Mindy's Rowlf Wasn't That Bad

The Mindy Project, S01E15

Mindy's pitiful taxi video about women's health brought her enough ridicule and infamy that the local news wanted her to do a segment on their show.  Danny coached her on how to successfully present facts without being a joke, but Mindy had to bail on the show at the last minute to look after a patient.  Danny reluctantly took her place.  Beverly also got rehired to the practice as part of the administrative staff, but she had trouble using computers.

I didn't think that Mindy's little video was so bad.  It was definitely dorky, but not so bad that I think that the cab driver needed to express a wish to kill himself the longer he heard her voice.  It was strange that when I saw her open her mouth super-wide, it reminded me of The Muppets, but I still didn't get why she was dressed up as a dog.  It wasn't until later when Mindy said that she was trying to be Rowlf that I got it.  I felt like an idiot, but I felt like it made me like her video even more.  Only Mindy would dress like him to teach tips about women's health.  She is so random that it ends up being a little adorable.

I had mixed feelings about her being on the news, though.  On one hand, it was a chance for her to redeem herself and show that she's not just some goofball playing with puppets, pretending to be a doctor.  On the other hand, they only wanted her because her rating for pity was so high.  Damn. She wasn't that bad.  I don't think her taxi video was the best thing to bring in customers, but I don't think it was something that should have been on Tosh.0 as one of his "Fat Losers of the Week."  People's reaction to her video were way over the top.  She was being silly about reporting health.  It wasn't like she was sobbing over a cheeseburger on the floor or something.

I thought Mindy was going to make herself look even more like an idiot until she picked job duty over PR repair.  Her choice was the right one, I think.  We got to see Danny mess up on all the things that he assumed Mindy would do, proving once again that he (and Jeremy) shouldn't act like she's the only one capable of making their business look bad.  I'm pretty sure that Mindy would have been able to keep it together a little better than Danny.  He fell apart so quickly.  The best thing about him doing the news segment, though, might have been that his screw-up probably distracted the town from her dog-doctor video.

The absolute greatest thing that happened in the episode was one of my favorite scenes so far.  Danny and Mindy were in the elevator when Brendon came in.  I was not ready to see his smug face so soon, nor did I want to see Mindy being lured into his trap again.  Thankfully, Mindy did not want to give him the time of day:

[Brendon] Mindy, why aren't you answering my texts?

[Mindy] Because you're a dick.

I wanted to leap out of my chair and cheer when I heard that.  Finally!  It took her long enough to cut the bastard off.  I couldn't have possibly handled her being fooled by that piece of trash one more time.  Way to go, Mindy.

I didn't care too much about Beverly coming back to the practice.  So far she doesn't bring much besides a knack for racist quips.  Maybe that'll grow on me with time, but for now I wasn't impressed by the story about how she didn't even know how to use a mouse.  Who hasn't seen an elderly person struggle with technology?  This was nothing new, nor made me glad to see Beverly employed there again.

This episode was okay.  It had an incredible moment where Mindy basically told Brendon to shove it, but that didn't really make up for the entire story.  I like seeing Mindy putting her patients above her own reputation, but I'm a little tired of her being made a fool of for little reason.  Beverly, known for punching Mindy square in the nose, has returned to the show, but I don't see her value quite yet.  We'll see if she's able to make herself as indispensable as Morgan or Betsy.

Bullying is Bad, M'Kay

South Park, S16E05

Stan took leadership of a video to combat bullying in schools after watching Butters struggle to do anything about his bully problem.  Stan's role as head of the cause got him fame, and Butters was just a means to inflate his ego.  When they went to the Dr. Oz show, Butters finally let out the rage against all the bullying he had been put through (including his participation in Stan's project and the hosts prodding him for information) and ruined Stan's movie production.  He ended up just as Kyle predicted, naked in San Diego (that joke went way over my head).

Wasn't quite sure what the parody or commentary was underlying this episode, but I heard it had to do with either (or both) a movie coming out that documented bullying or the Kony 2012 film.  I don't know much about those so that message was lost to me.  I did get that the creators were decrying those who basically use people like Butters for their own gain.  I didn't think that was Stan's intention until Kyle pointed it out and Hollywood got involved with something that was supposed to just be a school campaign.  And of course, nothing about the video or the campaign was really helping Butters stand up to his evil grandmother.

I liked that they didn't have your typical bully, or at least the one that you would expect.  Basically, they showed that anyone could bully anyone, even a seemingly sweet old lady.  I really liked the bathroom scenes where the bully would wait for their target, leaning against the sink.  The best of all was when Stan did it to Kyle.  I totally didn't see that coming.  Kyle was just as annoyed that Stan was resorting to such tactics as Stan was that Kyle wasn't supporting his video.  He brought a great point that if he wanted to just educate people, he should have put the video on the internet where exposure was possible without so much profit to be made.  Stan didn't have much to argue his point after that.

I wasn't too clear on why Butters' grandma wanted to make his life hell so badly, but it was a little sick.  I mean, family members bullying each other is nothing new, but it just seems worse when the bully isn't even your own size or age.  It made Butters look even less capable of defending himself against her--how could he really fight back against his grandmother (without getting in trouble with his parents)?  It looked like Butters was going to have to just suck it up until he had a late night talk with his grandmother about understanding her feelings.  It was great how Butters basically said that she could continue to treat him how she wanted, but one day she was going to die (soon, too), and he was going to keep living and being happy.  Way to go, Butters.  And all it took was kicking the crap out of Dr. Oz to get to that conclusion.  Guess Stan's failed campaign had a little meaning after all.

I liked how they handled bullying in this episode.  It didn't really offer a solution to the problem, but it did show how people make issues like that worse for the people involved and that sometimes people have to personally take care of their problems instead of having people rally causes for them.  I wish that I could understand the "hidden" jokes that they were making, but I was happy enough to enjoy a story about Butters in general.  I also didn't care for the song about San Diego (nor understood what the joke was all about), but it was just something at the end I could easily ignore.  After that Passover story, I think just about anything is a step up and welcomed.

Yeah, No One Wants Cleveland's Life

The Cleveland Show, S03E16

Cleveland, depressed about the humdrum of his shitty life, met a new coworker who quickly becomes his new best friend.  Donna demanded that Cleveland not see her anymore, but Cleveland, of course, ignored ier and continued their friendship until Donna caught them and threw a frapp in his face.  Thanks to Rallo and Junior making an online video of the attack, a famous producer named Willy Nilly came to whisk Cleveland off to Hollywood to make more videos.  Instead of Cleveland getting fame, he got another man trying to steal his life and his wife, but Cleveland easily showed the man that being Cleveland Brown is not the fantasy that he first imagined.

Rather than be glad to hear one of my favorite songs from a movie, I was dismayed to hear Cleveland singing the words to "Mad World." It's like going to karaoke and listening to someone butcher a song (or purposely sing in a way to mock it).  I liked the depressing montage, but I wished they had used a song I didn't know, so I hadn't been tempted to shout "Boo!!" the whole time.  If they bought the rights to use the song, why not let the original artist sing it.  That would have made the opening fabulous.  Instead, I have to complain about Cleveland singing again.  I have never liked one damn song he has ever done (or any of the songs in Seth MacFarlane world).

After Cleveland made an attractive new friend, the story moved in a way I didn't expect.  I mean, a woman clearly more attractive than Donna (and fun) came along, and they were getting closer without her consent, yet that matter was forgotten pretty much as soon as Rallo and Junior's video made Cleveland famous.  I would have thought Cleveland and the girl might become even creepily closer or something might happen romantically between the two to prove Donna's point.  No, her point got across when Willy Nilly became her friend and Cleveland got jealous.  I was a little annoyed it turned out this way (don't care to see Donna treated like she's all that), until Cleveland stopped feeling sad for himself and gave Willy a Cleveland reality check.  The best part of him showing him how bad his life is was when he showed him how he starts each day.  The kids were acting crazy, especially Rallo who was naked and hitting the wall with a hammer while saying "Hammer Time!"  I loved Willy Nilly and Cleveland's remarks after that:

[Willy Nilly] Whoa!  Why are they even awake?

[Cleveland] They're always awake!

It didn't take Cleveland long at all to show that no one in their right mind would want his life, even if Donna was a part of it.  More so the latter because Donna was seen without her wig, saggy boobs practically to her knees, and bits of all the boiled eggs she eats in her teeth.  Okay, I know Cleveland needed to make a point, but damn!  I didn't think they could make Donna look worse than she did in that episode with the man girdle.  I just don't understand why she needs to look so bad--she's not that old.  But I guess having the two kids and the stress of doing it alone can do that to you.  Yeesh.

I guess it was nice that the glamor-less life that Cleveland has can help him stop a celebrity from taking over his life and prove his wife right at the same time.  Although, I guess she wasn't right because Cleveland's coworker had no plans to move in on him, but I guess it's good enough he learned that it can be uncomfortable to see one's partner with a person of the opposite sex.

I was hoping that Rallo and Junior would have a little more screen time after their video had so much success, but no such luck.  It was a pretty good Cleveland-centered story, though, and I guess it was because the idea of anyone wanting to be Cleveland was absurd enough to be amusing.  You'd probably have to be a drunk living in a gutter to think that Cleveland was living the good life.