Pollstered!

Hey sports fans! It’s been a busy week so I’m going to have to give you the abridged version of some of these reviews. Enjoy!

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “Field Trip” (B)

Not everything in this episode worked, but on the whole I actually liked most of “Field Trip”. First off, Barney’s Ewok bit was a stroke of genius. It didn’t really matter what else happened in the episode, it was getting a semi-decent rating just for coming up with about 20 hilarious PowerPoint slides about Ewoks, ranging from Ewok topography to their hairstyles and anatomy. Ironically enough I went on to watch Jedi later that night.

Robin’s courtship with her therapist was a little less memorable. It throws a bit of cog into her pursuit of Barney but I think it’s pretty obvious the relationship won’t last. I do like Kal Penn but for some reason he feels a little bit underutilized here. Actually, most of Robin’s boyfriends (you know, other than Ted and Barney) haven’t really been the kind of characters that stick with you. I’ve grown attached to a couple of Ted’s girlfriends, but never to any of Robin’s boyfriends. I guess it’s because she’s always been destined as a potential love interest for the other leads on the show and we know Ted is going to marry someone outside of the group, but I do find that interesting...

I wasn’t a huge fan of Marshall’s storyline this week either, but I want to put an asterisk beside that statement. I thought Martin Short was quite funny and Marshall definitely had a few good lines as well, it’s just as a whole I didn’t really buy the idea that an environmental lawyer would just give up on the planet like that, as if it were a foregone conclusion. It makes very little sense. And inserting Lily into that story, rather awkwardly I might add, just exasperated the problem.

Maybe the silliest storyline of the week though I did like. Ted’s field trip was definitely a little out there – one of those stories that would just never happen in real life – but when they combined it with Barney’s storyline it was just the right amount of stupid to be funny. I loved how Barney somehow knew all of the students’ names as well as some of their mom’s names, and watching the group crash Robin’s date and hang out at the bar actually ended up being pretty endearing, so like I said – stupid but funny.

House – “Transplant” (B-)

So pretty much everything I talked about in my last review was either a poorly made assumption or just wrong, from Robert Sean Leonard appearing in a play to House staying in that prison for any length of time. Unfortunately, I don’t have a great beat on the inner happenings of House and those are just the breaks sometimes.

Of course with that said I wish I was right, because now the show has transported itself back into the same old familiar territory that has grown stale over the last few seasons. At least from House’s perspective, we’ve already seen this sort of storyline when he returned from the mental hospital.  I’m kind of getting a little frustrated with the cyclical nature of this show.

The one saving grace of this move by the writers though is it allows us to view some of the supporting characters in a new light. Foreman as Dean of Medicine could be interesting and since House’s incarceration effectively acts like a time jump when we do get the return of some of the other familiar faces on this show they should have a few new stories to tell.

I don’t mind Charlyne Yi’s new character either. She’s brings a different energy to the show (Charlyne Yi brings somewhat of a different energy to life too, so naturally it’s going to rub off on the show) and her character’s dynamic with House could end up adding a nice touch of humour.

I guess in the end what I’m saying is I’m a little disappointed that the writers have seemingly transported House backwards a few seasons, but I’m cautiously optimistic that maybe, with all the changes this season, they’ll be able to give us something new this year. It’ll likely be the final season for House and you always want to see a show go out on a high.

Grey’s Anatomy – “What Is It About Men” (B-)

This happens every few seasons on Grey’s, where they devote an episode to the men of the show. Normally it’s good for a few laughs – rarely do they hold any sort of substance – but for the most part it serves to highlight one of the main weaknesses of the writing staff on Grey’s, and that’s writing for its male characters.

Now yes, I realize the irony of that argument. Most TV shows have the exact opposite problem – they’re male centric and either don’t develop their female characters or worse turn them into unrealistic fantasy woman. It’s hard to criticise Grey’s for going in the other direction, but I think the ideal should be for every character to be well developed regardless of gender, and I don’t think that’s a really groundbreaking assertion.

So blah blah blah Grey’s is targeted for women... how did this episode do? About the same as the others I’d say. There were a few funny moments between the guys but there were also a few times I rolled my eyes. The deck was a nice addition, and I quite liked the joke at the end where they discovered it wasn’t level, but the whole concept seemed a little on the nose. There’s just something about the dialogue, the way they talk during these so called bonding sessions, that just seems decidingly unnatural.

Whatever, I guess I should just be glad they did a show about the guys at all.

Modern Family – “Hit and Run” (A-)

This was a real comeback episode for Modern Family. If you’ve been reading the blog over the last couple of weeks I haven’t exactly been gushing over the show of late. There’s been a few good storylines here and there but in general Modern Family has been pretty average this season, save for maybe the premiere. Let’s just hope “Hit and Run” has broken it out of its funk.

Once again I enjoyed David Cross’s part in the episode. I don’t know how much of role he’s going to play or whether or not the writers are going to stick with this Claire running for office thing, but his guest stints have both been solid. And while Claire was off challenging him for his seat on city council, we got to see Phil give his best shot at child rearing, hilariously punching Luke and drugging Alex within a few short minutes of wife’s absence.

I also loved Gloria’s response to Claire running for city council. Her absolute glee at finally getting to help someone with their problems made the fact that she kept assuming Claire wasn’t going to win that much funnier. That and Gloria’s description of the “Bieberization of America” were two of the highlights of the episode for me. When Sofia Vergara brings it, she really brings it.

But all the storylines were pretty good in this one. It was fun watching Jay deal with his client’s ridiculous demands, especially the quick cutaways to Jay describing how he was actually feeling. And Cameron and Mitchell had a markedly better week this week (I loved Lily’s reaction to finding out the two of them went to Muppet movie without her). Oh, and did anyone else notice David Neher (aka Todd from Community) at the end there. Man, that guy is everywhere these days.

Line of the night:

GLORIA: Well to be fair Haley started her crime ring when your eye was still on the ball.

-

Alright, maybe that wasn’t as abridged as it could have been.

Oh God, Not The Gotcha Dancers!

Sorry I didn’t get this to you all sooner. It took me a long time to figure out a good excuse as to why it would be late. Damn, that is gold!

Spoilers...

The Office – “Lotto” (B+)

Of all the many characters on The Office, not surprisingly it’s been Andy who’s benefitted the most from the recent changes on the show. Over the last few episodes Ed Helms has seemingly turned into the unquestioned lead on the show. The idea that it would be James Spader replacing Michael Scott seems to have just been misdirection. While Robert California had a large part in the premiere, he was used sparsely in the last episode, and he wasn’t even present here. Perhaps it’s because the writers didn’t think the audience could handle hearing one of the existing cast members would be taking over the lead role, or perhaps they really believed it would be James Spader, but either way it’s been Andy who’s stolen the spotlight.

And so far Helms has more than held his own. I am one of those people who would have doubted Andy’s appropriateness for the role a year ago, but after watching these first few episodes you can consider me converted. Will it last forever? Probably not. There are a lot of solid stories to be explored just because Andy’s new in the role, but those won’t last forever. Still, the writers have done a tremendous job of taking what was already present in Andy’s character before he got the job and adapting it to his new role as manager.

His story with Darryl this week was one such example. Last season the main storyline between these two was their unlikely friendship. It makes sense then that Darryl would be somewhat jealous over Andy receiving the job he so coveted. And the writers hit all the right marks with that premise. Andy was charming and funny as he tried to cover for Darryl, Darryl was equally funny as he wallowed in his own self pity (taco basement anyone?), and when Andy finally set him straight in the episode’s finale it didn’t feel contrived or mean-spirited, just one friend setting another straight.

What I worry about though is that even though Andy seems to have gotten a reawakening, the rest of the cast has not. Last week I wondered why the writers continued to give us gimmicky plotlines like Kevin inventing a language when the show’s new setup had given them so much more material to work with. Well I think this episode shed some light on that answer. While Andy may have gotten a creative shot in the arm, the rest of the cast has not, and any storyline he isn’t in is bound to suffer.

The warehouse replacements in this episode are somewhat of a flawed example, but I think they still drive home the point. I actually found the storyline to be quite funny. Erin and Kevin we’re a surprisingly good comedic pair, especially when contrasted with Jim and Dwight. But with that said, all of them seemed to have turned into cartoon characters by the end of episode. Dwight crashing the forklift, definitely Erin and Kevin spreading grease on the floor, and the whole contraption at the end looked like something the Coyote would have set up to catch the Roadrunner. It worked this time, but it’s that kind of slow degradation of characters that has plagued The Office over the past few seasons, and that doesn’t exactly give me confidence for the future.

To the quotes:

ANDY: We’re losing cloud cover.
KELLY: Oh don’t try to get in on it now Michael Vick.
DARRYL: Hey, hey, hey! Vick did his time.

JIM: Stop, I’m a barista in your fantasy?

KELLY: I think I would keep working. And for my salary I guess I would take like a dollar a year. I mean obviously I wouldn’t come in ‘til noon and I wouldn’t do anything that I didn’t want to do... I mean I’m getting paid a dollar a year, okay. You can chill!

JIM: There’s gotta be a better way to do this. This is literally how they built the pyramids.
DWIGHT: Well they whipped people which was helpful.

ANDY: That’s what I love about interviewing. I get to meet all these people I wouldn’t ordinarily meet, or know, or even talk to.

And line of the night:

DARRYL: The guys did invite me out to celebrate, but I decided to just stay home... eat a bunch of tacos in my basement.
ANDY: You do have a fantastic basement.
DARRYL: I did... I did have a fantastic basement. Now it smells like tacos. You can’t air out a basement, and taco air is heavy. It settles at the lowest point.

Community – “Competitive Ecology” (A-)

“Offense taken... offense taken.”

It’s an odd phenomenon that I can really only tolerate in sitcoms, but for some reason I find irrational hatred incredibly funny. Jerry on Parks and Recreation is a good example. The Office used to have Michael and Toby. There’s just something inherently amusing about one-sided hostility, especially when generally normal characters start to get in on the action. I think it’s needless to say then that I quite enjoyed Todd’s addition to this episode.

I actually had to look up the poor guy’s name, but major credit is owed to David Neher for his portrayal of the oft under fire Todd. His laid back rendition of the character made all the hatred coming in his direction that much funnier. I hope he remains on as one of the colourful background characters this series is known for.

“Competitive Ecology” actually reminded me a lot of the bottle episode from last season. The majority of the episode was spent locked in the study room arguing over a topic that would keep the group there unless solved. With Pierce taking a much less villainous role on the series this year, I think one of the major themes of the season is going to be the study group’s need to find a scapegoat. I mean I may be looking into it a little too deeply, but the way they came together at the end by blaming Todd for their problems seems to indicate something in that direction.

The other storyline in this episode, Chang’s film noir, was almost equally entertaining. I mean we’ve known Chang has been crazy pretty much since the day we met him, but if you ever wondered what actually goes on in his head this was the episode to watch. And man is that guy is insane. The storyline was brilliantly stylized though, capturing the film noir genre perfectly. I think Chang’s monologues were just the right amount of stupid to be funny.

Alright, now for my favourite lines:

JEFF: Hey Dean, what are you doing?
DEAN PELTON: Nothing after lunch, and I can skip lunch if you want to... oh, that.

CHANG: She was all dame. Legs that went all the way to the bottom of her torso, the kind of arms that had elbows...

CHANG: I had to get some answers, and I needed answers like a fish needs a bicycle... a lot.

SHIRLEY: How could you guys hate me more than Pierce, or anything more than Pierce.
PIERCE: Thin ice Shirley. My friends and I are NOT gonna let you drive a wedge between us.

ANNIE: Who the hell are you always texting, everyone you know is here.

BRITA: If loving worms is stupid I don’t want to be smart.
ANNIE: It is and you can’t be.

JEFF: Guys I just figured it all out.
TROY: Pierce, wake up! Jeff is gonna heal us.

And line of the night:

JEFF: So it’s agreed. Let’s go to the study room and deal with this Todd problem once and for all.

Parks and Recreation – “Born & Raised” (A-)

“Leslie Knope: Author, Liar”

This isn’t fact or anything – I haven’t really done the leg work – but it seems like every time Joan Callamezzo makes an appearance on this show we end up getting a good episode. Maybe it’s her, or maybe it’s just because every storyline that requires a stop by Pawnee Today tends to have something going for it, but either way I feel like there’s a lot of truth to that hypothesis. The gay penguin episode, the media blitz for the harvest festival – there’s some sort of positive correlation between her appearances on the show and episodes that stick with me. This week gave us the gotcha dancers, a Pawnee book club, and most notable of all, our first look inside Joan’s house. Let’s just say it was hard to look away.

I’ve started to notice the writers are pairing Ben and Tom together a lot lately. It’s a not a bad idea – the two of them together have great chemistry – I’m just wondering if maybe part of the reasoning is that the writers don’t want Leslie and Ben paired with each other too soon after the break up. I think eventually there’s going to be a storyline this season where the two of them start finding it difficult to stay apart, but I like the decision to give them a little space. It lets Leslie work on her campaign and it’s sort of allowed Ben to break out of his own shell a little bit. He was quite funny in this episode. He has his own particular brand of humour and if you pair him with the right character he can generate a lot of good lines.

It was also nice to see Bert Macklin back in this episode. Chris Pratt is the master of physical comedy, so having Andy act as Leslie’s bodyguard was pretty much the perfect situation for him to show off that skill. I loved the sequence where he decided he was going to steal Leslie’s birth certificate for her. Listening to him explain how he took a briefcase as a panic move made me laugh out loud.

Chris actually had a pretty good week as well. He was just sort of a tag along to Leslie’s storyline but he added some great comic relief. My two favourite Chris moments were when he started singing along to the gotcha dancer’s song and when he happily waved goodbye to the raucous crowd at Leslie’s book signing. What a great character he’s turned out to be.

As for Ann, Ron, and April, I actually really liked their storyline even if I didn’t totally buy the premise. Ann’s desperate need for small talk seemed a little forced and I think it said a little bit more about her character than the writers intended it to. Most emotionally healthy adults wouldn’t be that desperate for the approval of two people who clearly don’t want to get to know her.

But what really saved the storyline is the great rapport between Ron and April. They’re two very different characters and yet they always seem to know just what the other is thinking, and their respect for each other is fun to watch. I liked Ron’s casual little smile after April called him by the wrong name.

Now for my favourite lines (there are a lot):

LESLIE: I wrote it as a reference for myself but then my campaign advisor said we should make it a big wide release. So we had people contribute and we added pictures and we removed a lot of my poems and emotional ramblings and pictures of unicorns and here it is!

RADIO MODERATOR: Leslie, could one say that a book is nothing more than a painting of words which are the notes on the tapestry of the greatest film ever sculpted?

RON: Usually I only read nautical novels and my own personal manifestos, but I’m proud to make this exception.

LESLIE: The rest of you call me as soon as you find the mistake that does not exist.

BEN: Wow you guys are really cute together.
TOM: Ben, I’m cute together with everybody.

JOAN CALLAMEZZO: After the break, where is Leslie Knope actually born? We will pull out the world map and speculate wildly.

TOM: You’re the one that told me businesses need clients to get money.
BEN: I was the first one who told you that?

BEN: Is she gonna powder her vagina?

LESLIE: Thirteen percent think I’m crazy eyed?

RON: Ann was getting a little chummy. When people get too chummy with me I like to call them by the wrong name to let them know I don’t really care about them.

And line of the night:

TOM: At the risk of bragging, one of the things I’m best at is riding coattails. Behind every successful man is me, smiling and taking partial credit.

Song(s) of the week

This week’s pick:

“Contrails” and “Trouble Hunters” by Astronautalis (Contrails feat. Tegan Quin)

Where I found Astronautalis: A few years back this guy went on tour with Tegan and Sara and I quietly filed him away in my bands to listen to file. Then, and this is where the story really turns, I found out he had another album coming out and I listened to it. Yeah...

With all the indie music I throw out on this blog I know it must seem like it’s the only thing I listen to, but I can assure you that couldn’t be further from the truth. I mean, this guy’s a rapper, so... pretty much got you there. Although, I guess he did get Tegan from Tegan and Sara to sing the hook. Dammit!

What I like: This guy has great, capital G great... so Great, lyrics. And on top of that he’s a master of the hook. I’ve had “Trouble Hunters” stuck in my head for over two years.

Contrails - Astronautalis feat. Tegan Quin


Trouble Hunters - Astronautalis

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.