Milhouse Walks In Kirk's Shoes

The Simpsons, S24E13

Bart decided to make Milhouse pretend to be Kirk when he accidentally shaved his head similar to Kirk's hairstyle.  Bart and Milhouse enjoyed going around town reaping the benefits that only adults could take advantage of.  Homer's obsession with find-it books increased his ability to find things that were out of place.

The novelty of Milhouse dressing up like Kirk was short-lived for me.  At first it seemed like this story was going to go in a good direction, but Bart and Milhouse didn't really do anything that special as far as what they could do as an adult.   My favorite thing that they did was go into Moe's, not to drink, but to ask Moe where babies came from.  Moe's response was intensely disturbing:

Ah, well, in my case my mom was hit with a voodoo curse, I gestated for five years, and then I popped out backwards and on fire.

I like when they make Moe sound inhumane like that.   Over the years he's become more and more of a monster.

Unrelated to the Milhouse story, really, there were a few good lines.  One was when Marge took Lisa to this puppet show that Lisa had suggested.  They soon saw that it was going to be a bunch of puppets getting killed:

[Marge] Maybe we should go.

[Knight] Nobody leave until every puppet dead.

What kind of sickos make you watch puppets get killed?  I like when stuff goes from creepy to scary.

Finally, I liked when Homer asked Marge about Highlights magazine:

[Homer] Marge, can I get a subscription to Highlights magazine?

[Marge] Homer, that's for children.

[Homer] Where does it say that?!

[Marge] Read the rest of the title!

[Homer] Highlights for...doh! 

It was kinda cool that Homer got this "superpower" of detection after reading so many children's books.  This skill turned out to be useful, even when him noticing the free breakfast on a banner seemed to suggest he had forgotten about the kids.  Although, Homer had zeroed in on the free food, he succeeded in finding the kids.  I don't know how he would have been able to otherwise just looking on the streets for something strange.

I also liked the very end of the episode where Homer got mad at Bart for saying that he hoped that he didn't end up looking like Homer.  He was strangling him and complaining that Bart's comment didn't allow them to end things on a heart-warming note.  I liked this because if Homer and Bart hadn't had that moment, it would have ended that way.

Although there wasn't a bunch that I liked from this episode, I still feel like it was good.  I say that because there wasn't anything particularly bad about it.  I just wish that Bart and Milhouse had gotten more creative in what they could do with adult power in their hands.  Homer surprisingly improved himself by reading a children's book.  If only he could read a kid's book that would teach him how to pay attention and work harder.  He might turn into a decent employee.

It Wasn't Just A Calzone

Parks and Recreation, S05E12

Ann decided to have a child through a donation at a sperm bank, and Leslie tried to stop her before she let her child be fathered by someone of ill-repute.  Ben enlisted the helped of Ron, Chris, and Tom to sample food for the wedding.  April thought that the only way she could handle the public forums was by acting like Leslie as much as possible.

I wasn't on board with Ann's decision to have a child.  I don't think there's anything wrong with any woman going to a sperm bank when they are ready for that, but I don't believe Ann is ready.  Ann's a little all over the place, and I wouldn't even feel comfortable letting her babysit kids, even as good as she was with Diane's girls.  It's a good thing she has a friend like Leslie that has way too high expectations for her and isn't bothered by meddling in other people's business.

I don't remember Nick Kroll's previous appearance on the show, but it didn't take me long to see that his character is repulsive.  I can't believe that Ann was able to look past his "Douche" side and still take his sperm for her baby.  Ugh.  It was horrible that, thanks to Leslie, Ann was ridiculed on the radio about her personal business, but at least it helped her change her mind.  I'd much rather her have a baby by a total stranger than that guy.

My favorite story was about Ben's catering review council.  He basically gathered my three favorite guys.  Together these guys couldn't be more mismatched.  Ron and Chris are like opposites, and Tom is just on some psuedo cool level of his own.  There were so many good lines from the story, starting with Ron's reaction to getting a salad:

There's been a mistake.  You've accidentally given me the food that my food eats.

Then Tom delivered his opinion about the caters that was equally as funny:

[Tom] Cater number one's presentation was simple yet exhausting.  Number two's was subtle and provocative.  Like a coy Dutch woman guarding a dark secret.

[Ben] Nothing you're saying is helpful.

[Tom] But number three's told a story.  A story from a book I wouldn't read, but I would watch the movie of.

[Ben] That's nonsense.

The laughs kept coming when Ben described the mini calzones he sampled with excessive details as if they were some kind of magical, new dish he had never had before.  I loved Ron and Chris' responses to that:

[Ron] It was a calzone.

[Chris] It was literally just a small calzone.

I like that Ben's calzones are kind of like Leslie's waffles.  Except even with food poisoning I doubt she would ever give them up.

The last line I liked was when Ron was talking about the condition of his food poisoning:

I did not sleep one for second last night.  And I cracked the bottom of the toilet bowl.

It's ironic that the one food that Tom avoided was the one that made them all sick.  Especially because his reasoning for not eating it was that he doesn't eat food that needs to be dipped.  Apparently it's above him to put sauce on things.  Wow.

In April's story, I loved that it was Andy who tricked April into seeing that she didn't need to be Leslie to have a successful forum--she just needed to be herself.  He's a great husband.  My favorite line from the story was when April was herself again and she dealt with Harris:

[Harris] Yeah, I wanted to talk more about that topless park idea that a local hero brought up yesterday.

[April] Yeah, there's not going to be a topless park, Harris.  Nobody wants your creepy, stoner eyes staring at them while they're enjoying a park, OK?  Stop being gross.

What made that even greater was that the entire forum clapped to hear April tell that guy how it was.  April's the greatest.

This was a good episode.  I wish that Leslie and Ann's story was a little funnier.  It was just sort of stupid to see Ann wasting her time on something that would be big mistake.  She's really lucky she has Leslie to help her see the light.  I really loved the guys trying out the caters.  Ben needs to assemble the same team to do something else.  It doesn't matter what--it would be hilarious.  April is also hilarious when she is herself.  Even to pacify idiots for her job, I don't see why she would want to be anyone but her tell-it-like-it-is self.

Mindy's Not Ready For Kids

The Mindy Project, S01E11

Mindy was left to look after Riley when Gwen's arm got broken from a poorly constructed bunk bed that Danny had put together.  In an attempt to find a magazine to replace Facebook that Danny had banned, Betsy and Shauna discovered a very intimate letter addressed to Danny's ex-wife.

This story said a lot about Mindy and children.  I guess I just figured with her sort of nurturing personality, she would be so good with Riley.  Not only did she act like she's never been around a child in her life, but she also forgot her existence and didn't seem to want to be left alone with her.  She was even freaking out that she might be made the legal guardian for Riley after Gwen had a slight accident (guess she already forgot about Carl).  I think it's sort of assumed that women who are eager to get married also want children, but that's not necessarily the case.  Mindy surely showed that she's not ready to have kids nor might not even want them.  I mean, she didn't even know how to comfort Riley--she was patting her face as if she was lightly slapping her.  That was sort of funny, but it was mostly sad that even that was difficult for her.  She probably would have had a better time building that bunk bed than getting along with Riley.

I don't how I feel about Danny making that bunk bed.  He has to like Mindy to some degree to do that for her.  I mean, even if he likes putting things together, I doubt that he would go through the trouble.  Or maybe that was a way for him to have "fun."  He seems like the type that if he's keeping the office open on Saturdays, he must not have a very social life going on.

Also related to Danny and Mindy's attraction is the fact that Mindy told Gwen that Danny was the "handsome jerk."  I don't think Danny's that good looking, but he can certainly be a jerk.  I'm guessing if he can turn around that unpleasant personality of his, Mindy would fall for him.  Hell, I think she's already started to fall for him, but his gruff attitude keeps her at arms length and she mistakes their conflicts for their attraction.  Anyway, there's definitely something there, and I'm sure one day it'll grow to something significant.

Danny's love life was also the focus back in the office when Shauna and Betsy found that letter.  If it was me, I wouldn't have been able to hear what he had written, just like Morgan.  That was really personal and it contrasted against Danny's tyrant behavior at work.  It's good to see that he is a human being underneath and has feelings.  I just wonder if he's ever going to let some of them leak out so everyone else knows.  Maybe after his ex-wife gets the letter that Morgan took it upon himself to mail he might get emotional for once.  I'm not looking forward to seeing that, especially if it gets Morgan into trouble.  He's such a lovable idiot.

The only thing that was really funny was when Danny was complaining about the girls using "Facebooks" too much.  He kept naming social networks where the names weren't quite right like "Tweester."  And funnier than that he just started saying random words like "blogs" and "url."  Why was he talking like he's a senior citizen?  He claimed that he and Mindy are from the same generation, but he seems to have missed the memo about these sorts of sites and is as clueless as an 80 year-old man.  I like that he might be a smart guy, but he's not really a hip guy.  It allows a lot of opportunities for him to be embarrassed like he was in this story.

This was an okay episode.  It could have used a few more jokes, but I didn't pay attention too much to the lack of comedy because we learned some important things about Mindy and Danny.  There's also more suggestion that they might come to like each other in the future.  If nothing else, their attraction is still there, so they might act upon that.  With Mindy having such bad luck with dates, she might need to stop looking around and take a look at someone she already knows and works with.