Not that they lost (which was painful enough) but that the 9th inning drifted (once again) into my TV lineup for the night.
Talk about wanting to pull my hair out - Back and forth between "Community" and watching the Giants strike out to end the game. Ugh. The series shifts back to Philly for Game 6 on Saturday afternoon.
Whew.
And with that, let's get to the comedy...
"Community"
Tonight's episode didn't have quite the same volume of laughs as last week's episode, but had two main plots that seemed to flow pretty well.
In the first story, Shirley asks Abed to help her make a movie about Jesus to attract more people to her church. In the secondary plot, Pierce joined up with a group of older students at Greendale. The other leads spend their time on the sidelines; Jeff snarked when appropriate, Britta acted judgmentally, Annie was shocked, and Troy was a rapping Jesus.
Shirley and Abed's story really didn't work for me. Abed's ridiculous proclamations as "Jesus" were amusing, as were the references to Jesus' actual life, and Shirley's presence kept things grounded. But Abed's persona was so vague (he looked more like David Copperfield than Jesus ) that the rest of the story didn't really work as tightly as the second plot.
Pierce's story was stronger, because it also served as a neat parody of story lines that were quite funny. Pierce hung out with the "hipsters" (so-called because they all have hip replacements), drinking booze and playing poker, until things got too heavy and he realized who his real friends were. Some good lines here, and the reference to Jeff and Britta as the group's "parents" is still weird enough to be funny.
Any episode with a rapping black Jesus definitely earns above-average marks in my book.
Couple of lines that I thought were funny:
- "I don't even believe in God. But I love me some Abed."
- "Did you just scripture me, Muslim?"
- "Dear God, my movie is the worst piece of crap I have ever seen in my entire life."
- "I've got a real 'Snakes on a Plane' brewing.''
Sigh - I wonder what "The Big Bang Theory" is up to these days...
"The Office"
The Office is at its best when it has one foot planted in reality and the other drifting off into absurd Michael Scott shenanigans.
Tonight's episode did a good job in reminding us why everyone’s favorite hapless regional manager is actually (sometimes) qualified to lead the branch by presenting painfully awkward scenes that the series does so well.
After losing a big client to sales guru Danny (Timothy Olyphant), Michael, Jim and Dwight set up a sting to discover their rival’s tricks. Things go hilariously haywire, however, when Meredith (posing as an executive named Mrs. Van Helsing) attempts to seduce Danny and the whole thing unravels. As Danny angrily storms out (at one point he gets so heated, he threatens to hit Michael), Michael convinces him to take a job as Dunder Mifflin’s new traveling salesman. It’s a nice little reminder that Mr. Scott actually does have some serious sales skills (not to mention a keen business mind), as he successfully sells his biggest competitor on the idea of joining forces.
Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, set up a sting, subject ’em to the sexual advances of your employees, and offer ’em a job!
The episode’s subplot revolved around Andy and Darryl’s burgeoning friendship. After learning that a college buddy of his has enjoyed some modest success in the music biz, a jealous Andy pays Darryl to start a band with him. After a few jam sessions, Darryl stops accepting payment, prompting Andy to ask incredulously, “So we’re just jamming as friends?” The heartfelt moment works well to balance the silliness of Michael’s sting operation, and it makes sense as a continuation of last week’s storyline, when Darryl comforted Andy after the latter’s embarrassing office sex-ed presentation.
Some additional thoughts:
- Nice to see the full cast being utilized again. Meredith, Stanley and Oscar all got some much-deserved cameos.
- Michael, on losing the sale to Danny: “It’s like if Michael Phelps came out of retirement, jumped in the pool, bellyflopped and drowned.
- The fact that Danny briefly dated Pam is a nice touch that could make for some interesting Jim/Pam tension this season.
- Andy, on his song: “I feel like I could see someone ice skating to it.”
- Dwight, on transportation: “A horse is a bike that pedals itself."
- Best line of the frog novelty song: “I find you absolutely Ribbiting!”
"It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia"
Tonight's episode was a solid and extremely humorous storyline.
Each character's strange parental relationships are revealed front and center with Mac and Charlie sing an incredibly funny full-length version of "Thank You For Being A Friend," while trying to get their moms to live in harmony like "The Golden Girls."
Frank's subplot of "parenting" Dee (by poisoning her and tying her to the bed) was pretty good and the old, unkillable dog was fantastic.
The entire cast was used pretty well. Dennis, who being a sociopath has no interest in any family connections, was used well as a "fixer" for both plotlines, getting Mac and Charlie's moms together and encouraging Frank to be a more obviously nice dad to Dee by kidnapping and drugging her. Of course, all that mattered to Dennis was that he was getting both of these problems out of his hair.
Mac and Charlie's mom refuse to make eye contact at first but eventually they're getting along famously, with Mac's mom fixing the ceiling fan and Charlie's mom spewing about the Muslims. "I wish they'd all go back to the desert." Charlie notes: "It's not really a Golden Girls conversation, it's more of a racist conversation." Classic.
Poppins the dog was so sad and hopeless, but I enjoyed his resurrection and Mac's trick of popping his eye back in with a knuckle. I was glad he didn't meet his end after Frank and Dennis, probably the most heartless pair the show can concoct, buried him just by tossing him in the garbage. "What are you going to do, send him to the moon?" Poppins is indestructible.
Other great lines:
- Mac has peculiar ideas about taking his mom to a nursing home. "Why don't I just rape her myself!" He's turned Frank onto the stereotype too: "As soon as you drop your soap, they rape your butt!"
- "Mrs. Mac has a unique and earthy fragrance." "I smell like shit!"
- "Oh, so Charlie doesn't die."
Well, it's been a roller coaster week. Literally.
Time to relax without DVR for a while and enjoy the weekend.
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