classic Walter moment, getting excited at spotting a "punch buggy".
Glee (Superbowl Episode)
Being the Superbowl episode, I knew this one had to be football heavy, but I don't buy that a bunch of chauvinist, homophobic jocks would join glee club (even temporarily) just to play football, or that wearing zombie makeup and chanting "brains!" would do anything at all to freak out the other team. I also don't buy that Sue would win "loser of the year" just for having to forfeit the cheerleading competition. I mean a bigger loser than Mel Gibson or Dina Lohan? Please. The Thriller halftime show was decent though.
Hero of the Week: Annie from Community as Hector the Well-Endowed. She satisfied that maiden real good. Lemme see those notes, Troy.
Douchebag of the Week: Pierce from Community. I actually like Pierce because I think he's funny, but this week he just seemed like more of a relentless dick than usual. But still funny.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
This Week in Television - Jan. 24-28, 2011
The Cape
Not really a fan of Vinnie Jones. He's like a male Michelle Rodriguez, always playing the tough guy with attitude, but with some campiness thrown in for comic relief. I didn't find this episode to be as interesting as it wanted me to, but when that bearded guy was dressed as The Cape I was expecting him to die because of what happened to the Kick-Ass impersonator in Kick-Ass and I'm glad it went another direction instead. Good for Trip for not opening the door to someone who was a stranger to him, but he's still boring and the flashbacks of the father/son scenes fail to tug at my heartstrings. I'm not a cold person, I'm moved all the time, but Vince's relationship with his family is just so generic and stiff, and I think they should've tried harder to make it memorable in order for viewers to sympathize with them, rather than automatically expect pathos just because his family...exists.
Community
This was a Pierce episode for sure. It may have somewhat resembled the episode from last season where Annie got him to write the Greendale theme song and he wanted to prove how creative he was, but this time we got some of his back story in the old commercial clip. It explains a lot about Pierce's "Michael Scott" quality wherein he thinks he's the coolest and funniest person in the room yet needs everyone else to think so, too. It was kind of nice to see the kids take to him, even if it made them think drugs were awesome. By the way, didn't appreciate Dean Pelton pointing out the play's structure resembling the deceptive nature of drugs. It was already clear to me and Community isn't the kind of show that spells things out for viewers that way. But I always enjoy the Dean's weird fetishes (Jeff in a coffin, Jeff in cat ears, bumblebee costumes). The play was also a good way for Chang to start integrating himself into the group, though perhaps he won't quite be there until Jeff can accept a hug from him without shoving him away.
The Office
I'd heard Ricky Gervais was going to show up as David Brent, his character from the British version of The Office, and I knew that if he crossed paths with Michael Scott, they would get along famously. But that short cold opening was just awesome to watch, and funny. David would probably be the only person in the world who completely 100% gets Michael's sense of humour - even moreso than Holly or Kevin, who have been known to enjoy some of his jokes. Andy's seminar was funny but might have worked better in an earlier season, because the joke about so many people in the office knowing nothing about business success has kind of been well established by now. Enjoyed Michael's Greek character too, but Jim's little B-story about his shunned childhood friend was flat with an uninteresting payoff, and the Scrabble thing was sort of done in the first season of Parks and Recreation, although in this case Erin wasn't losing on purpose.
Parks and Recreation
Since I am a big fan of both Ron and Andy, an episode where they are bonding like buddies can be nothing but awesome. For a while I think Ron was liking him better than April for an assistant, but then Andy started talking about his personal drama and that is something April would never do to Ron. Gotta love Andy's charming idiocy though: "Leslie, I'm checking your symptoms online and it says you might have connectivity problems." Also nice to see Ann finally getting mad (and April admitting some respect for it) and Ben warming up to Leslie. Rob Lowe was funny in this episode, too.
30 Rock
It may have been an easy joke, but I laughed really hard at the Mel Gibson montage inserted into the telethon footage. It was cool that the writers got something to do in this episode, because we don't see them much anymore, but the Lutz storyline just didn't feel right. It was too weird seeing everyone be nice to him, and even more alienating seeing those "talking head" shots of Lutz confessing things to a mirror. I'm not sure whether the scene with Tracy and Liz making up was supposed to be touching or just sort of a parody of something touching, but it certainly wasn't as effective as Liz and Jack's scene last week, or as funny as their ending that consisted of giving each other meaningful looks that somehow turned into karate poses and fighting stances. Also like how Dennis was involved in Liz's vision of herself at rock bottom. He was her worst boyfriend, after all. Bonus points for referencing Charles Widmore as an A-lister who owns an island.
Fringe
This episode's reveals were not surprising: I knew immediately there was going to be something suspicious about Peter at the beginning of the episode when Walter said he'd heard the front door and Peter told him he was imagining it, and when they said there was a mole at Massive Dynamic I knew it was "Dr. Falcon" because they made a point of showing him shoot some shifty looks. But I liked the scene where Walter discovered what Peter had done. When he asked him "If you've done nothing wrong, then why didn't you tell us?" I thought that Peter wasn't answering because he knew it was wrong, but in hindsight there is that additional layer where the roles were once reversed, and Walter had his big secret about Peter's origin but insisted he'd done nothing wrong. Interesting.
Hero of the Week: Andy from Parks and Recreation, for impressing Ron Swanson (the meat tornado was a great suggestion) and continuing his loyalty to April, even if her forehead was all sweaty and gross.
Douchebag of the Week: Lutz from 30 Rock. Sometimes everyone seems to hate him for no reason, and sometimes that reason is clear. Very clear.
Not really a fan of Vinnie Jones. He's like a male Michelle Rodriguez, always playing the tough guy with attitude, but with some campiness thrown in for comic relief. I didn't find this episode to be as interesting as it wanted me to, but when that bearded guy was dressed as The Cape I was expecting him to die because of what happened to the Kick-Ass impersonator in Kick-Ass and I'm glad it went another direction instead. Good for Trip for not opening the door to someone who was a stranger to him, but he's still boring and the flashbacks of the father/son scenes fail to tug at my heartstrings. I'm not a cold person, I'm moved all the time, but Vince's relationship with his family is just so generic and stiff, and I think they should've tried harder to make it memorable in order for viewers to sympathize with them, rather than automatically expect pathos just because his family...exists.
Community
This was a Pierce episode for sure. It may have somewhat resembled the episode from last season where Annie got him to write the Greendale theme song and he wanted to prove how creative he was, but this time we got some of his back story in the old commercial clip. It explains a lot about Pierce's "Michael Scott" quality wherein he thinks he's the coolest and funniest person in the room yet needs everyone else to think so, too. It was kind of nice to see the kids take to him, even if it made them think drugs were awesome. By the way, didn't appreciate Dean Pelton pointing out the play's structure resembling the deceptive nature of drugs. It was already clear to me and Community isn't the kind of show that spells things out for viewers that way. But I always enjoy the Dean's weird fetishes (Jeff in a coffin, Jeff in cat ears, bumblebee costumes). The play was also a good way for Chang to start integrating himself into the group, though perhaps he won't quite be there until Jeff can accept a hug from him without shoving him away.
The Office
I'd heard Ricky Gervais was going to show up as David Brent, his character from the British version of The Office, and I knew that if he crossed paths with Michael Scott, they would get along famously. But that short cold opening was just awesome to watch, and funny. David would probably be the only person in the world who completely 100% gets Michael's sense of humour - even moreso than Holly or Kevin, who have been known to enjoy some of his jokes. Andy's seminar was funny but might have worked better in an earlier season, because the joke about so many people in the office knowing nothing about business success has kind of been well established by now. Enjoyed Michael's Greek character too, but Jim's little B-story about his shunned childhood friend was flat with an uninteresting payoff, and the Scrabble thing was sort of done in the first season of Parks and Recreation, although in this case Erin wasn't losing on purpose.
Parks and Recreation
Since I am a big fan of both Ron and Andy, an episode where they are bonding like buddies can be nothing but awesome. For a while I think Ron was liking him better than April for an assistant, but then Andy started talking about his personal drama and that is something April would never do to Ron. Gotta love Andy's charming idiocy though: "Leslie, I'm checking your symptoms online and it says you might have connectivity problems." Also nice to see Ann finally getting mad (and April admitting some respect for it) and Ben warming up to Leslie. Rob Lowe was funny in this episode, too.
30 Rock
It may have been an easy joke, but I laughed really hard at the Mel Gibson montage inserted into the telethon footage. It was cool that the writers got something to do in this episode, because we don't see them much anymore, but the Lutz storyline just didn't feel right. It was too weird seeing everyone be nice to him, and even more alienating seeing those "talking head" shots of Lutz confessing things to a mirror. I'm not sure whether the scene with Tracy and Liz making up was supposed to be touching or just sort of a parody of something touching, but it certainly wasn't as effective as Liz and Jack's scene last week, or as funny as their ending that consisted of giving each other meaningful looks that somehow turned into karate poses and fighting stances. Also like how Dennis was involved in Liz's vision of herself at rock bottom. He was her worst boyfriend, after all. Bonus points for referencing Charles Widmore as an A-lister who owns an island.
Fringe
This episode's reveals were not surprising: I knew immediately there was going to be something suspicious about Peter at the beginning of the episode when Walter said he'd heard the front door and Peter told him he was imagining it, and when they said there was a mole at Massive Dynamic I knew it was "Dr. Falcon" because they made a point of showing him shoot some shifty looks. But I liked the scene where Walter discovered what Peter had done. When he asked him "If you've done nothing wrong, then why didn't you tell us?" I thought that Peter wasn't answering because he knew it was wrong, but in hindsight there is that additional layer where the roles were once reversed, and Walter had his big secret about Peter's origin but insisted he'd done nothing wrong. Interesting.
Hero of the Week: Andy from Parks and Recreation, for impressing Ron Swanson (the meat tornado was a great suggestion) and continuing his loyalty to April, even if her forehead was all sweaty and gross.
Douchebag of the Week: Lutz from 30 Rock. Sometimes everyone seems to hate him for no reason, and sometimes that reason is clear. Very clear.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
This Week in Television - Jan. 17-21, 2011
Sorry for the late post. Didn't have time to catch up on the Thursday/Friday shows until now.
The Cape
I'm not sure if the former cape owner coming back this soon in the series is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it's soon enough for "Kozmo" to justify taking it back and lets Vince earn his right to keep it, but if they had done that storyline later on down the road it would give the viewer a bigger sense of a lot being at stake because we'd be invested by then. I don't mind this show, but The Cape's wife and kid are boring. I don't really care to see how they're getting along without him. And I don't think the chess pieces in the desk prank would really happen. I don't know how it works in the U.S., but my experience has been that students never get advanced knowledge of a new kid coming, and they especially wouldn't know where he was going to sit and then plant a visual pun in his desk. I didn't buy that, but somehow I did buy PLAYING CARDS STRAIGHT TO THE JUGULAR!
V
I guess the writers really want people to hate Tyler, because his character wasn't getting any more likable and he just became an even bigger tool by helping Anna fight the Fifth Column. It was also annoying (not to mention cheesy) how they kept having people flash their green V eyes at the camera when it was already clear they were Visitors. It's like those old comedy sketches where someone is wearing a disguise and they pull it down a little to wink at the audience. I think I'm only continuing to watch because it will probably be canceled before there's a third season. But I did kind of like the paralleled scenes of Erica and Anna cajoling each other's kids.
Community
All the Jeff/Annie shippers are going to be pissed at the fake-out where it looked like a rain-soaked Jeff was running to declare his love for her. But as is his nature, he was selfishly going to Rich for advice on becoming a better person. Everyone likes to say Rich is perfect but even a fictional character such as him must be flawed, and I think his flaw is naivete. I guess Chang is in the study group now, although it's somewhat unclear because half the group was unhappy about the decision. LOL @ Abed being referred to as "brown Jamie Lee Curtis".
The Office
Haha the cold opening was kind of a new angle, with Jim's silence causing Dwight to just make of him himself because he was expecting it from Jim. I enjoyed the Andy/Dwight/Darryl storyline of them trying to meet women (or in Darryl's case, just trying to read more. Good for him.) Andy and Dwight are a funny pair, but I think you need Darryl in there as the straight man or else the other two might fly off the handle and get too ridiculous. I also liked the stuff with Michael making his happy and sad videos and then celebrating too early. Creed resolving to do the perfect cartwheel was also funny because it was so unexpected from someone like him.
Parks and Recreation
Interesting to see what everyone was up to while the parks department was closed. Poor Jerry, so talented at a lot of things and a nice guy too, but nobody cares. Ron's "Pyramid of Greatness" was epic. I hope they include it as an insert on the season 3 DVD, but if not I will have to pause it so I can read everything on there. I love when Ann and Leslie do practice dates, they always come out ridiculous (the things Leslie apparently thinks are sexy made me laugh). Like Ann, I was surprised that I kind of liked her and Chris together. And Andy's dedication to April was cute, even if flowers are a little corny. Excellent start to the season.
30 Rock
Wasn't a fan of the storyline with Danny and Jenna acting like a married couple, because it's a gag that's been done many times before elsewhere, and it seemed like it was only there to act as a transparent parallel to Liz and Jack accidentally marrying each other, which was much funnier and more innovative because usually that joke involves drunk people waking up the next morning with rings on their fingers. And I have to admit it was a sweet payoff when Mr. Weinerslav (lol) made Liz and Jack realize how important they are to each other. Like Tina Fey, I don't want to see them in a romantic relationship, but I do love them as friends. Also Angie was annoying, but I laughed at Liz and Pete admitting they would watch a reality show about her. Always great to see Dr. Spaceman - loved when he said Tracy's blood tasted like root beer and some of his bones were missing. But the biggest question is whose chart was more awesome: Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness, or Jack Donaghy's NBC priority pie chart, with The Biggest Loser taking most of the space, followed by "Make it 1997 again through science or magic". I'm assuming 1997 because at that point they had big hits like Friends, Seinfeld, and ER still on the air.
Fringe
It was kind of nice to see Walter have a casual buddy this week (I don't think Bell or The Observer really qualified). And even cooler that it was Christopher Lloyd, in an episode involving some time travel from the year 1985, when Back to the Future was released, which was referenced on a movie marquee last season. IT ALL COMES BACK AROUND! Which is very well, because this episode was kind of about the butterfly effect, or perhaps it should be called "the firefly effect" when dealing with interdimensional travel rather than time travel. Firefly also being the episode title, and the name of a show that once held what is now Fringe's new timeslot. Holy crap, it DOES come back around!
Hero of the Week: A lot of candidates this week... I think I'll have to go with Mr. Weinerslav from 30 Rock. Not just for his hilarious name (though I could've sworn it was Ballslave when he made his first appearance two or three seasons ago), but because Liz and Jack had the most touching moment of the week, and he was responsible for that.
Douchebag of the Week: Tyler from V. Do I even have to explain why?
The Cape
I'm not sure if the former cape owner coming back this soon in the series is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it's soon enough for "Kozmo" to justify taking it back and lets Vince earn his right to keep it, but if they had done that storyline later on down the road it would give the viewer a bigger sense of a lot being at stake because we'd be invested by then. I don't mind this show, but The Cape's wife and kid are boring. I don't really care to see how they're getting along without him. And I don't think the chess pieces in the desk prank would really happen. I don't know how it works in the U.S., but my experience has been that students never get advanced knowledge of a new kid coming, and they especially wouldn't know where he was going to sit and then plant a visual pun in his desk. I didn't buy that, but somehow I did buy PLAYING CARDS STRAIGHT TO THE JUGULAR!
V
I guess the writers really want people to hate Tyler, because his character wasn't getting any more likable and he just became an even bigger tool by helping Anna fight the Fifth Column. It was also annoying (not to mention cheesy) how they kept having people flash their green V eyes at the camera when it was already clear they were Visitors. It's like those old comedy sketches where someone is wearing a disguise and they pull it down a little to wink at the audience. I think I'm only continuing to watch because it will probably be canceled before there's a third season. But I did kind of like the paralleled scenes of Erica and Anna cajoling each other's kids.
Community
All the Jeff/Annie shippers are going to be pissed at the fake-out where it looked like a rain-soaked Jeff was running to declare his love for her. But as is his nature, he was selfishly going to Rich for advice on becoming a better person. Everyone likes to say Rich is perfect but even a fictional character such as him must be flawed, and I think his flaw is naivete. I guess Chang is in the study group now, although it's somewhat unclear because half the group was unhappy about the decision. LOL @ Abed being referred to as "brown Jamie Lee Curtis".
The Office
Haha the cold opening was kind of a new angle, with Jim's silence causing Dwight to just make of him himself because he was expecting it from Jim. I enjoyed the Andy/Dwight/Darryl storyline of them trying to meet women (or in Darryl's case, just trying to read more. Good for him.) Andy and Dwight are a funny pair, but I think you need Darryl in there as the straight man or else the other two might fly off the handle and get too ridiculous. I also liked the stuff with Michael making his happy and sad videos and then celebrating too early. Creed resolving to do the perfect cartwheel was also funny because it was so unexpected from someone like him.
Parks and Recreation
Interesting to see what everyone was up to while the parks department was closed. Poor Jerry, so talented at a lot of things and a nice guy too, but nobody cares. Ron's "Pyramid of Greatness" was epic. I hope they include it as an insert on the season 3 DVD, but if not I will have to pause it so I can read everything on there. I love when Ann and Leslie do practice dates, they always come out ridiculous (the things Leslie apparently thinks are sexy made me laugh). Like Ann, I was surprised that I kind of liked her and Chris together. And Andy's dedication to April was cute, even if flowers are a little corny. Excellent start to the season.
30 Rock
Wasn't a fan of the storyline with Danny and Jenna acting like a married couple, because it's a gag that's been done many times before elsewhere, and it seemed like it was only there to act as a transparent parallel to Liz and Jack accidentally marrying each other, which was much funnier and more innovative because usually that joke involves drunk people waking up the next morning with rings on their fingers. And I have to admit it was a sweet payoff when Mr. Weinerslav (lol) made Liz and Jack realize how important they are to each other. Like Tina Fey, I don't want to see them in a romantic relationship, but I do love them as friends. Also Angie was annoying, but I laughed at Liz and Pete admitting they would watch a reality show about her. Always great to see Dr. Spaceman - loved when he said Tracy's blood tasted like root beer and some of his bones were missing. But the biggest question is whose chart was more awesome: Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness, or Jack Donaghy's NBC priority pie chart, with The Biggest Loser taking most of the space, followed by "Make it 1997 again through science or magic". I'm assuming 1997 because at that point they had big hits like Friends, Seinfeld, and ER still on the air.
Fringe
It was kind of nice to see Walter have a casual buddy this week (I don't think Bell or The Observer really qualified). And even cooler that it was Christopher Lloyd, in an episode involving some time travel from the year 1985, when Back to the Future was released, which was referenced on a movie marquee last season. IT ALL COMES BACK AROUND! Which is very well, because this episode was kind of about the butterfly effect, or perhaps it should be called "the firefly effect" when dealing with interdimensional travel rather than time travel. Firefly also being the episode title, and the name of a show that once held what is now Fringe's new timeslot. Holy crap, it DOES come back around!
Hero of the Week: A lot of candidates this week... I think I'll have to go with Mr. Weinerslav from 30 Rock. Not just for his hilarious name (though I could've sworn it was Ballslave when he made his first appearance two or three seasons ago), but because Liz and Jack had the most touching moment of the week, and he was responsible for that.
Douchebag of the Week: Tyler from V. Do I even have to explain why?
Friday, January 14, 2011
This Week in Television - Jan. 10-14, 2011
The Cape
Thought I'd check out the premiere, and while it lacked the cool super powers it was a lot better than No Ordinary Family. I like that Vince was trained by circus people, each of them lending their unique talents. I like that his death was inadvertantly faked, giving him a stronger and more interesting reason to keep his identity a secret than the classic "I don't want to endanger my loved ones" excuse (though that's still a part of it, too). I also like the little chapter titles - something I don't think a show has done since Frasier - and the convenience store robbers calling the clerk "Borat" when he was played by the fat dude who was actually in Borat. Being a comic book type show, it did have some eye-rolling cheesy lines as well, but I suppose that's acceptable if you make sure nothing else is cheesy, and for the most part it was solid. That's how you do it, No Ordinary Family, not with loads of cliches or predictability or Michael Chiklis.
V
The creepiness of Anna eating a rat was nullified (or perhaps intensified, I'm not quite sure which) by the awfully fake-looking special effects. I also laughed a little at the commercial cliffhanger fake-out where they revealed Erica's face in Joshua's memories and then came back and said "he remembers being taken down by Erica Evans, but there's nothing of his collaborators!" I understand Ryan wanting to protect his daughter and everything, but the thing about blackmail is this: when someone is blackmailing you, it means they want something from you. That gives you almost as much power over them as they have over you, because if they do what they're threatening then they won't get what they want from you, and if they can afford that then the threat's probably not that serious. ...But since it's Anna, I wouldn't call her bluff on this one. Oh, and the scene with Erica and Malik in the car didn't quite work for me. I know it was supposed to be all tense and cool as they both had their suspicions about each other, but it seemed really forced and lacked subtlety the way they both just immediately questioned each other about where they were. It felt off to me.
Thought I'd check out the premiere, and while it lacked the cool super powers it was a lot better than No Ordinary Family. I like that Vince was trained by circus people, each of them lending their unique talents. I like that his death was inadvertantly faked, giving him a stronger and more interesting reason to keep his identity a secret than the classic "I don't want to endanger my loved ones" excuse (though that's still a part of it, too). I also like the little chapter titles - something I don't think a show has done since Frasier - and the convenience store robbers calling the clerk "Borat" when he was played by the fat dude who was actually in Borat. Being a comic book type show, it did have some eye-rolling cheesy lines as well, but I suppose that's acceptable if you make sure nothing else is cheesy, and for the most part it was solid. That's how you do it, No Ordinary Family, not with loads of cliches or predictability or Michael Chiklis.
V
The creepiness of Anna eating a rat was nullified (or perhaps intensified, I'm not quite sure which) by the awfully fake-looking special effects. I also laughed a little at the commercial cliffhanger fake-out where they revealed Erica's face in Joshua's memories and then came back and said "he remembers being taken down by Erica Evans, but there's nothing of his collaborators!" I understand Ryan wanting to protect his daughter and everything, but the thing about blackmail is this: when someone is blackmailing you, it means they want something from you. That gives you almost as much power over them as they have over you, because if they do what they're threatening then they won't get what they want from you, and if they can afford that then the threat's probably not that serious. ...But since it's Anna, I wouldn't call her bluff on this one. Oh, and the scene with Erica and Malik in the car didn't quite work for me. I know it was supposed to be all tense and cool as they both had their suspicions about each other, but it seemed really forced and lacked subtlety the way they both just immediately questioned each other about where they were. It felt off to me.
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