You Are The Opposite Of Batman

I apologise for this being so late. I still haven’t watched Grey’s yet so hopefully I’ll get to that soon, but without any further adieu I give you NBC’s Thursday night comedy block.

The Office – “The List” (B+)

There were a lot of questions for The Office going into this season. Heck, there still are. Sure there were episodes without Steve Carell before this one, and sure we’ve already seen his replacement James Spader, but before this episode we hadn’t got a look at the show’s new norm. The episodes previous were transition episodes, a grace period to allow The Office to recover from the excruciating loss of its biggest star.

So how did the new look Office fair? The short answer: it’s too soon to tell.

I’m glad they picked James Spader as Steve Carell’s replacement. If you recall my review of the finale last year he was one of my favourites out of the candidates interviewed. I also think it’s good that he’s not too similar to Michael. Why invite the comparisons, right? The new vibe he brings to show should hopefully kick start a few good storylines.

I’m also pleased with the choice of Andy as Michael’s replacement. From a story standpoint I’m not sure if it makes the most sense. Why pick the worst salesman in the office to run the whole operation? But from a writing standpoint though he seems to be the best choice. I liked him in “The List”. He’s not the power hungry Andy of old, he’s just a sweet well intentioned man who’s been thrown into a job he’s probably not qualified for, with a boss who’s flat out intimidating, and now all of a sudden he’s got to figure out how to lead a group of people who just months earlier were his equals. That’s one heck of a story arc and I have every bit of confidence in Ed Helms ability to pull it off.

There is going to be a feeling out period though. There was so much riding on “The List” that you have to assume it was written and scrutinized much more than the average episode. Robert California has been quite good so far, but he’s still very much an enigma and there’s no guarantee he won’t grow tiresome. Likewise with Andy. The writers have a tough balancing act there. They need him to own the role, but give him too much power and they risk ruining the very essence of what makes him funny. He may be in charge, but he can never demand too much respect.

I won’t lie – there were certainly moments in that episode, an episode you could probably call the series’ second pilot, where I felt legitimately sad Carell wasn’t there. But the time has come to move on. There will always be two Offices, the one with Carell and the one without him. If the second iteration can capture just half the magic of the first than it just might be worth watching.

Oh, and I still love Erin...

ERIN: Planking is one of those things where hey, you either get it or you don’t... and I don’t. But I am so excited to be a part of it!

Community – “Biology 101” (B)

You know, “Biology 101” may not have been the best episode of Community I’ve ever seen but I’ve missed these characters so much that I don’t think there was much anyone could do to ruin this one for me. Just seeing the cast around the study table again was enough to warm the soul, clear the head, and make life worth watching vicariously through fictional characters again.

“Biology 101” was a good setup episode. I’m very excited about the way the writers have laid out this season. I can’t wait to see Troy and Abed as roommates, even if all we get are stories of their shenanigans told around the study table. I love that Brita has decided to major in psychology and become a therapist. I do hope the writers don’t completely forget about that story thread (watching the rest of the group hold back there laughter after her announcement was one of the highlights of the episode). Both John Goodman and Michael K. Williams seem to be shaping up into great guest stars.  And I can already tell that Chang as a campus security guard is going to be awesome. I’m a fan of the way the writers change his role every season.

So there’s a lot of great potential that came out of this episode, which allows me to overlook some its flaws. The grand musical number at the start of the episode was good in theory, but it didn’t really pan out in terms of laughs. I did enjoy the way Annie and Jeff said they’d finally sleep together though, especially since it was later revealed that the whole sequence was playing out in Jeff’s head. Whether it ends up being true or not, it’s a good nod from the writers to the all the Jeff/Annie shippers out there.

I was also a little mixed on Jeff’s mental episode. I liked the 2001: A Space Odyssey sequence, and what I could only conclude was a homage to Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but it all just seemed rather perfunctory after it was over. Like the writers felt they had to throw a parody into the scenario and that’s just what we got.

The ending of the episode redeemed it somewhat though. Not just because the study group was back together again, but because I really loved the way they got them back together. I thought the comparison of Jeff to Pierce was clever, and I liked the little conversation between the two after Pierce took the fall for Jeff.

I also have to admit that even though a few days have passed between now writing this review and when I first watched the episode, I still have the image of that blade of grass sticking up through Jeff’s phone stuck in my head. That’s exactly the kind of great writing that separates this show from a lot of the mediocre comedies out there. They aren’t afraid to make the stakes real for these characters, and because of that the audience cares for them that much more. Well, I do anyway...

To the quotes:

TROY: If you want to get us a gift we’re registered at linens and things.
ABED: We have plenty of linens, we mainly want the things.

KAIN: I know who Sean Penn is. I seen Milk!

DEAN PELTON: Monkey knock out gas! Now that’s the kind of grounded sensible thinking I want to see this year.

TROY: Brita, why did everyone on Cougarton Abbey just die?

TROY: Brita, you’ve done enough okay. Why don’t you go start a ruiners club? Oh wait, you’d probably just ruin it.
BRITA: Well than I’d be doing a good job because it’s a ruiners club.
TROY: You ruined my analogy.

JEFF: Pierce isn’t crazy, the table is magic. As someone who’s been on the other side I can tell you... it is a scary, lonely, Chang-filled world out there. And sure, this group has sprouted some legs but why are we in such a rush to leave the tide pool when the only things waiting for us on shore are the sands of time and the hungry seagulls of slowly growing apart.
TROY: Man, I really need this biology class.

And line of the night...

TROY: You are human tennis elbow. You are a pizza burn on the roof of the world’s mouth. You are the opposite of Batman.

Parks and Recreation – “I’m Leslie Knope” (A)

Seriously, is there any show out there funnier than Parks and Recreation right now?

The answer is no, there isn’t. Of all the returning series on Thursday, Parks and Recreation had by far the best debut. After how good last season was it’s hard to think the show could get any better, but if this episode was any indication they just might make a run at it.

“I’m Leslie Knope” started pretty much right where the show left off last season (at L’il Sebastien’s funeral, may he RIP) with Leslie receiving the news that a political organization wants her to run for office. Last year’s finale was so funny that it was easy to forget what exactly Leslie running for office means for her relationship with Ben, but all in all I was really happy with the way the show ended up handling it. I thought the scene at the end of the episode between Ben and Leslie was really sweet. I’m glad Ben understood her predicament and that they didn’t decide to continue on with the relationship in secret (they’d already kind of done that storyline). And really, by no means does that mean it’s over between the two of them. It’s just drawing it out a little longer.

I also absolutely loved Ann’s B story. You know, the one where her inbox was “literally filled with penises.” They didn’t give it a whole lot of screen time but it was a pretty hilarious way of breaking up some of the more serious moments in the episode. Plus it gave us the very funny revelation that Jerry has one of the biggest penises a doctor has ever seen. Wait... is that funny?

The other big cliffhanger from the finale was that Tammy 1, Ron’s first ex-wife, was back in town, and just judging by Ron’s reaction to the news this is going to be a very, very funny development. Heck, even though she was mostly absent from this episode her presence was still very much felt. Ron’s escape scene was pretty awesome, and I loved every second of Ron and Leslie hiding out in the woods, especially the fact that Ron had somehow grown a Grizzly Adams beard in what I am pretty sure was just a day. Man, Nick Offerman really got robbed of an Emmy nomination this year.

Last but not least, I can’t end this episode review without talking about Andy and April. Dare I say these two are the best comedic couple on television? Chris Pratt is just a force to be reckoned with. Andy goes through an existential crisis (or at least Andy’s version of an existential crisis) and he still manages to be one of the funniest people in every scene he’s in. And then April, helping him in a way only April could... it was just really well done. I love Andy the shoe shiner, but I can’t wait to see him as Leslie’s assistant on a day to day basis.

Alright, here are the quotes:

TOM: Andrew Mymandrew, what are you up to?
ANDY: I’m about to do an experiment where I huck this at the wall and see what happens... but that can wait.

CHRIS: Ann Perkins, you really know your testes.
ANN: Thank you?

LESLIE: Do you need to get that?
ANN: No, it’s just penises.

WAITER: Would you like any wine to start?
LESLIE: Yes and I’m going to be direct and honest with you. I would like a glass of red wine and I’ll take the cheapest one you have because I can’t tell the difference.

RON: When I was 12 my brother shot me in the pinky toe with a nail gun. Granted it was a hilarious prank and we all had a good laugh.

LESLIE: You only have 9 toes?
RON: I have the toes I have, let’s just leave it at that.

RON: You can’t run away from your problems.
LESLIE: Especially if you have only nine toes.

APRIL: Well what is your dream?
ANDY: It’s to be the biggest rock star on the planet obviously, but that could take another 3 to 5 years. Don’t get me wrong, shoe shining has been a pretty wild ride, but is it possible there’s something more out there for me.

ANDY: Leslie, I’m gonna work my ass off for you. I’ll do anything you ask. I will prove myself. You don’t even have to pay me.
APRIL: No honey, no.

RON: Hello Tammy.
TAMMY 1: Ronald.
RON: That’s enough small talk, what do you want?

And line of the night:

LESLIE: I’d really love to shoot a gun right now.
RON: Fishing it is.

Whitney – “Pilot” (D+)

Apparently I’m just not a huge fan of Whitney Cummings because I didn’t like her first pilot from earlier in the week and I definitely didn’t like this one either. The comedy just seemed really stilted. It was the same problem I had with 2 Broke Girls: it’s all set-up, set-up, joke and they don’t make any effort to hide the pattern. Combine that with supporting characters so clichéd it looks like they were picked out of the scrap heaps of other cancelled shows and you’ve got to wonder why anyone green lit this pilot in the first place. I’m sure there had to be some reason, but I don’t know if I have the stomach to stick around and find out.