Past Purges
Cougar Town "The Trip to Pirate's Cove"
I kind of feel like we've reached a point with Cougar Town where everything is more of the same. That's not a bad thing. It does mean episode are going to feel familiar. We've seen nice Ellie before, haven't we? I know we've seen Bobby's immaturity create a rift between him and Andy. I liked most of it although I do think they could've mined a few more jokes from Andy's filthy cake shop idea.
Suburgatory "Open Door Policy"
I can get behind anything that gives me more Natasha Leggero on my TV, so I like the conclusion of this. Did all the material about the Chilean miners come off to anyone else like one of the writers had a lot of material about that but couldn't find a way to use it at the time? It was also clever to turn the Ryan breakup back around on Tessa.
The Big Bang Theory "The Convention Conundrum"
Did anyone else spend the entire time thinking everything with Sheldon and James Earl Jones was a dream sequence? Regardless, I thought that was an endlessly appealing depiction of Jones, especially the way he said things like "I like Star Wars too". The initial story of not being able to get comic-con tickets was a little more frustrating, primarily because it was one of those times when it felt more like the writers read a book about nerd culture than understanding it. It was a problem in the first couple seasons that they've largely fixed now, so it's sad to see them regressing.
Community "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking"
Distractingly guest star heavy first week after Troy left. I'm sure that is more coincidence than intent. It looks a little panicked though. That said, guest stars are always welcome since Community tends to use them well. Perhaps a few too many in this case, sadly. Nathan Fillon, for example, did not get a lot to do. Since I doubt he'll be recurring much, that's a bit of a waste. I love that they brought back Brie Larson. I'm not sure how much we'll see her but any amount is welcome. With her being introduced in the non-Harmon season, I was afraid we wouldn't see her again (or in general, as they noted, any of his girlfriends don't last beyond an episode). I'm hesitant to accept Chang into Troy's chair. If they can calibrate him a little more, it could work. History suggests otherwise. I want to give a special shout out to the closing tag with Duncan stumbling onto the secret phone line. That had me howling. I'm curious if other people liked it as much. For me, it is up there with the raps, Troy and Abed in the Morning, and Abed painting a tunnel on the wall as one of their best tags.
Parks and Recreation "Ann and Chris"
Parks and Rec is not to be outdone. Community opened with the farewell Troy episode last week. P&R returned fire with Ann and Chris' farewell. I didn't laugh as much as other episodes of the show but I was floored by how much emotion they fit into it. Simply put, it was one of the finest retrospectives a series has done. Each character got a fitting goodbye.
-Ron brought Ann to tears and gave Chris two handshakes.
-Aubrey Plaza unleashed her lethal smile at Chris and told Ann she loves her (more or less).
-Leslie got to throw 30 parties for Ann. (By the way, which is better: "Ain't not party like a Leslie Knope party because a Leslie Knope party is actually 30 parties." or "Ain't no party like a Liz Lemon party because a Liz Lemon party is mandatory"? You're right, it's a draw)
Don't even get me started on the actual goodbye scene. Chris and Ben have always been outsiders somewhat and their final talk was great. It was smart to address that the box was really Ben's idea. Before that, they'd been treating all the mens' friendships with Chris as interchangeable. Then there's Leslie and Ann...nope. Too soon. Maybe I'll talk about it more on a year end list. Let's just say, I watched the episode twice so far and it tore me up more the second time.
Oh, and before I forget. Leslie has a Kelly "She's so nice" Clarkson Stronger photo album, further solidifying both Kelly and Leslie as the best people.
The Crazy Ones "Simon Roberts was Here"
As a numbers geek, I get annoyed when shows do an art vs. research episode. They gave Sandeep Parikh's (from The Guild, yay!) character the early win with the better add for ice but then he makes an absolutely atrocious commercial. Eventually, they do conclude with a collaborative middle ground, so I guess I'm ok with it. when will people stop being so afraid of numbers though?
SNL "Melissa McCarthy/Imagine Dragons"
McCarthy is game for anything, which is great for something like this. A lot of strong characters if not strong sketches. The opener with the Broadway half-time show was a delight. McCarthy is a great pick for Aidy Bryant's divorced friend on Girlfriends Talk Show. And, was the angry Congress woman the same character as McCarthy's angry basketball coach from her last hosting turn?
The marquee moment of the night, of course was Seth Meyers' goodbye. The return of Amy and Stefon was the right move. Andy Samberg and Fred Armisen certainly were welcome although they were less required.
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