Monsters of Television

“No, wait, actually that’s a half-burned-down McDonald’s.”

If you’ve been reading along with us since we’ve started, you know I had a turbulent relationship with 30 Rock last season, and kind of came around to the show again by the end of the last season. I was prepared to start this season, season 5 as the show kept reminding me, anew with fresh (if a bit lowered) expectations and also prepared for Carol and Avery to just be off-screen characters (I was correct on at least one count).

“The Fabian Strategy” has moments of hilarity (most of them centering around The Barefoot Contessa), but much like Jack’s prized relationship strategy, I feel like 30 Rock kept running away from me so much last season that now I’m just tired and happy to have it back and will accept most anything at this point, so long as it makes me smile for most of the 22 minutes. Read more »

“That’s why they call me the Bart Simpson of Scranton.”

Do it, Dwight. Do it.

Jerry Seinfeld gave an interview to Time where he mentioned a few episodes he wished he’d done before the end, including an all-Claymation episode and an episode featuring all the secondary characters with the main character story happening in the background. It appears to me that The Office, hearing the death knell with the exit of Steve Carrel (even if BJ Novak just got a 2-year extension), is ready to go full-steam ahead on a train already barreling out of control from its roots, no regrets in the caboose. The cold open to season 7 is a lip-synched, fourth-wall-breaking (although the genre lends to fourth-wall-breaking anyway) sequence with all the people from Scranton branch involved in a choreographed single-take through the office.

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“No saws! One circumcision was enough.”

Amy Fowler is not Sheldon’s girlfriend. Now that we have that out of the way.

The move to Thursday had many (myself included) worried for the continued success of The Big Bang Theory. Tonight’s premiere was phenomenal and if it can keep up the quality it has a fighting chance to reign supreme over the already doomed My Generation, the self proclaimed comedy underdog Community, the “Will they, won’t they? Just kill me now” Bones and Twi-lite Vampire Diaries.

The Sheldon/Amy (Shamy. Genius.) relationship is sure to be a major arc for season 4 and for good reason. Not only does a female version of Sheldon add a whole new level of humor to the show but it’s a great catalyst for some serious character development. And not just for Sheldon.

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“Is this you being me-TA?”

Oh, Community. I missed you and our wily knowledge of sitcoms (and of my funny bone).

A common trait for shows, of any genre, is to ramp up the things that seemed to work well in the first season and just keep doing it. Lost decided that it needed a lot more crazy mystery stuff because that’s what people were talking about, so ramp it up to 5 or 6 hatches and some creepy microfilm (and more survivors!). Veronica Mars went with a more layered mystery and more looks into Neptune, ramping up the noir Naked City (not as gritty, of course).

For its return to the screen, Community keeps the meta humor running full blast, and while I do find meta humor very funny and engaging, it does crowd out the less meta and more humane, emotional beats that I’ve always felt the show excelled at. Read more »

“Did you just say the word sexpionage?”

Having followed J.J. Abrams for my entire life it’s easy to see how he has gotten to Undercovers. It’s a little Mission Impossible III, a little Alias and yeah, some Felicity thrown in there as well. Abrams is at the top of his game with this action-packed, funny and just plain cool spy show.

I know I probably sound like a J.J. fanboy (and that’s because I am) but the show really does rock. Let’s break it down, shall we?

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“The wings of Daedalus. Good call.”

Warehouse 13 doesn’t go out with a bang so much as it just kind of goes out. “Reset” excelled where the show usually does but failed to hit with the same “umph” that a finale should. Cool artifacts, quirky characters and entertaining banter are all present and normally what I say to sell a person on the show. Unfortunately, pay-off may not be a characteristic I include.

The HG storyline was exciting from the beginning. The “is she evil or isn’t she?” game was interesting and flirted with tediousness without ever fully committing. I was excited to see what her season long long con would produce. Alas, the journey was far better than the destination.

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“It was real.”

Unjustifiably inappropriate

This week’s episode of Life Unexpected decided it was time to show the lighter side of an SVU episode. It’s not always about locking underaged girls in a basement or using a position of authority to permanently scar or continually reopen gaping emotional wounds in a fragile young girl. It has to start somewhere cuddly and sometimes it begins with a simple car ride with a stranger to an undisclosed location only to find out said stranger is in charge of all kinds of little girls. And then he takes his shirt off. At school. In a classroom walled with glass. Surrounded by your daughters.

The episode itself wasn’t all about pervy Mr Daniels and his “I wish I knew how to quit you” attitude towards Lux. The episode in general is about failure. Cate is a failure after being fired from the show that had her name in the title. Baze is a failure because he hasn’t chased his heretofore unspoken desires to be a financial advisor (what?). Jamie is a failure because Portland is no place for minorities so it’s time to write him out of the show. Seriously. The guy was unceremoniously written out of at least this episode by announcing he’s too poor. And I don’t see anyone else on the show that doesn’t have skin that could be described as either milky or pasty (even poor Natasha was flung far, far away from our oddly-named cast).

But, because if there’s a theme to this series it’s that we follow family sit-com tropes, not everyone is a failure for very long. No, the moral of this story: if you can’t win, settle. Also, Lux is a cheater.

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“Desolation. Frostbite. Must be Russia.”

The gang’s all here.

Previously on Chuck: Chuck whined a lot about his feelings, was challenged by Superman-gone-rogue, finally got the girl, committed the cheesiest episode of the series, went a little batty, had his dad come up with a fix with a ridiculous name (the Governor) to combat his battiness (the calming effect of which is reminiscent of when Harry pushes off in Requiem for a Dream), implicated everyone he knows into his dangerous profession, watched a horrific family event, wrecked the Buy More, let his friends take the rap for it, and was bestowed with a posthumous mission to find his mother. Oh, and he quit the gym. I mean the CIA.

Hope that wasn’t too spoilery.

I shouldn’t have come in with expectations. But here’s the thing about Chuck: any audience member that pays any attention to the massive clues they drop knows exactly what’s going on. You knew who Orion was by mid-second season when Sarah and Chuck were discussing their daddy issues. You know where Shaw was going to land when they kept dropping evil audio tags to his scenes. While the show on an episode-to-episode basis isn’t necessarily predictable, the seasonal arcs are.

With that in mind, I was a little excited about how this season might go. They set Chuck up to have his own secret-secrets outside of the CIA/NSA, the Buy More was gone, Morgan was under the tutelage of our favorite hatchet man Casey, and they could start building on the Chuck and Sarah dynamic (only to challenge it with a possible rogue status). Lots of intrigue cooking, simmering, becoming a nice broth. But sadly, it was not to be.

When did Chuck become the Psych of broadcast?

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“There is no more Chuck Bass.”

Good thing this isn’t entirely true or I would have to throw myself off the Eiffel Tower.

Chuck pulled a Serena and attempted to reinvent himself by running away from his issues. Ok, so he got shot, was rescued by a beautiful girl and attempted to start a new life with her under a fake identity. Not exactly the same as just running away but it’s close enough. After losing the only thing (person actually) he ever really loved, he turned his back on everything and everyone else. But it’s a small world after all and even after fleeing to Paris he was forced to face his problems.

Literally.

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“There are 2 big days in any love story.”

I’m understandably weary of How I Met Your Mother after being bloodied and bruised last season. I put it on warning that it needed to step up its game if even wanted me to be writing about it every week, let alone watching it. And while I know my warnings mean a whole lot to the show (I have a ton of clout, after all), I figured them too arrogant to take my word on thing.

I’m pretty happy to report that the sixth season premiere helped erase doubts with, essentially, a bottle episode (a rare thing for a premiere, yes?) (also, I use the term bottle episode as would be best applied for HIMYM, not another, less cut-away jokey show). I’m still a little cautious (they burned me so hard last season), but the episodes provides an umbrella to the pessimism storm.

And umbrellas are important. Read more »