I Have a Problem with Night Eating

It was another quiet week for television, but there were a few bright spots on the schedule. On top of a pretty great episode of The Big Bang Theory we also had the season finale of Off the Map. You can find our thoughts below. Enjoy!

Spoilers.

Off the Map – “There’s a Lot to Miss About the Jungle” (B+)

So that was the season finale. I’m really going to miss this show. Hopefully just for the summer and not for forever, which is a distinct possibility with all the talk of cancellation floating around. With any luck though, Brenner, Minard, Fuller, and the rest of the gang will be back next season, and maybe we’ll get a little closure on some of the looming storylines in this finale.

Cliffhanger #1 – Mateo getting shot, apparently more than once. Brenner had a pretty quiet episode up until that point, but I think that’s probably what made her cliffhanger so effective. Lily’s decision to race to Mateo’s side upon hearing of the police raids showed just how far this relationship has developed (I honestly didn’t think they would last this long) and really helped elevate the scene that followed. You could feel Lily’s desperation in that moment.

Of course Caroline Dhavernas deserves a ton of credit for that as well. I have to admit, I didn’t know much about her before this series began, but I’ve been quite impressed with both her and the rest of the cast on this show, especially the core group of residents. To their credit, this show doesn’t exactly break the medical drama mould (other than it’s in the jungle), and it’s really been up to them to elevate the material and keep things fresh.

Unfortunately for Mateo, I don’t see him surviving the gunshot wounds. There’s just far too much drama in his death than there is in his recovering. This relationship has always been framed in terms of its affect on Lily (she is one of the main characters), and the adversity of losing a boyfriend is just too interesting to pass up.

In cliffhanger #2 we had Tommy telling Mina that he loves her. First things first though – I really loved Mina’s storyline in this episode (I know, I know, I’m a broken record). Her past has been like a shadow looming over her the entire season, so it was incredibly satisfying to watch her exorcise some of her demons. Also, just a great decision to pair her up with a group of young girls. Her story was almost as funny as it was intense.

But back to Tommy’s “I’m in love with you” to Mina. I really want to see this relationship happen, but I highly doubt that these two will be together when (and more accurately if) this show comes back. Don’t get me wrong – they’ll end up together, but the writers are definitely going to drag it out a bit. Mina’s going to need time to process it, and then Tommy may resent her needing that time and so on and so forth. Trust me – I know how these types of things work. If they gave out doctorates in television relationships you’d be calling me Dr. Brian instead of overly invested in fake couples Brian.

On a side note, I’ve been meaning to point out for a while now one of the great signature scenes of this series. I love watching the doctors on this show gather together to see who has the most ridiculous problem that week. Sure, it can be a tad overused by the writers but on the whole I really enjoy the scenes. Brenner had a great one with Tommy this week which reminded me to mention it before it was too late.

And now, to keep up the nauseatingly jumpy nature of this review, we come to cliffhanger #3 – Ryan giving up on finding a new heart and Keeton selling his soul. This was probably the darkest end to a storyline in the episode. I mentioned last week that I figured Clark would have something go wrong with her transplant, and true to form the writers did just that, so I’m going to have to repeat this again. DO NOT kill off Ryan’s character. I don’t think they will but if they do it would be incredibly uncool.

Although probably not as uncool as what Keeton’s planning on doing. Going after a black market organ is pretty bad to begin with, but the human body only has one heart so essentially he’s talking about killing someone to keep Ryan alive. I’m surprised how dark this show is willing to go sometimes, and this was another one of those moments that caught me off guard. I’m sure the writers will try to make it somewhat justifiable by making the donor someone who’s brain dead already, but that won’t absolve Keeton’s character entirely.

I’ll keep an eye out for any news on whether this show will be coming back, and if I find anything you’ll all be the first to know.

The Big Bang Theory – “The Herb Garden Germination” (A-)

I think this was one of the best episodes in weeks.  Not only are wedding bells ringing in nerdworld, but the jokes were slapping me in the face early and often in this one.  Brilliant!!

The episode started with the rumour mill spinning out of control within the group.  Once again, Amy cites a scientific study to determine that gossip is a socially acceptable and necessary practice.  She tells Sheldon something, who spreads it to Leonard, who tells Pria, who tells Raj and then everyone knows.  The gossip itself – Bernadette is planning to break it off with Howard.  It’s great news for Raj who apparently has a crush on Bernadette, but not so much for Howard, who’s going to propose.  

In a surprise twist though, she says yes.  Maybe she was just going to break it off for lack of commitment, who knows?  Whatever the reason, I can't wait for a fantastic Jewish wedding episode where they somehow manage to keep Howard's mother from being in any shots.

Also in this episode, as a scientific experiment, Amy and Sheldon decide to spread to pieces of gossip to see how fast they spread.  The first is a juicy piece of gossip: Amy and Sheldon had sex.  The control piece of information is that Amy started an herb garden. Clearly the sex news spreads and the herb garden fails to germinate.

There’s not much else to say other than it was a great episode.  A much needed break from studying. 

We Can Call Her Appetizer

What? A Thursday post on Friday! Don’t get too excited. Most of the shows I usually watch weren’t on this week. I do have reviews of Off the Map and the musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy though (track listing and all), not to mention Ryan’s Big Bang Theory review, World of Warcraft tangent and all. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

Grey’s Anatomy – “Song Beneath the Song” (B)

I’m gonna be straight with you all – I am not a fan of musicals. I’ll try to put that bias aside as I write this review, but I think it played a part in why this episode didn’t get a higher grade for me. I apologize to all musical fans out there who loved this, though being that we don’t review Glee I doubt there are many of you reading this.

I’ve seen a few episodes done like this before (sometimes I feel like this show makes a living ripping off Scrubs), and I think the one thing that makes these work is if they somehow tie the musical element into the overall plot. Callie’s brain injury was a modest attempt to do just that, and while it worked in a few instances, it seemed to me that a lot of the songs just sort of came out of nowhere. That’s kind of where my musical bias kicks in. I’m just not a fan of random musical numbers. It takes me out of the story.

I give them credit though for trying to be innovative in their approach to the music. I liked that they did the musical numbers as they went about doing their medical procedures. The medical aspects really helped to dramatize the music (and vice-versa). My one complaint is that I sometimes found it hard to watch a character go from speaking normal dialogue immediately back into singing a song. For some reason it just felt a little cluttered.

As for the songs themselves (you can find a complete list of them at the end of this post), I thought the selection was fairly well done. I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a huge fan of the music played on this show (I have a few of the early soundtracks sitting around somewhere, and by somewhere I mean the desk beside me) and I really enjoyed some of the classic Grey’s songs they chose to do, especially “Breathe” and “How to Save a Life”.

I was a little less enthused about their execution however. This is nitpicky I know, but I found the dubbing to be off a bit on the songs. And while some of the cast members obviously knew how to sing (Sara Ramirez is apparently a Tony winner), the poor auto-tuning on the others took me out of a few of the songs. I know – I’m taking this way too seriously. It’s just something I noticed.

The story though was appropriately intense for the subject matter. By the way, I totally called the Mark and Arizona storyline as I was listing off possible plotlines in my review of last week’s episode. Although, I was a little surprised that it was Arizona arguing to save the baby while Mark was the one most concerned with Callie. Considering Arizona was all anti-baby earlier in this season I thought for sure she’d care more about Callie’s health above all else. It was a nice moment for her character though.

And in the end they managed to save both the baby and Callie. About half way through I sort of figured out that would be the way things ended up. The way they accelerated Callie’s pregnancy in the last episode sort of threw me off, but when I saw the dire straits she was in this episode I realized it was so her baby would be able to survive an early delivery.

It’s kind of remarkable how quickly they’ve gone through this pregnancy storyline when you think about it. What it’s been – like 5 or 6 episodes? That’s got to be one of the fastest television pregnancies in history. By the way, this is the kind of crap I think about.

Anyways, I enjoyed the storyline this week. This show always does a good job whenever one of the doctors becomes a patient, and apart from the musical aspect this episode was no exception. The way they showed Callie’s injuries at the start of the episode was a great way to set the tone for the episode. I also thought the final scene in the gallery between Mark and Arizona was really well done. Oh and of course I loved when Callie woke up and said yes to Arizona’s marriage proposal, but that one’s a gimme.

The one thing I wasn’t into was the superfluous guest appearance from Addison. I don’t know if Kate Walsh is going to stick around a bit for the next episode but she was completely unnecessary in this one. She had maybe a handful of scenes, and other than chewing out Lucy none of them were really all that eventful.

Now as promised here is the list of songs in order of their appearance:

1) “Cosy in the Rocket” – Psapp
2) “Chasing Cars” – Snow Patrol
3) “Breathe (2 AM) – Anna Nalick
4) “How We Operate” – Gomez
5) “Wait” – Get Set Go
6) “Running on Sunshine” – Jesus Jackson
7) “Universe & U” – KT Tunstall
8) “Grace” – Kate Havnevik
9) “How To Save A Life” – The Fray
10) “The Story” – Brandi Carlile

The Big Bang Theory – “The Zarnecki Incursion” (B+)

Hello there science fans.  It feels good to be writing about this show again.  It seems like a long time since I’ve watched an episode.  I know it’s been a long time since my girlfriend’s watched an episode since she had no idea who Pria, Bernadette or Amy were.

So this episode focused around Sheldon's World of Warcraft account being hacked.  Everything is stolen, including his ostrich Glen, the only bird he has ever loved.  Well I have never played WOW. Okay that’s a lie, I have played it but I’ve never owned it or had a character that I played for more than a couple hours.  My roommate had it in first year and used to quest like a fiend until 4 in the morning yelling at other people online.  Needless to say we did not stay roommates. 

I get the appeal of it.  I’ve played the shit out of other games along a similar, yet much less intensive vein such as Diablo (I and II).  I don't get how people are able to put so much time into it.  I mean how do people have that much time to devote to it? (Keep in mind that this is coming from a man who watches close to 10 hours of television a week).

I guess if all you do is work and play WOW, it works out, but there is so much more out there.  Like online fan forums attempting to get Firefly back on the air (yes I support @HNBFF and you should too), following a Canadian election more closely than you ever have before or studying for 11 exams.  Oh wait, I guess that’s just what I have to do, but if someone takes a couple exams for me I will happily do a WOW trial.

Sorry my tangent got the better of me there.  So essentially the boys track down the hacker and visit him at his home, attempting to coax him into giving back Sheldon's things.  Instead the guy steals Sheldon's Bat'leth that he brought with for protection and the boys turn to Penny for help.  She kicks Zarnecki in the balls and gets the stuff back.  

I love Penny.  She’s a great piece of the puzzle on this show.  She just gets those guys. On her end, the plot stemmed mostly from jealousy of Pria.  While sitting having ice cream covered in coffee liquor with Bernadette and Amy, Penny expressed her distaste for Pria and her relationship with Leonard.  Bernadette offers to shun Pria but Penny shoots the idea down saying there is no reason to be mean to her.  Now this is what makes Big Bang awesome:

BERNADETTE: Well if it makes you feel any better I'm never speaking to Pria again.
PENNY: No don't do that, no reason to be mean to her.
AMY: Now this may be the alcohol talking, but I believe there is.  Are you familiar with the recent study of Tanzanian chimpanzees from Nashida and Hosaka out of Kyoto University?
PENNY: No, but I can name all the Kardashians.

What is great about this is that the study of chimps by Nashida and Hosaka is a real study.  Published in 1995 the study looked at a gang attack on an ill mannered young male chimp as part of the social construct.  It’s awesome that they used a real study. Even though 1995 isn’t that recent, and the findings were a bit skewed for the show's purposes, it’s stuff like this that keeps the show smart.  Despite the laugh track it does a good job of staying a step ahead of some of the competition. 

Off the Map – “Hold on Tight” (B+)

I’ve heard rumblings that this show is right on the brink of cancellation and this concerns me a little. Next week is the season finale, and with the way this episode ended, I don’t think I’m going to be able to handle not knowing what happens. If Off the Map ends with Mina still fired and Ryan in the middle of heart transplant limbo than I will very likely go insane.

I will give them credit for that ending though. That was a heck of a cliffhanger. First off, when did Mina become such a force to be reckoned with? She really held her own in this episode, first by helping to save Clark’s life, and then by standing up to Keeton in respecting Ryan’s medical wishes. I’m really enjoying the way Mina and Ryan’s relationship has developed over the course of the series. Early on these two did not like each other, but their flourishing... I want to say friendship, has been great to watch, primarily because the writers have developed it organically, and because both of these characters bring something unique to the other. They really do complement each other.

Keeton was especially vicious at the end of the episode too, not only firing the poor Mina but also bringing up the fact that she’s basically unhireable because of the mistake she made in her residency that led to the death of a little boy.  The execution of this scene was fantastic, from Keeton’s slow boiling rage to Mina’s defiant response. There were a lot of ways he could have fired her, but few would have been as effective as what they gave us here.

Honestly, if I have to pick the cliffhanger for next week’s finale I don’t think it’ll be Mina leaving (though I’ve set myself up for just that). I think it’s more likely to be something with Ryan’s transplant. I commented a little before on how I didn’t see a quick way out of this storyline, but with Clark rising towards the top of the transplant list the writers have now set it up so that they can resolve the plotline sometime soon, and my bet is that’ll somehow play into the cliffhanger of next week’s finale.

I also really enjoyed Tommy and Charlie’s storyline this week. Young Jonathan Castellanos can really hold his own in a scene. He did a great job in this episode, both with Tommy and with his Schizophrenic mother, who by the way, I diagnosed yet again before all the fake TV doctors, proving once and for all how awesome I am. I think maybe the most exciting development from this storyline is that Tommy is going to crash with Charlie for the foreseeable future now that Mina is seeing Pher. It’s awesome that this show has embraced this pairing, and you can mark my words – these two characters as roommates will be fun to watch.

And speaking of embracing things, how about Lily going from I can’t be with you because your family grows cocaine to actually picking the cocaine herself. I like that they’re showing these farmers from a different angle but I think eventually Lily will have to draw the line. She is a doctor, and eventually she’s going to remember what that drug does to people.

Anyways, I can’t wait for next week’s finale – it should be a fun watch. And I do hope this show gets renewed. Not just because I’m obsessed with doctor shows, but because I want to see a resolution to some of these story arcs. I think I actually may care about some of these characters. There I said it. Now damn it ABC, make it happen.

Do You Know Free Bird?

Holy smokes!  Everything seems to be coming back this week so you can expect a flurry of reviews coming your way. Today we’ve got new episodes of Shameless, Fringe, The Event, Californication, House and The Big Bang Theory.

Enjoy!

The Big Bang Theory – “The Prestidigitation Approximation” (B+)

Not a bad episode, but not their best.  There were fewer awesome pop culture references and more plot in this one.  That’s never a good thing for this show.  Maybe they’re suffering from the drama surrounding their "brother from another mother" Charlie Sheen.  Well don't worry Big Bang Boys, he’s fine.  In fact he’s winning.  Now you gotta get back to making awesome Raj driven pop culture reference laden episodes so you can win too.  I won't accept this mushy mumbo jumbo.

Probably the best line of the episode was when Leonard asked Pria if it was racist for him to go for Indian food with an Indian woman.  That was a pretty good exchange.

Now don't get me wrong, I like Pria.  She is a talking Raj, which is nice because I like when Raj talks, but I don't see what she adds to the show anymore.  In fact now all she adds is plot drama and I don't know if this show needs that.  It doesn’t thrive on it because the characters can't drive through it with moving dialogue.  In fact the show just seems to end whenever there is a big issue and picks up after that issue has been resolved.  The same things happened here.  Pria wants Leonard to cut the cord with Penny. Of course he can't but lies about it and Pria gets mad.  But instead of seeing how that resolves I am assuming that next week we will get the standard "Oh yeah Pria is still mad at me about that thing with Penny" line.

For many shows this would be a killer.  The cut fastball that strikes it out every time at the plate.  But for the Big Bang, it’s just another sac-fly on the way to hilarity.  The episode sucks for now, but I know they will come back with more.  The question remains though about what Pria adds.  If she just adds drama and the show keeps "popping out" then they will never be in position to get a sac-fly – they’ll all just be fly outs.

Shameless – “Nana Gallagher Had an Affair” (B)

So it turns out Monica has a heart. It certainly was an emotional finale to an episode – maybe not as gripping as the week before but emotional nonetheless. The final scene between Monica and the children was especially well done, with Monica conceding to their wishes to keep Liam and be left alone. I don’t think anyone with a functioning heart could make it through that scene without feeling a little sympathy towards the Gallagher’s mother. Even Fiona gave her a nod.

I have to commend the writers for coming up with a good three dimensional character for the mother of the Gallagher children. It would have been very easy to write her an absolute deadbeat runaway mom stereotype, but they resisted that urge and instead gave us an enormously flawed woman, but a woman who definitely still cares about her kids.

The storyline wasn’t without a few blemishes though. It was a little muddled with all the paternity testing – I didn’t particularly care for Liam being Frank’s child (they threw that aside way to quickly). I guess what it was really meant to do was to get Lip and Ian to the testing center, but even the advent that Ian wasn’t Frank’s child didn’t really add up to a whole lot in the end.

Frank had a very funny week however. He had a few distractions of his own in this episode, but all of them were funny. His reaction to Carl telling him he had a broken arm was hilarious, as was his use of poor Carl’s situation to get rid of the guy following him for his disability cheques. I also liked the fact that he still doesn’t know who Steve is, despite the guy having dated his daughter the entire season.

The real comedic gem of this episode was the dinner sequence though. Frank was just killing through the entire scene. I especially loved his reaction to finding out Monica cheated on him while she was on PCP.

FRANK: You did PCP... without me? You promised we would do that together!

With the Gallaghers dealing with their family issue it left Sheila and Karen off on their own this week. I really enjoyed the ending of this storyline as well. I thought it was sweet the way Sheila stood up for her daughter and without realizing it stepped outside. It was a great way to help get her over her agoraphobia and it spoke volumes about her character.

What I was a little more confused about was Karen’s motivations. I had originally assumed that she was just going to this purity ball thing so that she could get his car. I never expected her to take what her dad said so personally. Even when each of the girls were describing their sexual indiscretions (the pipe girl was especially funny), I thought it was all going to be a big set up for Karen to stick it to her dad with her own confession. Am I wrong here, or was it obvious she was feeling closer to her dad?

Steve was remarkably quiet in this episode, but I feel like a storm is brewing. This show has a lot of rogue elements which makes it very hard to predict, but I’m going to take a shot at a theory and we’ll see how it goes. It’s clear Tony isn’t all that happy about Steve dating Fiona (for obvious reasons), and in this episode they showed him pulling Steve over. I feel like they’re setting the groundwork for Steve to get caught, perhaps with Lip, by Tony in the season finale. With Shameless getting picked up for another season, it would be a great way for the show to go out on a bang. Just a thought – let me know what you think in the comments.

Fringe – “Os” (A)

Great episode this week.  I don't really want to write a spoiling review because I feel that not many readers watch this show and so there is no point in talking about each plot point in detail.  I do want to say three main things though.

1. Fringe does an excellent job of moulding its cases of the week into the plot of the show.  The "bad guy" in this episode being a man who is blurring moral lines to help his son is an elegant parallel to our protagonist's lives.  When his son turns away from him with disgust once he’s been caught it’s another parallel to the differing moral compasses of father and son that are so entrenched into this show.

2. This part is a bit of a spoiler so skip it if you haven't seen it.  The piece with William Bell and the Soul Magnets (great band name) is kind of odd to me.  I like it in that I think it is a cool idea to bring that character back without needing to bring back the actor and it is unique in terms of a plot device.  What I don't get is why they chose Olivia.  Wouldn't an interaction between Olivia and Bell be a good one?  Their interactions are what started Fringe on a path to greatness.  Before Olivia gets transferred over to the other side in Bell's office, the show was just your average sci-fi piece.  That scene, where we start to understand the complexity of the universes began Fringe on its fantastic journey.  I would think that having them interact again would be sweet.  However, it shows Anna Torv's range, something I didn't think she had at the beginning of the show but has really come to show us with the addition of Fauxlivia and now William to her repertoire.  So I am very divided on the decision to bring him back in her.  I wonder where it will take us.  Am I to believe that the cortexiphan is the magnet?  Will Olivia ever come back or is Bell's consciousness permanent now?  That is a neat way to eliminate one of the Olivias.

3. This show is going places I’ve never seen before.  The thing with Olivia and William Bell is just one example.  THIS IS FANTASTIC!

The Event – “Turnabout” (B-)

Honestly, The Event had been gone for so long I didn’t remember anything save for the basic premise of the show. But I figured with Ryan and I sort of sharing writing duties on The Event I’d jot down a few thoughts on how I’ve felt about the show since its return from hiatus.

I actually think I enjoyed last week’s episode a lot more than Ryan did. That’s probably because I forgot most of the details of what happened in the first half of the season (well played NBC). I’m sure if I remembered more I would be a little more frustrated with the continuity, but what the heck. I’ll give the show another shot.

You can really tell they’re trying hard to address all of the show’s early criticisms. They promptly wrapped up Sean and Leila’s pursuit of finding her younger sister last week, and this week they tried to address President Martinez perceived weakness when it came to his dealing with the NTBs. They’ve also added a much more distinct action element to the show. Thomas leads a lot of assaults these days.

But the problems aren’t entirely fixed. They still have no idea what to do with Sean and Leila. They had almost an entire sequence to themselves this week (from commercial break to commercial break) and it was, at times, eye rollingly bad. I thought when Leila went with her dad it would put her in the middle of the action a little more (figuratively – I don’t expect her to start shooting people anytime soon), but she spent most of this episode on the sidelines.

And I don’t know what they were thinking with Sean but he’s even farther removed from the main story than he was before. Perhaps they needed to take him out of the mix to team him up with Vicky but his storyline in this episode suffered because of it.

My suggestion – have him discover some actually important information with Vicky and get him working with the President’s team or something. It’d be nice for his character to gain some sort of importance in the battle between the government and the NTBs. They need to throw him into the loop of a storyline that the audience actually cares about, where he’s obtaining information at the same rate as everyone else on this show.

I’ll commend the writers for finding a quick way to make a change in the Presidents attitude, but making the President angrier doesn’t necessarily make him a better character. They have to be careful how they play this. If his character becomes super reactionary he’ll become even worse than he was before. It’s a balancing act, but what I saw this week has me a little nervous.

Oh and by the way. Two cars escorting the nuclear rods – are you kidding me? I get that they were trying to look inconspicuous but come on. Martinez is the President of the United States. He wanted to set a trap not minutes before this sequence. He could have had a chopper escort ready and waiting. There’s no way Thomas should have been able to get away with a ground assault on the convoy. That’s just sloppy writing.

I do like Michael Buchanan’s expanded role however, and I think Sophia attempting to collaborate with the President is full of potential. And I’m also in agreement with Ryan that Sterling is one of the better characters on this series. Having just finished watching the first season of Damages I’ve become a huge fan of Zeljko Ivanek.

I certainly don’t have the same strong dislike I used to have for this series. Like I said before, chalk that up to time apart, but if they can manage to string together a few good episodes to close out the season maybe they’ll do the impossible and salvage what’s left of this series. I really don’t know if it has a realistic shot at renewal but I’d be happy with just an entertaining finish to the season.

Californication – “The Trial” (A)

A good episode with some good back stories.  Getting to see Hank in his spiral was a great way to go about the testimonies in the trial.  Charlie did a great job in this episode and was very funny despite not sleeping with any odd women.

Overall I don't have much to say, just that I enjoyed the way they did this and once again everyone hates Hank.  It’s a great yo yo trick that he pulls.

The X-Files reference at the beginning was great for any fan of Duchovny's work.

As I have said all season.  I am rooting for this guy.  I'm thinking he's going to jail for at least some time though.

Good luck Hank.  Don't drop the soap.

House – “Out of the Chute” (B)

It was a mixed bag of an episode this week. I was initially unimpressed with how they went about handling the House/Cuddy split, but his hotel stay did grow on me. He certainly had a few funny scenes with the hookers and his main man at the hotel Carnel (not sure how to spell that). I always enjoy when he holds his diagnostic sessions in horribly inappropriate places, and you can add naked in a hotel bed with a hooker to the list of my favourites.

I also really enjoyed two main scenes that book ended the episode. The introduction to the patient is standard in pretty much every episode of House, and I thought that this one was the best ones I’ve seen in a while. Actually, I really liked the patient this week. He had a really neat bravado to him. I thought his scene in the MRI was pretty intense, and his scene with House where he told him he’d just find something else to love was a particularly strong addition to the episode.

The other sequence I am referring to is of course House’s balcony jump. First off, I love the Arcade Fire, and I love “My Body is a Cage” in particular. I hadn’t heard Peter Gabriel’s version before now but it did an excellent job of setting the mood of the scene. I think a lot of people may have felt cheated by House landing in the pool but I don’t really see it that way. In a sense it was a sort of metaphorical suicide. House is giving up on his life as it was, and turning down a much darker path. That’s why watching Wilson walk away at the end was so powerful.

What I didn’t think worked here though was all the manoeuvring and gauging of how everybody was feeling. Normally I like House’s discussions with Wilson as they’re both excellent counterpoints to each other, but this episode ended up feeling like a high school breakup with the way Wilson kept bouncing back and forth between Cuddy and House.

I also didn’t really like Masters crush on the patient in this episode. I mean, it’s hard not to have a crush on the guy – he’s pretty dreamy – but the way they set it up in the script made it feel really put on. Masters is normally a bit bumbling, but she’s not a giddy schoolgirl. Her conversations with the patient were just way to transparent for my liking.

So like I said, a mixed bag this week. The one thing I will say is that this show needs to make sure that wherever this storyline ends up, it ends up with some real character development. They can’t keep spinning their wheels. They need a new direction to keep this show fresh, even if that means changing the status quo a little.

Sky Writing Isn’t Always Positive

For those of you wondering, Ryan won our Oscar pool. He went 15 for 24. I lost by one freaking category. I’ve never hated Randy Newman more.

Spoilers below.

Community – “Intro to Political Science” (A)

It surprises me a little that it took Community this long to tackle student politics. You’d think a show based in a community college would be all over that kind of easy episode premise. Well, “Intro to Political Science” may have been late, but it was well worth the wait, delivering a hilarious and subversive take on politics in general.

The episode started with the news that Joe Biden would be visiting local community colleges, and Greendale happens to be on his list. The only problem – he wants to meet the school’s student council president, a position that currently doesn’t exist at Greendale. This gives the college 7 hours to elect their new student council president.

The presidential debate was one of the shining moments of this episode. The writers have done a wonderful job of filling Greendale with a wide assortment of terrific background characters, and it’s moments like this week’s election where all that work really pays off. Star Burns dropping out of the election because it may shine a negative light on his drug dealing, Magnitude answering every question with Bop Bop, and Leonard changing his last name to Rodriguez to corner the Hispanic vote – all this was possible because the writers planted these seeds a long time ago (or two weeks in the case of Magnitude, but whatever).

But the election did eventually boil down to a two horse race between Jeff and Annie. Their rivalry produced a few good moments, my favourite being the conversation between the two of them where they forcibly smiled at the crowd while trading verbal barbs.

Ultimately though, Annie gets the upper hand on Jeff by playing his Real World audition tape from back when he was 19, embarrassing him enough to get him to drop out of the race. Although Annie to drops out of the race – ashamed  at what she’d done to Jeff in the name of politics – leaving only Magnitude and Leonard left in the race. Who won then you ask? The popular Comedy Central series South Park... with 7 votes.

But the election itself wasn’t even the funniest part – it was Abed and Troy’s coverage of it on the campus’ closed circuit television. From their hilarious profiles of each of the candidates to their terrible banter between segments (“You know you’ve gotta ask yourself right now Abed, what’s... up with politics”) this was definitely the highlight of the episode for me. I would love to see these two back on the closed circuit loop again some day, although maybe not with Troy and Abed in the Morning. I think that’s segment’s funnier because they don’t film it.

Abed actually had a busy week this week, because on top of his political coverage he also made time for a romantic connection... or whatever the hell that was. Eliza Coupe (who also played Denise on Scrubs) did a wonderful job of playing Abed’s secret service agent crush. If there is any one woman who Abed is meant to be with, it has to be her. Their interactions with each other were adorable, with both of them trying to flirt over their outwardly detached demeanours. And I loved their final date with each other! It was just so delectably weird.

Of course a lot of what made this episode great I couldn’t fit into the review, so here’s a list of some of my other favourite moments.

-          Abed’s “Classic Wingers” notches. Actually just all the notches in general.

-          Brita’s fail when it came to rousing the crowd – “I believe that human kind need not be governed... (as the room sits silently) I don’t care.”

-          Pierce’s feud with Vicky, ending with him getting stabbed in the face with a pencil.

-          Troy’s description of Garrett as they’re profiling the candidates – “That guys just a mess. It’s like God spilled a person.”

-          The assailant known only as the Ass Crack Bandit.

-          Troy embracing his television personality status – “Can I get an apple juice? Freshly squeezed this time or so help me God Maurice.”

-          How Jeff sees himself – “I’m sorry Annie, I’m not the worker bee type. I’m more of a silverback gorilla with the claws of a lion, the teeth of a shark, and the quiet dignity of a tortoise.” It’s true, those tortoises are pretty dignified.

The Office – “Todd Packer” (B)

Ever since Holly’s return in this season’s Christmas episode Michael has been going through a transformation as a character. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of the credit for Michael’s newfound maturity belongs to her. She really seems to bring out the best in him, and more importantly causes him to question some of his long held beliefs.

That’s exactly what happened in this episode. When Packer returns to the Scranton branch, and acts like... well Packer, he alienates most of the other employees in the office, most notably Holly. Michael originally tries to defend his friend, but when he insults Holly in the episode’s closing moments Michael finally wises up to the truth about Packer, and sends him on his way. I’ve made no secret my love for what the writers have done to Michael’s character, and this was just another great example of the spectacular job they’ve done of wrapping up his character.

This episode also brought back some great memories of Jim and Dwight back in their heyday. I don’t know why but it seems like it’s been a while since these two have had this kind of chemistry with each other. I loved their conversations as they plotted with each other over how to get rid of Packer. Dwight was in classic form, throwing out condescending insults left and right, and Jim’s response to it was understated yet hilarious. The drawer jamming scene was fantastic, as was Jim’s list of 400 ideas of how to prank Packer. This is really how the writers should be using these two characters.

Also good this week was the storyline between Pam and Andy. I didn’t like how Pam went about getting her office administrator position, but the way the show has used it this season has really reinvigorated her character. I loved how delighted Pam was at becoming corrupt. I don’t know if the writers will carry it past this episode – it could become problematic if they do – but the way she went about getting Andy a new computer, and her further cover up with Darryl was entertaining to say the least.

Only 3 more episodes to go until Steve Carell leaves the show. Let’s hope they can finish his run strong.

Parks and Recreation – “Indianapolis” (A)

I was a little worried going into this episode. It was going to be our first look at Andy and April as a couple, and as many of you know, chemistry in the build-up of a relationship doesn’t necessarily translate into chemistry as a couple. And early in the episode I felt as though my concerns may be warranted. Andy was talking about naming albums after her and the normally apathetic April couldn’t help but smile through an entire interview like a giddy school girl.

Luckily just as the two characters overcame their initial jitters about the relationship, so did I. If their club scenes are any indication of what I should expect from this coupling then I am very happy. I laughed out loud many time as they clamoured through the club looking for ways to get free stuff. I loved April’s demonstration of how she can get men to buy her drinks.

APRIL: Here you take this one. I will get myself a martini from that idiot.

And Andy’s bathroom attendant gag was priceless. When he helped the one guy wipe his hands on his shirt, and then got him to tip him I was practically rolling on the floor.

But as one relationship was starting on this show, another was ending – unfortunately for Ann she found out just a little late. Apparently after moving back to Indianapolis Chris had been acting distant, so suspecting him of cheating Ann sent in Leslie to snoop around his apartment for evidence of the affair. After Leslie finds a woman’s razor and a pink bathing camp in his bathroom, Ann storms down to Indianapolis to confront him, only to find out the embarrassing truth.

LESLIE: Yeah so here’s what happened. Sweet and beautiful Ann has never been dumped before, and Chris is such a positive person, when he broke up with her she just didn’t realize it. It’s kind of understandable. Although it does kind of make you wonder how good of a nurse she is.

Watching Ann slowly discover the truth about her misunderstanding was hilarious, and her recounting of all the embarrassing things she had done since the break up was great. My favourite part of the entire episode though was watching Leslie’s attempt to cheer Anne up by telling her all of the horrible ways she had been broken up with. I was laughing so hard for so long afterwards I decided to post the whole list of them as a tribute.

-          One time, while I was in high school, a guy’s mom called me and broke up with me for him.

-          There was another time where I was on a date and I tripped and broke my knee cap. Then the guy said he wasn’t feeling it, so he left and I waited for an ambulance.

-          One time I was dating this guy for a while, and then he got down on one knee and he begged me to never call him again.

-          One guy broke up with me while we were in the shower together.

-          Sky writing isn’t always positive.

-          Another time a guy invited me to a beautiful picnic with wine and flowers, and then when I tried to sit down he said don’t eat anything Rebecca’s coming... and then he broke up with me.

And last but not least I can’t leave without talking about Ron’s storyline this week. I honestly don’t even know where to begin here because pretty much every scene he was in was fantastic. I loved his reaction to his favourite steak joint closing down (he kept a scrap book of all the steaks he’d eaten there). It was like he was going into shock after he found out.

RON: What happened to the steaks that were in there when they closed? Do you think they got eaten?

I also loved how he collapsed on discovery Chris was cooking mushrooms instead of steaks. And of course his final scene at the diner where he asks for all of guy’s bacon and eggs was good too. Nick Offerman deserves a ton of credit here. If he didn’t play those breakdown scenes perfectly they could have been a disaster, so kudos to him.

30 Rock – “TGS Hates Women” (B+)

I really hope the writers of 30 Rock can find a reason to bring Chloe Moretz back. Her character’s rivalry with Jack is just too funny to get rid of. I loved their early scenes in the library, where Kaylie poked and prodded Jack, reminding him of all the things he used to love about oceanography.

But when the gloves finally came off between the two of them was when the real magic started to happen. It was really only one scene, which is why I hope they bring her back, but the two of them going at it was hysterical. Kaylie threatens to tell her grandfather Jack gave her alcohol, Jack threatens to seduce one of her teachers and have them fail her. It was such a warped scene you couldn’t help but laugh.

We also had Liz this week trying to salvage her show’s feminist reputation after a popular blog accuses TGS of hating women. She ends up hiring a new female guest writer named Abby, but is quickly dismayed by the new writer’s bimbo like status. I wasn’t a particularly huge fan of the bulk of this storyline, but I did like how it ended.

 With Liz unable to curb Abby’s behaviour, she posts an old stand up routine of the guest writer on the internet to show that she didn’t always flaunt her sexuality. As it turns out though, Abby had changed her voice and appearance to avoid her crazy ex-husband, not to get ahead in the business. Oops.

LIZ: Oh, because I thought it was pressure from society.

Hilarious.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Not Responsible” (B+)

With last week’s Grey’s being such a fantastic offshoot episode for the series, I wasn’t sure if the show could maintain its momentum when it went back to business as usual. Fortunately, “Not Responsible” was a thoughtful episode that moved the show’s story forward into some new and interesting directions.

I think my favourite new development was the relationship formed between Lexie and Avery. I figured some sort of friendship was developing between the two of them back when Lexie was complaining to him about her dad’s new girlfriend in “P.Y.T.”, but never did I think the two would be getting together any time soon, much less all in a single episode.

But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy watching them do just that. Grey’s conversation with her cystic fibrosis patient was really well done, and I liked what she had to say about worrying there won’t be anyone else and then feeling silly when there is. Of course, at the time, she herself may not have believed it. Cue my favourite scene of the episode – Lexie and Avery’s parking lot conversation. Avery attempts to comfort her by telling her that that there are no such thing as soul mates, and that when she was ready to move on there would be a line of guys waiting for her.

LEXIE: Oh would you be in that line?
AVERY: Yeah, I’m in the line.

And the rest is history. It was a great scene and I look forward to seeing where they take these two.

The other new development this week was Meredith’s fertility drug induced vision problems. It looked to be a set up for a much more drawn out storyline, but it still piqued my interest. I highly doubt the eye damage will be permanent. They can’t bench her forever. Probably more likely is she‘ll have to choose between being a surgeon and having a baby, and I don’t see Grey choosing the latter. At the moment I can’t really tell whether I like this storyline or not. I’ll have to wait and see what they do with it.

I also liked Christina and Owen’s storyline in this episode. Spurred on by Callie, Mark, and Arizona’s baby problems the two of them were thrown into their own baby discussion. Christina, of course, was adamantly against having kids, while Owen resented having the decision being made without him first getting a say in the matter. It’s a fairly standard kids or no kids storyline. What I thought set it apart though was Owen’s take on Christina’s state of mind.  “The idea that your career is the only thing that will ever matter to you is frankly a young person’s notion” counters Owen, another one of my favourite lines of the episode. It’ll be interesting to see how this little tiff affects their relationship in the future. As Christina lovingly pointed out, their marriage isn’t exactly built on a solid foundation.

The Big Bang Theory – “The Toast Derivation” (B+)

Sheldon's life is changing and he doesn't know how he feels about it. With Leonard dating Raj's sister, this episode focused on Sheldon’s reaction to changes in his routine. Leonard has decided to spend Thursday night at Raj's to be with Pria and Sheldon has concerns because, Thursday night is Pizza night at their place. He attempts to attend their tex-mex dinner, but finds it intolerable, so he puts together a new group of friends – Penny’s old boyfriend Zach, Barry Cribkey, and Stewart from the comic book store.

These four make a pretty funny quaterinty. But Sheldon can't deal with their way of doing things either. Stewart needs to shower in his place, and Barry and Zach want to sing karaoke. At the same time Leonard and the gang find themselves missing Sheldon and all the crazy facts he likes to share. So like any good story, the gang finds itself back together in the end. But Penny remains lonely and without Leonard.

It’s a short and sweet review this week, but I want to mention something I think I have noticed in shows on two different networks. CBS airs Big Bang and NBC airs Community, but it seems to me like the two shows have been trading some very subtle jokes. I don't know if this is already news or not so I’ll explain what I’ve noticed from the beginning. Basically it goes like this... The Barenaked Ladies sing the theme song for Big Bang and recently in Community there have been a couple BNL references. A few weeks ago, there was a large discussion around the study table as to the merits of BNL. Then this past week, on Pierce's bio on his campaign sheet there was another reference to him loving BNL. At first I thought maybe Community was taking a very subtle shot at Big Bang since the two shows are very, very different. Community is subtle and very witty. Big Bang is funny, nerdy and well... it uses a laugh track. So it seems like a subtle joke that those guys would make.

Now I don't know if I'm making this up or if it’s a coincidence, but it seems to me like the cameo of Levar Burton on Big Bang this past week is a reference to his cameo on Community the week before. I don't know. The post-production times on those episodes might make that impossible. But to me, with Community dropping two BNL references and Big Bang pulling the same cameo it seems like these two shows are either rivals or good friends dropping hints at each other's merit. Either way, it’s cool.

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.