This Is Why I Wanted To Play Chutes and Ladders

I’m posting this during the Super Bowl out of protest. I’m pissed off my boys (the Pats) didn’t make it. It’s a damn travesty is what it is.

I’m too depressed to keep writing... spoilers... or whatever.

Community – “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons” (A)

This was a sad episode. I actually felt genuinely bad for Fat Neal, a character I’m fairly certain was only introduced last week. Community has really grown a heart this season, and the use of some serious pathos has become an integral part of the series. Normally a show like this, with zany off-beat characters and out of the box stories, doesn’t want you to start feeling for its characters. That would require them to feel like real people, which makes it a lot harder to find comedy in their misfortunes. The fact that Community can do both is a testament to how deep its level of writing is.

Just look at Pierce in this episode. Early in the episode his insults towards Neil were so mean it bordered on not being funny at all. But the show uses Pierce’s outward aggression to veil his hurt over being excluded from the game. When Neil realizes that Pierce is going through the exact same torment he is, he reaches out in the third act climax, and both of them become a little less lonely because of it. I mean talk about depth from a comedy.

But even the little character moments in this episode stood out to me. Of course Brita needs to take on the plight of the gnomes, or wonder why the goblins are attacking them (because “maybe these woods are their rightful lands”).

JEFF: Brita, he was an imaginary waiter.
BRITA: I wouldn’t expect you to understand!

And how funny was it watching innocent little Annie describe herself (in mute of course) having stable sex with Abed’s Elf maiden. The fact that Troy decided to start taking notes through whole ordeal made it that much more entertaining.

But it’s the little details that are exactly why Community does the parody better than any other show on television. It’s the altered title music, the voice narration throughout the episode, the solemn music and fading exit after Chang’s death. Or how about Pierce standing behind Abed as his character rides the dragon that Abed emphatically provides the voice for.

Oh, and I can’t forget the names. In case you were wondering here’s the list:

-          Jeff, The Liar

-          Annie, The Day Planner

-          Troy, The Obtuse

-          Shirley, The Cloying

-          Abed, The Undiagnosable

-          Brita, The Needlessly Defiant

-          Pierce, The Insensitive aka Pierce, The Dickish aka Grandpa, The Flatulent

Needless to say, this was a phenomenally written episode that brought out all the best elements of this series. I’m having trouble ending the review right now because there’s just so much I want to say about this episode. I guess I’ll just leave you with these quotes.

TROY: (to Brita) You’re the AT&T of people.

TROY: Shouldn’t there be a board, or some pieces, or something to Jenga?

ABED: You do ten points damage.
JEFF: Look at that. What am I not good at?
BRITA: Sex.

ABED: (rolls the dice) You have successfully rubbed your balls on the sword.

PIERCE: I’m sick of you threatening me and talking to me like a kid, and giving me that look you give me like I can’t get erections.

The Office – “The Search” (B)

This episode wasn’t that funny. I mean yes, it had its moments, like Michaels trip to the pet store (high praise to Steve Carell on that one) or Erin’s system of rating women (including two categories for ears), but I think most of the gags that were supposed to be the real comic moments fell flat.

Really what saves this episode doesn’t lie in its humour, but in watching the show slowly reveal why Michael and Holly are meant to be together. In my books, sitcoms that have been around this long are allowed to do this every once in a while because they’ve earned it by building strong characters that people actually start to feel for. Michael and Holly’s final scene on the rooftop may not have been Jim confessing his feelings to Pam in the season 2 finale, but it was perfectly in line with each of their characters, and certainly a moment I’ve been anticipating for a long time.

I find it a little odd that they didn’t draw the Michael/Holly tension out a little longer. The will they won’t they awkwardness is something this show used to excel at. Maybe they thought it had been overdone. From what I’ve been reading there weren’t a whole lot of fans of Andy and Erin’s courtship last season, and to be honest those two are sort of filling that role again this year. Either way, Michael and Holly’s reunion didn’t feel rushed or out of place in this episode so I’ll give the writers credit for knowing what they’re doing.

The B story this week, in which the remaining office members had a caption competition with one of Pam’s doodles, fell a little flat. I mentioned in my last review that I didn’t think Gabe was entirely unlikable, but in this episode the writers went to back to making him feel like an outsider. Maybe they realized if they want to get Erin and Andy back together then the audience can’t have too much sympathy for the odd man out.

Parks and Recreation – “Time Capsule” (A-)

“Time Capsule” was a slow starter. The first half of the episode had its laughs, I don’t mean to suggest it didn’t, but it wasn’t until (as Ron describes it) the “crackpot convention” started up that this episode gained its legs, and I mean really gained its legs.

Now full disclosure here – I am not a big Twilight fan. Part of that has to do with me not being a 12 year old girl, but mostly it’s just because I never really got into the books. When the first movie came out was the first time I’d ever heard of the series. I know the basics, the whole Jacob or Edward debate, and that Bella is the main character, but past that my Twilight knowledge is pretty minimal, so I’m willing to admit that some of these Twilight jokes passed right over my head.

Still, I had to laugh at how into the series Tom got. I loved Leslie’s reveal as Tom, Will Forte’s character Kelly (I love Will Forte), and Donna discussed Twilight in her office.

LESLIE: Can you please, please be quiet!

Awesome. I also loved the moment over the closing credits when Tom tells the guy who introduced him to Twilight to shut up during the Twilight movie. This is exactly how I feel when I’m watching movies – I just say it a little more quietly and in my head.

And who could forget the hilarious Twilight exchange at the aforementioned “crackpot convention”. Every time that woman said “quivering” it got funnier and funnier. I didn’t know a book could be “pro quivering”. Actually, I didn’t know “pro quivering” was a position you could take.

The whole town hall meeting was phenomenal though. There are so many quotable lines from the crazy towns people it was hard to keep track of, but If I had to pick my favourites (other than the quivering monologue) it would be these two:

 LESLIE: Please, remember this is a government project so we need to refrain from corporate promotion and religious items. Who wants to go first?
MAN: I think we should put in the bible.

WOMAN: That’s ridiculous! Now why should the bill of rights be in the official time capsule, but this painting of my dog is in time capsule 7.

Some of my other favourite moments:

-          Tom’s scene with his now ex-girlfriend. I love that Tom thinks Ron is the Angelina Jolie of men. Plus, the scene just really nailed down Tom’s insecurity. I was actually wondering when this conversation was going to take place after seeing how Tom reacted at the basketball game in “Go Big or Go Home”. Well done writers.

-          Leslie listing off all of the town’s old slogans. Pawnee has got to be the most cowardly town in the world.  “Welcome Vietnamese soldiers” – hilarious.

-          The scene where Andy and Chris work out what’s great about Andy, only to come up with “nice” and “in a band”. I especially liked Chris’s enthusiastic encouragement between each quality.

-          Leslie including in her note to future Pawnee: “And sorry about the weird blank gap in the middle. A man name Jerry Gergich screwed up the recording somehow. He had one job to do”.

30 Rock – “Que Sorpresa!” (B-)

There comes a point in the life of any hit show when what they’ve previously been successful with just doesn’t feel fresh anymore. That’s sort of how I feel about 30 Rock right now. Their characters are the same as they’ve always been, and I don’t fault them for that – if anything they should be commended for slowly developing these characters without changing who they are – just look at what happened to The Office (though the crazy nature of 30 Rock’s characters makes keeping them consistent a little easier). But here’s the thing with 30 Rock – almost all of their comedy is generated from the one-liner. One character throws out a set-up, and the other characters do their best throw out as many off-beat remarks as they can. If the one-liners aren’t doing it that night, there’s not much left for this show to fall back on.

That’s how Thursday’s episode made me feel. All the bits that I think were designed to be the episode’s real laugh out loud moments just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t find the Liz is pregnant storyline to be all that funny, and the moment it felt like it was leading up to – Liz’s pregnancy photo shoot – just didn’t work for me. Jack’s story about meeting the head of Cabletown had its moments, but it was nothing I wouldn’t miss.

Now I want to be clear to all the diehard 30 Rock fans out there – I don’t mean to say that this episode, or the show itself, is unfunny. Bad episodes of 30 Rock are still better than most comedies out there. I’m merely stating that this show can be up and down sometimes, and this week felt like a down week to me.

The Big Bang Theory – “The Thespian Catalyst” (B+) by Ryan

This was a great episode of The Big Bang.  The main story had Sheldon employing Penny to give him acting lessons because he believes it will make him a better lecturer. The highlights of this episode weren’t really based around the main plot though, it was the side jokes that really stole the show here.  I'm feeling like it’s a list day so here’s my list of why this episode was solid.

1. The Tweets: In a week where Twitter is playing a very important role in global conflicts putting a Twitter joke in this episode made it extra good.  I have no idea if the writers had this intention from the start but either way I’ll give them credit for it.  Basically, Sheldon is giving a lecture and the students are tweeting during the lecture about how TERRIBLE he is.  Someone tweet pics a shot of the entire class giving him the finger... that’s a picture I would actually like to see.

2. iChat with Amy: Again, technology playing a large role in this episode.  HOWEVER, iChat never works that well.  I try to iChat all the time with the girlfriend and I always try to use the crazy backgrounds.  WELL GUESS WHAT – it’s   never that solid.  The picture becomes all grainy and the fish go over your face and it kinda just makes the chat suck.  That is all.

3. Raj's Daydreams: This is a step away from the normal formula of the show but Raj's daydreams in this episode were fantastic.  Basically Raj is horny and continually dreams that Howard is dying of going away and he has to take care of Bernadette.  Its fabulous.  After one daydream Howard asks "What are you thinking so intensely about?" and Raj replies "Just that I'm definitely not gay."  In the last one Raj and Bernadette act out and sing a Bollywood style song.  Fantastic.  The best part is that Raj can talk to Bernadette in these dreams so we get an insight into what a sober Raj would say to women.

4.  Penny's Spock Impression: Penny does a spot on Leonard Nimoy.

And that’s it.  I really enjoyed it.  Unfortunately I watched Community right after it... and Community is the best comedy on television right now, so... that may have made my hindsight review a little lackluster.  Oh well.  We can't compare a molehill to a mountain.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Don’t Deceive Me (Please Don’t Go)” (B)

The vast majority of this episode focused on the fallout from the Callie is pregnant bombshell from last episode. Actually, maybe fallout is the wrong word, because there wasn’t nearly as much anger as I thought there would be. I really thought Arizona was going to flip, and I mean sure there was some yelling early on, but in no way did I think they would have her back on board in a single episode.

Now while I wasn’t a fan of watching Callie’s insecurities about pregnancy (this was a little stupid), I was a fan of watching all the quips about Sloan being the father. Derek’s comment about Sloan being “the classic example of failing up” was a particular favourite of mine, as was Teddy’s reaction to Arizona telling her “I might be having Mark Sloan’s baby”:

TEDDY: Oh good god, he got you too!

As expected Lexie didn’t take the news well. I’m guessing this will be the continuing fallout from this episode, as like I mentioned Callie and Arizona seem to be fine at the moment. As pissed as she was at him I couldn’t help but find her reaction funny:

LEXIE: How the hell did you get me in this position... twice!

The other stories this week were more about the intricacies of being a doctor. Derek starting his drug trial had its moments, but I was much more interested in how a trial like that is run than I was about the patient story. I can’t believe they actually drill into a person’s head just to give them a placebo. I mean I guess the patient has to believe it right? It’s just a tough one to swallow.

And on the other side we had Bailey and the Chief in a story about how modern technology is changing medicine. As formulaic as the story was, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like watching Chief Weber slowly being won over by Twitter. His mispronunciations of the name early in the episode are exactly true to life, and it was just fun seeing him realize he had a group of people interested in hearing what he had to say.