Everyone Sucks At Everything

The Cleveland Show, S04E12

Cleveland and his friends worried that the excitement had gone out of their friendship and tried to repair it.  After many failed attempts, they tried going to an amusement park they had once shared good times, ignoring the fact that it was closed down.  Donna wanted to boost Rallo's confidence by making him think he was an excellent bowler, but Rallo's overconfidence made Donna show him the harsh truth about how little there is that young kids are good at in general.

You would think that with such a variety of friends that it would take longer than 3 years for it to get stale.  Unless that group was composed of the most boring guys you could find, I find it hard to believe Cleveland and the gang were having problems already.  I'm sure that they do spend most of their time together sitting at the Broken Stool drinking, but they've done so many random activies that were also dangerous and thrilling.  That should make the days when they're not doing something to put them in jail or injury themselves seem like a vacation.  So I had problems just buying that they didn't have the same chemistry anymore.

There were little things that I sort of liked in this story, like Cleveland remarking he'd get another bear as a friend or how Tim looked in the fun mirror, but mostly I had neutral feelings about their frollick in the condemened amusement park.  The vomiting was gross and them being stuck on the Roter overall made me impatient for their rescue or just anything.  Things did get a little better when Rallo tried to save them and later Donna.  By the end of it, I don't even think I cared whether they were better friends or not.  The focus had really changed to Rallo feeling better about being a worthless kid.

Rallo, who had to hear the ugly truth about the skill level of a kid from his mother, didn't really start to grab my interest until he stopped acting like a superstar bowler.  I liked when he went to the strip club and met Robert.  His father actually had some good advice about finding Cleveland, yet he didn't give a damn that his 5 year-old was walking around at night to strip clubs and such.  Instead of driving Rallo home, he took him to an abandoned amusement park where Rallo could have gotten hurt (and very likely would have if the firemen hadn't come).  It was funny that even Rallo couldn't stay quiet as his father left him unsupervised in such a frightening place:

[Robert] Man, this place looks scary.  All right, see you later.[Rallo] That man is not a good father.

That was about the funniest thing in the episdoe, except for the disturbing picture that Junior had drawn.  It had him crying next to a grave with the caption, "I miss mommy."  It was sad in a way that made you chuckle that no one gave a damn about what might be going on in Junior's head to draw that.

After all of Donna's talk (and that horrible song) about how kids suck at everything, she really showed that any person of any age can suck when she set the place on fire.  Damn.  How stupid can she be?  Rallo was mostly stupidly courageous--Donna was just ignorant about electrical fires.   They were just lucky that the firemen showed up.  I don't know why they did, though.  How is it that they got there so fast, especially when that place was supposed to be empty?

I didn't hate this episode, but at the same time, I can't say there was much that was worth mentioning about it.  I did like that Cleveland and his friends' problem eventually became part of Rallo's story about wanting to prove his worth as a kid.  There are less intersecting stories in this show recently, so I like when they change things up once in a while.  Neither story was particularly good, so combining them into an almost decent story was better than having the two of them separate and completely awful.

Just Do It--Don't Talk!

Family Guy, S11E11

Peter and the guys had a wild night of drinking that led to Quagmire accidentally getting married to a prostitute.  At first, Quagmire tried to make their marriage work, so that he wouldn't have to lose everything in a divorce, but he changed his mind when Charmese thought he was gay.  However, she wouldn't consent on a divorce unless Quagmire proved that he was really into men.

The biggest shock about Quagmire being married isn't who he married because let's face it--him marrying a prostitute doesn't sound below the quality of life he's lived so far.  It's just weird to see him married at all.  This was true when he had that fiancee in another episode who was too crazy for Quagmire.  At least this time Quagmire was involved with a woman who didn't seem so bad, despite her profession.  I mean, she was mostly just a sight to look at.  She did refuse to divorce him unless he had sex with a man in front of her, but since Quagmire was playing her in the first place, I couldn't see her as being psycho.  She probably never intended to let it get as far as it did.

I was surprised that Peter agreed to do that for Quagmire.  He's a really good friend, even though Peter seemed sort of into it more than he was letting on.  I can't forget that he said he had been "full sail" way before he and Quagmire got into the room.  Raises an eyebrow, but not such much that I'll probably remember it by the time the next episode comes out.

More than not wanting to see Peter and Quagmire actually get it on, I just wanted them to stop narrating what they were doing and "feeling."  They made it so much more uncomfortable to watch when they were saying such unnatural things.  And when they were barfing back and forth in each others' mouths--one of the grossest parts of the story.  It definitely beat when Charmese spit on Chris' face (yuck!)

There were a few jokes that I liked in this episode.  The first was a cutaway when Peter was comparing them sticking out at Harvard to a black guy in Sweden.  Unexpectedly when they started saying "Blackin sippin," I was laughing.  It was such bad fake Swedish that it couldn't be anything else but humorous.  It almost makes me want to say that next time I see a black guy sipping from a cup.

Next, I liked when Peter was confused about Beowulf:

[Peter] Hey, was Beowulf a Teen Wolf sequel with Scott Baio? 

[Joe] No.

[Peter] Then I just totally failed that Medieval Lit midterm.

I don't know why, but any kind of joke about Beowulf that you can make is funny to me.  I guess because since high school, I've always thought that title and story were strange to me.

The last joke I liked was a parody of It's A Wonderful Life:

[Girl] Look, Daddy. Teacher says every time a bell rings, some gay guy’s gonna have sex with another gay guy. 
[Father] We’re gonna pull you out of that school.

I'd like to know what school it is that says things like that to their students.  Sounds like a bizarre place.


This was a good episode.  I wouldn't mind watching it again, except I don't really want to listen to Quagmire and Peter talk about what they're going to do to each other in bed.  If they had just been a little quieter it might have been more tolerable to watch (although, I doubt they would show Quagmire screwing Peter for real).  There were enough jokes throughout that it was generally funny, and the story itself about Quagmire was interesting enough that I wasn't entirely so concerned about laughing every few minutes.

Pepperwood And Pogos

New Girl, S02E14

Nick became convinced that one of Jess' most improved students was psychotic and dangerous.  When he snuck into the student's shed and saw pictures of a girl being murdered, Nick made Jess think her life was in danger.  Winston learned of his "pogo" and told Schmidt that he had one of his own.  When Schmidt's pogo came out, everyone else in the loft wanted to know theirs.

I don't know if we've yet to see how Jess' job has been going, but this was a good start.  I liked how her teachings relate to Nick's hobby as well.  I don't think he would have had an easy way to get involved with her student if he didn't consider himself a writer.  The more Nick identifies himself with writing, the more I like it, such as when he scoffed at Jess' idea of reading Edgar's story at first:

Writers don't read, we write.

However, more than being a writer in this episode, Nick started acting like a detective and sneaking around people's houses and breaking into sheds.  Wow, it's dangerous what Nick can do with some imagination and some free time.  I don't know if him breaking the law was worse or better than him showing up to Jess' class as a guy from Chicago named Julius Pepperwood.  I did like that his Chicago accent was heavier when he was Pepperwood and he was sort of flirting with Jess a little bit.  I feel like through his new persona a few of his hidden emotions came through.

The best part of him being Pepperwood, though, was when he was wrestling with Jess for that notebook.  At one point, it look like Nick was just grinding up behind Jess!  It looked so inappropriate, especially in front of her student.  But it was hilarious how they looked like they were fooling around.

What I didn't like about this story was that rude ass lady Edgar was dating.  Okay, sure, Jess and Nick were breaking and entering, so Jess probably deserved some mace, but she didn't need to call Jess a bitch for asking what was in the duffel bag.  Jess is way too nice because I would have thrown her attitude right back at her.  But Jess is way to sweet to bring it like that.  However, Jess did surprise me a little by attacking Edgar and jumping on his back.  She also said he'd have to kill her if Edgar wanted to kill Nick.  Why do we get to see a disgusting couple like Edgar and old lady, but we don't get to see Nick and Jess except suggestively?  Come on now.

In the other story, I thought it was awkward that Winston kept poking people with his penis so much that his roommates were talking about it behind his back.  I have to agree with Schmidt, though, that if he really wanted to take care of it he could just cover up better:

They make shoes for your penis--they're called pants!

As for Schmidt's pogo, I'm just surprised that with his extensive self-maintenance that he neglects his feet like that.  So he puts so much care into everything about himself but just stops at the feet?  So odd.  I liked that before Schmidt knew he kept pestering Winston with his guesses.  We could have enjoyed more things like him shaving his eyebrows (eww!) if Cece hadn't let the cat out of the bag.  She was sort of unnecessary around the house, except for the fact that she got "impaled" with Winston's friend downstairs.  She was particularly noisy about knowing her own pogo when I just wanted to know what Nick's was.  His turned out to be the best of them all because they don't talk shit about him--they were just concerned:

[Winston] We're worried about you.
[Nick] You're worried about me?
[Schmidt] We're worried you're not going to make it.
[Nick] Make it to what?
[Jess] Just in general.  Cuz you don't take care of yourself.

It had to be embarrassing for Nick, but it was so sweet that they all look after him in ways that he doesn't know about like slipping him vitamins and money.  But it was also funny because it made Nick seem like a big ol' mess, which he most certainly is.

This was a pretty good episode.  It was nice to see that Nick's writing thing is probably going to come up more times than I expected and that he's still writing.  I would even like to see him act out Pepperwood again one day because that guy is pretty funny, even if he's a horrible detective.  I want to see more of Jess and her students because with people like Edgar being in her class, it's gotta bring more good material for stories.  I also liked hearing everyone's pogos, but Nick's was definitely the best.  I'm easily won over by something that both makes me laugh and appreciate that Nick has such good friends watching his back.

Trading Z's For Some G's

2 Broke Girls, S02E12

The girls found out they had forgotten about a huge order of cupcakes due to their lack of sleep.  They snuck out of the diner earlier by faking an illness and tried to bake a thousand cupcakes in a limited time span while being extremely sleep deprived.

I was impressed by a lot of things in this story.  One being that Han is so nice that he keeps Caroline and Max around when they are sleeping blatantly in front of customers.  I guess he's just a super-understanding guy.  It was more amazing that after Max and Caroline faked being sick to cut work and then needed Han's help later, that he agreed.  He's just a big ol' sweetheart.  I mean, Max was piling on the short jokes and he still let them use his ovens.  They really owe him big.  The most impressive thing was that they were able to bake all those cupcakes in such a short time even with Earl and the others' help and especially since they ruined the majority of them at the near end.  Realistically, they shouldn't have been able to pull it off.  Not without one of them falling asleep in the oven or something.  A missing earring was like the least worst thing that could have happened.

I kept thinking there must have been some way they could have checked all those cupcakes without destroying them.  I mean, like sticking a toothpick or something in them?  I dunno.  Caroline probably wasn't thinking at full capacity when she just started tearing them up so quickly.  I would have tried to think of another way.  After all, once they covered them in frosting, I doubt anyone would notice a hole or two.  What a waste.  It was a bigger waste when you think about the earring not even being in any of them.  I guess it was just a way to add more drama and get that Andy issue out in the open.

I'll have to side with Caroline about it being a little weird that Max continued to be friends with Andy after the breakup.  They do have a good friendship and all, but there's no way for it not to be weird when Caroline and Andy still have some feelings for each other.  It would always be awkward and they wouldn't be able to keep Caroline completely out of it.  To my dismay, Andy did the right thing and broke up with Max too.  Aww.  They make such good besties.  Plus, Max loved all that free candy he could give her.  But she'd soon be looking like the worst friend ever to Caroline if she kept texting and talking to Andy as if nothing had happened.  Now I really wish Andy and Caroline would get back together some day.  Love the exchanges between Andy and Max that we'll not get to enjoy anymore.  Boo.

The funniest thing I found in this story was when Caroline was doing her guy voice terribly and she asked Max to let her hear hers.  Max responding that she's doing her guy voice right now was cute.  I liked it even better when Caroline and Max laughed at it together like they were going insane from lack of sleep.

Something that also caught my attention was when Max noted Andy's "Bradley Cooper tone."  He actually sort of looks like that actor--I wouldn't have noticed that before.  No wonder I think Andy is pretty good looking.  Which once again makes me sad if he's not going to make an appearance every now and then.

I liked this episode.  I don't know why, but it was sort of exciting to see hundreds of cupcakes being made.  It was incredible that they got it done in the state they were in and were able to collect $4,000 for it--damn.  If the girls keep this up, they may be in pretty good shape.  Just wish that Caroline and Andy's reunion was in good shape.  Unfortunately, it looks like the two have agreed to close the chapter on that book.  It doesn't stop me for wishing for their reconciliation, though!

Call Him Pop-Pop

New Girl, S02E13

Nick's dad came into town and got Jess involved in a scam to buy a horse and sell its sperm.  Nick got involved with the shady deal, worried that Jess would be bled dry if he left his father alone to do as he pleased.  Schmidt also teamed up with Robby to scheme to get Cece back and the two unexpectedly bonded with each other.

I really liked Nick's dad.  Mostly because he drove Nick crazy.  His appearance also explained a lot of why Nick isn't the most put together adult you would find.  But as Jess commented at the end of the episode, it's really impressive that with a dad who would just roll into town to con some people out of money and not really try to connect with his son on any level, that Nick isn't running the streets operating crooked games or something.  More important than that, Nick, who is usually a little high-strung about less serious things ,was extra strung out with his father around.  I love to see that, so I welcomed Walt's presence.

One of my favorite things that frustrated Nick was that Winston was in love with Walt.  I guess not having a father around himself he sort of adopted Nick's dad as his own.  He even gave him an adorable nickname, "Pop-pop," which Nick absolutely hated.  I really loved each time he would call Walt that and any time that Nick would plead Winston to stop doing that.

It was also funny how Jess was the absolute worst person to be hanging around Walt.  He was playing her like a fiddle and Jess had no clue until she had given him hundreds of dollars on a horse of questionable value.  I sometimes forget how trusting and guillible Jess is until someone comes along to take advantage of her good nature.  My favorite example of her excessive faith in anyone was best illustrated when Nick showed his dad:

[Nick] Dad, she will believe anything.[Jess] That’s not true, Nick.
[Nick] My real name is Jamil.[Jess] It is?
[Nick] No, my name is not Jamil![Jess] Nick, that was not fair.[Nick] It is Nick, you know that![Jess] You told me in confidence.[Nick] How could you think my name was Jamil?

 It's sweet and makes you laugh that someone could be bordering on stupidity with how much they want to trust people at their word.

In the Schmidt story, I expected that I was just going to see him make an ass of himself and make Cece hate him even more, but instead he started a weird friendship with Robby.  I can see how they would bond over their mutual love for Cece (neither of them is probably a great fit for her--they were both dating up).  However, it was ridiculous how they were stalking her and showed up at her house uninvited when Cece was having a family get-together with Pavun and her relatives.  Weirder than that, Schmidt thought an orgy was going on--what??  I think he just had dirty things on his mind from the beginning because he saw Cece in the sari and got excited, which was evident from him trying to describe one of his gross sexual fantasies--eww.  They were lucky that no one ended up kicking their asses for their rude and unwanted appearance.  I think their man-hug made them guess they were more stupid than they were dangerous.

The best thing about Robby and Schmidt getting together was that although Schmidt was dedicated in helping Robby, he made it very clear that he was going to help him to help himself.  He kept talking about smiting him when the time was right.  That was really funny, especially because Robby made it clear he wasn't going to go along with that part, but he didn't mind trusting Schmidt until that day came.  Robby is an amazingly easy-going guy.  If it was me, I'd not join forces with a guy who kept talking about destroying me in the future (but Robby might believe that Schmidt won't win even if he tries, so maybe he's just confident himself).

This was a pretty cute episode.  I liked getting an idea of how Nick's childhood might have been, and why he's been committed to acting like an old man his whole life.  It was really funny to have Walt around to see Winston showing him misplaced affection and Jess eating up any lie that he threw her way.  I'm looking forward to him coming back for another con some day.  Schmidt and Robby are lucky they have each other because neither of them has Cece, that's for sure.  They might want to just concentrate on their friendship rather than getting her back--don't think any plan they would come up with has a shot in hell to work.

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.

Domestication And Friendship Not So Bad

Suburgatory, S02E06

George's old friends from New York came to visit while they were doing business in town and made fun of George for adapting so well to the suburban life.  Tessa wanted to enjoy spending time with her tablet alone, but Lisa wanted to spend all her time with her now that she was single again.

I think that George still has a little of his edge left from life in the city, but now that he is becoming "twinsies" with Shelia, I could see how his friends would think he was a sellout or too domesticated.  However, I absolutely hated how they were coming down on Dallas, who despite her looks, is a very smart and caring person.  I fell more in love with George when he not only admitted that the all-over phony woman that his friends pointed out was his girlfriend, but when he also defended her when they continued to talk shit about her.  I was worried that he was going to cave into peer pressure and try to relive his days as a "real" man as his friends envisioned it, but George stood by Dallas's side.  To me, that's a real man.  The best kind of person can own up to what they really love and not try to hide it because someone tries to make them feel bad about it.

Equally as great was when Dallas gave George the idea to bid against his friends for some architecture project.  George would have never thought of that on his own.  Plus, Dallas assisted him both in the concept and the presentation--they are a great team!  I was really proud of them as a couple to see them working like a dynamic duo!  They didn't end up winning the bid, but at least they made some waves and impressed the clients.  I could definitely see Dallas and George getting together on some good business deals in the future.

In Tessa's story, I was a little distracted by the open advertising for the Microsoft Surface tablet.  Nothing new to see products in TV shows, but I hate when it's all up in my face.  She even listed some of the great features of the thing at one point.  Wow.  Can't I get a little more of a break from the commercials?  Still, I've been interested in the Surface, so I wasn't too outraged.  I'm sure that they only did the advertising because it was necessary.  If it keeps the show going, I can't be too mad.

I felt Tessa on her desire to be alone with her tablet, though.  It's been a while since Lisa has sort of kidnapped Tessa's day to make her do some kind of dorky activity.  Lisa literally pulled out her trunk of tricks in this story.  If I was Tessa, I might have cut her off the beginning in the hopes that being alone would make her miss Malik.  It's obvious that Lisa is trying to fill her loneliness with Tessa.  I'm glad that even if Lisa isn't aware of it, she's not over Malik yet.  If she was, I'd doubt she'd need to try to shove a smoked fish down Tessa's throat.

I don't know how I feel about a "friendship fish." I thought it was cute that Tessa finally agreed to eat it with Lisa.  No surprise that Tessa got food poisoning from it, though.  I would be pretty nervous about someone pulling a fish out a trunk and asking me to eat it.  But she must really wanted Lisa to be her friend is she's willing to puke out her guts for the sake of friendship.  Her tablet is a nice alternative, but I guess only real friendship is worth all that suffering.

I'm also unsure what Ellen's prolonged stay at the Altman house will bring.  For a woman who knows that her daughter is a mess, she sure doesn't seem to like George too much.  Maybe she wanted to raise Tessa in the absence of her daughter?  I don't know.  But I don't see them getting along too well.  No matter what, George is a good parent, so I think she should at least respect that about him.  But I'm sure as a grandmother, Ellen's going to have a lot of suggestions for parental improvement.

This was a cute episode about George and Tessa sort of coming to terms with what they have become.  George has changed, but it doesn't mean that he's become some kind of pathetic loser.  And I definitely think with Dallas's help, he is going to continue to change and grow for the better.  Tessa's grown in the sense that she can't just sort of fend for herself and has to stick by the friends she's made.  She can't just callously cast them aside for some some wires and a shiny screen.  Lisa, as I said before, needs to hurry up and take Malik back.  Not just for her sake, but so we don't have to see Tessa suffering while wearing an airbrushed shirt and a watermelon hat.

Even Death Can't Stop The Leslie Victory Train

Parks And Recreation, S04E21

Leslie was campaigning for one more day before the election, via a bus and having great success with her speeches and appearances.  However, the sudden death of Bobby Newport's father put a halt to it all.  After saying some negative things about the deceased man and barging in on his memorial with her campaign bus, Leslie finally apologized to Bobby in private for her comments.  Thanks to her cheering him up and being a decent human being, Leslie got endorsement from Bobby in a press conference about his father, even though he had stolen a story Leslie told him about her childhood and made it his own.  Chris tried to distract himself from dark thoughts by keeping busy with any task he could volunteer for in the campaign.  Andy was busy investigating a pie that had almost hit Leslie.  Tom, accompanied by Donna and Ron, had to get back the vans they had paid for from the owner who had been paid by the competition to withhold the vans from Leslie's group.

It's kind of disgusting that someone's death can be turned into a "political sideshow" as they put it in this episode.  I could really see that Leslie was so determined to win and continue her bus tour because she refused to listen to Ann's advice to do the right thing for the longest time.  I think it was funny that Leslie couldn't spin her negative opinion of the deceased owner of Sweetums to her advantage, but instead called him a jerk and said other things to dig her hole deeper.  The way that Jennifer played her hand in making Leslie look like a monster, though, was much more contemptible.  It's too bad that she's such an aggressive and calculating manage and Bobby is such a moron because all of her tactics basically went to waste.  I really didn't think that after Leslie rammed her bus into that portrait of Bobby's father at the memorial that she would be able to recover from that, but I guess Leslie really has luck on her side.

I liked when Leslie told Bobby about her running a marathon and winning her mother's pride, and Bobby understood from that story that he and Leslie both had dicks as parents.  Wow.  I think that conclusion he drew was much more amazing than him taking that story and changing it so he could use it in a speech later on.  I thought he wasn't too bad of a guy until he did that.  But now that I think about it, maybe he told the story because he didn't have any nice stories about his own dad and didn't want to share with others how much of a dick his father really was.  But he redeemed himself by saying that Leslie was awesome for comforting him and that anyone not voting for him should vote for her.  It's hard to hate him after that, and like I've said before, Paul Judd is just too cute sometimes.

The only thing I liked about Chris' story was that April had the opportunity to cheer him up again.  It didn't work, but I still thought her words were sweet for someone like her.  She told him that he wasn't as alone as he was claimed and must have friends out there somewhere.  Aww.  She's too embarrassed to admit that Chris is her friend.  Sadly, what did get Chris out his sad spiral (although his last major one was so hilarious) seemed to be the sex that Jennifer offered him.  I hope that's all it turns out to be.  I couldn't stomach to see someone as cheery as Chris with a snake like her.  Eww.

I thought Andy's story was just stupid until he found out that the pie was meant for Ben.  I liked that someone was disgruntled for Ben's actions and thought that throwing at pie at him would satisfy his anger.  Andy solved the mystery, but he surely didn't protect Ben from getting pie on his face.  Still, for Andy I think that qualifies as a success.  What I liked best about Andy's story was when he gave everyone code names, which were mostly based on sex he had had with each person.  My second favorite name was Donna's, which was "It Happened Once In A Dream," but my favorite was Tom's: "If I Had To Pick A Dude."  Love it!   Most of them seemed pretty content about the names he came up with.

Tom's story made with mad, with that guy who was taking advantage of the demand for his vans.  It was really smart of Leslie not to send Tom alone to handle Butler because if Ron couldn't get through to that stubborn man, no one would have been able to.  It was really nice that Ron agreed to pay what the competition was offering out of his own pocket.  It's too bad that guy bumped up the price, and it was too bad that Ron didn't knock the hell out of him for being such a greedy dick.  I also admire that Donna, who loves her Mercedes more than anything else, would back into Butler's car so that she could claim he rear-ended her.  She would have to pay for the damages herself, but they got the vans back in the process.  Wow.  It just really shows how far everyone is willing to go to help out Leslie.  I love all the love.

I liked this episode, but I always have to complain when I don't get a good Ron quote from it.  I did like Ron trying to handle Butler, but I was disappointed he couldn't really do anything to change the ass' mind.  I also would have preferred a little more Tom because you know I love me some Aziz.  However, I'm just glad to see that Leslie may very well be celebrating her victory in the next episode.  Although, I'm fairly certain that Obama isn't going to make an appearance at her ceremony, no matter how much she envisions it.

Stewie Finds His Soulmate

Family Guy, S10E19

Lois got she and Peter separate beds after suffering another injury after he rolled over her in his sleep.  Peter, unable to sleep properly without someone to cuddle, asked Quagmire to be his substitute in that manner.  However, Peter started living with Quagmire completely, living his life with him in an intimate way that looked like they were a couple.  He finally went home after Lois agreed to sleep in the same bed with him and confessed that she missed cuddling with him too.  Stewie met his soul-mate with a wicked girl named Penelope.  Brian, after watching the news of the international terrors Stewie and Penelope had perpetrated together, told him that she was a bad influence on her and should stop seeing her.  When Stewie told Penelope about Brian's thoughts, she demanded that Stewie kill him.  Stewie couldn't do it, so Penelope came to do it herself.  After an intense battle, Stewie bid farewell to Penelope and admitted to Brian that he was right about her.

I had to agree with Lois' decision to not sleep with Peter in the same bed since he didn't seem to think her breaking numerous ribs was a problem, nor did the doctor want to admit that Peter had any fault in her injuries.  If that wasn't bad enough, he was really annoying with his plume pen writing at night where he would actually say "dip" each time he dipped his pen into the ink.  It might not have been a bad idea for her to get her own place entirely if he was going to be that obnoxious.

It was also smart of her to leave Peter be for a while after he decided to sleep with Quagmire.  It was kind of weird when they first laid together and Peter was taking off Quagmire's boxers with his foot.  At least let him take it off himself.  Eww.  But I think when Peter moved into Quagmire's and they had a montage about how their were interacting with each other every day, it was kind of sweet (if you imagined they were a couple).  It's funny that just snuggling in the same bed could make them that close. I could have stood to see more of how their relationship deepened (besides that "giggity band") before Lois came to get her man back.  I'm glad that Peter didn't make too much of a fuss about it since, as his wife, I would hope she would be his top choice for spooning.  I felt bad for Quagmire that he was stuck to Peter's back and crushed just like Lois had been at the beginning.  Not sure if I can call that karma or not.  Or ironic.  But it is a little funny.

Stewie's story was okay.  It was interesting to see him find another person like himself who was perhaps a bit more evil.  She, unlike Stewie, didn't have a dog best friend who could convince her to stop creating havoc for kicks.  I liked when Stewie had to make a 20s theme with his tidal wave destruction and he chose flappers dancing on surf boards on the waves.  That was cute.  I'm just surprised that Brian figured out what Stewie and Penelope were up to so quickly, seeing as they were doing everything by themselves.  It was even better when Stewie defended his actions by saying it was nothing new for him:

[Stewie] I’ve always been about world domination.  What the hell did you think I was talking about when I said, “Victory shall be mine”?

[Brian] You have not said that in a very long time.
[Stewie] Well, I’m back on it.

I laughed at that because I had forgotten that Stewie did use to say that.  This episode reminds me of when Stewie killed Lois (in a simulation) because Brian questioned whether he had gotten soft about being evil.  Truth be told, I don't miss that Stewie too much because he's funny enough without being a mastermind trying to take over the world.  With Brian usually by his side, there's hardly any time for him to be thinking about killing his mother and such.

It was cute when Stewie kept coming up behind Brian and trying to kill him different ways, but just couldn't kill him.  We've seen enough episodes to know that Stewie doesn't give a damn about anyone when push comes to shove unless it's Brian, so it would be a little out of his character for him to off Brian now, even when he met the love of his life.  It wasn't surprising that a girl  who surpassed Stewie in evil would go off to finish the job herself.  I liked that before she arrived, the mail carrier kept looking like he was listening in on Brian and Stewie's conversation and even waiting at the door to for them.  However, he had just been killed by Penelope and was standing there dead.  Nice.

What I noticed about the Stewie and Penelope fight was that she really came prepared.  I mean, she had all kinds of gadgets and weapons ready to slash and fry someone to death.   My favorite part of their fight was when Penelope shrunk a car and Stewie later threw it at her and enlarged it to full size while it was still in the air so it would fall on her.  Too much happened that I can remember it all, but I did like her blade in her shoe.  I just kept wondering when Stewie would reveal some weapon on himself because he was a little disadvantaged.  Finally, at the end he pulled out a knife from his ankle and told her to stay away from his dog.  Aww.  He does care.  Plus, Penelope kissed him and sent him flying so the cord around him would be tied around a light pole.  It's possible she might return one day.  But I kept wondering how Stewie would get down from there.  Then again, a baby like him that can fight on top of a moving truck is capable of anything.

It was stupid at the end they had Brian ask Meg about her day, but she just opened her mouth and no sound came out.  Come on now.  Stop shoving it our faces that you don't give a damn about Meg's character.  You might as well kill her off instead of treating her like a roach.  Seriously.  It's hardly funny anymore.  It's like that damn chicken Peter fought or those vaudeville guys.

Not the funniest episode, but not bad.  I wish I could have enjoyed the guest star, but I'm not too familiar with her work, so it wasn't anything special for me.  I did like to see that Stewie could fall in love for once, instead of watching Brian's many desperate one-night stands.  That's getting old.  I wish that there had been more jokes that I enjoyed, but I guess it the stories were interesting enough that it didn't matter too much.

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.

Pillows Versus Blankets, Part One

Community, S03E13

The stories of Jeff apologizing to the mysterious Kim who sent him a hate letter before "she died" and Shirley and Pierce's using Greta as a pawn to bring down a personified version of Subway Corporation were nothing to the story of Abed and Troy starting a war over a pillow and blanket fort.  This was an unfinished story, so it's unclear whether the rivalry between the best TV duo I know is going to end up being a permanent thing.  Despite that the vice-dean had a hand in creating the rift between these friends, my dislike of Abed continues in this episode.

I have little to say about the non-Abed Troy stories, but I was interested in one aspect of Greta's story.  The man who played Subway was Travis Schuldt!  No matter what I see him in, I will always see him as the original Ethan Winthrop from Passions.  I don't think I've seen him since his short-lived role on Srubs.  In this episode, he managed to sweep someone as cynical as Greta off her feet and was his usual charming self (Ethan was always pretty hot).  It's too bad he had depraved sex with Greta and the corporation took him away and replaced him with a less handsome look-alike.  He and Greta could have made a cute couple.  And it would have been nice to see her in love instead of being the source of negativity for everyone.

Now onto to Troy versus Abed.  I worried if the tension we saw last week would still be there this week, and it totally was, even though it looked like the two were fine.  Nothing says Abed and Troy like a pillow fort, but thanks to the dean suggesting that they go for the Guinness Book of World Records for a fort made of either pillows or blankets, Troy started to feel second-rate to Abed.  It's so hard for me to abandon all of the love I have for such an unique character like Abed, but through Troy I see how selfish he can be.  Troy was eager to take on the challenge of breaking the record, but Abed (although, wanting no glory from building a fort beyond the fun they could have) ignored Troy's desire completely.  No wonder it was so easy for the vice dean to whisper in his ear that Abed didn't respect his opinion--he wasn't lying!  When Abed was telling him how to stack the pillows before he told Troy to basically go ahead and waste his time building a pillow fort but he wasn't going to help, I was almost a little happy that Troy ran off.  I say little because I don't want them to fight!  But I understand why Troy would feel like he wasn't important to Abed unless Troy was doing something for him.  

I changed my mind a little about Abed later when he rather easily agreed to tear down his fort in order to make room for Troy's (so he does care about Troy's desires?), but of course, the vice-dean came and interfered right before Abed pulled the crucial sock (I guess that would have sent everything crashing down?).  After that, Abed wasn't backing down, nor was Troy, so they were both the leaders of their own little pretend forts.  Seeing them stand on opposite sides broke my heart, but at the same time it was a little exciting to see.  They usually work together, so if they go against each other, which one of them would win?  I wouldn't be mad if they resolved their issues easily after one heart-to-heart talk (because I love them together and I don't care about plot when that's concerned), but I doubt it will happen if they are going to drag out the story until next time.  And what sort of fights will they have with pillows and blankets?  That's extremely interesting to me.

If the next episode can turn to anything like that fabulous paintball story, I will die.  That was insanely cool!  I didn't think they would do anything like that again any time soon, since they just brought back Community and all, but perhaps they're playing all their cards while they can (who knows if someone stupid will try to cancel their prematurely again?).  I can't wait for the conclusion of Team Abed versus Team Troy!

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."

Peter and Brian: True Blue Friends

Family Guy, S10E17

Basically, the answer to the question that no one was probably wondering beyond Stewie was given last Sunday:  Are Peter and Brian friends of convenience or friends through and through?  Well, through the magic of science, Peter and his buddies are thrown into a world by themselves where a spoof newspaper article makes the others think that Peter is an evil, human-destroying alien.  It was very interesting to see how these four would get along if their memories were wiped and they were the sole residents of the world.  It was a little eerie in a Twilight Zone-like way and funny in the regular Family Guy way.

I think what I liked the best was when Quagmire was trying to teach Brian "gimme paw," and it took forever.  Brian contrasts his normal dog qualities by blurting out some pseudo-intelluctual crap afterwards before Quagmire tells him to shut up.  No surprise that the deep-rooted hatred that Quagmire has for Brian still manages to seep out even though they don't have their memories back.  Two other gags that I enjoyed were Peter pulling out the Chex Mix to see if anyone else was around, and the revised "Who Else But Quagmire?" joke ("Who Else But Shirt Pants?").  However, I will say that the oddity of their situation and whether the mystery would be revealed was a lot more interesting to me than the comedy in this episode.

What I didn't particularly like was the "shock" joke this time.  There was a cutaway to a gorilla petting a kitten next to a pile of dead ones it had already torn to bits.  So gross.  It's very hard for me to laugh at a dead animal or one suffering in a bloody manner.  I would have preferred that Peter had just told us that had happened rather than us having to see the death pile.

Also, I didn't much care for the ending of this episode where the girls were put in the same scenario as the guys, but all they were doing was fighting and pulling each others' hair.  Apparently they hadn't even tried to name each other.  What bullcrap.  As if women would naturally just hate each other and not work together.  I think women would fight less if men were out of the picture.  Damn you, Seth MacFarlane, and your anti-women position.  Sometimes when I stop to think about it (which I do more now that he has more than one show where I can compare the women characters he's made), it irritates me how women are represented in SF world.  But then again, it's just a cartoon.  It's nothing to march about.  Still, I wish he would have a women character who wasn't in a position where it seemed like she was ranked lower than her husband (or father).

Anyway, I was a little touched by how deep Peter and Brian's friendship turned out to be.  Brian may be an asshole most of the time, but he does love Peter, and the feeling is mutual.  Brian took a damn bullet for him.  Sometimes you might question whether Peter has a heart, but seeing his best friend die before his eyes and all the tears, you know that his love for Brian is more than that of a pet.  It's a nice change of pace because they haven't really had a moment where if you were soft-hearted enough you might just say, "Aww" while watching Family Guy.  They used to have touching family moments like this in the first season, but the eventually disregarded this for a general feeling of tolerated hatred among the family (or indifference, at best).

Although this episode reminds me a little of when Stewie killed Lois (it all turned out to be a simulation), I still thought it was good in general.  I wouldn't mind more of this style where things are unusual for a reason you can't determine right away, nor would I mind a little more sentimental stories (if not to offset all the stories where the characters are being jerks to one another).  We're fast approaching the end of this season, and I'd hate to see it end with me disliking more episodes than I liked.

A Cancer Scare Bonds Them All In Song

New Girl, S01E15

I never thought I would like a story this much that dealt with a character possibly dying.  I feel like they had a great balance between their usual funny tempo without completely ignoring the seriousness of Nick's almost cancer.  Underneath the characters' clumsy and amusing pre-mourning antics, we got to some deeper issues about the characters, such as Nick's refusal to actually live.  Jess pointed out that his life is a bit wasted if he doesn't try to do some of things he wants in life.

I knew the gang was tight and all, but last night I really learned how much they cared about their own.  I wasn't surprised that Jess leaped at the chance to help Nick against his will since she has a tendency to be "helpful" regardless of what others tell her.  However, I didn't know Winston and Schmidt would go into emotional overdrive as well.  This was best expressed by the "Sad Song" Winston started singing and playing on the piano.  He was joined by Schmidt's rapping and later Cece added some beats as well (I think she was the best, but Schmidt was the funniest).

Thanks to Jess getting "real" Nick is convinced he needs to jump into the ocean before he dies.  Before that happens, I love when Nick adamantly tells Jess that she is not speaking at his funeral because of her horrible Daniel Boone joke and her obsession with trying to cheer everyone up.  

There were so many great moments and lines in this episode that it's hard for me to chose which to mention.  At the top by far is when Schmidt plants a lovely "Fredo Kiss" onto Nick.  I just didn't know how much he loved Nick.  Yet I don't feel like Schmidt kissing him is out of place in the least bit.  It was almost a moment of "finally," which is strange.  Did I feel like Schmidt would be doing this one day?

Schmidt also brought a joke from another episode to full circle when Winston suggested that Nick's naked jump in the ocean might be Schmidt's only opportunity to see his penis.  Schmidt runs off in no time after hearing that.  It's no question whether Schmidt likes girls, but if he did have to romantically love a man, I think he would go for Nick in a heartbeat.

I loved it when everyone was on the beach, after Nick had calmed down from his freakout about the cold and the impending death.  He looked at Jess and told her he liked her a lot!  Aww!  And that he is glad that Jess is around.  I was anxiously awaiting a drunken kiss, but Nick seemed aware of himself enough not to do anything stupid like that.  However, I feel like they were a little more chummy after that moment, and we can only hope to see it grow before they are dating!  Yay, Nick and Jess!

Other great moment in this episode included when Jess started a chain reaction of crying among Nick's friends, Nick asking why no one was helping him after his back went out from Jess' tackle, and Winston's raggedy-ass car.  I have to elaborate more on how ridiculous it was that he was driving it through a Schmidt line:  

You shouldn't call 'em keys.  It's a paperclip that you start the car with.

Before the episode ends, we get one more kiss between Nick and Schmidt after the good news of no cancer, and Winston is forced to leave his car behind (literally) and think about a new one.  It was sweet that everyone joined together to pay for his ultrasound and good that the growth on his thyroid wasn't anything life threatening.  Even though they managed to be hilarious through this episode, I couldn't imagine they could continue to be as funny if Nick's days were numbered.

I don't have any complaints about this episode at all.  It was good in showing how significant the relationship between Nick, Schmidt, Winston, and Jess is.  As much as I love a good comedy, I like a good show about friendships.  There are few things I enjoy more than watching friends who, as crazy and mismatched as they may be, really come together when shit hits the fan.