And To Think They Were This Close To Regionals

This is it for the Thursday night line up until after the holidays. I know, I’m sad too guys...

Spoilers:

Community – “Regional Holiday Music” (A-)

Sadly, this is the last episode of Community I’m going to be able to review for a while. Apparently the network that just brought back Fear Factor has no room for it on their midseason schedule. The good news is that the show managed to go out on a high note, delivery yet another spectacular Christmas special. If there’s one show that knows how to do a holiday themed episode, it’s Community.

This year gave us a Glee parody, a rather easy target but probably pretty deserving nonetheless. Fairing warning though – I picked up on most of the references the writers gave us, but I’m not a regular Glee watcher, so I had to fill in some of the blanks every now and then using Wikipedia and some of my own intuition (mostly Wikipedia though). If I get something wrong, I apologise. For the most part though I thought they nailed it.

As is the case with most of these themed episodes there were certain sections that were better than others, but I’ve got to say I was pretty impressed with the consistency of the musical numbers. I actually thought Shirley’s turned out the best. Her little rumblings under the music as the choir children asked whose birthday they were celebrating sort of snuck up and stole the whole show. Other than a very well done recurring joke about regionals that was probably my favourite part of the episode.

Of course, I was also pretty happy to see the writers put Donald Glover’s musical talents to good use. A few of my friends turned me onto his stuff a few weeks ago and I couldn’t believe how good he was. Watching him and Danny Pudi bring it in a Christmas themed rap video was awesome, topped only by the reveal that they were performing the whole thing in front of their bunk beds.

It was pretty clever too the way they recruited Pierce by pandering to his generation’s well known “historical vanity.” I don’t think it was the best song, but I enjoy Pierce’s long chorus of “you’re welcomes.” As for Annie’s piece, her song definitely had some good lines in it, but it wasn’t until after the episode (when I hit Wikipedia) that I realized it was supposed to be a commentary on the over-sexualisation in Glee. Before that it was a little off putting...

But when it came time for the big pageant the whole ensemble didn’t disappoint. It’s always funny when Britta goes free style, so when Abed told her the words to his song were in her heart I was pretty excited. You had to love the collective disappointment of the crowd when she hit the stage. I also thought Mr. Rad’s breakdown was really well done by Taran Killam. I really like that they incorporated the fate of the last Glee club into his rant. The fact that he was responsible for the bus crash was a pretty awesome call back to the last time Community did Glee. Actually, despite the Christmas theme, “Regional Holiday Music” didn’t seem all that out of place with some of the series’ Halloween episodes. As Britta so expertly put it, “I realize the stakes aren’t actually that high, but somehow that just makes it extra scary.”

Anyway, it’s nice that Community could exit on a high note. For those of you who don’t yet watch the series, you’re probably not reading this, but I highly recommend you take the time to catch up. And then please, whenever it comes back, watch! The show needs the ratings. It’s too good to get cancelled.

My favourite lines:

DEAN PELTON: The Glee Club is at West Side Hospital recuperating from a collective nervous breakdown.

DEAN PELTON: And to think they were this close to regionals.
PIERCE: What the hell are regionals?
DEAN PELTON: They’re this close Pierce.

ANNIE: I feel like we let Mr. Rad down.
JEFF: No he let himself down when he left this house this morning wearing a sweater vest.

MR. RAD: Glee, it’s a feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.

ABED: Glee, I’ll understand every scene, because they’ll sing what they mean instead of making a face.

ANNIE: Wait you guys never let me rap with you.
TROY: Well we’re gonna need all hands on deck if we’re going to go to regionals.

ABED: But I kind of thought, you know, this was just for Christmas.
MR. RAD: No no no, this is forever. This is what we do now. This is who we are.

And line of the night:

DEAN PELTON: (with extreme disappointment) Oh Britta’s in this...

Parks and Recreation – “Citizen Knope” (A-)

I’m sorry, but this show cannot make an episode I don’t like. This was largely a transition episode and I still loved it, every sulgar filled second of it. Amy Poehler just takes my breath away... and not in the weird obsessive creep way, in the I respect you as an actress way. Her storyline was borderline sporadic this week and she somehow still found a way to make it all work.

Leslie’s community action group PCP was a good example. I don’t think we’re going to see much of PCP after this episode. I mean I could be wrong – this show loves to drag up its history (to hilarious results) – but judging by the ending it was more something to give Leslie to do while she waited for her polling numbers than a real arc onto itself. But despite the lack of any discernable plot significance Amy Poehler found a way to make the whole thing funny through the sheer will of her performance. I especially loved her homage to Friday Night Lights as she attempted to pump up her followers.

And it really didn’t matter what situation they put her in either. From Leslie accidentally assuming Ben’s news was that she was pregnant to the way she felt out which present to give to campaign manager Elizabeth, Poehler showed time and again that she is one of the best comedic actresses on television right now. I guess it’s true – clear eyes full hearts can’t lose... sorry I just really love that line.

I also quite liked Ben’s solo excursion this week. I mentioned in my last review that I was hoping the writers would take the opportunity to have Ben try something else for a little while, and this was definitely a good start. He’s really developed into his own character this season, and scenes like his horrible interview with Dennis Feinstein or his surprisingly inspiring run in with Jean-Ralphio just showcase what an incredible blessing that is for the show. I’m really starting to like Adam Scott. He’s got great timing and he plays his straight man role quite well.

While I’m at it I might as well round out the review by praising the rest of the cast as well, especially Mr. Nick Offerman. He seemed lead the whole ensemble in what was a very charming little side story. I really thought everybody contributed here, from Andy delightfully eating everything in sight to the slew of great Jerry moments. And watching Ron get choked up at first viewing of the marshmallow version of himself – these are just great characters firing on all cylinders.

I also just want to quickly comment that the ending tag of this episode was maybe the funniest the show has ever done. Jean-Ralphio is such an awesome character. Who else would be able to get himself fired in less than 30 seconds? And the way it just rolled off him too... he didn’t even skip a beat on his way out the door.

To the quotes:

ANDY: I need to get a picture of me holding this so I can frame it.

LESLIE: William, here is a Knope 2012 tree ornament. And Elizabeth I got you a Knope 2012 menorah... maybe...
ELIZABETH: No.
LESLIE: No, okay, then I got you a tree ornament.

BEN: You’re putting an awful lot of sulgar on your pasta.
LESLIE: This is just sugar.

ANN: Okay, those are poisonous so no one eat them.
ANDY: Yeah, duh.
ANN: Go throw up.
ANDY: I didn’t eat any --
ANN: Go throw up.

LESLIE: Speaking of which, the fact that Yahtzee is not in the Rec Center is a tragedy on par with human trafficking... slight exaggeration.

LESLIE: I’ve talked to everyone in the entire state who’s ever run a campaign. Nobody wants a candidate who’s polling at last milkshake sip levels.

JEAN-RALPHIO: Why don’t you use that time and go after one of your passions, like model trains or like, toy Gandalphs or something.
BEN: I don’t know why you jumped straight to model trains... I mean, it’s accurate.

And line of the night:

LESLIE: There’s nothing we can’t do, if we work hard, never sleep, and shirk all other responsibilities in our lives.

The Office – “Christmas Wishes” (B-)

Ahhhh! What happened to Erin? I’m not sure if I like this side of her. She’s normally so sweet and unassuming. Only rarely does she ever wish death on someone. It’s all Robert’s fault for getting her drunk. He corrupted her!

Seriously though, I am glad that the writers have given Erin a new storyline – I specifically mentioned something along those lines in my last post. I know most people didn’t like their relationship the first time around, but a lot has changed since Andy and Erin first went out, and I for one welcome the writers reintroducing that plotline. They’re going to need to make Jessica a somewhat stronger character if they want to get the same vibe as early Jim and Pam, but Andy following her home was a good start.

 The episode as a whole though really didn’t do it for me, which is a pity considering the surprisingly strong history of awesome Christmas episodes from The Office. Even when the show was really struggling in the waning Steve Carell days they could still manage a good Christmas episode. Unfortunately this one was one of those rare exceptions.

I think my biggest problem was with the Dwight/Jim storyline. You could really see in this episode how much Dwight has changed since the early days, and it’s not for the better. Dwight doesn’t prank people. He never has. He’s been pranked plenty of times himself, but he is not the one who pulls them. The fact that all of sudden he’s some sort of mastermind just rang so false it made it impossible to enjoy the storyline, even if what followed had been funny, which it wasn’t. Even Jim felt like a caricature of his former self in this one, and that guy is hard not to like.

There was one bright spot though. I really though Nate (I think that’s his name anyway), one of the new warehouse workers, was funny. He was one of the guy’s air guitaring along with Dwight in the surprisingly strong musical interlude, but his best scene was opposite Darryl and Val as he cut his way into the middle of their conversation. He’s been really funny pretty every time I’ve seen him so far and I wouldn’t mind seeing the writers throw him a few more guest appearances. He’s really shaping up to be an awesome peripheral character.

Alright, some notable lines:

ANDY: I did get you an acre of property on the moon.
DWIGHT: Where? Dark side or light side?
ANDY: Light side.
DWIGHT: Is it by the sea of tranquility?
ANDY: As a matter of fact yes, directly adjacent. Beach front.

ERIN: I love Jessica and I haven’t even met her yet. It’s like we don’t even need to meet, you know. I already love you, stay home.

And line of the night:

NATE: You had me at clookies. I can’t wait to find out what they are.

Never Look Back, Never!

Had to get this out of the way before tonight’s line up. Enjoy!

Major spoilers below...

How I Met Your Mother – “Symphony of Illumination” (B+)

It was hard not to feel for Robin as future Ted finished his ending monologue. It was one of those moments this show does so well, the kind that stick with you long after the episode. We generally don’t get a lot of closure on How I Met Your Mother. We know that Ted will eventually meet someone and get married and a few other select details about the future, but for the most part these characters are still evolving. Maybe that’s why the closing moments of this episode were so powerful. For once we got a definitive answer, and while on one hand it was somewhat sad that Robin was never able to have kids, there was something quite touching about the way Ted told us that “she was never alone.”

The rest of “Symphony of Illumination” was more scattered than that ending might suggest. There were bits and pieces I liked, the gangs various reactions to Robin’s bad news and a well place pole vaulting gag being examples. But Marshall’s side story really wasn’t doing anything for me, and the rest of the episode had a rather meandering feel to it. If not for Robin’s surprisingly deep journey “Symphony of Illumination” would have floundered under the weight of its many disparate elements.

The episode did however have a ton of implications towards a future Barney/Robin relationship. I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic when it comes to fake TV relationships and I really, really want to see these two sail off into the sunset. And quite frankly, this week’s offering was a virtual smorgasbord for speculation. First off, I couldn’t help but notice that Robin immediately chose Barney as the hypothetical father of her children. Sure, that was all part of the ruse early in the episode as Barney was really the only candidate, but later when it’s revealed that the kids aren’t real, does that not say something about where her true feelings lie? I’m going to over analyze and say it does.

On the other hand at no point in Ted’s assessment of Robin’s future did he ever mention Barney. Part of that is a logistical thing – the writers can’t give away the whole game now – but still, every time we get a look into her future the only things we hear about tend to be career related. It makes me nervous. And tack onto that Barney’s newfound love of children (it better be a passing fad) and you can cast some serious doubt as to whether these two ever get together again.

I really hope some of this gets cleared up at the end of the season when I can only assume we’re going to meet Barney’s bride. An episode ago, when we all though Robin was pregnant, her candidacy seemed all but assured. Now she’s still got a pretty good shot, but we’ve still got a ways to go before we get our answer, and a lot can happen in half a season. Even if she’s not the bride though I’m hoping she takes on some sort of wedding crasher type capacity...

They’re ending up together, damn it!

Line of the night:

LILY: Most women want to be a pole vaulter?
ROBIN: In Canada... it’s very big up there. You know, it’s meet a nice guy, get married, vault some poles.

Modern Family – “Express Christmas” (B)

One of the best things “Express Christmas” had going for it was that if you didn’t like a particular storyline or bit, it would be onto another one pretty quickly. That may sound harsh, but for a mixed bag episode like this one it’s actually probably what saved it. I love that the writers are using some new character pairings, but with no fewer than five separate story threads, it was nearly impossible for all of them to succeed.

First things first though – I wasn’t a big fan of the set-up for why the family needed to do Christmas in an afternoon. It came off rather obligatory, like the writers already knew what they wanted to do and didn’t really care if they gave us a satisfactory explanation as to why (which is probably exactly what happened). The idea that each of the families were somehow all taking a trip over the holidays came off somewhat pretentious to me, which undercut the many of the theme of togetherness running through the episode.

Of the five main storylines, I think the standout to me was Claire and Haley. I quite enjoyed their trip through Target (blatant advertising aside) and all of Haley’s shopping prowess. Claire set it up all really well with her “this is your destiny” speech. Also good was Gloria and Luke. Whenever we get to see Gloria’s ruthless side it’s almost always good for some big laughs, and watching her go into crisis mode after running over the Christmas tree and breaking the angel was no exception.

Mitchell, Alex, and surprisingly enough Lily turned out to be a pretty good grouping as well. When the show cast an older actress for the role of Lily at the start of the season, I assumed she would be playing a larger role, but save for a few early episodes she’s been relatively absent over the first half of the season. Here though, young Aubrey Anderson-Emmons was killing it with some perfectly placed lines. Her “I have two daddies” comment was awesome, and the way she made her entrance behind Mitchell and Alex with a branch of the broken Christmas tree was a great way to cap off the bit.

Jay and Cam on the other hand couldn’t pull off the same magic they’ve had with each other in previous episodes. It just felt like their storyline didn’t really have an arc... or jokes. That’s an oversimplification I know, but their scenes together were surprisingly unfunny. The same went for Phil and Manny. They had a few good lines together in the beginning, but once Phil got hit by that stun gun the whole thing devolved into an over the top mess.

The ending itself was a little too cute for my liking, but I’ve enjoyed similar endings before so I’ll give the show a pass this time. The novelty of fake snow is kind of a foreign concept to me. I understand why the kids might be excited, but the adults too? I don’t know, maybe I’m just jaded.

Line of the night (perfectly timed):

LILY: I have two daddies.

Mine Doesn’t Have Any Pictures

Stuck on a Channel just recently celebrated its 1 year anniversary, so I just want to thank everyone for reading, and for the sake of my own self esteem encourage you to continue. Thanks!

Spoilers...

Community – “Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism” (A-)

So it only took 3 weeks from the time Annie moved in with Troy and Abed to the time it started paying dividends. I knew I was going to love this living arrangement! Seriously though, what a funny twist on the classic sitcom roommate storyline. This show is just so hilariously self aware it seems to make something out of nothing on almost a weekly basis.

As much as I loved revisiting Abed’s Batman routine, it was Annie and Troy who really stole the show in this episode. Their banter with each other was incredibly funny, especially in the scene where Annie revealed to Troy she’d broken the DVD. I just loved how badly things spiraled out of control after that moment.

TROY: You moving in here was supposed to tone us down!

Not so much though... which is exactly the way it should be. For any of you worried that Annie was too straight laced to keep up with Troy and Abed’s antics, consider yourself reassured.

I also want to give a quick shout out to Craig Cackowski’s police officer character in this episode. He was quite funny in both of his scenes and I really loved that call back to “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design.” Annie’s coy acknowledgement that she remembered his lesson in gun safety was pretty awesome. Actually, the episode was full of these little self referential items. The steep learning curve is probably the very reason why the show is getting shelved for the time being by NBC (it’s the same reason why Arrested Development got cancelled), but in reality it’s also what makes it so worth watching.

As for Jeff and Shirley’s storyline, all I have to say is foosball anime. I can’t believe they went there... it was one of the most insane things I think I’ve seen out of a TV comedy in a long, long time, but man was it funny. They really captured that Dragonball Z-esque feel too (sorry to real anime fans if that reference is a little too mainstream for you).

It was also just cool to see Jeff and Shirley get there first real plotline with each other since the first season. Nick Kroll (of the very funny The League) did a great job as their European nemesis and all of the foosball cracks were pretty hilarious, especially Shirley’s long held belief that the game is evil. I was pretty surprised too by how touching the ending was. For a storyline that went animated about half way through, you don’t exactly expect an ending with that kind of emotional depth. Though I don’t know why I’m surprised – Community does that sort of thing all the time. That’s why I love it.

To the quotes:

BRITA: I’m volunteering at the animal hospital.
TROY: Animal hospital!
ABED: The animals are the patients.
TROY: That makes sense...

BRITA: He only has the one eye Jeff. I can’t exactly buy him a cat monocle can I... it’s pretentious.

ABED: Foosball’s like the soccer of ping pong.

SHIRLEY: Don’t you get it Jeff, they’re not evil people that are good at foosball. They are good at foosball because they’re evil!

TROY: Let’s not leap to thing doing... right Annie?

And line of the night (one more time because I love it so much):

TROY: You moving in here was supposed to tone us down!

Parks and Recreation – “The Trial of Leslie Knope” (A-)

This was a pretty heavy episode for the series, which is always a risk for a comedy, but when it works it’s something special to watch and it worked in “The Trial of Leslie Knope.” This gets thrown around a lot on TV blogs and it’s slowly become a bit of a cliché, but in this case it’s true – for a show like Parks and Rec, it may be the comedy that keeps you entertained, but it’s the characters that keep you coming back and you’ve got to admire what the writers have done with these characters.

It was a humbling episode for Leslie. Over the course of the series we’ve come to know her as an exceptional public servant, albeit a tad eccentric, with a strong moral compass, and in fact that’s exactly the way Leslie sees herself. But I love that the writers didn’t let her off the hook for what happened in “Li’l Sebastien” (an instant classic for the series). It may have taken a few flashbacks to jog people’s memories, but borrowing from this show’s rich history is so much better than contriving some sort of imaginary indiscretion that could be used against her.

And all in all, the whole trial really lent itself to some great character moments. We got another one of Ron and Leslie’s classic little chats. I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of those. There was the scene where the whole Parks department stood behind her as she apologised to them (Andy’s “I’ve always liked you” was especially sweet). And of course the well executed finale, where the stenographer Ethel read out Ben’s heartfelt resignation. There was nothing particularly funny about any of the scenes, but gosh darnit if it didn’t make me love this show even more (and if you read this blog with any regularity you’ll know that may be impossible).

I’ve also got to add – in my many kudos to the writing staff this week – that I am incredibly impressed with the way they handled Chris in this episode. He kind of had to play the bad guy in this storyline and with his Mr. Positive persona it definitely put the writers in a tough spot. But the way they just embraced it was sheer brilliance. I loved how no matter how bad what he had to say was, Rob Lowe delivered it with an enthusiastic smile. It kept everything light and really did make the ending where Leslie forgave Chris seem believable.

The only thing really left to talk about now is where Ben goes from here. I sort of wonder whether the show will sitcom its way out of this or try to take Ben in a different direction. Odds are probably with the former, but Parks and Rec doesn’t seem to have much trouble including characters who don’t work at City Hall. It may be cool to see Ben try something else for a little while. I mean, at the moment it looks like it’ll be tough to write him back into the mix anyway. Food for thought I guess...

Oh and Jerry’s real name is Gary – awesome.

My favourite lines:

LESLIE: Tammy 2 is your killer witness, please. You’re going to have to do better... actually she is a terrifying sociopath who could say or do anything. Pretty good killer witness.

ANDY: Okay, mine doesn’t have any pictures.

TOM: Bribing someone to hide a sexcapade – I’m proud to call you a friend.

And line of the night:

LESLIE: I’d like to direct you to your inbox, and specifically an e-mail entitled yay. That’s y, a, and 18 y’s and 44 exclamation points.

The Office – “Mrs. California” (B-)

To be honest, this episode didn’t really wow me like I was hoping it would. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Maura Tierney did a great job (I used to be a huge fan of her on News Radio). She’s a strong casting choice for that role and from the looks of that ending she’ll be back again in the future. But I just didn’t like the way they used her in this episode.

The show has relied pretty heavily this season on Andy’s inability to read Robert, and for the most part it’s worked pretty well, but in this episode the shtick just seemed a little worn. Instead of delivering perhaps a different side of Robert that we haven’t seen before, we got more of the same Andy/Robert awkwardness, and when that got old there wasn’t much left. Jim’s prolonged escape was more weird than it was funny and I wasn’t a huge fan of watching the rest of the cast try to bully Robert’s wife out of the office.

The new look Office is starting to lose some of its original luster, and it’s up to the writers now to explore different territory. The last two episodes have been great examples. Last week’s “Gettysburg” suffered because it relied too heavily on Andy’s desire to be accepted as the new boss, a storyline I think most viewers by now have already embraced (or stopped watching altogether). We didn’t need another episode exploring that dynamic. The same is true for this episode. Now part of Robert’s character is always going to be is bizarre enigmatic behaviour, but if they never develop him beyond that he’s going to become stale and repetitive, and The Office is going to suffer because of it.

Perhaps the one saving grace of “Mrs. California” was Dwight and Darryl’s side story. I still think it’s stupid that Dwight owns the building – that was never a storyline I got behind – but I did like the banter between him and Darryl. Can anyone think of any other times these two have been paired together? My mind is coming up blank, which is weird because they seem to have a lot of chemistry together. I particularly loved Dwight mistaking Darryl’s Val for Val Kilmer. That was a good ending tag for the episode.

Oh, and just real quick – what has happened to Erin over the past few episodes? Ever since Andy told her he was seeing someone (that story disappeared pretty quick, didn’t it) she’s been almost non-existent, which is lame. I miss her! She’s still getting the odd bit here and there, but please writers, give her a real storyline to work with.

To the quotes:

JIM: No, I don’t think we should be trying to make this place seem unpleasant. I think we should let this place just crush her spirit by itself. I mean, it knows what it’s doing.

ROBERT: Where’s Jim?
ERIN: He just rolled out and crawled out.

DWIGHT: This is my gym, my rules. You do exactly what I say no questions asked.
DARRYL: Yeah, I’m gonna ask questions and I might not do what you say.

DWIGHT: How do you think the Fonz got so cool? He stretched his pelvic bowl.

And line of the night:

ANDY: Erin you’re up. Find her a place to work but not too comfortable.
ERIN: Got it. I know exactly which stapler to give her.

You Poor Dumb Bastard

Just a short one tonight...

Spoilers:

House – “Perils of Paranoia” (C+)

A step in the wrong direction. I guess it was sort of obvious the show wouldn’t be able to maintain the high level of last week’s episode, but a guy can still hope. This week was back to the usual though, and unfortunately that means weak patient stories and strained attempts at making the current team seem interesting.

The patient did have a decent start. The court room scene was actually pretty well done, and when Park and Adams found his stash of guns it definitely made things more interesting. But I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the explanation for why he was stockpiling and the second his condition deteriorated it didn’t really seem to matter anymore anyway.

I also wasn’t really buying the fact that Park wouldn’t admit the guys paranoid behaviour was a symptom. The writers are really having trouble finding ways to fit the two new team members in with the rest of the cast. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love Charlyne Yi, but her character at this point is not one I enjoy watching. Maybe her date with Chase will turn things around.

Foreman’s story this week may have been little better than the main thread, but they lost me at the end when he decided to go back to that married woman. It’s not even so much about the moral implications – that’s the sort of thing House explores all the time – it’s more just the fact that they’ve already covered this area before with Taub, and to be honest (and this is of course just my opinion) it wasn’t that interesting the first time around. I’ll give it a week or two though before I really make up my mind. The writers may have something else planned for it.

The only real bright spot of the episode was House and Wilson. Sure, it was more of their usual shenanigans, but they’re always so creative about it I never seem to mind that they’ve been pulling the same shtick now for 8 seasons. It really is the most consistently entertaining part of the show these days. I was a bit puzzled though by House’s prolonged stare at the sword near the end of the episode. Was that a reference to something from a past episode or are the writers trying to set something up for a future episode? The fact that the gun ended up being real was a pretty ominous sign for what’s to come.

Bro Parents Activate!

It’s been kind of a slow week for TV, but here’s what was on.

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “The Rebound Girl” (B+)

I can’t help but notice this show’s trend towards loaded endings of late. Before I thought maybe they were just poor attempts to save weak episodes, much like last week’s lackluster affair, but “The Rebound Girl” actually had a decent amount going for it. I’m starting to think now that this is a purposeful effort by the writers to keep the audience feeling like there’s some forward momentum in the major series arc, even if it’s just these little snippets at the end of episodes. Maybe it’ll be enough to help people forget we still have a season to go before Ted finds the mother.

But so long as they’re giving us a decent episode to begin with I don’t mind these big endings. The “I’m pregnant” bombshell during this episode definitely got me excited for next week. Slowly we’re starting to see how exactly Barney winds up at the altar at season’s end and certainly I think Robin has become the number 1 candidate for the bride... that is if she wasn’t already.

 Of course I can’t spend all of my time talking about what essentially amounted to 6 seconds of the episode. I also didn’t mind the storylines that led up to that point. At first glance both of the main threads in this episode were a little out of the ordinary. Just two episodes ago Marshall and Lily had the discussion about moving to Long Island and decided against it, so it wasn’t exactly a natural progression that they would revisit that storyline this soon (story wise anyway... life wise that decision would probably take more than a half hour). Still, there was something quite charming about the storyline, whether it be Robin knocking over lamps or Marshall contemplating becoming a Ghostbuster (it took me a second to see where they were going with that). By the end I didn’t much care that it was a somewhat recycled plotline.

The same went for Barney – yes, Barney – deciding that he wanted to have a kid. Initially it put me off so much I didn’t want to like the storyline, but eventually the writers won me over. There were just too many good one liners and hilarious hypotheticals for me not to laugh. It really did look like Josh Radnor and NPH were having a great time playing off each other on this one. It must have been a fun day on set. I particularly loved how Ted had to keep stressing that the two of them were going through a really hard time. Was it a shameless attempt to justify the premise... probably, but it made me laugh anyway.

To the quotes:

MARSHALL: And then we destroy it with sledgehammers... as a family.

TED: Don’t worry, he’s going to do something crazy.

LILY: If there’s cockroaches they respect us enough to sneak around.

TED: Kids I cannot stress this enough; Barney and I were going through a tough time.

ROBIN: And did Marshall become a Ghostbuster?
MARSHALL: That firehouse is still for sale.

BARNEY: Ted please do not dig in on this whole no banging the nanny policy.
TED: Okay, we’ll get two nannies. One for banging, one for child care.
BARNEY: Slash banging. Dibs on both nannies!

BARNEY: A kid needs a pet cobra Ted, don’t be a pill about this.

And line of the night:

ROBIN: Have you never heard of overhead lighting!

Modern Family – “Punkin Chunkin” (B)

I’ve definitely heard of few of those “Punkin Chunkin” stories before (and unfortunately I’ve likely told a few myself), which is probably what made Mitchell’s reaction to the story so funny. Not the wah wah so much as his little interview to the camera where he told Cam’s drawn out story in three seconds. I know I’ve felt like that before.

“Punkin Chunkin” was a fairly average outing for Modern Family however. Usually this show does a pretty good job of the holidays but Thanksgiving really just served as the backdrop to the larger dreamers vs. realist theme. I found the episode kind of lulled in the middle, and didn’t come up with the ending needed to save it. Other than that I don’t have a ton of pointed complaints, I just wasn’t laughing as much as I normally do.

There were a few amusing bits though. I mentioned Mitchell’s interview, but I also loved Phil and Luke’s Head Scratcher (TM) infomercial, if only for the aspirin shooter call back. And my personal highlight – Claire’s long speech about how she cooked for 8 hours and would be damned if everybody left before the meal only to reverse that sentiment the second she was taunted by Phil.

I want to say I liked Manny and Jay’s centerpiece storyline too but really I just liked listening to Gloria chime in every now and then. Once again, and it does seem like I say this a lot lately, Sofia Vergara stole the show. Assuming the entire cast gets nominated for Emmys again (and that’s not too far of a stretch) maybe she should win it this time.

My favourite lines:

PHIL: Record scratch!

PHIL: He’s me, and he’s spectacular.

MANNY: Remember that collage I made that helped us get through Katrina?

LUKE: Shoot me an aspirin friend.
PHIL: Maybe someday...

CLAIRE: I did not just cook for 8 hours so you people could run off to prove some asinine point that’s only going to make half of us feel bad! Come on, show a little respect.
JAY: Turkey smells great sweetheart.
PHIL: Is that turkey, because something smells like chicken...
CLAIRE: Okay, let’s settle this.

And line of the night:

GLORIA: My mother used to criticise everything I did, and look at me now... I am a jumble of insecurities.
JAY: I’m not getting that.

House – “Dead and Buried” (B+)

You know what, I’ve got to hand it to the House writers this week. I’ve been giving them a bit of a hard time lately, but credit where credit is due; I actually quite enjoyed this episode. For the first time in a while I actually cared about the patient stories... both of them!

And no, I’m not talking about the multiple personality diagnosis – that’s been done to death – I’m talking about the heartfelt reason behind the multiple personality diagnosis, the poor little girl who watched her father die and blamed herself for it. That was a legitimately emotional moment that I really didn’t see coming. Whoever the young girl was playing the patient did a heck of job selling that storyline.

But even better was House’s quest to find closure for one of his anger management classmates. The storyline combined the ingenuity I love to see from House (the character) with much of the same emotional impact of the previous storyline. That final scene, where the wife finally admitted to her ex-husband that she missed their dead son was really the highlight of the episode. Even after all these years it’s still fun to watch House get vindicated for coming up with the right answer.

 Well somewhat vindicated anyway – he still had to face Foreman after going behind his back and for the most part I think the writers handled that well. I liked Wilson’s description of how Cuddy handled House and I also liked that Foreman laid down his own personal punishment despite taking the advice. It was good for both characters really, and I mean come on – we all knew he wasn’t going back to jail.

The only thing I thought hurt this episode was the filler storyline. Chase’s new TV gig seemed like just a ploy to fill time... and give the rest of the team something to do this week. And honestly, the pay off really wasn’t worth all of the mystery leading up to it. Unless this ends up with Chase leaving the show or undergoing some sort of epiphany (the writers have been hinting there’s something going on with him lately) than his brief foray into television was just an unneeded distraction from what was otherwise a fairly strong episode.

Some Flies Are Too Awesome For The Wall

Sorry about the short post. All of my energy these days is going into ranting about Community being taken off the NBC schedule.

Spoilers...

Community – “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux” (A)

What I’ll never understand is how a smart, funny show like Community can struggle to find an audience while something like Two and Half Men can end up as the most watched comedy on television (thankfully Modern Family just recently overtook it). If you’re wondering what I’m blabbering on about I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Community has just been taken off NBC’s midseason schedule and I’m not very happy about it. From what I’ve heard it still has a full season order and those episodes are still going to air, it’s just not yet known when. It’s probably the most disappointing decision from the network since they let Conan go in favour of Leno. Is there a chance the show could survive? Absolutely, but this is definitely not a good sign.

And that’s a damn shame. From a strictly dollars and cents standpoint I understand Community doesn’t do well in the ratings. It’s a difficult show to get into and it has a rather niche sense of humour. But it’s also in one of the most competitive time slots in television and NBC isn’t exactly a network that’s drawing a lot of new viewers. It’s going to be damn tough to find another show to fill its place, and even then they have plenty of weaker offerings on their line up. Can you honestly tell me Whitney deserves to survive on Wednesday nights when Community already has a fairly loyal built in audience?

And it’s episodes like this one that’ll make that cancellation that much harder to swallow. For any of you still doubting whether the third season of Community has kept up the quality of the previous two, look no further than the solid string of episodes over the last couple of weeks. For my money the show’s still very much in its prime. In fact, I’d say I enjoyed this episode more than I did the original “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking.”

I don’t really have a point to any of these ramblings other than don’t cancel Community. It might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s good enough that it should be winning (or least getting nominated for) awards, and to me that makes it worth a second look. I don’t really want a new Arrested Development... Firefly... Freaks and Geeks... heck, even Undeclared. All of them eventually found large followings long after they were cancelled. Just give the show a season or two more to play itself out and everyone will be satisfied, instead of lamenting about what could have been. Alright, I’m done with the rant. We can talk about the episode now...

First and foremost, bravo Jim Rash. I can’t remember another episode where the Dean has been featured so prominently and he really took advantage of the opportunity. As soon as he put on that wife beater and started having epiphanies he became a pretty much unstoppable comedic force. Twelve hours of Brita and Troy hugging – priceless.

I also had a great time watching Joel McHale give us his Jim Rash impersonation. It’s such a great take on his character that he would go to as much trouble as he did just to get out of participating in the commercial. But his bald cap melt down after 14 days (god forbid it last more than 2) of sitting around waiting for his time in front of the camera was definitely one of the major highlights of the episode for me.

JEFF: I have made bald friends!

As good as those two were though, the real star of the episode was director Joe Russo and the way he captured the documentary feel. I’ve never seen Heart of Darkness (which is unfortunate because I’ve heard it’s better than Apocalypse Now) but I’m sure I’ve seen at least a few documentaries trying to capture the same vibe, and seems like he hit it pretty close to mark.

I also really liked Abed’s ending monologue on the nature of documentaries in general. That was actually a pretty intelligent assessment of the genre, and to be that funny and that smart at the same time is something special. Special enough you’d think the show would be able to find a place on the schedule of a fourth ranked network. Okay, I guess the ranting wasn’t done...

To the quotes, aka the Dean Pelton show:

PIERCE: Yeah, I always see it during late night marathons of Fantasy Island.
DEAN PELTON: That’s not an accident; it’s the result of intensive targeting.

DEAN PELTON: You know I love to be seen agreeing with you Troy.

DEAN PELTON: We open on a typical day at Greendale, only the students all look happy and you can’t smell that smell.

DEAN PELTON: I am trying to pull a 400 year old dagger out of this nation’s heart, and you two are “hugging”.

JEFF: What if this shoot goes on another day, or god forbid 2!

ABED: Are you by any chance familiar with Stockholm Syndrome?
ANNIE: Is it something that the Dean created because if not I don’t care.

BRITTA: As a licensed psychology major I am declaring this production a violation of human rights.

And line of the night:

DEAN PELTON: Okay, you get this wrong one more time I’m segregating the school.

Parks and Recreation –“Smallest Park” (A-)

Well... I totally saw that ending coming. Does this mean Leslie’s political ambitions are over? Probably, but I’m still holding out some hope that she’ll figure out a way to do both. I don’t necessarily think Leslie in City Council is a show ending experiment, even though it would take the focus away from the Parks Department a little bit.

I do have to admit though, I am somewhat surprised at how fast she and Ben got back together after last episode. I guess it’s good to keep up the momentum, but they really laid all of their cards out onto the table with this one. I also found that there was a bit of overlap between this week and the last. At the end of last week it seemed like the two of them were going to try to be friends and this one just sort of ignored that and went straight back into Ben trying to distance himself. Luckily everything was forgiven with that marvellously acted finale. I can’t wait to see what happens next week.

I was also fairly happy with Tom’s return to the Parks Department this week. His new font project was good for a few laughs, and honestly, I don’t think anyone takes better shots at Jerry than he does. Ironically, I thought at one point Jerry was being a little too mean to him. Probably at least somewhat deserved though. Anyway, there were a few scenes in the storyline that were a little slow, but on the whole it hit more than it missed.

Plus it had the unfortunate circumstance of having to go head to head with Andy’s first trip to college. Now that is just one of those dream scenarios you didn’t know you wanted to see until it was right there smacking you in the face. Everyone did a great job in this storyline. Chris Pratt hit all of the right marks. April was an awesome sidekick for all of his shenanigans. And Ron provided the perfect mix of funny and sentimental (in Ron’s own way of course) to give the storyline enough arc to succeed. I really like that he and Andy have built up such a strong friendship over the past few seasons.

Now for my favourite lines:

CHRIS: Jerry, I am making you my number 2 guy on the new font project.

APRIL: Horizons are dumb, never broaden your horizons. Just take something you’re great at and get an easy A.

LESLIE: No Ann, please, I beg of you, will you just shut your beautiful pie hole. Just sit there, let me stare at you, while you silently support me on this game plan.
ANN: Leslie...
LESLIE: Shhh Ann. Your quiet support means the world to me, as well as your tacit endorsement of all my behaviours.

APRIL: I want to be burned at the stake.

ANDY: Hello ma’am, who is just as equal as men, I would like one ticket for a... women.
APRIL: He would like to register for women’s studies.

ANDY: Why didn’t you tell me it was so expensive?
APRIL: I didn’t know. My parents paid for my classes. I’ll just have them pay for yours too.
ANDY: Oh god no, that’s embarrassing. I know, I’m gonna beg for money in the street like a drug addict.

And line of the night:

RON: Of all my coworkers he is one of a small number who I do not actively root against... there I go getting all sappy.

The Office – “Gettysburg” (B)

A pretty average episode. I think it says something when the biggest laugh of the night comes from watching Gabe get hit in the face with a hat. Most of the storylines in this one were just passable at best and I think part of the reason for that was that they all felt like B stories. Nothing really took over as the main thread and it sort of felt like I was waiting for a real story that never came.

The closest “Gettysburg” got was with Andy’s trip, but I don’t think it had the intended effect the writers were hoping for. Andy’s been the boss now for a decent chunk of episodes, and for the most part I’ve liked what it’s done with the show. Establishing him as the new lead really gave the series a shot in the arm. But that storyline has played out somewhat, and his trip to Gettysburg and all of the forced conflict it brought with it just didn’t seem necessary. We’ve already seen the scene where Jim comforts Andy about his new role. We didn’t need it again. And that has me a little worried, because if the writers have already stretched Andy as far as he can go then we’re in for a long ride over the rest of the season.

I wasn’t crazy about Dwight’s little subplot about the Battle of Schrute Farms either. Save for a pretty funny bit with Erin, which granted was a sizable portion of the short storyline, it just seemed like everybody was trying a little too hard to force the issue, and in the end I couldn’t help feel a little let down by the rather mediocre way they wrapped it all up.

Robert California probably had the best week of anyone, but then again his character seems designed to excel in these short side stories. I really enjoyed watching him shoot down everybody’s ideas in the conference room. Actually, just a little side note, I think this is the first time in a while we’ve gotten see Ryan in the spotlight for any length of time. Although, from the looks of it that’s likely a trend that’s going to continue after this episode. Anyway, Robert and Kevin made a good pairing in this episode, and I loved the scene where Ryan tricked Kevin into sharing his Big Mac idea and Robert realized that it was, in fact, just about the cookie.

Some of my favourite lines:

ERIN: Oscar, I’m so glad you just got here. I would have believed everything he said.

OSCAR: In the African American community...
ROBERT: No.

And line of the night:

PAM: When you’re this pregnant it’s kind of like senior spring. The other day I spit my gum out on the carpet.

What Is This Hold You Have On Me?

More reviews to come over the next couple of days.

Spoilers...

Modern Family – “After the Fire” (A-)

“After the Fire” was a great return for the series after a short week off. I always love it when the writers mess with the typical pairings and this was a great example of just how effective a deviation from the status quo can be.

First up, I thought Cam had a heck of an episode. How am I just learning about a debilitating disease like sleep clowning? Too funny... but again I think one big reason why Cam did so well in this episode was that he was paired with Haley and Alex. It may have been a little put on that Claire would send them with Cam, but it certainly paid off so I’ll give it a pass. I like it when the show explores Cam’s obscure talents (or at least perceived talents) and with the girls constantly condescending him it made for some truly funny lines:

CAM: That question, it was like a hate crime.

You’ve also gotta love it whenever Modern Family pulls out the Luke/Manny combo. The rapport between Rico Rodriguez and Nolan Gould is pretty awesome considering their age. My favourite part – how quickly the two of them turned on the poor kid who had his house burned down the second they found out he was getting the helicopter they wanted.

The star of the episode though had to be Gloria. She was really just popping in and out of scenes, but her one-liners were through the roof funny. Half of it is the accent, and I don’t think I’m giving away any secrets there, but I was also pretty impressed with how well Sofia Vergara handled the physical comedy in this episode. I laughed out loud at her tube man impression.

But probably the most enduring storyline of this episode will be Phil’s decision to quit his job and become a partner in his own real estate company. Depending on how the writers handle that it could be a pretty interesting development, especially considering last I checked Claire was running for City Council at the same time (she’s still doing that right?). Regardless, it really helped improve Jay and Phil’s scenes together this week. As much as I laughed at the fact that Phil still brings up how he fixed Jay’s printer on a regular basis, I was glad that we didn’t have to watch Phil overreact to Jay saying “I love you” to him. It gave us a great moment where Jay actually gave Phil some legitimate respect, not to mention some decent advice.

Alright, my favourite lines:

GLORIA: Okay, when your house burn down you get one of these... no don’t burn your house down.

MANNY: You’re a terrible influence.
LUKE: You need me.

JAY: I can’t take another farm story.

PHIL: You know, the Native Americans believe that burning sage kept bad energy away.
JAY: How’d that work out for them?

MITCHELL: Why are you making those cruel sounds with your mouth?

CLAIRE: What the hell is that?
PHIL: An alpaca. I got the last one!

HALEY: What just happened?
ALEX: You have your fans, I have mine. Someday your fans are going to work for my fans.

And line of the night:

GLORIA: In my country it’s considered very, very bad luck when your house burns down.

How I Met Your Mother – “Tick Tick Tick” (C)

So for the record I was right that one of Barney or Robin would freak out about their hook up and run back to their current relationship, just not about which one. That was a tough ending to watch, from the freeze frame moment in the bar to Ted discovering Barney cleaning up rose petals on Robin’s bed. You can definitely see why it’s going to take most of the season for these two to even be in the position to get back together again.

Unfortunately, a brief moment of brilliance at the end of the episode was far from enough to save it. “Tick Tick Tick...” was perhaps the worst episode of How I Met Your Mother I’ve seen in a few seasons. And the awful part is it should have been one of the good ones. The big character moments, moments like Robin abandoning Barney after he’d just left his girlfriend for her, those are the moments this show traditionally steps up for. They’re what keep me watching after all these years.

But the writing didn’t deliver. The cruise was just an unfunny way to delay the inevitable ending. Sure, it allowed the two of them to split off to deal with their respective breakups, but there was no reason why they couldn’t have done that earlier, like say... when they were discussing their relationship in bed with each other at the start of the episode. There just weren’t a whole lot of laughs in between their various freak outs over being stuck on a boat with the two people they had just cheated on.

Yet I can forgive the cruise storyline somewhat, because at least it had some real story development in it. Marshall and Ted’s marijuana induced journey through a crowded stadium was just a waste of time. Not only did most of the jokes fall flat on their face, but they were repeated seemingly over and over again. The ladies room/nacho line bit wasn’t funny the first time it was tried, it’s certainly not going to be funny the fourth time. And the “surprise” twist at the end, where it turned out their whole ordeal had taken place over a matter of minutes, well I didn’t find it all that surprising. Hands up if you too saw that coming.

Okay put your hand down, you look like a fool.

House – “Parents” (C+)

Oh man, House is in such a rut these days I’m having trouble even distinguishing one episode from another. Hugh Laurie is a funny guy, and a great actor, so every episode there’s the odd moment here or there that makes me laugh, but from a storytelling perspective this show is so stagnant even the actors look like they’re bored.

I could have sworn again this week that I’d seen this exact same patient story before. A kid with unexplainable symptoms eventually attributed to past sexual abuse – as bad as it sounds this stuff seems old hat for House. And with diseases and twists becoming this interchangeable, it makes it harder and harder to get invested in these patients every week.

I was also somewhat unimpressed with the random clinic patient House saw this week. Don’t get me wrong, I like watching House in the clinic – it’s always good for a laugh or two and this episode was no exception – but usually the writers find some of way of tying it in, either through the main patient story or with some sort of emotional conflict House is going through at the time. This one just seemed to sit there on its own, which left me somewhat unsatisfied when it was all over.

As for Taub and the rest of the team, they aren’t really helping matters. I’ve found Taub’s two baby storyline over the past couple of episodes more bizarre than entertaining. I’m glad he’s growing as a character, but I don’t think we needed his big rush to his ex-wife’s house to let us know that he loves his kids. The whole storyline seemed a little put on.

And Wilson, shame on you. If anyone should have caught onto what House was trying to do, it should have been you. It did seem like he had a lapse of uncharacteristic stupidity in this episode, which speaks more to poor writing than it does to the character. Why again couldn’t he go to that fight? Even if House is stuck in house arrest, it’s one night and something tells me he knows House isn’t that needy.

I Liked Horsebot 3000

So it’s really late right now... please forgive any spelling/grammar/giant chunks of missing text mistakes that may very well be scattered throughout this post. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

Community – “Studies in Modern Movement” (A-)

I don’t know if this is precisely the right rating for this episode, but the last act of “Studies in Modern Movement” made me laugh so hard I couldn’t help but look back over the rest of the proceedings with rose coloured glasses. It still amazes me how well this show manages to mesh its extremely outlandish style with genuine heart, but once again the writers impressed me by delivering just the right combination of humour and sentiment to make it all work.

I was quite excited about Annie moving in with Abed and Troy when it was casually mentioned all the way back in “Remedial Chaos Theory,” so I’m pretty happy that it’s actually stuck. And just based on what I saw in this episode I sincerely hope we get to see more of their adventures in the future. Every time we get a glimpse into Troy and Abed’s personal lives it’s a treat. I loved both of the puppet shows and the call back to Troy’s candy cigarette use (“picked the wrong week to quit”), but more than anything I loved the sweet ending where the boys told Annie that they needed her. There speech about how to use irons and get out Kool-aid stains had to be the highlight of the episode for me.

Of course I thought Jeff’s story with the Dean, or as we came to know him this week, Craig, was also really well done. The storyline got off to a bit of a slow start, but once the two of them were rocking karaoke together the jokes seemed to be firing on all cylinders. I hate to say it, but that might have been the most hauntingly beautiful rendition of Kiss From a Rose I’ve ever heard.

Actually, that karaoke moment transitioned into what was a rather surprise musical number in the middle of the episode. Although being that this show jumps the shark on almost an episodely basis (it’s a word) I don’t know why it caught me off guard. Either way though, I liked it... especially Pierce’s paint fume induced hallucination.

In fact, there were a few great little side stories that really rounded out the episode. I mentioned Pierce, and that had to be maybe the most perfect Chevy Chase geared storyline the writers have come up with in a while, but the Brita and Shirley pairing also panned out quite well. I don’t mention this enough, but I love some of the subtle line deliveries from Yvette Nicole Brown. She’s great at those under the breath comments Shirley loves to make.

Alright, to the lines:

ANNIE: Brita, don’t make jokes... you’re bad at it!

ABED: And if the rooms a rockin’ please come a knockin’ because there’s something probably terribly wrong.
TROY: Yeah, we’re pretty chill in there.

DEAN PELTON: This is gonna be fun... or else.

ABED: The dreamatorium is non-negotiable, read the lease.
TROY: Especially the part we added in Crayon.

ANNIE: I mean I can rearrange the throw pillows. You have them arranged by size instead of colour.
ABED: What did I say?

And line (or you know, extended sequence) of the night:

TROY: There’s a couple of things that we were hoping that you’d help us with.
ABED: Yes, like where does the water go in the iron?
TROY: And what’s the iron for?
ABED: And what gets out Kool-aid stains?
TROY: Yeah, we already know that the opposite colour Kool-aid doesn’t work.

Parks and Recreation – “The Treaty” (A-)

Ah, the good ole’ Model United Nations episode. Didn’t Community just do this like 5 or 6 episodes ago? Oh well, it’s pretty easy to see the appeal from a writing standpoint. There are just so many hilarious bits you can do with a Model UN. It’s like a springboard of good ideas, and Parks and Rec capitalized on many of them in this episode.

Honestly though, as funny as war breaking out in the Model UN was, I thought the emotional conflict between Ben and Leslie really stole the show. The writers are clearly setting the groundwork for the two of them to back together, but regardless I’ve really enjoyed the way they’ve handled Ben and Leslie dealing with their breakup thus far.  Ben’s speech to Leslie about how you can’t just pick and choose which aspects of a relationship you want was spot on. I want the show to make me laugh, but it’s a nice added touch that it can also be so pointed as well.

Speaking of people getting back together actually, I’m going to make one of my bolder calls in a while – I  think the writers may also be gearing up to get Ann and Chris back together. Ann got to clear the air a bit about their break up in this episode and to me that seems like a nice first step forward towards the two of them starting things back up again. Just watching the look of surprise and realization on Chris’s face after she broke it down for him suggests something more might have been at work there.

Ron and Tom’s storyline this week sort of played off the crackpot convention bit this show does so well. I must say, though it’s been done before, the people they interviewed to replace Tom were all quite funny. Especially the last guy, who was so sketchy and so out of it I wouldn’t mind seeing him pop up again somewhere around town.

I think it was sort of inevitable that Tom would return to the Parks department, so the tidiness of his return is somewhat forgivable, but I would have maybe liked to see Tom’s absence from City Hall extended even a little longer. The writers didn’t seem to be having much trouble keeping him involved so it’s not too far of a stretch that they could have given him a more natural story progression than they did. Still, part of me is just happy the band is back together, so I don’t entirely know why I’m complaining. It’s a just a minor note at best.

Last but not least, I want to make sure I mention Andy’s contribution to the episode. With the exception of maybe the last episode, he’s played sidekick for most of this season, and I find it amazing how effective he can be in the little moments he gets. Andy is pretty disproportionally represented in the quotes section this week considering the amount of time he spent on screen.

Speaking of which:

LESLIE: I need a few more volunteers. Andy, will you be Iceland?
ANDY: The bad guys from Mighty Ducks 2? I don’t think so.
LESLIE: Okay, how bout Japan?
ANDY: The bad guys from Karate Kid 2... even worse. How about Germany, they’ve never been the bad guys.

CHRIS: I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I am romantically involved with Jerry Gergich’s surprisingly hot daughter, Millicent Gergich.

CHRIS: See I just don’t believe in this whole don’t-let-people-know-how-you-feel nonsense. I love telling people how I feel, mostly because I love those people. And I love telling them that I love them.
DONNA: You didn’t tell that girl that you loved her, did you?
CHRIS: No, I’m not crazy.

TOM: A fact is not an anecdote Gary!

LESLIE: God, it’s time for you to nut up Switzerland.

BEN: It’s a white flag, and you may as well start waving it right now Leslie!
LESLIE: The only thing I will be waving is your decapitated head on a stick in front of your weeping mother!
BEN: Good lord.

LESLIE: And I ask all of you, who is ready to join the coalition of the willing?
APRIL: The moon shall join your coalition.
LESLIE: Yeah! We got the freakin’ moon. What are you going to do without tides Peru?

ANDY: Did we win? I think we won? What were we trying to do? I learned so much today.

ANDY: If you rearrange the letters of Peru you can spell Europe.
BEN: That’s not true.
ANDY: Well, you have to rearrange them.

And line of the night:

ANN: I mean I was jogging... I hate jogging.
CHRIS: Jogging’s amazing.
ANN: Jogging’s the worst Chris! I mean I know it keeps you healthy, but god, at what cost?

The Office – “Pam’s Replacement” (B+)

Maybe one of the better Pam/Jim storylines I’ve seen in a long, long time. Really, ever since the two of them got married and had the first kid the writers have been having trouble figuring out what to do with them. That’s why whenever I see that original spark that made this couple so fun in the first place I take note. Oh and if you didn’t get where I was going with that, this was one of those times.

Of course, I guess you could argue the storyline was as much a Pam/Dwight affair as it was a Pam/Jim affair. For the second week in a row the writers decided to showcase the bizarre friendship Pam and Dwight seem to share. Regardless, it’s just nice to see the original cast playing off each other the way they used to. I really enjoyed the back and forth between all involved, from the game of matchmaker to the makeshift lie detector test.

Unfortunately, other than that there wasn’t much else to this episode. I guess I liked the opening phone call bit, mostly just because of Darryl’s phone commentary as it was all going down, and there was a decent scene in the break room involving a large chunk of the cast that was good for a few decent laughs, but the rest of the episode seemed pretty bare.

It certainly wasn’t a good week for Robert California. His displacement of Andy and the rest of the zits really didn’t generate much from a comedy perspective. I dare say the writers overestimated the effectiveness of watching Andy, Kevin, and Darryl slowly become the groupies of their own band. I did enjoy the little scene where they broke off on their own though. It’s just too bad what came before it was so forgettable.

Line of the night:

DWIGHT: Does your husband have very soft erections? Cause if not I just grabbed a very soft penis for nothing.