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-)

And How Fiscal Will The Quarterly Earnings Be?

Sorry to all the Alcatraz fans out there. My DVR crapped out on recording this week’s episode. I give it a B though just from its description on the guide.

Spoilers:

Shameless – “Hurricane Monica” (B+)

It’s hard to believe there are only 3 more episodes left in this season. Monica’s return is definitely going to add a lot of drama to the rest of these episodes though. First because I thought her appearance last season marked a real turning point for the series and it only took the writers two scenes in this episode to mention she’s bipolar and off her meds. And second, because I accidently read a brief synopsis of the next couple of episodes.

I’m also a big fan of what they did with Lip and Fiona this week. Parking Lip at Steve’s house was a pretty great move. Not only do I like the dynamic between Lip and Steve, but it gave Steve and Fiona a reason to talk and introduced us to Steve’s big new scheme (which I’m hoping the writers don’t just forget about).

I’m also pretty interested in seeing how this thing with Sheila and Jody pans out. I rarely have any idea how Karen is going to react to anything so it could be big or it could end up turning into nothing, but I don’t think the writers are going to be able to simply brush it off. I will say though, Joan Cusack had a heck of an episode this week. Sheila and Jody have weirdly interesting chemistry with each other, don’t they?

Cougar Town – “A One Story Town” (A-)

And I thought last week was a great week for Scrubs fans. First off, how awesome is Sarah Chalke? She is willing to do just about anything for the sake of the joke. I mean how many actresses would agree to do that burnt thighs bit for almost half an episode! I hope Bobby and her character grow old together. I’m also quite happy that Ted seems to have become a recurring guest on this series. I loved the way they used him in this episode, even more so than his first appearance. He and Jules have a really funny vibe with each other.

New Girl – “Control” (B)

Well, they can’t all be winners. A week after probably my favourite episode of New Girl yet the show just sort of transitioned back into the same old, same old. Another one of those Jess ignores the guys’ advice and finds out that they were right all along type deals. Not that I feel as though show is getting stale or anything. It’s early enough that everything still feels fairly fresh. It’s just the jokes weren’t really landing as frequently as they normally do and the familiar premise didn’t help anything. With that said, even an average episode of New Girl is better than most and “Control” still had its moments.

Modern Family – “Send Out the Clowns” (B+)

I’ll admit, I probably shouldn’t have liked this episode as much as I did. The structure of the episode felt a little sporadic and I didn’t think Manny, Jay, and Gloria’s storyline got as fleshed out as it needed to be in order to reach its full potential. I also thought the big twist in Phil’s plotline wasn’t really much of a twist at all. In fact I sort of assumed that Luke was in the middle of some sort of scheme to get that other realtor to give Phil his listing back, which made it all the more surprising when she fell for it. Still, the clown stuff, while a little obvious, was quite funny, and there were a number of recurring bits that ended up working really well in this episode, my favourite being Phil’s frequent calls to “gather round” and all of his ensuing speeches.

Happy Endings – “Party of Six” (B+)

Solid episode. I loved the concept of Brad’s break up restaurant as well as the fact that he and Jane apparently have sex in the bathroom of pretty much every restaurant they go to. I also have to give it up to Max’s creepy “curse” voice and unbelievably stupid plan to get a table (quickly rectified by eating just a tiny morsel of food).

Community – “Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts” (A-)

You have no idea how happy I am to be reviewing this show again. What a great comeback episode too! The entire cast was at the top of their game. I thought Gillian Jacobs in particular had a standout episode. Her “this is who I am” line had me in hysterics. I was also quite impressed with the direction given to Pierce and Shirley in this episode. I was a little disappointed their sandwich shop didn’t work out – far less disappointed if Subway starts paying the bills to keep this show on the air – but I hope at least in Pierce’s case they keep trying to find him a new business venture.

Oh also, Abed and Troy being weird simply by trying to act normal – priceless!

30 Rock – “St. Patrick’s Day” (B)

Nothing too glaringly wrong with this episode, it just wasn’t as outwardly funny as I would have liked. I think my favourite storyline was Kristen Schaal’s character dealing with the intricacies of Tracey and Jenna. It was interesting to see the writers use the fact that Jenna’s celebrity has now risen above that of Tracey’s. I could see that leading to a few more good stories down the line. Also, Jack plays what can only be described as a giant Settlers of Cataan rip off exactly how I play Settlers of Cataan, which is awesome. It makes me happy that I’m finally using my business degree the right way.

The Office – “Get the Girl” (B-)

Okay, so I’m happy that Erin and Andy finally got together, but it did feel a little anticlimactic. The fact that it occurred in some random episode in the middle of the season didn’t help things, but I don’t the writers really tapped into the characters the way they needed to to convey the proper magnitude of the event. Add to that the stupidity of the other storyline where Robert California just watches Nellie steal Andy’s job and you have an episode that, given its subject matter, should have been better.

Up All Night – “Baby Fever” (B)

It’s not exactly a great idea to condense an entire episode down to its last few minutes, but the ending tag was so funny I have to give it the biggest shout out of the night. Perhaps the reason the rest of this episode felt so average was because the writers couldn’t find a way to get that kind of face time between Chris and Reagan. I’m still not sure how I feel about the big shake up at Ava’s show. I kind of liked it when Reagan and Ava were the ones calling all of the shots and I’m not a big fan of watching Reagan fawn over her new boss. It seems like a lot of the show’s energy over the last few episodes has went into integrating these new characters into the mix and so far there hasn’t been a lot of pay off for it.

Grey’s Anatomy – “One Step Too Far” (B-)

I think there are going to be some rough times ahead for Grey’s and me, at least in the foreseeable future. I’m getting really sick of watching all of this drama between Christina and Owen and instead of backing away from it the writing staff seems to be doubling down. Even with the Summer Glau guest appearance I can’t stop my brain from shutting down whenever the two of them start fighting again. I do however see some promise in Karev and this new intern and Lexie’s screw up was pretty interesting to watch so... B- it is, for now.

I’m Partial To Things Like Karate And Brief Nudity

Hurray for TV! (Officially out of things to start posts with).

Spoilers:

Shameless – “Parenthood” (B+)

Lip is going through some shit.

What a great ending. I know the writers are manipulating us a bit, but damn it if it wasn’t heartbreaking to watch Carl chase after Lip as he stormed out of the house. They really know how to use the younger Gallaghers to tug at your heart strings. Obviously Shameless is great when it’s going for laughs, but it’s that much better when it throws a little pathos into that mix. Now I just hope the next episode picks up where this one left off. The show tends to shift back into the familiar at the start of every episode, and from a tonal standpoint that bugs me a bit sometimes.

I honestly can’t figure out what Frank’s deal with his mother is. He wants her dead, he celebrates when she dies, but then he runs to his ex-wife to console him in his grief. I guess it’s a complicated relationship. Karen’s sort of the same with the baby. At one point she was slapping Lip for telling her to get an abortion and now all she cares about is what she can get for the poor kid. I guess her marriage sort of ended in between those two things, but it feels more like a convenient turn for the sake of Lip’s storyline then it does an actual development in her character. I’ll reserve my judgement though until I see how she reacts to Lip telling her he wants to keep it.  

Oh and what do you think the over/under is we ever see Carl play football again?

Alcatraz – “The Ames Brothers” and “Sonny Burnett” (B)

I’m not entirely thrilled that these episodes are apparently so interchangeable they can air them out of order without any sort of repercussions continuity-wise, but I didn’t mind what they gave us this week. “The Ames Brothers” was a good bottle episode, and I’m hoping the Warden’s discovery of the gold plays some sort of factor later on in the series. I could see his character popping up in the modern day as one of the masterminds behind what happened in 63. He has that sort of vibe that he knows more than he’s letting on.

Sonny Burnett introduced the concept of healing blood, an interesting little addition to the mythology, but I found the core of the fairly predictable. I don’t think the inmate story was as good this time around. I’m hoping all this build up between Tommy and Rebecca ends up going somewhere soon, but considering next week’s episode (tonight’s actually) was supposed to air before these two, I’m not holding my breath.

New Girl – “Injured” (A)

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is the first time this show has gone serious. And wow, hats off to the writing staff and the cast for how it was executed. “Injured” was funny, poignant, heartfelt – I found myself really connecting with Nick and his drunken confessions. I think the writing staff waited the perfect amount of time to tackle this type of subject matter too. You do something like this too soon and the audience just doesn’t care enough about the characters. But even Cece made an impression in this episode, and she’s probably the least developed of the 5 main characters. Obviously, the show can’t do an episode like this one every week, but it’s certainly nice to see it’s in their repertoire. While “Injured” may not have been the funniest episode this series has ever done, it was probably my favourite so far.

Cougar Town – “Full Moon Fever” (B+)

There was a lot to like about this episode. You had Andy doing a hilarious Braveheart impression, Laurie starting a very funny (and sweet) relationship over Twitter, and Sarah Chalke making a guest appearance! A guest appearance that actually looks like it’s going to last more than just an episode. Every time I see a Scrubs cameo on this show my heart grows three sizes.

Happy Endings – “The Kerkovich Way” (B+)

Speaking of Scrubs alumni, I have to once again express my absolute adoration for Eliza Coupe. She was the one that earned this episode’s B it’s +. I loved the flashback to Jane and Alex’s great grandmother, saving her village from the Nazis by convincing them they’d already been occupied. But while the main story in this one was strong, the B story felt a little flat to me. I’m not a huge fan of watching Max pine over Grant. With all the fanfare around him finally getting a boyfriend, I thought it was going to last a little longer than it did, and now that it’s all over I’m not sure the relationship earned the kind of fanfare it got in this episode.

30 Rock – “Standards and Practices” (A-)

It’s unbelievable to me how good Chloe Moretz is as Jack’s nemesis. I’d even put Kaylie Hooper up there with Banks, which considering her age and my love of Will Arnett is just downright impressive. How awesome would it be if those two teamed up?

I’m also quite enjoying Kenneth’s new role this season. Taking him out of the Page program was great for his character, and since then I’ve liked almost all of the decisions the writers have made with him, particularly placing him in standards and practices. The combination of his history and unbelievable naivety seems to fit that department perfectly.

Parks and Recreation – “Lucky” (A-)

Sadly, this is the last episode of Parks and Rec we’re going to get until mid-April. But I guess at least the show went out with some pretty good laughs. Not only am I glad that the writers followed up on Andy’s Women’s Studies class, but I also like that they kept Ron involved in proceedings. That Tiger Wood’s outfit still haunts me. At the end of the day though this was really Andy’s time to shine and Chris Pratt absolutely hit it out of the park (Moneyball, anyone?).

The campaign had a pretty good week as well. I liked that Leslie’s strong relationship with the airport staff ended up getting her out of the jam. It reminded me a bit of her cute relationship with the police department. As for Tom and Ann, I’m still not totally sold on the two of them as a couple, but I’m happy that the writing staff is at least having a bit of fun with the mismatch. Their frequent break ups do seem oddly appropriate. Still, it does beg the question why they keep getting back together at all. They have a long way to go to justify those two staying together for any extended period of time.

The Office – “Last Day in Florida” (C+)

While I was happy to see Andy finally set off to win Erin back, the rest of “Last Day in Florida” was so weak by the time they got to that moment I was pretty much over it. Dwight and Jim’s shoving match seemed to drag on and on with pretty much zero comedic payoff and the B story in the Scranton office was as forgettable as most of the storylines that have come out of there since half of the office left for Florida. I’m looking forward to seeing Andy chase down Erin next week, but the little teaser at the end of this one just wasn’t enough to save the episode.

Up All Night – “Couple Friends” (B)

The whole couple friends idea is a bit of a worn out sitcom cliché. Usually writers pull it out when they have a married couple that’s proving difficult to write for and they need to give them the kind of material their single counterparts are having so much success with, hence why finding a couple to be friends with is always comparable to starting a relationship. I guess it’s somewhat inevitable that a show centered around a married couple would end up traversing down that path, but one would have thought it would have taken them longer to do it considering the show is still in its first season. Either way, Christina Applegate and Will Arnett did an admirable job of spicing up the storyline, once again proving they can elevate an episode just on the strength of their chemistry alone.

Judgements Are The Gluten Of Thoughts

Kind of a light week, but that didn’t stop this post from ballooning out of control. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “Karma” (B+)

I’ve quite liked the last few weeks of this show. “Karma” had a few distractions along the way, but for the most part I thought it had enough charm to get us through to the ending, which is where the episode really shone. I have to admit, Ted moving out surprised me. I didn’t see it coming until Marshall and Lilly showed up to an empty apartment. But the writers set it up perfectly, and though it’s a bit of a cop out to have Marshall and Lilly move back into the city so soon, the writers handled it well enough that I didn’t feel cheated. This is exactly the sort of change up this show needed and I’m looking forward to seeing how Ted makes out.

On a side note – and by all means let me know if you agree in the comments – I think a really strong indicator of a good How I Met Your Mother episode is that it ends with Ted walking the streets of New York alone. It’s probably something I should have picked up long before now, but whenever there’s a big turning point in his quest to find the mother, they leave him in that she-could-be-anywhere metaphor. Now all I need is a supercomputer and a crack team of researchers to prove the relationship exists.

House – “Love is Blind” (B)

I’m such a huge fan of what Michael B. Jordan has done on The Wire and Friday Night Lights that I think I got more out of this episode than I probably should of. For the most part it was just a run of the mill case, granted one with some terrific acting, but pretty average nonetheless. I liked that they finally let Charlyne Yi loose with Park’s acid trip. That was pretty funny. And so far House’s wife has been a great source of comic relief as well. Now I just wonder how much they’re going to follow up on House’s search for his biological father. I thought the Irish guy was a good match, but perhaps the writers have got something better planned.

Cougar Town – “Lover’s Touch” (A-)

You know I love a good Tom episode. The fact that he’s a neurosurgeon just makes his entire character that much funnier – the scene in the hospital hallway had to be the highlight of the episode for me. But the writers just did a really great job overall of ramping up the goofiness in this one and that’s what made it so enjoyable. The callback to Grayson’s rollerblading skills was fantastic, especially the nice added touch of a 1980s boom box on his shoulders. And I would really love to see Bobby’s blue prints for the dog on skateboard thing he had going on. What an invention!

 Modern Family – “Leap Day” (B)

Wow, the number of TV shows taking advantage of the fact that this is a leap year is staggering. Personally I think 30 Rock had the best take on it, but there have been a few good ones. What’s probably most disconcerting though is how many characters just happened to have a leap day birthday. Who knew so many people were born on February 29^th?

Not that that was a huge deal here. I just didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the storylines. I was actually a little surprised that Cam didn’t just love the idea of his original Wizard of Oz party when he found out about it. I guess I should never underestimate his ability to become faux offended.

Phil and the girls never quite got off the ground for me either. On one hand, I loved some of the scenes Phil and Luke had with each other. Give them the right material and they play off each other incredibly well. But the whole period storyline just felt a little too played out. I wouldn’t mind hearing a girl’s take on the episode, because there were times where it felt like the writing was just playing into the stereotype. I don’t know though, I’m not a girl (I like to work that once into every post – I have some grade school demons I’m still getting over).

Happy Endings – “Cocktails & Dreams” (A-)

When Jane woke up from her sex dream at the start of the episode, I thought to myself “oh, okay, they’re doing that.” You can probably figure out the inflection on your own. Sex dreams are funny, but they’re done a lot. Awkward glimpses, embarrassing admissions... you get the gist. But then Brad woke up, with that familiar sex dream howl, and showed exactly why Happy Endings has developed into such a fresh new comedy.

I love the idea of contagious sex dreams. The writers took a well worn comedic trope and subverted it, making it that much funnier in the process. If that doesn’t sound like familiar praise then you haven’t read any of my Community reviews. Seriously, I cannot stress this enough. Watch Happy Endings!

Oh, and some other stuff happened, Colin Hanks and so forth. It just didn’t seem as relevant. Contagious sex dreams!

30 Rock – “Alexis Goodlooking and the Case of the Missing Whisky” (B)

I quite liked Jenna and Tracey’s storyline in this one. The writers had a great take on many of the “good looking female cop” show clichés. The rest of the episode was pretty average though, especially when you compare it to what the show did the following week.

I’m excited to see where this storyline between Jack and Kenneth ends up. I’ve been watching some of the older episodes in syndication, and I couldn’t help thinking of Kenneth and Jack’s poker game back in the first season. I think Jack’s quote was somewhere along the lines of, in five years from now everyone will either be working for Kenneth or dead by his hand. Well not quite, but the story really does seem to me moving in that direction doesn’t it. Their back and forth in this episode may not have always brought the laughs as much as I would have liked, but I see a lot of potential with where the writers are taking this.

Sadly, I felt Liz ended up with the weakest of the three main threads in the episode. As much as I liked watching her get locked out of various rooms that belonged to her, it didn’t make up for the fact that I’m just not that invested in Frank’s relationship with his former teacher (played by Susan Sarandon). The last time she was even on the show was so long ago I think I kind of assumed they’d already broken up. Either way, it didn’t generate the kind of humour I would have liked.

Parks and Recreation – “Campaign Shake-Up” (A-)

With all the campaign events and preparations over the past few episodes remaining largely standalone, it was nice to finally get an update on how well Leslie is actually doing in the race. I liked that all of the hard work put into the campaign had Leslie polling at higher than her original 1% (a fact that I don’t think the writers had yet divulged since her scandal with Ben went public) probably almost as much as I liked that Kathryn Hahn’s Jennifer Barkley came in and threw a wrench into the whole thing.

And I know it’s only been an episode, but I quite like Hahn’s character. Her vibe is fun to watch. She’s not malicious, but she’s shameless when it comes to getting what she wants. While I may not have been a fan of her quickly cancelled show Free Agents this season, I respect Hahn as a comedic actress. She and Amy Poehler already seem to have good chemistry. It certainly makes it easier to ignore the fact that the whole reason her character was probably introduced was because Rudd was unavailable for the number of guest spots the writers needed (oh well, there’s still the debate to forward to).

Campaign Shake-Up wasn’t just about Leslie though, it was a great Ron episode as well. Whether it was his spectacular scenes with Chris or the continuation of his hilarious bond with April (though Ron seems to have a great connection with just about everybody... other than Ann), it was hard not to love the guy in this one.

I have a feeling that by season’s end we’re going to see some changes on this show. I’m already excited to see April in an expanded role in the Parks Department. You could kind of see that ending coming more and more as the episode developed. But considering all the recent interactions between Ron and Chris, I could see Ron getting promoted into Ben’s old job too. It’s kind of a cool idea and frankly, the prospect of it doesn’t bother me. Whatever keeps things fresh, right?

The other big hint dropped in this one too was the casual mention by Chris that City Council is only a part time job. The writers played it off as simply a way to set up Ron’s hiring storyline – and that could very well be all it is – but to me it sounded like the writers were creating the conditions so that Leslie could win her election without completely uprooting the show. Obviously, that’s a promising sign. First because I love Leslie and I want her to do well no matter what. And second, because I think Leslie in City Council would be hilarious. The Parks and Rec writers already do great work incorporating the town of Pawnee, could you imagine what they could do with a couple of crazy city councillors? That’s something I want to watch.

The Office – “Test the Store” (C+)

So word is out that Spader won’t be back next season. Not too shocking, but it’ll kind of leave a black mark on his remaining appearances this season. It’s hard not to feel a little slighted considering the writers have a spent a decent chunk of the season getting us invested in his character, but from the sounds of it he was never that well liked to begin with. Add to that all the other rumoured cast departures (Dwight getting a spin-off, Mindy Kaling leaving the show), you have to wonder how much life The Office has left.

It also rubs me the wrong way a bit that Jim has been pushed into the background when it comes to career aspirations. I still remember when he shared Michael’s job, and while that may not have been the best move comedically, it rubs me the wrong way to watch him get ordered around by Dwight as if he were just some giant screw up along for the ride.

Dwight’s character in particular can tend to grate on me after a while too and this was one of those episodes where I found myself wishing they’d tone down his shtick a little bit. It might have been nice to see Ryan shine again instead of having him flake out as his character always seems to do these days. He was probably never anyone’s favourite character, but I do remember a time when he was one of the leads on this show. For old times’ sake, give him a decent storyline every now and then.

Up All Night – “New Boss” (B)

Did I miss something or did they just break up Ava and Kevin off screen? I’m guessing Jason Lee suddenly became unavailable, but wow – that was way too abrupt for my tastes. It’s along the same lines as the Spader situation on The Office. They spent so much time developing that relationship, to see it (or not see it in this case) end off screen makes me feel a little cheated.

Which probably isn’t the best way to introduce the titular new boss character. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure where I stand on either of the new characters, Yvonne or her ex-military underling Luke. It may have just been my chagrin over Jason Lee’s sudden departure, but both of them rubbed me the wrong way at various points in the episode.

There were definitely some decent bits in “New Boss” though, and I fear I’ve been a little overly negative in my description so far. Chris’s motorcycle ride was certainly fun to watch. I always love watching Will Forte be Will Forte. And despite my reservations about Luke, he did have a very funny purse strings bit with Reagan that made me laugh.

Still, I’m interested in seeing how permanent these new characters end up being.

Awake – “Pilot” (A)

Normally I’m not a huge fan of pilots. I mean I understand their limitations, and there have been a few in the past that have impressed me, but most of the time I find myself making excuses for the episode while throwing around the term potential a lot.

I have no idea how Awake is going to shape up – it could easily turn into a by the numbers procedural – but based off what I saw in the pilot episode, there are a lot of reasons to get excited about this series. The interplay between the two therapists was fantastic. The detective work didn’t have that stale, cheesy dialogue many of its television counterparts have. And overall, the episode was quite moving. If the series can capture just a fraction of the magic of its pilot, then it’s not too far of a stretch to say that it is going to do very, very well for itself (or get cancelled out of nowhere by NBC).

I’m definitely looking forward to next week’s episode already.