Chagnesia: Real Or Fake?

Community, S04E06

Abed shot a documentary about Chagnesia to submit to the MacGuffin Institute so that the school would get a grant to pay for Chang's, aka Kevin's, recovery.  Jeff pretended to join the cause only so he could expose Kevin the moment that he slipped up and showed his true colors.  Despite geting his friends to unknowingly investigate Chang's activities before his amnesia and his current behavior, Jeff struggled to find any incriminating evidence to support his theory Kevin was faking it.

As much as Jeff has good reason to doubt Kevin, it was hard to take his side when his friends had already been won over by Kevin.   When Jeff is acting by himself, especially if he's trying to hurt someone else, he looks more like a bully than a lone hero.  In fact, I felt a little bad for Jeff because he looked like such an insensitive ass throughout the whole documentary.  The worst was when he was trying to make out with Chang's ex-wife, in the hopes that Kevin's jealousy would reveal his lies.  Instead, Jeff looked like some kind of sex-crazed animal, attacking a woman who had only come to help her former husband.  I liked that Abed didn't show us how bad it had gotten before people were able to stop Jeff from embarrassing himself further.

Some other things that I liked included the comments at the beginning from Dr.  Kedan.  I thought he gave the funniest line when he mentioned that Kevin didn't remember being Chang, yet was still making puns:

Why Changnesia affects the memory, not the ability to make forced puns is all things we can study now that someone finally has it.

I kept thinking about that myself.  If Kevin has such a huge memory loss, why is he making those Chang puns?  Although, I'm glad he is.

My second favorite line was when Abed and Jeff were reviewing the footage that Britta had taken and Jeff was hopeful that they would see Chang slip up now that he was alone:

Doubtful.  When he's alone he mostly practices smiling and frowning.  We've all done it.

I loved the way Jeff looked at Abed when he said that as much as I like picturing Abed staring in a mirror practicing smiling and frowning appropriately.  It's a nice nod to that fact that Abed usually appears very expressionless in almost all situations.  If any emotion ever shows in his face, it's usually surprise/horror.

In the end, it was interesting that Jeff came to understand a little bit of how it felt to be Chang and be isolated when he friends were surrounding their new friend Kevin, while Jeff had to sit by his lonesome.  It was what he deserved, and it taught him an unexpected lesson.  However, I loved the irony that Chang was in fact lying all along.  Jeff hadn't completely been won over, but it looked like he was going to give Kevin a chance.  This all seems to be going according to Chang's plan, which I'm excited to learn about.  Also, who was Chang talking to?  Was it his wife?  Or someone else that has reason to get back at Greendale as much as Chang does?  Super glad that Chang hasn't turned as good as he seems.

This was a good episode.  I wish that it had been a funnier documentary, considering that Abed was the head of it.  However, he does tend to let stories play themselves out and keep himself neutral from the actions going on around him.  He did sort of help Jeff, but Jeff definitely didn't have any true allies with him on the quest to expose Chang.  After learning what seemed to be a valuable lesson about giving people second chances and walking in another person's shoes, Chang revealed that he was doing exactly what Jeff suspected he was.  It's unclear what Chang's evil plot is this time, but hopefully Jeff will catch onto it before Chang puts all their lives into chaos or worse, in danger.

Thanksgiving Prison

Community, S04E05

Jeff was forced to have Thanksgiving with his estranged father because, despite he couldn't find the courage to knock on the door and bolted, Britta went ahead and entered his father's house without him.  Shirley invited the others to her house for Thanksgiving, but they were all so miserable there that they hid in the basement and plotted to escape without Shirley realizing it.

How I wish that Britta would have just burst into flames and turned into ash.  She was so intrusive in this story.  I guess I could blame the Dean for having such a big mouth and telling the gang about him going to meet his father, but I wish that Britta would stop trying to be a therapist to him.  If her ignorance about psychology was humorous maybe I could let her slide, but her stupidity just makes me so angry.  Leave Jeff alone!  He definitely needed a push, but she just thinks she knows exactly what to do to get Jeff to deal with his issues.  It's her smugness about her that made me not want her to be around for the whole first meeting.

That being said, it was great that Jeff didn't end up being too chicken to meet his father.  I think he might have found another way to get over his fear without Britta, but since she was the reason, I have to give her credit there.  I just wish she had left as soon as Jeff had gotten settled in--he and his father really got along well.  Obviously they were both regarding the other with all of their emotions heavily guarded, but they didn't go at each others' throats (at least at first) or act too stiffly as if each second together was torture.  I liked seeing sort of an older version of Jeff.  If that was what Jeff is going to be like, it doesn't seem too bad by his standards.  Still, William didn't seem like the best dad when Willy Jr. acted like the most insincere guy ever.

I loved Willy Jr.  I thought that Jeff's half brother would be some kind of asshole like him, but he was more like a little boy who couldn't get over that his parents had brought home a new baby.  In just a few seconds of meeting Jeff, he evaluated himself as inferior and felt threatened that Jeff would take his place.  His insecurity due to Jeff's existence was pretty funny.  My favorite emotional explosion was when he was having trouble getting out Jeff's name:

[Jeff] My name is Jeff.

[Willy Jr.] Don't help me! Mr. Helper Guy! First, mom died, and now this!

Willy was a mess, but I enjoyed every time he opened his mouth and got frustrated over every little thing.  I was set to be disappointed that Jeff and this little ball of emotions couldn't bond until Willy appeared in the back of Jeff's car.  I was happy that Jeff's outrage at his father's attempt to justify being absent in Jeff's life came to a boil when he heard how Willy was also a victim of William's bad parenting.  It was sort of a moving moment when Jeff exposed his neediness as child, where he faked an illness just to have someone worry about him.  To hear that he still holds onto the get-well cards from then really makes you see how sad Jeff is deep inside.  It was a very effective and colorful way to show that Jeff wasn't the superior child that William claimed to have contributed to by leaving him.  Although his deadbeat dad tried to fake a heart attack to get out of this emotional moment, Jeff's grandstand got through to Willy and he hugged the hell out of his older brother.  Aww!  I hope that Willy returns for another story--him and Jeff would make a funny pair.

In Shirley's story, I felt bad that her friends were so determined to leave her.  I understood that Shirley's family, though, sounded like such unpleasant people.  Anyone who could sit around and laugh at Pierce's antics (especially when he was trying to fake breaking a hip--they didn't think to worry about him) were probably not the best company.  And, as we later found out, they took joy in making fun of Shirley at these gatherings, making her situation feel all the sadder.  While her friends were trying to break out of the "prison," Shirley was locked in her own.  I don't think my heart has ever gone out to Shirley as much as when she admitted that she wanted her friends to be there as her buffer and yet they had been avoiding her the whole time that their presence didn't even matter.  They made me happy when they decided to grin and bear it for her sake.

I also liked how Abed, seeing that they were trapped in a prison-like state, started narrating their actions as if was Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption.  Although, he didn't get to break out of there through a secret tunnel (which was revealed in the extra that he dug out behind a Shirley's Sandwiches poster), he did enough spoofing of this movie that it was pretty funny. 

Troy, too, had a funny moment the first time he escaped to the basement:

What is going on?  Why is Thanksgiving so terrible?

I feel like that's a great summary statement of that holiday.  If this episode was aired in the right season, I'm pretty sure I'd be thinking that in my head at one point or another.

My favorite part of the story was when Jeff had set up the study room for the Thanksgiving dinner that they had all missed out.  Jeff was on a good-guy roll.  I really appreciate those times when he makes up for being so detached all the time (or at least pretending to be).  It assures me no matter what selfish thing he might do or say, he'll eventually show his true colors and win me over again.

This was a good episode, especially for a Thanksgiving story.  I can't remember if it was as good or bad as the others I saw this past year, but I'm betting it was up there.  The meeting between Jeff and his father went much better than I imagined and wasn't the sappy reunion that it could have been.  I most liked the introduction of Willy Jr.  I don't think they could have made a better brother for Jeff if they tried.  Shirley's Thanksgiving was equally as good because we got to see Annie, Troy, Abed, and Pierce act like inmates and attempt to break out.  Although they saw the merit in staying opposed to fleeing, it was amusing to see them struggle along the way.  And thanks to Jeff's surprise dinner for them all, everyone got to have the Thanksgiving they had really been looking for.  Nothing more I like than a great ending!

Roger's Sacrifice

American Dad, S08E12

Roger was determined to be free to walk around without an outfit when Jeff was home, so he pretended to be Jeff's imaginary friend.  Klaus later revealed to Jeff that Roger was real, and Stan refused to let both Jeff and Roger live if Jeff wouldn't be able to keep Roger a secret.  Steve also struggled to avoid ridicule about his flat ass at school.

Roger was being a straight dumbass  thinking that being naked whenever he felt like it was worth risking his life.  That's what it boiled down to when he tried to find a way to be outfit-less around Jeff.  He really makes dangerous decisions based on silly or small benefits.  He could have either worn less heavy clothing (tweed--really?) or stayed up in the attic when he wanted to be nude.  It wasn't that hard.  But it is Roger and he likes to have his cake and eat it too.

I was almost lured into the false impression that Roger would sacrifice the freedom he enjoys on Earth so that neither he nor Jeff would have to die.  After all, he was disappointed when he found at that the gun pointed at him in the garage didn't have bullets after all.  He doesn't give a damn if Jeff lives or die or about Hayley's feelings.  So to see him pack up and see that montage of him to the tune of M.A.S.H.'s theme song, I was just waiting for Roger to pull the rug from underneath everyone.  He did have me going for a while--it was nearly the end before he betrayed Jeff and shoved him into the beam of that spaceship.  Nicely played, Roger.  It was funny that Stan was impressed by Roger's move and not upset at all that Jeff was gone.  I just wonder if Jeff will stay gone (probably not, though).

My favorite part of this story was the very beginning when Stan was reading a newspaper.  He was caught off-guard by a bra ad on the second page and kept searching for a real article:

Finally, here's an article.  "A woman choked on her own bra."  What newspaper is this?

I'm curious to know what kind of specialty newspaper he was reading too.  It's rare that I'm laughing that early on in an episode.

I also liked what Roger said when Stan had tackled him later for being naked in front of Jeff:

This is the talkiest rape ever.

I don't know why he is so calm about being raped.  I guess because he's no stranger to committing that crime himself.

Steve's story was a nice twist on puberty.  Instead of making fun of someone for their boobs or something not growing in, it was asses.  That school Steve goes to keeps getting weirder and weirder.  I felt bad for Steve, though, because all of his friends had enough behind to dance appropriately to the "Wally World" song.  Plus, Barry showed what a ham-crazy bastard he is by exposing the hams Steve had used to stuff his pants.  That idiot isn't much of a friend to him.  I think he probably would have still eaten Steve's hams even if Steve had explained to his friends what he was trying to do.

My favorite part of the story was when Steve went to "Ba-Donkin Donuts."  That name for that place was great, but it was even greater that the fire started there was because a fat guy in courdoroy pants had his thighs rubbing together too fast.  That had me cracking up.  I couldn't even feel sorry for all the people who got trapped in there knowing that fat thighs were the cause of the fire.  That was hilarious.

It was nice that Steve realized that his mom was right about his flat ass having a purpose since he was able to escape from the restaurant, but it was strange to me that all those people couldn't escape.  There were two windows in the front--couldn't someone have thrown a chair or something at it to make a hole? That was crazy.  As crazy as Steve calling 9-11 to  report to the dispatcher that he had overcome his hatred of his own ass.  Steve essentially killed all those people in there.  That was a pretty unexpected ending.

This was a pretty good episode.  I thought I would be over stories about Roger being exposed as an alien, but this one went down a different path.  I never thought they would have Roger leave Earth because they need his wacky ass on this show, but I didn't really imagine that he would send Jeff away either.  You never know what Roger will do.  The same sort of applies for Steve.  I wouldn't have figured that his ass would have saved him from a burning restaurant, nor would I have thought that he wouldn't help the people stuck in there.  In a way, Steve's as crazy of a bastard as Roger is sometimes.

I Want Better Costumes!

Community, S04E02

Jeff and the others stopped by Pierce's house after he called saying that he was locked in his panic room.  Pierce told them that the reason he had holed up in there was because he thought he saw his father's ghost.  As the gang explored the house for the notebook with the access code to free Pierce, they we frightened by several freaky occurrences.

Seeing a Halloween story on Valentine's Day was refreshing in that it wasn't typical, but it did remind me that this show was supposed to have started back up in October.  Still, instead of seeing a bunch of hearts and candy, I was able to enjoy everyone in costumes.  Or I would have been able to if they were good ones.  I liked when they dressed up as celebrities for some kid's party more than what they decided to wear to Vicky's party.  I mean, I've seen Princess Leia a million times as a costume, even if it was adorable that her whole family was doing characters from that movie.  Britta was a ham--boring.  Jeff was a boxing--yawn.  Annie's wasn't too bad, especially since she mistook the girl from Ring for being a girl who announces the matches at a boxing ring.  I prefer what she ended up with than something like what Dean had did (who was sort of cute as a ring girl).  Abed's costume was cute too, but I had no idea who he was until I looked it up.  He and Troy were dressed up as Calvin and Hobbes!  Wow.  I would have never gotten that on my own.  That makes me like the stupid-looking tiger costume Troy was in a whole lot better and absolutely makes me adore Abed's (which was cute without knowing the reference).  I was initially a little concerned that they didn't go all out for a costume opportunity, but they exceeded my expectations.

Besides that most of the costumes weren't too impressive, I also didn't like too much that they ended up at Pierce's house.  I was prety much like Jeff the whole time, suspecting that he was up to something.  I liked that when everyone else was willing to give Pierce the benift of the doubt, Jeff was appalled at their sympathy:

What in the Scooby Doo is happening to you people?!

That was about the only line that stands out to me from the story.  There was more of a focus on the "horror" going on in the house than comedy, really.  That and Britta trying to show Jeff that he missed not having a father more than he let on.  The only thing interesting about that (it was mostly annoying that Britta was doing more of her "therapy") was that Jeff had found out his father's number, but hadn't gotten around to calling him.  I suspect that he was too scared to do so until the events of that night had passed.  Although, I'm not sure that I'm eager to see Jeff's dad or not.  After not knowing him for some many years, I can't imagine that their reunion will be a good one.

When it all turned out to be a Halloween prank just like Jeff had predicted, I wasn't as annoyed as I would have been if Gilbert hadn't appeared and had a sweet moment with Pierce.  Maybe with more brotherly love in his life, Pierce might be a little less insufferable.  At the moment, he's sort of like a fly that you swat at that just won't go away.  As he's an important part of the "study group," I would like to enjoy his character a little more.  At least for the time he'll be around (I've heard rumor that Chevy Chase won't be on the show for the entire season).

Finally, I just wish there was a little more Abed.  Like I said before, there was a focus on Jeff and his father problems, which I'm not too concerned with right now.  I did like that Abed was excited about finding a secret room and he was spying on his friends from the security room like it was reality TV or something, but that just wasn't enough for me.  I was a little happier when the extra segment showed Abed and Troy playing around with the secret door and Pierce came out and demanded to know who was in his house.  I like seeing them mess around with him like he's their crazy uncle or something.

This episode wasn't bad, but it could be better.  Somehow I'm wondering if the season is just off to a slow start or if my tastes have changed.  I don't know how I feel about Jeff bringing up his long-lost father.  That story could go either way.  Pierce's haunted house was a let down, as were most of the costumes.  However, Abed and Troy brought their A game, so I can't complain too much about that.  I just want there to be a little more Abed (and Troy) moments.  They're the kind of duo that I can't get enough of seeing.

Great To See The Greendale Crew Again!

Community, S04E01

Jeff fought for admission balls in the Dean's games for the History of Ice Cream class.  His friends didn't want to help him, feeling betrayed at the news that Jeff only needed the one history class to graduate early.  Annie and Shirley decided to play some senior pranks.  Britta joined Troy in his beginning of the year tradition of making wishes at the fountain.  Abed, via Britta's instructions, went to his happy place and refused to leave when hearing about the changes that were to come with their final year of school.

I can't deny that I've missed this show and was dilgently waiting for its return.  I can't say, though, that I really loved any part of this season premiere. What I liked mostly was just seeing their faces and remembering the dynamic of the group.  It's generally entertaining to see them doing just about anything because they're a weird group of people.  However, I didn't laugh as much as I had anticipated.

I definitely missed Dean's outlandish outfits.  This time he was dressed in a red dress and later a tango dress while doing the "Hunger Deans."  Besides the costumes, I didn't really think the games were funny or anything.  Maybe if it hadn't just been Jeff running around to get the balls I might have liked it a little better.

Annie and Shirley could have stirred up some trouble doing pranks around the school, but they didn't do much of anything than realize that Jeff wasn't being as big of a jerk as he seemed.  I did sorta like that Annie was really bad at coming up with pranks, such as moving the Dean's stapler, but that was only slightly successful as a joke when the Dean mentioned he was having a bad day because someone moved in stapler in the end.  Apparently she was right about that being able to drive him crazy.

I'm still not used to the idea of Britta and Troy testing the waters or whatever they are doing instead of officially dating.  In fact, it took me a second to remember that they thought of each other in a romantic way.  I had forgotten about that because they haven't really done much as a couple yet.  Anyway, I didn't like much her messing with the tradition Troy and Abed had made together.  Yes, Troy should be more open to things outside of what Abed deems as right, but on the other hand if it's a choice between Britta's world and Abed's world, I think that Troy better fits in the latter.  Abed may be a little out there, but at least he's intelligent.  I can't get over the fact that Britta just always sounds so stupid, so her giving her two cents about how they should do their fountain wishes wasn't welcome to me.  If this is how their interactions are going to be from now on, I don't see myself supporting them as a couple.

How I have missed Abed and his fantasies.  In the Abed TV universe, I liked that Pierce existed as Fred Willard.  I could get down with that replacement, even though it would be harder to imagine Willard as a naturally rude and racist old man.  It was also cute that when the others were looking at job magazines, "Pierce's" magazine read "Coffins."  Still, even though it was just inside of Abed's world, it was a little annoying to hear the studio audience.  I thought at first they were doing that on the real show and I was about to get scared.  Later, when Abed went into his happy place within his happy place, I got a little kick out of him changing everyone into cartoon babies called "Greendale Babies."  I don't know why, but that was a little funny.  The best thing, though, was when everyone was trying to bring Abed out of his own mind and Jeff walked up to Abed.  In Abed's mind Jeff had told one of his trademark speeches to solve whatever problem was going on that week, but this time Jeff hadn't even gotten the chance:

[Abed] That was a killer speech, Jeff.
[Jeff] I-I didn't say anything.  I literally just walked up.

I also liked the little promos going on during Abed TV.  It was cute to see Abed and Troy in chef outfits in "American Sword Chefs."  What in the world would that show be about?

At the end, Chang was shown handing a mailman a note about his "Changnesia."  He was naked and seemed really confused.  Not sure what to expect from him this season, but I'm a little excited to see him get back into the mix.  Chang was definitely my favorite teacher of theirs.  He needs to have a place at the school again.

Lastly, there was a little extra segment of Abed TV where Abed and Troy were in drag.  It was kinda funny that Dean refused to believe that Britta wasn't a man.  I like the idea that Britta looks less feminine than Abed and Troy do if they were to dress like women.

This episode was okay.  I'm just happy enough that this show is back on the air to worry too much about what the first couple of stories are about.  I am worried that the show might not be able to continue once they do graduate, but I also couldn't see how they could stretch out another year of school at a community college.  There weren't many laughs this time around, but I mostly liked another glimpse of Abed viewing the world through TV eyes.  He seems to be already on board with the changes that will come with the new school year, but I'm sure Abed will find trouble adapting with something else and we'll be treated with Abed TV once more.

Always Carry A Gun In The Hallway

American Dad, S08E05

Stan pretended to put Snot into witness protection so that he could keep Steve and Snot apart.  After spending time alone with Snot, Stan bonded with Snot and fought Steve for Snot's friendship.  Roger kept attacking Jeff in the hallway after Jeff cleaned his room for him.

I usually don't care for Snot, but in this episode he was just such a nice guy about the cruel things Stan was doing to him to keep Steve away that I sort of grew to like him.  I mean, Stan is such a hard person to reach on an emotional level and Snot was able to break through Stan's wall and befriend him.  You just have to love someone who could make Stan cut loose and stop being so callous.  All the things that Stan didn't like that Steve was doing with Snot became the same things that Stan enjoyed.  It's not surprising to see Stan contradict himself, nor try to compete with someone else.  It was just kinda funny to see him competing with Steve for Snot.  Although, if you think about it, it might have been crazier if they were fighting over Barry or something.  At least in this story Snot seemed worthy fighting for.

I can't say that the Roger story was better than the Stan story, but it definitely grabbed my attention more.  Um, Roger is such a psycho!  Usually, he has some kind of selfish reason for screwing someone over, but I don't think he had much reason to attack Jeff beyond wanting to just terrorize him.  At first it seemed like maybe he was doing it just to get back his money so he could get free cleaning services from Jeff, but it went beyond that.  I guess what was the funniest about this sick scenario was that Jeff had no idea that Roger was the same person attacking him, due to that weirdness where some of Roger's personas can't be detected by family members (although I don't know if Jeff even knows that Roger is an alien).  Roger kept attacking Jeff in ways that were impossible for him to pull off because he was basically in two places at the same time.  It made me feel worse for Jeff because he had no chance to escape Roger when Roger could defy the laws of physics.

Another funny point was how the hallway back to Jeff's room kept looking more and more like a creepy alleyway or just the outside of some ghetto apartments or something.  It was all dark and overly long, and at one point I could hear a baby crying.  I liked that ridiculous element of it because you started to forget that Jeff was just walking around in the house, probably not that far away from the attic in the first place.

Roger made the mugging more twisted when he decided to pull down Jeff's pants after assaulting him.  Luckily, Roger said that he didn't have time for it and walked away, but it was very unnerving!  Roger is the best at contradicting the statement that things couldn't get worse.  Even though it's sick that he was trying to violate Jeff, it was funny before Roger's last mugging attempt that he said to himself:

I’m gonna rape him this time.

I just don't get Roger.   With all of his talents (he seems to be able to fake a thousand different professions) and disguises, he could have his choice of real jobs and function outside of the Smith house as a normal person.  But instead, he spends a lot of time at home messing with people.  I mean, it was wonderful that Jeff had a gun to shoot Roger because he seriously was going to rape him.  And for probably no reason more than that he could get a kick out of knowing that Jeff wouldn't know it was him.   But despite all of Roger's flaws, he does spice up an episode with his horrible actions.  And you can't really know what he's going to do in the future because he's some kind of crazy, awful person (err...alien).

This was a good episode to make you appreciate Snot as a character more and possibly it was good to remind you that Stan is pretty pathetic in the friend department.  Roger, as usual, is so insane to the point you can't figure out why he's doing unspeakable things to friends and family.  However, if he didn't do all these shocking things, the show would be pretty dull.  I just really hope I don't have to see him top himself with something worse before the season ends.

Too Many Stories, Not Enough Funny

American Dad, S08E02

Stan tried to assassinate a war criminal during a family vacation while keeping Francine in the dark about it.  Hayley and Jeff tried to rekindle their sex life.  Steve followed a boy to a nude beach and kept meeting dangers along the way.   Roger was dumped by an elderly man he met while he was acting out one of his widowed characters.

Stan trying to go behind Francine's back to do CIA work was just irritating until Francine was more than a little into helping him kill the man.  With her part of it, it was much better to watch, especially when Francine was hitting Joe with the racket for ruining her vacation.  And it was nice that they found a way to make the hip hop necklaces scene seem less random by it being the cause of why Francine wasn't killed by a direct shot to the chest.  I don't mind random, but sometimes things are so incredibly random (like that particular scene at first) that they are a little distracting.  But I suppose the funniest thing about this story was Stan's rivalry with the gardener who kept besting him all the way to the end when he killed their target.  I liked that because the gardener was just a nice guy who happened to be better than Stan was.  And I like seeing Stan knocked down a peg sometimes.

I feel like the Steve story was better or just simply a necessary side story because it was just bad decision after bad decision that distracted you what was going on with Stan and Francine.  I don't know why Steve was so enchanted by everything his new friend Liam suggested and went along with it like a moron, but he paid dearly for every mistake he made while Liam was left unscathed.  I guess that it was a good thing that Liam wasn't just leading him to his destruction and they did make it to where he claimed they were going, but it sucks that Steve was the only one who had suffer in the process.  My favorite line of that story was when Steve realized that Liam wasn't as smart as his accent made him sound:

You sound smart, like Hugh Grant the movie star, but you’re stupid, like Hugh Grant the person!

I'm not sure why people are so affected by particular accents, but they are.  It's interesting how the same thing said by two different accents could give off two completely different reactions just because of the sound and delivery.  I like how people are so influenced by sounds.

Roger's story was okay, but I felt like it could have been cut.  I mean, why the hell does he need to be a character while on vacation?  I shared Steve's annoyance that he was choosing to do that, especially one who was a senior citizen woman.  At least he was still true to his Roger self (who is pretty damn vindictive) and changed characters just to screw over the man who screwed over his character.  It's just weird to me what Roger chooses to do during a vacation when he could have just spent it as normal guy character just chilling at the bar.  But I suppose if he hadn't been Abigail, he would have been hanging with Steve and Steve wouldn't have needed to follow Liam around.

Jeff and Hayley's story was even more unnecessary.  It was a big ol' heap of "who gives a crap?"  There's something really gross about hearing them getting it on and I'm not really sure why that is.  I feel like I'd much rather hear Roger talking about his sex life than them.  Even grosser than their sex life itself was Steve sort of checking them out at the nude beach (or Hayley, I guess), not quite convinced he was seeing his sister.  Eww.  I know he got trampled and dragged along by a horse, dropped to the ground, and had bees stab him from the inside, but dang.  No need for the slight incest there.

Well, it wasn't a terrible episode, but it wasn't great either.  I can put this into the so-so pile without much thought.  I wouldn't bother to watch this episode again on purpose, but I wouldn't mind if it was on TV.  They would do better to have a few less stories in an episode and work on just maybe two that were actually funny.

Abed and Troy As Cops? Hell, Yeah!

Community, S03E17

This week, the gang was spoofing Law and Order.  I've never watched it before, but I could still appreciate the joke.  The gang's yam for biology was destroyed and Annie employed Shirley to find a culprit that she and Jeff could take to Professor Kane to get the grade they deserved.  Shirley, a fan of crime shows, immediately tasked Abed and Troy to interview suspects and do the leg work.  After talking to a lot of people, the two pointed the blame to Todd, one of their initials suspects.  They had a court-like session in the biology lab, with Professor Kane as the judge, and proved that Todd was the one who dropped their yam jar.  However, Jeff realized that Todd wasn't entirely to blame and requested that both of them be given C grades.  In Jeff's closing remarks, he revealed that the reason Todd dropped their jar was because another student was sabotaging everyone's projects to prevent his girlfriend from failing.

I liked that Troy and Abed were acting like cops, but were careful enough to know that they didn't have the actual power to hold anyone against their will or punish them for their crimes.  They really commit to any role that someone gives them, especially if it's reflective of a TV show or movie.  The best investigation work was when they had to catch Starburns in the library and Troy dressed up as a "typical nerd" to bait him.  Their plan was so ridiculous, yet it worked like a charm to get Starburns to steal Troy's bag.  Then they interrogated him with the "good cop/bad cop" method.  They were acting insane, but for the most part, everyone was cooperating with them.  In another scene, Abed was flying off the handle when it looked like Jeff and Annie wouldn't be able to pin the crime on Todd with his real lawyer present.  He was shoving off papers on their tables like he was really pissed off.  I loved it.

Another person who was pretty funny in this episode was Professor Kane.  I liked how he was annoyed by their court room antics, but allowed them to act like that anyway.  The part I liked best about him was when he was defending the honor of the pinky swear Abed and Troy made with Starburns.  Kane wasn't about to back down even when the Lieutenant Lawyer was demanding that the person who saw Todd in the room have his reasons for being in the biology lab explained.  He can be some a formidable presence when he wants to be.  But he is an incredibly fair man.  Maybe a little hard, but he is damn fair.  And I respect his character for that.

I was amazed that Jeff was the only one who picked up on the strangeness of Todd burning himself on their jar.  I thought that was really weird and wondered what that was about until Jeff brought it to attention at the end of the "trial."  I never expected it would be Neil behind it.  Actually, scratch that.  When he was talking to Abed and Troy when showing them the log, I had a good feeling he was involved in the crime.  After all, he commented that he had already heard about their yam being destroyed and that his yam had bloomed.  There was no need for him to say all that.  I didn't think he would have done it so he could have sex with his girlfriend.  What a weirdo.  Good thing Jeff showed how mushy all the yams were or Neil would have gotten away with it and all the blame would have gone to Todd.

The last thing that was funny (in a creepy way) was the extra where Shirley wondered why the boys were still bunking in the study room.  The dean came in with warm milk and sang them a bedtime song that proclaimed he would be there staring at them when they woke up the next morning.  What the hell??  Still, it was cute that Abed and Troy were comforted to sleep by this weird lullaby.  I have no idea why the dean is taking care of them, though.  That dean is such a mystery.

Sometimes I think that this show would be great if it was nothing but parodies.  I like seeing what roles each of them can play in a different situation besides being a student.  They can turn all kind of problems at school into a creative and more serious matters than they are.  Really love how they can do that.  But I guess if they do it all the time, it wouldn't be as special.  However, I'm willing to see them prove me wrong.  So far, I've enjoyed every one of their extraordinary adventures from the paintball fights to the Law and Order case.  This show better have many, many more opportunities to stretch their creativity in the future.

All About Blade

Community, S03E12

Greta locked herself in the safety of Abed, Troy, and Annie's place to prevent herself from running back to her old carnie boyfriend, Blade.  Annie tried to stop Greta's obssessive behavior toward Blade by pretending to be him via texts, but it only made her cling to him harder.  The madness only stopped after both Troy sent her a nice text and Jeff revealed that Blade's irresistibility resulted from a former head injury that shut of his sense of shame.  The dean also was ordered by the vice dean to lure Troy into the air conditioning program and was mysteriously hanging around Abed and Troy's apartment all night.

I felt like I didn't exactly see how bad Blade could be for Greta, beyond her own testimony.  She claimed that he was the reason that she didn't believe in love and other negative things, but I just wasn't buying that he was the scum of the earth.  Or at least that him passing into town was cause for an emergency situation.  I wish that Annie wasn't so damn nice (or wanting Greta to be better friends with her) that she easily agreed to watch over her.  I almost felt like Abed and Troy who wanted nothing to do with the Greta situation and were only interested in watching Blade.  The more Greta tried to trick Annie into giving her phone and texted "Blade," the more I was reminded of what an airhead she is.  Her friends were right to laugh at her about her ex-boyfriend because Greta's love life is a train wreck.  I'm really curious to know what it was that Troy wrote to her that was so sweet that she thought Blade was a loser.  Greta deserves someone like her ex that won't respect her if she's going to be such a moron.

Jeff, too, was a moron in the way he was equally obsessing over Blade, just in a different way.  He dropped over 300 dollars just so he could pick Blade's brain, thinking he would discover some kind of great trick on how to snare women.  It was just as painful to watch him simultaneously bragging to Blade, while questioning his life with the hopes he'd figure him out, as it was to watch Greta texting "him."  Jeff is always going to one end of the spectrum:  either he's too disinterested or super-focused on some insignificant matter.  The funny thing was that I thought that Blade seemed like a very collected person in the face of Jeff freaking over what it was that women loved about the carnie.  I never thought Jeff would get an answer from him, nor did I think the answer would be that Blade lacked the mental capacity to feel shame.  The only good thing about Jeff understanding this was that he was able to set Greta straight.  No matter how stupid (and mostly likely instigated by his ego) it was that he was stalking Blade, at least it had a purpose.

What's up with the dean showing up at Abed and Troy's?  I was really confused by that, and he refused to answer that no matter how many times he was asked.  I was going to just write it off as another weird thing that you can't explain about the dean until I remembered that the vice dean had told him to figure out a way to get to Troy.  Of course, the dean didn't do anything but sit around like the unwelcomed guest he was, but if he wasn't there to spy or wait for an opportunity to steer Troy into the vice dean's arms, I couldn't imagine what would possess him to show up at his students' place in his pajamas.  He's not that wacky.  I wonder if the dean is going to continue to show up in the group's activities from now on without explaining his reason for being there.

Oh, and another weird thing was Pierce and Chang becoming best friends for a second.  Once upon a time, Chang was gunning to become a permanent member of the study group, so him latching himself to the first person who asked him to be his friend was easy to believe.  As crazy as the two of them are, though, they didn't make much of a good pair. They were funny and fancy-free in their frolick through the carnival, but I knew it wouldn't last very long.  I have no idea why Chang exploded and ended it; if someone was going to screw things up, I would have bet on Pierce.  I guess Chang is too much of a psycho to have a real friend for more than an hour or two.  I really wish that Chang had more of a significant role in the show.  He's so hilarious, but lately he rarely shows up for more than a few minutes or two.  I'd like the writers to "chang" that soon.

Good episode that seems to be building up to something.  Annie may be starting to get over her secret longing for Jeff, and the dean may be working in the shadows to bring Troy to the "dark side."  Also, Jeff's actions toward Blade made it seem like he may still have some feelings for Greta.  Those two have always had this thing between them, but they never really got together (for a significant amount of time).  I think Jeff might be better suited for Annie, who could possibly steer him toward a better version of himself, so if they go down that road, I'll hope that Annie hasn't given up on him just yet.  After all, Greta's track record with men is terrible.  She'd be no different if she was with Jeff.

Pillows Versus Blankets, Part Two

Community, S03E14

The conclusion of Abed and Troy's epic pillow fort battle was told to us in a mock documentary style, narrated by Keith David.  There seemed to be no reasoning with the two commanders of Blanketsburg and Pillowtown, even with Jeff's weakest attempts.  In fact, Jeff was content to stay on the sidelines, texting and occasionally giving speeches to the two sides to prolong the battle as long as possible to keep himself out of class.  Thanks to Annie, he gradually changed his position to be neutral and tried to get the two friends to reconcile.  Meanwhile, Pierce was battling Chang's army of kids, and Shirley was knocking down as many people as she could with her mighty pillow attacks.  It was Jeff who got Abed and Troy to eventually put down their pillows, but it was them losing their chance to get the world record that made the rest of the "soldiers" throw in the towel (or blanket, if you will).

Hearing Keith David's voice and watching the format of this episode, made me feel like I was back in class for a minute.  I really enjoyed that since they were mapping out Greendale like a real battlefield.  The serious way that they presented the story emphasized how little meaning the fight had at all.  It was easier to laugh at it, instead of getting annoyed about how Troy and Abed were acting like kids who just needed to make up already.

I particularly liked that the narrator was making fun of Greta's photographing skills.  He made a good point that just because it's in black and white, doesn't mean that it's good.  Greta's pictures looked like the stuff people take by mistake from their pockets with their camera phones.  He gave her credit for capturing the moment that Abed and Troy became one again, but she just got lucky when she was trying to get the light hitting off of a stack of pancakes.  What??  Who takes pictures like that?? I loved the stupidity.

What I didn't love was the cheap shots that Abed and Troy were making on each other.  Abed wrote an email that listed all of Troy's weaknesses, making it seem like he didn't have an ounce of respect for him or his feelings.  Troy, in return, told Abed that Troy was his only hope for a friend because no one else would have the patience.  They were being so mean to each other!  The worst kind of mean where it's nothing but the ugly truth.  But I guess it's good they got some things off their chest.  A friendship without any arguments sounds a little too good to be true (even for TV).

Usually, when Jeff comes to "save the day," it just makes me roll my eyes.  But this time, when he used Abed and Troy's child-like nature to prove they valued their friendship, I thought he was sweet.  I mean, he didn't just pretend to put their friendship hats on them again, he went back to the dean's office, pretended to find them, fixed them, and then brought them back to place on their heads.  Way to go above and beyond, Jeff.  He may never stop being self-centered, but he does care about his friends on some level.  Even if Annie needs to push him (though, I feel like he's always trying to please her because he wants to date her), he'll eventually get it through his thick skull what the right thing is to do.

On a random note that I meant to mention last time, it's pretty annoying that Subway is sponsoring Community.  Advertising on shows is nothing new, but I absolutely hate it when it's so obvious (an example that comes to mind is recent episodes of Psych where they practically have a commercial within an episode).  I suppose now with Subway being a part of the cafeteria, we will have to see a glimpse of their brand in every episode now.  Boo.  It might be necessary for funding or whatever, but can't we make these things subtle??  Ugh.  I'm not going to go to Subway because I like this show.

Anyway, as long as Troy and Abed got back together (and we got to see them doing their routine extra at the end of the episode--pledge drive), I liked the episode.  I wish their battle was a little more exciting and less of a joke, frankly.  It was good, but it could have been better (I'm shooting for the stars because the paintball episodes were so good).  Also, I liked how it ended with Jeff talking with the narrator and him asking if he was in The Cape.  The narrator pauses and says no, but we know that Keith David surely was.  Good ending to a good episode.

Minimum Wage Is No Joke. Except This Time

American Dad, S07E15

Stan was reasonably fed up with Jeff (and Hayley) living in his house and was determined to show them that they could easily afford to move out while Jeff was making minimum wage.  In a fashion very similar to the show 30 Days, Stan and Francine took the challenge to live on such wages for a month, but failed very quickly.  To offset Stan's insane spiral into poverty, Roger and Steve found a way to ride a real Ferrari, so they could live their dream and rub it in Klaus' face.

Jeff was pretty damn annoying with him crapping while Stan was in the shower and using up the last bit of syrup.  Usually, I think when Stan is going on about something, he is out of line, but I think most people would want to see Jeff leave their place.  I don't know if showing him and Hayley that he could live with as little money as they make was the best way to tell them to get out, but it did make for an interesting story.  I won't say that I laughed a lot while watching it, but I was waiting to see what else could happen to Stan before he gave up.  It took him quite a while (even though it was less than 2 days) before he swallowed his pride.

I think that them living in their car was a pretty miserable way to live, but it was better than an apartment where people steal your only lamp, and you can hear a woman being murdered down the hall.  I wouldn't want homeless people staring at me while I slept, but I still would chose it if I could get some clothes or cardboard to cover up my windows at night.

It's hard to say what I liked the best about this story, but it might have been when Stan went to a burger place and tried to apply for a job, not knowing that the manager could see him trying to clean himself up before he entered the store.  I thought maybe the guy would give him a break, but I guess he looked too much like a homeless person for him to let his grossness slide.

The worst thing of all in the episode was when Francine woke up the first morning in their apartment and a random, diseased-looking cat was giving birth near her.  God, that was super gross!  Ugh.  It was also pretty bad when Jeff came out when Stan and Alex were trying to rob the place and stabbed Alex over and over.  It was literally overkill.  Stan was lucky to only have gotten stabbed once.

I think it was good that Stan's attempt to live on minimum wage had nothing but low points that kept sinking further and further.  Since he was so confident that he would be able to do it, it was funnier that there was no moment that he was doing all right.  That was probably the best thing of the story of all.

I sort of liked how Roger and Steve were able to con the guys at the Ferrari dealership to let them take a car for several days it seemed.  However, I didn't think that they would have to go as far to parody an Al Pacino movie to do it.  Roger was kinda funny when he kept reciting lines from Scent of A Woman, I assume (I've never seen the movie, so I don't know), but his words were out of place with what the salesman was saying, so it was like Roger was just having a conversation by himself.  Somehow him doing that got them the car!  I was as amazed as Steve was.  I don't understand, though, why Steve was driving the car all the time.  Isn't Steve too young?  I forget his age.  I just know that he's in high school.  Either way, someone as young as him driving a car that they didn't even pay for was crazy.  He did hit Stan, though.

I liked this episode, even if it wasn't so funny that you would laugh out loud and despite that Roger and Steve were up to no good, but it was nothing more than an almost uneventful ride in a stolen Ferrari.  I wish there had been more jokes I liked and wish that part with the cat had been eliminated (didn't you guys have enough with the animals last week??).  Next time, I hope there's more Roger because he was too tame this time.  Also, let's have less Jeff.  I feel like he's been having too much screen time lately.

Abed's Free-Spirted Quirkiness Borders On Selfishness

Community, S03E12

Last night we saw that Abed, although very cute and amusing with his love of make-believe, was so busy satisfying his own needs that he didn't realize that he was causing trouble for people who are supposedly his friends (most of all Troy).  Jeff, too, showed a new level of his personality by taking therapy that allowed his ego to run dangerously too free.  With the gang being forced to act like famous impersonators at a teenager's party, you would think that would be enough "excitement" for one episode.  Nope.  As a cherry on the top, we had Chang's return to Community and the rise of his "Chang Warriors."

I want to start with Jeff.  I'm not sure why, but I sort of liked him on anti-anxiety pills.  I think that most people like him who are so full of themselves are actually covering for their complete lack of confidence, so I viewed Jeff as a more likeable, confident man.  I thought that Greta was simply just trying to bring Jeff down (as she likes to be a downer about most things) until she warned him about his ego exploding like an over-pumped apple (glad Jeff questioned why she would use an apple to illustrate his ego over-inflating).  I was surprised that Jeff actually listened to Greta and asked for her help when he saw that her warnings were more valid than her psychology credentials would suggest.  She couldn't really do anything for him while the women at the party were fawning over him and the guest of honor was being showered with vanity awards, and he unexpectedly turned into an super-ego fueled Hulk.  That was a pretty good moment.  Jeff was acting like a crazy person, but somehow he managed to save Abed's legs by not ruining the party.

Abed's legs indeed needed saving.  This might have been one of the few episodes, if ever, that I wanted someone to shake Abed or even hit him.  Troy was being a great friend by not only convincing the gang that they owed to Abed to participate in the party so that Abed's debts would be cleared, but he also worked his ass off to make sure that everyone performed well enough to the manager's standards.  All the while, Abed was enjoying himself at the party, with not a care in the world.  I loved how threatening French Stewart's presence was in this episode; he and Troy had some funny exchanges.

The best thing about the gang having to work at the party was that the manager said that with Troy and Greta they would have both versions of Michael Jackson.  LOL.  Shirley as Oprah was a no-brainer, but I would have never guessed those roles for those two.  I felt a little bad for Pierce who couldn't be the celebrity he wanted, but at least one of the guests at the party recognized him as the fat version of Burt Reynolds and made an old man happy.  You gotta toss Pierce a bone every now and then.

When Troy saw that Abed was continuing to purchase the lookalikes for his own entertainment, I wasn't shocked, but I began to worry about their friendship.  I was more worried when Abed didn't recognize Troy's anger (although, you wouldn't expect him to), and Troy had to spell it out for them.  It seemed like Abed was able to trust Troy a little more and their relationship was going to go deeper, but then Abed brushed off Troy's company to play and also didn't do their special handshake with him!  What??  They always do that in the end!  If Abed ruins their friendship, it will break my heart.  They are great characters by themselves, but nothing beats a combo like Abed and Troy.  It just wouldn't be the same!  I wonder if they will address this next time, or wipe the slate clean of their problems.

I wish there was more Chang, and yet I wish he hadn't been there at all.  I'm a little worried about what Chang is planning by recruiting people to work with him, especially since he doesn't really do anything of  value at the school currently.  I never thought he would be able to trick some kids into his security intern program.  If the kids haven't caught on by the next episode that Chang is not operating with a full deck of cards, I would like to see his plans for his new army.

Not sure what's going on with Abed and that other version of him (Evil Abed?).  Does that signal the start of Abed going off in a sinister direction apart from Troy?  Don't do this to me, writers.  I was so looking forward to Troy and Abed getting into strange situations together, not moving apart from each other.  Chang needs to have more screen time so I can hear more of the crazy things from his mouth I had come to love once upon a time.  As for the other characters, I have no complaints at the moment.  Let's see if that will continue for the rest of the "season."

"Normal" Abed And Troy Are Still Funny As Normal

Community, S03E11

Finally Community came back last week!  It was worth the wait to see the gang back to their usual Greendale routine.  This episode was mostly about Shirley's second marriage to Andre (Gotta love Theo, aka Malcolm Jamal Warner).  This standard ceremony (as standard as a marriage ceremony set up in a room at a college could be) sets the background for everyone to act anything but normal, except perhaps Annie who was unsurprisingly her typical girly self who was dying to get involved with the wedding.  It was sort of relief to watch this show after a while (especially fearing that it would never be picked up again) and see that it was still as funny as I remembered.

Greta was her usual self, giving everyone her downer opinion of why marriage was horrible and repressive, but she contradicted all of her complaints by being the "Martha Stewart" of weddings.  She could amazingly arrange flowers into a beautiful piece of art and transform that study room into a romantic wonderland that most girls would give their left leg to have their nuptials performed.  It was good that she was fighting so hard against her natural instinct to become another "Stepford wife"; sometimes with Greta's need to argue against everything, you forget she's a woman for some reason.  She comes off a little manly, I think, because she's not very honest about her feelings and thinks that every establishment is some kind of social scam.

Jeff, as if to mirror Greta, went off in a drunken spiral about how marriage was a lie and would have ruined the ceremony if not for Greta's ranting and Shirley and Andre's fight beforehand.  I definitely would have guessed that his parents got divorced, although I don't think that is the main factor that leads him to be so jaded.  But the fact that his parents couldn't stay together must have hit him really hard since he couldn't bring himself to just lie and make a semi-decent speech about how wonderful it was that his friend was going to get married.  I'm glad that Andre and Shirley got the "marriage is the worst" club to shut up and renewed their vows.  I couldn't listen to Jeff whine about how miserable he was made through the loss of his parents' union nor Greta about how she was surrendering to marriage (she should be so lucky that someone would want that brand of crazy to wake up to every morning--though, I bet only Jeff would be able to match that as a husband).

My favorite thing about the wedding was that Shirley asked Abed and Troy to act "normal."  Although I love the two to death, I think it is a reasonable request because they have imagination levels that are off the charts at most times.  When they decided that they would tone it down for Shirley's sake, I was worried that they would become so stereotypically "normal" that they would be even weirder than usual.  Instead, they pulled off normal pretty well!  It was hilarious when they were talking to Andre in their sympathetic, "normal" tone, but all he could hear was sarcasm.  So great.  I almost didn't want them to turn back, but I'm sure it wouldn't be as funny after a while.  I mean, it only works in a comedic fashion because it's a contrast to the bizarre rocket these two can get on over even the smallest thing once they have set their mind to it.

On a completely different note, does Pierce look a little younger?  It might be perhaps he wasn't dressed too much like a retired old man and his hair isn't as white as it usually was.  I'm not entirely sure.  I'm a little disappointed that he and Shirley didn't get to have their little sandwich shop together.  I think that would have set up some crazy situations down the road.  But I guess they don't really need to try hard in Community to set up the weirdness.  It will just come naturally as this weird study group interacts with each other.

So glad that Community is back in the NBC mix.  It was especially nice since there was no Parks and Recreation to watch last Thursday.  I've heard some buzz about Chang (you brought the show back and didn't have him all up in it??) being up to no good in an episode soon, so I'm excited about that.  "Senior Chang" was probably one of my favorite characters a while ago, and I have missed the insane stuff he used to say.  He best be in the next episode.