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.

Mad Men: ‘The Flood’

“The man knew how to talk. I don’t know why but I thought that would save him. I thought it would solve the whole thing.” –Roger Sterling

It’s easy to presume that when a show or movie revolves around real time events the writing comes easy; that all one really has to do is allow for pre-existing knowledge to set circumstance into motion. But what makes Mad Men so special is the reaction factor. Just like in real life, a tragedy happens and we all scramble for explanation. And also just like in real life, after anger and mourning, life has to go on and it forces change both immediately and gradually.

I doubt there are many are people who aren’t aware of what Martin Luther King Jr. did for a race, a country, and humanity as a whole so Matthew Weiner isn’t here to tell us that story. Matthew Weiner is here to tell us the stories of Don Draper’s flaws as a parent and a husband, Peggy Olsen’s attempt to build a future, and Michael Ginsberg’s social struggles when it comes to dating a girl his Dad set him up with. But instead of all these stories going by the wayside in the wake of MLK’s assassination, they get the same amount of attention they would get any other time because the world doesn’t stop turning. As Mr. Ginsberg explains to Michael: “Nonsense! There’s no time like the present.”

But the bigger news of the episode, enough to overshadow MLK, is that Bobby Draper can indeed speak! And peel wallpaper off the wall! Yes this is the first, and I’m assuming last, time young Bobby gets a storyline and of course it comes in the midst of all of this. I have always wondered why they never tapped into the well of how Don would deal with having a son, and how he would relate those experiences to his younger self and in this case the payoff was more than worth the wait because it was an absolutely heartbreaking moment of realization(*) that Don let’s Megan witness. Also, I can’t think of a time I didn’t thoroughly enjoy a “Don hits the movies” segment, this time watching the classic Planet of the Apes. Weiner obviously wanted us to watch the end of the movie when the audience is blown away by the revelation that humans had gone on to blow up the world, leading the way the apes evolving and moving to the top of the food chain. But despite it being such a heavy-handed metaphor to the riots it was fantastic to watch the parallels between a movie and the real-life events going on at the same time of its release.

(*)“You want to love them but you don’t. And the fact that you’re thinking that feeling makes you wonder if your own father had the same problem. And then one day they get older and you see them do something and you feel that feeling that you were pretending to have and it feels like your heart is going to explode.” –Don Draper. This is by far the earlier frontrunner for Jon Hamm Emmy submission episode.

I think it might take a few re-watches (or some LSD in Roger’s case) to fully understand what the deal was with Randall Walsh(**) but this whole endeavor seemed very off in the Mad Men world. That being said it was a hilarious transgression as I wasn’t sure whether or not to laugh harder at Roger’s one-line responses or Stan’s reactions and utter disbelief that this guy was pitching them such an absurd concept. I’m not sure if there is any more to this story but I would have liked to see it saved for an episode that had a little less going on.

(**) Played by William Mapother who also played the equally creepy character Ethan on Lost. This guy is definitely getting typecast.

After setting up some character development for Dawn last leek I figured we would have gotten a much more focused reaction from her after these events. Instead she was relegated to one scene where she essentially seemed unaffected by the news and got a big hug from Joan. Peggy’s secretary had a little more to day on the situation as she pointed out to Peggy that “these fools running in the streets? It’s exactly what he didn’t want.” However; the most devastating moment and reaction from an on-screen African American came when Ginsberg was on his date and the busboy entered such a state of shock upon hearing the news that he dropped the dishes he was carrying and had to sit down because his legs could no longer support his body.

Other moments of note:

• Okay how many times can Don realistically run into Sylvia and Dr. Rosen in the lobby/elevator? Does no one else live in this apartment besides the heart attack doorman? It is interesting, though, to see Don is so concerned about Sylvia being in DC that he actually tries to get in contact with them after the riots break out. That’s an awful lot of caring for an “affair”.
• “He’s the head of accounts. He’s like Roger with bad breath.” – Peggy describing to Megan her agency’s head of accounts.
• Ted was in Abe’s seat. Uh oh. Peggy might soon have two guys seeking her affection as Teddy has shown a great deal of interest in young Ms. Olsen of late. It would be such a shame for Peggy to do anything to ruin what she has with Abe now that we know he’s thinking about having some kids with her and raising them among all different kinds of people. Aww Abe, you adorable little hippie you.
• Pete always has been on the higher end of the moral compass in terms of progressively looking at racial issues so it seemed true to character that he would be upset with Harry and tell him off: “Let me put it in terms you might understand: that man had a wife and four children.” Also, I loved how radically 70’s the two of them looked visually in that argument.
• I’m guessing the real Paul Newman wasn’t available?

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.

Community: ‘Basic Human Anatomy’

"This is wrinkling my brain!"

When I first heard word that a post-Harmon episode of Community was going to try and tackle one of the biggest movie/television tropes of all time (body switching) I wasn’t just worried that the episode would fall flat but that it would go down as the lowest point in the series. What happened though was a genuinely pleasant surprise as ‘Basic Human Anatomy’ was not only a great stand-alone episode but was able to eliminate some of the bigger problems that have stuck around throughout the season.

One of the most glaring issues that has hovered around the past 11 episodes was the ongoing romance, or lack thereof, between lovable man-child Troy Barnes and political/psychiatric wannabe Britta Perry. Over the course of the season it almost became a second thought that they were actually dating which made many Britta/Jeff one-on-one moments seem even more off with the questions of “wait aren’t Britta and Troy still a thing?” sitting in the back of your head. I’m not sure what exactly the writers had planned out for this couple but whatever it was it certainly never came to fruition. At least they had the wherewithal to do it prior to the finale as opposed to letting it linger any longer.

That being said I thought it was a very beautiful to end their romantic time together, albeit a time we never truly saw on screen, and it tied in well to the rest of the main group stuck inside a classically silly Community scenario. Troy and Abed’s body switching attempt was the perfect combination of funny and weird and the writers were wise to not let us think too long about whether they actually switched bodies or not. Also, Jim Rash was pure comedy gold when it came to portraying Jeff Winger and it was hilarious when his nonchalant bad ass attitude worked naturally for turning-on Annie.

Other moments of note:

• “We have paints, puppy paint. Yes there is a difference.” – Annie on the supplies she has for their history project.
• “He’s like the pick-up-sticks of people.” –Abed as Troy stuck in Abed’s body.
• I always love an Eddie Pepitone cameo: “They’ve seen too much, let’s kill them!”
• Well it really doesn’t hurt the show at all to not have Pierce in it. It’s still probably a long-shot Community returns for season 5 but I think the writers have shown enough glimmers of hope this season to prove they can keep the show going without Harmon and I like that if there is a next season it will be a different show for sure and one without the problem of Chevy Chase’s Pierce.

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.

The Walking Dead: ‘Prey’

This week The Walking Dead posed a myriad of questions that could leave us pondering their answers for quite some time: Did The Governor install a tracking device into Andrea? Why can The Governor’s truck only go 10 mph? Are black people the only characters on this show that are a bad shot with a rifle? Will Andrea realize she couldn’t have been vaguer in explaining to Tyreese why The Governor is a “bad man”? Of the previews for shows during commercial breaks are we more excited for Mad Men or Urban Tarzan? Hopefully someday we may know the answers to some of these but for now I’m chalking this up as one of the all-time stall episodes a series has ever attempted.

We start the episode off with a flashback of Andrea and Michonne having a “girls night” around a camp fire, presumably not long after Michonne first saves her after the incident at the farm. This was clearly an attempt to show us why we should care about this relationship that was developed over several months off camera but all it did was indicate that would we need a flashback during the flashback in order for Michonne to tell us anything relevant of her past. I would have had no issue with an entire flashback episode if it had come much earlier in the season, but this late in the game a two minute segment is all anyone would have put up with.

Speaking of people who could do with a flashback episode(*), Tyreese attempts to explain a year and a half worth of events into a minute of dialogue, and while I appreciate the effort of Chad Coleman acting it out this was beyond forced. With Andrea and Milton having second thoughts on The Governor the show needed to keep some people around in Woodbury who we actually care about and have a moral conscience but we simply haven’t spent enough time with this group to feel invested in them in that way. I so want to care about Tyreese and his sister too but it’s not fair for the show to rely on the comic book mythology of the characters as justification to why we find them fascinating. They have to earn that by showing us.

(*)Well I’d almost say every character in this show could. Mostly I would be curious to watch The Governor build up a town in an apocalyptic world and watch his transgression from regular Joe to maniacal lunatic. Plus Milton would be along for the ride!

But the majority of ‘Prey’ focused on our cliché demented villain chasing down our not so cliché damsel in distress. And by “not so cliché” I mean that I wasn’t necessarily rooting for her to get away. Although Andrea has been salvaged much more than Lori had been able to, she still constitutes a major problem because you can bring back a worthless character only so far. The Governor’s pursuit of Andrea had a couple of good moments like when she unleashed a staircase full of zombies (my new indie band name) and I was legitimately caught off guard when The Governor pounced her mere inches away from the freedom of the prison.

However, two semi good moments do not a quality episode make and it has become abundantly clear that this season needed to be 13 episodes as opposed to the 16 order it got. This was stall tactics done horribly wrong. We’ve all know since episode two of this season that we were headed to a major showdown between Woodbury and our loveable(?) group of survivors holed up in the prison. There’s an old saying in storytelling: “it’s about the journey, not the destination,” and The Walking Dead is managing to stay steadfast on doing the exact opposite. This is a show that writes finales first and moves just enough pieces around in-between the beginning and the end to set it up. I have fairly little doubt that the finale will be an excellent hour of television but I will continue to wonder if there is much point in watching every episode of this show when we get essentially throw-away segments like this.

Other moments of note:

• The Governor has his very own torture chamber filled with shiny new tools. I don’t believe Andrea has any useful information for him so should he torture her it would be purely for sport.
• Milton is slowly, very slowly, turning out to be a good introduced character. I hope he somehow makes it out in the finale and teams up Rick and the others next season as it would be fun to watch him adjust to their ways. Also, the results of him lighting the zombies on fire makes it into the top 5 grossest Walking Dead moments to date.
• The scene where Andrea is attacked by walkers in the forest was a stretch even by this shows standards. I didn’t realize zombies were both quiet enough to sneak up on someone without them hearing and also strong enough to pin a living person with one arm that no longer has muscle mass.
• I’m thinking The Governor was a fan of The Wire as he was “pulling an Omar” by whistling as he stalks his prey.

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.

How I Met Your Mother: ‘Ring Up’

 I’m beginning to think that the good episodes of How I Met Your Mother, or what qualifies for “good” these days, are dependent on whether or not Marshall is getting enough screen time/getting quality jokes. For whatever reason he’s pretty much been on reserve this season(*) and has existed as a sounding board to Robin, Barney, and Ted’s love problems. A lot of this is because he and Lily have a newborn but the newborn related humor has been lacking to say the least until last night.

(*)The notable exception being the episodes where he fought Brad over the pond filled with toxic chemicals. But I do think those were two of the better episodes of the season.

Now ‘Ring Up’ wasn’t the most fantastic showing HIMYM has ever served up, but the risks they took were low, the jokes were good enough, and there wasn’t much to complain about in terms of character and story development. I really enjoyed Marshall’s dedication to swoon Lily by wearing the wrist band that he was highly allergic to, as well as his quick descent in personality to match his wristband. Not to mention how the wristband was introduced with Ted walking into the bar explaining how he miraculously saved an elderly woman’s life but all the gang cared about was making fun of how ridiculous it looked on him.

The main story though revolved around Ted’s new date who is both only 20 years old and Barney’s half-sister. After hanging out at places(**) and with people  that Ted would otherwise have no interest associating with, he’s all but ready to call things off, until of course Barney convinces him to hook-up with her as he’s going through “withdrawal.” This one kind of got out of hand as Barney tries to forcefully wed Ted and his sister, but at the end he comes to the conclusion that meaningless hook-ups are not what he’s about anymore and he simply makes Ted *wink wink* promise to never get with his sister again.

(**)Including a club in Chinatown that is somehow located under a manhole cover. I’m just about 100% sure Bill Hader’s Stefon knows exactly where that is.

Robin meanwhile is going through similar withdrawal as Barney since she loses her “get whatever she wants, whenever she wants” status once the engagement ring is on her finger. I’m glad this story didn’t much time devoted to it because it had a few good moments but it could have gotten annoying fast had it been the main focus of an episode. I will say though that I have hard time caring about the Robin and Barney moments of clarity when they realize how much they want to be with the other person for the rest of their lives seeing as how we already know they both get cold feet at their future wedding.

Other favorite moments:

• “Okay normally New York is the friendliest, most affordable city in the world. Now it’s a rude and expensive as San Francisco.” – Robin’s delusional interpretation based on her pre-ring observations.
• “Better the sore weep than I.” – Marshall’s sad justification that a giant hand is his best chance to have sex with his wife.
• Barney didn’t have a dog as his wingman.

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.

Happy Endings: ‘The Ex Factor’

It’s starting to look like Happy Endings is taking the Community approach of going for broke at this point and making the characters somewhat self-aware that they are on a television sitcom. Much like Community did at the end of season one when the ratings were low, the fan passion was high, and the future bleak for renewal, they’ve thrown caution to the wind and let these stories be ridiculous and escape the bounds of conventional norms. And for that I’m very thankful they have because these moments have been outstanding.

The “meta” storyline of the week went to Penny(*) as she tries to comprehend the fact that her boyfriend Pete has friends of his own. In an attempt to explain how fun her friends are she tells him: “last week Max pretended to be a psychic and assisted the police to solve a murder case. And with his help they apprehended several innocent people.” Sorry Pete but how are these people not immediately your new best friends? Inevitably it’s a disaster whenever one of these people has to deal with people who act “normal” and don’t do “pile-ons” whenever someone does something stupid like spill a drink on themselves.

(*) Last week Max refused to go to the “gay sitcom characters” gay bar and the week before that a guy at a restaurant yelled at them for thinking they were the only people there trying to enjoy a meal.

Meanwhile Brad and Jane are confronted with a marriage issue as Jane’s ex Ryan is coming to town and they have a rule that they get one dinner with an ex. To Brad’s surprise/pure joy, Ryan turns out to be a girl. This conflict was pretty much an excuse for Damon Wayans Jr. to act super goofy and emotional, especially when he tries to bulk up by doing some “Shups for life!”

The third part of the episode circled around Max, Alex, and Dave meeting Max’s new roommate played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar. It’s always fun when these characters get chaotic over nonsense resulting in a multitude of unnecessary stupid ideas. Also, it would appear that Max will indeed the rue the day he messed with Bayside’s Zach Morris.

Other favorite moments:

• “You save me from a well once and I have to hear about it the rest of my life.” – Max on constantly being reminded of this by Dave.
• “Someone’s scoring our life!” – Dave. Another “meta” moment when the group mistakes Chase’s ringtone as indication that they’re in peril.
• “Oh I get it. You’re the Dave of the group, always talking about things no one cares about.” - Penny

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.

New Girl: ‘A Father’s Love’

‘A Father’s Love’ turned out to be a fairly fun episode, but one that fell short of bringing it all together the way we’ve started to get accustomed to from New Girl. The one-liners were flying at a high volume, so the laughs were consistently there.

But I just feel like we’ve all seen the storyline way too often where one of the characters Dad’s is a bit of a degenerate that stops by in their lives whenever it’s convenient for them. Denis Farina was cast perfectly for that role however, and I’m glad we got to see the interactions between him and Nick as it explains a good deal as to why Nick has turned out the way he has.

The ‘B’ story seemed very throw away though as Schmidt and Robby both attempt to spy on Cece as part of each of their respective attempts to win her back. Is anyone else buying how persistent Cece is being about finding an Indian suitor of her parents choosing? Has no one told her to at least try online dating or something to have some more options? Something tells me she’d have some takers. There were some fun Schmidt/Robby dialogue moments that made some of it salvageable but all in all it was too silly to really be memorable.

Other favorite moments:

• Feely Cup. Love the random, crazy games this group comes up with. Not so sure I’d be interested in playing this one though.
• Nick “angry fixing” the sink.
• “He looks like Hilary Swank mixed with a sad, wet dog.” – Jess describing Nick.
• “This is pretty much your basic broken hearted spy thing.” – Robby running into Schmidt.
• “No my name is not Jemile!” – Nick showing how gullible Jess is.
• “The Best Erotic Maribone Hotel.” – Schmidt describing Cece’s “orgy.”
• “I haven’t done laundry in 5 months.” – Nick.

What did everyone else think? Comments are always welcome.