tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41388388387128423722024-03-13T12:51:02.111-05:00Pixelated VisionLooking Through and Beyond the Small ScreenCorbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.comBlogger582125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-60695094083261938302013-05-09T18:12:00.001-05:002013-05-09T18:30:27.111-05:00My TV "Wow" Moments: A Thrown-Together List<span style="font-family: inherit;">Over at Vulture, Matt Zoller Seitz </span><a href="http://www.vulture.com/2013/05/seitz-asks-what-are-your-tv-wow-moments.html?mid=twitter_nymag" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">gave a list of his TV "wow moments"</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">TV moments that dazzled you artistically, emotionally, technically — you name it — and made you want to stand up and applaud". He limited his list to five, and it's proven a durable number for </span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TVWowMoments&src=hash" style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 21px;" target="_blank">those on Twitter who want to participate</a><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">. I tried to participate in that format, but you know what? Fuck brevity. TV is an embarrassment of riches, so I threw together a much longer list of all the moments that have shocked, surprised, and otherwise astounded me. There's no real order here (expect for maybe the first two or three picks) and I'll only comment on my picks where I think </span></span><span style="line-height: 21px;">explanation</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"> is needed. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"></span></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">(I'll avoid any direct spoilers in the text, though I will link to clips where applicable for those who want to reminisce.) </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>1. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtSKCZvBNug" target="_blank">The reveal of Laura Palmer's killer.</a> (<i>Twin Peaks</i>)</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;">I remember shouting something like "I fucking quit!", an expression of my need to take a break from the show for a little bit. I ended up pacing around my apartment for the next half-hour.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>2. Walter White, through inaction, commits his second murder. (<i>Breaking Bad</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>3. The closing montage of the pilot episode of <i>The Shield</i></b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;">Not just for the final shocker, but because I've never seen anything other show use a Kid Rock song in a manner that didn't annoy me.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>4. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_fOAxsVZ5s" target="_blank">"How's Annie? How's Annie? How's Annie?"</a> (<i>Twin Peaks</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;">The mac-daddy of all never-resolved-due-to-cancellation cliffhangers</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>5. Angel becomes Angelus. (<i>Buffy The Vampire Slayer)</i></b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/soul-matesa-race-through-dark-places,95462/" target="_blank">"Fucking the vampire"</a> isn't an accepted TV Trope phrase, but it should be.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="line-height: 21px;">6. <span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Well, personally, I kind of want to slay the dragon. </span><em style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;">Let's go to work</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">." (<i>Angel</i>)</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Now <i>that's </i>how you end a finale. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="line-height: 21px;">7. <span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So is it still a room when it's empty? Does the room, the thing, have purpose?" (<i>Firefly</i>)</span></span></b><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>8. Echo explores The Attic. (<i>Dollhouse</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;">That tree is one of the most beautiful fucking things I've ever seen.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>9. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeS6y6mbUzY" target="_blank">Dan Dorrity beats a man so bad his eye popped out of its socket.</a> (<i>Deadwood</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>10. "You wanna know how I lost my virginity? Well, so do I." (<i>Veronica Mars</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>11. The ending of "The Non-Fat Yogurt" (<i>Seinfeld</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;">As with so many other things on this list, it may not be the best example from the show's run, but dammit, this was my <i>first</i> exposure to Seinfeld's brillant story construction, and the moment I realize this show's brillance</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>12. <i>"</i>I never thought I'd miss a hand so much." (Arrested Development)</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;">Admittedly, this one only wows on re-watch.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>13. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5peiLlHdvo" target="_blank">That time Seymour waited. And waited. And waited.</a> (<i>Futurama</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;">Excuse me while I go cry quiet tears into my pillow for the next hour.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>14. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4LqmyjexA" target="_blank"><i>Moonlighting</i> apes Dr. Seuss</a>.</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 21px;">15. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTsb5hg04Oc" target="_blank">"Just so you know, Jeff, you are now creating six different timelines."</a></span><em style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><b style="color: #444444;"> </b><b>(</b></em><b><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Community</em><em style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;">)</em></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><br /></em></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;">16. We're gonna just throw <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTO10Xgl0eM" target="_blank">a random dance sequence at you to close out the episode</a>, and you're going to fucking like it! (</span>Bunheads<span style="font-style: normal;">)</span></b></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></b></em></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;">17. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZykXzEnmmIA" target="_blank">"The ghost is seen."</a> (</span>Enlightened<span style="font-style: normal;">)</span></b></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I had a much harder time connecting to </span>Enlightened<span style="font-style: normal;"> than most fans, but this fucking slayed me. </span></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></em></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;">18. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hb9gzQ9UUY" target="_blank">Nathan and Co. deliver a baby.</a> (</span>Misfits<span style="font-style: normal;">)</span></b></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></em></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>19. "The company's position is that it's actually the opposite of racist, because it's not targeting black people; it's just ignoring them. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ1TaYwU394" target="_blank">They insist that the worst people can call it is 'indifferent'</a>." (</b></span><b>Better Off Ted)</b></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><b><br /></b></em></span>
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><b>20. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znd_5VO81hw" target="_blank">"Where do you think we are?"</a> (<i>Scrubs</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>21. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdERVxiobGk" target="_blank"><i>Adventure Time</i> uses the theme from <i>Cheers</i> to make you cry.</a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">It takes skill to take somethign so warm and inviting and use it to break your heart.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>22. "She said no, by the way." (<i>The Office </i>[UK])</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>23. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjqF5Vcn6Ns" target="_blank">Raylan Givens disarms Robert Quarles.</a> (<i>Justified</i>)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">For being the sickest, darkest visual gag I have ever seen.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>24. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKZc8KWpfo8" target="_blank">Conan wastes NBC's money</a>.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">It was a gag that quickly got old over the week (especially as they grew more and more fake), but the first iteration, where Conan makes NBC pay out of its ass for the royalties to a Rolling Stones song, is a beautiful act of revenge from a man being pushed out of his job.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>25. "WE HAVE TO GO BACK!" (<i>Lost</i>)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><b>What about you? What are your favorite TV wow moments? Feel free to yell at me about how dumb my choices are in the comments.</b></span></span>Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-43514930113947599912013-02-28T18:56:00.000-06:002013-02-28T18:56:11.131-06:00Community - "Conventions of Space and Time"
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 4, Episode 3<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Community</span></i><span style="font-variant: small-caps;"> delivers its worst episode ever. But why?</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>Sometimes, after you watch an episode of
television, you’re left with only one thought, one singular impression that pretty
sums up your entire reaction to watch you just saw, and really doesn’t beg for
much explanation or follow up. After watching “Conventions of Space and Time”,
my reaction is thus:<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
I didn’t laugh once.*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Of course, that’s not exactly a fair criticism, both
because of my stance that comedies shouldn’t solely be graded on the grounds of
how much laughing the audience did, and because <i>Community</i> itself has been known to ditch laughs when in search of
telling different kind of stories. (Though I must mention that even “Mixology
Certification”, arguably the show’s most serious hour, was able to deliver a
good laugh or two around the heavy material it centered on.) Sure, there were a
few lines that were clever as turns-of-phrase or what have you, but <i>Community</i> has always had these lines
exists alongside actually laugh-out-loud moments. And considering that “Space
and Time” <i>was</i> supposed to make us
laugh out loud, and probably quite a bit, and it didn’t, well that’s the show
failing its own goals and standards, and something that needs to be explored. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
It doesn’t help that the episode centers on a
central premise that’s so obviously meant as fan-bait, but in a way that
perhaps doesn’t quite get what makes that element popular, or how it works in
the show’s universe. I’m talking of course of the decision to set the episode
at an “Inspector Spacetime” convention. Up until this point, “Inspector
Spacetime” existed as something that Troy and (especially Abed) enjoyed themselves,
but something we the audience were supposed to see as kind of dumb.** Thus existed between the fans and “Inspector
Spacetime” an ironic love, and even when such fans were making their own <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B0-YTpAMmew" target="_blank"><i>Inspector Spacetime</i> media</a>, it was more
about their sincere love for <i>Community</i>
than there ironic love for “Inspector Spacetime”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
So for an episode to take a marginal aspect of the
show and create a whole episode around it gives said aspect a much greater
sheen of sincerity and authenticity than it’s former ironic, marginal status
indicated.*** Since this is done in the name of fan service, this is obviously
an issue of metatextuality, since “Conventions” treats InSpecTiCon as a fairly
silly undertaking, meaning that the show is still feigning as if we are take
“Inspector Spacetime” ironically. But making it the centerpiece of the episode
certainly feels like a nudge toward authenticity, so it’s no surprise that the
whole affair feels more than a little off, and thus like a terrible setting for
the show to attempt to tell serious stories about the characters. Admittedly,
“an episode set an ‘Inspector Spacetime’ convention” sounds like a Harmonesque
movie (except for its ignorance of the whole irony thing), so it’s not even the
“bigness” of the concept that bothers me; it’s that it doesn’t work as a way to
tell the kind of character study stories that the show still wants to pretend
is its bread and butter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Of course, for all of the faulty foundation that
this episode sits on, it <i>did</i> manage
to tell a somewhat satisfactory Troy-and-Abed story. For the second time in
three episodes, the Guarascio and Port once again tried to prove that they knew
how to write for Abed, and at this they largely succeeded. That they succeeded
by essentially repeating what we already knew about Abed – that he perceives
himself as different, and possibly better, than his friends, but he uses their
friendship to keep him grounded – rankled a little bit, but at least that
emotion was expressed clearly and effectively. The same goes for Troy, where we
once again reminded of the fact that he’s emotionally dependent on Abed, but
stuck in a relationship that doesn’t pay him back equally, but Donald Glover
was able to sell the emotions that needed to land.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
The problem was getting to these moments required
a lot of set-up, with the sort of character beats reminiscent of the <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2013/02/community-history-101paranormal.html" target="_blank">season premiere</a>.
In another instance of the show fast-forwarding on the relationship front, we
learn that Troy and Britta are sleeping together (so much for the more
interesting path hinted in “Paranormal Parentage”), and that they are worried
that might upset Abed. It’s quite forced, but it makes sense as a way to
explore the evolving group dynamics. The problem is that Abed <i>doesn’t</i> have a problem with Troy and
Britta hooking up, and this largely goes unexplained for most of the episode.
It seems as if the show was hinting that Abed only hung out with fellow
“Inspector Spacetime” fan Toby at the convention as a means to replace Troy,
the friend that he thought was losing, but if that’s the case, then that could
have been explained more fully. And even so, that doesn’t explain why he was
okay letting Britta’s opinions on the show go unchallenged, since how he acted
towards her should affect his relationship with Troy if he was distancing
himself from it anyways. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Britta and Troy’s actions were a bit more in
character, but also a little broader than what we have seen in the past. Troy has
always been fairly childlike in his reactions, especially when it comes to
Abed, but his freak-out towards Toby during a panel felt especially broad, and
lacked a proper build-up. Britta meanwhile acted like quite the jerk in the
episode, and while she’s always been prickly, it would have made more sense
given what we know about her that she be supportive – not only of Abed’s love
of the show, but also for Troy’s on feelings of abandonment, which she didn’t
even really acknowledge. (At this point, I want to make it clear that I don’t
think this broadness is necessarily a side-effect of Harmon leaving, since many
sitcoms <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/community-has-changed-its-aging-like-any-sitcom,93082/" target="_blank">go through such problems in their later stages</a>, and even season three of
this show had some broad character moments.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
It’s this sense of broadness that sort of infects
the whole rest of the episode, but without any real emotions behind it like
those with Troy and Abed, the other characters’ stories fall even flatter. This
is mainly the case with Annie, who spent the episode inexplicably pretending to
be “Mrs. Jeff Winger”, for reasons that aren’t fully explained. Is it because
she still loves Jeff? The episode seems to argue no, it’s just that she still
has a child-like fascination with marriage. But wait…hasn’t her whole arc of
the series been about her growing up, becoming more mature? During the entire
plot, all my brain could come up with was Jeff’s quote from <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/09/community-geography-of-global-conflict.html" target="_blank">“Geography of Global Conflict”</a>: “Annie, you’re acting like a schoolgirl, and not in a hot
way!” (Jeff, meanwhile, spent most of the episode hitting on a hot “Inspector
Spacetime” fan, which was fine, I guess, but was also clearly just a way to
give him something to do until he and Annie could talk at the end.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Pierce was once again relegated to the sidelines (and
how worrisome it is that the new showrunners seem to be completely running away
from dealing with this character at all), and even more bothersome was the fact
that Shirley was stuck with him. Yvette Nicole Brown hasn’t really gotten
anything to do yet this season, which is mostly a side effect of the fact that
the show had problems coming up with things for her to do during the Harmon
Era, but it’s sad that this show might not even be willing to try. Anyways, the
pair of them being stuck in a focus group for the American adaptation of “Inspector
Spacetime” may have worked a <i>Doctor Who</i>
reference, but it failed as another attempt to meta-textualize a joke about <i>Community</i> having new showrunners. Who
exactly Guarascio and Port in this scenario? The network lackeys, taking any
old suggestion? Pierce, suggesting terrible changes? Or Shirley, trying to
stick up for the original formula show? The answer seems to be all three, as
they are both lampooning fears and offering assurances, but it doesn’t really
work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
It’s funny that the show would spend another episode
trying to pull itself out from under the shadow of Harmon’s ouster, instead of
just focusing on the material at hand. Despite the misguided premise of the
episode, this was actually conceptually a solid way for the new showrunners to
try and produce a high-concept episode like the one that Harmon made so famous.
The real problem here is that nobody can seem to get the characters just right,
and that inevitably pulls down the rest of the material, or at least exposes
how dumb it all is. A show can survive some dumb plotlines if its characters
are emotionally grounded and true, and usually seeking to have emotionally
grounded characters can help guide writers to the create the right kind of
plots/stories. But this episode feels as if the writers came up with the
concept first, and then didn’t really back down when it became clear that the concept
wouldn’t fit the characters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
If the new show runner would just put their
supposed love of the show to work and present characters that were more in line
with the iterations we left at the end of last season, all of these problems
would be less severe. Instead we have a show that doesn’t feel like itself. And
it’s not the bad jokes that are doing that; it’s the bad characterization.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
*An alternate singular reaction that would have
similarly expressed my frustration with the episode would have gone as such:
“Six minutes into this episode, my power briefly flickered out, knocking my
cable box out of commission for ten minutes and leaving me to catch up with
this episode later. While in the old days, I would have torrented this episode
so I could watch it that night, those first few minutes so put me off that it
took me six days to muster up the courage/interest to watch the whole thing.”
But apart from being quite long, it’s also a thought that doesn’t give the
whole episode proper consideration, so here we are. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
**Yes, yes “Inspector Spacetime” is a spoof on <i>Doctor Who</i>, and so it would seem as if
I’m saying that <i>Doctor Who</i> is dumb,
which I’m not. I love <i>Doctor Who</i>, and
it’s not dumb – expect, of course for when it is. There’s also been a large
amount of cheese to <i>DW</i> (especially in
the original incarnation, which is what “Inspector Spacetime” seems to be
aping), and IS seems to be making a spoof soup out of all the cheese, and
leaving the better stuff behind, or at least hidden from the audience. Thus, in
the universe of <i>Community</i>, “Inspector
Spacetime”, <b><i><u>as we see it</u></i></b>, is a dumb program.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
***And according to the last trailer NBC released
before the season four premiere, there’s another example of the show taking a
marginal joke and blowing it up into a plotline, and this one has me <i>even more</i> worried that I was about this
week’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes,
Etc.:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“We can go anywhere in the universe. But I’d
rather go to London during the Blitz.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Wait, was there a female inspector?” “Yes, and
everyone hates her. Not because they’re sexist, but because she sucks.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“It’s Troy. The first part of ‘Troy and Abed’.
‘Toby and Abed in the Morning’? That makes no sense.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Normally we don’t concern ourselves with
adultery, because then hotels wouldn’t exist.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Abed, taking on the big speech for the episode: “If
I could Winger you for a second?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“You have to let me out!” “No, not until Stockholm
syndrome sets in. How long do you think that will be? A couple of hours? Would
you love me if I got you a churro?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Oh my god he can make a fist. That would hurt
harder than a slap.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-86107325531995752502013-02-21T07:21:00.001-06:002013-02-21T07:21:27.193-06:00Community - "History 101"/"Paranormal Paternity"
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 4, Episodes 1-2<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Community</span></i><span style="font-variant: small-caps;"> is back after a long hiatus with a new season and new showrunners,
and things feel more than a little bit off.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-variant: small-caps;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i>“I remember
when this show was about a community college.” <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i>-Abed<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
At this point, it’s impossible to be truly objective
about the quality of <i>Community</i>’s
fourth season. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
To be a fan of a low-rated, meta humor-filled,
cultish show like <i>Community</i>
practically guarantees, at least in this day and age, that you also follow
along with the show’s behind-the-scenes news. When you become so concerned with
the show’s general fate re: cancellation, it’s only one logical step further to
also follow along with hirings and firings. And when the person fired is the series
creator, the person whose almost singular vision made the show what it is, it’s
not unreasonable to be suspicious when replacements showrunners are brought in,
a decision that seems almost illogical for a show that was so obviously the
byproduct of one unique mind. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
In that respect, watching <i>Community</i> under the new regime becomes something of catch-22 when
trying to evaluate it fairly. If you don’t criticize the show for not being
what it used to be, then you feel like your selling out your own love for the
show; what does your love for the show mean if you’re not steadfast in your
support for the original formula? However, if you only judge a show for what
it’s not, that means your not giving it a fair shot based on its own, newly
redefined terms, and that means you aren’t doing justice to the general concept
of “art” and “authorship”. (This decision to be objective is only made harder
by the fact that you as the viewer feel that something <i>must</i> be wrong with this new version of show, because everything
isn’t the same behind-the-scenes. In this one case, knowing all the facts is
likely to make you less objective, not more so.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Another layer of complication is placed on the
striving-to-be-objective viewer when they realize new showrunners David
Guarascio and Moses Port are clearly trying to keep making the show the same as
it was under Dan Harmon, yet something still feels off. You can try going in as
optimistic as possible – as I tried to be, on the news that Guarascio and Port
<a href="http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/new-community-producers-moses-port-and-david-guarascio-talk-about-life-after-dan-harmon" target="_blank">singled out</a> “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” and “Mixology
Certification” as some of their favorite episodes, ones which I think represent
the show at it’s purest. That, plus the fact that the show still holds the
excellent cast it’s always had and managed to retain some veteran writers to
help shepherd in the new, Harmon-less season, would seem to indicate that
there’s enough here to keep things chugging along, relatively unchanged. But
then the <a href="http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-nbcs-community-not-the-same-without-dan-harmon-in-season-4" target="_blank">advanced </a><a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/history-101,91985/" target="_blank">reviews</a> <a href="http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8919980/andy-greenwald-return-nbc-community" target="_blank">started</a> <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/06/community-season-4-of-the-nbc-comedy-ponders-the-end.html" target="_blank">pouring</a> in, and they all had
essentially the same message: while superficially all the pieces of the show
you once loved are still in place, it doesn’t feel quite right at its core. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Those reviews weren’t wrong, but saying the show
“isn’t the same” or is a vague way to address the issue, one that writes off
this season as an also-ran without necessarily engaging with the text of the show
to see if it can be determined what exact aspect(s) it is that have changed. This
vagueness undoubtedly comes from an attempt by reviewers not to spoil anything,
but it also from attempts to not needlessly nit-pick at a show that’s trying to
find its new feet. And that’s the tone that I hope to strike when I write
reviews of the show, as I try to suss out just how <i>Community</i> “isn’t the same” while in the process not criticizing so
much that I can’t come to accept a new version of a show I (used to?) love. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This attempt at fairness proves difficult right
off-that-bat when looking at the premiere, “History 101”, which despite
practically screaming in our faces “THIS IS THE SAME SHOW YOU’VE ALWAYS LOVED”,
ends up feeling really empty. And not just in the soulless, “it’s not the same”
way that I mentioned earlier. The episode starts off engagingly enough, doing a
Harmon-esque gag that addresses the feared changes to the show by imagining the
show as a four-cam sitcom. (And given Harmon’s obsession with TV’s past, it’s
sort of surprising such a gag hadn’t occurred on the show previously.) It’s a
good concept – and one which <i>Scrubs</i>
used well in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GRTCOvmf0g" target="_blank">a fourth season episode</a> where it decided to simultaneously
gently mock and pay reverence to sitcoms past – but one that doesn’t really
work as played here. The jokes at play aren’t so off-base for the show; in
fact, the idea of everybody wearing glasses accidentally shares its DNA with
the tag from “Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples” where some group members
purposely dress up like Jeff. But it doesn’t change the fact that placed in
that setting with a laugh track, lines that would only warrant a snort or silent
appreciation on a single-cam suddenly takes on the expectation of delivering
actual laughs from the at-home audience in a four-cam setting. When they don’t
– because they were never meant to – the jokes suddenly feel as if they failed
because they were graded on an unfair scale. (Add to that that this would
normally be played a fast-paced scene where the back-and-forth dialogue would
have only added to the laughs, and the scene as played fails even further.)*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
That this gag is revealed to be a manifestation of
Abed’s imagination as a way to cope with the impeding changes that will come
with the study group’s senior year, is, much like the gag itself at the outset,
something that appears to be a positive sign from the episode, before it
quickly proves the opposite. Using a high-concept joke to help tell an
emotional story for a group member is something that happened all the time
under the Harmon regime, and this would seem to indicate that Guarascio and
Port are dedicated to making the same type of episodes as in the past three
seasons. (Yes, this episode is credited to seasoned writer Andy Bobrow, but as
showrunners G&P hold the lion’s share of credit/blame for all story ideas
and execution.) Additionally, that they make Abed the focus of this episode
would seem to indicate that they acknowledge the complexity of the character’s
role and the ease with which they could screw that up as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
And yet while trying to prove their hand at two of
the show’s trickiest trademarks, they do end up screwing up both. The
four-camera gag, which didn’t even work well in its first iteration (beyond the
awesome reimagined credits sequence) returns two more times as Abed tries to
work through the changes in his real life. The same unsubtle jabs at four-cam
humor are repeated, before the whole thing goes up its own ass by having the
sitcom version of Abed retreat further in his mind by imaging another safe
place within the first safe place. That this new place is <i>Greendale Babies</i> is an inspired idea, and one that highlights how
far Abed’s is willing to run to escape reality. However, it’s also a move that
seems to be done more for weirdness’ sake than anything else, given the pat,
traditional sitcom solution (fitting, given the context) of Abed just sort of
realizing that he needs to accept change, without a whole lot of actual
reflection to make it believable. Its too simple of a solution, and it doesn’t
live up to the complexity of the concept, nor to Abed as a character, who is in
fact <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/04/community-virtual-systems-analysisbasic.html" target="_blank">capable of experiencing complex emotions</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Yet as much as I hold this storyline in contempt
for it’s failings, it’s nothing compared to what the rest of the episode
brings, or rather fails to bring. While Abed’s journey through his mind serves
as something resembling <a href="http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/09/mf_harmon/" target="_blank">a complete journey for the character</a> (however
poorly it might have ended), the other plots don’t really functions as plots so
much as distractions from what Abed is going through. Annie gets senioritis and
decides to pull some pranks, and Shirley tags along for some reason. Troy and
Britta are dating now apparently, and they spend an the episode with Britta
learning what Troy likes to do, which somehow means that the only thing they do
is drop coins in a fountain before getting into a physical tussle over Troy’s
traditions. There was no real ending to either of these, more that they just
stop going. (Pierce likewise didn’t get to do much, but show proved long ago that
keeping Chevy Chase on the sidelines is for the best.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Now, when compared to general sitcom practice,
these undeveloped bits aren’t necessarily bad; they’re generally referred to as
“runners”, and many sitcoms use them in order to give the whole cast screen
time when they all can’t fin into an actual storyline. So theoretically, these
stories are just fine. But <i>Community</i>
has never been a show to over-rely (or even rely a normal amount) on runners,
and usually finds a way to incorporate all the actors into actual stories,
usually by playing around with the various characters combinations that can be
made with the group. Even when characters must be relegated, the show does it
in acceptable ways, by just keeping them absent for the bulk of the episode (think
anytime Alison Brie isn’t for much of an episode, usually because she’s filming
<i>Mad Men</i> or whatever), or they turn it
into <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tP0ubODOUQ" target="_blank">a glorious joke</a>. Regardless of the show’s past use of runners, for the
first episode under new management to feature <i>so many</i> characters in <i>so many</i>
runners (or stories that are slight enough to practically be runners) doesn’t
bode well. <i>Community</i> usually tries to
give its stories (relative) heft (for a comedy), or at least the illusion of
such; this just smells like it’s not even trying. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
While this lack of heft is <i>technically</i> excusable for Annie, Shirley, Troy, Britta and Pierce,
it sort of wrecks the other main story, that of Jeff competing in the “Hunger
Deans” for the sake of the rest of the group. Now, Much ballyhoo was made when
the first trailers for the season debuted online, since the focus was so heavy
on the “Hunger Deans” that many were afraid that Guarascio & Port didn’t
understand how and why Harmon used cultural references, and they were merely
making references as a means unto itself, and not to build an actual joke off
of the reference. (This is something that <i>Family
Guy</i> is called out for by many of its detractors.) I’d say that this isn’t
actually the case; the show is merely taking a recurring gag – that of the Dean
making random and strained references to pop culture in order for his insane
decisions to seem hip and cool to the students – and stretching it out to great
length, arguably past the point where it’s funny. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
More importantly, this story isn’t just meant to
fill time, but rather to also service what’s arguably the show’s longest
running arc, that of Jeff transforming from a self-centered, jackass lawyer to
a human being capable of carrying about others. We can argue about exactly how
dedicated Harmon was to seeing this arc through, as well as how much
self-centeredness he wished for Jeff to retain, but regardless of these
factors, this latest addition loses the subtly that this arc had.** While it’s not hard to believe that Jeff would
have grown close enough to the group over three years that he would compete so
they could all take a class together, the show did push this fact quite hard.
Usually such revelations are saved for the end of the episode, where they can
make most impact, but this one was revealed fairly early on, and then the show
just seemed to want to repeat it over and over again for the rest of the
episode. If this were the only instance of the episode being over-obvious,
perhaps I wouldn’t worry about it so much. But Troy and Britta’s hesitant
relationship of last season also seems to have hit some sort of gas pedal
between seasons, shifting them into the context of “early dating”. Again, this
something that makes sense, but the show isn’t doing the advancement of these
storylines any favors by making them so explicit. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
As Jeff’s story goes on, it sort of feels as if
these two big aspects of his plot– both the Dean’s insistence on linking the
contest to <i>The Hunger Games</i>, as well
as the show attempting to use it as a big push forward in Jeff’s evolution –
sort of distract from how empty that it all ends up feeling. While it’s okay
(in fact, it’s probably for the better) that the actual competition wasn’t set
to ape <i>The Hunger Games, </i>the
competition as presented didn’t really seem to have unifying theme; it was just
a series of random physical challenges, most of which we only saw bit and
pieces of. This feels both the product of the show pushing the two big characteristics
mentioned above, as well as the fact that the camera had to keep cutting to all
of the other characters doing all of the other things. That left no time for us
to become invested in Jeff actually competing. It was pretty much a given that
he would win the seven needed balls, so with no arc connecting the various
competitions to one another, they just float about as window dressing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
And I bring up all of all of these critiques not
to tear into this new mutated form of <i>Community</i>
– though I realize that this probably reads like I’m doing just that – but
because of the importance the show’s season premieres have held in the past.
Looking back, it becomes clear that the premieres, whether intentionally or not,
end up serving as theses for their respective seasons. The pilot introduced to a relatively
straightforward show that featured fast, quippy conversation and an
over-reliance on will-they/wont-they rom-com tension. “Anthropology 101”
displayed <i>Community</i>’s sharper
storytelling, while also introducing an interesting undercurrent of darkness. <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/09/community-biology-101.html" target="_blank">“Biology 101”</a> upped that darkness to less-subtle, but more stunning, levels, while
also announcing that the show had reached its highest level of mercurial experimentation.
And “History 101”…well, it just felt empty. And if the pattern (unfortunately) holds,
that means there’s a lot more disappointment and feeling of loss up ahead for
fans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
And that’s where “Paranormal Parentage” comes in.
Somewhat tellingly, this was not one of the episodes included on the advanced
screener sent to critics. The usual practice for a network, when sending out
screeners, is to cherry-pick the best of the early bunch, so as to achieve the
best press possible in reviews. By this logic, that means that the premiere and
the third episode of the season were somehow better than the second, and given
that all the reviews talked about how episodes one and three weren’t that good,
that would indicate episode two was somehow even worse. And yet…I sort of liked
“Paranormal Parentage”. This isn’t meant to be a rave by any means, and were it
an episode made under Harmon’s reign I would probably hold it to a higher
standard. But more so than “History 101”, it feels both most like the old <i>Community </i>that I love, and as the best
possible path that the show could take under new management. (It also probably means
that NBC brass still doesn’t get this show, but that’s not longer worth caring
about at this point.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
For starters, the episode sees the show not trying
so hard to make everything big and bold, instead happy to just let the episode
be it’s own weird little self. I realize I say this about an episode where we
are supposed to believe, however briefly, that Pierce’s mansion might in fact
be haunted, but this is a episode that places much greater emphasis on the
interaction between the characters, something that has always been a key part
of the best episodes, and was sorely lacking in the premiere. This could have been
a big mess if the show tried to make this episode into an homage at any point.
And at times it did seem as if the show was trying to ape tropes from old
haunted house movies, or possibly any type of horror movie (I don’t watch them,
so I’d be terrible at picking these things out). Add that Jeff had that line
about the group acting like the gang from <i>Scooby
Doo</i>, and the episode felt like it could have gone off the rails at any
moment. (It was kind of a mess thematically – assuming writers were even trying
to do one – is what I’m saying.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
But let’s get back to those character
interactions, the pairings that helped to structure the episode in an enjoyable
way. Sure, the bulk of this episode was just the characters hanging around
Pierce’s mansion, shooting the shit while they learns all sorts of
odd-but-not-that-surprising things about Pierce. At the start, Jeff and Britta
were paired off, allowing them to address Jeff’s father issues, while Shirley
and Troy walked together, and Shirley tried to warn Troy that Britta might be
too sexually advanced for him.*** Meanwhile, Annie and Abed explored the
mansion together, and…well, nothing substantial really came from their interaction,
but that’s not the point. From the point that Annie “loses” Abed, the episode
is suddenly free to start switching up all the groupings, and not let the
dynamics get worn out before the episode was over. (This was also of course a
blatant move to sideline Abed for a portion of episode, since he clearly would
have been reactionless to the scares Pierce put on the rest of the group.
Pierce was also sidelined, but again, everybody is okay with that.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
The episode even attempts to get some solid
moments of pathos into the episode (and correctly leaves them towards the end),
though they lack power thanks to poor execution. The biggest moment was of
course the return of Giancarlo Esposito as Pierce’s brother Gilbert. (Whatever
its faults, this episode gets high praise for returning such a memorable
character in an interesting way.) While the end moment where Pierce invites
Gilbert to stay with him, so that they might become better brothers, is a
moving one, and smartly plays off the end of “Digital Estate Planning”, in
weakened by the racial politics is accidentally unleashes. While it <b><i><u>sort
of</u></i></b> makes sense that Gilbert, who his whole live served as Cornelius
servant, would be drawn to a live of servitude under Pierce, and that Pierce
would accept the idea of making his brother his servant as somehow okay, this
move ignores the fact that a black man is working for a white man in such
capacity in the 21<sup>st</sup> century. I think maybe it was meant to be a
joke, but it wasn’t made as explicit as it need be to be effective as such. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
While Pierce gets the “big” moment of pathos, the
episode also tries to draw out a smaller one with Jeff, who it turns out was
wearing a boxer outfit not because it showed off his abs, but because it turns
out his father was once a boxer and those gloves are his. That’s a sweet
moment, but I think two much time had passed between the focus of Jeff-as-a-boxer
at the beginning of the episode, and the reveal about the gloves at the end,
for it to make much impact in the moment it happened. (I only realized what
Jeff was doing after the episode finished, and I think part of the issue was
how quickly the moment played out towards the end of the episode.) A similar,
yet even smaller moment seemed to be doled out to Troy & Britta, and while
it was a sweet note, it also wasn’t a very deep or affecting one. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Just like with “History 101”, “Paternity” seems to
be a bit too stuffed for it biggest moments to land, but this one was
significantly more successful because the over-stuffing here was due to trying
to fill the episode with hefty storylines, not empty one. Still, three moderately
affecting storylines aren’t as effective storytelling wise as a singular,
largely affecting storyline, and it seems the show still needs to find that
balance. Earlier episodes generally kept the A and B storylines separate, and
was able to give enough time to the A to let its emotions land, while still
giving enough to the B that none of the characters felt slighted. That
Guarascio & Port seemed to try to be applying this method to one of the
episode, if not both, is at least a somewhat positive sign.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Of course, none of this makes up for the fact that
<i>Community</i> just isn’t as funny as it
used to be, at least from a joke standpoint. I usually try not to focus on
jokes too much in my reviews for any sitcom episode, as I feel that the best
comedies (and thus those worth talking about) aren’t just jokes machines, but
are solid if not downright inventive in terms of plot, structure, and/or
characterization. But I also can’t ignore that I found a lot less jokes worthy
of inclusion at the end of this review, and even some of those that I did write
down, looking back it clear it’s only because they had the same cadence of
jokes I enjoyed from past seasons. But much like the show itself, just because
these jokes ape what came before doesn’t mean they contain the same heart that
made the past one so successful. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Of course the amount of “heart” any episode has is
something that fluctuates week-to-week, and for all we know, later episodes this
season will find Guarascio, Port, and the rest of the writers more sure of
themselves and the new (or even old) version of the show, and turning out
better episodes than the first two that we’ve seen. (We also must remember that
<i>Community</i> is never strongest at the
beginning of its season, something we <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/09/community-geography-of-global-conflict.html" target="_blank">apparently forgot</a> <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/10/community-remedial-chaos-theory.html" target="_blank">from season 3</a>.)
For only with optimism will we be able to make it through the rough times this
season, and be open to recognizing and accepting what ever new strengths the
show will display.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Of course, now the question remains if Guarascio
& Port could actually make <i>Community</i>
their own. Setting aside the fact that the season premiere didn’t work, G&P
trying to make the show feel unique to their personal style is not a bad thing.
And it must be said, as much as I dislike the premiere, I have to admit that it
was a far more interesting episode than the next one was (albeit only a piece
of failure), and I found myself able to remember what happened in that one far
more easier than I could the event of “Paternity”. This leaves us, and the
show, with two options****: It can become a boring and ultimately disappointing
attempt to just recreate the magic, something that the fans would respect, but
not enjoy. Or, the new showrunners could attempt to go out on their own, and
make episodes their way. (Third option: we see a mix of these two approaches.)
Sure, they might stumble, and the end results could go badly, but at least it
will make for an interesting ride. <i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
*In addition to not working on comedic or thematic
level, the four-cam gag also plants in our heads the idea that Fred Willard
could have acted in the Pierce role, and wouldn’t that have been awesome, but only
we’re still stuck with Chevy Chase, and isn’t that just heart-breaking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
**Another theory, to add on top of my “season
premieres serve as a season’s thesis” argument: Community’s arcs work best when
the are unannounced and build up to a point (like say <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/02/community-intermediate-documentary.html" target="_blank">Pierce’s pill addiction and falling-out with the group</a>) rather than when the show
announces the start of a new arc and fails to follow through (such as the time <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/01/community-asian-population-studies.html" target="_blank">Jeff admitted to Rich that he wanted to fake being a better man</a>, or <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/03/community-contemporary-impressionists.html" target="_blank">told Britta he was going to get therapy</a>, or generally any of Jeff’s possible
romantic pairings). This of course might also mean that Jeff’s arc to Being a
Better Man might not have been subtle as I argued above, but rather just
addressed in fits and starts, and thus only appears to be subtle because the
show didn’t spend all that much time on in the past. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
***This plot was clearly meant to play up
Shirley’s judgmental side, but buried in this is a legitimate and potentially
interesting obstacle for Troy and Britta that I hope the show explore later
this season. Sure, at the end of this episode, Britta says she’s fine keeping
things low-key and just watching TV with Troy, but she’s also been know to make
idealistic statements which she can’t live up to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
****Yes, I know that at this point, all of the
episodes are in the can, but I’m speaking from a point of speculation rather
than as if I’m trying to give notes to the producers to shore up problems
before the finale.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I found my lucky notebook.” “Found my Lucky
Charm.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“<i>Abed’s
Happy Community College Show</i> is filmed in front of a live audience in my
head.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“If you want wishes come true, if have to work for
it. Or use magic.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Hey, you can’t just walk in here. I’ve been
pissing in jars for an hour trying to save seats.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Jeff, you’re graduating early?” “Well, after
thirty can’t be considered early.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“As you know, out records were stores on a
Microsoft Paint file, which I was assured was future-proof.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Jeff’s going after than ball. There has to be a
joke in there somewhere.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Jeffery, is that blood on your shirt?” “Oh no,
it’s cool. It’s Leonard’s.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Pierce, what did you do to Abed?” “GAY BALLS! Got
it!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
“That was a killer speech, Jeff.” “I didn’t say anything. I literally just
walked up.” <s><o:p></o:p></s></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“You smell like the floor of a movie theatre.”
“Yeah, but not for the normal reason.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Oh good, you’ve got wine. I’ve got <i>Friends With Benefits</i> – no subtext.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
*************<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Calling for help. A classic…call for help."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"The only thing tacky about this place is the decor. It's like David
Lee Roth threw up <i>Miami Vice</i>."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Wait, it might be a trap. Or it might let him out. Either way…"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"I've been locked in way worse places than this. Oh, not against my
will."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"What in the <i>Scooby Doo</i> is
happening to you people?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Unlike you, I didn't leave my short-term memory at Cochella."
"Geez, Bear, keep it above the belt."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Sorry." "That's all right, I already forgot."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Okay, so maybe I spent less time in the library than, say, the
walk-in cereal closet."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Why does he have so man collars?….Oh, secret dogs!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Great. You won't tell me, Pierce won't tell me. I don't know what to
Google."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"I lost Abed. I turned around and he was gone." "I told you
to never let him out of your sight. That goes double for holidays and wax
museums." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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lamp." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Ghost
can't go through doors, stupid. They're not fire."</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-59449983897725078182013-02-17T01:02:00.001-06:002013-02-17T16:33:28.845-06:00SNL - "Cristoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes" <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i>Season 38, Episode 14</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Christoph Waltz
hosts and tries to prove wrong everybody’s fears that he’s a poor decision for a
host.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Cold Open –
Carnival Cruise: </b>Let’s set aside the fact that the story of the stranded
cruise ship and its passengers was over-reported, and that there were other
more important stories that the media should have focused on and thus <i>SNL</i> should have skewered. That’s not
there fault; as a current events sketch show, they go where the buzz is. (Which
may explain the oddly loud and enthusiastic applause at the beginning of this
sketch.) The sketch itself was nicely structured alternating between the cruise
directors attempting to keep the passengers happy with updates and jokes, and
the on board entertainment trying (and failing) to provide fresh entertainment.
It’s not the most creative way to do a sketch, but what really makes this one work
is that it nails the desperation that the passengers and crew must have felt
have being stranded at sea for days. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Opening Credits:</b>
For some reason, Don Pardo wasn’t able to do the introduction for The Alabama
Shakes and Christoph Waltz. I have no idea why that is, but it was quite
noticeable, and the fact that the show tried to cover it up by having an
also-ran fill in was just sad. (Note: I will feel like such an ass for saying
this if it turns out Pardo is really sick or something.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Monologue:</b> Much
like with <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2013/02/snl-justin-bieber.html" target="_blank">Bieber’s monologue last week</a>, this was the show trying to address the
elephant in the rokm in regard to its host, in this case Waltz’s perception as
Austrian/stern/not funny. This tongue and cheek acknowledgement did help the
gags go down better – but only if you appreciate purposely awful anti-comedy,
as I do. And while I appreciate the monologue trying to illustrate what a
showman Waltz can be, I also wish they would stop having their host burst out
into song when they can’t think of anything better to fill the time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>What Have You
Become?:</b> This was a great idea for a sketch that was a bit undone by the
structure. Much like with the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDgQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tudou.com%2Fprograms%2Fview%2FGzXpFlBJxd4%2F&ei=QX8gUfzuFuOFyQHXgoHoBA&usg=AFQjCNGcC_RhsL4FI7xU4-xfYzJ_LxHbhA&bvm=bv.42553238,d.b2U" target="_blank">“Dry Eyes”</a> sketch from a few years back, this one
is clearly trying to get laughs from the deep sadness of the contestants, and
asking them to face the bleak desolation of their lives is a brilliant idea for
a sketch. However, we didn’t know the premise until a third of the way through
the sketch (which I get was so that the set-up for each character’s particular
life failings could be set up in an uninterrupted fashion), and even beyond
that the sketch was pretty one note. Still, the idea of having the question be
asked a second time by one of the contestants’ family members was a good one,
and Waltz played his inevitable turn at the question with aplomb. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Papal Securities:</b>
This is essentially a regular financial securities company commercial, redone
with a papal bent, with nothing specific about Papal finances used to make
jokes. Congrats, <i>SNL</i>. You took one of
this week’s biggest stories and managed to find the blandest, least offensive
comedic direction in which to take it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Tippy:</b> The
idea of character who always comes into conversations at the wrong time and
makes wrongful guesses about what there talking about, and thusly is always
afraid their missing something on the other side of the party is a good one,
and it’s a testament to this sketch that I was laughing as I was cringing
because this one also hit pretty close to home. Yet even though there were some
great line via the bawdy guesses that Tippy made (note: I do <i>not</i> do this when in awkward social
situations), I was a bit bothered by how much this felt like <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/239649" target="_blank">a Bedelia sketch</a>,
another character that Pedrad plays. Granted, I don’t really like Bedelia
sketches, so I’m glad this wasn’t one of those, but it’s a bit disappointing
not to see the show be more creative with its sketch premises. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Djesus Uncrossed:</b>
On the one hand, I should be mad that this sketch only perpetuates the singular
focus the media has for Waltz’s work in <i>Inglorious
Basterds</i> and <i>Django Unchained</i>. On
the other hand, I can’t think of any other films he’s been in either (as I can
no longer say <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/tina-fey-may-join-the-muppets-sequel-as-a-guard-at,90654/" target="_blank">he’ll be in the Muppets sequel</a>), and this sketch got some good laughs out of a premise that admittedly
has been done before, so who am I to complain? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The Jamarcus
Bros.:</b> A white guy singing R&B, and terribly? And he’s also a virgin?
Yes, this a tired premise, and really it shouldn’t have worked. But Waltz
killed it in this sketch and sold a lot of things that shouldn’t have worked.
Throw in some well-written track names (the escalating awkward title tracks
were great), and this one just about breaks even. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Weekend Update:</b>
In addition to Seth Meyer’s usual shtick, we also got…The show goes for another
over-reported news story as Marco Rubio shows up to explain his sip-of-water
faux pas. Luckily, this time SNL took the time to call out the media’s
over-fascination with this slip up – right before they themselves made fun of
it. Still, Killam sold this over-the-top version of the same speech, which made
for some solid laughs…A woman from rural Russia, so that <i>SNL</i> can address that recent meteor that landed in the country,
except that she doesn’t really address the story of the meteor. Instead, it
just becomes a chance for <i>SNL</i> to make
a bunch of tired jokes about how a large portion of Russia lives in urban
poverty…Finally, ‘Stephen A. Smith’ arrived to talk about something going on in
the sports world, and by this time in this overly-long Weekend Update, I
couldn’t be bothered to care, and was too distracted trying to figure out
whether or not WU had trotted out this impersonation before or not. (I don’t
follow sport, and so it’s hard for me to tell most of the sports-world-related
impressions apart.) Either way, the joke seemed to be how Smith always talks
about how he’s friends with the athletes he’s commentating on, which I didn’t
find all that funny. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Regine:</b> I
wasn’t all that impressed by <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/10/snl-daniel-craigmuse.html" target="_blank">the first iteration of this sketch</a>, and I can’t
really say that my opinion has improved all that much with a second version. I
did seem like this one played up the character’s snobbishness more this time
around, and while I appreciate the attempt to make the character a bit more
dimensional, it didn’t add any laughs what so ever. And it’s not like it’s all
that important anyway, as the laughs for those who enjoy this is clearly in Armisen’s
slapstick, many moments of which were repeated from <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/409939" target="_blank">the first time around</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Fox & Friends:</b>
I’m surprised that a ‘Fox & Friends’ sketch is buried this deep in the
episode, since they are usually quite good, and this one did not disappoint
either. In fact, with their incorporation of Ted Nugent, this was the iteration
of the sketch which best satirized the show’s hosts’ willingness to agree with
whatever insane thing their guests say. In fact, this point was made so clearly
(or, alternatively, I just now realized that they do that in these sketches)
that the appearance as a British health officer felt a little off. These
sketches are better served when the show is merely showing us the hosts’
inanity, not having characters point it out. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Secret Admirer:</b>
I know, I know, I took the show to task for using lazy Russian stereotypes as
part of Weekend Update tonight, so logically I should be mad that a lot of the
humor from this sketch came from broken English and misunderstood cultural
practices. However, this sketch was also layered with the general creepiness of
the message, the cluelessness of the letter’s recipient, and the fact that the
rest of the office members knew that was Dmitri was responsible and kept trying
to pin the responsibility back onto him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There was no truly great or hilarious sketch here in this
episode, but there wasn’t anything terribly awful either. (Well, apart from “Regine”,
but that’s just a case of a Recurring Character Who Shouldn’t Be, and we’re
just going to have to accept that.) This was an episode that was wall-to-wall
solid, and while that might be damming the episode with faint praise, remember
that SNL has had a pretty shitty 2013 up until this point. More to this fact, we
should celebrate when the show puts out something that more even-keeled, as
opposed to an episode that’s only two or three good sketches and everything
else is dreck. Additionally, Waltz had some actually meaty parts in the episode
(I was surprised when he showed up as the host in “What Have You Become?”), and
while there weren’t that many of them, he at least didn’t feel as relegated to the
sidelines as the last string of hosts has. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Best Sketch – Fox
& Friends <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Worst Sketch – Regine<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>In Two Weeks:</b>
Kevin Hart hosts for reasons not related to popularity, and whole lot of
unfunny people comment on how Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, a white hip-hop act,
are playing on the same night as a black host.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Quotes, Etc.:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell anymore jokes. There’s dookie on
the walls, man! How does dookie get on the walls?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“There is no god!” “Hey, there is a god, he did not
abandon us!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Self-employed entrepreneur? That’s not even a thing!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“All I know is the name of Katy Perry’s cat. It’s Kitty
Purry.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“‘Mama, let me go to dance school.’ ‘No boy, you have to
go to Game Show School.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“It was just social laughter.” “So it’s a black thing?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Jesus H. Chirst!” “The ‘H’ is silent.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Well, it was a big week for everybody trying to convince
you that everything’s going great.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Why did I eat all that cinnamon?” “Yeah, why did I have
all that cinnamon?” “Cause it’s the Cinnamon Challenge!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“A new study shows that 30% of co-workers marry, and the
other 70% take the long way to the copier.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Stephen Nash and I are friends. Steven Nash and I have
held hands in a hot air balloon.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Oh don’t worry baby, I’m sure that we will discuss
social politics soon enough.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Did you watch the State of the Union address?” “Well, I
meant to, but there was a bee in my apartment and it turned into this whole
thing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“My favorite ‘p’ word is ‘pasghetti ‘. Love it!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I mean, who eats a horse?” “Well, one time in fifth
grade, I ate a sea horse. They still won’t let me back in that aquarium.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
My favorite correction from the ‘Fox & Friends’
sketch (of those I caught): “<i>Zero Dark
Thirty</i> is not a diet soda.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-79512533754736272992013-02-10T00:50:00.000-06:002013-02-10T21:30:56.001-06:00SNL - "Justin Bieber" <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 38, Episode 13</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Justin Bieber hosts
and performs, and it’s not as bad as one might expect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Cold Open – Super
Bowl Blackout:</b> Just to get this out of the way, it must be acknowledge that
this sketch owes some of its DNA to an <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CDYQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Fwatch%2F281936&ei=VmUYUcTRAsyAqQG9g4CwCw&usg=AFQjCNHJA7x0CgdCsX4iqEk94QL6-_2-MQ&bvm=bv.42080656,d.b2I" target="_blank">old 90s sketch</a> which saw some morning
show hosts go crazy when the teleprompter stopped working. (Indeed a saw some
people on Twitter reference this sketch when the lights went out at the Super
Bowl and the commentator were left vamping for half and hour.) This sketch
doesn’t go to such extremes as that one, and given how often I push <i>SNL</i> to go weirder, this tameness would
usually disappoint. However, what makes this sketch work is the interplay
between characters (especially Thompson’s commentator and Killam’s sideline
reporter) as well as the specificity of jokes. Pointless, empty vamping, cheesy
on-air promos, and bottom-of-the-barrel scraping commercials all add up to a
perfect blend of jokes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Monologue:</b> It
was inevitable that with an artist like Bieber, the show would at some point
have to acknowledge the temptation to pander to the audience, if just not
outright pander to them, so it makes a good idea for a monologue. The problem
is that it’s hard to if the monologue is mocking audience pandering or actually
doing it. Sure, the script makes sure to undercut every little romantic thing
Bieber says by pairing it with a random (and usually incorrect) fact about
black history, but it is also leans far to heavily on the pandering (joking or
not) to not feel insulting to the audience. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The Californians:</b>
As always, I’m just going to link to <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/04/snl-josh-brolingotye.html" target="_blank">my review of the first one of these</a>. (That
gag with Hader’s character having a string of dramatic reaction shots was
somewhat inspired, though.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Justin Bieber Body
Doubles:</b> This is a solid, if simple idea for sketch, and its familiarity
could have been an anchor around its neck, were it not for the shots that it
took at Bieber’s public persona. Of course, some of these, like Bieber’s dance
moves and changing singing voice were really just excuses for him to Bieber to
display his actual talent, which ended up taking the bite out of the sketch.
But that being said, there were still some good critiques that went
unchallenged, like Bieber’s feminine looks and his attempt to act “black”. And
the ending twist of McKibbon showing up as Ellen (who blends into with the rest
of the Bieber impersonators) made a great closing laugh, even if it was a bit
too out of left field. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Bravo Spinoffs: </b>Of
course, mocking the fact that Bravo has so many pointless reality shows and
that most of those show are just spinoffs is a relatively easy joke to make. What
makes this one work is two-fold. First, the sketch gets how channels like Bravo
try to sell these show on the backs of their subjects’ minority status, be it
along lines of race, sexual orientation, or gender, even if their real claim to
“fame” is their tangential relationship to actual famous people. But one it got
bored of that, the sketch just went weird, making up the most ridiculous
premises for these type of reality shows (like house plants, or vampires). There
must have been a strong temptation to make this sketch just all weird ideas,
but the combination of these two approaches gives is weight and keeps it from
getting stale. (Bonus points for the logical ending, which ends up cycling back
to where the whole thing started.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Weekend Update:</b>
In addition to Seth Meyers’ usual shtick, we also got…King Richard’s Best
Friends from Growing Up, the latest iteration of this stale gag, which has been
used every time a tyrannical ruler comes up in the news. We get it; they’re
scared to speak out. And ending every one of these by having Meyers adopt the
same tone of voice, a move that’s ironically meant to be unexpected, is just
getting old…Then there was Corey, the One Black Guy in Every Commercial, which
seemed like it was meant to be a criticism of how the media treats race, but
instead ended up being a mockery of the sameness of commercials in general.
Honestly, the later tactic is fine, but it knowing the show went the softer
route just hurts a little bit. (And did anybody else think Thompson looked like
Echo Kellum in that get-up? Talk about distracting.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>“Say More Stuff”:</b>
SNL’s history with musical based sketches is a bit spotty (see: <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/10/snl-anna-farisdrake.html" target="_blank">“Tell Him”</a>),
but this one worked pretty well as long as it was clocking along in the “dumb
jock is a terrible date” vein, which seemed to be perfectly sending up the
musical that the titular song was aped off of. However, the closing twist that
he was only eleven felt like too much shock humor added to quickly, especially
when the original direction of the sketch was working out just fine. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The New Miley
Cyrus Show:</b> Given the positive audience reaction to these sketches, I’m
surprised (and of course thankful) that they haven’t appeared more often. I’ll
have to credit it to the writers attempt not to wear out the material (okay,
that’s probably not true), and the existence of this iteration to the fact that
Cyrus has undergone so many changes recently. The format of this sketch is
still the same (crappy monologue, banter with Billy Ray, awkward guest
interview), but by having the sketch become “The <i>New</i> Miley Cyrus” and deal with her changes as she enters adulthood,
it at least feels a little bit fresher.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Eddy:</b> It just
now occurs to me how often <i>SNL</i> goes
to the “meet the weird member/friend of the family” setup, doing it what feels
like every third episode or so, and using practically the same set each time. How
much each individual sketch ends up succeeding usually depends on the specific
idea at play, how that idea plays out, and (most importantly) how long that
idea goes on and how the sketch decides to end it. In this case, the idea
(Killam plays a brother who harasses his sister’s new boyfriend over a slip of
the tongue) doesn’t look that strong on paper, but is brought to life thanks to
Killam’s performance. Where things go slightly off the rails is when it
switches to an exchange between Eddy and his father, a fake-out emotional
bickering that doesn’t really pair up that well with came before it, even if
the fact that it’s a fake-out makes it thematically relevant.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Justin Bieber’s
Valentine’s Day Message:</b> This is another instance of show playing around
with the idea of pandering to the audience, but this one works a lot better
than the monologue did. By making the contrast between Bieber overt sexuality
and the thing that is undercutting it (in this case, his weird impromptu
roommate Taco, and a few other random happenstance) clearer, the sketch doesn’t
wade around in such ambiguous territory and is able to make its jokes pop more.
Of course, given that the sketch tries to make a comedic through-line with Taco
and still wants to through in a bunch of other “unsexy” things sort of ruins
its momentum, but that’s a lesser problem, especially when most of the jokes
land. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Valentine’s Day Abstinence
Dance:</b> I don’t really know what to refer to this recurring sketch as, but
it’s continues to be one of my favorites, as it allows the show to deliver a
sketch that is full of weird jokes while still having a solid structure. The
structure this time around was the abstinent couple played by Bieber and Pedrad’s
repressed, twitchy girlfriend. It was Pedrad who provided the bigger laughs of
the two, as Bieber had a strange way of selling his closing lines, which I
believe were meant to appear dorky and stupid, in a overly-sexualized manner
that ended up undercutting the comedy. (Of course, the female portion of the
audience also shriek every time he did so, which may be coloring my
interpretation of his line-readings.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I can’t believe I’m about to type this, but Bieber
actually did a solid job hosting tonight. Granted, you could see the show
working around his obvious limitations, especially when he just played himself
or was the straight man, but he also clearly put a lot of work into what he did
and (even more importantly, after Adam Levine’s disastrous acting last episode)
refrained from reading the cue cards too much. Who would have thought that SNL would right it
ships after two disastrous outings with an episode featuring a double-duty
pulling host.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Best Sketch – Valentine’s
Day Abstinence Dance<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Worst Sketch – The
Californians <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Possible New Trend</b>
– Is it just me, or are the cold open getting stronger this season? Granted,
for the two prior episodes, this also meant that they ended up being the best
of their episodes (because what followed them was so terrible), but kudos to
the writer of those for putting it more effort or finding out what works or
whatever.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Quotes, Etc.:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“And as a favor, I ask that you don’t come back to me,
because I have nothing else to add.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’d like to offer an apology. I’ve been told we ran out
of proper commercials and had to run a weird one.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You can’t ‘back to you’ me, I just ‘back to you’-ed you.
Back to you!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Well I have to correct you there. Steely Dan has the
best fans in the world.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I mean, some of them are girls.” “Yeah, that’s out
A-Team.” “And that guy’s black, he’s not fooling anybody.” “Yeah, neither are
you.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Ok look, I lost Saddam. I’m not losing you.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I drive men craaaaazy…also to the airport.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Sure, take your time fellas. Go on an all-male camping
trip, rub some stick together, sew some badges on your sash, and then let us
know if you’re comfortable with gay Scouts.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“However, the image will erase itself after 10 seconds,
which, if you’re teenage boy, is more than enough time.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Then, he I saw him sneak a look down my blouse. Then he
started crying, saying ‘Where are the puppies? My friends told me there would
be puppies.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“He said he would stay for just one night. Three months
later, and I’m like ‘just get use to Taco.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“If you get shot with an arrow this holiday, that is not
Cupid. There is a hobo out in the parking lot with a crossbow.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Amphibians and reptiles are killing each other, and all
to the sounds of ‘Baby Got Back.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Back in my day, we had a venereal disease called
‘Montezuma’s Grenade.’ You have sex, and then you explode.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-23978828337823855802013-01-20T00:13:00.000-06:002013-01-20T00:15:20.432-06:00SNL - "Jennifer Lawrence/The Lumineers"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 38, Episode 11</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Everybody's nerd-crush, Jennifer Lawrence, stops by to host, and The Lumineers twee it up on the musical stage.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Cold Open –
Piers Morgan Tonight: </b> Apparently attempting to
take care of a huge chunk of current news in one fell swoop, this <i>Piers Morgan</i> iteration took on Lance
Armstrong, Manti Te’o, and (somewhat inexplicably) Jodie Foster. Now, the <i>Morgan</i> sketches tend to work best when
they ramp up the craziness in the guests and contrast that with Morgan’s calm
demeanor. So while I saw what they were trying to do here by keeping all of the
guests along a same theme – in this case, shocking revelations – none of these
guest felt crazier than the other, so this sketch lacked any sort of momentum.
Top that with the fact that Foster’s Golden Globe speech is nether sports
related or all that revelatory, and I was left somewhat underwhelmed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Monologue:</b> It often feels
as if the monologue is one of the least thought-through elements of any <i>SNL</i> episode, filled with some lazy/corny
humor. So colored me surprised when said corny humor actually sort of worked
for once. Having Lawrence riff on her Golden Globe win, here possible Oscar
wins, and (for some reason) Tommy Lee Jones’ stone-faced appearance at the
Globes it admittedly pretty lazy, but Lawrence was so charming here that she
gave all the corny jokes a sort of winking, knowing air that helped sell them.
That’s at least one good sign for the show to come.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Starbucks
Verismo:</b>
Hey, do look whinging about the service at Starbucks? And do you like that whinging
to have a weird, unearned tint of racism? Then this is the sketch just for you!
Admittedly, some of the more specific humor of the sketch worked, but most of
it was too broad, and the sketch as whole just sunk. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Girlfriends
Talk Show:</b> The
“Girlfriends Talk Show” isn’t a sketch I have much to say about, because it
hits at some tired humor, but the patter between Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong
usually helps elevate it to serviceable levels. That being said, this sketch didn’t
really reach an actually conclusion more than it just…ended, and that end up
hurting the overall quality. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Hunger Games
Press Conference:</b> Let’s look past the fact that doing a Hunger Games parody is both
fairly expected and lazy considering that the show did another parody <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/04/snl-sofia-vergaraone-direction.html" target="_blank">last season</a>. Even given those passes, this sketch didn’t really work. It’s not that
there weren’t some good ideas here – the reporter who was constantly hungry,
the one who normally covers the golf beat, and the continual ragging on Peeta
were all good – but this sketch didn’t really have a throughline, and that left
the jokes feeling a bit too random to work. Additionally, Lawrence was more or
less sidelined for the sketch – the de facto setting for hosts these days – but
the fact that she was playing the main character in this universe just made
that relegation stand out all the more. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The Hobbit Parts
2-19:</b> Hey,
did you know that the Hobbit has been split into 3 parts? Oh, you did? And
you’ve made jokes about it? Okay, then maybe you should just pretend that this
sketch didn’t happen…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Johnny Two
Tones:</b> Given
that this sketch gave us the hard sell in beginning about the restaurant having
purposely sardonic waiters, it was pretty clear that they would soon introduce
a character who was <i>not</i> that. That’s
just how these things go. Granted, Lawrence wasn’t bad in selling the crazy,
actually mean character that she was playing, but the whole thing was so
predictable that it couldn’t really produce any true laughs. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<b>Weekend Update:</b> In addition to
Seth Meyer’s usual shtick, we also got…Second-Hand news with Anthony Crispino,
which is definitely not my thing. This is the sort of segment where it feels
like the punchline (Anthony’s flubbed reading of the news) comes before the
set-up (where Seth sets him straight), and it just sucks all the air out of the
joke…And that was it. One guest segment. I’m sorry, didn’t the SNL writers have
a month off? Weren’t they supposed to come back refreshed, bursting with ideas?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Top Dog Chef:</b> I <i>wanted</i> to like this one, I really did. I
like dogs, and I tend to be a sucker for dog-related humor. And the sketch came
out early with a killer gag about doorbells, one that seemed to be set up as a
throughline for the sketch (or at least pointed to a set of good, specific dog
jokes). Instead, the rest of the sketch was filled with some of the
easiest/laziest dog-related gags, and at least 3 groan-worth puns. (I kind of
blacked-out after the third one, so I may have lost count.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<b>Mad Early
Morning Radio Show:</b> The first time this sketch aired, I <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/03/snl-lindsay-lohanjack-white.html" target="_blank">wrote</a> “<span style="background: white; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">this sketch shouldn't really work, since making fun of early
morning talk shows is another thing that's pretty old hat in sketch comedy.
However, Killam and Moynihan were absolutely charming douche-bag DJ's, to the
extent that I was lightly snickering throughout the whole thing.” I second that
emotion for Lawrence’s poorly-skilled rapper character, which allowed her to be
charming for the first time since her monologue. (Last time, I also wrote that
“lightly snickering throughout the whole thing [is] more than I can say for
most <i>SNL</i> sketches tonight,” which also still hold true.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Danielle:
</b>This
is a prime example of the sort of anti-comedy that <i>SNL</i> is just not capable of pulling off. While I get that the sketch
was supposed to be satirizing the terrible writing (and dubbing) of foreign
language, late night soft-core porn, the actual result was way too stilted to
actually engender any laughs. Maybe it should have been goofier, maybe it shouldn’t
have been as true to the source material, but it just didn’t work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Civil
War Correspondence:</b> Ah, a simple crass-meats-high-class juxtaposition humor
sketch. It’s not a bad way to do a sketch, but it’s also not a recipe for
top-notch hilarity, and at this point of the night, it just comes off as too
little, too late. And considering this is the last sketch of the night, I had
kind of hoped it would go a little weirder. But of course, weird is probably
what the writers were going for with the “Danielle” sketch, so maybe it’s a
good thing that they didn’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I…oh,
just fuck it. Lawrence was good, but the writing was terrible. The end.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Next Week: </b>Adam Levine continues
his attempt at acting domination that he started over on <i>American Horror Story</i>, and white people finally discover Kendrick
Lamar.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Quotes, Etc.:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Good
evening, I’m Piers Morgan, or as you may know me, the British Mario Lopez.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Man,
Lennay is going to be pissed…” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Oh,
and I’m obsessed with girls…the show. I just love that show.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Up
next, we will have a heated debate on gun control with who else, Liam from One
Direction.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Yesterday,
he made me stand behind a portrait for five hours while he stared at me and ate
Caesar salad.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You
don’t even have David any more. He bit a baby and you guys had to put him to
sleep.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“So
let me get this straight: In Spain, porn is just on TV?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Many
were eliminated, some ran away, and one had to be put down.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“And
I’ll say this again: Nobody who rings the doorbell is there to kill you.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-88296102396088594052013-01-06T23:09:00.003-06:002013-01-06T23:09:23.875-06:00Happy Endings - "Fowl Play/Date"
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 3, Episode 8<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Welcome to the special Sunday Night Burn Off
edition of <i>Happy Endings</i>, where everything is the same, except with an increase
sense of dread over the show’s fate. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
If one were to be optimistic, they might guess
that ABC was doubling up on <i>Happy Endings</i>
episodes (and <i>Don’t Trust the B----</i>
episodes as well) over the next few weeks as way to increase awareness about
the show. After all, these Sunday night episodes are following <i>Revenge</i>, which is one of the network’s
buzziest shows. However, given that these two comedies are taking the slot of
the recently cancelled <i>666 Park Avenue</i>,
and that ABC has already announced that they will be off the air by mid-March
to make room for <i>Dancing With the Stars</i>,
it seems much more likely that the network is just trying to burning off
episodes wherever they can.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Not that “Fowl Play/Date” was necessarily the best
introductory note to <i>Happy Endings</i>
for whoever decided to leave the TV on after <i>Revenge</i> was over (which, let face it, is the most likely option for
any new viewers the show get tonight). I’ve talked before in this space about
how the show, which started off with that terrible “left at the altar” premise
has evolved past such clichéd storytelling, and is always better when it tells
original stories, or at least subverts the clichés that it uses to start off an
episode. “Fowl Play/Date”, however starts off with two hoary clichés, and
though it manages to add to them and end up in new places from these familiar
starts, doesn’t really do much to subvert them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i>Cliché #1: The
Competing Blind Dates: </i>Dave and Jane, seeing what a sad sack Max has become
in his singledom, decide to set him up with somebody, except for wait, they
both have someone in mind that they is <i>perfect</i>,
and they set up Max with both of them in a competition to see which one he
chooses, and which of one of them is thus right. <i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
It’s a familiar premise, and it’s to the show’s
credit that we don’t see Dave and Jane follow Max on each of his dates in an
attempt to save and/or sabotage them to their favor – at least not right away.
Instead, what we get is another familiar ending, wherein Max picks a third,
previously unknown party as his object of interest over what Dave and Jane have
suggested to him. The one nice twist here is that Dave and Jane’s respective
dates act just like them, but the episode doesn’t really do much with this,
except for when Max and Jane both interfere with Max’s third date, thus
completing the trope that was sidestepped earlier in the episode. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i>Cliché #2
The Broken/Dead Whatever:</i> When Alex goes away* to the Rom-Com Con**, Brad
and Penny end up killing Alex’s racist parrot after gluing back together a
piece of childhood art they had broken earlier. They then try to stage it so
that it looks like the bird died by more natural means.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
The usual motion of this trope were there, from
Penny and Brad concocting a ridiculous scheme to make it seem as if the parrot
had died falling out the window, to their nervousness in trying to hide it from
Alex, and even there last minute efforts to keep her from finding it. But it
was the stuff around this – the actually riffing of the two of them creating
the plan, Brad’s imagining of the bird’s voice as his own from of guilt, the
bird funeral, Tyler’s death being Alex’s fault for feeding him margaritas – was
all funny and well-execute, and helped make this rote plot a lot more enjoyable.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This isn’t to say that this episode isn’t funny;
in fact, one of the strength of Happy Endings is that it is usually
consistently funny regardless of the quality of storytelling going one within
any given episode. There were plenty of funny lines tonight, and that might be
enough to hook a few viewers who were unaware of the show before this. However,
for those who have heard about the show before – say, from one of the show’s
rabid fans – maybe they saw this episode, and all of its familiar trappings, and
didn’t get just what all the fuss was about. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
*Strangely, Alex felt mostly relegated from the
episode, only showing in the beginning and ending of the plot involving her
parrot, with her exit and return really serving to shuffle the story along. I
think it would have been cool to see Alex actually at the Rom-Com Con, but I
get that there exist both story and financial limitations that kept that from
happening.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
**The putting of “Con” at the end of everything to
denote a ridiculous fan convention is sort of an old joke, but the cold open to
this episode used that joke brilliantly by having the group riff on the idea and
make up ridiculously sounding “cons” themselves. It was fast-paced section that
saw joke piled on top of joke, and it was in a nutshell what the show does
best. So not a bad way to try to hook viewers in immediately following <i>Revenge</i>, even though I know it wasn’t
conceived for that purpose.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Why would you bring your parrot to the dinner.
Wait, who am I talking to? I once saw you put sunscreen on a grape so it didn’t
turn into a raisin.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“It’s like my friend Prison Johnny says to me –
through the glass….”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I have brokered three marriages, once against
their will, but you now what? Sanjay will learn to love Padma.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Max, Dave and I couldn’t help but notice that you
were acting like a lonely little bitch last night.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Well, I don’t have bird defibrillators, do I
Penny? I could have gotten them from the Sky Mall catalogue, but noooooo, I
just had to get my marshmallow gun. Damn you Brad, damn you to hell!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“We have all the same interests: love Ryan
Reynolds, hate Ryan Reynolds’ movies…so we’re seeing each other tonight.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I plan on winin’ him, dinin’ him, and
seventy-ninin’ him. And if you’re wondering, yes, that’s ten better.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-39230580528129380802013-01-06T18:51:00.000-06:002013-01-06T19:57:34.574-06:00Spring 2013 Review Schedule<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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After the disaster of not-writing that was this
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Night Live</i></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-88580076410945251522013-01-06T18:40:00.001-06:002013-01-06T18:40:27.617-06:00The 2012 Television Year in Review
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s my third time doing an annual review of
television, and because I like to keep things fresh, this is my third approach
to the subject. This year, I broke down the best of television into two lists –
the best of the returning shows, and the best of the new shows. In order to
facilitate your knowledge of the new shows (which you are more likely to have
missed), I have included episodes suggestions for catching up/getting familiar
with each series. Comment, complain, argue, and enjoy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: inherit;">Best Returning Shows<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> 10. <i>Archer </i>(FX) – TV’s funniest animated
show, period, continued its ascension into the Hall of TV Greatness this year,
becoming unafraid to go anywhere (both geographically and comically) for a
laugh. This move towards greatness probably
needn’t include more ambitious storytelling and a greater sense of character
depth, as the show is so incredibly funny anyways, but it helps, and it hold
the promise of the show being able to run with creative competency for a long
time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">9. <i>Homeland</i>
(Showtime) – Last year, <i>Homeland</i> was
the surprise smash critical hit, the out-of-nowhere show that managed to prove
that Showtime could be a legitimate player in the high-quality drama circuit.
When the show won the Emmy for Best Drama this fall, that added even more
pressure for the show to continue its high quality streak. And for a while,
season two was able to comply with this unspoken request, before becoming
something of a frustrating mess in its back half. But it should not be
forgotten that that messiness comes at the cost of the show aiming high, to
keep the story moving and not languish as so many other dramas have done. The
end result was the most frustrating yet addictive series of the year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">8. <i>The
Thick Of It</i> (Hulu) – The British political satire returned for one final
lap, and it made the most of it. A focus on incorporating more recent,
real-life events into its universe could have ended in a slog for the show, but
by introducing a new storytelling structure for the first half the season, the
show managed to be fleet as it introduced a bevy of exciting new changes for
the characters. Building on this new status quo, the show became funnier and
more pointed than even, culminating in <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/414531" target="_blank">the driest, funniest piece of comedy ever produced</a>. The penultimate episode may dominate the show’s memory
years from now, but that doesn’t lessen the efforts all those other episodes
made to bring it to that point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">7. <i>Mad
Men </i>(AMC) – As the show’s timeline progressed further and further in to the
1960s, the show itself seemed to feel compelled to reflect that in its
storytelling, giving into the emotional openness and experimentation that is so
often remembered in conjunction with the decade. This isn’t to say that the
show went off the rails or forgot its core tents, but it did become a different
beast, one that turned off as many fans as it entertained. But regardless of
how one feels about the lessened obfuscation or the more streamlined
storytelling, it can not be denied that this was <i>Mad Men</i> as its most beautiful, its most engaging, and its most
emotionally affecting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">6. <i>Justified
(</i>FX) – There was no way that Justified could replicate the effect that
season 2 villain Mags had on the show, so instead the show moved in a different
direction. While most might be quick to point out that the show introduced <i>two</i> villains this season as an apparent
attempt to recreate with quantity what they couldn’t in quality, those
detractors miss the point of the move. With Neal McDonough’s Robert Quarles
representing the external threats to Harlan County’s criminal hierarchy and
Mykelti Williamson’s Limehouse representing that hierarchy, <i>Justified</i> was able to expand the show’s
world and effortlessly introduce even more backstory than had previously been
established. Anchoring this complex world of characters new and old was Timothy
Olyphant’s dynamic performance as Raylan Givens, whose conflicted personality
comes off entirely clean in relation to a world gone completely mad at even the
slightest hint of power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. <i>Parenthood</i>
(NBC) – By the rules of today’s TV, shows shouldn’t be as emotionally open and
honest as <i>Parenthood</i>, or at least
they shouldn’t be successful in attempting to be as such. However, Jason Katims’
highly affecting show – which this season introduced stories about both cancer
and a returning war veteran while avoiding schmaltz on both accounts, and
making sure that the rest of the show didn’t get sucked up in their wakes – manages
to do both these things. That he and the writers manage to do all of this without
breaking the show’s commitment to realism is even more impressive. But more
than all of this, <i>Parenthood</i> is a
show that managed to bring legitimate tears from its audience week after week,
and for that, something that no other show can do, it deserves your attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. <i>Parks
& Recreation</i> (NBC) – If <i>Parenthood</i>
is TV’s warmest drama, then consider <i>Parks
& Recreation</i> TVs warmest comedy, one which produces tears of joy where <i>Parenthood </i>produces tears of sadness. Season
four managed to infuse drama in it’s proceedings with Leslie’s run for City
Council, a storylines that paid emotional dividends at several points in that
season’s back half. And as season five as moved away (or some might say
struggled) with Leslie’s continuing political ascension, it has relied on its
ensemble cast to pick up the emotional weight and carry the show in new
directions. That these new stories are just as affecting as anything that has
happened to the show’s supposed main character speaks to the quality level of
storytelling the show is able to produce, and the love it has for all its
characters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. <i>Community</i>
(NBC)– With the ouster of Dan Harmon at the end of last season, <i>Community</i> is likely to never be the same
again. But to say that would pretend that the show hadn’t already been changing
all the time anyway. The back half of season three was the show at its most
bold and daring, throwing out spoofs, homages, and high concepts with abandon,
traditional storytelling be damned. And even if all this craziness sometimes
made it seem as if the show was losing its core identity, that may have been an
intentional move on Harmon’s part. He and his writers weren’t afraid to show us
new, more unsettling side of characters we already thought we knew fairly well,
and to make them darker and even more unlikeable – and human – than they
already were. It could sometimes feel as if the backstage drama of the show was
bleeding into the onscreen product, but given the show’s fascination with
breaking the fourth wall, would the fans have it any other way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <i>Louie</i>
(FX) – There was a important moment in the episode “Daddy’s Girlfriend, Pt. 2”,
where the camera moves away from the titular character and focuses solely on
his date for the evening, revealing a telling bit of her personal life, one which
Louie never discovers. Those 20 seconds were <i>Louie</i>’s third season in a nutshell; while the first two seasons
told stories that were filtered solely through the protagonist’s worldview. In
the third season, Louie was continuously confronted by outside sources and
their own viewpoint of life, challenging his convictions and allowing the show
to travel in new directions. The show still maintained its creator’s general
treatise on life, but as it’s two multi-episode tales made clear, it was
interested in exploring that treatise in new ways, the better to appease CK’s
listlessness. That listlessness also means we won’t be getting anymore Louie
until 2014, but the third season gave us plenty of great moments to hold onto
until then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. <i>Breaking
Bad</i> (AMC) – At this point, it just seems rote to keep saying that <i>Breaking Bad</i> is the best show on TV, an
honor that’s been granted to it for the past 3 years. But this isn’t a
nomination that comes out of some blind quest to maintain the status quo, or a
lack of consideration for what other shows have done. Instead, <i>Breaking Bad</i> managed once again to top
itself, to deliver a set of 8 episodes that were able to be tenser, scarier,
more moving, more shocking, and <a href="http://vimeo.com/48220675" target="_blank">even funnier</a> than what had already been
produced. And even if the show went to Caper Town a little too often in its
storytelling, it never lost sight of the story it needed to tell, swiftly building
an arc for Walter and those around him, that ended with a game-changing
discovery. If the show can pull off its endgame well with only 8 episodes left
is still up in the air, but if they can continue to focus on character like
they did in the first half of the season – like they did with Anna Gunn’s
Skyler, who finally moved into a position where she could shed all her detractors
– then it should all work out just fine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: inherit;">Best New Shows<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">10. <i>Legend
of Korra</i> (Nickelodeon) – Considering that by its endpoint, <i>Avatar: The Last Airbender</i> was watched
by hardly anybody (or at least nobody in the network’s key demo), it’s
surprising that Nickelodeon would commission a sequel series to appease the
legion of mostly adult fans. Hesitation must have existed, since the first
season consisted of only twelve episodes, forcing the show’s creators to cram
in more story than could really fit. But that shouldn’t undersell the
ambitions, and the creators sought to one up their first series in terms of
storytelling, characters, and moral complexity, while also spoon-feeding its
audience a healthy dose of feminism. In these regards, <i>Korra</i> succeeds, and should be celebrated for it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> “Welcome to Republic City”, “The
Spirit of Competition”, “Out of the Past”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">9. <i>Awake</i>
(NBC) – Exploring similar themes of dual identity that he first touched on in <i>Lone Star</i>, Kyle Killen returned to
television with a show even more ambitious than his debut series. Centering on
a man who, after a car crash, bounces between two realties divided by the
awake/asleep divide, not willing to determine which is real and which is fake.
It was an ambitious presence, and as the season bore out, not really one built
to last, but more TV should be like this – bold, different, and centered by an
amazing performance from Jason Isaacs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> “Pilot”, “That’s Not My
Penguin”, “Say Hello To My Little Friend”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">8. <i>Bunheads</i>
(ABC Family) – The television return for Amy Sherman-Palladino for which <i>Gilmore Girls</i> fans have been clamoring
ever since she was kicked off the latter show (let’s just forget that <i>The Return of Jezebel James</i> ever
happened), <i>Bunheads</i> was the most
ridiculously-named enjoyable show of the summer. Mixing Palladino’s rapid-fire
dialogue with some of the slowest narrative pacing ever seen, <i>Bunheads</i> asked it audience to sit back
and enjoy the small-town quirks and neurotic characters that inhabit it. This
is to say nothing of the show’s tendency to throw in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTO10Xgl0eM" target="_blank">the out of left-field moment</a>, a mark of ambition that could turn into something greater. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch: </b>“Pilot”, “For Franny”, “What’s
Your Damage, Heather?” (But really, all of the first ten episodes are up on
Hulu, so why not watch them before the series returns tomorrow?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">7. <i>Bent</i>
(NBC) – The most charming show to premiere this year, Bent never really had a
chance. Short-ordered by NBC to just 6 episodes, which were then aired across
three weeks with little promotion, it’s no wonder the show didn’t get the
ratings to continue on. Yet despite NBC’s burying of the show, and its somewhat
tired rom-com premise, Bent succeeds on the chemistry and charm of its actors,
who help evict a warm and funny world that sucks you in. That the premise –
about the sexual tension between a contractor and the woman whose kitchen he’s
fixing – seems to have a short shelf life doesn’t really matter, because this
in one job you never want to be finished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> It only aired 6 episodes, and
they’re all up on Hulu. Don’t pretend like you don’t have 3 hours to kill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">6.<i>The
LA Complex</i> (The CW) – “Actors (and other creative types) trying to make in
Hollywood” is a premise that shouldn’t really work anymore, so many times has
in been worked over and used a fodder for schlocky entertainment. And given
that the show posted the lowest audience numbers ever, it appears many people
thought this show would be among the same. Yet <i>LA Complex </i>took its characters seriously, giving them arcs that
were more archetypal than clichéd, and filtered through the show’s own bleak
view of the entertainment industry. Their struggles were affecting, their
mistakes understandable, and their victories, however short-lived, triumphant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> “Down in LA”, “Burn It Down”,
“Be a Man”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. <i>Ben
& Kate</i> (FOX) – Another charmer in the vein of <i>Bent</i> (and one likely to meet a similar fate), <i>Ben & Kate </i>is another in a series of new family comedies
(including <i>The Middle</i> and <i>Raising Hope</i>) that manage to be funny
and tender without straining for either type of moments. About as small scale
as comedies come these days, B&K manages to wrangle laughs not only out of
the headlining sibling relationship, but also equal humor from the best friends
on the side, as well as Kate’s daughter, who avoids “adorable moppet”
typecasting to become something stronger. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> “Pilot”, “Scaredy Kate”, “Career
Day”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. <i>Rev.</i>
(Hulu) – While many shows have at one point or another tackled religion, choosing
to argue over its social impact or relative truthfulness, so few try to take
the personal angle and focus on the people who actually practice religion. As a
treatise on the effects of faith – and to a lesser extent, the social role of
religion - <i>Rev.</i> is a beautifully
imagined slice of life comedy that just happens to focus on the life of a
vicar. And in the main character of Adam Smallbone – a character that the show
isn’t afraid to make look small, pitiful, and weak – creators Todd Hollander
and James Wood have found a perfect audience surrogate for the struggles of faith,
even as the character’s status means his failing hurts just a little bit worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> “On Your Knees Forget the Fees”,
“Ever Been To Nando’s?”, “Series Two, Episode Five”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. <i>Gravity
Falls</i> (Disney) – Who would have thought that one of the best new shows to
come out this year would be an animated children’s show that aired on Disney
Channel? Sure, shows like <i>Adventure Time</i>
had already proven that there was a market for such a show, but those were
often more heavy-handed in their use of the surreal. <i>Gravity Falls</i>, which just happens to take place in a town where the
paranormal is an every day occurrence, never forgets its focus on siblings
Dipper and Mabel, and their trials of growing up. So even as it recalls older
series such as <i>Twin Peaks</i> and <i>The X-Files</i>, it’s also able to
incorporate <i>The Simpsons</i>’ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ4zkj6IRzM" target="_blank">dry sense of wit</a> and <i>Futurama</i>’s panache for pathos.
<i>Gravity Falls</i> isn’t just funny and
exciting; it’s also emotionally honest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> “The Inconveniencing”, “Double
Dipper”, “The Time Traveler’s Pig” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <i>Girls</i>
(HBO) – At this point, it’s hard to separate <i>Girls</i> from the criticism that surround it, just as its equally hard
to defend the show without devolving into an anti-sexism rant. Really, it’s
surprising how much controversy the show has drummed up, given how familiar it
can be in regards to the “twenty-somethings discovering themselves” template.
But in using this template, <i>Girls</i> is
able to tell personal, affecting stories about its characters that nonetheless
evoke in audience their own memories as twenty-somethings. And so, amid all the
arguments over whether its funny, or too hispterish, or borne out of nepotism, <i>Girls</i> found its sense as self as the
anti-<i>Sex in the City</i>, a show from the
female perspective that doesn’t preclude male involvement, and gives TV it’s
first real anti-heroine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> “Vagina Panic”, “The Return”,
“She Did”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>1. Luck</i> (HBO) – David Milch’s return to
television was destined to draw some sort of attention, so big is his cache as
creator of <i>Deadwood</i>, and such is the
star power of Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. That the show would soon become
overshadowed by the death of horses during filming, but that shouldn’t take
away from the beauty that was filmed in those nine episodes. Taking on
something as esoteric and complex as the world of horse racing and the jockeys,
trainers, owners, veterinarians, ex-cons and gamblers that inhabit it was a
bold move, made even bolder by the show’s refusal to hold the audience’s hand.
But it was this complexity, centered by some gorgeously filmed horse races,
that would continually draw you in, and sometimes even make you willingly
return for a second watch, as you tried to puzzle out just how all of these
multi-faceted characters could all be obsessed with the same thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Watch:</b> “Episode One”, “Episode Four”,
“Episode Nine”</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-66862485412208764382012-11-04T00:15:00.002-05:002012-11-04T00:15:46.259-05:00SNL - "Louis CK/fun."
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 38, Episode 6</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Let’s just get this out there: I’m extremely worried for
how tonight’s <i>SNL</i> is going to turn
out with Louis CK in the host’s chair. By his own admission, CK isn’t a very
good actor, and he even admitted that he didn’t <a href="http://updates.jezebel.com/post/34931463981/in-typical-self-deprecating-fashion-this-weeks" target="_blank">feel that confident about his job during rehearsals</a>. Even though he did a pretty good job in the promos for
this week (and the promos were well-written to work around him), CK’s acting
range is very limited – mostly he just acts exasperated on <i>Louie</i> – and I can’t imagine the show trying to have him do the one
thing he’s good at for all of the sketches of the night. But I guess we’ll see.
And who knows – maybe we’ll get a short film from CK out of the whole ordeal. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b>Cold Open:</b> I
get it, I do. Michael Bloomberg’s attempts to reach as many people as possible
with this press conferences in which he speak Spanish and uses an ASL
translator, while well intentioned, usually go somewhat humorously awry, so
it’s not like it’s a <i>bad</i> premise for
a sketch, exactly. But it does seem a little tame in light of all the possible
topics do to for a sketch, and bouncing around between ASL translators, poor
Spanish, Christ Christie, and Bloomberg’s anti-soda laws, its feels like a
mish-mash of topics, and that lack of focus hurts the sketch. Additionally –
and this may just be because I’ve been watching so much <i>Switched at Birth</i> lately – but it also seemed as if the sketch was
a little offensive to the deaf community, which irked me a little bit.<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Monologue:</b> An
actual standup monologue is perhaps the most predictable move <i>SNL</i> could have come up with, but it’s
probably also the smartest. CK is a highly regarded standup for a reason, and
it’s good to seem him tell some hilarious jokes while still being able to work
within FCC guidelines. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Fox and Friends:</b>
It’s interesting that SNL would follow one political sketch with another, only
putting a monologue in between, but it can’t be the first time that it’s
happened. Much like with the cold open, this sketch is a bit unfocused, but
it’s in a framework that can make a multi-target sketch like this one work. Even
better, this sketch was able to work in CK with very little contortion, even if
he was still playing an exasperated man, albeit with a confounding, Peter
Griffin-like voice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Lincoln:</b> This
may not be an original short from CK, but it’s probably going to be the best
we’re going to get out of this episode. That being said, this was still
fantastic, and one of the highlights of this young season. I’m not sure exactly
how many people with completely get this joke, given the small audience that <i>Louie</i> actually gets when it airs on FX,
but it was a perfect facsimile of both the feel and themes of the show. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Australian Screen
Legends:</b> Now this is the sort of sketch that I feared would happen tonight,
one where CK was buried within the sketch, which is said because up until this
point, he hadn’t really proven that that need be the case. Granted, he did seem
to have some problems getting a workable Australian accent, but that wasn’t
really the main problem with this sketch. It was mostly a “aren’t accents
funny?” type of sketch, and while their was a smarter “romance done in a matter
of fact way” gag, it wasn’t prominent to really propel this sketch forward. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Weekend Update:</b>
In addition to Seth Meyer’s usual shtick, we also got…Mitt Romney appearing to
make one final plea for being President. I get that SNL wants to get in as many
political jokes as it can while it still has time, but this is the third time
that the show is making Sandy-related jokes, and it’s getting a little old…Social
Media Expert Courtney Barnes felt a little too much like “kids get off my damn
lawn” type of humor, but Aidy Bryant sold it the best that she could, and there
were some funny one-liners from the internet comments used…Finally, Girl You
Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party was apparently popular
enough on her appearance on one of those <i>Weekend
Update Thursday</i>s, so she came back. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Zog:</b> What can
I say? The funniest parts of the sketch were where CK misjudged a sound cue and
flubbed a line. Other than that, it was a pretty formless, laugh-less mess. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Hotel Checkout:</b>
At the start of this sketch, I had feared that this episode had officially
fallen off a cliff, so long did it take to get to the actual jokes, and even
longer to those that were actually funny. This sketch would have been better
served had the charges listed had more time to get just really weird and
random, but that’s a common complaint that I have with <i>SNL</i> sketches, and this was fine for what it was and how late in the
program it aired. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Last Call:</b> On <i>Louie</i>, there have been many stories
about Louie meeting women, and this feel like the live sketch show version of
those kinds of vignettes. Granted, it was far weirder than anything
romance-related that Louie has ever done, but it was just as awkward. This is
the example of the sort of weirdness that I wish <i>SNL</i> would do more often, and it perfectly captured the desperation
that comes with looking for a hook-up during last call. And if nothing else, it
gave us the grossest, greatest worst kiss ever captured for TV. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Oh Louie – can I call you Louie? – I’m sorry that I ever
doubted you. You were a fine host for this episode of SNL, able to bring the
laughs even while playing something other than “exasperated middle-aged guy”.
It’s just too bad that that show couldn’t come up with consistent material for
you to work with, and that you only got one live sketch and one filmed segment
that really took advantage of your comedic chops.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Best Sketch – Lincoln<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Worst Sketch – Zog<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Next Week:</b>
Anne Hathaway tries to repeat her solid appearance two years ago, and Rhianna returns
for her fourth performance. That’s right. <i>FOURTH</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Quotes, Etc.:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“White people love ‘Homeland’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“While, she might be dead. Anybody I’m not looking at
might be dead.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I thought I was helping an old lady, now I <i>have</i> an old lady.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“What about piranhas with AIDS, which I call ‘parades’.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“It’s just you’re all emancipated, and that’s good,
right?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“My wife is crazy. She’s literally, historically insane.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m Edward Dunlop, but you can call me maybe….We just
got that down here.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Any last words?” “Uh, kangaroo, I guess.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“That was during a Republican candidate debate. That’s
like judging a person’s character while they’re pledging a fraternity.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Though it’s suspicious that the five words he can say
are ‘help this elephant swallowed me’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Zeesus Jist.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Argon, it’s a noble gas.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I give it two vaginas down.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-33767757729184158872012-10-30T22:10:00.003-05:002012-10-30T22:10:57.620-05:00Happy Endings - "Cazsh Dummy Spillionaires"/"Sabado Free-Gante"
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<br />
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<i>Season 3, Episodes 1-2<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
When I <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/09/happy-endings-blax-snake-home.html" target="_blank">first started writing about <i>Happy Endings</i></a>, I decried the show’s
basic premise, claiming that rom-com histrionics like “man being left at the
altar” didn’t fit with it’s fast-paced and emotion-eschewing humor. And when
the rom-com heart reared its head <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-endings-shrink-dare-her-date-and.html" target="_blank">halfway through last season</a>, I was skeptical
of the show’s ability to tell a tale of something so pure, and was later turned
off by <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/03/happy-endings-butterfly-effect.html" target="_blank">its inability to engage </a>with <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/03/happy-endings-kerkovich-way.html" target="_blank">what seemed like a serialized plot</a>. By
those standards, the idea of a continuing romance between Alex and Dave (which
was introduced in <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/04/happy-endings-four-weddings-and-funeral.html" target="_blank">the season finale</a> back in April) would seem like a total misfire
for the show. Over the first two episodes of the third season, however, it’s
been proven that maybe that’s not such a bad idea after all.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>The greatest strength of this pairing – and this
is something that wasn’t definite until the end of tonight’s episode – is how
the show is playing with the idea of just how awful it is for the both of them.
If the show was trying to argue that they actually worked together, or were
trying to build a viable love triangle between Dave, Alex, and Penny (more on
that in a minute), it would go against everything we’ve seen of the character
in the previous episodes. By refusing to give any dramatic weight to the
proceedings, it can be easily inserted into an episode and have things remain
light and breezy, which is when the show functions best. Sure, this also means
that there’s not much life to this arc – and if the show doesn’t find a way out
of it in the next few episodes, it will quickly become a weight around the
show’s neck – but for now it functions relatively well.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
What’s interesting then is how much the show has
down played this pairing narratively. Last week, Alex and Dave sleeping
together was something of a C-story, mostly a one-note runner that only at the
end of the episode turned into something a bit more substantial. In tonight’s
episode, Alex and Dave’s story was still mostly one note, but it’s screen time
was enlarged so that it took up an even third of the episode. This ultimately
worked against the humor – seeing Alex and Dave hedge about getting an apartment
together was too repetitive and lacked any sort of build – but it did have some
emotion attached to it once it became clear (as it did fairly early on) that
they were hesitant about their relationship, not just a lease. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
In fact, I would probably say that the weightiest
story belonged to Brad, even if that weight was somewhat stealthily deployed.
Watching Brad and Max pal around Chicago, trying to recreate all of Brad’s
favorite Saturday activities for free was quite enjoyable, but when it made the
turn into weighty territory by exposing Brad’s fears about being jobless.
Granted, this storyline wouldn’t have worked so well had it not been for last
week’s premiere showing that Brad not only misses the financial security that
his job gave him, but also the sense of identity it provided him. All together,
much like with Alex and Dave’s relationship, it’s a surprising amount of
serialization from a show that used to eschew it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Jane and Penny’s attempt to buy Penny a new car
was the slightest of the stories tonight, and perhaps tellingly almost the
funniest. This might have been because Jane and Penny made for a great comedic
pair – the classic control-freak/pushover dynamic is at play – but also because
it was the one that went to the weirdest place and provided the most
out-of-left field laughs. Still, it was a bit surprising that Penny’s quest for
a new car didn’t have anything to do with Dave and Penny hooking up, given both
how the show seems to be subtly hinting at her disappointment with the pairing,
and the fact that the other two-thirds of the episode dabbled in something
serialized. Instead, a bit of (possible) serialization got thrown Jane’s way,
with the introduction in the tag of Rob Corddry as the Car Tzar, and his offer
to Jane of a new job. It would certainly seem a waste of the show to only have
Corddry appear for such a short amount of time, and to give up an opportunity
to show Jane at her most competitive, so I suspect will see more of that next
week.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
And that raises an important question: Is <i>Happy Endings</i> becoming slightly more serialized
this season? It would certainly be a weird move for the show, given that it
worked so well before without being semi-serialized, and nobody was really
calling out for the change. However, based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m willing
to give the show the benefit of the doubt on something I doubted before, and I
hope it becomes stronger because of the change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
When Penny gets nervous, she develops a nervous
tick in her boob. The more you know.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Are we going to see any Mos Defs? Wouldn’t know
if I saw it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Month of the Month?” “Yeah. August was March.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
My new favorite exclamation: “CCH Pounder!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“You trademarked Max World?” “It’s a long drawn
out story with many moving parts. Basically…I did.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Just wish this coffee was a vagina, amirite?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“There is no Car Tzar.” “No Car Tzar? Then who
knows where the cars are?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Just take the care and go.” “Thank you.” “I’m
getting black out drunk tonight.” “Okay, have fun.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Yeah, Paul is living the dream…Oh, you mean not
seeing your kids on the weekend is a bad thing?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-25639805693195641252012-10-07T00:15:00.000-05:002012-10-07T00:15:31.518-05:00SNL - "Daniel Craig/Muse"
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<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 38, Episode 3</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I’m not even going to pretend to write out an intro paragraph
for tonight’s write-up. This is one of the worst <i>SNL</i> episodes in recent memory. Click through to find out why….<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b>Cold Open –
Presidential Debate:</b> Making fun of something that was already such a joke
to being with, and has already been picked over by so many late night talk
shows, has got to be hard. And yet, even with that caveat in place, it’s hard
to escape how toothless this sketch ended up feeling. It’s like the writers
took every joke that already been made about the debate and shoved it into one
sketch. While this did make for a few good jokes, it also meant that the sketch
was directionless, and lacked any sort of real punch.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Monologue:</b> So,
an “in memoriam” gag about all the people Craig has killed while making movies
over the years? Umm okay. (But by not including <i>Layer Cake</i>, this joke was doomed from the start.) Actually there
was maybe one good joke here – I liked the idea of Daniel Craig killing a sound
technician – but by not sticking with the weird/dark gags, this monologue
didn’t really live up to its potential. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Construction Site:</b>
A construction worker whose terrible at making catcalls is the sort of anti-humor
sketch that doesn’t really play to <i>SNL</i>’s
strengths, and it’s hurt even further by the fact that it’s the sort of premise
that feels really tired. But, credit where it’s due, Craig really went all out
in order to sell this joke, and when he got some particularly weird lines
(“butt soup and a whole lot of nipples” was particularly funny), the sketch
actually justified its existence. But there weren’t enough of those lines.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>(And can we talk
about how actual female cast members, not just extras, were used as basically
props for the construction worker characters’ leering, without getting any
lines of their own. Also, the sketch went on without any sort of comment on how
terrible it was that the construction workers were leering. In fact, we were
supposed to laugh with the lines they were using. I fee like I need a shower. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Lesser-Known Bond
Girls:</b> This is a straight up impression sketch, and these sketches tend to
soar or fall based on the quality of the impression work being done. (Also:
whether or not impression sketches match your personal taste.) There was a nice
collection of actresses being mimicked here, but it didn’t get to the wild and
crazy depths that the best impression sketches get to. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>(Second disgusting
casting decision of the night: Kate McKinnon, an out lesbian, played the two
lesbian actresses who visages were used in this sketch. Regardless of how well
her impressions were – and they were serviceable at best – it’s pretty gross.
Real fucking classy, </i>SNL<i>.)<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>MSNBC’s Three Days
Later:</b> This essentially marks SNL redoing all the jokes that they trotted
out in the cold open, and while focusing on the pundits was moderately more
successful in terms of conception, it provided less laughs than the cold open,
perhaps because it was such a retread of the same material. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Long Island
Medium:</b> I know it might be hard to believe, but this is an actual show in
actual life that airs on actual television. Without ever having seen the
series, I can’t say for certain, but it seems like so many other TLC which are
already so ridiculous that making fun of them seems like a fruitless venture.
So yeah, this sketch was pretty much DOA, but dammit it McKinnon didn’t sell
her material anyway.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Kirby:</b> This is
what a would call a “gaggy voice” sketch, in that I’m sure some writer or
another heard Bobby Moynihan say the word “kitty cat” in a child-like voice and
wrote a sketch around it. That is literally all I have to say about this
sketch, and if you found it funny, then all the better for you. I however did
not find it funny, and spent the whole sketch wondering when the actual jokes
were going to start. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Weekend Update:</b>
In addition to Seth Meyers’ usual shtick, we also got…“Winners and Losers”,
which was essentially this episode’s third attempt to mock the debate, which
shows a real dearth of creativity from the writer’s room…Big Bird (!) shows up,
and while it seems sort of obvious in retrospect, it was still kind of an
awesome moment anyways. Too bad the Sesame Street style of humor doesn’t mesh
well with what usually appears on WU...And finally, McKinnon shows up as Ceclia
Giminez, the woman who ruined that fresco painting for Jesus some months back.
While this is an old story that’s already been picked over many times, the show
surprising found some fresh material here by mocking the old woman in question.
And while mocking an old, well-meaning woman may seem mean, McKinnon managed to
imbue her character with enough fire of her own that it was actually a highlight
of the night. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>A Sorry Lot We
Are:</b> In truth, I’m not really sure what the point of this sketch is, if
it’s meant to be skewering British sitcoms, or the British working class, or
what. As such, it’s formlessness just left me scratching my head. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Regine:</b> Another
sketch were I’m not really sure what the point is, apart from having Fred
Armisen making weird faces. And much like with gaggy voices, this either is or
isn’t your thing. Obviously, it’s not my thing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The Undecided
Voter:</b> <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/09/snl-joseph-gordon-levittmumford-sons.html" target="_blank">This sketch already aired.</a> (Though really it’s embarrassing for <i>SNL</i> to be reusing a sketch just three
episodes into a new season. Perhaps the sketch that was supposed to go into
this lot got scrapped.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I’m not even going to bother doing a best sketch/worst
sketch breakdown for tonight’s episode. In truth, it was all pretty bad, and
I’ll be hard pressed to figure out which of these was The Worst. (And to call
one of these The Best would be an affront to all those I had called The Best in
the past.) That being said, Kate McKinnon was on fire tonight, and I wouldn’t
be surprised if she gets promoted to a series regular before the season it out.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Quotes, Etc.:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Mr. Romney has just said that he killed Osama bin Laden.
Would you like to respond?” “No, you two go ahead.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Must hang on for girls. Sasha…and the other one.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You hear that, Mitt Romney? You are a badass
motherfucker.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“So many great actors have come before me as James Bond.
There’s Sean Connery and…well, they’re all great.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Well, you have to hand it to Mitt Romney, because
President Obama sure did.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Biggest winner: America. Is there anything better than
Joe Biden thinking it’s up to him to get the lead back?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Big Bird left, right?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-66343787736480858022012-09-23T00:17:00.001-05:002012-09-23T11:16:39.924-05:00SNL - "Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Mumford & Sons"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i>Season 38, Episode 2</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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For me, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (or JGL, for brevity’s sake)
is an actor who just sort of…exists. It’s not that I actively dislike him, but
I’ve never seen the appeal that drives so many people to swoon and whatever
else it is they do at the mention of his name. (Note: This could all change if
I ever get around to seeing <i>Looper</i>.)
Will my ambivalence towards him transfer over to the show? Let’s find out. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b>Cold Open – Live
with Kelly & Michael:</b> Much like with the <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/09/snl-seth-mcfarlanefrank-ocean.html" target="_blank"><i>Steve Harvey</i> sketch last week,</a> “Live with Kelly & Michael” is a
show that, in it’s current format, it’s well-known enough to really serve as
the basis for a parody sketch. However, <i>SNL</i> played it safe by instead poking
fun at the disparity of the two hosts. The best lines came from Pharoah’s
Michael Strahan (another winning impression), who was endearingly dense and
easily excited about his new job. The Kelly Ripa jokes were a bit more hit and
miss, as Hader’s Robert Pattinson felt a little shoe-horned in, but otherwise
this was a fairly strong way to start the show.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Monologue:</b> So
that it? It’s just JGL stripping? Fan service does not a great monologue make.
In fact, it’s just really, really lazy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The Undecided
Voter:</b> Making fun of undecided voters as a bloc of uniformed idiots is a
fairly toothless route to go (in fact, Bill Maher made the same observation on
last night’s <i>Real Time</i>), but this
sketch gets points for how far it took the idea, having the undecideds being
unknowledgeable about not just the current political climate, but also out
nation’s history, procreation, and so much more. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The Son of the
Most Interesting Man in the World:</b> Though it was obvious from the beginning
that this was a take on the popular Dos Equis commercials, I don’t think I
could have predicted the ending reveal of it being the son of The Most
Interesting Man in the World. And it was a good surprise, because the list of
things that the SOTMIMW did or does was somewhat hit or miss, but the
revelation that he’s doing it all in order to impress/show up his absentee
father is a perfectly dark twist, and one which cast all that came before it in
a different light. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Private
Investigator:</b> The idea of the artiste PI is fairly light and unsubstantial,
and though the cute depictions of cheating as caricatures made for a good
surprise sight gag, this is something to hang a full sketch on. Luckily this
one got in and out pretty quickly – though it had to employ a really
left-field, confusing, and unfunny closing punchline in order to do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The Son of…, Take
2</b>: The second installment just takes the darkness of first part even
farther, giving us an argument between father and son that was equal parts
tense and funny. Let’s just hope that these fake ads stop here, because I don’t
think it will get any better than this. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Hypnotist:</b> Considering
how many times hypnotists have been used for hoary storylines in multicam
sitcoms, this sketch had me worried when it started out, and it wasn’t aided by
how long it took for the first real laughs to start. But considering that those
laughs were brought about by the great visual humor of Killam’s character not
actually being hypnotized by JGL’s character. Where as someone acting crazy
under hypnotism would have felt tired and unfunny, Killam acting crazy as if he
was hypnotized even though he wasn’t was actually unfunny, especially when you
consider that there was no reason for him to do so in the first place. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>GOP Tampons:</b> Given
how many other late night shows have tackled the idea of Republicans not understanding
women’s bodies with sketches fairly close to this one, this should have come
across as stale and unoriginal. Thankfully, this was saved by the visual
elements, as all the poorly engineered elements of the tampons were bizarre
enough to sell the idea. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Weekend Update:</b>
In addition to Meyer’s usual shtick, we got…What Are You Doing?, which, despite
just being another “Really?!” retread, worked in WU’s favor by tying together
the first set of one liners, giving the gags a cohesion that’s usually missing
from this segment...Assad’s Two Best Friends, which is just another retread of all
the other unfunny “Two Best Friends” appearances you’ve seen in the past. This
is one recurring WU bit that just needs to die…Kate McKinnon showed up and as
Ann Romney, and though this one seemed primed to die in it’s early stages,
McKinnon was fantastic, and helped to sell a lot of her lines. (Hader showing
up as Rick Perry for a whole five seconds was similarly fantastic, and it’s
little things like this that show why this episode has been so good this far)…And
finally, because this was a particularly long WU, Jay Pharoah came one with an
impression of sports commentator Steven A. Smith. I’m not familiar with Smith,
so it’s possible that this was an impression that just went over my head (and
those of the studio audience it seems), but I could recognize the strong
rhythms and use of catchphrases in this one regardless. Maybe if it came up
earlier in the segment I would have laughed more. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>You’ve Got to Hide
Your Love Away:</b> Similar to a sketch from <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/05/snl-ed-helmspaul-simon.html" target="_blank">the Ed Helms-hosted episode</a>, this
sketch used a simple song-joke rythym that gave the sketch a strong foundation.
Too bad that the jokes the actors were slinging (apart from Kennan Thompson’s)
weren’t all that funny. (Also, the sound mix was bit off and it was hard to
hear some of the actor’s lines, which certainly didn’t help things.) But hey,
at least the song was catchy, and we can always marvel at the fact that <i>SNL</i> got the rights to use a Beatles song
in one of its sketches. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The Finer Things:</b>
A solid send-up of rap culture’s move away from gangster glorification and into
straight up materialism, this was a simple idea that was perhaps stretched to
an ill-fitting running time. However, the idea itself was pretty funny, and
this sketch had an acceptable hit-to-miss joke ratio. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Evelyn:</b> Ah,
the weird sketch of the night, and this one did not disappoint. SNL has long
used music in its sketches to varying results, but something about parents
serenading a potential suitor with their daughter’s flaws in song form just
worked. (However, to those audience members who laughed at the sight of JGL
dressed like a woman: Seriously, how old are you?)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Powers Reality:</b>
How do you make juvenile, unfunny vandalism into the basis for a fairly funny
sketch? By toying around with the exasperation of the victims, and making sure
to use varied and specific details when describing the vandalism in question.
It’s just too bad that this sketch had to be cut for time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This was one of the strongest <i>SNL </i>episodes in recent
memory, and for once the host had nothing to do with it. That’s not to ding JGL’s
hosting duties – indeed, he was top-notch and game for anything. But the
writers were equally on top of their game this week as well, and turned out a
string of solid to great sketches. It’s interesting to note that a lot of these
sketches started out weak or from shaky premises before growing stronger, but
apart from that, you won’t here a whole lot a whole of complaints from me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Best Sketch – Hypnotist<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Worst Sketch – You’ve
Got to Hide Your Love Away<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>In Two Weeks: </b>Daniel
Craig acts all British, and Muse does…whatever it is that Muse does. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Quotes, Etc.:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“It’s like I’m living the life of a rich bear.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“We’re like a poster for <i>The Blind Side</i>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Wait, you’re mean we’re getting paid too? This just
keeps getting better and better. Yesterday Mario Batali made me pasta, and all
I had to say was ‘yum!’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“In that movie I play a young Bruce Willis, so basically
I’m playing Ashton Kutcher.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Can women vote? Because if not, as a women, I have a problem
with that?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Can a women get pregnant just from French kissing?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“And he just accidentally sent a picture of his penis to
the guy who delivers his Chinese food.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Tres Equis. That means ‘triple ex’, homies.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“How did he get such a low rate? He claimed 47% of
Americans as dependents.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Then Ryan won them back by yelling, ‘Hey, who likes
soup?!’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You’re like the killer who gets away with murder and
then sends cops puzzles to figure them out.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“So wait, was Clint Eastwood the Smoke Monster?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Thought what’s shocking is that there are humans inside
those suits, and not, as I had assumed, a hundred rats working together.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I drank so much apple cider I woke up the next morning
in my bed in my pajamas.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“She’s going to be even more upset when she finds out
Michael Phelps is white.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Don’t give my husband a black eye, and then imply that
he got pistol-whipped by a ding-dong.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“And both of them playing Penis Tennis at Wimbledong.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-6661568827132059042012-09-16T00:29:00.000-05:002012-09-16T00:29:43.075-05:00SNL - "Seth McFarlane/Frank Ocean"
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<i>Season 38, Episode 1</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ah, there’s nothing like a new season, fresh with
potential, to renew one’s faith in <i>Saturday
Night Live</i>. Granted, these days it feels like any small change in the
show’s line-up has the audience hoping that it will return the show to the
quality of the halcyon days of the 70s/mid 80s/ early 90s (take your pick). But
considering that the show has now lost Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, and Abby
Elliot; has <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/saturday-night-live-gives-job-of-playing-barack-ob,84893/" target="_blank">replaced Fred Armisen’s Obama impression with Jay Pharoah’s</a>; and
<a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/here-are-the-three-new-saturday-night-live-cast-me,84744/" target="_blank">has three new featured players</a>, it feels as if this would be as good of a time
as any for the show to mount a mass improvement. And it’s that kind of
potential that gives me hope, hope that not even Seth McFarlane’s job as host
could possibly crush.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Right?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Cold Open –
Democratic Rally:</b> “I wouldn’t want his job, right?” And with that, <i>SNL</i> hands over the reins of the Obama
impression to Jay Pharaoh. That alone would have made a cold open sketch better
than any one staring Fred Armisen as Obama, but this one went above and beyond,
by doing something that cold opens rarely do – actually be funny. Instead of
just using Romney as a punching bag, something that the show did many times
last season, it also managed to contrast both sides against each other and
comment on both. Soon the sketch became not about the candidates themselves,
but rather the race they are running against each other.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>(Hey, there’s even
a new credit sequence. See, I told you this was a new day for </i>SNL<i>. Too bad the static pictures make it kind
of boring.)<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Monologue:</b> It
would be hard to top such a strong opening, but it’s interesting to see two
segments in a row try to use standard tricks to new effects. In this monologue,
that’s where McFarlane doing the voices of his characters – and a few other
impressions – came in. It’s the thing he’s most known for, and such
crowd-pleasing actions would normally feel too safe to be funny. Fortunately,
McFarlane framed the voices as representations of his own (fake) neurosis, and
standing up on stage acting like a crazy person was just crazy enough to work.
(Sorry.) The singing, on the other hand,
was just as calculated, but didn’t have anything new to add to the process, and
thus fell fairly flat. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Obama Attack Ad:</b>
There’s something here to this ad that paint Romney as a utter and total dick,
but it only really works in the second half, where we see Keenan Thompson’s
character repeatedly followed from job to job by Bain Capital, as though it was
some sort of conspiracy. Romney being a jerk about his illness isn’t really
outrageous enough to be funny, but thinking that he’s targeting one specific
human being certainly is. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Sex After 50:</b>
After a fake-out with Cecily Strong in the fake credits for this
show-within-a-sketch, we got the return of a familiar figure with Armisen
returning as his “producer who gives terrible advice on an advice show.” It’s
the sort of crassness-for-crassness sake that doesn’t really work on <i>SNL</i>, especially when that crassness is
use for a one-joke sketch. This is one Armisen recurring character that can’t
be saved by giving it to Jay Pharoah; it just needs to die already. (But hey,
at least Tim Robinson got his first appearance. Too bad it wasn’t in a better
sketch.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Clint Eastwood And
Chair:</b> And the award for most predictable sketch of the night goes to…this
one. Ever since the real Clint Eastwood yelled at an empty chair at the RNC, it
was pretty much guaranteed that SNL would manage to work in a sketch about it.
However, instead of just resting on the laurel of the idea, the sketch was able
to build on the initial idea of “Clint Eastwood and Chair” as a Broadway show
(which wasn’t really all that funny) to the point that throwaway jokes (the
various chairs, the “man on the street” praises) actually garnered some true
laughs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Lids:</b> Confession:
I don’t get the craze around “Gangnam Style”. It’s a song so crazy and batshit
insane that I can’t get the appreciation of it, either as something you can
dance to, or as ironic kitsch. As such, it’s hard for me to know just what to
make of this sketch. If it’s meant to satirize that indiscernible popularity of
the song, it sort of works. If it’s meant to celebrate the song – and the cameo
by PSY seems to indicate that that’s the case – then I’m not really sure what
the point of the sketch it. It turns the song into a punchline and celebrates
it at the same time, and while it’s sort of enjoyable that way, I wouldn’t
really call it funny. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Introduction to
Puppetry:</b> As <i>Crank Yankers</i> proved
long ago, having puppets say dirty and inappropriate things doesn’t automatically
translate to hilarity. What makes this sketch work then is that instead of just
playing off the “sweet meets naughty” formula, they ground the action of the
puppets in those that are controlling them. By breaking down the normal
artificiality that comes with puppet shows that hide the puppeteers, we see “Tony”
as the physical manifestation of Anthony’s neuroses, and that makes it funny.
That the sketch took this to the next level by having Anthony interact with the
other puppets only sweetened the pot. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Weekend Update:</b>
In addition to Seth Meyers doing his normal shtick, we got…Honey Boo-Boo and Mama
came on to mock the fact that their show got higher ratings than the convention
telecast (though it’s more complicated than that), but really it was just a
chance for SNL to mock a show that’s already a mockery to begin with…McFarlane
comes on with a killer impression of Ryan Lotche doing fall TV preview…And it
end with a quasi-racist Domican “Get out the Vote” Volunteer character. Really,
I’m not sure what the writers were going for here, as it bounced around too
many ideas for any of them to really land. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Stuttering Sergeant:</b>
This is a tricky one. When the sketch is asking us to laugh at the fact that
the sergeant has a speech impediment, it comes off as more mean than funny.
However, when it asks us to laugh at his hubris over the fact, or the confusing
of the new recruits, then it gets some genuine laughs. (The “repeat after me”
gag, for example, was predictable, but worked in the classic slapstick
tradition.) Too bad it felt like the former outweighed the latter. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>The Steve Harvey
Show:</b> That’s right. Steve Harvey really does have his own talk show. (So do
Katie Couric and Jeff Probst, but that’s a whole other issue.) The thing is,
the show’s only been on for a couple of weeks, so it’s not like it’s well known
enough for <i>SNL</i> to really mock the
talk show itself. Instead, it’s mostly just an excuse for Keenan Thompson to
bust out his Steve Harvey impression and crack jokes about the actor, a target
that seems really random in this day and age. That being said, they’re were a
few good lines, and nothing too groan-inducing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Blind Date:</b> Making
a joke out of people saying “I am all like…” isn’t really a joke, and it’s not
really funny, which just makes this one-note sketch even more unbearable. There
were a couple of good laughs with the superficiality of the phrase was matched
with some heavier stuff (like say, death), but there wasn’t enough here to
justify this sketch making it on air. (Or perhaps Keenan Thompson’s waiter put
it best: “I’m all like, this needs to stop.”)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Wooden Spoon Warehouse:
</b>A simple joke about the backwards nature of the Amish, that had enough
sense to get in and get out. (Though it does make me wonder is <i>SNL</i> always keeps such simple gag
sketches around in case they’re getting down to the wire and need to fill some
quick time.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Though I really can’t stand Seth McFarlane and his
animation empire, I have to admit that he really brought it tonight, and was
able to bring charm to even the worst sketches. As for the episode on the
whole, it was stronger than average, (that’s to be expected for the first one
after a break), but not strong enough to belay the confidence that I had for
the show at the beginning of the night. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Best Sketch – Introduction
to Puppetry<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Worst Sketch – Sex
After 50<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Next Weeks: </b>It’s
a swoon-off between host Joseph Gordon-Levitt and musical guest Mumford &
Sons.<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Quotes, Etc.:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In other, less-hope-inspiring updates to the show,
apparently <i>SNL</i> is just going to
<a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/saturday-night-live-asks-the-internet-to-help-pick,85001/" target="_blank">directly crowd-source hosts and musical acts straight from the Internet</a>.
Because there’s no possible way that can go awry. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I do that to remind you that I have two young daughters,
and not five creepy adult sons.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Thank you for your service. Oh, I’m sorry, your <i>gay</i> service.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“That doesn’t make me a liar. It just means I’m terrible
with numbers. Now, let’s talk budget.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Whoomp! Chair it is!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“DeGens! That’s legit.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Nobody was laughing out loud that day in Grenada.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“But if you know how Mitt Romney travels, this is one
trip you do not want to win.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You know you’ve made a terrible decision when having a
neck tattoo is the second worst thing about your neck tattoo.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“This will be Pacino’s second movie with the line ‘Say
hello to my little friend.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“It’s not fair to give all the best lines to the monkey.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“It feels so weird to be dry.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“It’s the prefect way to tell the world ‘Yes I have a
small penis, and no, it don’t work so good.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I have a correction to make: The animal I was holding
was called a marmoset, not a pocket monkey.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I like a pocket square that has three titties – like that
girl in <i>Total Recall</i>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m not going to say ‘no’ on TV in front of everybody.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“No, don’t do <i>Family
Guy</i>. We’re 30.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-457517279022604362012-09-10T13:56:00.001-05:002012-09-10T13:56:04.430-05:00Fall 2012 Review Schedule
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Things are going to be light this semester – or at
least for the first half of it – as I am busy working on my thesis and that
will take up a lot of my time and energy. Again, this list is tentative, and
will change based on my school schedule and interest. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><u>Mondays<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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<i>How I Met
Your Mother</i> – CBS, September 24<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><u>Tuesdays<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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Endings – </i>ABC, October 23rd<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><u>Wednesdays<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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<i>The Hour</i>
– BBC America, November <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><u>Thursdays<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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<i>Parks and
Recreation – </i>NBC, September 20<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><u>Fridays<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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<i>Community</i>
– NBC, October 19th<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Fringe</i> –
FOX, September 29th<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Doctor Who</i>
– BBC America, Ongoing<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Saturday Night
Live</i> – NBC, September 15<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>*Drop-ins
planned for:</b> <i>Glee, The Office, Modern
Family, Sons of Anarchy,</i> and<i> The
Walking Dead</i>, based on time availability.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-33689801828118333762012-09-10T12:32:00.000-05:002012-09-10T12:32:48.097-05:00NBC's The New Normal
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<b>The pilot episode of <i>The New Normal</i> airs tonight at 10/9c, and the show resumes its
normal slot Tuesday at 9:30/8:30c.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Over the years, and especially with three hit
shows in the past decade (<i>Nip/Tuck</i>, <i>Glee</i>, <i>American Horror Story</i>), Ryan Murphy and his shows have developed
something of a reputation. While they tend to be crowd pleasers, at least for
their first few years of life, they also tend to grow into being sloppy,
incoherent narrative messes, something that was made abundantly clear with <i>AHS</i>, which often felt like it was the
show’s third or fourth go-around, not its first. Watching <i>The New Normal</i>, it’s clear that it’s a Ryan Murphy show, but – at
least here at the beginning – it’s not because of the pilot’s narrative
abilities. Rather, it’s because it displays that secondary Murphy trait –
offensiveness in the face of a supposed strive for progressiveness.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<a name='more'></a>There’s a key scene about a third of the way into
the pilot that perfectly distills the problem at the heart of the show. Couple
Brian (Andrew Rannells) and David (Justin Bartha) are sitting at a public park,
watching parents play with their children, while discussing the possibility of
the two of them raising a child of their own. David is afraid that since they
aren’t “normal”, they might cause irrecoverable psychological damage to the
child, and in response Brian points to the variety of families on the
playground as proof that “normal” is just a relative concept. Cue a string of
examples that include past-their prime mothers, interracial couples, and even
little people. Each starts out praising the idea of diverse families, before
quickly reaching for the most obvious offensive gag you can think of that
undercuts what the whole segment is trying to do, mocking their unusual
circumstances for no real reason other than out of a desperate grab at humor.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
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It’s the sort of humor that should feel familiar
to viewers of <i>Glee</i>, another show that
claims to be all about inclusiveness but never misses a chance to tear down its
characters by using their race, creed, image, or sexual orientation as the
basis for tasteless gags. Now, as a long-time fan of <i>South Park</i> and shows of its ilk, I don’t want to pretend that I
abhor offensive humor when I’ve been so often found to laugh at such jokes,
provided that they are used in a manner that actually mean something. So while Trey
Parker and Matt Stone’s sensibilities usually mean that they are making some
worthwhile point about our society (sometimes even if that point is well all
just need to stop being so damn sensitive all the time), Murphy’s attempts at
the same vein of humor have no such point. They’re just attempts at laughs through
empty shock humor, and since they are done at the expense of characters that
we’re supposed to like, they often times just come off as mean. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And all of this is shame because I want to like <i>The New Normal</i>, if for nothing else than
what it’s trying to say. I agree with Murphy and co-writer Ali Adler’s attempts
to redefine the word “family” to include more than just the heteronormative
standard, and the show seems to have a solid, loving couple in Brian and David
in which to do that. The problem however, is twofold. Not only do Bartha and
Rannells lack the necessary on-screen chemistry to buy them as the loving
couple that the show wants us to believe that they are, but it also can’t
resist pigeon-holing them into the usual roles of gay coupledom. David is the
more standard male half of the equation, into football and afraid to show
emotion, while Brian is predictability flamboyant and feminine. (To return to
the scene described above, it’s important to note that they’re only having the
discussion of children because Brian saw a kid in the stroller while out
shopping, and immediately thought how cute an accessory a baby would serve as.)
By reducing the couple to the usual stereotype, they automatically feel less
like real people and more like TV characters, and the whole ordeal is made even
worse by Rannell’s role as a walking punch line.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Yet their helplessly gendered dynamic, as
emblematic as it might be of the show’s problems, is even the worse aspect of
the show. In order to bring a baby into the world, Brian and David hire Goldie
(Georgia King) as their surrogate, who brings along her daughter Shania (Bebe
Wood) and mother Jane (Ellen Barkin) in tow. While Goldie single, unplanned
motherhood further expands on the idea of usual family dynamics, and King’s
winning performance brings some much-needed warmth to the show, Barkin’s
character is an anchor around the show’s neck. Ostensibly serving as the stand-in
for the sort of people would boycott a show about two gay men raising a baby,
Jane would seem to hopefully work as a sort of punching bag against hatred and
bigotry, the kind of character that would point out the toxicity of such views.
Instead, she serves as something of id for Murphy, tossing off offensive laugh
lines (and there’s no doubt they are meant to invoke laughs) not just about
lesbians and “salami smokers”, but also about other races – in the case of the
pilot, that includes Asians and African-Americans, but no doubt more will come
under fire before the year is out. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
It would be tempting to write-off Jane’s
close-mindness as something that the show wants us to laugh at instead of with,
and the eye-rolling of the other characters to Jane’s words and actions serves
as a safety-net for the show to claim as such, but too-often her lines have, to
borrow a phrase, the cadence of a joke. And that’s <i>The New Normal</i>’s main problem: it too often assumes that bigotry
and prejudice are rendered harmless when made as jokes, when it instead just
muddles the show’s attempt to create a clear-cut and moving message for
tolerance. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Other
Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
NeNe Leakes (who played Coach Roz on <i>Glee</i>) also appears on the show, and she’s
about as sassy and black as you would expect Murphy to write the character. It’s
just another example of the show leaning on stereotypes for humor, and the less
said about her character, the better. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-30269287806443809792012-09-02T00:19:00.000-05:002012-09-02T00:19:36.477-05:00Doctor Who - "Asylum of the Daleks"
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 7, Episode 1<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Well, this is new.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This is, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/aug/25/doctor-who-bbc-steven-moffat?CMP=twt_fd" target="_blank">by Steven Moffat’s own admission</a>,
supposed to be a “big” season for <i>Doctor
Who</i>, one that plays down the serialization that became so frustrating at
the end of last season and instead gives us lots of “blockbuster” type hours
instead. And how does one go ahead and kick of such a season? By bringing back
the Daleks, of course. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>If we’re being honest, I was never all that big of
a fan of the Daleks, and am somewhat skeptical of the nostalgia that seems to
inspire enjoyment in most <i>Who</i> fans. Don’t
get me wrong, I found the Ninth Doctor story “Dalek” to be a pretty awesome
piece of television – and having seen some of the Dalek-centric episodes of the
classic <i>Doctor Who</i> run, I get the
appeal – but my largest experience with the antagonists has been watching
Russell Davies (and to a lesser extent, Moffat) figure out every conceivable way
to bring back the Daleks again and again to the point that I was sick of them.
I found the purposeful lack of Dalek stories last season to be a refreshing
change of pace, and to serve as proof that the show could create good stories
without relying on old crutches. A new bar had been set, and the only reason I
could see the Daleks coming back is if the was an interesting twist on these
worn-out characters.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
So I was fairly intrigued when the idea of the
Dalek Asylum was raised early in the episode (to say nothing of the new form of
tech, the Dalek Puppet), something that seemed to promise a look at the
“insane” Dalek. I couldn’t help but wonder: What’s it like when an alien with Nazi-like
views of purity becomes even more insane, to the point where its own people
couldn’t stomach it? Unfortunately, and quite disappointingly, this didn’t seem
to be a question that the show was all that intent on answering, instead giving
us Daleks that were more “broken” than insane (most, interestingly, due to
their past encounters with the Doctor), something that doesn’t really pop off
the screen as much as insanity might. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Well, okay, there was <i>one</i> exception to this fact. But that sort of depends on how you
look at it. That exception comes in the form of one Seuss-ily named Oswin
Oswald, a young girl turned Dalek whose true nature is kept hidden even from
herself, and whose existence in the Dalek Asylum raises and interesting
question. Is she there solely because she accidentally crashed landed on the
Asylum planet and that meant she was stuck? Or did the Daleks keep her there
because as intelligent as she was, she couldn’t get rid of her pesky humanity,
and that meant that they saw her as “insane” relative to their own cold logic?
Sanity may just be relative after all, and what does that say about all the
other Daleks trapped down in the Asylum?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Really, I should have seen the truth of Oswin’s
true nature coming from a mile away. This is not to knock Moffat’s writing for
the episode, which was as fleet-footed as ever. But as with the best stories
that provide a final gut-punching twist at the end, there were signs along the
way – like the fact that we only ever saw Oswin from one point of view, and the
increasingly, almost limitless bounds to her intelligence and hacking acumen –
and coupled with Moffat’s propensity for including twists in his stories, it’s
one of those things that seems so obvious in hindsight. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Yet I found myself too distracted by the fact that
Oswin was played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, who was <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/doctor-who-companion.html" target="_blank">previously and widely announced</a> to be the new companion to take the place of Amy and Rory when their
characters get written out at the end of the season. It certainly seemed a bit
odd for the show to introduce the character so early in the season (doing it as
part of the Christmas special would have been my bet), but the pre-knowledge of
the actor’s position on the show, as well as Oswin’s engaging and vivacious
personality, made it appear as if the character was meant to stay. (In fact,
this may have been the reason that the normally tight-lipped Moffat decided to
release this bit of casting news so early, so as to make sure the usually
knowledgeable Who audience was taken off-guard.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Anyways, while the charming and ingratiating nature
of Oswin was obviously there to help sell the shock of her Dalek nature, as
well as to make sure that she will be welcomed by a fan base that still cares
deeply for Amy and Rory, it also helps to service Moffat’s attempts to
dimensionalize and humanize the Daleks. There have been many attempts since the
show’s return to just this, to explore the psyche of this alien beyond their
need to EXTERMINATE, to look beyond their hate, but most have fallen flat or
only served to show the complex position the Daleks will wrangle themselves
into in order to carry out their xenocidal mission. Here, Moffat not only
managed to work in another believable emotion for the Daleks to express (fear,
which we’ve seen before in regards to the Doctor), but also used Owsin to
explore that complicated relationship between Dalek machinery and those that
are forced to inhabit it. In Owsin’s case, we see that it’s still possible for
free will to win out over machine programing (something that we’ve seen in the
past with the Cybermen), and that one’s humanity can remain intact. To what end
does this mean that other Daleks might break from the EXTERMINATE protocol? We
don’t rightly know just yet, but this episode certainly leaves open a door to
discuss that possibility later on down the line. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
During all of this narrative chicanery and high-minded
discussion of identity, sort of lost in the shuffle were Amy and Rory
themselves, as well as their marriage problems. While this was something that
was hinted at with the “Pond Life” shorts that were released online this past
week, it was left to the episode to do the heavily lifting, and I put an
emphasis on the word “heavy”. The show has spent much of the last two seasons
showing us just how much the two love one another, that in order for them to
separate, there would have to be something quite substantial for them to seek a
divorce. And while Amy’s inability to conceive would be a large and
understandable issue for most couples, Amy and Rory aren’t most couples, and it
becomes hard to buy that that would drive such a wedge between them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Couple that with the fact that they are back
together again by the end of the hour after merely <i>talking it out in one conversation</i>, and it comes off as merely a
manufactured bit of drama, another something to kick up brief interest in Amy
and Rory’s relationship, because perhaps the writers have run out of ideas.
Sure, it was neat to see it as another problem for the Doctor fix using some
underhanded trickery, but we don’t really need to see the Doctor fix yet
another problem to prove his omnipotence. He can kill a bunch of Daleks with a
single explosion, and help one particular, confused Dalek reach an important
bit of self-discovery. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Next Week:</b>
Dinosaurs! On a spaceship!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
So, how do you think that Coleman will be coming
back to the show? Through some timey-wimey travel that sees the Doctor picking
her up before she crashes into the Aslysum planet? Or will she come back at a
twin-sister, cousin, or some other relative of Oswin’s, as the show is wont to
do?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Yeah, I thought time travel as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“What color?....Sorry, there weren’t any good
questions left.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Don’t be fair to the Daleks when they’re firing
me at a planet.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Bad combo – no sense of humor and that chin.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“We’re all ears.” “There’s a nose joke there if
anyone wants to pick that up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-18782301643975246252012-08-13T00:37:00.000-05:002012-08-13T00:37:07.299-05:00Falling Skies - "The Price of Greatness"
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 2, Episode 9<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
I’ve stopped being surprised when <i>Falling Skies</i> reaches for the easy
cliché instead of trying to build on the potential-rich archetypes that make up
the core of it’s show. It’s disheartening to see the show cycle through every
post-apocalyptic plot that you’ve already seen three times before, but that’s
just where the level of this particular writer’s room seems to be. So when I
saw the promo for this week’s episode promised an episode where “not everything
is as it seems” I groaned a little, knowing just what we were in store for. So
colored me surprised to find out that “The Price of Greatness” is an hour that
worked in a lot of predictable stuff, yes, but used it to solid effect to raise
some interesting ideas.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>The central plot at the heart of “Greatness” is fairly simple: the 2<sup>nd</sup>
Mass. arrives at their supposed haven of Charleston, their goal all season, and
they find out that things aren’t as cracked up as they thought they would be.
Everybody has shelter and a steady stream of food, sure, but the quarters are
cramped and the food supply is still fairly limited. Not that the 2<sup>nd</sup>
Mass. would know that; they receive a hero’s welcome upon arrival, and are
fitted with the best rooms. Additionally, Tom used to be a student of Majority
Leader (“President” was too presumptuous of a title) Arthur Manchester, a
political inroad that would seem to have great benefit.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Alas, the gold-plated reception is not to last, as
instance by instance the 2<sup>nd</sup> Mass. begin to feel unwelcome in their
new home. All of their guns are taken away and thrown into the community
stockpile. Everyone buckles under the much stricter military procedures. Tom
gets pushback from Manchester when he attempts to let him know about the
rebellious Skitters. Nobody seems to believe that the 2<sup>nd</sup> Mass. are
they heroes they claim to be. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
In truth, all of these elements feel tossed off,
as if the writers were attempting to make a big stew of elements highlighting
Charleston’s underlying problems without thinking about how well the elements
worked together. Though it’s messy plot-wise, all of the elements do hold the
common thread of showing the difficulties of rebuilding a civilization after a
major catastrophe. It’s a storytelling element the show has been primed to do
from day one, but mostly shied away from much to my chagrin, but it was
embraced beautifully here. By showing the chaos that comes from multiple
parties competing out of self-interest, the episode perfectly nails the
difficulties of trying to rebuild society, even if you have a template. That
Manchester is trying to create a noticeably different society from the one that
was destroyed only complicates things further. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Despite the mushy start, it all starts to firm
together in the episode’s second half, where all of the desperate elements start
to cohere into recognizable plots. When Pope and the other Berserkers decided
to stir shit up by trying to make off with half the armory in order to go
Skitter-huntin’, Maggie tries to stop them, only to be caught herself along
with them by the Charleston leg of the army, who have Tector as a new recruit
into their ranks. Tector shoots Lyle in the shoulder, and everybody ends up in
jail, and it’s up to Hal to break Maggie out. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
It’s here that I would like to pause and praise
the episode for addressing two of my issues from <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/08/falling-skies-molon-labedeath-march.html" target="_blank">the previous episode</a>, where it
seemed as if character development for Maggie and Tector were tossed around
just to pad out time. It’s turns out that wasn’t the case, and this hour used
those two developments to positive effect. Tector resurrecting his army loyalty
made for some tense scenes as he was asked to face off against those that he
had just been fighting against. And while Maggie’s backstory originally seemed
to have been created in order to manufacture drama between her and Hal, I like
how Hall just sort of simply gets over it, and they become closer because of
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Anyways, while all of that is going on, Tom
manages to stir even more shit up when he begins pushing Manchester about
working with the Rebellious Skitters. Manchester is too scared of losing his
positing of power by taking such drastic action, so he instead goes about
trying to undermine Tom by finding dirt on him. Tom pushes too far when he
speaks out against Manchester at the open forum (and adds insult to injury by
using Manchester’s own printed words against him), and things go awry with a de-harnessed
kids come to Tom with a message from Two-Face, making him look even more
suspect. This leads to a lot of back-stabbing, as Tom and Co. break out from
prison in order to go meet up with Two-Face, and in the process end up getting
General Bressler to turn against Manchester and instill martial law. It’s an
exciting place to leave the episode, and one that promises great action next
week. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Though these moments mostly work, they are hounded
by the same thing that affects most of the episode, and that’s the issue of pacing.
In the space of the hour, the 2<sup>nd</sup> Mass. arrive at Charleston, think
everything’s great, quickly figure out that everything isn’t, and manage to upset
the entire power structure. That’s a lot for the show to cover, and at times it
strains believability to ask us to buy that this all happens within the space
of a few days. It feels as if the show would have been served better had it
spent more time in Charleston, instead of relegating it to just the last two
episode of the season. But as it stand now it did a good job of playing off all
of the build-up to it that’s been going on all season, and set up the action
for what looks to be a solid finale. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I see you passed on the brussell sprouts.” “And
the spinach. Like it said, it’s been a while.” Did <i>Falling Skies</i> just make a fiber-related poop joke?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“One kid starting talking trash about the 2<sup>nd</sup>
Mass.” “I’m guessing it was nothing good.” Tom, Master of the Obvious.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Was it just me, or did the “final five minutes”
tease in the promo for next week’s episode, combined with the accompanying
image, make it look like we’re in for a <i>Invasion</i>-style
cliffhanger?<o:p></o:p></div>
Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-59987868065549466262012-08-12T23:03:00.002-05:002012-08-12T23:03:25.665-05:00Wilfred - "Avoidance"/"Truth"<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 2, Episodes 7-8<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
If <i>Wilfred</i> were a more tightly plotted
show, I might be more inclined to read into the fact that there existed back to
back episodes with the titles “Avoidance” and “Truth”, which would seem to
indicate thematic parallels, if not an outright two-parter. That of course
wasn’t the case, but it is interesting to note how these two episodes served as
a dialectic of the show’s two extremes: raunchy humor and high-minded
storytelling. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b style="text-align: center;"></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b style="text-align: center;"> “Our biggest problems arise from the
avoidance of the smaller one.”</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<b> -Jeremy Caulfield<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
FX is a channel that sells itself mainly based on
its edge, and at the most superficial level, its shows seem to reflect that
edge. This means that most of its comedies have some degree of raunchy humor,
and no matter how cerebral those shows may get, they will inevitably get back
to the raunchiness from time to time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as
show like <i>Louie</i>, which can handle
those deeper explorations of life with brief respires of scatology, can
attribute to. But those raunchy moments only really work if the episode as a
whole doesn’t lose sight of the other elements that make it work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Avoidance” is credited to Jason Gann, who also
wrote the season one episode <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2011/07/wilfred-acceptance.html" target="_blank">“Acceptance”</a>. That’s an important thing to note,
because both of those episodes seem designed solely to test the audience’s
resolve when it comes to shock humor. While “Acceptance” was all about the
dog-rape, “Avoidance” was about bestiality of a different sort, where it was somebody
other than Wilfred who was tricked into doing the act in question, in this case
an unwitting hand job. It’s a joke that gross and sort of funny when it’s first
presented, but is quickly run into the ground through needless repetition that
does very little to expand on the joke. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Putting aside the fact that <i>South Park</i> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proper_Condom_Use" target="_blank">did an episode centered on this same idea</a> to a much greater
effect, the fact that “Avoidance” doesn’t really grow past the singular joke is
it’s biggest misstep. While this season has seen great improvement by foregrounding
Ryan’s stories and cutting back on the Wilfred-centric action, this episode
seemed to regress back to the season one formula of making everything about
Ryan’s relationship with Wilfred. Sure, there was the B-story here about Ryan’s
past at his father’s firm, his old would-have-been business partner, and just
why Ryan left in the first place, but it doesn’t really parallel on the issue
of avoidance like the episode seems to want to. Ryan’s avoidance of Wilfred and
his avoidance James worked on different planes and different degrees, and the
human element really got lost here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
The episode wasn’t a total waste, as that dancing
montage and the additional dancing in the longer-than-usual sting was
delightfully weird, and Kristen’s desperate hitting on James implies something
about her current state that I hope the show will illustrate more before the
season is out. But unfortunately the genius bits kept getting left behind for
the damn jizz jokes, and the episode kept stalling.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“The truth will set you free, but first it
will make you miserable.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<b> -James
A. Garfield<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Truth” then is the
complete opposite of “Avoidance”, as it is a far more character-based than
joke-based half-hour, and the character stuff here works really well. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
For starters, look
to the way that Wilfred is used in this episode. It starts with him doing the
usual goofy Wilfred shtick, and pretending that the world is coming to an end. It’s
the sort of obsession that seems on track to wreck the episode and absorb
everything around it, but it serves as a misleading-intro-cum-metaphor that
would come into play later. Things really get cooking after Ryan asks Amanda to
move in with him and Wilfred turns that into his new obsession, leaving the end
of the world on the back burner.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This leads to the
heart of the hour, when, after an earthquake, Bruce shows up again, and an
extended series of games begins between the two of them so that Ryan can see
the supposed evidence of why he shouldn’t move in with Amanda. In retrospect,
the fact that Ryan playing these games with these two imaginary
friends/delusions <i>was</i> the evidence
against moving in with Amanda is a fairly obvious ending for the episode to go
to, but it’s also a heartbreaking one. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
During the season
so far, Ryan hasn’t gotten into as much trouble thanks to Wilfred, and the show
has lulled into a false sense of security that he’s gotten a better handle on
his demons. However, just because he’s been able to internalize the issue
doesn’t mean that he’s actually better; in actuality, in points to his issue
only getting worse. That this is the reason for his break-up with Amanda only
furthers the issue. At the beginning of the season, it seemed as if he was
likely to break up with her because of his feelings for Jenna, but that he can’t
be with her – or anybody – because of his mental issues points to a man who may
only have his inner demons for comfort for a long, long time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Why do you think no dogs died in the
Holocaust?...Because we knew it was coming.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I tell you, I can feel it in my bones – the ones
I chew on and the ones inside of me.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“The answer is Martin van Buren. Rules are rules.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Congratulation buddy, you won.” “I did?” “Don’t
get cocky.”<o:p></o:p></div>Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-68467036252952492312012-08-12T16:38:00.001-05:002012-08-12T16:38:24.279-05:00Futurama - "Free Will Hunting"<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 7, Episode 9<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
One of the things that I love about <i>Futurama</i> is
that, especially in its original run on FOX, the show wasn’t afraid to tackle
big issues or scientific principles and to build whole episodes around them.
The show knew that there was a smart audience who would be willing to watch a
comedy about high-minded ideas, and the audience in kind seemed to be thankful
that there existed a show willing to do such storytelling in the first place.
There’s hasn’t been as much of this time of story-telling since the show’s
comeback, and it’s something that I missed. But after “Free Will Hunting”, I’m
not sure the show should return to intellectual territory ever again. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>The episode started off well enough. The idea of
free will in a complex one, something that would make for great mileage for an
episode, and seeing as how this particular episode was written by David X.
Cohen, showrunner and Harvard alum, everything seemed in place for a great
episode.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
The problem is that the episode never really
seemed to connect with the issue with which it was supposedly engaged. While
making Bender the character to struggle with idea of free will works because it
helps to really ground the concept in concrete terms, it also creates
logistical programs. We’re told that Bender is acting according to his own
programming, which would seem to indicate that all of the “bad” choices that
Bender does are actually just controlled by one and zeroes. But how are we to
reconcile this with what we’ve seen of Bender of the past, who’s capable of
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Bark" target="_blank">doing things out of friendship</a>, or developing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfellas" target="_blank">a (albeit god-like) compassionate side</a>, or even the Bender who <a href="http://pixelated-vision.blogspot.com/2012/06/futurama-bots-and-beesa-farewell-to.html" target="_blank">was happy to be a father</a>? Was he just acting out
programming then? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Inconsistent characterization aside, the episode
bounces around from plot point to plot point, never really stopping and even
giving itself time to attempt to answer the question of free will. In the space
of twenty minutes, Bender goes to the Bot planet, meets a regular robot
citizen, then the Elders, then a monastic set of bots, before jet-setting back
to Earth to steal a free will unit from Mom, before finally taking it from the
professor. That’s a lot of different people for Bender to interact with in
order to find the answer to his free-will question, and that doesn’t even
account for the show’s usual throw-away of a first act that sees Bender going
to college, getting into a gang, and going to court. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
That all of this was topped off with a fairly pat
ending doesn’t help matters much. It’s not just that Bender end back up in
court and was found guilty and had a ironically happy ending – that part I
actually kind of like, even if it just sort of did away with Bender’s quest for
free will far to easily. No, the real disappointment here was the Professor
Farnsworth was once again the brains behind a particular robot problem that
Bender had. I realize that it makes sense and uphold the show’s internal logic,
but the show has gone to this well so many times that at this point it just
feels lazy that they couldn’t come up with something else other than a
Mom/Professor backstory. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Really, it’s hard to hate an episode that tries to
tackle a difficult subject, but it turns out that it’s completely possible to
be disappointed by one. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This week in Opening Captions: “Warning: Do Not
Show to Horses”. HA! Take that, <i>Luck</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Yes, I’d like to enroll in college.” “You’re
still talking to me.” “Oops.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Over there.” “Huh?” “Sorry, I forgot where I was.
Over here.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“We have a rival gang? I HATE THEM!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Simply vomit on me, ever so gently, while I
humiliate a pheasant.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Life is about choices. Make the wrong ones, and
you’ll end up in a pool of your own blood and vomit.” “Still, do have your own
pool…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Also…GOOD
NEWS, EVERYONE!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“How does a robot join this monk outfit?” “Just
put on this monk outfit.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Dammit! I should have paid more attention in
kindergarten!” <o:p></o:p></div>Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-34816448096551644472012-08-12T01:12:00.000-05:002012-08-12T01:12:17.666-05:00Breaking Bad - "Madrigal"/"Hazard Pay"/"Fifty-One"<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 5, Episodes 2-4<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“We’re just getting started. Nothing stops
this train. Nothing.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“All Hail the King” <a href="http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2012/06/season-5-poster.php" target="_blank">goes the ad campaign</a> for this
season of <i>Breaking Bad</i> (or at least
this first half of this season), and indeed there has existed an obsession in
these first few episodes with power, who wields it, who wants to wield it, and
how that effects those who don’t. Over the past three episodes, the show has
taken a very character-based approach to the idea, roughly devoting one hour
each to Mike, Walt, and Skyler, and how they are navigating their lives through
the new power-vacuum that exists within the meth trade world. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>It’s telling the “Madrigal” opens with the darkly
comedic scene where in the head of the titular motor-electric kills himself to
avoid talking to authorities, effectively cutting off any remaining any
remaining connections to the meth trade in New Mexico. (Well, except for maybe
Lydia, but she’s mostly proven to be no more than a glorified cleanup woman at
this point, and not even a very good one.) This leaves Walt and everyone else
without anybody they have to worry about reporting to – at least not at this
point – and free to run their own business as they see fit.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This doesn’t sit well with Mike, who’s still
pissed at Walt for killing Gus, and (rightly) doesn’t trust him to be in charge
of the drug trade. Besides, Mike has his own things to worry about, as he
attempts to hold on to his own power reigns, intent that they don’t also
disappear along with Pollos Hermanos. He still has his network of “guys” to
worry about, and the way he sees it, it’s his job to take care of them no
matter what. It’s that boundless loyalty of his that ends him up right back
with Walt, despite his own wishes. After facing down Lydia’s botched attempt to
take out his remaining power structure, he’s been made aware of just how
vulnerable he actually is, and realizes that he might not be as untouchable as
he wants to believe. He can trust his guys not to rat him out, but that doesn’t
necessarily give himself protection from the cops or other criminals. Only a
crime boss, however inept and delusional of one, can give him all the support
that he actually needs. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Of course Walt rankled at Mike’s initial rebuff of
his power, and spends every time since attempting to prove to everyone, even
himself, who is actually in charge. Take the search for a new cooking lab,
which even though it falls under Walt’s purview, per Mike’s breakdown of the
business, Walt still feels the need to control, to say no to every objection
that someone else raises – especially if that person is Mike. Walt has been
cooking long enough with Jesse to trust his insight, and can count on Saul’s
sense of self-preservation, but he and Mike are still butting heads, still
trying to prove who’s really in control. Walt may delude himself into thing he
controls Mike, but it’s Mike who seems to have the defining say in where the
majority of the money goes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Walt is put off by this, but he seems to console
himself with reminders of the power he holds over on others. When he tells
Jesse that he’s allowed to tell Andrea whatever he wants about their business,
it seems like a gesture of trust from one (slightly unequal) partner to
another, and Walt tries to frame it as such. But much like hiding the tube of
ricin in Jesse’s Roomba, it’s really just another of Walt’s psychological ploys
against Jesse. He would never risk the business in such an overt manner, and he
only really does it because he doesn’t believe that Jesse actually will. So
even when Jesse breaks up with Andrea – which probably wasn’t part of Walt’s
plan – he still feel indebted to Walt for giving him the option in the first
place. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
That’s far subtler than Walt is able to be at home
with Skyler, who he runs with a combination of fear and force. While he’s able
to ply Walter Jr. with gifts to make-up for his absentee parenting, and keep
Hank and Marie distracted with a intricate and ever-growing web of lies, Skyler
knows who he really is and is the only person who holds the capability of cutting
him off from the last vestiges of his humanity. So Walt forces on her all of
those things that used to be part of his normal life, from birthday rituals to
time with the kids to parties to even sex. It’s the last that’s most
disturbing, as Walt approaches it the same way he approaches moving back into
the house: by barging in and refusing to ask permission. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Skyler, for her part, subsumes to Walt’s will, admitting
that she’s a “coward”, and doesn’t know what else to do other than to wait for
Walt’s cancer to come back. Yet that admission is something that strikes Walt
to his core, as does Skyler’s blatant smoking in front of him and her attempt to
drown herself in front of Hank and Marie. She may be truly scared of Walt, and he
may have robbed her of most of her power, but she’s still trying to find ways
to fight back, and it’s come down to psychological warfare. And given that that’s
something Walt has been doing to other, including her, it’s about time he gets
some payback for all the awful things he’s done. These might just be the
opening shots of a siege that Walt won’t be able to survive, especially if
others besides Skyler get in on the action. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
It’s interesting how relegated Jesse has been
throughout these episodes, and I wonder if we’re not due for a Jesse-centric
episode before this batch of episodes is done. So far the only real power Jesse
seems to exert is over Badger and Skinny Pete, who can get to run the simplest
of errands and then turn away coldly from any other work. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Anna Gunn’s acting in “Fifty-One” was simply phenomenal,
and though I had finally warmed to the character last season, I think this was
the show’s best use of her as way to contrast the terribleness of Walt’s
action. That argument between them was fraught with implied violence and maybe
the tensest thing the show has ever done. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“He threatened to break my legs. And don’t tell me
he didn’t mean it – he had the dead mackerel eyes.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Okay, I believe you, just don’t…kill us.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I had a chance to fix this before, and I gave her
a pass. This is what I get for being sexist.” <o:p></o:p></div>Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-53984871571185870802012-08-11T23:14:00.000-05:002012-08-11T23:14:40.480-05:00Falling Skies - "Molon Labe"/"Death March"<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 2, Episodes 7-8<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
I’ve written before about how <i>Falling Skies</i> is a show divided against itself – it’s very good at providing
the action and sci-fi thrills (and sometimes chills), but doesn’t have quite
the same level of skill when it comes to the other elements of the show, mostly
the character-building and pathos. It often seems as if the show is
begrudgingly doing the latter time as a way to bide time until and save money
for the former, and the filler status would probably explain why it never feels
as affecting as the action set-pieces. This contrast becomes even more apparent
with “Molon Labe” and “Death March”, episodes that tackle only action and
character building, respectively, to disorienting effect. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>I really don’t have much to say about “Molon
Labe”, which was a straightforward, action packed hour, something that worked
to the show’s benefit. By shedding all of the draggy moments of pathos and
characters wining about their state of a post-apocalyptic universe, and having
them instead actually, physically fight back against the alien threat that
surrounds them. I don’t want to make it sound as if the characters haven’t
acted with agency in the past – they’ve always had goals and missions, and
haven’t been afraid to kill aliens in the past – but there was something about
the type of action on display in that episode – Tom shooting the Overlord in
the head, Ann creating a flame-thrower to fight off the spider-things – that
resounded more since it showed that character taking up new levels of activity.
It also helped that the threat against them was more direct and concrete, which
not only caused the characters to fight like they did, but also noticeably
raised the stakes.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Death March” is almost the complete opposite, an
hour that asks us to spend time with characters that we supposedly care about,
as it starts to deliver to us more details about them. This episode was
obviously one of those saddled with cost-cutting measures, if all the time that
the cast was stuck in the car sets with the horrendous green-screen is any
indication, but this alone isn’t a deal-breaker for the episode. Indeed, the
episode takes the form of one of my favorite types of episodes, the bottle
episode. It’s not a true bottle episode as there are multiple sets and guest stars
at play, but it does effectively strand the characters in a limited space – in
this case, the road, with very little around to distract them – and use that
stranding as an opportunity to get at some real pathos for the characters. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Where the episode seems to fail is that there
isn’t really enough established character work built up for this episode to
play off of. The best bottle episodes tend to be those that take what we
already know about a character and the play off of that, either digging deeper into
one aspect of their personality, or to reveal something new and deep about them
that’s been hiding under the surface. You could argue that this is what the
episode was trying to do with both Tector and Maggie, and technically that is
correct. The problem is that there’s not really that much for these new
revelations to stick to. Maggie and Tector have both been cyphers for the
majority of their screen time – Maggie only recently got fleshed out with her
cancer backstory, which doesn’t actually tell us a lot about her – that these
revelations feel as if they were randomly tossed off, without much thought into
whether they really make sense.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
I say that with full recognition that Maggie’s
backstory caused drama in her relationship with Hal, which I think just makes
me even madder. Maggie’s backstory – with the drugs, and the pregnancy, and the
jail time – is just so intense that it feels calculated, like the writers
dumped every bad thing they could think of on Maggie just so we would believe
Hall being scared off. None of this really feels like it makes much difference
how we few Maggie – who acts most of the time like this baggage doesn’t weigh
her down in the day-to-day – that I doubt it’s really going to come up again.
At least Tector’s army-based regrets have ac actual effect on his current life,
and this is something that could be built off of later, even if it doesn’t mean
all that much now. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Let’s not even talk about Matt’s story with the
harnessed kid Jennie, which really only sought to remind us that Matt can still
be compassioned and open-minded, which of course, because HE’S A FUCKING CHILD.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Anyways, what undermines all of this shoddy
character building even further is how the episode ends. While I’ve been
relatively happy with the creation of Charleston as a small, attainable goal
for the 2<sup>nd</sup> Mass (and the show) to aim for, the fact that this
episode ends with them reaching the new human capital feels both unearned and
as if it cut the rest of the hour off at the knees. Seeing as how the 2<sup>nd</sup>
Mass took off for Charleston at the end of “Molon Labe” and arrived at the end
of the next hour, combined with the fact that “Molon Labe” and the episode
before that took place at one location, makes it feel like the trip their
didn’t take as long as the show seems to want us to believe. To that end, all
of the character work of the hour feels as if it was created because the writers
needed a low-budget way to kill time until Charleston was reached. That this
comes at the end of two ridiculous and pointless fake-outs that also seemed designed
to pad out the hour – Hal et. al.’s capture/rescue by Porter, and the 2<sup>nd</sup>
Mass believing that Charleston held no human settlement – only served to further
push the pointlessness of it all.</div>Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-9433476124506721642012-08-01T23:57:00.000-05:002012-08-01T23:57:16.119-05:00Futurama - "Fun on a Bun"<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 7, Episode 8<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“WE WERE GOING OUT!?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
In my review of the season premiere, I brought up
one of pet peeves with <i>Futurama</i>, the
show’s inability (especially in the sixth season) to maintain a logical
throughline to the Fry/Leela relationship. This doesn’t mean that I expected
the show to always address the existence of a relationship from episode to
episode, but rather to at least have it follow on a consistent line and give
tacit acknowledgement when the relationship status changes. Given how many
times over the seasons that the show has asked that we care about these two as
a couple, it only seems right that the show treats the actual relationships
with the same respect and effort that was given to the courtship. If not, then
suddenly it seems as if none of it matters. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>Tonight’s <i>Futurama</i>
might not have marked a change where the show give the relationship the proper
level of reverence, but it certainly was a step in the right direction.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
At the end of my review, I closed out with the thought
that I didn’t particularly expect the show to continue the Fry/Leela
relationship onto future episode, mostly based on past evidence. I was
therefore pleasantly surprised that this season has so far been littered with
various small acknowledgements of the romance between them. Granted, there’s
been no one episode, or even a subplot, dedicated to their great love or
anything. But those small moments, whenever they cropped up, did seem to serve
as the writers’ acknowledgment that they were more aware of the problem they
had in season six of not treating the relationship seriously. I realize that
this probably isn’t a big issue for most of <i>Futurama</i>’s
audience, but for me it was a delight, and I hoped that this meant the writer
were subtly building towards something later down the line. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
That those moments seemed to culminate somewhere
in the middle of act one of “Fun on a Bun”, where Leela, in a fit of
embarrassment with Fry’s actions, breaks things off with him, to which he incredulously
replies that he didn’t even know that they were in a relationship. It’s a small
meta moment in a show that’s been deploying them regularly since being brought
back from cancellation, but it mostly works here, both as comment on Fry’s
general cluelessness as well as the show’s own ADD in regards to the issue. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Unfortunately, what follows through the rest of
the episode doesn’t live up to the smarts of that one singular moment. “Fun”
seemed to recycle the same sort of track that the show has done many times in
the past, where Fry and Leela are separate by insurmountable odds, only to
their love for one another fight against those circumstances. It’s a formula
that’s paid solid dividends in the past, but doesn’t work as strongly here,
perhaps having grown tired through the mere act of repetition. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Of course, it could also be because there was a
good deal of other things going along in this episode as well. I don’t want to
call the episode overstuffed, as it moved swiftly and logically from one plot
point to the next, but it sort of relegated Fry and Leela’s love as a framing
device for the action onscreen. While this did save us from yet another episode
that’s <i>only</i> about Fry and Leela’s
relationship, it sort of stole the ending moment from feeling large and
important. Instead, Leela’s chicken dance for Fry was more of a gentle grace
note than a moving moment. (Of course as a rule, <i>Futurama</i>’s has always been better with moments of self-sacrifice in
the name of love as opposed to happiness, so that also led to lighter stakes
here.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
That being said, all of those other bits were
solid in their own right. Bender’s run at the sausage competition – as well as
he later theft of the second and then first place awards – were perfectly
strange and fueled by Bender’s gleeful (for us) jealousy and ego. And the
Neanderthals animal-based attacks against civilized society made for some great
sigh gags (giant attacking sloth, anyone?) as well as serve as commentary about
society’s overreliance on technology. (That’s actually been a fairly common
theme is this run of episode, but whatever.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Unfortunately, all of these good bit didn’t really
add up to a workable whole, and it times felt like the episode lost sight of it’s
main goal of telling a moving story about Leela and Fry. However, this was a
step in the right direction of treating the subject as a serious, ongoing
aspect of the show, and given how much of a struggle that’s been, that’s
victory enough for one night of television. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
If there was one underserved moment in the
episode, it was Leela’s <i>Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind</i>-like subplot, which didn’t seem to move past
reference. That being said, I did get a big laugh out of Bender, Amy, and Hermes
using the escape pod inside Planet Express to avoid tipping Leela off as to her
disconnected memories. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Exactly how many times has the <i>Nimbus</i> crashed or otherwise been taken
out of commission over the series run? It’s got to have been at least ten,
right? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This week in opening subtitles: “50% More Colors
than Bargain Brand Cartoons”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Most folks just call me Orange Joe.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Aw man, I can’t beat that with a Craigslist pig.
Sorry, Grundy. I’ll have to kill you later for some other reason.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“And the worst part is, I had to have the break-up
sex by myself.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Wait until those judges get their hands on my
mammoth sausage.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Like this one here: Fry falls off the animal
train.” “He thought he recognized one of the monkeys.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“And I do have vague memories of people refusing
to breed with me.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I should be happy. Bender’s sausage just won 3<sup>rd</sup>
place.” “3<sup>rd</sup> place??? This is the greatest injustice that Germany
has ever committed.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Battalion A – smash things. Battalion B – smash
different things.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“In recognition of your overwhelming victory,
let’s call it a draw.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“I didn’t recognize you with your head all
swollen. But it looks better now.” “The blood must have rushed someplace else.” <o:p></o:p></div>Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-76097092378118911972012-07-26T00:02:00.000-05:002012-07-26T00:02:26.193-05:00Futurama - "The Six Million Dollar Mon"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 7, Episode 7<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
There’s an obvious character hierarchy to <i>Futurama</i>, even if the show can at times
function ensemble piece. Fry, Leela, and Bender function as the three principal
characters, and Amy, Hermes, Zoidberg, and Professor Farnsworth tend to serve
in secondary roles. Sure, those four can and have taken the spotlight for certain
episodes, but these tend to lead to some mixed results, and there have never
been enough of them to feel as if the series is truly egalitarian with all of
it’s characters. As such, the secondary four often tend to be more emotionally
static that the primary three, which can lead to some unmotivated episodes. However
this isn’t always the case, and sometimes this can lead to surprising little
episodes that deliver a wallop of insight into previously barely-explored
characters, as it did tonight.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="background-color: white;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>Hermes and Zoidberg are perhaps the two most
underutilized secondary characters. While we learn a lot about Amy through her
relationships with her parents and Kiff, and know about Farnsworth’s
relationship with Mom, Hermes and Zoidberg don’t have enough relationships (or
at least not frequently appearing relationships) to really explore their
emotional sides. (Not for nothing, Hermes’ son appeared in this episode, but he
didn’t have any lines.) And given their especially comedic voices and gestures,
it’s clear that these characters are meant to be the literal walking jokes of
the cast.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Yet somehow “The Six Million Dollar Mon” managed
to turn these jokes into real characters beats for the two of them. Hermes’ has
long (and mostly) been defined by his bureaucratic role within Planet express,
and the show has gone so far as to build multiple episodes around this joke.
But this is the first time that we’ve seen the emotional toll that it takes on
Hermes. It’s not just that Hermes life is defined by his job, but also that
he’s got nothing else really going on, so that when he loses his job, he seems
to lose his manhood as well. Getting held up by Roberto the deranged, stabby
robot doesn’t help things either, and it all serves as believable character
motivation for Hermes transformation into a robot. When efficiency means
everything, why bother being human. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
However, what’s additionally interesting is the
morality tale that the show uses Hermes’ story to reflect on the growing
reliance on technology. <i>Futurama</i>
always mines some of the biggest (and okay, some of it’s weakest) laughs by
using the future setting to comment on our present, and while turning Hermes
into a literal machine is a bit of a heavy-handed metaphor, it’s also one that
works within the context of the episode. While technology helps to improve
Hermes professional life, it also builds a wall between him and his family, as
his quest for higher efficiency leads him to drop them as emotional weight that
holds him back. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Zoidberg meanwhile has always been the outcast of
the group, the one that everybody else shits on. He is the butt of just about
every joke that involves him, and it’s been hard for the show to build an
entire plot, even if they’ve tried to do so at least twice in the past. What I
think those past episodes got wrong – and this one got right – is that
Zoidberg’s pathetic nature is ultimately sort of depressing, and if you don’t
acknowledge that to some extent, it can be hard to make the jokes work exactly
as they should. By embracing that depressing nature, “Mon” was able to push the
Zoidberg jokes to new, semi-alienating heights, and get perhaps the biggest
(and darkest) laughs from the character yet. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
But it also allowed it to be emotionally affecting
in it’s own weird, sort of fucked-up way. Sure, the sight of Zoidberg
reassembling Hermes’ discarded body parts was disgusting and bizarre and
hilarious at the same time, it also belies just how lonely Zoidberg is. He’s so
desperate for human connection that he sees Hermes’ constant mockery of him as
a form of friendship, and when Hermes begins to lose the emotional side of
himself that’s capable of hate and ridicule, it’s up to Zoidberg to create a
meat puppet to simulate that effect. So it speaks to Zoidberg’s selflessness
that he would risk that assured source of mockery (which really just comes from
himself) so that Hermes can live as human and be with his family.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
While the marrying of the A- and B-plots was some
spectacular work, what really impressed me with the plotting was how nothing
here went to waste. There were two extended gags tonight – the appearance of
Hermes’ spicy gumbo, and arrest and death of Roberto – that at the time of
their first appearance, seemed like nothing more that sub-<i>Family Guy</i> level throwaways, just bits to fill in some left over
time. However, that both of these ended up playing into the episode’s finale –
Roberto’s brain takes over Hermes’ old robot body, then melt upon eating a
piece of Hermes’ spicy skin – was a brilliant masterstroke, and it’s to the
writers’ credit that I didn’t see these moments coming.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This was perhaps the most assured episode of
Futurama this season, one that managed to service the characters and give us a
half-hour that didn’t feel over-stuffed or random in how it played out. Let’s
just hope that there are more episodes like this one coming down the tubes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This week in Opening Captions: “This Episode Worth
250 Futurama Points”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Lets the interviews begin! Good luck everyone but
Zoidberg.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Plus that one boiling toilet. Fire me if you
dare.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“No, not you Right Brain. Right, Left Brain?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Is that a harpoon in your chest?” “Yes. And I’m
happy to see you.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Good old Hermes. When he stops insulting, that’s
when I worry.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
“Of course I tried eating you. But your flesh was
too spicy.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138838838712842372.post-30340170569760415282012-07-16T01:20:00.000-05:002012-07-16T01:20:04.791-05:00Breaking Bad - "Live Free or Die"
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Season 5, Episode 1<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b> “We’re
done…when I say we’re done.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Few shows can raise the sort of pre-air
anticipation like <i>Breaking Bad</i> can.
The show, which at its heights delivers some of the most visceral and
adrenaline pumping moments ever to be aired on the small-screen, has a public
perception that’s based around those highs. Yet the show’s season premieres,
while still awesome, tend to work on a lower key than the heights that the show
is capable of, and as such tend to be slower and more taxing than what we as
viewers are used to. (The first third of season four, anyone?) Even as
tonight’s season premiere had those same premiere issues in setting up the next
batch of episodes (be it the first 8 of the season, or the whole 16, we’ve yet
to know), it also gave us perhaps the most fun hour the show has ever produced.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>Perhaps I should explain. All episodes of <i style="background-color: white;">Breaking Bad</i><span style="background-color: white;"> are “fun” in the sense that
they find ways to entertain, to thrill, to move the audience and tell taut,
involving stories. However, the show is so often mired down in darkness and
tension that rarely do the characters get any sort of chance to breathe, to let
loose and kick around the show’s world. (I mean this in a good way.) The show
doesn’t get the chance to deliver capers or fun little romps, since so often he
characters are merely trying to avoid getting themselves killed and the like.
Also because for a show this dark, doing fun little capers would be tonally untrue
to what the rest of the show is attempting to do.</span><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But that’s what tonight’s episode did, and it all
centered on the most deliriously fun of concepts: magnets. Like a fever dream
of <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CFYQtwIwAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_-agl0pOQfs&ei=3bEDUJqEPeOO2wWL5KSLCw&usg=AFQjCNHxIpBuKL102GHQMbiw15V4O0HTGQ" target="_blank">Insane Clown Posse</a> or <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CEMQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DmzqoxfkCozk&ei=-7EDUPOXFKHU2AXk3MSWCw&usg=AFQjCNEtmypVtKL12jTMeNvCioUbf0bc6A" target="_blank">Bill Nye the Science Guy</a>, Jesse’s idea for how to
save him, Walt, and Mike from the incriminating video evidence under police
possession, it’s a gloriously simple idea, both for a criminal plan, and as
something to center the episode around. But in both cases it works. It allows
Walt to show off his science skills as rigs a U-Haul van into a giant magnetic
conductor, and it allows the show to play out a single idea for the majority of
the hour. Usually episodes of <i>Breaking
Bad</i> are about the unrelenting, all-surrounding pressures that out
anti-heroes have to face, but tonight gave them and us a reprieve. With a
singular goal to accomplish, it allowed the characters to end an episode on a
win, a rare event in the world of the show. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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A lot of that sense of fun is, perhaps
disconcertingly, filtered through the current mood of Walter White. Having just
blown up Gus and the lab under the laundromat, the man is riding high,
convinced that no one and no thing can touch him. Having proven that he won,
that he is the one who knocks, Walt moves forward like a bullet train,
completely convinced that he is now unstoppable, and that all plans will
ultimately work out in his favor. Of course Walt has always been a self-assured
bastard, but when the world was kicking him down, he was always more hesitant
in his moves. Now that he’s the one doing the kicking, he throws caution to the
wind<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Of course, all that fun and confidence that was
present throughout the episode was shadowed by an ominous bit of
flash-forwarding, much like the black-and-white scenes that began those season
two episodes. “Live Free or Die” (the state motto for New Hampshire, by the way) opened
with a disorienting scene, with Walt in a Denny’s (thank you, product
placement!), celebrating his 52<sup>nd</sup> birthday with his bacon, a beard
on his face and a full set of hair, popping pills and buying a large gun from
Lawrence. Walt’s much skinnier now, and once again seems to be in that
desperate place that he so often finds himself. Victory is not a permanent
state for Walt, and it seems the show is set on sending him out on a low note. It
adds another level of tension to the proceeding, as well as an air of tragedy,
to know that Walt’s time as king won’t last, but it doesn’t take a genius to
figure out that his hubris will be his downfall. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But for now he’s reveling in his alpha-male
posturing made fact, and he doesn’t seemed concerned with the dangers that
surround him. Mike’s still mad with Walt for killing Gus, and doubts that Walt
can keep this victory alive, telling Jesse that the best play would be to take
the money they have and just skip town. Jesse, ever the mentee to Mr. White, dismisses
him, enjoying the victories as much as Walter. The difference is where Jesse’s
confidence comes from naiveté; Walt’s comes from denial and self-delusion. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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That denial and self-delusion come in handy in
regards to whatever backroom deals that Skyler and Saul have been carrying on
without his knowledge. Walt has long had a weak spot for his estranged wife,
trusting her with things that are far beyond her control. But that’s only because
he believes that he can be there to control the outcome. When he leans in close
to Saul and says “We’re done…when I say we’re done,” or when he tells Skyler “I
forgive you,” (while also applying for the Guinness World Record for Creepiest
Hug Ever), he does these things because he believes himself to be in a position
of power to make it all right. He’s so convinced of his own criminal prowess
that he couldn’t possibly fathom something biting him in the ass, because he can’t
fathom a scenario that he doesn’t see coming.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s to say nothing of the picture frame that
Walt’s super magnet incidentally broke, cluing the police into an address of
Gus’, one that Walt doesn’t know about. It stands as a symbol of Walt’s recklessness,
and I wouldn’t be surprised if that location is the key to his downfall. But that is 15 episodes out, and we’ve got
more than enough time to ponder and wonder at just how screwed Walter will
become, and just how much will be at his own hand. We’re currently with Walt as
he ascends, assuming that he hasn’t already hit his peak power. Soon enough
will come the fall, in all of its gruesome glory. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Next Week:</b>
A trio forms, and the Germans arrive. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Quotes and
Other Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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“Keys, scumbag. It’s the universal symbol for
keys.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“I want you to have one thought: <i>Hogan’s Heroes</i>.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“What about that stuff you young guys wear on the
ends of your pricks? Speak now or forever sing soprano.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“I can envision a lot of possible outcomes to this
thing, and not a one of them involves ‘Miller Time’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“Yeah, bitch! Magnets!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“Did you just use the word ‘ethically’ in a
sentence?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corbin Stephensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998698140899298947noreply@blogger.com0