This Is For Your Gizmo

What do Community, The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, and Grey’s Anatomy all have in common? Well if you throw them together in a question like that they all help our placement on search engines.

On a quick programming note, Ryan is away this week, so his reviews will be a little late. He was nice enough though to send me his Big Bang review for the week, so you can enjoy that in the mean time.

Spoilers ahead.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Golden Hour” (A)

I frequently use this show as an example of what medical dramas should not do, so it’s only fair that I give it the same acknowledgement when it does something right. This was an episode done right. Set in the emergency room over a one hour period, “Golden Hour” chronicles in real time Meredith’s experience running the ER.

Ellen Pompeo delivered a terrific performance here, carrying the audience along with her as she navigated through trials and tribulations of running the emergency room. And it was the immediacy of the real-time setting that made this episode so great. The focus wasn’t on some crazy patient of the week – at least not the kind we’re used to – it was on the medicine and the pressures of being a doctor.

What really pushed this episode over the edge for me though was the phenomenal sequence involving Meredith and Teddy’s attempt to save an aortic dissection patient. I got chills watching them ride up the elevator, preparing for what was likely going to be a chaotic and stressful surgery. When Grey pulled the Purell out of her pocket to sanitize her hands, they had me. I was hooked.

And the surgery only lived up to my expectations, with the two doctors working swiftly to try and quell the blood loss and put the patient on bypass. The intensity was absolutely tangible, and when Teddy finally turned to Grey and told her to call it, you knew exactly how she was feeling in that moment. It was a powerful scene, bolstered by great performances from the two leads.

It just goes to show how weird ERs can be. A guy can walk in with a knife sticking out of his head, and end up walking out the same day. Another guy can walk in with some mild chest pain and be dead within the hour. “Golden Hour” made that point perfectly.

We also got to see Teddy and Henry back in action again this week. I haven’t hidden my love for this storyline and this episode was no exception. With Teddy being called into the aforementioned emergency surgery, Henry spent some time talking to her date William. Henry sort of over steps his bounds here by telling her (as her husband) not to go on a date with him.

I like that they’re showing that Henry may be developing some feelings here, and I’m interested in seeing how Teddy will respond to this. She sort of gave him the cold shoulder in this episode, but I mean, come on. The guy was a professional baseball player. That’s gotta count for something.

Also this week we had the continuation of Karev’s budding relationship with Dr. Fields. I said it last week, these two are destined to hook up and this episode was definitely a step in the right direction. They spent most of the hour flirting, only for Karev to give up his prized basketball tickets to perform a surgery on a young boy in a lot of pain. With Lucy watching in the gallery at the end of the episode the writers all but assured us they would be getting together some time in the next few episodes.

Community – “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking” (B+)

Is it sad that I just realized Community names it’s episodes as if they were classes? Don’t answer that, I don’t think I want to know.

Well regardless, I liked “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking”. Seeing as this show has managed to tackle just about every other narrative form, an episode filmed like a documentary didn’t seem at all out of place for the series. They go together like peanut butter and jam, pizza and sports, or Ewoks and the toppling of intergalactic empires.

As is often the case with these theme episodes, it was Abed tasked with setting up the premise. After Pierce is hospitalized, Abed agrees to film his final bequeathments to the study group, not because he’s particularly interested in Pierce as a subject, but because he’s interested in the documentary form itself. His frequent observations as to what makes a documentary tick were a great running joke throughout the episode, and did a hilarious job of framing what was happening on screen.

Pierce of course uses his bequeathments to mess with each member of the group. My favourite gift here was Troy’s, who got a visit from his favourite actor LeVar Burton. His catatonic reaction to him was absolutely hilarious, as was his frequent freak outs between visits with the actor. I can understand where Troy is coming from too. It’s hard to meet your idols – what if you disappoint this person you love so much? Or even worse, what if they’re a jerk? And Troy’s right, “You can’t disappoint a picture!”

Anyways, I’m going to take a page from Abed’s book and list some of my favourite moments over a generic voiceover as if to suggest a grand thematic connection.

-          The frequent questioning of why the nurse was doing Pierce’s dirty work: Annie – “Do you have a regular job here?”

-          Troy and Abed’s agreement: “If one of us dies we stage it to look like a suicide caused by the unjust cancellation of Firefly.” I know Ryan would totally be up for this.

-          Complisults and explanibrags.

-          Troy singing the Reading Rainbow song in the fetal position.

-          Brita’s expression when the nurse says “Mr. Hawthorne is requesting sour face”.

-          Annie confusing Pierce’s gift as a lesson on why you shouldn’t pick favourites when in reality he gave her the gift because she was his favourite.

I do find it interesting though how prominently the writers have used Pierce over the last couple of episodes. They have not forgotten about his alienation sub-plot. To me this is somewhat of a double-edged sword. I really like that they’ve delved a little deeper into the character, and that they haven’t forgotten any of the show’s history (they had some good references all the way back to the trampoline episode this season). My concern is that while Pierce may have been underutilized earlier in the series, they may be overcompensating by over using him now. His story has been at the center of 3 out of the last 4 episodes. And that’s not to say that the episodes weren’t great, because they were – really, really great. I’m just saying that at this pace his character could become worn, fast.

The Office – “Threat Level Midnight” (B-)

I had very mixed feelings about this week's episode of The Office. On one side, I sort of hated the concept of this episode. I talked a lot last week about how this show has changed over the last few years, and one of my major complaints was in its lack of realism. Now don’t get me wrong – you’ve always had to make a few leaps in logic, but for the most part The Office was a show based firmly in reality. A lot of humour was generated because this felt like a real office, and you could relate to the character’s experiences.

So naturally, the premise of this episode – the airing of Michael’s now completed movie – lost me from the start. I found I was taking every joke with a grain of salt. On one hand, Threat Level Midnight was the perfect encapsulation of what Michael Scott would probably think was a good movie. On the other, I was witnessing the fabric that used to make this show great being slowly torn apart.

Which leads me to my next point – I hate it when shows (or movie sequels) change their own history. Now if you don’t remember, Threat Level Midnight was first introduced way back in the season 2 episode “The Client”. Back then no one in the office new anything about the project, and the discovery of the screenplay prompted an office wide table read. It was during the golden age of The Office, and I’m not gonna lie, I have some serious nostalgia for this era.

Now I’m sorry if I nerd out on you a bit here, but it bothers me that the writers have now inserted a video shoot into the chronology of the series. It’s the kind of event that would have been noteworthy enough for the documentary crew to be there when it happened, and while the writers do their best to skirt around this by providing an ambiguous time frame for the film’s production, it doesn’t really fit in with the timeline of the show.

You also have to remember that these big office wide group hangs are a relatively recent invention. Back in the day most of these characters, much like regular coworkers, didn’t spend much time with each other outside of the office save for a few work related functions.  I don’t see our character’s of past volunteering to be a part of a Michael Scott production. That’s probably what bothers me the most actually. The writers are inserting the current failings of the show back into an era when the show was in its prime.

Here’s the odd thing though. While I bash this episode on account of nostalgia, nostalgia is the very reason I enjoyed it as well. I loved seeing old faces like Karen, Packer, Roy, and Jan back on the show. They were great characters in their time (I guess Packer is still technically around), so it was nice to catch up with them again one more time, if only briefly.

The other thing this episode did a great job of was providing some character development for Michael. Up until this point Michael has never been able to laugh at himself – in fact it’s this very immaturity that makes his character tick – so in the end when he finally embraces how hilariously bad his movie is it’s a significant moment for him.

This period of The Office will undoubtedly go down as the final episodes of Steve Carell, so in my books any opportunities the writers get to provide some closure to the character they should use. I may not have liked certain aspects of “Threat Level Midnight”, but I fully support what they’ve tried to do with Michael over these last few episodes.

Parks and Recreation – “Media Blitz” (A-)

I am what you would call a hopeless romantic. There aren’t a whole lot of potential screen couple on television right now that I’m not cheering for, and up until “Media Blitz”, Andy and April were included in that mix too. So as you would expect watching the two of them finally get together in this episode was a big moment for me. But it wasn’t just that they got together, it was the way they got together that made the episode so special.

Watching Andy go through April’s list of things she hates to do was hilarious. The permits desk was great, especially the inpatient guy who needed his permit now because his lost bird could fly (you needed to hear how frustrated he sounded). Also incredible was watching Andy’s conversation with the security guard as he attempted to pick up April’s sister for him:

SECURITY GUARD: Are you trying to lure this young lady into your van?
ANDY: Yeah, but she’s being really difficult about it.

The other thing I loved about how they got together was Ron’s influence over the proceedings. Ron is obviously the most closed off member of the Park’s Department, which is why I’ve really been enjoying the friendship developing between him and Andy. His speech to April at the end of the episode was very un-Ron-like, which of course is what made it so special to begin with.

RON: Let me give you a piece of fishing advice. When you have a fish on the line, you don’t just drag it behind the boat. You either reel him in or you cut him loose. Especially if he’s a nice fish with a big lovable fish heart.

And of course it’s Andy’s willingness to go through hell just keep her around that impresses April enough to kiss him in the final moments of the episode. It was a great scene and the culmination of a romance started all the way back in season two.

The other great storyline this week was shared between Leslie, Ben, and Tom. When the media in Pawnee find out about Ben’s failed mayoral past, it puts him on the defensive, which is apparently not a good spot for him to be in. Watching him crash and burn on all the various Pawnee talk shows was quite entertaining, but this storyline really got its legs when Leslie and Ben went on Pawnee Today. It reminded me of the entertaining crackpot convention back in “Time Capsule”. From all the hilarious questions from the town’s people, to hostile attitude of the host, Joan Callamezzo, everything in this sequence was hitting. In fact, the most laugh out loud moment of the entire episode didn’t even come from its dialogue, it was the screen graphic that appeared under Ben just as was being introduced on the show – “Ben Wyatt: Human Disaster”.

As is usually the case with the show, there were a lot of other great moments I didn’t have room for above. Here are some of my favourites:

-          Tom getting angry with Ben: “You embarrassed me in front of the Douche!”

-          Leslie again trying to force her headlines on the newspaper reporter.

-          Andy’s thank you note to April’s grandmother (it was supposed to be her grandfather) where he attaches a Mouse Rat CD.

-          The frequent references to AltaVista: “Why does everyone in this town use AltaVista? Is it 1997?”

-          Joan Callamezzo response to Ben’s declaration that everybody’s done something stupid when they were 18: “I stole my gym teacher’s husband.”

-          Ron doing April’s photography class assignment: “It’s art. Anything is anything.”

30 Rock – “It’s Never Too Late for Now” (B)

Liz Lemon approaches full-fledged spinsterhood (which is apparently a word as it didn’t come up on spell check) in this week’s episode of 30 Rock. The episode was rather hit or miss, consistent with the rest of 30 Rock’s fair this season.

Liz’s aforementioned descent into spinsterhood certainly had its moments though. Her physical transformation was done remarkably well, and her new cat Emily Dickenson was played up for some pretty good laughs – my favourite being Liz’s comparison of it to Jack’s baby.

LIZ: Wow Jack, I could never pretend to hate my beautiful baby daughter... Emily Dickenson the cat.

The culmination of this storyline though was really the strong point of the episode. With Liz sensing something was fishy about the way she hooked up with Anders, she calls everyone into the room and goes about an Orient Express like (at least I think it was. I’ve neither read the book nor watched the movie) dissection of the previous night’s events. Watching the conspiracy unfold led to some pretty hilarious moments, including Jack’s briefing to the Swiss prostitute.

JACK: It’s white win, ice cubes, and Sprite. She calls it funky juice.
ANDERS: I don’t know if I want to do this.

Speaking of Jack, his story was fairly strong this week as well, however it brief it was. With the arrival of little baby Liddy, he’s forced to negotiate with his Nanny over the terms of her salary. The Nanny’s steadfast negotiation skills were incredibly entertaining, as was Jack’s negotiating failures.

JACK: Who has the leverage now Sheri... your move (the baby starts crying). Please stay, I’ll send everyone in your family to college.

His eventual realization that his situation was exactly the same one Cabletown was in with NBC (they had some sad, pathetic, useless thing that would die if left alone) led to another funny scene where he negotiated NBC’s licensing fees. I loved the way he used the Nanny’s negotiating techniques, including peeling an orange while they were talking to him and using her brilliantly stoic “So, what you want to do” after a long quiet pause. Alec Baldwin imitation of the Nanny was so perfect you couldn’t help but laugh.

The weakest storyline this week was Pete and Frank’s band. The revelation that Pete was in Loverboy was a funny one, as was his reason for leaving (“I had choose between staying in the band, or taking a college scholarship to study TV budgeting. I made my choice”). But after that the storyline devolved into a typical rock band parody, with a bunch of clichéd bickering between Pete and Frank (although I did laugh at the reveal of Frank’s girlfriend Yuki).

The Big Bang Theory – “The Cohabitation Formulation” (B)

This episode was really solid all around.  Raj’s sister was back in town leaving Leonard heart set on making amends for coming on too strong the last time she visited.  Meanwhile, Howard considers moving out of his mothers place and in with Bernadette. 

Neither situation was without its consequences.  Leonard manages to get back together with Pria only to have Raj be infuriated with him. Raj’s use of incorrect conjugations of the word “forbid” in an attempt to prevent Leonard and Pria from becoming a couple was a particularly funny running gag.

Leonard’s renewed love affair with the female Kuthrapali also had consequences with Penny.  Initially Penny didn’t seem to mind that Leonard had found someone, but after Amy Farrah Fowler made an appearance to try and console her, she ends up in tears over it.

Speaking of which, once again the highlight of the episode was Amy Farrah Fowler.  She’s really coming up big lately.  Her appearance with Penny this week was hilarious (while consoling her she also wanted to put electrodes on Penny’s head while she was crying to determine which part of the brain was active so she could stimulate that part of the brain in a monkey to make it cry… what an odd woman).  Also funny was her dinner with Sheldon… over webchat.

On Howard’s side of things, Bernadette expresses her concern that Howard still lives with his mother and can never spend the night. She forces him make a choice between his mother and her.  Howard initially isn’t sure, but decides on Bernadette.  The only problem is that he expects Bernadette to care for him just like his mother does, demanding she do the shopping, laundry and pretty much everything else just the way she does.  Howard really is a child. Needless to say, he ends up living with his mother again by episode’s end.

Overall it was a good episode but a slight drop from the fabulous run the show has been having recently.