There’s A Back Story Here You Don’t Want to Know About

Spoilers...

Community – “Digital Estate Planning” (A), “The First Chang Dynasty” (A-) & “Introduction to Finality” (A-)

First off, I’ve never written three episodes into the same review before, especially not three this good, so we’ll see how this goes. Second, I just heard about Dan Harmon’s firing from the series, and while I by no means know anything about the inner workings of the show, from what I’ve heard he was the heart and soul of Community. So thank you Dan Harmon (he almost surely reads this blog). I know he gets paid a lot of money to do this, but all the crappy showrunners do to, and over the past three seasons he’s made Community into one of the most original and outright hilarious shows on television. If these three episodes are the last he’ll ever work on for the series, he went out with a heck of a bang.

Anyway, let’s start with the first episode “Digital Estate Planning,” definitely my favourite of the night and another strong case for my theory that every time Community drags out the altered title music the episode is going to be awesome. I’ve played my fair share of 8-bit platformers and old school RPGs and as I always do in these high concept episodes I found the level of detail hysterical. It really did take me back to my days playing Zelda and Mario as a kid, from the jumping sounds, to the text bubbles, to the large Super Mario style terrain maps.

And combine that with the hilariously good characterization of the little 8-bit characters and this episode could easily break into my top 5 Community episodes of all time. I loved how 8-bit Jeff had to jump up onto the study room table to give his inspirational speech to the study group (only to have them die seconds later). Or watching Annie and Shirley accidently murder the blacksmith and his wife. Or even the fact that Abed fell in love with the 8-bit blacksmith’s daughter, providing one hilarious conclusion to the episode. It’s just one of those instances, and Community seems to have a lot of them, where the characters and the premise jived together perfectly.

“The First Chang Dynasty” took on the classic heist story, and proved you can never get too many parody episodes in one night. While not as outwardly hilarious as “Digital Estate Planning” it was still a strong showing for the series. I loved watching the study group each take on their different roles in the heist (Abed and Troy’s plumber impression was my favourite) and the way the writers so perfectly captured that pivotal moment in most heist movies where the plan looks to be failing but in truth is actually still part of the plan. I laughed pretty hard at Pierce’s confusion when they actually did get caught and he still thought it was part of it.

I found Troy’s goodbyes at the end of episode to actually be quite sad. If NBC hadn’t decided to stack three episodes together like this that moment would have been a heck of a cliffhanger. I think the brilliance of the scene is how none of the goodbyes actually had any substance to them (in fact they were all hilariously irrelevant), yet still conveyed the raw emotion of the moment. You had to feel for Abed after his stoic “sorry for getting emotional.”

And that leads quite nicely into “Introduction to Finality” which took Abed to a darker place than I’d ever seen him before. I had to laugh at Jeff’s expression at the end of this episode when he heard Abed was planning on sawing off his arm with a bone saw. Abed’s persona is generally pretty lovable, but that’s a pretty serious level of mental illness. Even his claymation visions in last year’s Christmas episode weren’t that bad. He wasn’t going hurt anyone, anyway. Needless to say that look summed up pretty much exactly what I was thinking throughout most of the episode. I’m just glad Evil Abed was defeated.

By far the funniest storyline of the night was Troy’s introduction to the inner workings of the air conditioning repair school. The school’s secret society-like persona was hilarious (the hyped up introduction to the sun room was amazing), especially when contrasted with Troy’s complete indifference to pretty much everything they threw at him. It’s weird for him to be the only normal character in a storyline, but that’s his role at this school and he was damn funny in it.

The episode also marked another major turning point for Jeff. When he started at Greendale he didn’t want anything to do with the school or any of its students, and gradually over the course of the last few seasons he’s come to accept that he needs the place and that he cares about the study group. But he’s always had the end goal of getting his old life back, and this was the first time we’ve seen him outwardly choose his friends over that goal. His final speech at the end of the episode was one of those rare moments where the show sort of transcended its comedy label and was actually quite poignant. To me, that’s a great image to leave the season with.

I guess to sum things up, I’m cheering for this show for next season. I love Community and I want it to succeed no matter what. But it’s hard not to see the stupidity in NBC and Sony’s decision to take the show away from Harmon. I hope the new showrunners can come in and take over where he left off, but I think the sad truth is whatever they do is going to end up being overshadowed by the fact that it’s not Harmon doing it – at least to the diehard fans, who are pretty much Community’s entire audience. Still, I’ll be watching... this and whatever Harmon’s next project ends up being.

My lines of the night (in order):

JEFF: This place is 20 cat turds and a Pixies poster from being your apartment.

SHIRLEY: You had time to build a tiny working water fountain and I’m a pine cone?

TROY: I made a new rule that the air conditioning repair school has to act like a regular school. I can do that because I’m their messiah.

Modern Family – “Tableau Vivant” (B+)

Art projects have gotten considerably more complex since I was in school. I think just to attempt something as grand in scale as a living portrait would have garnered an A+. Alex on the other hand only got a B-, which makes me wonder whether I would fail art if I were a student today. Or I guess if maybe this is one of those fake television schools with an art department capable of producing elaborate set pieces like a living version of the Tableau Vivant.

But that moment did remind how much I like this show when all of its disparate story threads come crashing into each other at the end of an episode. The living portrait scene strained credibility a bit, but it was a nice backdrop for the explosion of tensions that had built up throughout the day. A sort of illusion of required restraint for these characters to trample over as they went about sniping at each other.

 I’m a sucker too for unconventional pairings and “Tableau Vivant” had them in spades. Obviously, most storylines are going to be split down familial lines but there’s a novelty to the ones that aren’t – they feel fresher. Which means it shouldn’t surprise you that my favourite story of this episode was Phil’s struggle to fire Mitchell while avoiding any sort of conflict. The two of them played amusingly well off of each other, and it culminated in a ton of very funny moments in the episode. I loved the revelation that Phil had tried to break up with Claire 20 years earlier without her ever realizing it. It fueled a ton of great bits in the episode. And it was also quite funny to watch poor Mitchell stuck in the elevator while seemingly everyone at Phil’s firm took shots at him.

Claire and Cam were great with each other as well. It wasn’t too hard to see that Cam’s new age parenting techniques were going to be an issue for Claire and I thought the garbage disposal scene in particular was quite funny. Unsurprisingly, the only storyline I wasn’t that keen on was Jay and Gloria. Their argument in this episode felt strikingly similar to last week’s, and I just wasn’t feeling their lovable bickering this time around. I do wonder though whether Jay’s audit might play somewhat into the season finale. Keep an eye out for that...

30 Rock – “What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?” (B)

Another very appropriate episode title. Considering the show’s going into its final season I am very much wondering what will happen to the gang next year. One thing’s for sure, I’m going to miss Avery. Jack needs another person from his “world” to riff off of and considering how great Elizabeth Banks is in that role it’s going to be tough to lose her. That is of course if we are losing her... I’ve been wrong about these things before.

Ironically enough (for a season finale anyway), this felt very much like a setup episode, and sort of floated along as such for most of its duration. Aside from Jack’s split from Avery – which leaves his character wandering somewhat aimlessly, as he has all season – every other character storyline in this episode seemed to give them some sort of direction for the season to come.

Liz realizing she wasn’t going to bail on Criss was probably my favourite thread. I’m not sure if placing her in a relatively stable relationship this season was a good idea or not, but I am interested in seeing the writers finally commit to this baby storyline. They’ve flirted with it a lot over the years and it feels like one of those things the series has been building towards since its beginning. It might end up being a disaster, but we’ll only know that when we see it.

In the same vein, Kenneth finally dating a girl (if of course that’s the direction his hook up with Hazel will take) is one of those long coveted storylines I think everyone kind of wondered what would look like. The problem is – and it’s applicable to Tracey’s decision to start his own studio too – that other than the big reveal, there wasn’t much else to these storylines. I guess the subtext to my mild enthusiasm about the episode is that while there were plenty of promising developments, at the end of the day they were just promises, and there weren’t a ton of laughs to fill the holes. Despite the fact it was a finale, “What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?” felt pretty average.

I am looking forward though to seeing how the writers deal with the knowledge that this next season will be the show’s last. Hopefully 30 Rock will get the creative boost most shows experience in their final year. It’s a series that deserves a good send off.

Good News Guys, I Spent All My Money!

I’m saying it now – if Parks and Rec doesn’t end up with the Emmy for Best Comedy Series this year then the whole awards show will have been a massive waste of time.

Spoilers:

Community – “Curriculum Unavailable” (A-)

Well I don’t know about you, but it sounds like we’re probably not going to get another paintball episode. It’s probably for the best anyway, it’s just ironic that that message came to us in the successor to another popular episode, “Paradigms of Human Memory,” though I guess the latter still had some life left in it.

“Paradigms of Human Memory” in its own way was a remarkably original idea. To put together a clip show where all of the clips are brand new material in and of itself is funny, but to do it and also construct a veiled parody of your own show at the same time is something else entirely. “Curriculum Unavailable” didn’t have the full out surprise of that episode, yet it functioned in the same joke machine sort of way, spewing out cutaways at break neck pace with the notion that whatever lands, lands. If you don’t like something just wait a second and we’ll get you some other way.

In fact, I enjoyed the episode more the second time I saw it almost solely for that reason – the jokes come at you fast and it was hard to catch some of the more subtle nuances because of that. But I think that’s the sign of a good comedy, that the more you watch the more you pick up. How many of you are still finding new things to laugh at in all those classic Simpson’s episodes?

The first joke packet (a term I just now coined) that really stood out to me was the jaunt through all of Greendale’s... well let’s call them eccentricities. To me that was probably the most consistent group of clips, giving us the Dean literally playing human chess, Shirley picking up a hollowed out library book in the shape of a gun, and a plethora of hilarious classes. They were the type of Greendale sucks jokes we get pretty much every week on the series, but I don’t think most of them would have worked outside of this particular format.

The other bit I quite liked was looking back through the history of the series under the guise that our study group was in a mental institution the whole time. The entire concept was ridiculous, but I think the writers did a good enough job of acknowledging just how stupid it was that it was still enjoyable. There were two moments that really got me, the first being the look back at “Paradigms of Human Memory” (Do you remember this? YES! Do you remember this? Yes!) which is about as meta as it gets, and the second being a super articulate Garrett wondering what would happen if they took one of their pens. That’s another level of writing onto itself.

Of course, the problem with reviewing an episode like this one is that there are just so many hilarious moments that don’t fit into any category. So here’s my list:

-          Annie doing Troy and Abed in the Morning without them.

-          Troy’s ATV (“Good news guys, I spent all my money.”)

-          The Dean chasing away a girl because she was wearing the same outfit as Annie.

-          Britta’s peyote hair.

-          Abed narrating Pierce’s life ala Stranger Than Fiction.

-          Chang using Garrett and a kiddie pool to solve future crimes Minority Report style.

To the quotes!

TROY: You have to understand about Abed he’s usually adorable weird, like Mork from Ork, but since we got expelled he’s been creepy weird, like present day Robin Williams.

TROY: Please Mr. Doctor Psychiatrist Sir, please don’t send my best friend to crazy people jail.

And my obvious choice for line of the night:

DOCTOR: Should we increase their lithium?
GARRETT: Not yet, I want to see what happens if we confiscate one of their pens.

30 Rock – “The Return of Avery Jessup” (B)

The title kind of says it all for this one, and I mean that in both a good and bad way. The good – Avery did return in this episode (it wasn’t a misprint) and that return was pretty awesome. The bad – that was pretty much all this episode had going for it, as the B stories didn’t even come close to matching the quality of her homecoming.

I’ll start with the good of course because I’m a positive person and I want to lull you into a false sense of security. I didn’t realize how much I missed Elizabeth Banks’ presence until I watched her in this episode. Avery is funny in her own right, but she also seems to bring out the best in Jack whenever she’s around, which makes her a dual threat. The competition between the two of them was an element, particularly for Jack’s character, that the show has been sorely missing lately. We only saw Jack’s perspective for most of this episode, but even the perceived rivalry in the eyes of his character was enough of a spark to jump start the storyline.

On Avery’s end though, I quite liked the cutaways to her news broadcasts while she was a prisoner. The writers on this show sure do love a good North Korea joke, and they had a year’s worth of material to work with in this episode. I just wish Michael Mosley (who played Scott Scotsman) had been given a little more to do. I’ve been a fan of his ever since he was brought in for the med school version of Scrubs and unfortunately he was relegated to the role of a decoy here.

But as I said before, the rest of this episode just couldn’t compete with Jack and Avery’s storyline. Jenna’s wedding sponsorship story felt fairly generic for her character, and outside of watching Tracey shout “AGAIN” over and over it didn’t have much to keep me interested. Liz’s thread was similarly disappointing – the writers didn’t really go anywhere past the initial premise and the whole storyline stunk a bit of filler.

To the quotes!

JACK: I didn’t wear your nightgowns. If they seem stretched out it’s because you’re remembering wrong.

JACK: Avery I should tell you something. I wasn’t completely honest when I was being completely honest earlier.

JACK: Nice to see you relaxing and enjoying yourself and totally unprepared for a forgiveness attack.

And line of the night:

JACK: Did Liddy go down?
AVERY: Eventually. Understandably she’s a little wary of me. I heard her ask her bear who the dye job is.

The Office – “Free Family Portrait Studio” (C)

This was a disaster of a season finale. I was actually excited to see Andy’s big coup, but somehow this episode managed to strip the fun out of it entirely. I wasn’t at all a fan of Andy’s pathetic janitor bit. It’s one thing to put Andy’s accomplishment in perspective by covering it with a shroud of incompetency in some other area – it’s a comedy show after all and incompetency is The Office’s bread and butter – but you’ve got to make it funny and his ridiculous plan to reveal he got his job back just felt laboured from the beginning.

I also had a hard time with the way they wrote Robert off the show. Part of that has to do with expectations – in the last episode it looked like he and Andy were headed for a showdown and I was hoping he would get some sort of comeuppance. But even without the grudge match I think the writers have exposed him over the last couple of episodes as a fraud, and I would have liked to have seen that out in the open rather than having him con his way into another cushy gig.

In fact there wasn’t much I liked about David Wallace’s final visit to the office. It was just a little too neat and tidy for my liking. Aside from the general mishandling of Robert’s exit, it wasn’t until last week that the company even looked to be having any problems at all. Now Jo’s liquidating the company? It’s a convenient way to get rid of that pesky Sabre storyline I guess, but it just felt a little too much like “okay, this is what’s happening now” and that isn’t great storytelling.

The side stories in this episode were a little better, but more from a story perspective than a comedy perspective. The episode in general was pretty devoid of laughs. Dwight and Angela’s thread looks like it could be promising, but taking into account that Dwight is set to receive his own spinoff next season I don’t know how far it can really end up going. I was happy to see Darryl finally gain the courage to tell Val how he feels though, even if the storyline was largely pushed to the background.

Line of the night:

DARRYL: What flavour’s that?
HIDE: Coconut P***s.
DARRYL: The coconut is pretty subtle...

Parks and Recreation – “Win, Lose, or Draw” (A)

I’m on such a high for this series right now. I know these types of recaps are wrought with hyperbole and sweeping generalizations, but I’m being sincere when I say that over the past two years this series has produced two of my favourite seasons of television ever. And “Win, Lose, or Draw” really cemented that for me. Not only was it an excellent conclusion to the season that was, but it showed once again that the writers of this series are not content with the status quo (well except for with Ron, who kind of likes the status quo). They’re willing to let these characters grow and expand, and because of that they’ve turned this series into one of, if not the, funniest show(s) on television.

When Amy Poehler does her Emmy submission she should put this episode and “The Debate” into the package. She was fantastic, and not just from a comedy point of view either. I could cite all kinds of examples of her brilliance in this episode – the heartbreaking scene where Leslie cast her ballot, the raw emotion on Leslie’s face (and let’s be honest, in our hearts) when she found out she’d won – but it’s much simpler to just say she was a force from the get go in this one. Frankly, I can only think of a handful of episodes where she’s been better.

Structurally “Win, Lose, or Draw” wasn’t a perfect episode. The demands on Leslie’s time periodically made things a little clunky, the best example being Ben looking for her only a scene after the two of them had been alone with each other. But overall, it didn’t detract too much from the episode. In fact, it was the cost of making sure no one was left out. Leslie got one on one time with pretty much every important person in her life – Ann, Ben, and of course Ron – and each scene was sweet and smart and touching in its own way.

It was a smart move by the writing staff to put the emphasis on the relationships that have gotten Leslie to this point rather than her own personal glory. Her final impromptu speech at the end did a phenomenal job of summing up what was essentially the thesis of this episode – that no one achieves anything alone. And for an ensemble series such as this one, that’s a powerful message. It was one of those moments where the show transcended the narrow definition of a sitcom and became more than just the sum of its parts.

And while this episode was first and foremost about Leslie, I was still quite impressed with the small B-story they gave Andy and April. For Andy, it did a nice job of subtly setting up a possible direction for his character next season. For April, it showed that she actually cares about her job, which has been part of her slow evolution over the course of this season and hopefully the next one as well. Not bad for an almost purely comedic storyline with essentially three scenes.

That sort of led into the tag of this episode, which contained the standard pitches for possible storylines next season. In truth, some of them will be around come September and some of them probably won’t, but regardless I have a ton of faith in the instincts of this writing staff. Parks and Recreation is clearly in its prime right now, and while it’s still unclear how long it can remain in that position, if it can capture anything close to the magic it’s given us over the past two or three seasons, it’ll be something worth watching.

Line of the night:

ANDY: Okay, okay, calm down. First of all you did the right thing by hiding under this table. Secondly, your man is here. I’m gonna take care of this for us. I’ve been playing Xbox for years. I’m really good at fixing it when it freezes.

It’s A Trap!

Spoilers...

Community – “Course Listing Unavailable” (B-)

“Course Listing Unavailable” was obviously a setup episode and as such didn’t have the same comedic punch I’ve come to expect from the series. But I’d also venture that “Course Listing Unavailable” was a little neglected from a writing standpoint too. The episode didn’t lack in terms of promising scenarios, just in their execution and you have to wonder if writer fatigue perhaps played a role in that. We’re hitting the final stretch of the season now and with the finale right around the corner it would be easy to start looking ahead. It feels like with a bit more time and polish “Course Listing Unavailable” could have been a lot better.

There were two scenes in particular that I thought didn’t quite live up to their potential. The first was Starburns’ wake where the study group each took turns fanning the flames of what would eventually become a wake riot. There were a few funny moments in each of the speeches and I especially liked Pierce’s short and sweet conclusion to the proceedings, but overall it look liked everyone involved was struggling to find laughs in the scene. Troy and Abed’s half hearted rap was a good example as were most of Jeff, Annie, and Shirley’s speeches. It seemed like the joke was too much about the Dean (who by himself had a fairly good week) failing to calm the crowd than it was about the speeches themselves, which left long stretches without much happening comedically.

The second similar instance was the study groups’ hearing. I liked the superintendant’s opening speech, but the rest of the scene seemed to flounder. Chang’s appearance at the hearing wasn’t that particularly funny nor was the fake Dean’s quick jaunt through the room. Even Jeff who normally shines in these circumstances seemed to struggle. Perhaps the hearing was just too close to the phenomenal Law & Order style trial the week before and the writing staff couldn’t justify rehashing the same bit a second time.

I think my main complaint about “Course Listing Unavailable” was just that it was below average for the series. There were still some good jokes in the episode, including Jeff’s freak out over losing his summer and Britta’s Starburns impersonation. Indeed, the ending itself – a nice callback to the very funny “Remedial Chaos Theory” – was quite sweet and probably had me laughing as much as any other part of the episode. But alone these snippets just weren’t enough to save what was a rare off week for the series.

To the quotes!

JEFF: Death is a natural part of life and by the time I finish this sentence a hundred people will have died in China.
TROY: WHY... did you stop talking? I have to call my pen pal.

JEFF: (to Britta) You seemed smarter than me when I met you.

TROY: Britta, why are you making us feel these things.

DEAN PELTON: Oh because his sideburns were shaped like stars. I just got it, I just got that.

PIERCE: I don’t know how this got out of hand either, but as a student who’s been at Greendale for over a decade I think I’ve earned the right to say a few final words.
DEAN PELTON: I’m sorry.
PIERCE: Thank you... LET’S BURN THIS MOTHER DOWN!

ANNIE: Look tiny riot gear.
EVERYONE: Awww...

NURSE: Strange, I’m not finding any pepper spray on you.
TROY: Well check harder. It’s not like I’m crying because I was chased by a gang of scary 12 year olds.

And line of the night:

TROY: I was gonna be the first one in my family to graduate from Community College. Everyone else graduated from normal college. Now they’re really gonna give me a hard time.

30 Rock – “Queen of Jordan 2: The Mystery of the Phantom Pooper” (B+)

I am not the best person to review this episode. I watch absolutely no reality TV... and I mean none – Survivor is the closest I’ve come to it, and even then it’s been at least a few years since I’ve caught an episode. Normally ignoring reality TV works out quite well for me, in fact I quite enjoy not watching it, but I think in this instance it’s obvious that this episode would have been exponentially funnier if I were a fan of the genre. Now don’t get me wrong, the episode was a good one regardless of whether you want reality TV or not, but I know I’m missing some of the finer points here and those can add up. So perhaps put an asterisk beside that grade at the start of the article, and if you liked it more than I did let me know in the comments.

I think my absolute favourite part of this episode was Liz’s rivalry with Virginia the baby (though Kenneth’s rivalry with that cord he tripped over was a close second). Virginia’s perceived slight at the start of the episode, acted out by pretty much everyone around her, was really well done, as were her very funny broken English lines (I liked little Virginia’s “rude” cutaway). But when the two of them showed up wearing the same dress... well let’s just say it didn’t really matter that I hadn’t seen much reality TV – that was hilarious.

My opinion was a little more mixed regarding Jack’s storyline with Avery’s mother in this episode. Their impromptu restaurant opening to cover up for Diana’s slip up in front of the camera certainly had its moments – I thought the crazy guy Jack got to stand in for the imaginary Gus was quite funny and I love how their reluctant cover up managed to unintentionally annoy Angie at almost every turn. I just didn’t think their scheme made much sense in the first place. If they’re trying to hide it from Avery, wouldn’t she know she didn’t go to college with a crazy guy named Gus?

Tracey and Jenna were relegated to the background a bit more than the others in this episode but both managed to shine despite it. I like that after realizing they actually wanted her on the show Jenna immediately thought herself too good for it. Plus she did a great job of hyping up the Liz-Virginia rivalry. Her chair throw at the restaurant opening was perfect.

Tracey obviously had a great scene with Angie near the end of the episode, but I think his best contribution was his perfectly timed line to Liz during her confession in front of the camera after her horrible day with Virginia (coincidently also the scene that produced the episode’s namesake). He managed to capture the subtext of the scene perfectly – look for it as the line of the night.

My favourite lines:

ANGIE: Brandi, now that Barbara’s dead I need a nanny.
BRANDI: That’s perfect! All my children were taken away.

ANGIE: I know they’re not married; I just like them to know I don’t give a fuck about their lives.

DIANA: Welcome to Rus. This evening we’re serving all the perogis Costco had and then Burger King.

KENNETH: (immediately after his first modelling gig) What’s cocaine like?

And as discussed previously the line of the night:

TRACEY: Maybe it’s just that children in general don’t like you.
LIZ: Thank you Tracey.

The Office – “Turf War” (C+)

I really wish they had done this type of storyline with Andy last week. I spent most of my last recap talking about how I wished Andy had kept up the fire he had at the end of “Angry Andy” and then all of a sudden about half way through this episode he got it back, and as I suspected it was by far the most satisfying part of the episode. Now if only we could have skipped the ridiculousness of that benefit dinner and gone straight to that.

Granted, they would have still needed to reintroduce us to the newly wealthy David Wallace, but they probably could have pulled that off near the beginning of the episode, right around the time Andy was weirdly hanging out around the office again (that was really stupid). The storyline wasn’t perfect by any means, especially how it started – did you notice how quickly Robert California became incompetent over the course of the episode? – but the final two thirds was good enough that it almost made up for it. Watching Andy gain the upper hand the way he did was fantastic. It does feel a bit like the Michael Scott Paper Company all over again, but I think in the finale we’re going to see the writers deviate from that storyline considerably so I’m willing to forgive them the similarities for now.

It’s just too bad the rest of the episode couldn’t live up to that standard. I thought Chris Bauer’s Harry Jannerone was as good pairing with Jim and Dwight but the writers were just way too cavalier with the setup to that storyline. They just brushed over the fact that Jim and Dwight were essentially embezzling money from the company and then they got Toby, the HR rep of all people, to play the role of their fictional salesman. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Toby the one who’s supposed to be reporting that kind of activity? I’m sorry to go all logic police on everybody but that kind of bugged me.

Although it’s not as if without that gap in logic the storyline would have been that good anyway. The rush to the client’s office was pretty dumb and rather anticlimactic considering Andy had already stolen the account by the time they’d gotten there (actually the scene where Andy got in to talk with the CEO without any hassle was actually my favourite of the episode). After that the whole storyline just sort of crumbled into nothing, making their last few scenes with each other somewhat irrelevant.

I’ve also noticed that the writing staff, in an effort to try to endear us more to Nellie, have taken to trying to make us feel sorry for her. First we had the story of her ex-fiancé in “Welcome Party” and in this episode we got to listen to her tragic collection of phone messages, ranging from credit card debt to a failed adoption. It was hard not to feel some genuine empathy for her character when she got excited over finally getting a friend at work in Pam, but again that flies in such stark contrast to her original character it’s a hard pill to swallow. The writers kind of wrote themselves into a corner with her character, and while I might eventually come around to Nellie 2.0 it’s going to be hard to forget how she came onto the show. It does look like she’s going to be around for a while though as they did rather sneakily realign her against Robert California, who probably won’t last past next week’s finale.

Alright, my favourite line(s) of the night:

HARRY: Oh can I check the employee handbook Lloyd? Well does it say anything about me choking a man with my bare hands?
TOBY: No.
DWIGHT: Wait no? Are you kidding me? You told me there was a rule! I could have choked so many people by now.

Parks and Recreation – “Bus Tour” (A-)

This show has really been firing on all cylinders since it came back from its brief hiatus. This episode had the ominous distinction of falling between two very important events for the show, the debate and the election, and yet “Bus Tour” still managed to hold its own and remain enjoyable from start to finish. It’s almost getting redundant at this point, but lately it feels like this show can do no wrong.

With Leslie down by only a few points on the eve of the election, the campaign decided to go on a bus tour to shift the polls in her favour. There were so many great bits sprinkled throughout the main story it’s hard to keep track of them all, but I’ll try. I loved the dynamic between Ann and Leslie in this episode. It was hilarious watching all the ways Leslie ignored her advice and subtly turned her words against her. Then there were all of Leslie’s great interactions with the press. I laughed out loud at all the questions surrounding how Groffle made it across the syrup river. I think though maybe the moment that stuck out to me the most, likely because I’m the biggest Star Wars nerd of all time but even more likely because I’m just that awesome, was watching Ben shout “It’s a trap!” ala Admiral Ackbar when he saw the press around Bobby’s Newport’s house. That was priceless.

And despite seeing much less of him this week once again Rudd played Bobby’s dimwitted unassuming self to perfection. I love that he prefers video game bowling to real bowling because the little virtual guy looks like him and I love that he doesn’t seem to have a competitive bone in his body, once again giving Leslie a boost at the end of the episode. My only worry, and this may be a bit of a stretch, is that somehow Hahn’s character is going to use sleeping with Chris as a last minute tactic to try and steal the election back. She’s a sneaky one, so I wouldn’t put it past her.

Also, is it just me or has April become therapist to all of Ann’s jilted lovers? She’s had a great couple of episodes doling out advice and I quite like the direction the writers have taken with her character. She’s still April, dark and ill tempered, but you can see her starting to care a little more now and it’s a change I hope we’ll see carried into next season because it’s great character development. Not too sudden, not hitting you over the head, just a subtle change over the course of 4 seasons. And who knows, if Leslie ends up winning this thing it might just be the start of a promising story arc for April, who has already taken over a lot of her responsibilities at the Parks Department.

Of course April’s husband had a pretty good week himself. Again, I feel like I’m repeating myself here, but Andy (and subsequently Chris Pratt) continues to amaze me. For the second week in a row he essentially carried an entire B story on his own and was absolutely hilarious in the process. I still love his alter ego Bert Macklin and every joke he was given in this episode, from his awesome codenames (see below for the complete list) to his brilliant investigation into the pie throwing (poor Jerry... and the owner of that TV) was hysterical. I’m honestly running out of ways to praise the guy.

If I had to choose the weak thread in this episode it would be Ron, Tom, and Donna’s trip to the car rental place, but even then I found the storyline quite funny. There’s nothing quite like a Ron Swanson one liner and the one he capped off his part of the episode with was vintage Ron. I think the biggest flaw of this story was just that it was surrounded by two even stronger ones. I do hope next week though we get a little more Ron because he’s been relegated to the background a bit too much in these last two episodes.

Okay, now for my favourite lines (and Andy’s codenames):

Andy’s Codenames

Andy: Eagle 1
Ann: Been There Done That
April: Currently Doing That
Donna: It Happened Once In A Dream
Chris: If I Had To Pick A Dude
Ben: Eagle 2 (“Oh thank god” being Ben’s response)
Leslie: I’d Be Lying If I Said I Hadn’t Thought About That

LESLIE: What do we want for our city? I’ll tell you what I want. I want better schools. I want cleaner streets. I want to expel the violent gangs of geese in Etweiler square. And I will finally eliminate this city’s libraries!

LESLIE: Ann there is nothing harder in the entire world than saying no to your beautiful face. But I’m going to... no! We’re going to keep campaigning okay, but we’re going to do it in a classy and respectful way to get Ann off of our backs.

REPORTER 1: Are there any other deceased members of Bobby Newport’s family you’d like to attack.
REPORTER 2: And quick ducking the waffle question. Did Groffle use a boat of some kind?
BEN: Alright that’s all the questions for now. Thank you everybody.
REPORTER 1: Are we to assume he swam across the syrup river?

ANN: No, that’s not a real apology. It’s just sneaky, I don’t like it.
LESLIE: Ann for once this is not about you. A man is dead.

APRIL: Okay first of all dark places are awesome.

CHRIS: You’re right, I’ll be fine. (April leaves) I’m not fine it didn’t work.

ANDY: Macklin, you son of a bitch.

And line of the night:

RENTAL GUY: Hey what about you, Mr “A Man’s Word Is Sacred?”
RON: Well it is but you’re an asshole.

That’s When I Realized I Was A Ridiculous Man

Other than The Office Thursday was a pretty good night for NBC.

Community – “Basic Lupine Urology” (A-)

I have a theory, and I’ve mentioned it before on this blog, that every episode of Community that features altered title music ends up being a good one. Now that’s an easy connection to make because altered title music generally means it’s a parody episode, but it’s more about the level of commitment the show has to these type of episodes. It’s their total assimilation of the genre, that keen eye for detail, that makes an episode like “Basic Lupine Urology” feel like an instant classic before it even hits the end of the third act.

Now I am by no means a Law and Order junkie. I’ve caught a few episodes here and there, but mostly in the context of I needed something to watch and there was nothing else on. But even still, I picked up on most of the subtle nuances in this episode. The way every witness or suspect can’t actually stop what they’re doing while they’re getting interviewed. The last minute information tidbit from the forensics expert. Meetings occurring in the middle of a busy street (with the nice added touch of construction in the background). They captured the whole aesthetic so well it may me feel like a much bigger Law and Order fan than I actually am.

As is almost always the case with these parody episodes, Abed, and subsequently Troy, were front and center, and both were relishing in their roles. Their good cop/bad cop routine – that for just a split second actually put Starburns at ease – was hilarious, as was their battle over who could get the last witty quip in. I also loved how little they cared that Starburns was building a meth lab. Real crime didn’t bother these fake cops all that much. Speaking of which, I hope Starburns isn’t really dead. I’ll miss him if he is.

Anyway, when the episode shifted over to the courtroom (where we got the hints of an A Few Good Men parody as well) things only got better. From Todd’s hilarious break down on the stand (I quite enjoyed his Iraq IED story involving the gift of a chair) to the complete misuse of the objection system, the entire sequence, which essentially comprised the third act, was fantastic. Plus in the lead up to it we got to here Michael K. Williams talk about how every man has got to have a code, a gift for anyone who has ever watched The Wire.

My only complaint about the episode was that we didn’t get to see much of Britta. Granted the one scene she did have was hilarious. I love that even the Law and Order scene change music doesn’t care what Britta has to say. That cut off was one of my favourite moments in the episode.

When you think about it, a Law and Order parody really is a clever move by the writing staff. Everybody, at one point or another, has sat down and watched an episode of the series. Community has often been accused of being inaccessible, and there’s some truth to that statement (though it makes it that much funnier for the diehard fans), but here was an episode everyone could relate to. It was the best of both worlds – the cutting parody that the show is known for combined with the accessibility of a show that managed to stay on television for something like 20 years. Hopefully this helps Community pick up a few of the fans of the latter series, though judging by the numbers this week it may have to be through word of mouth.

Eventually these parody episodes are going to have to grow tiring, but they sure haven’t yet. To the quotes!

STARBURNS: Dead yam, big deal. Order some ketchup.
TROY: That doesn’t make sense, you don’t order ketchup – it’s a condiment!
ABED: Troy, hey, walk it off, walk it off.

ABED: We named the yam Pam... it rhymed.

ABED: Clean up on isle busted.

STARBURNS: Kiss me!
GIRL: What?
STARBURNS: I’ll explain later.
GIRL: No!
STARBURNS: I’ll explain later!
STARBURNS: The explanation isn’t the issue.

TROY: Todd Jacobsen, you have the right to do whatever you want. Nothing you say or do can be used against you by anyone but we’d really like it if you came with us. Please and thank you.

TROY: Sorry about my partner. He’s been on edge ever since we switched.

ANNIE: That’s right, always have an exit strategy.

FAT NEIL: God forgive me, I did it for love!

PROFESSOR KANE: Holy crap. We are definitely dissecting pine cones next year.

And line of the night...

JEFF: Professor... thank you.
PROFESSOR KANE: It’s not a favour Mr. Winger. A man’s gotta have a code.
DEAN PELTON: Awesome.

30 Rock – “Live From Studio 6H” (B+)

The main difference I noticed between this most recent live episode of 30 Rock and its predecessor was how much this one relied on sketches to fill the time. The previous live episode definitely used cutaway bits as well, a necessary by-product of doing a live show it seems, but it also had a much more present story arc. This time around the story was used as more of a loose connector to tie together a disparate collection of scenes.

Now it’s not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. I’ll admit, last time around I enjoyed watching the show weave together its story in the live format, but it was still a live story, and the limitations of that made it nearly impossible to compare to any other episode of the series.  So it’s not a big deal that this episode decided to go with the sketch format. The style however made it much more akin to an episode of Saturday Night Live, and like all sketches on SNL, some of them hit and some of them miss.

Thankfully there seemed to be more hits than misses in “Live From Studio 6H.” I quite enjoyed the pre-commercial cutaways to (Nazi) Dr. Leo Spaceman and his 1950s counterpart as well as the grand finale of guest stars including (former 30 Rock writer) Donald Glover and Jimmy Fallon as the younger versions of Tracey and Jack. I would be remiss also if I didn’t mention Amy Poehler doing her best Tina Fey impression. Very funny indeed.

The highlight of the night though had to be Jon Hamm’s two sketches (I watched the East Coast airing for those of you on the West Coast wondering about the second sketch). His first with Tracey Morgan was so unbelievably hilarious I think if he wanted to Jon Hamm could be a regular on SNL tomorrow. He has that kind of range. And he followed it up quite nicely with a very chauvinistic version of newscaster David Brinkley, coincidently also Fey’s best sketch of the night.

I was less enthused about the Laugh-In and Honeymooners segments, though the latter had its moments. The real weak points of the episode seemed to be in the transitions, where the jokes tended to feel a bit more laboured. Jenna and Paul’s storyline was a major development for her character, but didn’t have the same amount of laughs as the rest of the episode. I did however laugh out loud watching Hazel rip a picture of Sinead O’Connor in half. That’s like a 20 year old callback and it was still funny.

In the end though I like shows that try things, and you’d be hard pressed to find many similar examples of a show breaking format like 30 Rock has with these live episodes (the closest example I could think of was Scrub’s My Life In Four Cameras). The effort in and of itself is commendable and for a show that’s struggled lately finding good new storylines for its characters this episode was a nice change of pace.

Now for the quotes:

YOUNG LIZ: Best prom night ever! I’m gonna lose my virginity in 9 years.

KENNETH: Ms. Lemon, Mr. Jordan just discovered you can get pornography on the internet.
LIZ: Oh my god, he’s gonna die in there.

ANNOUNCER: It’s the cheese that won World War 2! Don’t ask how...

DR. LEO: Your baby’s lungs need nicotine for science reasons.

DAVID BRINKLEY: Honey you have a dynamite shape, but you’re gonna have to shut up and let a man tell us what’s happening. Now is your father or a policeman nearby?

And line of the night:

KENNETH: And while they never found Jamie Garnett, that woman who stole his microphone went on to become... a wife!

The Office – “Fundraiser” (C+)

Perhaps I’m being a little hard on this episode, but after watching Andy finally stand up for himself last week I was hoping the writers would give us more than just an awkward dinner. He lost the fire he had at the end of that episode, which is a shame because it undercut what I thought was a very empowering moment for his character.

Now I know what you’re thinking – Andy spent most of the episode trying to openly defy Robert California so how could I possibly say he’d lost his fire. True enough, but the way he walked out of the office last week I got the sense he was done putting up with all of the absurdity from Robert and Nellie and the whole ridiculous situation surrounding her stealing his job. To me, a much more satisfying direction for the character would have been to not have him immediately subject himself to that situation all over again.

Of course it’s naive to think he wouldn’t become embroiled in the ebbs and flows of the office somehow, after all that is the show, but I see no reason why the writers couldn’t give him a week away from the rest of the cast. He may still have freaked out over not having a job, but at least it wouldn’t have been in front of the same people he’d so brilliantly walked out on the week before. While there were a few jokes here and there that worked in the storyline, namely from the dog guy of all people, for the most part I thought it was a disappointment.

Andy’s story served as just one of many threads in this episode though, and that’s where my assessment of “Fundraiser” starts to get little shakier. Darryl and Nellie had a fairly decent back and forth with each other in this one, but I’m still so disappointed by the way Nellie was introduced into the office that it made it hard for me to enjoy her attempts to win him over. The writers have tried their best to humanize her, but the bizarre way in which she took Andy’s job without any objection from Robert still looms over pretty much every storyline they put her in. Until they address that head on it’s going to be hard to enjoy her part on the show. And that’s disappointing, because other than that she fits the Michael Scott role very well. It’s just too bad they couldn’t have brought her in at the start of the season, then there’d be no issues at all.

Dwight’s story was probably most underwhelming of the episode if only because it felt a little too by the numbers. I’m sure if you look back through the ages you’ll find plenty of sitcoms that have already tackled the accidently-winning-a-charity-auction-with -much-too-high-of-a-bid storyline, and many probably did a much better job with it too. I didn’t mind Oscar’s storyline though. The writers have been stringing out the fact that Angela’s husband is gay for a while now, and while I kind of wish they’d do something more with it, at least it gave Oscar some good monologue material in this one.

Alright, now for my favourite lines:

RYAN: Okay, I’m sorry I’m not a fan of Jason Mraz or... The Beatles.
DWIGHT: You don’t like The Beatles?

DWIGHT: I don’t want to alarm people but there is a distinct chance that we are all about to be killed.
JIM: Well as long as you don’t want to alarm people.

KEVIN: It was my idea to not be raped.

And line of the night:

DOG GUY: No Kenny’s a therapy dog. He apparently thinks you’re in some kind of emotional crisis.
ANDY: Stupid dog.

Parks and Recreation – “The Debate” (A)

I have been looking forward to this debate ever since they introduced Bobby Newport (and subsequently Paul Rudd) as Leslie chief competitor. DVRs were set, phones were turned off, critical self-examinations about why I put so much stock into a half hour sitcom were ignored. Needless to say, expectations were high. And still I was not disappointed... “The Debate” lived up to the hype.

Though we haven’t seen much of him this season Bobby Newport is a great character with a terrific energy to him. Paul Rudd is quite the get as a guest star and he used his charm to max here. His childish responses were fantastically undercutting and frankly, downright hilarious, whether it be small moments like telling the audience his favourite Bond actor (changing his mind from Craig to Dalton) or just the general fact that he treated the debate more like a high school play than an actual battle of wits. He felt more like a loveable pawn then he did Leslie’s opponent and I think that helped this episode keep the focus on Leslie instead of him. He had very much the same kind of vibe Will Ferrell used to have in his Bush impressions.

But despite some of the more exaggerated comedic elements I was impressed at how grounded the writers were able to keep everything. Leslie’s experience debating a much weaker opponent struck very close to the truth. The balancing act of getting points across without seeming like a bully and the difficulties associated with intelligently dissecting catchy slogans and simple talking points in the limited amount of time allotted – the writers we’re clearly drawing from some real life source material.

The real magic of the debate though was watching Leslie finally seize her moment and turn herself into the contender she deserves to be. It’s almost fitting that Amy Poehler was the writer for this episode, because who better to get the first crack at Leslie’s closing remarks, the perfect summation of her character, than the woman who plays her. It was a fantastic way to cap off the episode and transition the season into its final stretch. Bobby Newport was right – holy shit Leslie, that was awesome.

The B stories were equally satisfying. Chris Pratt has to be one of the most underrated actors on television right now. He was laugh out loud funny in this episode and I don’t mean in the fake internet/text message sense either. I’m almost jealous of the extras who undoubtedly got to watch him act out even more of Andy’s favourite movies over the course of shooting those scenes. My only real complaint about that story was that we didn’t get to see much of Ron (though we did get to hear another one of his legendary speeches).

Chris, Ann, and Tom were also quite enjoyable. Watching Chris spin everything to the positive was quite fun to watch and very true to his character. I felt a little bad for him when Ann turned him down though. I guess I’m one of the people who thought the two of them made an entertaining couple. We’ll have to wait and see what the writers have in store for Ann and Tom. They seem intent on keeping those two in a perpetual state of having just recently broke up.

Alright, to the quotes:

LESLIE: I love it when you’re needlessly disgusting.

DONOR: So you do a lot of investing?
ANDY: We like to dabble. I recently invested in some shirts I got at a garage sale. Left those at Wendy’s on the way home. So (raises glass)... the economy.

BOBBY NEWPORT: I’m against crime and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

ANDY: And the guy says, “I used to fuck guys like you in prison.” By the looks of this guy this is not consensual sex we’re talking about.

JOAN CALLAMEZZO: Once again, Brandi and Leslie are essentially the same person.

And line of the night:

BOBBY NEWPORT: I guess my thoughts on abortion are... you know, let’s just all have a good time.

Life Is Happening!

I apologise once again for the short post... it’s exam season. Another week though and I’ll whip this blog back into shape.

How I Met Your Mother – “Now We’re Even” (B-)

House – “We Need the Eggs” (B+)

Cougar Town – “Ways to Be Wicked” (B)

New Girl – “Kids” (B+)

Modern Family – “The Last Walt” (B-)

Community – “Virtual Systems Analysis” (A-)

30 Rock – “Murphy Brown Lied To Us” (B-)

The Office – “Angry Andy” (C+)

Parks and Recreation – “Live Ammo” (B+)

I Don’t Want To Be Around When Something That Tight Unravels

Another quick one for you...

How I Met Your Mother – “Trilogy Time” (A-)

House – “Gut Check” (B)

Cougar Town – “You Can Still Change Your Mind” (A-)

New Girl – “Normal” (B+)

Modern Family – “Election Day” (B+)

Community – “Origins of Vampire Mythology” (A-)

30 Rock – “Meet the Woggles” (B)

The Office – “Welcome Party” (B)

Up All Night – “The Proposals” (B+)

Grey’s Anatomy – “Support System” (B-)

Does Anybody Go To Classes?

I should really be studying right now...

Spoilers:

Shameless – “Fiona Interrupted” (A-)

Wow, things wrapped up quite tidily this time around. Not that I’m complaining – Fiona and the family have deserved a win for a while now, I’m just a little surprised at how few crumbs the writers left for next season. If the show were abruptly cancelled, I have to say I wouldn’t feel that cheated with “Fiona Interrupted” as a series finale. I guess there’s Karen leaving though (I’m done commenting on Sheila’s future with the show as I’ve yet to be right about her once) and Ian sleeping with... Jimmy’s... father. Sorry, I’m still getting used to the name Jimmy. Also, the fact that a 50 year old man is sleeping with a teenager.

But what really made the episode special was the execution of some of the bigger moments. Fiona and Jimmy/Steve’s reconciliation absolutely lived up to the season’s worth of build up. Both Emmy Rossum and Justin Chatwin were fantastic in the scene, as was the writing. Lip too, had some great character moments in this episode. From his chat with Mandy on the porch to his parting words with Karen, it was nice to see him let go of some of that anger and finally come home. All in all, it wasn’t a bad way to finish off the season.

House – “Blowing the Whistle” (B-)

Overall, I was fairly underwhelmed. I was hoping for at least the signs of an end game here and this episode just felt like business as usual. Maybe Chase’s “betrayal” will lead to something bigger down the line, but honestly, the writing staff didn’t give me enough to make me care in that moment, which meant the reveal carried no weight. Perhaps my expectations are a little high though. With 7 episodes left there is still plenty of time to craft an ending. I just can’t help but hope they start building the finale sooner rather than later.

New Girl – “Secrets” (A-)

“Secrets” had me the second Jess decided that she needed to live in a more openly communicating household, even if it meant a few difficult truths getting revealed. The fact that I still smile pretty much every time I think back to her balaclava winter coat outfit just proves how funny that third act was. “Secrets” had a lot more going for it than just that though. Schidmt was once again at the top of his game. Nick had some great material, built on an ever-changing line up of young woman and a complete inability to keep a secret. And Cece went ahead and caught feelings, which isn’t that surprising considering it’s TV, but a promising development nonetheless.

Happy Endings – “Four Weddings and a Funeral (Minus Three Weddings and One Funeral)” (B+)

The writers were very aware that this was a season finale and I’m not sure yet how I feel about the love triangle they set up in the closing shot. The idea of revisiting Alex and Dave as a couple was brought up just a few episodes ago, which perhaps made it feel like this week they were just piling it on for the sake of making the finale feel big. But I do want to be fair here and acknowledge that that previous hookup may have also been a way to get the audience acclimated to the idea of those two together again. After all, the show has come a long way since its initial half-hearted premise and both of those characters have become exponentially funnier. The idea of them together again isn’t as awful as it once would have been.

I think the more interesting development was Penny realizing her feelings for Dave. That’s been developed quite subtlety over the back half of the season and it’s another pairing I wouldn’t mind seeing. In truth, I feel like Alex and Dave are more just an obstacle in the way of Penny and Dave, but I don’t want to make any sweeping predictions at the moment – both are probably just as likely. Besides Jane and Brad though (who have been together since the show’s inception), Happy Endings has sort of thrived off of not pairing up characters, which means the writers need to tread carefully no matter what direction they take.

As for the episode itself, Jane was really the one stole the show. Her exclusion from the wedding party was hilarious in and of itself, but the way she clawed her way back into it was equally funny. Max was also pretty great, in no small part due to the slew of fantastic one-liners generated from his all-male Madonna cover band Mandonna. And I’m pretty psyched to watch how Brad reacts to his unemployment next season.

One last thing – this has to be my favourite title for an episode of any show this season.

Community – “Pillows and Blankets” (A)

This is why Community is so awesome. When they hit the mark, they really hit the mark. “Pillows and Blankets” perfectly captured the feel of a typical PBS war documentary, complete with a pledge drive and all. The episode was so good it’s hard for me to even narrow down my favourite part, whether it be Britta’s terrible war photography, the reading of text messages like war letters, the Changlorious Bastards, the most geographically confusing final battle of all time... you get the point.

“Pillows and Blankets” almost definitely rates in my top 5 Community episodes of all time, and if you read this blog with any regularity you know what a compliment that is. Now if only other people could start watching these things... ratings dropped a bit again this week, not great for a show still waiting for a renewal.

30 Rock – “Nothing Left to Lose” (C+)

Ugh, speaking of shows with ratings problems, 30 Rock hit a new low with “Nothing Left to Lose” last week. Unlike Community though, the episode didn’t prove it deserves better. This was a very forgettable episode, and I mean that literally. I watched it three days ago and I actually had to go back and jog my memory as to what actually happened. The answer: not much. Liz’s patriarch-like influence over Tracey was too reminiscent of earlier seasons (I recall Jack once impersonating Tracey’s entire family), the payoff of Jack and Pete’s storyline just didn’t seem to justify the almost lackadaisical premise, and the only thing that charming about Jenna and the writers this week was the revelation that Kenneth is looking through everyone’s trash.

Up All Night – “Hey Jealousy” (B+)

Some great guest stars really helped this episode along. Megan Mullally seems to be in just about everything these days, which is fine by me. She and Maya Rudolph had great chemistry with each other in this episode. I think my favourite bit of the night was Reagan delivery the two of them a hair and makeup tent in their desperate final moments of the race.

Grey’s Anatomy – “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (C)

Nothing happened in this episode.