I Know That’s Me But I’m Not Remembering Any Of This

Just a short post tonight. I’ll hopefully have Thursday’s line up for you soon.

Spoilers...

Modern Family – “Door to Door” (B)

“Door to Door” would have scored lower if it wasn’t for David Cross’s cameo. His incense over not getting an ice cream cake bumped this episode up almost a full letter grade. Well that and the video of Phil getting hit in the face over and over again. That probably shouldn’t have been as funny as it was.

The rest of “Door to Door” was pretty mediocre. I found Gloria’s story to be the worst. While it was mildly amusing to watch Cam walk around playing Stan from A Street Car Named Desire, in the end it was a pretty one-note joke and the rest of the storyline didn’t arc. She lost the dog and then she found the dog. There wasn’t much more to it than that.

I think it was the door to door theme that really did the episode in. By forcing most of the cast into situations where they had to be in front of a strangers door by the middle of the episode, it hindered the episode’s ability to develop each storyline individually, and subsequently made them all worse for wear.

I mentioned the lack of an arc with Gloria above, but the same could be said for Cam and Mitchell. With all the confusion over when the adoption agency was making their house visit, how many of you didn’t see that ending coming? All of the elements were in place in the first five minutes, and because Cam had to help Gloria out – putting him in front of an old man’s front door in the middle of the episode – there wasn’t anywhere to go with it.

Jay and Manny faired a little better but not enough to save the premise. I liked seeing Manny trick Jay into buying all of his wrapping paper (“You’ll never go broke playing to a rich guy’s ego”), but I could have done without the Jay-is-old undertones of the story. The writers seem to go to that well a lot and it’s starting to lose its appeal.

Alright, now to my favourite lines:

CAM: I’m going to take Lilly to school and when I get back home I’m going to scrub this place like a crime scene, which it is because you’ve murdered joy.

PHIL: I’ve always said that if my son thinks of me as one of his idiot friends than I’ve succeeded as a dad.

CLAIRE: Uh wow Phil, what are you doing here?
PHIL: I’m your husband. I’m Blind Siding you.

And line of the night:

PHIL: I’ll get straight to the point because this is important and that appears to be an ice cream cake.
TRAFFIC COMMITTEE GUY: Well it’s not!

Who Eats Salt And Pepper Without Cumin?

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “The Stinson Missile Crisis” (A-)

Three weeks in and still going strong. I think probably the best sign for the season ahead is that despite this episode not dealing with any the series’ major story arcs (generally those are directly related to Ted’s search for the mother or some sort of variation on that theme), it still worked out to be quite funny.

Ted, Lily, and Marshall’s storyline this week is exactly the kind of one-joke over the top affair I normally hate, but the one joke was so funny in this episode I couldn’t help but love it. Josh Radnor’s absolute commitment to that salt & pepper and cumin bit somehow managed to make me laugh every single time he brought it up. And some of the best iterations were saved right for the very end of the episode: Lewis and Clark and their canoe, Dr. Frankenstein & his monster and a scared villager, and my personal favourite, C3P0 & R2D2 and the robot Luke’s Uncle almost bought from the Jawas – absolutely hilarious.

I also liked how the writers framed the episode (yes, I realize I say this every week), this time through Robin’s court-ordered therapy.  The way they managed to tie Lily, Marshall, and Ted’s story into Robin’s retelling was awesome. The writers knew there was no way they could naturally fit it into the premise so they just made a joke about how out of place the storyline was. It’s not exactly cutting edge storytelling, but it certainly was funny.

ROBIN: Wow, the lesson you learned with Lily and Marshall is directly applicable to my situation and is therefore a valid part of how I’ll eventually tell this story.

Of course the reason why she was telling that story in the first place was partly due to Barney, who also had an excellent week. I like how the writers are handling Barney’s decision to go monogamous this time around. I think part of the problem people had with Barney dating Robin originally was that his character sort of lost what made him funny in the process. It’s only really been one episode, but the way the writers seemed to use Barney’s past conquests to keep up his usual brand of shenanigans was a smart way of allowing the character to grow while maintaining that mystique. Who knows whether that’ll be sustainable in the long term, but it worked well in this episode.

And last but not least, I just have to commend Cobie Smulders for her role in tying the whole episode together. She did a great job of playing off a surprisingly stiff Kal Penn (I still love you though Kal). I’m glad she’s set her sights on Barney again. It’s given her character a good arc so far this season. There’s nothing like unrequited love for bringing the laughs.

The quotes:

ROBIN: Nobody asked you Patrice!

MARSHALL: It’s fascinating how profoundly little I know about vaginas.

TED: Come on! We’re a trio. We’ve always been a trio. We’re right up there with Batman and Robin and Alfred. Romeo and Juliet and the Apothecary. Salt and Pepper and Cumin.

ROBIN: You think you’re so smart just because you went to Harvard, and Princeton, and... wow Harvard again.

ROBIN: Why not rerecord it?
BARNEY: I did like a hundred takes, it kept happening.

BARNEY: Thanks Robin, you’re the only person I know who would help me do all that. You’re a real bro.
ROBIN: Am I though? Cause I’m really more of a woman. To my femininity!
BARNEY: No you’re more of a bro. You’re a dude. You’re a man.

And line of the night (obviously):

TED: Who eats salt and pepper without cumin?

Grey’s Anatomy – “Take the Lead” (B)

How many times now have we had to watch Richard lose is his chiefdom? Three? Four? Let me see... there was the infamous race to become Chief back in season 3 or 4. That ended with Derek refusing the job. Then there was the time he lost it because he was drinking again. Derek was actually Chief for a little while that time around, but I think he gave it up in a season premiere. Actually that was in last year’s season premiere. So... I guess this is the third time. Man, the writers really love to go to that well.

They really need to either make it permanent this time, or, you know, stop doing it over and over again. I mean, I get appeal. It gives the Chief something new to do and lets one of the attendings explore how well they do in the job. It just gets stupider and stupider every time it happens though. Let’s just hope Owen does a little better than Derek did. He’s already off to a bad start. That plotline with Bailey was terrible.

Luckily Richard’s resignation wasn’t the only thing that happened in this episode. I think on the whole I enjoyed watching the residents get there first shot at solo procedures. I thought it was pretty funny that both Christina and Teddy forgot how to do an appendectomy. The moment when Christina realized Teddy didn’t know how to do it either certainly brought a smile to my face.

I think my favourite storyline of the episode though had to do with the one resident who didn’t get her own procedure. Kepner is slowly emerging as one of the better characters on this show right now, and so far I’ve enjoyed watching her struggles as Chief Resident. She had a few great scenes with Karev in this one and I especially loved the way she saved him from some of the other Residents’ ridicule at the end of the episode. It’s always nice to see an underdog character get a win.

I was a little more apprehensive going into this episode about Derek and Grey. Save for the first few seasons when the relationship was fresh Grey’s tends to go downhill fast whenever there’s drama between the two of them. But I have to give the writers (and actors) credit for this episode. I thought the scene where the two of them finally had it out was really well done. The way Derek progressed through his frustrations made the scene feel like a natural argument. When he pointed to the post-it note and said “I meant that”, that was a powerful moment. And I’m glad Meredith was able to reason with him. At least now they’re talking.

Now please Grey’s writers, make it last.

House – “Twenty Vicodin” (A-)

House was really struggling last year to maintain the status quo. After 7 seasons the patient of the week formula, combined with little personal growth for the character (he tends to sway back and forth) just wasn’t doing it anymore. The few episodes that were worth watching usually had some sort of novelty to them, Thirteen’s return being an excellent example.

That’s why I’m quite pleased that at the end of “Twenty Vicodin” House didn’t leave the prison. It’s not that I don’t want him to get out, it’s just his character is substantially more interesting when he’s locked up. It’s like if that great season premiere from a few years back, with House in the mental institution, had continued on in that format. It gives us new characters, new episode ideas, new situations for House to stick his neck into.

I think House is at his best when he’s forced to improvise, and prison is the perfect setting for that. The way he sized up the doctor, or nursed his mute roommate’s pet cricket back to health, even the way he diagnosed the patient was all that much more interesting because of the setting (that tracheotomy was pretty cool). That patient would have been boring in a state of the art hospital. Here, he was a mystery worth solving.

I’m interested in seeing how the team will eventually come into play in all of this. The same goes for that doctor who basically gave up her job to test House’s theory. I hope she wasn’t a one-off character. Right now the writers are using this as a great cover up for why Cuddy and Wilson aren’t around (Lisa Edelstein left the show and I believe Robert Sean Leonard is doing a play right now though I could be wrong), but I assume eventually House is going to need some contact from the outside world and how that comes into play is going to be important.

For now though I think I’m just going to enjoy the renewed life this show seems to have and just keep hoping that it doesn’t go away too soon. There’s a lot of talk about this being House’s last season. I hope if that’s the case that we’ll finally get a little bit of closure for the character. Like I said before, we’ve had a lot of false starts for House on his way to some form of happiness; it would be a pity if after all this time he never got there. Even if it’s just some small victory, at this point I’d take it.

Song(s) of the week

This week’s pick:

“Atlas Hands” and “Box of Stones” by Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Where I found Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Again, say what you want about Grey’s Anatomy but I spent the summer without it and pretty much dried up my stockpile of fresh new songs. Apparently I’m far too lazy to find new music without it.

What I like: Smooth layered vocals, catchy yet restrained choruses, and lyrics that make you want to lock yourself in a dark room and listen to them for hours on end... alright, my power was out. But the lyrics are still good!

Atlas Hands - Benjamin Francis Leftwich


Box of Stones - Benjamin Francis Leftwich

If Embarrassment Were Bountiful Zinc Deposits I’d Be Zambia

Thursday night’s comedy line-up. I apologise if any of this turns into incoherent rambling... I haven't eaten anything but Halloween candy in what seems like 12 hours.

Spoilers...

The Office – “The Incentive” (B+)

“The Incentive” is really a tale of two episodes. The first third of it epitomized pretty much everything that’s been wrong with The Office over the past couple of seasons. The writing was gimmicky, formerly subtle characters were acting like caricatures their former selves (seriously, they’ve got to tone it down with Kevin), and the story seemed to meander through a variety of half-baked punchlines without really going anywhere.

But then something happened. Somewhere in the second act, right around the time Andy started implementing his new incentive system, the episode picked up. It was like watching a completely different show. Jim was back to his old self again, quietly manipulating the proceedings with a nod to the camera. Andy lost control and in the process became much more funny and likeable. And all of sudden an episode that was headed for a C rating jumped to the quality of something you would have seen back in the show’s glory years.

It’s somewhat baffling to me that with all the new changes that have gone on with this show of late the writers still think they need to rely on cheap gimmicks to get laughs. I’m in no way naive to the fact that this is the eighth season, but if they were capable of the quality of work I saw in the latter half of the episode than why are we forced to watch Kevin make up a language out of broken English or half the cast start planking.

In the end I think you have to focus on the good that came out of this episode. James Spader was used sparingly but effectively. His monologue at the end of the episode was a great way of summing up exactly what I was saying in my last review, that Andy’s an underdog and people love underdogs.

I also really loved Jim’s little chat with Andy right before he went through with the tattoo. It’s those types of sweet character moments that make The Office so much more than just your typical network sitcom. And not only that, it reasserted Jim as the pseudo-leader we all know him to be without creating any jealousy or rivalry between him and Andy over the manager’s position. Very skilfully done.

Next week though, maybe don’t get out to such a slow start.

The quotes:

JIM: Don’t worry, I don’t really care about points. I would like a points receipt though.

ANDY: Ow! OW!
TATTOO ARTIST: That was just the cotton swab.
ANDY: Invest in softer cotton sir.

And line of the night:

ANDY: (on phone) Uh, quick question... I may be missing a chapter here, de-incentivizing. What are your strategies? I’m looking for a real blow to morale. Uh, why? I guess you could say I’m in one of those classic ass tattoo incentive situations.

Community – “Geography of Global Conflict” (B+)

Ugh, for a second there I thought we were actually going to see Jeff and Annie finally hook up. But alas, once again the writers pulled the rug right out from underneath us at the very last moment. I guess that’s okay though, the rest of “Geography of Global Conflict” made up for it.

Giving Greendale a Model UN was another one of those inspired episode concepts this show is known for. There are so many different directions for the comedy to go in a storyline like that, that all you really have to do is sit back and let the characters do the work for you (although I’m sure the writers may have something different to say about that).

Martin Starr of Freaks and Geeks fame was a fantastic addition as Professor Cligoris. He’s the type of professor we haven’t so far on this show – somewhat nerdy and not at all apathetic. It was a refreshing change of pace and I hope we see him again in the future.

But the real laughs came from the Model UN itself. Whether it be Pierce considering his assigned nation of Somalia to be a paradise or Troy talking in a southern accent despite knowing that Georgia is a country that came out of the former Soviet Union, the writers made full use of their promising premise. Even Annie’s blow up, which could have easily come off as stupid, succeeded thanks to a great performance by Alison Brie.

And though the ending was somewhat predictable, it didn’t stop me from loving it all the same. Of course Abed succeeded in convincing the rest of his Model UN to build a transdimensional gateway to Earth 2. This is Community, if they didn’t do it I would have been disappointed. Although I do wonder what this says about free will...

The B story this week was a little more hit or miss than the main thread. In theory, I love the idea of turning Chang’s position as the new campus security guard and Brita’s existential crisis into some sort of pseudo love story between the two. Those are exactly the kind of scenarios this show thrives on. Something just fell a little bit short in the execution.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Brita’s character – there isn’t really anyone else like her on television – but in this episode she was maybe a little too intense. Her protests made her come across more like a crazy person than an activist, and for that reason her story was harder to enjoy.

Chang on the other hand functions best when he’s coming across as insane, and do have to say I like Chang the security guard more than I liked Chang the student. Give him a little bit of power, where people actually have to respect his ridiculousness, and it makes a world of difference for his character. I think he and Sgt. Nunez (Mel Rodriguez) are going to be a terrific pair to watch over the rest of the season.

Okay, now for some of my favourite lines:

CHANG: The badge says to serve and protect!
SGT. NUNEZ: No it doesn’t.
CHANG: (reading) How’s my smile?

SHIRLEY: Raging against the what? That sounds dangerous...
JEFF: Don’t worry, she’ll be bad at it.

TROY: (in a southern accent) Geogia, the country, is much obliged.

SHIRLEY: Oo! China ha money, does anybody want some?

JEFF: Uruguay kindly requests that Somalia stop pronouncing it ur-a-gay.

SGT. NUNEZ: Young lady, you spilled paint on a globe. You’re as much a criminal as this idiot is a cop, none whatsoever.

ANNIE: If embarrassment were bountiful zinc deposits I’d be Zambia.
JEFF: There’s nothing to be Zambia about Annie.

JEFF: Abed, what did I tell you? You can’t just mumble nonsense, no one’s cutting away.

ANNIE: Greetings people of Earth 2. We represent the United Nations from Earth 1. Using our Switzerland’s hadron collider and resources from every nation the people from our planet have constructed a transdimensional gateway here.
ANNIE KIM: They can’t do this!
PROFESSOR CLIGORIS: The science works out.

And line of the night:

TROY: Looks like someone woke up on the regular side of the bed.

Parks and Recreation – “Ron and Tammys” (A-)

“Ron, your moustache fell off!”

Wow, another excellent week for Parks and Recreation. You could kind of see it coming with Tammy 1 showing up at the end of the last episode but who would have thought we’d also get to meet Ron’s mom too. That’s a combination that’s hard to resist.

Ron is a fascinating character. Just listening to Leslie, April, and Andy go through his receipts was an entertainingly eye opening experience (“This one just says I bought supplies, 2007”), but listening to him talk about his past with Tammy 1 was something else... I think horrihilarious might be the only word to describe it. She was a Candy Stripper at the hospital he was born at and actually helped deliver him? She taught him Sunday school and sex? Are you kidding me?

And then what we got was yet another Ron Swanson transformation, but this time it wasn’t into a sex crazed lunatic. No, this time Ron transformed into a spineless jellyfish of a man, the kind that writes memos and does his job with a smile on his face. The rest of the parks department were appropriately terrified.

It all culminated in what ended up being the centerpiece of the episode – a drink off between Tammy 1, Ron’s Mom, Tammy Zero, and Leslie. It was hard not to like this sequence. The descriptions of the Swanson family brew were all fantastic. Amy Poehler just let fly with her drunk Leslie impression, which caters exactly to her strengths as an actor. And watching Ron down the entire bottle of the stuff after April couldn’t handle one sip was just a perfect amalgamation of the scene. It was another great instalment in the Ron and Tammy series.

The side-plots in “Ron and Tammys” were also good however. Ben was the perfect character to send to the Entertainment 720 offices. Adam Scott plays such a good straight man that whenever he’s around the truly ridiculous he makes it that much funnier. It reminded me a lot of the episode he spent with April and Andy teaching them how to be adults... I wonder if he still lives with them. I kind of want to see what their roommate dynamic would be like.

Anyway, Tom and Jean-Ralphio – my favourite recurring character by the way – gave him all sorts of extravagant over expenditures to work with.  I loved the not one but two NBA players they had on the payroll. Their little side comments to each other about the insanity of their situation was definitely one of the highlights of the episode... well that and Ben’s new nickname Jello Shot. I can’t wait to see what J-shot gets himself into next week.

To the quotes:

LESLIE: Jail Ron. Ron jail.

BEN: Oh breakevens! Those are really fun. Yeah sure I’ll take a look.

CHRIS: Ann Perkins, I am flattered, and I will do it. Is there a script yet?
ANN: Uh no, because you just approved the idea like 3 seconds ago.

BEN: Oh my god, that’s an actual NBA player. He plays for the Pacers.
TOM: The NBA’s on strike, so we got him for only like 75% of his original NBA salary.

JEAN-RALPHIO: Your new nickname is... Jello Shot. What do you think about that J-shot?

APRIL: Is this true, you’ve only spent $40 on clothes in the last 5 years.
RON: That sounds about right.

APRIL: She’s the cold, distant mother I never had. I love her.

BEN: Okay if you want this company to survive you immediately need to downsize. I mean you don’t need this airplane hangar.
JEAN-RALPHIO: Um, I think we do.

TAMMY 2: When Ron left her and we got together, she threw acid on my foot.
APRIL: Ew.
ANDY: Could we take a peek at it?

RON: It’s only legal use it to strip varnish off of speedboats.

TAMMY 1: Fine, I got what I came for anyway. I found your underground safe; I stole half your gold.
RON: That’s decoy gold. You think I’d leave my gold in a locked safe buried underground where anyone could find it? You don’t know me at all.

And line of the night:

TAMMY 2: Listen, Tammy 1 was my Sunday School teacher too. She can pinpoint your weaknesses and then destroy you with just one word... and a jar of acid.

Oh, Now I Think Of It!

Last night’s Modern Family and the pilot of Suburgatory.

Spoilers...

Modern Family – “Phil on Wire” (B-)

It’s hard to think of an episode that better encapsulates the word “meh” than “Phil on Wire.” Not so awful it was unwatchable, but certainly not great either, the episode stumbled under the sheer weight of its many storylines. There were four very separate subplots in this one – which happens occasionally on this show – but with each of them getting relatively equal screen time it was difficult getting invested in any particular direction.

I think Jay and Gloria suffered the most from that this week. I do think it’s pretty funny that the once reluctant Jay has now fully embraced his new canine companion (Jay and the dog in the shower was the funniest/creepiest part of the episode), but it just felt like the storyline wasn’t given the chance to live up to its potential. We only really got to see it play out in brief glimpses, and in the end that made it feel scattered and unimportant. I don’t even think you could call it a B story...

Cam and Mitchell were the ones that probably got the most time devoted to them this week, and that actually ended up being a problem. I mean, sure, there were a few moments where the two of them were occasionally amusing. I liked listening to Mitchell list off the different stages of Cam’s dieting routine. But few stories seem more manufactured than freaking out over a juice fast. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of people who know what that’s like. I certainly don’t see it on an everyday basis, and that made the ending seem a little too over the top for my tastes. Listening to Mitchell scream out Snorkels was good for a laugh, but having the two of them roll around in the ocean took it way past the point of funny.

The one thing I did like was Phil’s ending. I couldn’t help but crack a smile watching him walk across that wire. I actually loved the scene before the tightrope walk too, the one where he and Luke had a heart to heart. There’s something remarkably entertaining about watching the thought process of those two. The way they give each other terrible advice and encourage each other in exactly the wrong ways. Maybe that’s why the ending was so rewarding. It’s nice to see that even a pair like that can get it right every once in a while.

Alright, now for my favourite lines:

PHIL: How awesome are people?
LUKE: So awesome.

HALEY: I knew it would suck having you at my school.
CLAIRE: Well hang in there. A couple more years and you’ll have it all to yourself again.

HALEY: You don’t look at me in class, you don’t text me.
ALEX: Who would text during a class?
HALEY: What are you?

PHIL: Inception Claire... dangerous game but I like it.

CLAIRE: Honey, I think those are jazz shoes.
PHIL: Nope tightrope shoes. Got them at an estate sale, only worn once.
CLAIRE: That is not a ringing endorsement.

GLORIA: It’s not the little dog that is making me crazy, it’s you that is making me crazy.
JAY: Yeah, you used to put me first. You used to want me in that shower.
MANNY: Should I be here for this?

PHIL: What was on my mind as I was walking across that wire? I kept thinking, if I can do this... then I’ve got two ways of getting across my yard.

And line of the night:

LUKE: The other day uncle Mitchell brought over a bag of junk food so he and Cam could do a Jew fast.
PHIL: Juice fast?
LUKE: I’m pretty sure he said Jew.

Suburgatory – “Pilot” (B-)

There is a serious problem with the way networks are marketing their new TV shows. I think I’ve said this about 90% of the pilots I’ve reviewed over the last couple of weeks, but the previews for these shows have actually done more to turn me off of them than to get me to want to watch. Of course I watch anyway because that’s just who I am, but without a DVR and a serious television addiction I can pretty much assure you I wouldn’t have been tuning in to more than half of these.

Ironically enough though, I think the terrible advertising may have ended up helping the pilots in the end. It’s an expectations thing. You go in with low expectations and it’s quite easy to exceed them. You go in with high and the opposite is true. I guess bravo to the marketing team if that was their plan all along.

That’s really what happened here with Suburgatory. I had such distain for the previews I really had no intention of watching. How many shows are already about life in the suburbs? Did we really need another one with a bunch of over the top plastics straight out of Mean Girls?

But alas, once again my initial impressions were wrong. Jane Levy is great as Tessa. She’s smart, quick-witted, sarcastic. Normally I won’t read the reviews of an episode before I’ve reviewed it myself, but I liked the point Eric Goldman of IGN made about Levy channelling Emma Stone in Easy A (his review was actually the only reason I watched in the first place). He’s quite right on that front, and that’s a good thing in my books – I’ve made no secret my love of that movie.

Of course it’s only the pilot, and by no means was it perfect (hence the B-), but you could see hints of some very smart writing in the debut. For that reason alone it’s probably worth it to stick around for at least a few more weeks.

Has Anyone Gotten A Bite Yet?

I think these shows fall somewhere in the Thursday to Monday range...

Spoilers!

How I Met Your Mother – “Ducky Tie” (A-)

Oh Victoria, if only you’d stuck around just a little longer.

I have to say, so far I’ve been quite impressed with How I Met Your Mother this season. I mean, yeah, we’re only two weeks in, but set-ups are important, and I’ve really liked the groundwork set over these last three episodes.

Unfortunately this week we found out that Victoria’s time with us would not be long (or at least that’s how the ending made it out), which makes me a little sad because even just in this episode you could still see what an enormously likeable character she is. Five years and she’s still got it.

But even though we only got a brief appearance I very much liked what the writers did with her. I’m one of those people who get really nostalgic over TV (no, it’s true), but I find oftentimes when shows try to play off the nostalgia of their glory years all it does is taint what came before it. There was a risk of that in this episode – they could have easily ruined Victoria’s character – but the writers did a spectacular job of pulling all the right strings at all the right times. I think my single favourite moment in the episode was listening to Victoria reminisce about her time with Ted. Marshall’s game night, the wedding night – that was How I Met Your Mother in its prime and it was nice to hear from the characters themselves (and more accurately the writers) that they remember it fondly as well.

It’s also a good testament to just how far How I Met Your Mother has come. Listening to them talk about those episodes like they were all old memories is a stark reminder that this show is entering its seventh season. Where does the time go?

I think maybe the true genius of “Ducky Tie” though was the way it was structured. It’s a comment made a lot about How I Met Your Mother (by me especially), but it still rings true. I loved the way they moved from the incredibly silly bet between Barney and Lily – I can’t wait to see if they have Barney in that ducky tie all season or not – and into the more serious entanglement between Victoria and Ted. The pacing was perfect and I think both storylines ended up benefitting from it.

Other than that I think I’m going to leave the very ominous ending note for a different post. It looks like the writers are about to shake something up. Victoria made a very good point when she said the dynamic between Ted, Robin, and Barney just isn’t normal. You forget because it’s a TV show and we’re so familiar with the characters but it’s true: exes don’t often hang out with each other like that in real life. What the writers end up doing with that though I don’t know. Let’s just hope they do...

Pan Am – “Pilot” (B+)

You know, before this season started, when I was hearing about all the Mad Men wannabes the networks were planning on putting out, I didn’t give much thought to this show. There was just nothing about the previews that made me to watch. They all had a very been-there done-that vibe to them.

So perhaps it was all my low expectations coming to a head, but I was surprised at how solid this pilot turned out to be. The characters are at least on the surface quite interesting. The espionage side-plot, something I originally thought sounded stupid in a period piece, ended up working quite well.

It’s not Mad Men, nor will it likely ever be Mad Men. The writers seem to spend exorbitant amounts of time describing to the audience just how important these women are, Mad Men is much more subtle. But when the writers do get out of their own way the show works quite well. It turned me into a believer, at least for a couple episodes more.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Free Falling” and “She’s Gone” (B)

Man, Seattle has to be the unluckiest town in the world. Plane crashes, hospital shootings, ferry crashes (yeah, that happened) and now a massive sinkhole in the middle of the city. It’s as if some cruel force was just picking on them for its own entertainment. Oh, right.

Ironically, after all that destruction this episode wasn’t really about the patients at all. I mean, sure, there was that couple they went all House with at the start of the episode – since when do they show the patients before they get to the hospital – but all in all they didn’t exactly get a whole lot of air time, or that developed a storyline. Nope, this one was all about the doctors.

And that worked to varying degrees. I mean, you’ve got to hand it to the writers for figuring out a way to get social services to take a baby away from two surgeons. Manufactured drama at its finest. I guess in some way you had to know Meredith wasn’t going to be out of the hospital too long. There really aren’t a whole lot of stories in her raise a baby outside of the hospital.

I am somewhat surprised though how quickly the writers put everything back together again. Normally they like to get a little more mileage out of their season finales. I expected Christina and Owen to be at odds with each other for a lot longer than they were. They aren’t exactly the most stable couple ever. They probably could have used the work to shore up their relationship. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about – I’m in first year psych.

I thought the best part of the episode was Karev’s storyline. It was good before the attendings pulled the Gunther, but after he got stabbed with the epi needle I couldn’t help but laugh at his disgruntled rants at Christina, or her passé attitude towards almost killing him.

All in all the episode was pretty average. Not the worst season premiere I’ve seen and certainly not the best. We’ll just have to wait and see how this new we-have-to-get-Zola-back storyline ends up playing out.

You Are The Opposite Of Batman

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

The Office – “The List” (B+)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, and I still love Erin...

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

Community – “Biology 101” (B)

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

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

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

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

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

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

To the quotes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

And line of the night...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alright, here are the quotes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And line of the night:

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

Whitney – “Pilot” (D+)

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