Award Whoring

American Dad, S08E09

Francine finally decided to cut off supporting Roger in all of his fake achievement, and Roger tried to win back her friendship by pretending to discover a lost mountain tribe.  Steve struggled to get Stan to answer some simple personal questions about himself so he could do his history report.

It's almost cute how much Francine will give Roger encouragement when she knows that all he does is pretend all day long.  So it's not a shock that he would have this huge collection of awards that he didn't deserve, including a fake degree.  I doubt that it's his first time pretending to graduate from a college.  Despite all of this it took quite a lot before Francine threw in the towel.  I would have already been like Stan and the others and not paying Roger any attention.

It was interesting to me that Roger seemed to cherish the self-made award that Francine awarded him more than the other awards that he had stolen.  There are times where Roger seems not to give a damn what people think about him at all, and then there are times he is so sensitive and wants to be beloved when he treats people any way that is convenient to himself.  At first, I was annoyed that he would again try to fool Francine with his little production with the tribe until Roger admitted how much he valued Francine's opinion.  It's more than her husband probably does, so I could see how Francine would be touched that Roger went to all of that trouble just to win back her favor.  Roger always seems to be going to great lengths to create his personas and fantasies that I think it does show how hard-working he can be.  It also shows how much of a psychopath he is, but if he's really determined to do something, he will take extraordinary and seemingly impossible steps to make it happen.  I agree that's worth a Frannie.

The main story wasn't really funny, but I sort of loved the side story about Steve and Stan.  First of all, Stan seemed so angry at Steve just for asking him a few questions.  I mean, he had this look of pure inconvenience before he even really knew what Steve was trying to do.  It just makes me laugh at the ease at which he can become perturbed.  The best part, however, was every time that Steve called Stan while he was at this Chinese restaurant (he must love that place), Stan kept saying these depressing and/or inappropriate things to him.  Stan was opening up finally, but not about anything that his son needed to hear from him.  It was especially bad when he was talking about his sex life with Francine.  I loved when Snot refused to let Steve end the call and steered the conversation to Francine's boobs:

[Snot] Dad, what do Mom's boobs look like?[Stan] I'll tell ya, Snot, they're perfect.

I like that Stan both wasn't fooled into thinking Snot was Steve and didn't care if Snot knew exactly how he felt about his wife's breasts.  He probably went on a very long discussion about that and other things with all those kids in the room.  So freaking funny.

In the end, I liked how Steve had lost all hope of getting his report done and showed his teacher exactly what happens when he tries to ask his father a simple question about his past.  I loved how disheartened the whole class looked after hearing Stan talk about how pointless life was and how he thought of ending it all.  And even when the teacher jumped out of the window, I thought it was funny.  Especially when he said:

Life dismissed.

There was also a good line at the beginning of the story after Stan told Steve to not even bother to do his history report:

[Klaus] It's high school, Steve.  It doesn't matter.[Steve] You said that about middle school.  When does it start to matter?[Klaus and Stan] Never.

Wise words from a bitter man and man stuck in a fish's body.

The last thing I sort of liked was Stan's admiration of Cuba Gooding, Jr.  He even sensed when he died and went to his funeral.  I bet if Steve had asked about CBJ's life, he might have been able to get a report.  That probably would have been better than sharing his father's dismal outlook on life with the class.

I liked this episode.  It's good to see that even though Roger will always be pretending, he doesn't really pretend to need Francine in his life.  Any episode where Roger isn't a complete ass is usually one I like a little better.  However, as far as the laughs went, I had to hand to Stan this week.  He was killing me with the TMI.  This story was a good indication of why the things Stan isn't saying freely are probably something better left unheard.

Lots Of Love All Around

Parks and Recreation, S05E09

Ron brought Diane and Leslie to an award event where he would be honored for a chair he built.  Leslie was worried that Debbie showing up would cause the couple problems, but Diane was most worried about Leslie's involvement in Ron's life.  Ann refused to let the others in the office attend Jerry's Christmas party because they had intended to spend the night celebrating how much they laughed at Jerry over the past year.  Ben also looked after Chris at the party, making sure that he didn't fall apart emotionally.

I really loved how excited Ron was to attend the woodwork event.  He was giggling at the sight of someone he said was famous, who Leslie and Diane had no idea about.  I actually wasn't too worried about Debbie showing up because I noticed early on that Diane seemed worried about how well Leslie knew Ron.  It doesn't seem odd that she would because no one knows Ron like Leslie does, except maybe his ex-wives?  But it was sweet that Leslie would take on Debbie by herself just so that Diane and Ron could spend the rest of the night alone.  She's such a great friend!  Cuz that Debbie bitch is crazy (but at the end when she was in cuffs, I would have killed to see Lucy Lawless kick her ass like she suggested).

Ron obviously loves Diane because he revealed one of his biggest secrets to her--that he is Duke Silver!  Wow!  I was really impressed that he did that!  It was also funny that one of Ron's fan said she was going to kill Diane!  Damn.  Didn't know he had such dedicated fans!  Great scene.

I didn't expect that Ann would condemn the mean party that the others were having concerning Jerry, but I'm glad she did.  After all, they should be a little nicer to the guy after he had a brush with death.  It was nice that Donna had a change of heart and wanted to include Jerry in the dinner instead of just using it as a time to make fun of him behind his back because they all got to see that Jerry was throwing a big ol' Christmas celebration.  I freaking loved seeing them peeping into the window, dying to get in there.  It was kind of like Scrooge peeking into his nephew's house and seeing how much of an ass he had been to his only family member.  It was nice that they took all the money that they had collected to remember Jerry's fumbling at work to instead donate to his medical bills.  And they learned that Jerry always sent them nice emails congratulating them on their achievements and birthdays.  He's such a sweetheart and it was great they had a moment to remember that behind his Charlie Brown-esq personality, there is a heart of gold.  Way to get into the Christmas spirit.

I was also impressed with Chris's progress.  I didn't think that his 15 times a week with his therapist were really helping, but they were.  He could drink non-fat egg nog, let someone point out his gray hair, and speak to his ex-girlfriend and her fiance without spiraling into his usual dark place (although I think it's hilarious when he gets so negative).  I also loved that Ben was doing his best to support him and make sure that he kept it together.  I sort of forgot until they had this overly long hug that they are such good friends.  I love their bromance, especially on Chris's end because he needs all the love he can get.

I just got this warm, happy feeling from this episode--it was great.  This is one of those stories about Christmas that didn't make me hate the overall spirit of this holiday.  We got to see Leslie be there for Ron and Diane, Diane and Ron become closer, Tom and the rest give Jerry a break, and Ben and Chris reconnect as friends.  I have nothing bad to say about it.

Award For Most Uncomfortable Dinner

Mad Men, S05E07

Megan's parents came to town, and we saw that their have an unhappy relationship.  Megan came up with a great pitch that gained them the Heinz account.  Peggy thought Abe wanted to propose to her, but he actually wanted to move in together.  Don was given an award for his letter that spoke about smoking's hand in cancer and other health risks.  Megan's parents, Sally, and Roger all accompanied Don to the award dinner.  The night revealed a lot for those who attended it.

I wondered what kind of parents that Megan had, considering her personality.  They seem to not be much of a reflection about Megan's character, as they have a history of bickering and making each other miserable.  It was clear that Marie was starved for affection, but luckily she was more impressed with Roger than Don and didn't do anything inappropriate with her own daughter's husband.  From what I've learned about Emile, he just seems dispassionate about the way his own life has turned out and takes it out on others.  Even his daughter isn't exempt from his negativity.  It's no wonder that Marie, who claimed to be once full of life and adventure, would end up fooling around with Roger, with his renewed look on life.

I don't think much is wrong with what Roger and Marie did (because they are adults), but I wonder if Sally will get over walking in on them while Marie was pleasuring Roger on her knees.  Maybe she'll appreciate staying with her grandmother a bit more than going to the "dirty" city to hang with her dad's kind of people.  Before that happened, I thought that Sally and Roger were so adorable together.  He was pretending she was his date, and Sally acted as his encouragement so he could work the room.  I think Sally was having fun pretending to be an adult (nice dress, conversation about business) until she got a glimpse of some of the other things adults did.

Don may not be the father of the year, but I still think he's a great dad.  He has all the opportunities to be absent his children's lives, but he's there for them a decent amount.  I just loved how he was stunned by seeing Sally in a beautiful and more grown-up dress, but told her to tone it down.  Emile made Don's fear of his daughter growing up too quickly worse by saying that all girls eventually "spread their legs and fly away."  Thanks to that funny misquote, I'm sure that Don will be keeping a closer watch on Sally whenever she's around.  It was really sweet after he got his award he claimed that seeing a beautiful girl who would be ready for makeup one day, but not today, made him happier than being honored.  Aww.  It's gonna be rough for him when she starts to get rebellious and nothing he can say will make her listen.  I think Sally is a good person, but she's definitely got a curiosity that will probably make her a wild teenager.

Instead of worrying about his daughter leaving childhood, Don should be most worried that his image is indeed as negative as Roger warned it would be before he wrote the letter.  At the dinner, Ed told him that no one wanted to work with him there at the party because he's not the trustworthy type.  I can't argue with that.  For Don, business is business.  I don't think that he ever considered any of the clients to be his real friends and would actually stick his neck out for one of them.  And why would he?  With slimeballs like Heinz, I wouldn't promise my loyalty to them when they are just as likely to cut off their business for the smallest thing that dissatisfied them.  There's only so much ass-kissing one can do for a customer before it becomes counterproductive.

Speaking of Heinz, I was almost glad that Raymond's wife let it be known that they were going to fire SCDP because I've had it with him taking advantage of them.  He wants so much, but gives so little back.  And sure, that's the nature of their business, but it's been a while since they've had such a shitty client.  I prepared to watch Don get a little revenge on Raymond, which I could have cheered on, but Megan smartly decided to give the pitch she had been working on with Don and they secured the account.  Way to go Megan!  However, she increasingly looked less and less thrilled about her success, the more Don and the others applauded her.  I thought she was really passionate about copywriting, but it looks like that's not where her heart is.  Emile further suggested that Megan is settling for a different kind of success, but not the kind that she has always dreamed of.  Now I'm wondering if she'll try her hand in acting or performing again, despite that she's made a significant mark in their advertising firm.  I worry that Don, who seemed excited that he and Megan could work together so well, might not be so supportive if she decided to give up on advertising (or Megan may stay in the business and be unhappy but too scared to quit).

As far as Peggy goes, I thought that Abe was going to dump her.  When he asked her to move in, I thought she was disappointed.  I think that only when Joan praised her and made it seem very romantic did Peggy see what a wonderful gesture it was for him to ask.  I mean, I thought Peggy would be ready to punch Megan in the face for winning over Heinz when Peggy had failed at it, but she was so satisfied with her love life that she was genuinely happy for Megan's achievement.  Wow.  Peggy's mother, of course, wasn't happy at all, but that was no surprise. I just didn't think she'd be such a stubborn bitch to tell Peggy that if she was lonely to just keep getting cats until she died.  Because being a cat lady is much better than "living in sin" with her loving boyfriend.  Maybe she'll never get married once they move in together, but at least Peggy will have someone there to love her and take care of her.  Is a cat going to make her feel good after a horrible day at work and make sure she doesn't drink herself to death?  Peggy's mom needs to get the stick out of her ass and stop trying to push her ideals onto her daughter (her mom ain't no saint either!).

I wonder if Don can do something to change his business perspective so that they could draw in more clients who can trust their firm.  Hopefully the dissatisfaction that Megan seems to have with her job won't start to tear at her marriage.  I don't care too much about what happens to Peggy as long as she's concentrating on her own life.  I like the new Roger, and I'm eager to see if he can turns things around in his professional life.  With a lot of things going to the dump with everyone else, it would be nice to see someone making some positive strides.