The Big Bang Theory: The Date Night Variable

So normally on Thursdays I want to just focus on the NBC shows and the FX shows. However, because I’ve had the misfortune of being a Dish owner, I do not get to watch NBC. That’s not a typo. Dish has blocked out NBC for over a month now because they can’t reach an agreement for a new contract with my local affiliate. So that, on top being without AMC for the same reasons, is why as soon my contract is up I will never be a Dish customer again. So the current fill-in for tonight will be Big Bang Theory.

Big Bang Theory: The Date Night Variable

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Big Bang Theory. I watched the entirety of the first two seasons a few years ago and any episode I’ve seen after that has just been a random one and I couldn’t tell you where it was in the story or what season it belonged to.

That’s why I’m going to sound a bit ignorant here because I’m a little confused about what’s transpired lately. The two biggest revelations for me are that Howard’s in space and married to Bernadette and Leonard proposed to Penny and was rejected. I think BBT would do themselves a favor by just putting Sheldon and Penny together at this point and let watch how their relationship moves forward. This episode was a pretty decent premiere and I always enjoy Sheldon trying to grasp the concept of how to act towards people, especially his girlfriend.

I do think that Big Bang Theory is very good at being what it is: lots of obvious jokes and using their well-established characters to set them up. That’s why I think it’s one of the truest pure sitcoms on television, but there’s never anything super exciting that’s going to happen. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s pretty much the same formula that Friends used to use and that’s one of my favorite shows of all time. But because there isn’t much in-depth story or character work, it makes reviews of the show hard because there isn’t much to talk about.

I really need a catch-up NBC day which I might take this weekend. If I do I’ll cover Parks and Recreation and The Office for sure. If I have time I’ll try and hit some of the following: Revolution, Go On, The New Normal, Animal Practice, Guys with Kids, and SNL.

Comments are certainly welcome, whether they are for agreement, disagreement, or indifference

Reviews: Modern Family and The Neighbors

Modern Family: Bringing Up Baby

Modern Family is kicking off its fourth season and another Emmy win,(*) and the family is going to be getting even bigger when Gloria gives birth to her and Jays’ new baby. Was the 9 month jump at the end a tease for the end of season or we just glossing over a year? I’m guessing the latter based on Dylan moving out at the end but I would loved to see him living with the Dunphy’s for an entire year.

(*) Really Emmy voters? I’m sorry but there is no way Modern Family was the best comedy last year. In fact, after a quick run-through in my head, it wasn’t even in the top ten. Just because you gave them one Emmy, it doesn’t entitle them to the rest of the Emmy’s for the rest of time.

At this point in its run we know what Modern Family is going to give us every week: Phil acting immature, a funny sight gag revealed after the camera pans back to see the whole picture, and the mushy-gushy family moment at the end to tie it all together. It’s a formula that keeps the show very consistent and results in few laughs every week. But, we’re never going to have that great, surprisingly awesome episode of Modern Family and for that reason I don’t understand its’ Emmy justification.

Some other thoughts and funny moments:

• “Can we name him Larry?”
• “Sort of a Jon Hamm in-between projects beard.”
• Does anyone else find it weird that the actor who plays Manny hasn’t grown in four years?
• The stuffed animal scenes with Mitch and Cam would have been funnier if it made any sense whatsoever why they didn’t just put them in their trunk.
• I love how Dylan’s cousin is also named Dylan.

The Neighbors

What was that? Is this a pilot for a show that ABC had developed to sandwich in-between former primetime sitcoms Full House and Step by Step? Okay I don’t actually mean that. Those shows had more cleverness to them than whatever the heck this was. I had to actually rewind one scene four times to make sure I correctly heard one of the characters say: “Oh dear. I’m afraid our little dick may have exposed himself again.”

The premise of the show is that a normal suburban family has found the neighbors in their new community to be none other than aliens! What a crazy and hilarious premise!  It’s revealed to our heroes early on that these very strange neighbors are in fact visitors from another planet. And while they’re freaked out at first, they quickly realize that although they may not be the same race, they have the same kind of family problems. Awww.

My “favorite” moments:

•  “God, please make the neighbors normal” – says the Dad before they move into their new home.
• All of the aliens have named themselves after famous athletes: Larry Bird, Reggie Jackson, and of course Dick Butkus.
• “Definitely European” – Dad trying to explain all the weird behavior before finding out they’re aliens.

I have a feeling that actual aliens wouldn’t violate a human they abducted nearly as much as ABC and the creators of The Neighbors just did to the viewing public. I’d try to give suggestions here for show improvements, but it would basically boil down to me creating a completely new show because there was absolutely nothing salvageable here. Can’t wait to see who gets cancelled first between this and Partners over on CBS.

Comments are certainly welcome, whether they are for agreement, disagreement, or indifference.

The new Fox Bloc: Ben and Kate, The Mindy Project

Ben and Kate Plus Eight

The new FOX sitcom about Ben and Kate fortunately (unfortunately?) does not also revolve around the lives of 6 toddlers and two self-entitled twin sisters.  Instead we have the brother and sister duo of Ben and Kate and Kate’s daughter (just the one child here).  The cast is really solid here; I’ve liked Dakota Johnson, Nat Faxon, and Lucy Punch in the movie roles I’ve seen them in so they definitely have the potential to be a good small screen ensemble.

I’m kind of having a hard time putting my finger on the show though. The storyline in this first episode was far from excellent and it just seemed like it’s been done elsewhere before, often more successfully, and I’ve never been a fan of the group “let’s all jump into the pool” thing. I do like the characters of Ben and Kate off the bat, their friends definitely did do it for me in the premiere though. But it’s only one episode, and recently we’ve seen it took New Girl and Happy Endings a little while to find their footing and now they’re consistently two of the funniest shows on television. So what I’m basically saying is Ben and Kate have bought themselves at least 4 or 5 episodes for me to watch no questions asked.

Also, what are the chances A-Ha’s “Take on Me” gets played in New Girl and this on the same premiere night?

The Mindy Project

I’d say Mindy Kaling was able to jump ship just in time on The Office, but Steve Carell was really the only one who truly got out while the getting was good. But at least she was able to get on the last lifeboat while she could and now Kelly Kapoor has got her very own show and is even on a different network than her stomping grounds over in Scranton, PA.

I really enjoyed the pilot and I can see why Fox picked it up as compliment to New Girl. It’s pretty rare that a show does such a good job of introducing its characters in the pilot episode, with the exception of Stephen Tobolowsky’s character, but he’s such a pro that it’s easy to accept him as a great addition to anything he’s cast in.

I got the sense that this is the show Mindy Kaling had kept in her writing journal for many a year and has had plenty of time to perfect all of the dialogue and story into what she deemed would be an excellent half hour of television. Not to mention the episode was aided from on screen guest stars Ed Helms and Bill Hader who clearly don’t have the time in their schedules to be recurring characters. So I’m hoping this isn’t one of those shows that used all of its best ideas early and then ends up stumbling after a fast start.

Also, was there must an order from the Fox executives that all new sitcoms are required to have at least one British character on their shows? Among the new comedies I’ve seen this far, Mindy had by far the best pilot and I can’t wait to see where she goes from here.

Comments are certainly welcome, whether they are for agreement, disagreement, or indifference.

New Girl: Double the Deschanel, Double the Fun

New Girl returned tonight with two new episodes, which is very exciting because it was far and away my favorite new comedy from last season, especially after it really tapped into all of their characters comedic strengths around episode of 8 or 9 of last season.

Episode 1: Re-launch

And tonight’s premiere kept the momentum going and then some. I really love that the gang is back together and, like the title of the episode suggests, they are re-launching themselves. Schmidt has returned to full health and Jess is going to have to find some new ways to keep busy/ make a living, a great idea for storylines going forward. Nick is his same old crazy self, spouting out weird phrases and crazy ideas like it’s his job. This episode was pretty Winston light, but he made the most of his screen time while drinking his delicious fruity drink.

Really happy with the guest stars in the episode too. I think I could listen to Parker Posey tell people that they’re a bunch of stupid jerks on a loop for a solid 17 straight minutes. And Nelson Franklin being the blandest good guy in the world was hilarious, hope we get more of him in the future.

Some of my favorite parts:

• Nick explaining to Jess that their apartment isn’t a fancy hotel which is why she can’t run the sink while someone is taking a shower
• Schmidt blaming Obama for Jess getting laid off
• “When did gum get so fancy?” – Jess mocking Nick being a grumpy old man

Episode 2: Katie

I don’t think I ever lost a grin during the duration of this episode. Everything about Nick freaking out about the possibility of time travel was amazing. The Schmidt/Winston story was a little weaker but it had it’s moments. Also, the spectacular guest starrage continued into the second episode. David Walton as the CupidMatch guy was fantastic, “I’m going to grab a couple of brunches.” And then Josh Gad as Bearclaw was the perfect amount of weird and pathetic.

Some of my favorite parts:

• The Schmidt “douche-bag” jar is still taking donations.
• “I know you didn’t shower today” – Old Nick “Well good guess it’s a Wednesday” – Nick
• “Don’t say all that weird stuff and leave!”
• Z is for Zombie
• “Why are nothing but your breasts covered? Are you a doctor?”

Great start to the season thus far for New Girl, looks like we could be in store for an absolutely wonderful season.

Comments are certainly welcome, whether they are for agreement, disagreement, or indifference.

Reviews: How I Met Your Mother and Partners

The Emmys are over and even though there are so many fantastic shows that now exist outside of the four major networks, and some shows have already started their yearly runs, the 2012 television officially starts tonight and this guy is certainly excited.

How I Met Your Mother

Leading off my viewing season is the eight year veteran How I Met Your Mother. For a show that was a perennial all star for its first 5 seasons(*) it has really been a shell of its former self during the last two years. From what Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris are saying, it sure sounds like this is indeed going to be the final season of HIMYM so hopefully the writers have one more great run in them to get us to a satisfying conclusion.

(*)Including HIMYM’s second season which is one of the all-time greats. In that season we got introduced to the Robin Sparkles single: “Let’s Go to the Mall,” a certain slap bet, Swarly, and Barney meeting his “father” Bob Barker on The Price is Right.

With that being said, tonight was far from being one of HIMYM’s finer outings. For a show that’s supposed to be a comedy, there were close to zero comedic moments in tonight’s episode. I’m not saying I have to be rolling on the floor laughing for 21 straight minutes, but there just wasn’t anything to even chuckle at; unless of course you find Barney and the current future but not really future Mrs. Stinson kinda sorta cheating on each other fresh off their engagement as comedic gold. Also, Marshall and Lily in their haze wasn’t especially funny the first time they used a Windows 97’ screensaver to represent their sleep deprivation, so I didn’t think it was necessary to try that flop over and over again. I did, however, enjoy Thomas Lennon as Victoria's fiance Klaus as well as the episodes' ending being scored with the fantastic Band of Horses song "The Funeral."

When I look back on this episode at the end of the season, hopefully it will fit better into the season as a whole. It’s entirely possible that the writers were less worried about comedy and much more concerned on setting up exactly how Barney and Robin will end up back together and how Ted will come to the realization (like we haven’t had this bulky idea shoved in our faces 50 times during the run of the series) that he just needs to wait for Mrs. Perfect.

I’ve seen every episode of HIMYM, most more than once, so I’m definitely not going to give up on it now and I’ll have a review of each episode throughout the season. Mrs. Mosby better be worth the wait!

Partners

Oh man. This new CBS show centers around two best friends, one who’s straight and who’s gay. So in typical CBS fashion for comedy they were able to make all of their characters ridiculously unfunny stereotypes and if you were to remove the laugh track it would be a show that’s borderline offensive to everyone. Humanity, as a whole, should be offended that this show makes it onto television. I just don’t understand why these CBS sitcoms get so many viewers while shows like Parks and Recreation and Community are lucky to scrape together enough viewers to field 5 on 5 basketball game.

The pilot for Partners wasn’t just bad because of its attempt to exploit stereotypes, but everything about it was totally unimaginative. The show is a blatant Will and Grace rip-off, with the exception of Grace being replaced by a straight guy and the extraction of anything humor related. The storylines of proposing and getting closer in their romantic relationships may have been okay 12 or 13 episodes into the series, but they expected us to automatically care about these characters and their love lives before we even really knew their names.

No second chance for Partners next week and unless I’m hearing a ton of internet buzz about the show in the future, I hope to never have to view this crap again.

Two Broke Girls & Mike and Molly

Didn't watch these shows considering I knew I'd get more laughs from listening to the ineptitude of John Gruden during Monday Night Football then I would from them.

Well I was kind of harsh tonight, usually I’m much more of a fanboy for television and I’m sure that will show in the future. Monday is kind of down night for television so HIMYM might be the only episode I blog about going forward for this day of the week. I still have to give Revolution a chance though as well as Mob Doctor(**). Tomorrow I’ll be reviewing the new Fox comedy block which includes two new episodes of New Girl (Yes!), and the two new shows Ben & Kate and The Mindy Project.

(**) Although, I do not like Mob’s prospects of me liking it considering: a) The name of show, come on FOX. And b) It stars Michael Rappaport. I’m not sure if that’s the correct spelling of his name, but considering he’s the worst actor person in the world, it’s not worth my time to look it up.

Comments are certainly welcome, whether they are for agreement, disagreement, or indifference.

Titles are Hard

Just a few random thoughts on a Wednesday afternoon.

• I'm glad the Orioles won last night, I really want to see them get into the playoffs along with Oakland. Also, I want Hollywood to make a Hardy Boys movie starring Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy and the great Tom Hardy. But while they're solving crimes J.J. has to be in his Orioles uniform and Tom in his full Bane getup. 

• I watched the movie Highlander for the first time last night and was not really impressed. Might be one of those movies you have to watch as a kid in order to really love it (I'm looking at you Princess Bride and Goonies). Not sure how I feel about this getting remade with Ryan Reynolds but I do think it has some potential.

• We're also at the start TV season! Although it doesn't return until January, the new promo for Cougar Town (don't judge me until you've seen it), has the cast singing about their return and has cameos from The Janitor from Scrubs, as well as the shows biggest fan Abed. Here's the link : http://www.vulture.com/2012/09/cougar-town-gets-a-premiere-date-catchy-song.html?mid=twitter_vulture

• I decided yesterday that if I should ever own three dogs at the same time in my life, their names will Ctrl, Alt, and Delete. I'll tell people to feel free to pet them individually, but not dare pet them all at the same time.

• Need a new book to start reading. I have plenty in my book queue but I'm trying to figure out what exactly I'm in the mood for. Might go with The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan per the suggestion of one of my friends.

• Bears @ Packers tomorrow. Can't remember a bigger week 2 game for the Bears during the tenure of my fandom.

Forced Writing

I really hate that it's come to this, but since I've been so abysmal about updating this blog I've decided I have no choice but to tell you about my day... Now this in no way will be a literary masterpiece but I really want to get some excess words out of my head and onto some digital paper. So let the flow of random thoughts and trivial events commence.

• I got to go see my new dentist today for a check-up, my old dentist disappeared mysteriously into the night (or may have changed the location of his office). I received a clear bill of health in the cavity department too, so all is well there.

• Today, I came to the realization that about three times a day I come to the realization, that I need to make a bold, risky, life-style-changing move. One of these days I'll have to follow up on that.

• I'm still looking for a job. About two weeks away from applying to the big golden arches.

• In about one month I'll be taking the LSAT. Never thought I'd be excited to take a test again, but this is also the first time in while I've felt relatively good heading into one.

• Netflix watches today: Hot Rod and Piranha (please don't judge me too much). I had never seen Hot Rod in its entirety and I definitely enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Piranha was exactly what I thought it would be so.... well done Piranha. Also, I watched The Five Year Engagement yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite its "chick-flicky" demeanor. 

• Despite being 23 years old, I can never spell the words "disappeared" or "piranha" on the first try.

Well that was better than nothing I suppose. Hopefully next time I'll have a slightly more inspired topic to blog about. Or I'll continue to do this semi-diary. I know we'll all be on the edge of our waiting seats for that decision.

My Fantasy Five

I recently competed in the Grantland fantasy writers contest where the top 10 entries were selected to be in a fantasy league and will compete throughout the season to become a fantasy writer. Since I wasn't selected for the top 10 (I'm pretty confident I was 11th), I figure I might as well post them on the very underused blog. So without further ado, here are my top five fantasy players for the 2012 season:

1. Arian Foster

Anyone who takes any running back ahead of Arian Foster has no intention of winning their league. Is Foster a bit of injury risk? Yes. But you’re not going to win your fantasy league playing it safe.  Not only is he the best running back based on a talent standpoint, but he also get two games against the Colts and two against the Jaguars. Those are 4 weeks you already won in fantasy if you have a healthy Arian on your team. When you combine the Texans schedule of opponents with the fact that they are no longer a prominent passing team by any means, it would be foolish to not take Foster with the number one overall pick.

2. Thomas Brady

Brady is hands down the number one quarterback. This is a guy who is coming off one of the best passing seasons in NFL history and his offensive weapons have improved? The addition of Brandon Lloyd makes coverage of the Patriots near impossible which may lead to them becoming the first team to ever go an entire season without a rushing attempt. Brady’s getting up there in age but until we see any sign of regression don’t concern yourself about it. Assuming a Gronkowski blow-dryer prank doesn’t go horribly awry, it’s going to be a near perfect season for the man named Brady.

3. LeSean McCoy

Remember when the Eagles were the next great dynasty in the NFL? Remember when we all thought no team could keep up with their offensive speed? Well some bad luck, poor coaching schemes, and stupid play contributed to the Eagles never getting off the ground in the first half of last season. But we certainly saw flashes of that offense that could be towards the end of last year, and the guy who was primarily behind those flashes was Shady McCoy. In terms of making guys miss in the open field, there is no one in the game better McCoy. He’s probably the safest player in the top five and I would expect almost identical numbers that we saw from him last year with a possible bump in receiving yards.

4. Drew Brees

Just about everything went wrong for the New Orleans Saints this season, which is why people are hesitant about touching Saints players this year. But with the exception of Coach Payton being suspended, is it possible that the other penalties will actually help out Brees? He’s always been the guy playing with a chip on his shoulder so he’ll certainly be looking to show the world that these setbacks aren’t going to hinder his season. Also, with some of their key defensive players on the shelf there’s a good chance the Saints will have to be throwing more to stay in games. The loss of Robert Meachem hurts, but as long as he still has Graham, Colston, and Sproles, we’ll be seeing another big fantasy year from Drew.

5. Julio Jones

Mark your calendars for September 4, 2012 because that is the last day for a long time that Julio Jones gets drafted out of the first two rounds for fantasy. He’s part of the group of freakishly athletic wide receivers that seem to be plaguing the NFL these days and he’s only coming off of his rookie year. The Falcons have a pretty favorable schedule for opposing defenses and their running game isn’t what it used to be which could lead to increased passing attempts. Now that he starts to develop a better understanding of route running and NFL defenses, I see a big breakout year coming.

Sleeper: Danny Amendola

I absolutely love Amendola, especially if you find yourself in a PPR league. It was only a year ago that we thought Sam Bradford was on his way to being the next elite quarterback until injuries to both himself and the entire Rams team plagued them throughout last season. Amendola is coming off of his own triceps injury, but it happened in week one so he’s had plenty of time to recover. He’s going to be Bradford’s favorite target and will get a lot of looks, including in the red zone. Plus, don’t you always feel good about yourself for giving the short, plucky guy a chance?