http://www.cracked.com/blog/write-your-own-house-episode/
Very accurate, but the awesome thing about House is that the formula WORKS. We're 5 seasons in now and it's still the same great show. Heck, Law & Order has been milking the same thing for what feels like 30 seasons now and it still tends to work as well. But at least the article is written from a loving perspective and not from someone who's attacking the show or anything.
Man, the one hour on Thursday nights is turning into a heavyweight comedy battle for the ages. I think the great thing is that these shows really are the yin and yang to each other -- Office overdevelops the characters sometimes to the point of hurting the comedy, whereas 30 Rock always goes for the joke sometimes to the point of making you not care about the people. So even if Office isn't at its funniest one week, you know you're still going to get a heartbreaking scene like Michael's breakup with Holly or the reunion of PB&J to make up for it. I think I like that dynamic better because if 30 Rock has an off-week it's just a bad sitcom, but the first episodes this season have been gold so we haven't gotten there yet this year. As for last night, Office wins by virtue of Ryan's departure ("I'm going to Thailand with friends from high school. A high school. So let's have sex one last time and if you had some extra cash that'd be amazing.") and Michael buying a Caprezzi salad for $500 instead of weed. 30 Rock hovers closely behind, however, with the Tracy Jordan Sex Doll and the continual insights into Liz Lemon's psyche and how much she hates having sex. But really, in the end if I miss 30 Rock I can always check the DVR later, whereas Office makes me feel like part of a family, so it's still my favorite on the night.
Yeah, so I started watching Lost yesterday, and I'm now two discs into the first season and totally hooked. I hate it when people are right. I'd have to compare it to the first season of 24 or Heroes, where every episode compelled you to continue watching the next one. The characters are fascinating and the backstory subplots really add a nice dimension to the show, not to mention it's creepy as all fuck a lot of the time (for some reason, the repeating distress call from the pilot really got to me).
So I just finished "Confidence Man" and shall be continuing on tomorrow. If I disappear for a few days, I've probably just forgotten to go to work thanks to this show...
Kind of a blah night overall.
- The Simpsons. Hey, wow, another reimagining of Homer & Marge's early years. I guess we're all pretty accustomed to them making up the backstory as they go along at this point, so it's not a big deal any longer from a continuity standpoint. Although was I the only one thinking "If it's five years earlier, isn't that season 15"? Lisa and Bart fighting like a married couple was cute but creepy, and Ned getting turned on by his dead grandmother's pajamas was...very Ned. Not a lot of laughs, though, and it was actually a little hard to follow the plot threads with the timeline jumping around.
- Family Guy. Jackass references in 2008? Really?
- American Dad. Not the most hilarious episode, but I'm amazed that the characters are so well-developed that they can do an entire Steve Smith episode and not lose the viewer. I was hoping for more payoff of the Kill Bill stuff, but then they go and do a Warriors run that's even better and it's all good. As usual, the best of the night.
I've been slacking off with the TV reviews lately, but I just had to jump in and note that Jim's "phone" conversation with Dwight tonight was perhaps the funniest 5 minutes of comedy that The Office has ever produced, and that's saying something. It was like some kind of wonderful Abbott and Costello routine for this generation. Second place goes to Pam excitedly yelling "That's what she said!" over the Bluetooth and being all adorable. This season is just something else, man.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081101/ap_en_tv/tv_king_of_the_hill_3;_ylt=Asd1g8N2olq4HVtH_Q_mFuzqGL8C
Holy cow, 13 seasons? I knew it was long-running, but yikes. I actually stopped watching somewhere in season 7 or 8, but you sure can't say Fox didn't give it every chance. I still wonder why the Hills got to coast for so long, but Futurama got yanked after 4 seasons.
Thank god for a three-day weekend so I can clear off the DVR and get it ready for the next week again. Having to work for a living is such a drag and totally messes with my TV watching time.
- Pushing Daisies. I love this show so much but I fear it's not long for the world, and many other people seem to have it on deathwatch as well. I'm thinking it gets another 2 or 3 episodes before ABC pulls the plug on it, but I suppose miracles can happen. Just look at Ned! At this point I'm hoping they wrap things up soon so we can at least get a resolution to the storyline without having to wait for the DVD. Even more annoying was that ABC's Spokane channel showed it in SD for some reason on Wednesday, which makes the show seem dull and dingy after two weeks of having the colors blast out of my screen in HD. Anyway, Ned and the gang at the nunnery was just awesome stuff, as once again this show has the smartest murder mysteries on TV with endings that I can never guess but which always make sense. How can you not love any show that has the characters trying to fool people by calling themselves "Father Dowling, Father Mulcahey and Sister Christian"?
- The Office. Oh my. I don't know if this is the funniest show on TV any more this season, but it has some of the best character development, bar none. When Michael finally asked Holly out and PB&J were leaving each other matching phone messages, you had to feel a little mushy inside. Plus Dwight was great again, as the stroller torture had me howling and his theory about marking the baby with a Sharpie was insane and yet great. Jan, please go away. Michael's throwaway line to Holly about how he'll act all mean to her to throw Jan off the scent, and how he'll also do the same to Ryan, was one of those little touches that make this show so great. I keep hearing that Amy Ryan is leaving soon and that makes me sad because she's just so perfect with this group and such a lovable dork.
- My Name Is Earl. I've been watching this show again after leaving it for a while last season, and it consistently makes me laugh, but I wouldn't miss it if it left, ya know? Good to see Jenna Elfman getting work again, though.
- Kath & Kim. Jodi LOVES this show. I can at least watch it, but it doesn't have a good "jokerate" going yet, shall we say. Apparently it's doing pretty well, so might as well get used to it.
- Life on Mars. Now here's MY favorite new show of the season. Pilot was good, but the second episode really hooked me. I love those old 70s cop movies and this one felt ripped right out of one, although the soundtrack was a tad weaker than the premiere. I'm getting pretty sick of CSI ripoffs and gimmicky detective shows (OK, I know this one is too, but you know what I mean) and I'm glad to see a show that strips all that away and just relies on good old fashioned police work and beating the shit out of bad guys. Plus "You're surrounded by armed bastards" is awesome no matter what decade. That and Michael Imperioli's moustache.
Whoops, almost forgot about the TV blogging this week.
By the way, a reader was nice enough to send me a spare copy of Lost season one, which I will get to when I get to it, so LEAVE ME ALONE now Lost fanatics, OK?
With no new 90210 this week and debates raging everywhere else, only a couple of stops to make on the DVR...
- Heroes. Interesting, but I found myself losing interest partway through the show, perhaps because there's so much crazy stuff going on now that it's getting tougher to suspend disbelief on some of this stuff. Suresh is about as far from Everyman as you can possibly be now (unless you're Jeff Goldblum in The Fly, which most of us aren't) and has long outlived his usefulness to the narrative and plot. Ditto Maya but at least she's cocooned and hopefully dead soon. Vortex Man was interesting but AGAIN they fall into their own trap of introducing some hella-cool concept for a character and then promptly killing them off. Matt Parkman is seriously not so interesting a person that I wouldn't mind seeing him taken out and replaced with someone else and yet there's this weird slavish devotion to the core characters of the show like they're the Justice League or something. They're also doing a lousy job of keeping the who's who clear in some instances, too, like with Matt's dad showing up at the end without so much as a bit of exposition reminding people who he was. And I REALLY didn't like the Ando "death" because we KNOW he's still alive in the future and thus it's obviously a fakeout. And motivations for people are getting a bit jumbled as well, although I'm hoping they straighten that out as they go -- the Company v. Linderman thing is starting to feel like Corporation v. Ministry from 1999 and I'm running out of people to cheer for outside of HRG and Sylar. Fuck it, just have them roaming the country and trying to kill each other while investigating rogue heroes and you've got a winner in my books.
- House. THANK GOD Wilson is back so House hopefully will start acting like a human being again. THANK GOD for the Ducklings reunited and having a real brainstorming session like in the old days. And Kutner even gets some face time and once again we see how brilliant he really is. I'd even be happy if they dumped the dead weight of 13 and Taub and just kept Kutner on as Duckling #4. Really interesting mystery this week with a payoff that you couldn't see coming, which I always appreciate. Everyone trying to analyze House's analysis was great and the kind of nice little character touch that has been lacking since the show expanded to an ensemble cast. Cuddy drugging House = AWESOME. House, Wilson and Cuddy should all just retire to a cabin in the woods together and live out their lives scheming against each other, it'd be hilarious. Loved the backstory on House and Wilson (you just know House was the guy playing the Billy Joel song on the jukebox) and I lost it every time House's cell phone played "MMMBop". And of course even 12-year old Gregory House would have been doing differential diagnosis on his genetic makeup. Hell of an episode, and next week 13 gets freaky with a chick, so at least they're using her to her full potential.
"Hey Scott, long time reader from the Netcop/Wrestleline days (although EVERYONE puts that). Thought that since everyone is into top 10 lists these days, you'd be interested in doing a different one. In your humble (ha) opinion, how would you rank Friends by season? Believe it or not, I'm even requesting this opinion without the compensation of a plug of the shameless variety."
Hmm, a tough but fair question.
- The Office. Not the strongest episode, although Dwight having to listen to Jim talk about "Klingons and wookies" while his head was about to explode is probably the best part of the episode. Amy Ryan is so good with this crew that it makes me sad she'll have to leave. Great bit of subtle writing and acting when she tells Michael that it's not a family, it's an office, and immediately you can see all his love for her go out the door. Needed more funny this week, I think.
- Kath & Kim. I was watching Earl this week so the law of remote control inertia and John Michael Higgins contributed to me carrying on and giving it a shot. It was funny, and I definitely laughed a few times, but I don't know that it's going to set the sitcom world ablaze like the original apparently did in Australia. I can't remember any great lines and it was treading close to that dorky Christopher Guest improv humor that swings wildly between hit and miss depending on the day they're having, so I could go either way with it.
- Life On Mars. Fabulous. Never watched the UK original but I've heard nothing but good things about it, and this was apparently a shot-for-shot remake of the UK pilot. Soundtrack is to DIE for, the Twin Towers shot was heartbreaking, Harvey Keitel as a bad cop...what more could you want? I've heard that original leaves the root cause of his 1973 trip very much in the air (time travel or coma?) whereas this made it pretty clear that he's just out cold in 2008 and dreaming this. Still, aside from a couple of "the past sure ain't the future" jokes (Diet Coke and cell phones spring to mind), this was a very strong first episode and has me intrigued enough with where they're going to keep watching.
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WWE Judgment Day 2002 DVD 2002 US $50.00 |
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WWE New Years Revolution 2006 DVD 2006 US $2.76 |
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WWE The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA DVD 2006 US $.99 |
