Happy Endings - "Grinches Be Crazy"

Season 2, Episode 9

As I have stated many times in my review for this show, Happy Endings exists in that vein of comedies where all the show really has to do in order to earn high praise is but extremely funny. That may seem like a low bar for comedies to pass, but considering that these comedies also have to slim the story down in order to make way for as many jokes as possible, it’s actually a lot harder than it seems. Unfortunately, this can lead to such shows using narrative shortcuts in order to expedite that process, and as an overreliance in “Grinches Be Crazy” on sitcom clichés shows us, sometimes that can bring everything down just a peg.

The worse offender in the clichés department was the Brad and Jane storyline a reason that I probably shouldn’t have to explain, but will anyways. The “oh no, we accidently confused this one thing with a similar-looking thing, and we need to get that original thing back” cliché has been around for about as long as sitcoms have been made. (And if someone could find me a shorter name for that trope, that would be fantastic. I tried doing a quick search on TV Tropes, but I don’t really have the time to sort through their exhaustive lists.) Frankly, I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t see it coming, telegraphed as I realize it was, but I think it’s because I was enjoying watching Brad and Jane being douchey about going away on vacation, and Jane’s ridiculous Hub-Tub. But everything beyond that – the money switch, the failed attempts to get it back, the brining in of Gita’s other family members, the false arrests – those were all far beneath what I know the show is capable of.

Slightly less clichéd, but still a bit disappointing, was Max’s storyline. Now, when I heard that Max was going to be dressed up as Santa in this episode , I was ecstatic, because even though this is yet another trope (remember, extra points if he's Jewish!), I knew it would head in either one of two directions, either Max being extremely misanthropic about the whole thing, or throwing his entire being into it, both of which are funny shades for the character. I guess I shouldn’t complain that we actually got both of these options tonight, especially considering that they were both as funny as I thought they would be, but it was the road connecting them that was a little rough. The “sweet kid who only wants positive changes for those around his for Christmas” is another time-worn trope (again, please feel free to find me a better name; this is the closest I got), and it’s not one that I really find believe for the character, given how jaded Max is. However, both because Adam Pally is really funny and threw himself into the plot, and because wasn’t really about the kids, but it was about Max – and the crazy powers that his Santa suit gave him over other people – it remained fairly enjoyable.

Surprisingly, the strongest plot here was the one belonging to Alex and Dave, and it is no doubt due to the surrealist bent that it added to the episode.  Yes, homemade coupons are a fairly easy joke to make, and I’m sure somewhere in television’s past there’s been episode with people cashing in said coupons. (Hell, Olde English did a sketch based on this idea.) But it’s also a plot that’s not nearly as worn out as the other two, and the directions that they took it in were pretty great. Home cooked meal and DJ-ing! Spelling out someone’s name on a corn-on-the-cob! These were funny notes that that gave Elisha Cuthbert and Zachary Knighton comedy they could play with.

But I suppose I can’t end this review without talking about where this plot ended up. Sigh….Look, I’ve already gone on record about how I think the show’s been better for eschewing its initial premise, and as stated above, the show’s at its most enjoyable when it’s relatively plot-less, and thus can make the maximum number of jokes. This development flies in the face of both of those rules. I’m not saying that it’s out of the realm of possibility for the show to turn this into a winner, but it does seem extremely unlikely that it can be done, and I’d rather the show not even try to do so.

Oh well. I guess we’ll see how it turns out in 2012.

Quotes and Other Thoughts:

 So yeah, not a whole lot of Penny tonight. What the hell, show?

And apparently Max’s limo business has hit some snags. It’s like they’re just taking away all their good engines for comedy, isn’t it?

Given that nobody acted particularly Grinch-y or crazy (as acknowledged by the show), nor that anybody said "Grinches be crazy!", I can only take the title as some random, veiled misogyny. You're better than that, show.

Thanks to this video on Vulture, I’ve found out that it’s pronounced “A-lee-sha”. Who knew?

“Dairy and liquor is one of those undervalued combinations.”

“Brad, tell her how good I look in a chunky belt.”

“Please don’t say va-cay-cay, kay-kay?”

“I love Indecent Proposal-ing with you.”

“You don’t want that. Pick a font, baby.”

“Or at least channel the spirit whose giving at least the smallest amount of effort.”

“So it has nothing to do with Alex Haley, the author of Roots?” “She was a DJ?”

“The kid touched me.” “You’re going to blame this on the kid?”

“Sweet, this is the only place that sells the porn I like. It’s called Bloody Guys. It’s two British guys. And they’re covered in blood.”

“Hey Pen, the only have regular gay porn. I can’t deal with all mustaches.”

“I’ll bet he has gout. Does he eat a lot of fish? Yeah, I bet he does.”

“You are as careless with you morals as you are with your underpants.”

“He spent it no doubt on sugar cereals.”