Dads: ‘Pilot’

It’s easy to look at a show like Dads and attack it for its racist, sexist, and homophobic “jokes” along with choppy plot and a general un-funniness that ultimately puts this pilot into an elite echelon of putrid shit…. So let’s just do that.

Oftentimes comedies take a while to develop, it takes a while to smooth out a character around the edges and figure out what works and what doesn’t in their world to make it funny and enjoyable. The most recent, and obvious, example of this is Parks and Recreation as it went from pretty bad to the best comedy on television. Even other great shows like 30 Rock and The Office are contextually hard to recognize in their first season compared to where they ended up. But with that being said, there’s no sugar coating a comedy of this ilk. Although Dads technically has no place to go but up, it’s easy to imagine that what got thrown out there in the pilot was what they wanted it to be.

The show stars Seth Green (Eli) and Giovanni Ribisi (Walden) as a couple of friends/video game moguls who seemingly have their lives figured out and are generally happy with the exception of each their Dad’s, Peter Riegert as Green’s father and Martin Mull as Ribisi’s, who are forced to live with their sons because of economic hardships. What they aren’t forced to do, however; is act like a couple a misogynistic, xenophobes who are leeches to both their sons and society as a whole which is what this show unfortunately leans upon for laughs.

What makes this show truly awful is how lazy the whole thing felt. In terms of jokes, the writers must have essentially made a checklist of one-liners to zing out every minority group they can think of and exploit stereotypes associated with them all. At one point Ribisi’s character is playing video games and his father enters the room to ask him “whatcha playing? Punch the Puerto Rican?” Zero set-up, zero payoff. We’re not even sure he’s playing a fighting game.  The only joke that was purely a stand-alone, original one was based off the fact that neither of the father’s would want to pick-up the check. The writers must have thought this “gem” was so hilarious that it deserved not only Eli and Walden discussing techniques both of their fathers have used in the past to get out of paying for a check, but also a visual component to accompany it as we witness said practices play out when the Dads are at a diner. Apparently this diner doesn’t allow for splitting a check?

But hey, maybe this show redeems itself by representing women well. Oh… it’s the exact opposite of positive portrayals of women? Well, can’t say that wasn’t expected. In the first scene we see Eli’s girlfriend she has just woken up after his father ruins the surprise of the birthday she was throwing for him. Eli tells her: “I hate surprise parties. You’re a terrible girlfriend.” Yup. This beautiful woman tries to do something nice for her schlubby boyfriend and instead of fighting back she just bows down to him because he is man and man is right. This scene was only to be topped later on when Eli and Walden insist that Brenda Song’s character who works for them, put on a Sailor Moon type schoolgirl uniform to impress their potential Asian clients. Able to check off a couple of boxes there, huh guys?

Hopefully this won’t fall into the mold of Two and a Half Men where American viewers simply watch because it seems familiar to them and they don’t have to put any thought into the idiotic humor that ensues. Of course we’ll probably get 29 seasons where by the end Green and Ribisi are now the obnoxious, racist fathers who are forced to live with their kids after their Dad’s sucked them dry. Come on FOX, what are you doing here?

Other moments of note:

• In a show where many things are “off” the theme song seemed particulary out of place. I was waiting for it to shift into goofy shenanigans or something along those lines but it stays steady as a sweet song about sons and fathers. Whatever.
• Sad to see Dan Castellaneta (voice of Homer Simpson) attached to this in any way, and in the opening scene no less as Green tells him to act more wizard-like. He must have been doing a favor for someone.
• Not one, but two cancer jokes.  Riegert has a “say yes to breast cancer” bag that he got cheap because of the typo and we find out he faked Green’s character had cancer as a kid in order for him to get a free lunch with Goofy.
• I think what bothers me most is that Seth Green’s character has an upstairs but he puts his bed right off of the living room. So impractical.

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.

Breaking Bad: ‘Ozymandias’

Walt at the end of his rope.

Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

I think it says a lot about a show when you have no idea how to begin discussing what you just witnessed. There are no words that initially come into one’s brain after watching something that makes you simultaneously feel glee, hate, nausea, twisted comedy, and guilt. That’s what ‘Ozymandias’ did. That’s what 6 years of fantastic story-telling was able to build towards. Brilliance.

So instead of delving directly into what transpired, let’s first examine the sonnet that gave this episode its name. ‘Ozymandias’ was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and initially published in 1818. The poem fits, beyond perfectly, for this episode as it represents stories we’ve seen throughout history, both real and fictional, about kings and empires who are unstoppable forces at their peaks and revered throughout all the lands. However, every empire falls and their king falls down with them, leaving nothing behind but ruins of what they once were.

Which is why the first scene here takes us back to where it all began, their first cook. This was the first time Walt created his army that would topple over every other army the world had seen, coming in at 99.3% efficiency. The first time Walt had to deceive Skyler, back when lying was a difficult task for him. And it was a time when Walt thought his aspirations of domination would be short-lived and not even require any causalities. Just a guy and his former student sticking it to “the man” to make a quick buck and pay for some medical expenses.

Oh how naïve we all were.

When it rains, it pours in the world of Breaking Bad and Walter White’s meth empire/life are crumbling at exponential rates here. There is no beating around the bush with the standoff, we overhear the sound of bullets being exchanged as we fade in and Gomie is already laying dead and Hank has been shot in the leg, out of ammo in his gun. Hank is done. He knows it, Uncle Jack knows it, Walt doesn’t. In a beautiful escalation of bad-ass word play, Hank comes to terms with the fact that Uncle Jack decided that he was dead long before Walt offered money in exchange for his life(*). The job Dean Norris was able to do with this character was incredible. Hank Schraeder started out as a one-dimensional, comic relief type who was there to help move along slower moments. As the series progressed, though, the writers discovered his acting talents and fully embraced them by sending this guy to hell and back, and hell again. In order for Breaking Bad to work the way it has, it needed everything to come together in terms of acting, writing, and directing; but getting Dean Norris for as cheap as they did went a long way to developing this story and he will surely be missed with just two episodes to go.

(*) I don’t think Walt was thinking this at the time but if Uncle Jack had actually accepted that deal to take all of Walt’s money and leave Hank alone it would have solved his problem with Hank too because that was Hank’s only evidence against him. But that was, of course, far from the actual result.

And all of this transpires within the first 8 minutes. The moment Uncle Jack pulls the trigger Walt’s life officially falls apart. The Nazis have taken everything from him: his family, his money, and any hopes or justifications he had left of being a “clean drug dealer” where no one really has to get hurt. With nothing left to lose Walt’s immediate response is vengeance. Since there’s nothing he can do at this stage to take action on those truly responsible for Hank’s death, he figures the next best thing is to get back at Jesse for bringing them all here in the first place. Before Uncle Jack can put another one of our friends in the ground, though, Todd quickly remembers that it’s possible Jesse may have told the DEA about their little operation and advises Uncle Jack that they kill him after he tortures some information out of him(**). Walt goes along with this plan, which is contrary to his original request last week when he insisted that Jesse not receive any pain, but prior to Jesse being dragged away for good he can’t help but twist the knife he’s already plunged into his former protégé. “I watched Jane die” he coldly tells Jesse. Man, you got to hand it to Breaking Bad, no plot or character is wasted and every loose end is tied up, in this case in a devastating manor as Walt tells Jesse the truth purely out of spite.

(**) I wonder if Todd figured out immediately that Jesse could cook for them or if his initial reaction was to simply get a nice torturing out of this. I don’t know how they continually make us feel worse and worse for Jesse but I have to assume that him being bludgeoned by a psychopath and forced to cook meth while being locked to a factory hook is officially the lowest this poor character will fall. Is there any salvation for Jesse at this point?

While Walt is busy sending his “adopted” son to his death, his actual son is in the middle of having his world completely shattered as Skyler and Marie begin to tell him about the horrific deeds his father has committed. After questioning his Mom’s moral compass in all of this as well, Walt Jr. and Skyler return home with baby Holly and to their astonishment Walt is loading up an old pick-up truck telling them they have to leave immediately. Skyler, now an expert at knowing when Walt is feeding them bullshit, quickly deduces that something is seriously wrong for Hank not to have him in custody. This begins a chain reaction I like to refer to as: “Breaking Bad wins everything”. Skyler has two choices sitting on her kitchen counter: one is a phone to call the police on him, the other a carving knife. She knows that anything that would allow Walt any more opportunities to talk may just dig her family into an even deeper hole so she decides to finally take action into her own hands and pulls a knife on the man she once knew as her husband.

During the Walt/Skyler/Walt Jr. fight the rest of the world stopped. I don’t think I would have noticed Miley Cyrus crashing through my wall on a wrecking ball during that three minute sequence. A man at the peak of desperation begs an answer to the question: “what the hell is wrong with you? We’re a family.” He’s oblivious to the fact that he’s poisoned his loved one’s lives too much for them to consider him family anymore. His perfectly calculated life went by the wayside the moment he picked up that phone out in the desert to tell his wife that his boss “was forcing him to stay late.” The only person who he cares about, who could still potentially love him again, is his 18 month year-old daughter, Holly. He doesn’t have an end-game when he grabs her; there was no elaborate plan to use her to bail him out of this situation. It was literally his last move he had left before he had to yield to defeat.

Do those desert pants look familiar?

There’s no denying that Walter White is truly a monster. Before Hank is executed he tells Walt that he’s “the smartest guy he ever met,” which makes it that much worse that he’s used his gifted intelligence to ruin so many lives, especially his own. There’s really no redemption for Walt at this point. With two episodes to go all he can do is get vengeance and do what he can to not make things worse for the people he cares about. After Holly so tragically asks for her Mama in the changing room Walt accept that he lost. In what has been his first selfless act in quite some time he calls Skyler, fully anticipating that their phone call will be overheard by the police, and makes it very clear that she had no knowledge of any of his criminal activity and he forced her to cooperate. She catches on about midway through and tells him “I’m sorry,” possibly the only part of that conversation that wasn’t an act. And boy, this episode removed any doubt of who will win best lead actor and actress at the Emmy’s next year.

The episode ends with Walt being picked up by Saul’s guy who will give him a new identity and a new life. I wonder if the start of the penultimate will pick-up where the flash-forward left off, or if there is some more filler story to tell before we get to machine guns and ricin pills. Two hours left, brace yourselves.

Other moments of note:

• In the midst of all the other things going on here it’s easy to overlook how awful this must be for poor Walt Jr. In a matter of a couple of hours he learns that his father is the kingpin drug dealer of the Southwest, that his mother knew this whole time, that his uncle has died because of his father, and has to stand by helplessly when his mother attacks his father with a knife. Oh and then his Dad abducts his baby sister for a little icing on his misery cake. This kid is going to need some serious therapy.
• Well, at least Uncle Jack was nice enough to give Walt one barrel. Weird that $11 million dollars is a “small” token for destroying what was left of his life.
• “Flynn. Could you put your seat belt on please?”
• Rian Johnson directed this masterpiece and there were two fantastic parts of the episode that only showed up on screen for a second. The first was Walt’s pants that he lost in the very first episode as they flew off the RV were lying in the desert as he pushed his barrel through it. The second was the firemen playing chess right before he alerted them that Holly was there. The “white” pieces were about to lose as all they had left were a couple of pawns (his family), a knight (Jesse) and, of course, the king.

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome. 

The Million Second Quiz: ‘Day One’

It’s the first installment of NBC’s new game show The Million Second Quiz in which contestants are tasked with answering trivia questions, head-to-head, in a hour glass shaped structure placed in the middle of New York City. At least they’re not going too overboard… It’s hosted by our lord and savior Ryan Seacrest who, apparently, has become one step closer to world domination with his new title of ”game show host.”

The show begins with Lord Ryan explain the basics of the game, who can compete, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then we get to enter the world of the ‘elite four’… or something like that. The official title is ‘Winner’s Row’ where the top four money winners essentially live at ove the course of the show. Ryan shows us where they sleep, eat, Google chat to family members; but where do they pee Ryan? WHERE DO THEY PEE!?

By the way, NBC would like to remind viewers that portions are pre-recorded. This could come into play later. But I highly doubt it.

Barry Lander is the first challenger and I would like to remind all of our semi-illeterate fans that this he not to be mistaken with Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders. Ryan asks what has made his marriage so successful and, oh, we get marriage advice too from this game too!? What more could America ask for?

So the guy in the chair is essentially hoping for Seacrest to stall?

Okay everyone, here the answers to the first ‘bout’ with Barry and Brandon; please decipher your own conspiracy theories based off of them: Mea Culpa, Cocoa Puffs, Peyton Manning…love these questions so far…. Cub (presented by Blake Shelton), FE Man, Hoda Kotb, Germany, Iowa (shocker), knaidel, Indian Ocean. Holy cow, Bandon defeats Barry 19 to 11. What an upset! A 19 year old takes down a 143 year old! Despite having over a century’s worth of experience over Brandon, Barry could not take him down in the realm of trivia.

Do you think players are banned from saying ‘final answer’? Ryan would haaaaate that. In-between bouts we get a short documentary on Genie Spooler who seems to be a true ground-breaker. She was the first one into winner’s row but it didn’t last very long as other contestants quickly accumulated more winnings than her.

Now we're being introduced to the idea of "line jumpers". Some lady named Leigh has won the “line jumper” position on the show because she has a smart phone and can download the show’s app onto it. Leigh vs Brandon: (Oh! And it looks like the doubler can be used as many times as they like? Wow, game-changer.) Answers: Sideburns, Medusa, Carrie Underwood (presented by Heidi Klum), Sex and the City, Kate Upton, Tokyo, Insect fragments, Riddick, 33, commander, Berry Gordy… And Brandon wins again! Break up the Rays!

Love how the show didn’t account for wind, Seacrest is another 2 mph of wind gust from being blown away.

Scott Haws is a local newscaster who is tasked with going to a contestants home and asking them to join the show. Man I really hope no one is home… But Teresa is! And she even has a handicapped daughter? Omg she’s definitely got America rooting for her. Mother of 8 no less…

Now Brandon is about to surpass one of the top four in Winner’s Row so enjoy your stardom while it lasts, Carolyn... Okay something weird happened here where a random top 4 player got picked to compete, but he sent Carolyn out there anyway so it all worked out. I think?

Carolyn vs. Brandon: Life of Pi, Milan, Alec Baldwin, Steve Higgins (presented by Jimmy Fallon), Throwback Thursday (thankfully never heard of it), $0 (sexist society keeping Michelle Obama from a paycheck), Dumpster Diving Divas, Bruno Mars, Proves it’s not a cherry, Dora Marquez, largest underwater volcano, Golden Gate Bridge, and 100 zeros in a googol for the win!

In spectacular fashion Brandon takes it all and catapults himself into first place! Wow. Say what you will about this game show/hour of television; but I will, without a doubt, defend it for its utter lack of risk and commitment to the mundane while disguising it as an intense live-event coverage. Ratings gold! Also, all hale Ryan Seacrest.

What did everyone else think? Your comments are always welcome. 

Breaking Bad: ‘Confessions’

"Why don’t you just kill yourself?” – Marie Schrader

“He really did a number on you, didn’t he?” – Hank Schrader

Here’s a confession: I’m going to cry when Breaking Bad ends in 5 weeks. The attempt at a rare “perfect season” is still intact as we’re now three episodes in and have seen three masterpieces of television. Just when we thought that maybe this episode would be a bit of a breather for us after last week’s teaser had Hank going in to approach Jesse, presuming a long conversation between the two of them on the inner workings of the Heisenberg empire would cover 15 minutes worth of story, was instead reduced to Hank striking out in a matter of seconds before Saul Goodman busts up his party. Or possibly we would be privy to some tactical planning between all the parties involved before we hit any action sequences. Or heck maybe even Badger would come by and explain his theory about what really happened at Stonehenge.

But it seems that what Breaking Bad has intended for this final eight is to give at least a dozen people a heart attack before it’s all said and done by throwing one more intense scene at us after another. That’s how truly evil Walter White has become, he's actually affecting the health of people in the real world with this insanely awesome meth ride we’ve all been strapped into, with the final leg of this crystal blue coaster hidden from sight where literally anything can happen. Which makes the anticipation truly terrifying. It’s disturbing to be rooting for a guy that is continually one-upping himself in horrific acts time after time and it starts to bring into question our ability to empathize with the good in humanity. And yet here we are.

Watching Walt’s “confession” tape was gut wrenching. The looks on Hank and Marie’s faces were as shell-shocked as if they had gone to a Mexican restaurant and weren’t offered some table-side guacamole(*). The greatest part (worst part?) about that tape was how many elements were essentially true and could be almost impossible for Hank to argue otherwise. And kudos the show for having the tape be grainy and ominous making the situation seem that much more frightening for Hank, Marie, and all of us watching it. Put another notch in the “Dean Norris better get nominated for a supporting actor” column for this one, the devastation that he expressed when he found out Marie had accepted $177,000 to pay for his medical expenses really made it feel like Walt had knocked him out for good on this one.

(*)How hilarious was that scene in the restaurant between Hank, Walt, the Lambert sisters and Trent the interrupting waiter? I can only hope that Hank and Marie stuck around to try some of that guacamole so they had one final moment of enjoyment before witnessing the message from hell.

And while everything that transpired here between Walt and Hank would have justified this episode to be fantastic, it wasn’t even the most exhilarating part as Jesse finally gets to speak for the first time in what seems like a year. First, Walt tries one more time to play the protective father card on Jesse but as we saw in this season’s opener Jesse has become immune to his conniving ways and finally calls him out for it suggesting that if he doesn’t agree to disappear that Walt will shoot him just as he did Mike beforehand. And let’s just hope for Jesse’s sake that his new found anti-Walt-BS-meter won’t be his downfall. I’m not sure what to make of the Walt Jesse hug. Whether if it occurred because Walt truly does feel a little bad for what he’s put this poor kid through or if it was just him adapting to Jesse not believing his words anymore. Also, was Jesse crying because he knows Walt will never stop working him or because he finally just needed to break down and let it all out?

Either way, Jesse ultimately agrees to take advantage of Saul’s guy that makes people disappear by giving them new identities and even settles on Alaska as his destination of choice(**). But when Jess busts out some dope in Saul’s office prior to getting picked up, Saul has Huell pull the old switcheroo once again and swaps out the weed for a pack of cigarettes. Then finally, after tons of searching, Jesse finds that final puzzle piece and the picture of how Brock got poisoned is clear in its full entirety. And that’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. Jesse rightfully goes into a full on rage mode with the intent to put down this monster that has wreaked havoc on so many, maybe no one more so than him. First he delivers a well-deserved beating to Saul Goodman before grabbing Saul’s gun and having the episode end on a cliffhanger with him throwing gasoline all over the White residence. Based on the flash-forwards we’ve seen this season it appears that the house is absent of any kind of fire damage but even if a match is never lit, it’s still a great “what the heck is going to happen” next moment for an episode to end on.

(**) Eskimos bitch!

Other moments of note:

• Theory Time: Since the house doesn’t burn down something, or someone is going to have to prevent Jesse from doing it. Based on the fact that there are five episodes left I don’t think it will be Walt because I don’t think the show would kill off Jesse with 4 full episodes left (although who knows at this rate) and considering the frame of mind of the two characters right now there would almost certainly be a fatality coming out of that confrontation. So I’m guessing Walt Jr. comes waltzing into the house right before Jesse is about to put it up in flames, thus leading to Jesse freaking out at the idea of another innocent person getting hurt and simply give Junior a message saying that “his Dad’s days are numbered” or something along those lines, opening the door for Junior to lose his appetite for breakfast after discovering his Dad’s secret life.
• Really great opening scene with Todd and his outlaw family enjoying a little breakfast at the Route 66 Diner. The cinematography of the scene was really fun (and very Tarantino-esque) and did a great job of whetting our appetites for what is to come between Walt and this rag-tag band of meth cookers. Also, funny how Todd left out a pretty pivotal part about the end of that train heist story…
• Very cool how the show continues to repeat actions of the past in very different contexts. This time it’s Walt stating at the beginning of his confession tape his full name and his address in the exact same way he did in the pilot when he thought he was going to be arrested by the police.
• “Oh Jesus. It’s always the desert.” – So true Saul. You have to appreciate that the best drama on television can make self-aware jokes about itself.
• That guy who works in Hank’s office has the coolest mustache of all time: http://www.newscastic.com/news/the-man-behind-that-breaking-bad-mustache-817728/

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.

Breaking Bad: ‘Blood Money’

"If that’s true, if you don’t know who I am, then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly.” – Walter White

Can any show, nay, any thing live up to hype it creates in the way that Breaking Bad can? It’s hard enough to be off the air for a year, get the pieces in place to set up the final act, and keep it exciting. But it’s a completely different league that Vince Gilligan and company are playing when in their 55^th hour they are able to produce one their finest segments to date. 'Blood Money' continued with the tradition that Breaking Bad has established in wowing the viewers and giving them exactly what they want before they even necessarily know what that is.

In so many ways this was a ‘greatest hits’ version of the show. We literally saw some of the highlights of Walt’s past as part of the very fun montage(*) that had Hank assembling all the evidence he ever had revolving around this mysterious and very dangerous Heisenberg character. Plus, we got to revisit many familiar scenes but with new context: the cancer returning for Walt, Jesse hitting rock bottom for a third time, Jesse being lied to by Walt for a five-hundred gagilionth time, and even one more silly Badger and Skinny Pete rant(**) to give Jesse something to zone-out to.

(*) Set to the song ‘Wordmule’ by Jim White: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fijzo90Wznc

(**) Which someone has already made an animated video of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZvMAKeaEyo  I think JJ Abrams just found his writer for Star Trek III.

I won’t go any further though without discussing what transpired in the final five or so minutes where Walt and Hank have a confrontation that’s been coming ever since Walt gave Jesse some money to buy an RV. The fallout of Hank’s new knowledge is obviously going to be a driving point for a large chunk of the season as he has to weigh the benefits of turning in the most wanted man in the drug business versus destroying his family and possibly career in order for a dying man to get his justice. Theory Time: Since we have flash forward footage of a decrepit White house with ‘Heisenberg’ graffiti  painted on it, it’s safe to assume Walter has been found out by the general public. If Hank wants to get solid evidence put on Walt, which would put him in this situation, it would certainly help his case to enlist someone who was there to witness it all… a Jesse Pinkman perhaps? And it’s certainly possible Walt would want a way of disposing of such a key witness and make sure it looks like an accident…. if only he had a poison capsule of some kind…

Speaking of Jesse, can we just all give this guy a collective hug? This now marks the third time his self-conscious has bottomed-out because of the actions brought on by his former high school chemistry teacher. First it was losing his girlfriend Jane because of Walt’s negligence, and then it was after he was forced to shoot Gale Boetticher to save them, and of course now it’s the current guilt of living with the fact that Todd

shot down a kid because he was a witness to their crime. So when Walt comes back into his life telling him that he can’t even give this “blood money” back to innocent people, and when he tells him a bold faced lie about the fate of their former colleague Mike, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. There are going to be more than a couple of people curious about this Robin Hood-esque character throwing away hundreds of thousands of dollars and Walt know the last thing the two of them need is more eyes looking at their direction.

I can’t believe we only seven more installments with this crew and this story but I have absolutely no doubt that it will be fantastic. Time after time Breaking Bad has given us intense moments when they call for them and they don’t leave anything on the table. Sure, they could have undoubtedly stretched this over 7 or 8 seasons, gotten bigger paychecks, more syndication rights, but instead they chose to avoid any lulls and went right for the throat. Just like Heisenberg would want it.

Other moments of note:

• Dean Norris absolutely nailed it in this one. I know the campaigns for him finally getting an Emmy nod for Hank are starting up but this seriously needs to happen. His panic attack after discovering Gale’s book in Walt’s house was terrifying and the look of horror and despair on his face as he closes the garage door was perfect acting.
• Great touch to have Marie calling Walt ‘The Devil’ as Hank opens the sliding glass door after taking one of the most pivotal dumps of all-time.
• Brian Cranston actually directed this episode, so I guess he’s kind of a talented individual?
• Skyler had a very strong moment by telling off Lydia at the carwash. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the character but it was nice seeing her do something redeeming here. Also, you know Walter can’t be very ecstatic to hear his one pristine product is a mere shell of itself these days… could be a “Just when I thought I was out…they keep pulling me back in.” situation.
• “Hello Carol.”

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.

Big News for 'Doctor Who' and 'Community'

Yesterday saw some huge developments take place at the top for both Doctor Who and Community, which means we'll be seeing two drastically different shows come the start of next season.

Let’s start first with the news the eleventh Doctor is shutting the TARDIS door for one last time this Christmas. Matt Smith officially announced yesterday that after the 50^th anniversary episode and the Christmas episode one month later, he will be stepping down from the iconic role. On a personal note, Mat Smith was my first Doctor. I had heard from several people that Doctor Who was a fantastic sci-fi show that involved time travel and adventure and that if I started at the beginning of series five I wouldn’t have been lost at all with the story. So I watched all of season five in two days and immediately became a Whovian. I then went on to watch from the beginning of the new series starting with Eccleston, then to Tennant (who barely edges out Smith for my favorite), and then of course series 6 and 7 under Smith.

There was plenty of Who that existed prior to Matt Smith, and one can only hope there will be much more after him, but he was my first Doctor, and for that his tenure was of great importance to me. I do think that in terms of his time on the show, and the stories he covered, that this is the right time for him to leave. I would have loved to see him spend another full series with Jenna-Louise Coleman's Clara, or some episodes under a different show runner than Moffat just to see how he would react to a different type of storytelling. But he was able to showcase many different emotions like anyone who steps into those shoes must and when all is said and done he will be remembered for his astounding portrayal of the Doctor over the course of these four years.

I’ll be curious to see who they will get to be number 12. John Hurt was introduced as The Doctor at the end of the series finale but most of us are assuming that he won’t be an official “Doctor” and he will be more of a one-off character for the 50^th. That being said I wouldn’t mind if they did go with an older type like Hurt to change-up the pace of the story a little bit. Whomever they do decide to go with certainly has a tough act to follow and it would probably behoove them if Moffat followed Smith’s lead and left with him so that series 8 has a completely fresh feel to it like series 5 did after Tennant and Davies departed.

Speaking of show runners, the very eccentric Dan Harmon is returning to the beleaguered Community for season 5. When the show got picked a few weeks ago for a final season, die-hard fans of the Greendale Gang rang out a collective sigh of “meh, that’s good I guess.” As excited as I was that the show somehow got that fourth season, despite losing Harmon, I was equally disappointed three episodes into season four when the realization hit that this was not the same show without the genius/lunatic running this mad world that he created. And then, of course, there was the finale: ‘Advanced Introduction to Finality’ which was a down right insult to creative integrity and all but certainly would have caused a great deal of fans, myself included, to stop watching the show entirely.

But then, riding back in almost as mysteriously as he rode out(*), Dan Harmon confirmed via Twitter that he is indeed back and that all is right with the world again! Or at least we again have reason to hope that Community can return to the wild, ingenious little show that it once was. Writers David Guarascio and Moses Port took over for Harmon when he left and it’s hard to blame them too much for the failure of season four since it had always been a show reliant on the weird intricacies of Harmon’s mind, but I certainly would have liked to see them try out some new things of their own and not rely almost entirely on premises that existed before they came in.

(*) Or, you know, got fired.

I’m really glad that Chase is gone and Harmon is back for these final 13 episodes and it will be fun to speculate on how Harmon will go about treating what happened in the fourth season. I imagine he’ll debate about making the entire fourth season a dream of some sorts, but ultimately I think he’ll keep it as part of the show’s cannon. I could see him starting the season off with a Wire-esque montage of the rest of the characters graduating so that they can leave Greendale like he had intended going into season five. However he decides to go about treating the previous 13 episodes though is ultimately unimportant and I’m really thankful we’ll get one more season of a show I once really loved with all of it’s important parts back in place.

What did everyone else think of these recent developments? Comments are always welcome.

New Girl: ‘Virgins’

“Listen Nicky, you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. I just want to make sure you don’t miss out on the things in life that are happening when you’re not thinking. Because believe you me, those are the best things in life.” – Walt Miller.

An easy indicator to judge whether a comedy is hitting, or not, is its ability to create quotable lines that have staying power combined with funny situations that don’t even need dialogue to be funny. What New Girl is able to do far more often than not is have a hilarious one-liner that you think will be the highlight of the episode until something happens a moment later that just topped it. It has been a good while since I laughed as frequently and consistently throughout an episode as I did with 'Virgins'.

It’s fairly easy to write normal moments, as well as completely absurd moments, the challenge lies for shows like New Girl in balancing them enough so that we don’t have to suspend disbelief(*) enough to laugh at the humor. So when fat, college Schmidt gets the impression that he needs a tub of lube for his “first time” we have enough previous knowledge about the character, and it isn’t an so unbelievable that it takes out of an inherently hilarious moment. As ridiculously bad as that fat suit looks on Max Greenfield it will be hard for any show to beat the physical comedy of a stoned Nick trying to help out a lubed-up Schmidt.

(*) The last 3 to 4 seasons of How I Met Your Mother are a prime example of a show that relies on ridiculous, elaborate situations to generate laughs which is why the show has become a complete shell of what it once was.

And while I won’t harp on it too much, there was just the right amount of heart contained within the overload of silly ‘Virgins’ contained. Flashbacks, when used well, are extremely effective for moments such as first meetings or to give us more of a character that no longer exists in present day, in this case Nick’s Dad. Nick obviously remembers the conversation he had with him while reminiscing about Winston’s first time and he was able to take the advice his Dad gave him and applied it to finally taking the plunge with Jess. It was a moment that didn’t seem forced and for that I am thankful. That being said, I can’t wait to see the aftereffects of opening this can of worms.

Since I mentioned earlier how quotable this show is, here’s a bunch of them and some other moments of note:

• “Sometimes I just sit in the stall and listen to you guys.” – Nick popping in on the bathroom conversation.
• “A Tuxedo is different than a suit”… “It is?!” – Schmidt informing Nick to his disappointment and surprise.
• Schmidt’s reaction to finding out Cece lost her virginity to Mick Jagger was perfect. Also, can something kind of sucky happen to Cece that is funny and not sad? (Babies, heartbreak).
• “I told you a million times, my arm was a magnet and the wall was magnetic.” – Nick justifying why he had to stay in the room when Schmidt brought his girlfriend back.
• Winston and Nick’s bizarre teenager voices were so funny. Did they use some sort of voice modifiers or were the actors actually able to sound so weird?
• “We work in the finance markets.” – Winston showing off to the hookers. Soon after he goes to explain what kind of virgin he is: “Aren’t you a virgin too? …. Just my penis baby. Just my penis.”
• “Do you sell cookies?...Not a cookie bar?” –Fat Schmidt.
• “Ugh. I’m sick of firemen always winning.” –Schmidt. I’d love to see the world through his eyes for a couple of minutes.

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.