Saturday Night Live "Anne Hathaway; Rihanna"
I don't normally talk about this show, but I love me some Anne Hathaway and she did an excellent job. She was used in a lot of the sketches, got to sing, and had exceptional poise. Overall, this was a pretty great episode. The Homeland spoof was superb, possibly matching my enjoyment of the Lincoln/Louie sketch last week. Mokiki And The Sloppy Swish was brilliant in a "I can't take my eyes off it" sort of way. I even rather enjoyed the McDonald's staff meeting.
The Walking Dead "Say the Word"
It's about an hour after I watched the episode. I didn't drink anything tonight while watching it. Still, I can't tell you what happened this week. I remember some zombie fighting and something about Stockholm Syndrome with the Governor. Baby formula. Rick going John Rambo on a bunch of walkers. Then thinking "When's Homeland coming on?". A lot of wheel spinning this week. The previews for next week make it look like this was building to next week, so that'll be the judge.
Homeland "The Clearing"
So Dana and Brody's stories finally come together and I can't say that I'm thrilled. Why are they so dead set on going to the police anyway? Responsibility is great and all, but staying out of jail and not wrecking your family's future is better. Do we really have a proven history of the Brodys having such high moral fiber? Whatever. It looks like it's building toward something fun in the coming weeks and we got a good showcase for Saul, which I always love.
How I Met Your Mother "Splitsville"
What's the point of DVR if it's not going to remember a series recording. Fuck this. Thankfully, CBS posted the episode by the next day. I guess they did that last week too, but I didn't think to check. Anyways, maybe my DVR is doing me a favor. My god, I am getting tired of episodes about breakups. They should all be taken care of by now. Time to move on, please.
Ben & Kate "Career Day"
I'm really scared for this show whenever I see the weekly ratings, because it's doing so badly and I really like it. I love how well the cast gels so far. It even makes up for a lot of pretty predictable writing because I'm still finding at least one thing to laugh at every episode. This week, it was Tommy playing the race card. I still like the kid too.
Happy Endings "Boys II Menorah"
Enjoyed it start to finish. They've found a good way to explore Alex and Dave in their second go at a relationship. Brad and Max work together well even though they didn't have any major laugh at loud moments that stick out for me. Jane is psychotic and amazing, especially when getting tased. Penny is equally great at being pathetic and morally questionable with a bunch of young Jewish men.
New Girl "Menzies"
Oh thank god! I was concerned they were really doing a PMS episode. It was a smokescreen though and dealt with some character growth. It was nice that they had a couple scenes with all the roommates interacting, instead of everyone being in their own world the whole time. I am concerned that they're walking the fine line between Schmidt being a lovable douche and simply a douche a little too perilously. I like that they left it to Cece to have the epiphany about what she was doing instead of the sitcom standard which would've left Schmidt to do it.
Go On "Videogame, Set, Match"
I'm finally starting to come around on this show. The cast is still way too big. Way, way too big. I like at least half of them by now. The other half could follow. Any episode now, I can feel it, there will be a joke that gives me a belly-laugh. The coma-guy prank was close. Maybe if they wouldn't've told us it wasn't really his brother. Sure it's darker, but that kind of fits the premise of the show, right?
The Mindy Project "Danny Castellano is My Gynecologist"
Apparently this episode was produced much earlier and didn't air till now, so I'm forgiving the excess of "will they/won't they" between Danny and Mindy this week, since they've already toned it down in more recent episodes. I really love Mindy's voice and I will wait patiently for it to figure itself out more since it's already come pretty far.
Don't Trust the Bitch in Apt. 23 "Sexy People..."
Oh, that's adorable. A whole plot about sexiest man alive. Pretty impressive that it began by predicting Channing Tatum (maybe they already knew, but to my knowledge it was announced Wednesday and the episode aired Tuesday. Don't kill the illusion). But really, does Disney own People? This was absurd. More enjoyable than I expected though.
-Am I the only one that gets the feeling that one day June with go on a murdering spree? Yeah, Chloe's the Bitch, but June's the one that scares me.
The Middle "Thanksgiving IV"
Why Love Story? It certainly fills the randomness quotient. Otherwise, I don't get it. My favorite part of the show is when they have the family together in a conversation and the stories intersect, so the Thanksgiving dinner scene was wonderful by my measure. I can't help but also notice had little of a story Sue had and how much I enjoyed the episode overall.
Modern Family "Mistery Date"
Oh my. I should've written this before I saw Suburgatory, because it made this look all the worse by comparison. Once again, I hate the sloppy, inhumanely conveniently timed, can see from a mile away misunderstandings. Never made that a secret. So, I won't even bother addressing the Phil plot, and for that matter, keeping Gloria and Jay out of the house. I loved the Bar Mitzvah story with Manny and Luke, though, again it's hurt by comparisons since Happy Endings did it better this week too. I guess the Alex and Claire story was ok, albeit one that could've used a little more depth. Not a bad episode. Certainly and unfortunately timed and placed one.
Subrgatory "The Wishbone"
That episode was superb. I went into it saying it was "make or break" after the opening tag (something that they repeated in the episode as well). Jane Levy knocked this one out of the park, as did Jeremy Sisto. Malin Akerman was wonderfully introduced. Dallas was used sparingly but effectively. More than anything, every second with the Shays and Malik was golden, from the "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" reference to the amazing bathroom exchange between him and Sheila to Ryan giving Lisa the wishbone. I sometimes question my enjoyment of the show, but this absolutely solidified it's place among the unquestionables. Hopefully this episode is the beginning of a streak and not an aberration.
Nashville "You're Gonna Change Or I'm Gonna Leave"
The politics are finally starting to get interesting, the stuff with the pills is showing they are thinking more than an episode at a time, and the interweaving of the stories is getting better. Overall, I still like the Scarlett stuff the best even if it is the most predictable.
The Big Bang Theory "The 43 Peculiarity"
Wasn't Penny ready to break up with Leonard just a few weeks ago? Whatever. It's more fun when they're together. I'm sorry, I can't get past Sheldon's crude sex joke, complete with head-bobbing. I don't get to say this often but that was unexpected. The joke alone was more than they generally go for but the extra beat when he show's Leonard what he means felt so organic. It was like something from the gag-reel that they left it. As far as moments go, that was pretty great.
30 Rock "Aunt Phatso vs. Jack Donaghy"
That was a good episode, not a great one. That's about all there is to say about it. I really don't like anything Tyler Perry does, so it's nice to see them go after him. There weren't any spit-take jokes though, and for a show with as little depth as 30 Rock has normally, that can really soil an episode.
The Office "The Whale"
The return of Jan! That was pretty great, as was limited Andy, who is as much a liability as anything these days. I hate everything about Erin and the new guy. I am no longer interested in coupling in The Office. I'd like for this season to be a real swan song. If every episode from now own doesn't feel like it's building toward the finale, I'm not interested. That's why I have no issue with the seeming pointlessness of the Jim story.
Parks & Recreation "Leslie Vs. April"
I'm always torn by political stunt-casting. On one hand, Joe Biden has no comedic timing, seems visibly uncomfortable, and is a politician (i.e. the type of person that ranks below "puppy kickers" and above people who talk about what they do as "their art" on my spite chart). On the other hand, we got to see Leslie's perfect reaction to meeting him. In the end, this is a net positive by my measure. A fine episode though, and a great callback to Gary.
Burn Notice "Over The Line"
It's hard to be invested in a single episode of a show like this. I love seeing an alum of The Wire, so I hope there will be more of Sonja Sohn to come. Regardless, this is an interesting new status quo and I'm curious to see how they slide back into the "case of the week" format, or if they do.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia "Charlie's Mom Has Cancer"
Yet again, the conceit of the episode is rehashing a plot they've done before. Still, I don't mind, so they do it so well. The cancer stuff barely even mattered to the episode anyway. I love when they go after Catholicism since most shows don't dare do it and they do it so well. I love the touch with all the standing and sitting at mass. The ending at Dee and Dennis' mom's grave was my biggest laugh of the night, if not the week.
-Lastly, what the hell was P. Diddy doing there? I'm reminded of the episode of Entourage with the Kanye West cameo and how uncomfortable the cast looked with him, like they had to humor him when he thought he was being funny. Diddy is much more of a pro than that and anyone who's seen "Get Him To The Greek" knows he has chops, but there were still some moments that stuck me as humoring him.
The League "The Tailgate"
I'm not sure why, but I quite liked that episode. Each character was used enough to be funny but not so much that they became stale. There was also no Ravi to set it over the top. I liked the over the top high school classmates and...uh, other stuff too. Look. I over committed this week. Look how many shows I've talked about. I'm tired and out of things to say. The only thing I've even focusing on at this point is how many times I've said "just", "really", and "but" (Trust me. It's too much).
Past Purges:
11/4-11/10
10/28-11/3
10/20-10/27
10/13-10/19
10/6-10/12
9/29-10/4
9/22-9/28
No comments:
Post a Comment