NBC Sitcom Roundup for 3/24/11

Advance warning — gushing all around this week. If you're looking to see me rip something to shreds, better hold off on reading this post!

The Office, Season 7 Episode 19 — "Garage Sale"

We come to it at last — the beginning of the end. And I liked it! With the caveat that marrying Holly and leaving Scranton with her is the most insanely predictable ending for Michael Scott imaginable, the first thing that popped into all of our minds when Carell's impending departure was announced a year ago. But this is The Office, not Lost or 24, and I don't think predictable plotting is that big a problem so long as it's funny and moving, which it was. The way Pam and the rest tried to help Michael with keeping his proposal "safe and responsible and realistic and doable" was very sweet (even if it resulted in Oscar and Ryan teleporting from the conference room to the warehouse and back again in a slightly horrific bit of editing I can't believe they didn't catch in post).

The proposal itself stood in contrast to Jim's sudden, rainy, roadside proposal to Pam (okay, there was still rain, but of a different sort). I loved that one specifically for the way it shirked TV proposal conventions, while this one embraces them, roomful of candles and crying and cheering crowd and all, but it was still likable due to how much I enjoy the characters and how damn well Carell and Amy Ryan played it. Holly's been a godsend for this show's chemistry ever since she first showed up in season four, even with a thirty-episode gap between appearances, and as syrupy and cheesy as the proposal scene may have been it was impossible not to smile at her reaction to seeing the ring.

Some have questioned whether or not Michael Scott truly even deserves a happy ending after all his hissy fits and manchild antics and fake firings and poor management and fucking Pam's mom and Scott's Tots, but I'd retort that this is only half a happy ending anyway. Michael got the girl, sure, and she's wonderful. But he's also leaving the company he's been with for decades and all the rest of his friends for a city he's never been to with no job prospects to care for two Alzheimery old people he's never met. That's a bittersweet ending at the very best. But let's not jump the gun too much on discussing the departure of Michael Gary Scott, which doesn't officially go down until April 28th. I'll have much more to say then, trust me.

The non-Michael and Holly elements of the episode — Dwight's trading sequence (which I found reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening), Darryl, Andy and Kevin's Dallas game, Ryan's foodstuffs business — were nondescript but solid. I think we all saw Dwight giving in and trading his final prize for Jim's beans a mile in advance. Still, this was a great episode. That it's ranked fourth this week isn't a slight but just goes to show how damn good last Thursday's sitcom block was.

Funniest Moment: The internet collective seems to have decided on Kevin's "And that... is Dallas," which did make me laugh pretty loud, but I have to go with Michael showing off Holly's engagement ring with "They say three years salary," followed by Oscar's quiet, plaintive "Nooo."

Parks and Recreation, Season 3 Episode 8 — "Camping"

Parks and Recreation's hot streak continues with its fourth consecutive brilliant episode. Funny thing is that it didn't start overwhelmingly strongly, with the city manager's groping heart attack and subsequent office teasing of Leslie eliciting more chuckles than true laughs, but the episode got better with each act — each minute, almost — until by the time the gang stopped by the bed and breakfast I was laughing long, loud, and frequently. The fuck is a German muffin, indeed. Like "Harvest Festival" it was a great episode for Leslie and Ben in particular, with Ron Swanson again making a huge impact with a handful of moments. Tom's luxury Sky Mall tent was mildly funny at first but became hilarious upon the revelation that he was drawing power from the van.

The way they brought back Chris Traeger was just a little forced, but at the same time I'd much rather have Chris back with a slightly forced explanation than not have him back at all. It's kind of interesting how Ben and Chris were introduced as a duo with identical jobs but have in ten episodes reached such different places in relation to the parks department and the people therein. I doubt my heart will ever be stirred by Chris and Ann's romance, but Rashida Jones' grand delivery of "I have to move, right?" made their whole subplot in this episode worthwhile.

Funniest Moment: Right up until the very end of the episode it was Tom's "Great idea. Thanks, White Urkel," but then the ending credits tag blew that out of the water, especially Ben's final line. How rare to see a sitcom episode go out comedically on top in literally its final three seconds. I've said before and I'll say again that Adam Scott is impossibly funny and an amazing addition to the show. It already feels like he's been here from the beginning.

30 Rock, Season 5 Episode 18 — "Plan B"

I'm loving what they've done with Tracy's absence from the show, taking a couple of missed episodes that could have easily passed quietly with him simply being offscreen and turning it into the first look at TGS in full-blown crisis we've ever really gotten. This episode wasn't quite like anything 30 Rock's ever done before (which I guess could also be said for last week's "Queen of Jordan," except this time I mean it in a good way), and while it not surprisingly came down to being about Liz and Jack, I liked the little moments of the various supporting characters embarking on their own personal plan Bs. Particularly Sue's The Mentalist parody, because that's some top-shelf absurdity right there.

Liz reaching the end of her rope and possibly career freed the character up to be a little looser and funnier than she's been lately, and Jack had a good old business shark subplot, which the writers always tend to nail with him. Devon Banks and his gaybies were pretty awesome (true story: when Devon appeared I was like, wow, it's been so long since I've seen Will Arnett! But no, it hasn't; I had just already forgotten that Running Wilde ever existed) and I'm liking Hank Hooper a lot more this time around than I did in his first appearance, probably thanks to his new gimmick of smiling widely and talking in a warm, friendly tone about how furious he is. This was a strong episode all around and I look forward to seeing where TGS's forced hiatus takes the show from here.

Funniest Moment: As someone who generally loves Aaron Sorkin and hated Studio 60, I thought the entire Sorkin scene was brilliant, particularly the "Studio 60?" "Shut up." exchange. In fact, I'd go so far as to call it the best celebrity-playing-themselves cameo 30 Rock's ever done, even over Al Gore.

Community, Season 2 Episode 19 — "Critical Film Studies"

Now this was more like it. Not that "Intro to Political Science" and "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy" were bad by any means, they were just... less than peak Community. But this episode honestly could have gone on for an hour and I wouldn't have minded in the least. When I realized Jeff and Abed's conversation was ending I felt really disappointed, like, no! I want more of this! It was such a sharply-written parody of My Dinner with Andre (I loved the use of Gymnopédie No.1), and Abed's Cougar Town monologue, lie or not, was just superb. Huge kudos to Danny Pudi for the way he started Abed out as being weirdly non-weird then very gradually allowed natural Abed to leak back in over the course of the dinner sequence.

The Pulp Fiction side of things stood out less than the Andre side, but still allotted at least one great moment for each character (Troy and his good no-no juice, Shirley's synopsis of Pulp Fiction for Pierce, and a couple of Annie and Britta moments I'll come back to in a minute). The visual of the cast dressed up as Tarantino characters, while an easy pop culture gag, was still a cute and likable one.

Fantastic piece of television any way you look at it; as comedy, as parody, but perhaps most importantly as an almost uncomfortably penetrative character study of Abed. It's also interesting to see Community calling out its own movie parodies in such a direct, borderline fourth wall-breaking way, with Jeff angrily describing the episode's events as "yet another stupid movie spoof." It feels like the show is barreling towards some sort of final showdown with its own meta-ness, and I can't wait to see what that may be.

Funniest Moment: While not the best or most interesting moment by any means, for whatever reason it was Britta and Annie's exchange of "What, I have 3D vision now?" "Yes... you do." "You don't know me!" that really set me off on a laughing fit. I also liked Annie's "Everyone hates Britta!" later on. Britta getting crapped on in general makes me laugh, probably because of how detached and cool and above it all she was written as being at the beginning of the series. She's not the best current sitcom character but she may be the most improved one.

Weekly Power Rankings: 1. Community 2. Parks and Recreation 3. 30 Rock 4. The Office

NBC Sitcom Roundup for 3/17/11

I've been mad busy with deadlines at work (and in fact have two or three I should be working right this second), so I've fallen pathetically far behind on my movie reviews, best of 2010 lists, TV pilot coverage, trailer analyses, and sitcom roundups on this here blog. Thankfully, I think this weekend should be relatively open, so I should be able to finally get the next part of the 2010 Kraemer Movie Awards up, and if we're lucky maybe even a movie review too. But if I start falling behind on my sitcom roundups all will be lost, so even though these episodes aired an entire week ago I'm gonna go ahead and knock out some super-quick thoughts on them. After all, the main reason I started these sitcom roundups in the first place was to chronicle Michael Scott's departure from The Office and what follows, and holy shit, that's only a few weeks away!

Oh, and hey, Community and Parks and Rec both got renewed! (And The Office and 30 Rock, but we knew that months ago.) Awesome! I always had a feeling they would be. Despite the early and tragic death of Terriers (and now Lights Out), all those Friday Night Lights renewals have made me a dumbass optimist.

Parks and Recreation, Season 3 Episode 7 — "Harvest Festival"

I'll admit being a little nervous after the first few episodes of this season — all of which I liked, but none of which I loved — but for the last three episodes, "Media Blitz," "Indianapolis," and now "Harvest Festival," Parks has been absolutely killing it. Despite being a little light on Ron Swanson and having an Ann Perkins subplot that wasn't too interesting, this episode was great and for the second time in a row actually pulls off the stiff task of trumping the Community that aired the same evening.

First off, this was Leslie's best episode so far this season by a mile. Almost every second of her feud with tribal chief Ken Hotate was hilarious, and I really hope he's a recurring character. Adam Scott was at his dry, despondent best (especially when confused over the appeal of Li'l Sebastian), and April and Andy's "Dude, shut up! That is awesome sauce!" subplot showed off why they are, in many respects, more funny and likable than Jim and Pam were even back in The Office's heydey. Even Tom and Jerry's lost horse D-plot satisfied, and Ron Swanson straightening everyone out on the Ferris wheel made up for his limited presence throughout the rest of the episode.

Also, I was impressed by the final pre-credits shot. I mean, sure, you could make out the CGI in it, but on a sitcom budget that was a really fucking ambitious shot.

Funniest Moment: "That is exactly what happened."

30 Rock, Season 5 Episode 17 — "Queen of Jordan"

Sorry, didn't like it. In fact, I actually paused in the middle, took a break for a couple hours, then came back to finish it later. True, I did the same thing with the director's cut of Dances with Wolves and I liked that, but that was a 236-minute film; this is a 21-minute sitcom episode. I found the reality show gimmick to be tedious and unfunny — although I should note that the last episode of reality TV I saw was during the first season of Survivor in 2000, so I'm sure plenty of references went over my head — and other than Jack I didn't like what it brought out in any of the characters. The next time this show tries to make me laugh via Jane Krakowski singing I'm literally going to blow my brains out.

I do think it's interesting they've actually made a story arc out of Tracy Morgan's absence for his real-life kidney transplant — I assumed Tracy was simply going to be off screen with little explanation for two episodes and then quietly return, but nope, they've gone full serialized with it. Which would be great, except that I don't watch 30 Rock to find it interesting, I watch it to find it funny. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

Funniest Moment: Probably the cut to Jack with the "Jack, Tracy's Gay Boss" subtitle at the bottom. One of the few moments I thought actually made strong comedic use of the reality format.

Community, Season 2 Episode 18 — "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy"

This episode was pretty middle-of-the-road by Community standards, but if you know how much I love Community you know that's still a compliment. Jeff, Shirley, and Chang's paternal rights story was a little standard and unimaginative (and I still kind of miss Chang the Spanish professor), but Britta trying to expose the truth of Abed and Troy's genocidal buddy was pretty damn funny, with great performances from all three actors. And, save for funniest moment, that's really about all I have to say.
Funniest Moment: That would have to be Britta's horrifically botched attempt at singing Britney Spears for Lukka near the beginning. I thought Gillian Jacobs was the series' comedic weak link back when it first premiered, but in gradually replacing her detached coolness with pure awkwardness (starting around the "bagel" fiasco) they've successfully made her fucking hilarious.

Weekly Power Rankings: 1. Parks and Recreation 2. Community 3. 30 Rock

NBC Sitcom Roundup for 2/24/11

The Office, Season 7 Episode 18 — "Todd Packer"

I've never really been a fan of Todd Packer, even in the "love to hate" kind of way. I like "The Carpet" from way back in season two, which revolves around a Packer prank, but the man himself only really appears in the closing minutes of that episode. Otherwise I find the obnoxious chemistry he brings into Dunder Mifflin more something to be tolerated for the length of time it needs be rather than truly enjoyed. However, the fact that everyone except Michael feels exactly the same way — even generally-annoying-to-others characters like Dwight — helps smooth things over a bit. So while I wasn't a big fan of the scenes centered around this episode's title character, I did like the parts with other people trying to figure out what to do about him, especially Jim and Dwight's subplot and just about any moment with Holly. Erin cheerfully trying to get the ant farm away from Holly before the ants started eating each other was goddamn hilarious.

I also liked seeing Pam sharing story time with someone besides Jim in her B-plot with Andy, Darryl, and going full-on corrupt in her new position as office administrator as one intended good deed quickly ballooned into a web of bribery and deceit. It was like so many "fall to darkness" dramas in film or on HBO, except funny and played out over six or seven minutes. I hope very much that this plot comes up again in the season's final eight episodes, possibly even in relation to the upcoming maneuvering to hire a new boss.

Speaking of which, there's the oliphaunt in the room in regards to the fact that Steve Carell has just a few episodes left as a series regular, but we'll leave that be until The Office returns on March 24th. I have a feeling that I'll be writing a lot more about this show over the next few episodes than any of the others.

Funniest Moment: The entire scene where Jim, Pam, and several others confronted Holly about hiring Packer was perfect start to finish; Meredith starting off too strong, Ryan's botched critique of the government, and especially the exchange between Jim and Holly of "Well, I mean, he humped Michael," followed by "Well, if that's the case, I guess I've gotta be fired too," and everyone's disgusted reactions.

Parks and Recreation, Season 3 Episode 6 — "Indianapolis"

Two fantastic Parks and Recs in row! Although Ron (Effin') Swanson wound up stepping in and taking over comedically as he descended into hunger-induced madness, "Indianapolis" seemed more intended as a Chris Traeger spotlight similar to what "Media Blitz" did for Ben Wyatt, and was reasonably successful in that regard. I said last week that it seemed like they were trying to overinvest us in the extremely new Ann / Chris relationship, but the way this episode revealed that he broke up with her so cheerfully offscreen that she didn't even realize it was a breakup was a clever and funny twist that justified the whole story arc. It was Leslie herself who wound up feeling like a bit of an A-plot tagalong, but Chris, Ann, and Swanson were all expertly served by the Indianapolis trip. I'm curious to see how they intend to keep Chris on the show with him living out there, though. I guess they might have him come back to Pawnee for the Harvest Festival and wind up staying for some reason, but who knows.

Tom and Ben bonding over men's perfume and April and Andy competing for free stuff in Tom's club undeniably felt like B-plots, but they were fun, peppy, and entertaining B-plots, if for no other reasons than that I'd watch Adam Scott read the phone book and that it was nice to see an April and Andy subplot sans romantic drama for the first time in forever. Hopefully they can prove that established and happy TV couples don't have to be boring as we move forward. I'd hate to see them get broken up by misunderstandings and circumstance yet again.

Funniest Moment: I can't pin this down to any one specific moment, but as I mentioned above, every scene of Ron Swanson's steak-craving subplot, from initially discussing his love of Charles Mulligan's Steakhouse to discovering Chris grilling portobello mushrooms to demanding all the bacon and eggs they have at some roadside diner, was perfection and the highlight of the entire Thursday comedy block.

30 Rock, Season 5 Episode 16 — "TGS Hates Women"

This was a pretty damn good, unusually thematically ambitious 30 Rock, taking a legitimate swing at making a statement about the relationship between feminism and comedy. I'll admit that I'm not 100% sure what the episode's final conclusion on the matter was — Abby Flynn's baby talk and skimpy outfits and hypersexualized comedy definitely weren't positively portrayed in the least, but at same time Liz's meddling just wound up making things worse — but there were many moments of truth and sharp satire mixed into the story's specific beats, and Cristin Milioti did a great job as Abby. It was nice to see a show so big on flashy guest stars (and more on that in just one second) give a shot to an up-and-comer. I wouldn't be surprised if Milioti leverages this guest spot into a leading role on another sitcom by next fall.

I also liked Lutz pissing his pants, because deep down inside I'm quite juvenile.

Jack's subplot was an even better bait-and-switch than the revelation of Abby Flynn as Abby Grossman, though. I was kind of bummed that they had cast Chloë Moretz as a giggly, bright-eyed, aggressively cheerful schoolgirl, because that seemed like such a waste of her specific acting skillset, then was delighted (both by the reveal and the fact that I'd been successfully fooled) when she turned out to be conning Jack and was set up as a recurring villain. Hopefully the Kabletown showdown between Jack and Kaylie Hooper is intended as a running story as we enter the final arc of 30 Rock season five.

Funniest Moment: The last scene between Jack and Kaylie was full of great exchanges. "I hate the ocean — it's for tools," followed by "The ocean's awesome and for winners, you're for tools!", plus "And I can always seduce one of your teachers and get her to fail you." "I'd be into that!" "Me too!" Evil Chloë Moretz got way more laughs in two minutes than chipper and enthusiastic Chloë Moretz got the entire rest of the episode put together.

Community, Season 2 Episode 17 — "Intro to Political Science"

I didn't think Community tackled political satire with quite the same grace and comedic verve as it has action movies, zombies, conspiracy thrillers, mob movies, and the mockumentary just last week (especially stacked up against Parks and Recreation, which has government comedy locked down), but "Intro to Political Science" was still a pretty solid, funny little episode. Troy and Abed's impromptu political talk show felt just a little too broad while still being funny in line-to-line moments, but I loved Jeff's cynical, expert politicking before Annie threw him off his game with the audition tape. His "Are you saying Greendale is dirty?" line of attack was a spot-on parody of the popular and equally moronic real-life "Why do you hate America?" argument.

The scene where Jeff and Annie made up didn't do all that much for me, but that may be because I still have November's brilliant "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" in mind, one of my favorite episodes of the series and a Jeff / Annie explosion that all future episodes starring the pair will struggle to measure up to. Abed's quasi-romantic subplot with the Secret Service agent was cute, although I have pretty severe doubts it'll ever come up again even if we do get a third season.

Funniest Moment: I'm gonna wimp out and declare a three-way tie between Classic "Wingers" + Ab Mentions + Notches in the intro, "Do you just constantly have your own little side adventures?" "Yep." "...Me too!", and Pierce's vendetta against Vicki.

Weekly Power Rankings: 1. Parks and Recreation 2. Community 3. 30 Rock 4. The Office

NBC Sitcom Roundup for 2/17/11

The Office, Season 7 Episode 17 — "Threat Level Midnight"

Well, accuse this Office of anything you wish, so long as it isn't of being a generic Office episode. What's kind of funny about this sitcom block is that, although I'm sure it wasn't planned, it feels like Community and The Office swapped gimmicks, with The Office doing a high concept film genre parody while Community turned to mockumentary. Big difference being that when Community does its genre parodies they actually take place in-universe, while The Office, a show set in a not-entirely-but-much-more realistic world, did it with a film within the show.

This created some difficulty for the writers in how to make Threat Level Midnight (the film, not the episode) exactly bad enough that it felt like a real, unintentionally bad movie and not a knowing swing at so-bad-it's-goodness. Some moments definitely crossed over the latter line, namely the coin flipping scene and especially Todd Packer going "if doing the Scarn is gay, then I'm the biggest queer on earth!", something that made no sense for Michael to be angry at Jim for laughing at because it's obviously, patently absurd.

There were lots of other bits I enjoyed though, including just about every moment with Jim's Goldenface, seeing Karen again, Stanley's voiceover, the revelation of the president being evil, Michael and Dwight's conflicting interpretations of Samuel being a robot, and the very first scene of the episode. And as for the out-of-movie scenes, there isn't all that much to say. It was nice (if a bit unbelievable after ten years of work) that Michael came around to enjoying his movie in its proper, terrible light with his officemates, and Michael and Holly were cute enough as always.

Funniest Moment: My favorite bits were those that actually seemed believable as being written by Michael Scott to be badass when they were really just awkward and made the audience visibly uncomfortable, namely Goldenface saying "then I'm gonna dig up Scarn's dead wife and I'm gonna hump her real good," and especially Michael strangling Oscar with the American flag.

Parks and Recreation, Season 3 Episode 5 — "Media Blitz"

I loved "Media Blitz." It's easily the best Parks of the third season to date, thanks almost entirely to Adam Scott, who owned the episode from the starting gun. His stammering and staring at the floor and horrific attempts at charm in his interviews were goddamn hilarious. I loved the spot-on parody of shitty morning radio shows with all the fart sound effects, always starring two hyper-"manly" douchebags, and it was great how disgusted Ben was at the whole affair (and that Tom loved it, because of course he would). But the final interview with Joan Callamezzo was better still. The line "Why does everyone in this town use AltaVista? Is it 1997?!" confirmed that, while I still mourn the late, great Party Down, Adam Scott has landed on his feet on a show that knows how to use his talents.

I liked seeing Andy and April finally reconcile and I'm glad the show didn't stretch that out any longer than they needed to, although I'm surprised to say that I'm arguably liking Andy's evolving friendship with Ron Swanson even more. Andy is one of the most nicely-evolved characters on television from his first appearance, transitioning from mooching, disgusting slob to goodhearted and hardworking government employee without a single missed beat or jarring leap. Ann and Chris I'm more apathetic on, because their relationship is too new to really invest in to the degree they're asking of us, but that was only one little blemish on a great episode.

Funniest Moment: Ben Wyatt — Human Disaster

30 Rock, Season 5 Episode 15 — "It's Never Too Late for Now"

This was a wildly nondescript 30 Rock. Well, okay, maybe that's not entirely true. It was missing Tracy, for one thing (as will the next episode or two as Tracy Morgan was recovering from a kidney transplant during filming), and it also had a dedicated Frank / Pete storyline, something that happens maybe, I dunno, once every couple seasons. But comedically speaking it was sparse, with almost all of the laughs coming from individual lines in conversations between Liz and Jack ("What is business school?"). The whole Agatha Christie parody at the end, while probably seeming wickedly clever and irreverent in the writers room, wound up just feeling tacked-on and awkward.

Funniest Moment: Probably Jack's reaction to "I can fit Emily Dickinson's whole head in my mouth!" right before the show cut to opening titles. A throwaway moment, but what the hey, I laughed.

Community, Season 2 Episode 16 — "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"

Holy crap this was a good episode. I mean even by Community standards. As I mentioned above, it was coincidentally doing Office-style mockumentary the exact same night The Office was doing elaborate genre parody, but I thought Community wore The Office's clothes a lot better than vice versa. Jeff shouting "Don't you dare intercut this with footage of me freaking out!" at Abed, intercut with footage of him freaking out, was arguably a more hilarious use of true documentary filmmaking than anything The Office has done in years, not to mention Shirley shooting her own talking head and Abed commenting on the generic documentary montage ending technique while simultaneously using it.

Pierce's psychological tests for Jeff, Shirley, and Britta were all clever and did a great job diving into each character's neuroses and personal insecurities. That's a big part of why Community is so much better than 30 Rock (not just today, but even in Rock's prime): it treats its characters as complex people rather just joke machines tweaked to fit any given moment and punchline. But this episode didn't want for laughs in the least either, thanks mostly to Troy and LeVar Burton's absofuckinglutely hilarious B-plot. Donald Glover is going to fly high in the world of comedy, and unlike so many others who have he completely deserves it. Annie had a smaller part than the rest of the group, although "Are they... Holocaust diamonds?" was priceless.

Hoping Jeff's father shows up before the end of the season. It seems essential at this point.

Funniest Moment: "Set phasers to love me!"

Weekly Power Rankings: 1. Community 2. Parks and Recreation 3. The Office 4. 30 Rock

TV Pilots, Day 2 — Lights Out, Being Human, Harry's Law, Skins, Perfect Couples

Yikes! I've fallen behind on my TV pilot reviews! All of the shows I'm about to discuss actually debuted way back in January, but what the hell, I just recently got around to watching most of them for the first time so I'm gonna go ahead and talk about 'em anyway. Now that Friday Night Lights is over I'm gonna need like five new good shows to fill the gaping hole that leaves in my heart, and while nothing I talked about last time truly did the trick (Episodes was alright, but more in a "this is amusing" way than a "need more now!" way), this time we have something truly interesting. I'm also hoping that HBO's Game of Thrones will fill one of those good show slots come April.

But April ain't til April. Today, let's talk about FX's Lights Out, Syfy's Being Human, NBC's Harry's Law, MTV's Skins, and NBC's Perfect Couples:

LIGHTS OUT


The premise in ten words or less? Retired boxer contemplates a comeback.

Any good? Oh yes. This is real television right here; by no means perfect, but really interesting, brawny and brainy fare all at once. For the record, I've actually seen a lot more than just the pilot of Lights Out — five episodes, in fact — but all those episodes have done is confirm the good stuff I suspected after the first. While I enjoyed the recent boxing film The Fighter I had pretty big issues with its pacing, namely how difficult it was to discern the narrative's time frame and how rushed Micky Ward's rise from the bottom to the top felt. Turns out the real way to tell a boxing story is patiently and methodically, in a serialized, weekly format. Setbacks are much more gripping and heartbreaking when you don't know redemption is coming a few scenes later.

Actor Holt McCallany is awesome in the lead role of former heavyweight champ Patrick "Lights" Leary, giving the part more intelligence, cynicism, and alpha male swagger than Rocky Balboa and making you wonder how McCallany never took off as a movie star. American History X's Stacy Keach also does a great job as Lights' father, tired and aging but with the fire for training still burning in his heart, while The Wire's Reg E. Cathey amps the sleaze and the charm up to eleven as boxing promoter Barry Word. Catherine McCormack fares a little more awkwardly as Lights' wife Theresa, her natural British accent occasionally exploding out of her American character for a line or two before she covers it up again. But the real star outside of McCallany himself has to be the gritty atmosphere and muscular vibe, giving stuff we've seen a million times before like boxing training sequences an entertaining kick and a compelling freshness. This is a great show.

Will I watch again? As I said, I already have, and I'm looking forward to watching through to the end of the season and can't wait to see where it goes. Unfortunately, the fact that the show averages under a million viewers makes me suspect the end of the season is also going to be the end of the series, and Lights Out will follow the late, great Terriers into FX heaven. I'd love to be wrong, but one thing I've learned over the last decade or so is that me liking a show is the best way to guarantee its swift cancellation.

BEING HUMAN


The premise in ten words or less? A vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost all live together.

Any good? First off, I feel I should be clear that the premise I've just described is not the setup for a punchline, but the show's actual plot. That's actually, literally what it's about. And it's not a comedy either, it's a drama! The immediate temptation is to begin making Twilight jokes, which the show attempts to judo by directly referencing and then dismissing Twilight in the pilot, but the bluish-tinted visuals, the Smallville-looking vampire super speed, the mysterious and probably evil cabal of ruling vampires, and even the lead's suspiciously Robert Pattinson-esque voice and jawline speak louder than any dialogue. But it is harsher than Twilight, to give credit where it's due; bloodier, more violent and more sexual, plus it doesn't weakly pussyfoot around the fact that our lead vampire has killed innocent people to stay fed.

However, I still wouldn't go so far as to call it good. Watchable, maybe. The second best show I'm discussing today, absolutely, and by a comfortable margin, too. But it's also choked with melodrama, angst and cheese wafting off of it in eye-stinging waves. Although the characters aren't teens (in fact, the lead vampire is supposed to be hundreds of years old), there's definitely a teen drama-esque soapiness to the narrative and lack of subtlety to the dialogue. The evil vampire who comes around to harass our heroes also just comes across as annoying, not intimidating. This is one of the only shows I've seen that actually seems to crawl to a halt when the bad guy arrives rather than leaves.

Oh, and like Shameless from my last batch of TV reviews, Being Human is a remake of a British series of the same name, and like Shameless, I've never seen the original, so I can't compare. Just thought I'd mention that so no one thinks I don't know.

Will I watch again? Probably not. I actually did start the second episode, not so much out of a burning need for more as because the pilot ended in a cliffhanger, but as soon as said cliffhanger was resolved I found myself fast-forwarding, then closing the browser window a couple minutes later. Being Human isn't awful, but it's wholly unremarkable, a show that's just kind of there. If Being Human were a soft drink, it'd be RC Cola.

HARRY'S LAW


The premise in ten words or less? Lawyers in Cincinnati, Kathy Bates stars.

Any good? It's better than any of the new lawyer shows I talked about in the fall (Outlaw, Law & Order: Los Angeles, The Defenders, and The Whole Truth), I'll give it that much. I'd even go so far as to say it rises to the level of "not completely horrible," which by default puts it in the 90th percentile of its genre. But it still can't change the fact that I don't give a shit about episodic lawyer procedurals. I just don't. I never have and I never will, even if you make the protagonist a sassy older lady played by an Academy Award-winning actress who carries a giant magnum to her office in a crime-ridden neighborhood. I feel nothing but apathy and boredom when I watch the opening statements and witnesses taking the stand and a series of "Objection!"s and the jury foreman stand up to read the verdict. Even while avoiding these types of shows it's a scenario I've watched play out more times than I could possibly begin to count — I can't even imagine how many times people who actively seek this shit out have seen it. Thousands, probably?

The courtroom scene in the climax of Harry's Law is particularly hilarious. I'm no Bob Loblaw, but I'm pretty sure that if the defense attorney bolted from her seat and started yelling at the prosecutor in the middle of him questioning a witness that she'd be in deep shit, but here the two of them just have a minute-long shouting match right there in the courtroom, in front of the judge, witness, jury, and crowd, presented without a hint of irony. It was pretty shocking, but not in the way the show intended.

Will I watch again? "Has the jury reached a verdict?" "We have, Your Honor. The jury finds the show... not watchable."

SKINS


The premise in ten words or less? Teens talk about / have sex.

Any good? Nope! Admittedly, Friday Night Lights has raised my standards for teen shows to a level that quite literally might never be reached again within my lifetime, but even powering my brain down to a Dawson's Creek level of expectations Skins remains a shockingly boring show for one that sells itself as the height of orgiastic excess. It's trying to be edgy, of course. It's trying so, so hard. It's almost adorable, like a nine-year-old who's just learned how to swear so you put on feigned show of shock to humor them. It's not that I'm offended in the least by the wall-to-wall sexual dialogue (and I do mean wall-to-wall; there's barely a line that isn't about sex) — hell, I watch Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which features considerably more sex and nudity in any five-minute window than Skins will throughout its entire run — it's just that without said dialogue coming from characters I find remotely interesting it's so fucking dull.

Oh yeah, and once again, Skins is a remake of a British show of the same name, and once again, no, I've never seen the original. What can I say? I don't watch a lot of British television.

The manufactured "controversy" surrounding Skins is actually far more compelling than the show itself. The Parents Television Council, an organization that should be nuked off the face of the earth, has spent weeks waging war against the show, getting numerous advertisers to drop their support and, in one of the most hilarious real-life drama queen maneuvers of all time, attempting to file child pornography charges against MTV. I know there's that saying that pornography is defined only as "I know it when I see it," but I confess being a bit baffled anyone born after World War I regards some sullen teen squeaking about how he needs to lose his virginity to fall even within those broad parameters. Who knew my high school years were so lurid after all?

Will I watch again? The supposedly far superior British original is up on Netflix Watch Instantly right now and I doubt I'm ever even going to watch that, so my chances of following this one are pretty fucking nonexistent. But at the same time I'm paradoxically rooting for it to get a second season, because the idea of the Parents Television Council successfully canceling a show should be viscerally horrifying to anyone who enjoys free speech.

PERFECT COUPLES


The premise in ten words or less? Three couples who are all Friends... er, I'm sorry, friends.

Any good? No. Neither is it aggressively awful. It's just remarkably generic and white bread, a show that feels like it was created by a sitcom-writing computer. I mean, look at that male lead on the right there. He looks like he came off a bland, genial leading man assembly line. He and his wife are the levelheaded and normal ones. The couple in the middle are rash and impulsive and constantly teeter on the edge of breakup, while the couple on the left are unhealthily uptight. Together, these six friends will make you halfheartedly chuckle once and tilt the corner of your mouth upward for a split second twice. Sitting through Perfect Couples made for a long 22 minutes, but hey, at least there's no laugh track.

Will I watch again? Nope. Community, Office, Parks and Rec, and 30 Rock will do nicely as far as NBC sitcoms go. Hell, I'd be more likely to watch more of Outsourced. Not Mike & Molly, though. Never Mike & Molly.

NBC Sitcom Roundup for 2/10/11

The Office, Season 7 Episode 16 — "PDA"

I'm on record as thinking that Michael and Holly's romance is wildly rushed (out of necessity, of course, since Carell has less than ten episodes left; I'm reminded of Gandalf declaring that "Three hundred lives of men I have walked this earth and now I have no time!" — The Office has moved along with such a relaxed, luxurious pace for six years now, advancing stories one centimeter at a time, that it's jarring to see it blitzing through so much plot in a few episodes), but in spite of that this episode is exactly what I was hoping for when Amy Ryan rejoined the cast in December. The only thing better than Carell and Ryan's chemistry is letting the rest of the office be disgusted by Carell and Ryan's chemistry, and this was a damn funny episode thanks to that. I loved Oscar's quiet irritation at Michael and Holly. It's easy to overlook how key Oscar is to the office's comedic rhythm, and I'm sure I'm not the first person to point out the irony that the show's most consistent straight man is its one gay man.

As for the B-plots, while I wasn't feeling Jim and Pam being drunk at first, it took a much funnier turn when they started trying to have sex in the office, especially Ryan offering them his closet with quiet, slightly sad resignation. Andy and Erin I'm iffier on as I always have been — I blame how unfathomably stupid they spent the first part of this season writing Erin — but I do like Ed Helms and Ellie Kemper, so if this subplot is gonna be moving forward at least I can enjoy watching the actors work.

Funniest Moment: Dwight rattling off a surprisingly long list of everyone who's had intercourse in the office was hysterical, as was Kevin saying "I agree, this is nasty!" about Michael and Holly's not-touching PDA and "Better luck next time, pal!" to Oscar. But as far as my biggest laugh of the entire episode I would actually have to go with the standalone cold open with Darryl and Pam. A single tear rolling down a man's cheek is easy comedy, but it's also damn effective comedy.

Parks and Recreation, Season 3 Episode 4 — "Ron & Tammy: Part Two"

I feel kind of the same way about this episode's A-plot as I do about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest or any number of superhero sequels: it didn't really do anything that the first "Ron and Tammy" didn't over a year ago. I mean, maybe it wackied things up a little and threw in a fight scene between Tom and Tammy, but I for one still strongly prefer the power plays of the original and the way it brought Leslie in more effectively.

However, I did enjoy the B-plot with April and Chris. Pairing the show's most dour character with its most blindingly chipper makes for a great combo, and it's just nice in general to see April sharing a story with someone other than Andy (even if Andy still gets the story and episode's best line; see funniest moment below). And although I don't for one moment believe that April is going to be moving to Indianapolis (not for more than a short arc, anyway), Chris' job offer at the end was a clever way to throw half the cast into temporary chaos.

I also liked Ben this week, specifically Leslie's reaction to Ben recommending calzones. Or the cop's reaction to Ben recommending calzones. Ben is a much, much better straight man than Mark Brendanawicz ever was, mostly because Adam Scott is a great damn actor (not to mention that him and Megan Mullally in the same episode make this a Party Down reunion). I'm still not sure how I feel about him and Leslie as romantic interests, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Funniest Moment: "She didn't do that, that, was, uh, I think—sounds like it was Macklin's call."

30 Rock, Season 5 Episode 14 — "Double-Edged Sword"

This was a cute little episode, funny, with lots of great one-liners, and the somewhat parallel structure of Liz and Jack's vacations gone bad was clever. As is often the case, all stories outside of Liz and Jack failed to resonate in the least (except Pete's anecdote about his grandfather's German uniform, anyway), but the main plots were more than enough to pick up the slack from the few minutes they didn't fill. Watching Liz's plane slowly deteriorate into madness was quite amusing, and I especially loved Jack and Avery going on a jingoism-fuelled hitchhiking road trip so she could have their baby in the States (kudos to the show both for avoiding every single "birth episode" cliche and for making the pregnancy, which was confirmed in the episode "I Do Do" on May 20th, actually last the correct amount of time).

Solid guest spots this week too. Matt Damon was offered more opportunity to be legitimately funny than any of his appearances as Carol to date, and it was nice to see John Cho even if he didn't do all that much. They really might as well just add Elizabeth Banks as a regular at this point.

Funniest Moment: This may be random, but for some reason Matt Damon's line "We say half an hour to control the herds of walking mozzarella sticks who think that $300 and a photo ID gives them the right to fly through the air like one of the Guardian Owls of legend!" made me laugh hardest. Partially because of its innate absurdity, partially because I just watched Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole literally a couple days before seeing the episode. Yay for coincidence!

Community, Season 2 Episode 15 — "Early 21st Century Romanticism"

This was a pretty average, down-the-middle Community, which is to say that it was securely the funniest sitcom of the night by a wide margin. The combination of Jeff, Chang, and Duncan was hilarious (especially once the party got started), while Troy and Abed gave us an amusing and even slightly touching twist on the "two friends fighting over the same girl" subplot. Britta's non-homophobic subplot was a good use of Britta's absurd side, something we haven't seen in several months, and I admire the show for taking the lesbian kiss episode cliche and making it as aggressively un-erotic as possible. Annie and Britta actually kissing would have been erotic, sure, but at the same time I'm glad they didn't do it because that would been pandering on a level beneath such a good show. Also, I can't be the only one who wouldn't mind seeing Annie's new friend (whose name I didn't even catch) again. She was pretty funny.

The only part I was a little iffy on was Pierce's drug subplot, both because characters being high is some of the most generic sitcommery out there (and Community already did it much funnier, also with Pierce, in season one's Halloween episode "Introduction to Statistics") and because Andy Dick kinda skeeves me out. However, Dick did give us the line "If doctors are so smart, why are there millions of 'em?", a notion to ponder.

Overall, a very solid episode, although not quite as good as last year's Valentine's special "Communication Studies." Hard to top that Breakfast Club dance.

Funniest Moment: All of the biggest laughs came from quick, throwaway jokes in Jeff and Chang's storyline — Chang destroying Jeff's lamp with the nunchucks, Jeff's reaction to Chang using his toothbrush, and of course the exchange "Where're the white women at!" "No! There are no white women here, Leonard!"

Weekly Power Rankings: 1. Community 2. The Office 3. 30 Rock 4. Parks and Recreation

NBC Sitcom Roundup for 2/3/11

The Office, Season 7 Episode 15 — "The Search"

I found "The Search" to be pretty light on laughs. Granted, it seemed like an intentionally understated episode that wasn't aiming for huge belly laughs in the first place, more of a minor Michael Scott character study than anything else, but even in that respect I'm not sure it revealed much of anything about Michael we haven't known for years. Yes, he's lonely and lovesick, we get it. Most of the episode's laughs were found in the other half of the lost Michael story that showed Dwight, Holly, and Erin searching for him, mostly thanks to how inexplicably irritated both Dwight and Erin seem at Holly's presence. People hating other people for no apparent reason is a comedic technique that never fails to work on me. And the Michael-Holly kiss at the end, while not entirely earned in the few episodes Holly's been back, was tough not to smile at.

However, the B-plot with Gabe and the captions on Pam's art was pretty much a comedic nonstarter outside of Darryl bragging about his elite captioning skills. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

As a side note, I read that the reason for Jim's borderline-cameo appearances the last three weeks is because John Krasinski was simultaneously shooting a movie called Everybody Loves Whales in Alaska during filming (and yes, the movie is literally about whales). Whether or not he's still shooting it I don't know, but it's probably safe to assume that at least a few more Jim-light episodes await us moving forward. Just in case anyone was unaware.

Funniest Moment: Although Erin's pathological dislike of Holly is my favorite running joke, for reasons I myself can't entirely explain it was Michael saying "You are disgusting, you'll never find love." to the snake that made me laugh hardest.

Parks and Recreation, Season 3 Episode 3 — "Time Capsule"

I liked "Time Capsule" while being a bit disappointed by it at the same time, or at least disappointed by its big guest star. Weird thing is that I actually loved the movie MacGruber, and because of that I naturally assumed I was a fan of its protagonist Will Forte, but I haven't liked him in anything since. I think his character on 30 Rock (Jenna's crossdressing boyfriend Paul) horribly gums up the momentum every time he appears and I didn't think his Twilight-obsessed wannabe martyr in this latest Parks was much better. He was just trying so, so hard to be funny, visibly trying, and nothing kills comedy deader than looking like you're straining for it.

However, that story still came to a pretty entertaining climax with the town hall meeting. It's in its town hall meetings that Parks and Recreation reveals its tone and grip on reality to actually be a bit more akin to The Simpsons than The Office, the show it was initially inspired by, and the baffling, frustrating-to-Leslie surreality of Pawnee's citizenry is pretty much always funny as hell. I also enjoyed Andy and April's subplot once again, although I do hope the show doesn't make us wait until the season finale to finally get those two crazy kids together — not just for our own gratification as viewers, but because it would be sluggish to wait that long when their secrets and crushes are already out in the open. But for now they're still likable. It was a shame the episode was so light on Ron Swanson, though.

Funniest Moment: Either Andy suggesting that they put April's new boyfriend in the time capsule and "seal the top, so that he suffocates and dies" or the following exchange at the town hall meeting: "Please remember this is a government project, so we need to refrain from corporate promotion and religious items. Who'd like to start?" "I think we should put in the Bible." "...Great."

30 Rock, Season 5 Episode 13 — "¡Qué Sorpresa!"

This episode was not surprisingly a big step down from last week's transcendent "Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning," one the best 30 Rocks in years, but I still thought it was pretty solid by season five standards. The best part was Liz, Avery, and the ethnically ambiguous Carmen Chao's fake pregnancy A-plot, mostly because of how obviously absurd and flimsy Liz's side of the story was, but I also enjoyed Jack's B-plot except for his new, creepily friendly boss, who I'm not sure I like much more than Jack does. It was an episode mostly reliant on moment-to-moment jokes as opposed to last week's strong character work (very, very strong by 30 Rock standards) so I'm not sure what else I have to say beyond "yep, I laughed here and there," so yep, I laughed here and there — at Liz and Jack's stories, anyway.

As for Tracy and Jenna's feud... well, eh, but did anyone really expect such a thing to be any good in the first place?

Funniest Moment: Jack attempting to demonstrate the voice-activated television to his new boss, particularly the Keeping Up with the Kardashians burn at the end. The scene with Jack ordering Kenneth to hit him in the elevator was also pretty good.

Community, Season 2 Episode 14 — "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"

Now, this. This was peak Community. This was peak televised comedy, period. The best of NBC's Thursday block to be certain, but also one of the best episodes of the series and probably one of the best sitcom episodes of the last ten years. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, and fucking hilarious, made all the more impressive by the fact that it was a borderline-bottle episode that took place almost entirely within the confines of the study room.

I've never actually played Dungeons & Dragons (in high school me and my friends got as far as creating characters before losing interest) so I can't review "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" on the basis of accuracy, but I think they did a great job making the game look simultaneously very geeky and very fun. The episode's sound design — an aspect of sitcom production I rarely find myself commenting on, but demands attention here — was sublime, using the sounds of goblins attacking and swords clanging and dragon wings flapping and the hustle and bustle of an elf tavern to actually give the episode a palpable high fantasy flavor without utilizing a single exotic prop or set. And the modifications to what we're familiar with, namely the medieval version of the theme song and Pierce making the supply closet into a generic dark lord's throne room, were so perfect.

Pierce's place in the episode is interesting. I read some people on forums claiming that he was too sadistic and too evil to even find funny, but it didn't bother me, as Community has always been a show of shifting alignments (Dungeons & Dragons pun intended). I'm sure you'll recall Troy becoming a jerk jock in "Football, Feminism and You," Shirley becoming a crusading zealot in "Comparative Religion," and Jeff turning temporarily selfish and / or manipulative in any number of episodes. Yeah, this one took Pierce a little further, but it could be argued that in the end he helped Neil more than anyone.

Altogether the episode gave every character a few great moments to shine, and it was creative, propulsive, and hilarious in everything from its biggest moments (the showdown with Draconis) to its littlest (Britta's hilarious "ow!" when Abed tells her she's been hit by an arrow). I admit that I didn't think last week's "Celebrity Pharmacology" was among the series' stronger efforts, but they've come back from that and then some. Just a couple more episodes on this level and the second season of Community will easily go down as one of the greatest sitcom seasons of all time.

Funniest Moment: So, so many to pick from. I could almost just say "the whole episode" and that'd be pretty damn accurate, but it'd also be a weak-ass move, so I'm gonna buckle down and say Annie and Abed's "sex scene," particularly Troy's reaction and Annie adding the fourth finger.

Weekly Power Rankings: 1. Community 2. Parks and Recreation 3. 30 Rock 4. The Office

NBC Sitcom Roundup for 1/27/11

The Office, Season 7 Episode 14 — "The Seminar"

Definitely not as good as last week's "Ultimatum," with nondescript stories across the board, although I'm not surprised to see them starting to give Andy more A-plots. With Steve Carell gone, depending on who they get to play the new boss (or whether they even hire a new actor rather than literally promoting from within), Ed Helms is gonna be the biggest star on the show, so for better or worse this episode is probably a harbinger of things to come. I found Andy's seminar a little dry on its own but I did enjoy the specific individual speeches by Kevin, Creed, and Kelly.

Jim's subplot wasn't worth too much. Forcing Jim out of his own office because of an ex-childhood friend's awkward presence was a good idea for a story, but it fizzled out into a bit of an anticlimax and kind of had the feel of someone telling you a long joke then forgetting the punchline.

And while, as previously established, I'm very happy to have Holly back on the show, doesn't it feel like they're rushing through her story with alarming speed? I figured she and Michael would eventually get back together, but I didn't expect she would be broken up with A.J. within two episodes after being together for, what, two years? That's so fast it almost reflects poorly on her character, like she has no will to commit to anything. Hopefully it means they're just giving themselves more time to approach she and Michael's reunion with a bit more subtlety.

I was also worried that they were going to wimp out and make Gabe lovable at the end by having him let Erin watch WALL·E after all, and I was glad they stuck with unlikable guns. Nice surprise.

Funniest Moment: I think the funniest part may have been Kevin breaking down, sweating and shaking, then vomiting in front of the seminar attendees after running a couple laps around a small room, but the best part was obviously Michael Scott and David Brent colliding at the beginning. I mean, it had nothing to do with anything and was logically suspect (why the fuck was David in Scranton, Pennsylvania?), but it was an awesome — nay, essential thing to get out the way before Michael's final departure from the show.

Parks and Recreation, Season 3 Episode 2 — "Flu Season"

First off, great Ron Swanson episode this week, including two particularly great Swansonisms in "I'm not interested in caring about people" and "I'm surrounded by a lot of women in this department. And that includes the men."

However, I was a bit iffier on Leslie. First off, although this is more a criticism of makeup than comedy, they should have put a little more effort into making Amy Poehler look convincingly sick at the beginning, make her look more sweaty or clammy or something. It just kind of came across a little strange how she just looked like Amy Poehler but everyone was constantly like "whoa, you look awful! Are you sick?!" I also really didn't like the way they had her start arbitrarily babbling in her delirium; it just felt like wackiness for the sake of wackiness, something that tends not to work too well in these mockumentary sitcoms (outside of Creed on The Office, anyway). But I do like the way she and Ben are gradually learning to work together.

And while the unfolding of the Ann / April / Andy love triangle subplot was pretty obvious and predictable, I still liked it. Jim and Pam's flirting subplots in the early days of The Office tended towards predictability too and that's one of the best TV romances of all time, right? I also wonder if Andy's temporary stint as Ron's secretary may lead to his increased prominence in the main office. Already he's the character who has evolved most from the pathetic slob we saw in the pilot, and a true government job would be a perfect way to bring him full circle.

Funniest Moment: "Stop. Pooping." was pretty obviously the funniest moment of the entire comedy night.

30 Rock, Season 5 Episode 12 — "Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning"

Holy crap, where'd this episode come from? This was not only absolutely hilarious, it's probably my favorite episode of the entire fifth season of 30 Rock so far, maybe even the fourth and fifth combined. Sure, some of my 30 Rock pet peeves were still present — the three main stories were all completely disconnected and they shoehorned in some reason for Jane Krakowski to sing for the billionth time — but damn if I wasn't laughing my ass off for twenty-two minutes. This was some peak Rock right here.

Jack's story was the slowest to build up outside of Robert De Niro's surprise cameo (not sure what exactly to say about it other than that he was briefly in there, and it was pretty funny), but it came to a wonderfully unexpected and beautifully absurdist culmination with the Mel Gibson revelation. Around the point of "The Holocaust never happened!" I was actually rather surprised to see them tearing into a major Hollywood player with such abandon, but man did I laugh. Lutz's story was equally funny — perhaps because having a full Lutz story is so incredibly rare that the formula of it hasn't worn thin the way Kenneth and Jenna have. His fourth-wall-breaking "I don't really have a car!" into the mirror was hilariously bizarre.

But the episode's highlight was definitely Liz and Tracy in what I'm almost positive is the single best use of Tracy all season, specifically because it treated him as an actual character rather than a goofy joke machine, while still surrounding him with plenty of quality jokes. Seeing five years of Liz's frustration come bubbling to the surface and all laid out was interesting, funny, and satisfying on a character level, and, although this may be hoping for a little too much from such a continuity-light show, I hope that maybe we can see a smidgen more mutual respect between Liz and Tracy moving forward.

Funniest Moment: Lots of hilarious bits to choose from, but I'd say that Liz and Tracy's "Uptown Girl" singing duel was what brought the episode to the next level. "And also let me say that Liz is a ho!"

Community, Season 2 Episode 13 — "Celebrity Pharmacology"

I found "Celebrity Pharmacology" to be a little light on comedy by Community standards — especially Shirley and Chang's subplot, which, outside of Chang's intentionally botched performance as "Drugs" for the children, contained almost nothing in the way of a joke — but I still liked it a lot largely because of the way it took us into the psychology and backstories of Annie and Pierce. I'm almost positive that Annie being estranged and financially cut off from her parents is new information which gives a much darker spin to her (until now largely mentioned for humor) drug addiction backstory, and outside of Abed's dorm no episode of the show has taken us into a character's home in such an intimate way before. Pierce's daddy issues were also interesting, and the way his need for approval came out through wrecking Annie's play was pretty amusing in a sad kind of way.

The B-plot with Jeff accidentally sexting Britta's nephew as Britta was damn funny in its conception and buildup but didn't really come to that much of a comedic climax. I guess I was kind of hoping it would take things into slightly more twisted territory when Britta reentered the story, but she never really did. However, one particularly hilarious scene with Abed that I'll mention below probably justified the whole story anyway.

One thing I'm not in love with is the gay jokes with Dean Pelton, "Jeff Winger is sexy even in a coffin!" and whatnot. The Dean's dalmatian fetish last season was funny because, one, it was rather subtle until the season finale, and two, well, that's obviously incredibly bizarre, and the gay jokes with Tobias in Arrested Development were funny not because he was a gay man but rather because he was a gay man in denial to himself and everyone else. But just throwing out "Dean Pelton is GAY!" as if we're supposed to laugh and laugh and laugh strikes me as a little uncomfortably homophobic.

Funniest Moment: Close call between two. The little girl hugging Pierce while going "I love you, Drugs!" as the show cut to commercial was absolutely brilliant, but for whatever reason I think I probably laughed harder at Abed's utterly blank expression staring at Jeff as Jeff tried to work his way out of the sexting hole he'd dug himself into. Danny Pudi can do more without dialogue than most comedic actors can with.

Weekly Power Rankings: 1. 30 Rock 2. Community 3. Parks and Recreation 4. The Office

The Man with the Golden Tunes

John Barry cameos in The Living Daylights, his final Bond film
John Barry, musical composer for the James Bond films From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, Moonraker, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, and The Living Daylights, died yesterday at the age of 77. I won't wax poetic about the man's life, which I honestly don't know that much about, and I'll leave it to all the other news sites and movie blogs to go "but of course, Bond was only the tip of the iceberg that was Barry's musical career" and expound on his other credits, but as a lifelong Bond fanatic it's his work with 007 that has continually dazzled and will stick with me forever. The bold, brassy style he created is still emulated by new composer David Arnold and continues to set the series apart half a century later.

Of course, everyone knows (and most websites will be content with only mentioning) the iconic James Bond theme which Barry created along with Monty Norman, almost certainly the greatest theme song for a single character ever conceived in the history of cinema. The style, the energy, and the sheer, unrivaled sense of cool that pulsates from it is singular; unequalled. When the main hook kicks in at forty seconds, just for a moment, everything in the world seems badass. The way Barry weaves it into the larger tapestry of specific film scores is also sublime, such as the way it announces "JAMES BOND IS HERE, ASSHOLE!" in this cue from Goldfinger before taking on a more subdued tone befitting a secret mission.

But the work Barry did for the Bond films goes way beyond just that one tune. The music that accompanies the Moonraker fleet's ascension to Drax's space fortress proves that strong orchestration can render onscreen images sweeping, captivating, and larger than life. Barry could make a trip to the casino scream elegance from the highest rafters (particularly once the piano kicks in) or make spying in Turkey feel like the coolest job in the world. He incorporates an eastern influence without missing a beat in You Only Live Twice and makes Bond scoping for snipers at the beginning of The Living Daylights tense and atmospheric in a way other filmmakers would kill to have in the climactic scenes of their movies.

Hell, he was able to make a movie that's basically entitled Eight Vaginas seem ritzy and stylish with a few horns and strings and flutes. That's like someone upending a dumpster onto your kitchen counter and you making a gourmet meal from it.

This may sound weird to people who go by the prepackaged Bond "knowledge" of critics and mainstream collective thought, but one of Barry's best Bond scores is for his next-to-last and Roger Moore's last Bond film, A View to a Kill. It's generally regarded as one of the silliest movies of the franchise (and even I won't dispute that it probably has the worst Bond girl ever, even over The World Is Not Enough's Dr. Christmas Jones), but god damn does Barry bring it in the musical department. Some of cinema's most atmospheric creepiness ever in "Bond Underwater," while tunes like the brass-heavy "Airship to Silicon Valley" and especially "He's Dangerous" make Max Zorin into one hell of a villain. When the instruments drop out about 25 seconds into "He's Dangerous," that's exactly what it should sound like when a megalomaniacal Bond villain is coming to kill you.

But for my money(penny) the most impressive accomplishment of A View to a Kill's soundtrack may be the way Barry takes his and Duran Duran's rockin' intro song and, changing very little except the tempo and instruments it's played with, remixes it into the movie's supremely classy love theme. I mean, god damn, that is one elegant tune.

However, as is often the case with the Bond franchise, 1964's Goldfinger reigns supreme. Anyone who knows anything about movies knows the scene where Bond finds Jill Masterson's golden corpse in his hotel room, but I do wonder if that moment would be quite so legendary if our first glimpse of her body weren't synchronized with the alarming notes 49 seconds into this song. What Barry does with strings toward the middle and end of the scene where Bond is about to be sliced lengthwise with Goldfinger's laser is incredible, the way he incorporates Shirley Bassey's opening title theme as Oddjob goes about his business is brilliant, he somehow manages against all odds to make Miami seem classy and appealing, and Auric Goldfinger's raid on Fort Knox is aurally overwhelming (especially past the one-minute mark).

So I guess all I have to say is a massive thank you to John Barry for the hours upon hours of music he composed for the James Bond series between 1962 and 1987. Much of my love of movies stems from James Bond and much of my love of James Bond stems from John Barry, so however little I may know about the actual man behind the brass, his work has meant a lot to me, and I'm glad it'll live forever through the Bond films' constant reissues on Blu-ray and DVD and airings on television and his style being incorporated into new Bond films, Bond 23 and beyond, as we embark on the sixth decade of 007's cinematic career.

NBC Sitcom Roundup for 1/20/11

Another year, another bout of weekly NBC sitcommery. There's a bit of change in the water, though; Parks and Recreation has obviously joined my lineup, but I've also added a new "Funniest Moment" category to the end of each review, plus weekly power rankings of all four shows at the bottom of each roundup. Perhaps at the end of the season we can add up the rankings and consider the show (by which I mean Community) with the lowest score the winner. Think of it like golf, but with less funny clothes and more funny people.

The Office, Season 7 Episode 13 — "Ultimatum"

The Office has had many, many rough spots this season, but I thought it rallied magnificently in the midseason finale, "Classy Christmas," largely thanks to the return of Amy Ryan's Holly Flax, and that high level of quality is mostly maintained in this midseason premiere. I've talked before about my love of Ryan / Holly and I won't reiterate the same ground again, but one great, specific thing this episode nailed is how Michael and Holly really get and play off each other in a way that everyone else finds wonderfully annoying. The whole E.T. dialogue run which left Kelly shouting from over the wall for them to please shut up was perfect.

But it was actually the B-plots I enjoyed most about "Ultimatum," namely Darryl, Andy, and Dwight's book store / roller rink / strip club excursion (particularly Darryl's interaction with the book store cashier and Andy's with the skating DJ) and most everything that stemmed from Pam's chart of new year's resolutions. The scenes with Kevin crying while being force-fed broccoli and Erin stealing Creed's cartwheel thunder (Creed: "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU! GOD!") made me laugh and laugh. This may also have been the single Jim-lightest episode of the entire series outside of the one where he was off on his honeymoon, with him inexplicably vanishing after the cold open. This isn't a criticism, exactly, as I thought the episode worked just fine without him, but it was a bit strange.

However, the one thing that was so unforgivable that it sinks the entire episode in my eyes unless I block out that it ever happened was them relying on an honest-to-god fart for comedy in the final act. I felt wildly embarrassed for the show at that moment. Never again, Office. That's not okay.

Funniest Moment: Holly holding up her ring fingers, followed by Kevin flipping her off and going "Hey! Right back at ya, bitch!" Coupled with Amy Ryan's reaction shot I was quite literally laughing so hard I had to pause the episode. And following that up with Michael and Erin's ludicrously over-the-top party in Michael's office left me with huge grin on my face. Best collective minute of the entire Thursday comedy block.

Parks and Recreation, Season 3 Episode 1 — "Go Big or Go Home"

Although the last season of Parks and Recreation easily trumped the Office season it aired against in terms of both comedy and character work, I have to admit that this premiere definitely didn't make me laugh as often as The Office's "Ultimatum." But that isn't to say I didn't enjoy it; the ridiculous enthusiasm of Rob Lowe's Chris Traeger and the understated Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt are proving brilliant additions to the ensemble. The running gag of Ben being forced against his will into playing the bad cop over and over again never fails to elicit a laugh. I also like the show introducing a new objective in the form of the Pawnee Harvest Festival. Part of what I enjoyed about the first couple seasons was the way they were always maneuvering toward and around getting the pit behind Ann's house filled and built into a park, and I'm glad something else is filling that same need for narrative drive.

I was a bit iffier on the basketball subplot. It had a terrific buildup in contrasting Andy's lackadaisical coaching style to Ron Swanson's military precision (especially the introduction of the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness), but I thought that, rather than being especially funny, Tom's vindictive refereeing just kind of caused the whole thing to fizzle out into an awkward anticlimax. I also have to ask, what the hell was up with that overly, almost creepily enthusiastic narration during the previously on segment? I was sure it was supposed to be a joke but there was no punchline. That was so weird.

Funniest Moment: A close call between Leslie tossing Jerry's painting into the lake in the opening (Jerry in general makes me laugh my ass off, he's like Toby from The Office taken to the logical extreme) and Andy explaining that "every time I look one of these kids in the eyes and he calls me coach, that's how I know... I agreed to be a coach."

30 Rock, Season 5 Episode 11 — "Mrs. Donaghy"

So does Jack and Avery's mostly unseen nuptials going awry mean we're going to end up getting a big wedding episode after all? I was actually kind of appreciative of 30 Rock avoiding that cliche, but whatever. I enjoyed the cleverness of Liz and Jack's accidental marriage and the power plays and arm-twisting that followed, particularly the continuity-rich scene as they're read the list of questions at the end, Liz publicly dedicating $5 million to a school that asks "what is art?" in Jack's name, and Jack exclaiming "My adventures, I am the protagonist!" As usual, 30 Rock is at its best when Liz and Jack share a story rather than being divided.

Also as usual, 30 Rock is at its worst when Jenna and Kenneth are segregated to their own subplot, even if it's supplemented by Danny this time out. The pseudo-marital feuding failed to elicit any laughs outside of Danny telling Kenneth "Don't think for one second this means we love you less. Know that it means that," although Kenneth's scene with a double-drinking Pete was pretty good. Tracy's subplot was fairly nondescript, but it was nice to see Dr. Leo Spaceman. Altogether, a mildly amusing midseason premiere, although the weakest of NBC's Thursday comedy block... outside of Outsourced and Perfect Couples, of course.

And lastly, one quick, slightly off-topic question: when the hell is Liz's boyfriend Carol gonna show up again? They're still together, right? I guess only being able to get him for three episodes a year is the downside of casting one of the biggest movie stars on earth as a supporting character on your TV sitcom.

Funniest Moment: By default I suppose it would have to be Liz's press conference. "The Jack and Elizabeth Donaghy High School for Teen Drama, the Arts, and FEELINGS!" "Son of a bitch!" I do wonder how Liz and Jack's marriage could be a secret to Avery after that, but I doubt it'll ever come up again.

Community, Season 2 Episode 12 — "Asian Population Studies"

I knew as soon as I saw "written by Emily Cutler" (of "Contemporary American Poultry" and "Modern Warfare" fame) that we were in for another great twenty-two minutes Community, and the episode didn't disappoint in the least. One thing I especially loved about "Asian Population Studies" was the way that all three stories, about holding tryouts for the eighth member of the study group, Troy and Pierce's secret knowledge of Shirley's pregnancy, and Annie's crush on Rich, all elaborately intertwined into one comedic tapestry, flowing in and out of the same scenes. Outside of Abed and arguably Britta (who at least got to flash Fat Neil) the episode did a masterful job giving each member of the cast a lot to chew on, letting everyone flex their comedic and occasionally even dramatic muscle. Between his horrific puns, slow clapping, and hiding on top of the bookshelf, it's probably one of Chang's top five episodes of the series. I'm also curious to see whether or not he's actually in the group now (and whether the baby is his or Andre's, but that's for a few more months down the road).

One nitpick, though: Jeff saying to Rich at the end, "I've known you for almost two years now." Rich first appeared in the episode "Beginner Pottery," which aired on March 18th, 2010. I'm no mathemagician but I'm almost positive that's nowhere close to two years ago. Jeff couldn't even really say that to Britta or Troy, let alone Rich.

Funniest Moment: The moment I admired most for its absurdity and creativity was Chang slow-clapping himself and Jeff angrily explaining that you can't do that, but for some reason the single line that made me laugh longest and loudest was "My name is Kendra, and I spell it with a 'Q-U.'" Never seen that actress before in my life but she made a monstrous comedic impact in her five or so lines.

Weekly Power Rankings: 1. Community 2. The Office 3. Parks and Recreation 4. 30 Rock

TV Pilots, Day 1 — Bob's Burgers, The Cape, Episodes, Shameless, Off the Map

Has it really been half a year since I began my last batch of TV pilot reviews? (Answer: No, but let me have my wistful opening!) Since then I've dismissed many shows about cops and lawyers and seen half the small handful of new series I deemed worthy of regular viewing canceled, but I won't be dissuaded from my mission of watching and reviewing at least one episode of every new show that hits the air. At least not until I have to sit through another sitcom as atrocious as Mike & Molly.

Nothing that bad this time though. Nothing all that great either, but hey, that's television, baby. Today we put the spotlight on Fox's Bob's Burgers, NBC's The Cape, Showtime's Episodes, Showtime's Shameless, and ABC's Off the Map:

BOB'S BURGERS


The premise in ten words or less? Animated sitcom about a family-run burger joint.

Any good? I'll say upfront that I'm not much for the animated sitcom subgenre. On rare occasion, maybe once every couple months, I'll load up a random recent episode of The Simpsons or Family Guy on Hulu to kill half an hour, but by and large I find that The Simpsons and all of Seth MacFarlane's shows have grown tired (except The Cleveland Show, which didn't "grow tired" so much as was stillborn), and I don't watch South Park because I'm not a 20-year-old state college libertarian.

So no surprise that I wasn't a big fan Bob's Burgers. There were a handful of chuckles at the dark humor and I do kind of admire the way the show rejects the pop culture-infused surreality of most animated sitcoms in favor of a story taking place in something vaguely resembling the real world — no aliens, talking dogs, or talking babies to be found — but the overall tone and pacing was sleepy and slack and I really don't like the visual design of the show's human characters. In fact I'd go so far as to call them ugly as shit and a tremendous eyesore, more reminiscent of an internet flash cartoon made by one guy in his spare time than a professional production, although the settings surrounding the characters look just fine. I also kind of hate how the wife and older daughter are both voiced by men, something which must have seemed funny on paper and maybe even in the recording booth and editing lab but in practice is just stupid in the obnoxious way, not the funny way.

Will I watch again? A show like this doesn't demand you watch every episode, so me tuning into another isn't impossible. But if I feel that rare animated sitcom itch I'm a lot more likely to just watch The Simpsons or Family Guy. I'd put my odds of watching another Bob's Burgers anytime soon at about 5%.

THE CAPE


The premise in ten words or less? Framed man becomes costumed vigilante in semi-fascist city.

Any good? Well, no. In fact, it's pretty bad. But it's an energetic, lively sort of bad that makes it almost watchable in spite of itself. It's the kind of gleefully moronic show where the main supervillain is named "Chess" and when he goes into villain mode the pupils of his eyes turn into chess pieces, and the hero's weapon is quite literally his cape, which he learns how to whip with extreme power. Compared to other recent superhero shows like Heroes and No Ordinary Family it's easily the one that most resembles an actual comic book in tone and structure despite its lack of true superpowers, giving us a very Batman-esque hero who's actually putting on a costume and going out at night to fight crime by the end of the first episode. The dialogue is truly laughable, but awesome actors James Frain and Keith David do their best to salvage some of it in supporting roles. Summer Glau is in there too, which I guess is a big deal in nerd culture, but she does little to impress. David Lyons is instantly forgettable in the title role.

However, it struck me while watching The Cape that if you took its best elements — namely an antagonist who actually provides a legitimate threat and a city that actually feels like it's hurting and oppressed and in need of a hero — and applied them to No Ordinary Family, you would arguably have one complete, good superhero show, rather than one mediocre one and one comically shitty one.

Will I watch again? Geez, probably not. But I'd rather watch it than Generic Police Procedural #487, anyway.

EPISODES


The premise in ten words or less? British TV writer couple remakes their hit sitcom in America.

Any good? Not amazing, but easily the best of the shows I'm discussing today. Interesting thing is that it really is a British sitcom at heart, something I say not to sound snobby or to imply that I think British comedy is superior to American comedy (on the contrary, no contemporary British sitcom comes within a mile of Community), but just as an objective evaluation of its mostly dry and sardonic tone and the fact that, despite Matt LeBlanc being put front and center in most of the advertising, the British couple trying in vain to remake their hit sitcom in Hollywood without sacrificing its integrity are pretty clearly the protagonists and LeBlanc the supporting character. In fact, LeBlanc has all of one minute of screentime in the pilot, which was a bit of a shame. It's not cool to admit in elite TV circles, but I loved Friends back in its day, and there's no question that LeBlanc (along with Matthew Perry) was shouldering way more than a sixth of the comedic load for most of the series.

As Hollywood satire, I'm not sure Episodes is saying anything that films and TV shows haven't been regularly mocking themselves for for a couple decades now (especially the 2006 film The TV Set), presenting the network brass as foiling the creative people at every turn, but I did mostly like the way it was presented. The scene where the writers bring in the star of their original British show (played by no less than Richard Griffiths) to audition for the network suits and sit helplessly by as the audition slowly dies was superbly awkward and funny. Let's put it this way: Episodes ain't reinventing the Hollywood satire wheel, but it's about a million times less insufferable and smug than Entourage.

Will I watch again? I don't actually have Showtime and was only able to watch Episodes and Shameless because they put the pilots up for free online, so I won't be watching it as it airs on television. However, I'll Netflix it once it's released on DVD. I mean, Christ, the entire season is only gonna be seven episodes long. At half an hour apiece, that's a one-sitter even if I rewatch the pilot. Hopefully it won't take long too long after the season finale airs next month. You never know; sometimes these cable shows take horrifyingly close to a year to hit shelves.

SHAMELESS


The premise in ten words or less? Poor family, drunk dad, too many kids.

Any good? It's atmospheric, at least, presenting a world of semi-poverty in Chicago's West Side that feels lived in and authentic, and Emmy Rossum's leading (I think leading, more on that in a second) performance is very strong. But I don't find myself particularly gripped by the show's premise, which lacks any real drive outside of just asking us to watch these people live their lives. In the pilot, one of the teenaged sons accidentally outs himself to his brother when he gets caught blowing a male convenience store cashier, but it's okay because his brother accepts him, while Emmy Rossum hooks up with a car thief who buys her and her family a new washing machine. It's certainly preferable to any daytime soap but it wasn't exactly high drama that grabbed me by the balls either.

One kind of strange thing is that William H. Macy's family patriarch seems positioned as the protagonist — first name in the credits, gets an opening voiceover narration, focus of the first scene — then proceeds to disappear for almost the entire episode, making a couple tiny cameos as a sloshing drunk, while Emmy Rossum firmly takes the lead as the oldest daughter and her family's de facto mother, despite being second billed. I guess that's fine, since I certainly have no problem with Rossum, but it seems odd they would pay an actor as big as William H. Macy to be a series regular then deploy him for five minutes of screentime, much of it spent passed out.

I should also note that Shameless is a remake of a British show of the same name that began in 2004, and from what I've read the pilot in particular is a fairly exact scene-for-scene recreation, not unlike the pilot of the American version of The Office. Whether it will continue to stick closely to its forebear or blaze new trail like The Office did I have no idea, and seeing as finding out would necessitate watching not one but both versions I doubt I ever will.

Will I watch again? Keeping in mind that, again, I don't have Showtime, I could see myself throwing it on my Netflix queue and waiting for it to float to the top. But my Netflix queue is several hundred deep and contains films and shows that have literally been on it since 2007 and are still in the triple digits, so consider that a fairly loose and noncommittal endorsement.

OFF THE MAP


The premise in ten words or less? American doctors working in South America, including Matt Saracen!

Any good? There is nothing in this world I care less about than episodic medical dramas. Like, you know that stupid fucking dream you had last night that you insist on telling me about, ignoring my reflexive yawning as you begin, "I had the weirdest dream last night"? I'm actually more interested in that dream than I am in medical dramas, which even includes the critic-approved House, a show featuring a fine leading performance which has been telling the exact same story every week for six years now. All this being a longwinded way of saying that I hated Off the Map; it bored me to tears. It's just ER or Grey's Anatomy set in a jungle, and I didn't / don't watch those shows for the very specific reason that I didn't / don't want to.

Which is actually saddening, because the show is co-starring Zach Gilford, who, via his role as Matt Saracen in Friday Night Lights, is one of my favorite TV actors of all time. Shame to see him rocket from gold to shit with such velocity. It's also starring Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer, who, despite being American and having two American parents, has the most British-sounding name I've ever heard. Like, if someone said to me in a British accent, "Hello, I'm Mamie Gummer," I'd be like, "Nice to meet you, Mamie." If someone said the same thing to me in an American accent I'd be like "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE"

Will I watch again? I would rather suffer grievous injury and receive surgery at a poorly-stocked South American hospital.