Yay--Best Wedding Ever!

Parks and Recreation, S05E14

Leslie and Ben scrambled to get their friends to help them prepare for their last minute wedding.  They had some trouble at first, but they managed to get it together within two hours.  However, the wedding was ruined when Jamm stepped in  with jeers and stink bombs and Ron had to go to jail for punching the councilman in the face.  When it looked like Leslie would have to wait until their planned wedding date, her friends surprised her with an even more intimate wedding at her old City Hall office.

One of the quick fixes that was impressive was Ann's contribution.  She really stepped up and created a meaningful and fashionable dress for Leslie!  I loved her dress.  It was fun, unique and also didn't make Leslie look like some old lady getting married for the third time.  It's not at all what I pictured her walking down the aisle in, so it was a wonderful surprise.  I don't know what her original concept was for her wedding dress, but I can't imagine it topping Ann's creation.  Who knew that watching Project Runway for so long could turn you into such a skillful designer?

I was also impressed by Ron making those rings from Ann's wall sconce.  He just ripped it out of the wall and next thing you knew he had two silver rings.  That was confusing until they showed an extra scene where Ron like melted that metal down and formed rings as if he does this sort of thing in his sleep.  It only took him about twenty minutes to make those.  Damn.  Let me get a friend like that.  He had a good comment after he finished making them:

People who buy things are suckers.

I wish I could not be a sucker and just make stuff out of raw materials.  Unfortunately, there aren't people like Ron everywhere you look.

Another good line was when Chris was watching Ben fix his tie.  Chris got emotional, but was trying to hold back:

I promised myself I was not going to cry tonight, and I have already broken that promise five times.

Chris and Ben had a little touching moment then, but it didn't get to quite as much as later when Ron was walking Leslie down the hall of City Hall for her second attempt for a wedding ceremony.  I don't know why, but I teared up when I heard Ron say to Leslie:

You are a wonderful person, your friendship means a lot to me, and you look very beautiful.

I think this was so heartful because Leslie refused to have her wedding without Ron there to walk her down the aisle as her father figure.  It's so rare to hear Ron speak from the heart, but when he does it's emotionally amazing.

That part was my second favorite part.  My absolute favorite part was when they were having the wedding initially at the gala.  Jamm's ass was acting a fool (I don't know why Leslie gloated to him about the wedding in the first place) and he had the balls to hit Ron.  It was an awesome moment when Ron hit him in the face once and Jamm was down on the floor instantly.  April conveyed my feelings about that perfectly:

Yay--best wedding ever!

Any ceremony when Ron can assault a jackass is a great event to me.  It's just too bad that he couldn't have literally thrown Jamm out of there on his ass.

Still, the little wedding ceremony they had in the office was just as great, if not better.  It came as another surprise and it was more than Lesile and Ben could have asked for.  I'm really happy that it all worked out in such an amazing way.

It's unfortunate that Andy was bummed about him failing the police academy, but at least Chris was there to comfort him and assure him that all was not lost.  Plus, Ann realized that she should have considered Chris as a sperm donor all along.  I don't know why she was looking for strangers when Chris has always been nearby.  Not sure if he'll be up for that, though.

This was a beautiful episode.  It was heartwarming yet funny, so it didn't just feel like they overwhelmed you with just Leslie and Ben mushiness--you also got to see the joy and feelings of her friends in seeing them unite.  Everyone had a little part to play, and in the end it was the people who were most special in her life that made her wedding possible.  I feel relieved that they are finally man and wife, so I don't have to worry about someone sabotaging it for them.  I just wish that Andy would soon feel like his life has come together.  Chris has to be right that sooner rather than later they will figure out the next step, and Andy will have found his place in the sun.

No Drill Can't Stop The Gala

Parks and Recreation, S05E13

Leslie and Ben came up with an idea to throw a fundraising gala to fund the Pawnee Commons, but things looked bad when Leslie had to spend her last hours to finish up what was needed for the event in an emergency preparedness drill instead.  Andy also took the test to be a police officer.

I can't wait until the Pawnee Commons gets made.  I am so over Jamm putting a monkey wrench into Leslie's plans at every chance he gets.  He latest dick move to make the emergency drill extra long so that she couldn't manage the gala before it started was such a spit in her eye.  However, even though Leslie was deperate to get out of there, it had its moments of being funny.

My favorite part of her being trapped in the drill was when she had to talk to animal control.  Brett had me cracking up with the way he didn't understand whether he was to kill the birds for real or not.  Leslie finally just gave up on him and asked him to pretend like they never talked.  It got better when Leslie was angry that Jamm hadn't done his part in the drill to ask the buses to be shut down.  I loved when she muttered that she should have had animal control kill him:

[Brett] Oh, who you want me to kill?

[Leslie] No one.

[Brett] I'll kill 'em.  Soon as I'm done with these birds.

I like how ready Brett is to kill anything, man or beast.  If I was her, I would have let Brett do away with Jamm.  He was being such a jerk.

I also liked that Chris got infected in the drill, thanks to Jamm, and when he got killed, he was so damn positive about it.  He proudly said he was dead with a big grin and a thumbs up.  Freaking loveable Chris, with his crazy ass.

Another great thing about Leslie being occupied with the drill was that she wasn't able to do her interview.  Instead, Ron went on the show and with an unconscious Joan at his side, he took calls for people about all sorts of things, while promoting the gala.  My favorite piece of advice he gave was for some woman who had a terrier.  After giving her a tip on the scratches the dog made to the legs of the table, he added his two cents about small dogs:

Next thing you want to do is ditch the terrier and get yourself a proper dog. Any dog under fifty pounds is a cat, and cats are pointless.

I'm not much of a cat person, so to hear Ron say so matter-of-factly that cats are useless really made me laugh.  He should get his own talk show.  He was brilliant.

The last great thing about that story was after Leslie had gotten free and the gala was going great.  Leslie expressed how she couldn't wait to marry Ben, and Ben told her they should indeed get married right then and there.  That was a nice surprise!  I thought we would have to wait until the season finale or so to see them seal the deal.  I hope that nothing goes wrong with their impromptu wedding, though.

Andy's story went pretty much as I expected.  I felt like he was going to do awesome on his test because he seemed pretty damn prepared.  It was disturbingly cute when April gave him a dead rabbit with its legs removed as a good luck charm.  However, I liked Andy's response to it:

Baby, you are so creepy.  I love it.

Match made in heaven, those two.

It was also expected that Andy didn't do well on his personality part of the test.  He was answering the questions all kinds of wrong ways.  He was being really honest with his answers, the kind of honest that's dangerous.  However, that one officer remarked that Andy's perfect score on the exam and his miserable score on the personality test was a shame.  I think so too.  I thought maybe Andy would be able to slip by.  I'm curious to know what Andy will do next.

I really liked this episode.  Leslie didn't get trapped by Jamm as long as he wanted, and all of her friends came through for her and made the gala a success.  Next week, we are going to finally see Ben and Leslie get married, if they play their cards right.  I'd hate to see someone or something get in the way of that.  It's a shame that Andy didn't pass the qualifications to be a police officer, but I feel like there's hope for him yet.  He has a set of special skills that I think should be useful for some occupation, police force or not, and I really want to see him find his way to something that is perfect for him.

Stone Cold Slytherin

How I Met Your Mother, S08E13

Barney had a hard time asking Robin's father for permission to marry her.  Robin was shocked that her father was not only more relaxed and fun, but had gotten married without telling her.  Ted and Lily fought over whether Barney and Robin should have a DJ or a band for the wedding.

This isn't much related to the story, but I felt like Robin was recovering from a cold the whole time and it sort of distracted me.  I mean, she didn't sound like a frog or anything, but she definitely sounded like she might need to clear her throat or something.  Must be difficult to be sick when you have to use your voice constantly.

Anyway, I might have never noticed how funny Robin's father was until now.  He was definitely my favorite part of the whole episode.  Before he even showed up Ted and Marshall were saying such funny things about him:

[Ted] Dude’s a stone cold Slytherin.
[Marshall] He always looks like he just came from slapping some guy tied to a chair in a back room.

I don't even like Harry Potter and Ted's line still has been chuckling to myself.  They set me up to expect to see some really scary guy appearing (I had forgotten what the man looks like), and Robin's dad didn't disappoint.

I loved his hard, intense expressions, especially when he was looking at Barney.  Barney's not exactly the bravest guy around, but I still liked seeing him sweat in the presence of Robin's dad.  Barney didn't look that good with dark hair, but it was really funny that he felt the need to do that after Robin's dad evaluated Barney's appearance:

This is Barney?  This man is blond.  Grown men are not blond.

Of all the things you could find wrong with Barney, that would be at the end of my list.  If he's bothered by just the surface of Barney, he's going to have a field day with what's underneath that blonde hair and expensive suits.

I wonder how, as terrified as Barney was of his future father-in-law, he was able to get the man to apologize to Robin?  Maybe now that he's married to someone like Carol, he's able to access some of those feelings that he's neglected all those years he raised Robin.  I thought they might say what Barney did, but that was left up to our imaginations.

I was also wondering why Ted was so set on a DJ throughout the episode.  I knew what Lily's deal was--she just wanted to be part of the planning and show that she knew what was best for the wedding.  I don't know why I didn't think it was because he was still stuck up on Robin.  For the love of everything, Ted--let it go.  I get that his love for Robin is deep, but he really looks so damn pathetic.  I believed him when he had accepted that Robin wouldn't be his and had really let her go.  Instead he was just fooling everyone, even himself.  Come on, Ted.  When are you gonna pick yourself up and stop grasping at straws?

There was a glimmer of hope in Ted's ridiculous battle for the DJ--they revealed that Ted would finally meet his future wife at Robin and Barney's wedding.  She'll be the bassist in the band, and we even got a sneak peek at her arm.  It's frustrating that this fated meeting is further down the road, but at least we know it's semi-soon.  We most likely won't have to wait another season to find out at least what she looks like.  There will be plenty of stories left once he does meet her because just because they met doesn't mean they'll fall in love in a second.  Especially with Ted, I think it'll take a lot before any woman decides to spend a lifetime with him.  He's a mess and even with the girl of his dreams, that'll never change.

The part where Marshall got "confetti" all over his face was so gross, but a little funny.  I would have vomited to see what actually flew out of little Marvin's behind, so I'm glad they had a cute way of conveying that.  I'm just glad that something came out of Marshall and Lily complaining about Marvin being constipated.  I just didn't think it was going to be the confetti explosion in Marshall's face.

This episode wouldn't have been half as good if Robin's father wasn't in it.  I couldn't stop laughing at his cold, dead-serious stares at everyone, especially Barney.  As for Ted, I just felt bad for him as usual that he can't commit to the things he's resolved to do or feel.  I think he's had more than enough time to get over Robin and truly be happy for Barbin finally becoming a thing.  Hurry up and get on the Barbin train, Ted!

Moms Doing What They Gotta Do

Once Upon A Time, S02E03

Charming asked Henry to stay out of the rescue for Emma and Snow, leading him to cut school to do his own investigation.  Emma and Snow were released from their prison and returned to Charming and Snow's old house to find the wardrobe Emma was sent away in.  In the past, King George continued to attack Charming by going after his loved ones.

Henry is definitely in the right family because he basically blows his nose at danger.  I can't believe how easy it was for him to fool Regina and get into her vault.  I actually felt a little bad for her because she probably really looked forward to that lunch that never happened.  I can see that she really is keeping to her word, so far because instead of going to stop Henry herself, she told Charming and he went to get Henry before his ass got bit by a bunch of snakes!  Like, is Henry crazy??  There could have been any kind of evil thing under the sun in one of her boxes and he thought it would be smart to just open one at random.  He knows that she was always up to no good, so I don't know why he thought he would find something good in her little secret lair.  What a moron (he's taking a lot after Emma who also in the episode is taking danger too lightly).  It was a little cute at the end when Charming decided he'd buy him some wooden swords to practice with (since Henry is jealous that his mother and grandmother get to go sword fighting in the other world--if only he knew he'd probably be dead in a minute with his current knowledge of that world).  I hope Charming can get Henry to settle down and stop trying to run off to do things (like his grandfather keeps doing when it's convenient for him).

Similarly, Emma was doing a shitty job of fitting into the other world and failing to listen to the experts, mainly her mother and Mulan.  I know Emma is used to handling things on her own, but I feel like that situation requires that you swallow your pride and learn from the "masters" instead of what she was doing.  I can't even believe that she was sort of bragging that she killed a dragon (which she didn't even do half as well as she thinks and should have learned that guns are useless) when warned about the ogres.  No surprise that she not only let the ogres know where they were, but almost got killed by one.  Seriously, Emma, it's time to shut up.  Hopefully by now she's learned her damn lesson and will stop acting like she knows what she's doing.

I have to also say that Aurora is so annoying.  Sure her love got killed and all, but damn.  Trying to get Snow by the throat with a knife?  I wish Snow had done more than she had before Mulan butted in.  I still think Snow needs to kick that girl's butt.  But Aurora seems to be willing to help Emma and Snow now.  I guess.  She might still be secretly bitter.

It was pretty sweet and sad when Snow and Emma were looking around the remains of her nursery.  I kind of forget that Snow had dreams of raising her daughter and had to give it up so that her daughter wouldn't be cursed.  I didn't think Emma would start to forgive Snow for abandoning her, so it was nice to see that they made some progress.  They don't have the best situation, but at least they do have each other, so they can continue to go from there.

Another mother who showed her sacrifice was Charming's mother.  I wasn't so sure why she was brought up again when she was just going to die until they had shown that King George had cursed Snow.  Then when Charming mentioned that lake that could cure anything, I knew that Snow would be the one to be saved, and Charming's mother would put herself aside.  I had wondered how the two got married and imagined it to be some big, grand thing, but it was sort of touching how simple it was with just the two of them, Lancelot, and Charming's mother looking on before she took her last breath.  Wow.  That was sort of beautiful.  She got to see her son married, Snow took the cure without knowing, and Charming's mother was able to die knowing that her son would have everything he wanted in life.  I just wonder if Snow ever needs to tell Charming what his mother did for her.  I suppose it doesn't really concern him since it was his mother's decision and there's nothing he can do about it now.

I really enjoyed this episode because it was nice to see all these different mothers in the show giving up things so their children could be happy.  But, there's no telling what Regina's crazy-ass mother is up to.  It'll be interesting to see what might happen if she's able to get to Storybrooke.  I just wonder who will be able to get to the non-magic world first: Emma and Snow or Regina's mother?  I'm little worried it's going to be the latter with her in possession of the ashes of the wardrobe.  Someone needs to stop that bitch before it's too late.

Let's Hurry It Up

How I Met Your Mother, S08E01

The eight season premiere started with a look further in the future where Robin and Barney are getting married.  However, the main focus is on a little back in the past where we left off last season.  Ted and Victoria were trying to leave a note for her ex-fiance Klaus, but having difficulty sneaking in.  Barney wanted to keep his relationship with Robin a secret from Quinn, but a sleep-deprived Marshall and Lily made that difficult.

I can't say that I wasn't a little bit encouraged by this episode to keep watching, but that had little to do with almost everything that happened.  My biggest frustration was that they are continuing to do this leap forward in the story, while still talking about the past.  Well, we all know that despite Barney is engaged to Quinn and Robin has a new boyfriend that it's not going to work out.  I think I have no patience left for this show, and I just want them to hurry up and show how Robin and Barney get back together again.  Why fool around with this unimportant piece where they are apart?  Seriously, I wish I could snap my fingers and get to the point.

It was even more torture watching Ted and Victoria scrambling around to leave that note for Klaus.  We know that they aren't going to be together because Ted in the "Barbin" wedding future is sitting at a station where his future wife comes holding that famous yellow umbrella.  Frankly, for all the trouble that he went through to leave that letter for it to be that Klaus didn't even want to get married was annoying.  It absolves Ted and Victoria of looking like assholes for leaving a man at the altar, but it makes me wonder if they could have just gotten together in the end without this dramatic fleeing from the wedding and stupid return to the venue to leave a letter.  Again, I felt like I was being jerked around.  All for a relationship that isn't even going to last the entire season (presumably).

Despite all my complaints there was one thing I did like about the Ted and Victoria story and that was when Klaus thought that Ted knew German because he understood "wunderbar".  He then proceed to go off in German as normal.  This was particularly funny to me because I've had this sort of experience before.  Also, Klaus was telling Ted that he was inconsistent with his knowledge of German since he knew "kindergarten," but didn't know this other ridiculously long German word.  But by that time, it was nearly the end of the episode, and it didn't particularly save it for me.

With all these complaints, you would wonder why I would want to continue to watch.  Well, it's mostly because Ted's wife has finally shown up again.  Now, we're not sure that Ted is going to have a fateful meeting with that woman there at the train station in the next episode, but I hope he does.  If he does, I think I can keep watching.  If she's just going be there in passing just to tease us again, I think I'm gonna be done.  I'll just catch the finale of the last season so I can figure out who he marries.  Because I'm not enjoying the journey anymore.  Marshall and Lily are pretty much done--they have a kid.  Barney and Robin are going to stop going around in circles and get married.  We just need freaking Ted to fall into place.  But I don't think I have it in me to stick around if this isn't going to happen a little faster.

So for now How I Met Your Mother is still within my list of stuff to watch, but it's not out of the danger zone by a longshot.  After all, there may be something better to watch at its time slot on Monday (especially if Regular Show or Adventure Time were to move to that time), so it may not be worth it.  Hopefully, next time we are going to see the first encounter between Ted and the future Mrs. Mosby.

Never Alone, But Forever Crazy

Cougar Town, S0314-15

Jules was forced to deal with some issues she was having with Grayson's privacy and deceiving Laurie about her position as co-maid of honor when everyone re-enacted the premise of Groundhog Day for her.  Travis had to rekindle Bobby and Andy's passion for penny can.  Grayson proposed that he and Jules elope in Napa by themselves, but she brought the whole gang with her.

Sometimes I think that Grayson is the most reasonable person on the show and found his explosion of fury when Jules and company would not give him the tiniest bit of space in his new home to be overdue.  There's only so much one person can take before you just push them over the line and having people lotioning up and raiding your drawers and closet while you want to read is beyond what a normal person could tolerate.  That's why it was not just appropriate to see Grayson yell at the gang and punch the wall, but it was also funny.  Finally he stops just complaining in the background while everyone ignores him and puts a little force behind his rejections of their ways!  Truly, I identify with Grayson the most of all (especially because I would have been a neighbor like him was who intended to interact as little as possible with his fellow neighbors).

I wasn't too surprised that Grayson's request for the two of them to be eloped was denied.  But it frustrated me to see Jules not understand that just the two of us didn't mean the rest of the people who never leave her house (gathering at 6:30 in the morning?? I would shoot those people!).  In fact, I think my head would explode if Jules had taken Grayson to Napa with just the two of them.  But at least Grayson accepted his fate that he was marrying everyone (his proposal to them all was lame) and didn't drown himself in a full wine barrel.  There's not much he can do short of murdering Jules' entourage.

Besides Grayson's outburst, I liked that they recreated Groundhog Day to teach Jules a lesson.  It's one of my favorite movies, and I would love it if I could do that with a group of friends.  The fact that Jules didn't understand the concept of the movie and was annoyed that they kept saying the same thing for a few days was really funny.  I only wished that she had taken longer to figure out how to make things right with Laurie and Grayson.  I like when they sort of team up against her.  She deserves it.

Concerning penny can... I was so hopeful that Travis had done something great for once in his miserable life and brought an end to that game.  It has a certain charm for weirdo adults, but when you think about it, it's a really stupid game that loses its charm the more they play the game.  It was only slightly cute when Little Stan was asking to play and finally did play it at the end.  Other than that, I didn't pay too much attention to that story.

I also didn't pay too much attention to Travis trying to get Laurie again.  I was happy, however, to see Wade.  He is quite cuter in person than on an iPad!  But I know one day, especially now that Travis has drunkenly exposed himself to Laurie, Travis will get Laurie.  Am I sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for that day?  Hell no.  But I hope to enjoy more of cute Wade for a little while longer until that happens.

I was disappointed that they had their wedding on the beach while trying to avoid the cops because it happened without much mishap.  I wanted to see disaster after disaster before they said "I do."  It was sweet, but it didn't pull at any heart strings for me.  What was better than their wedding was Ellie flirting shamelessly with the guy at the hotel.  I mean, if Andy had dropped dead right in front of her, I think she would have hopped over his body and jumped Daniel's bones in a second.  I loved it. She just wouldn't stop, even when Daniel was arrested.  She kept texting him things that were certainly crossing over to cheating on Andy.  Somehow I really envy how she can do that with no guilt.  It's cruel in a hilarious way, and I sort of wish I could do that if I were married.  I gained a little more respect for Ellie.

This wasn't a bad season finale, and I could be happy if this were the series finale, frankly.  This show was a little too often off the mark for me in terms of jokes, so I'm not that eager to continue watching it on TBS, unless I hear some pretty good rumors about it.  I kept with this show hoping that it would grow on me and it has a tiny bit, but not so much that I think that I will be definitely watching it again in its fourth season. 

Google Earth Map Wedding

Big Bang Theory, S05E24

Before Howard launched into space he recalled his impromptu wedding with Bernadette.  She wanted to get married before he went to space, and the whole gang accompanied them to city hall.  They weren't able to get married there due to an overly long line, so Raj came up with an alternative venue.  All of their friends got ordained as ministers and married them on top of a roof so that the Google satellite traveling over their town would be able to capture their wedding on Google Earth maps.

I'm glad we got to see Howard and Bernadette married after all.  It gave them a chance to have their nuptials in an unconventional way.  Even if they had been able to do it at city hall, they still would have managed to do it in an abnormal way, with Amy there in full maid-of-honor garb.  She looked positively insane.  But I'm sure she would have been crazier if they had refused to let her wear it.  The wedding definitely meant much more to her than it did to Howard and Bernadette.

One thing that made me want to punch the TV was Sheldon constantly bringing up Leonard's proposal.  It's not unlike him, but it didn't mean that I didn't want to plug his big mouth with a cork.  It was mostly annoying because it allowed attention to be paid to Leonard and Penny's relationship, which was hardly important when Howard and Bernadette were supposed to be the focus.  I was just happy that their squabbles didn't turn into a reexamination of whether they should really get engaged.  No thanks to Sheldon's lack of tact.

Besides that little thing, I think their ceremony on the roof was so cute.  They all got to dress up and everyone got ordained so that they all could officiate their marriage.  Wow.  That's amazing that Howard and Bernadette have such a good friends to do something like that.  Their speeches weren't that impressive overall, but I liked that Bernadette snapped at Sheldon for trying to sneak in some Klingon.  I like how aggressive she is.  It'd be interesting if Sheldon and Bernadette spent a day together.  I'm sure she'd either kill him before the day was done or have him a little more straightened out for the better.  I also thought it was amusing that Sheldon said he didn't understand the need to seek companionship because he found himself so interesting others were unnecessary.  That sums up his disinterest in the opposite sex (or anyone who is not himself).

Another cute moment was when everyone was holding hands with each other as they watched Howard launch into space on TV.  I was most surprised that Sheldon grabbed Amy's hand.  Wow.  How wonderful that Howard's historical moment to enter space brought all of them closer, if not just for a second.  Now I'm thinking that since Raj and Bernadette were bonding over their love of Howard that Raj might act as a substitute husband for Bernadette while Howard is gone.  That would be hilarious.

Good finale.  It wasn't too exciting, nor too boring and it left the viewers with not just some laughs to hold them over til the fall, but also some sweet moments as well.  I'm not particularly excited to see what's next for the gang, but at least I'm sure that I will continue to watch.  I want to see how far Amy can get with Sheldon, and I'm still waiting for the day they will find a suitable match for Raj.   Maybe the day will come in 2013.

How To Make Sheldon Fall In Love

Big Bang Theory, S05E23

Howard was delighted to find out his mission to space had been cancelled, but he panicked later when they told him it had been rescheduled for an earlier date that conflicted with his wedding.  He hoped that Bernadette's father would bully him out of going to space, but he instead encouraged him and made it seem that his respect of Howard was dependent upon him becoming an astronaut.  Amy started using very effective techniques to get Sheldon to love her by making him incredibly happy.  Leonard mistakenly asked Penny to marry him during sex, ruining the good place their relationship was in.

It was funny to see how happy Howard was to not go to space.  I thought he was really excited about going, so it came as a surprise to me.  What was even funnier was that he continued to brag to his friends that he was an astronaut even when he thought he wasn't going to go to space.  I liked when Leonard and Raj told him that they were relieved he wasn't going to space, considering that he would be on a Russian-made rocket.  Raj' using the Russians' inability to capture Rocky and Bullwinkle to discredit their intelligence was great.  Nice cultural reference, Raj.

I found it weird that Howard couldn't admit to his fiancee or his friends that he was terrified of going to space, but he could admit it to his scary father-in-law-to-be.  Bernadette would have surely understood.  His friends would have surely made fun of him, but they would have encouraged him to go where none of them may go.  Then again, sometimes it's easier to tell some truths to people you hardly know than those who know you the best and can hurt your feelings with their reactions.

The best thing in the episode hands down was Amy's experiment to make Sheldon like her better.  The date she set up with Mario theme music, strawberry Quik, and spaghetti is scarily one that I would thoroughly enjoy myself!  Who knew that I had so much in common with Sheldon?  It was just a perfect scene of her pleasing Sheldon and him quickly realizing that Amy was indeed winning his heart as she predicted she would.  You can see that wonderful video below:

It was a bit adorable how Sheldon was bitching to Leonard how it was just awful that Amy was making him so happy, and he had started thinking about Amy during inappropriate times.  I also enjoyed them mentioning this book on women Leonard had given Sheldon, which had given him nightmares.  I would love to see his reactions as he read said book.  Amy was pretty cute too when she was dressed in Star Trek gear, examining Sheldon as if she were a doctor.  Sheldon claimed he was in hell, but he looked like he was having fun (probably not as much as Amy who was probably thrilled at having his full attention for once).

Leonard and Penny, on the other hand, were just annoying to watch.  I had just wished that Leonard's proposal had convinced her to break up with him, so I wouldn't have to see them as a couple again.  There's nothing too interesting about their off-and-on relationship for the most part.

This episode definitely goes down in one of my favorites for this show.  I can't wait to see what Amy does next to keep Sheldon thinking about her.  I wonder if Sheldon will be crazy enough to try to stop her "experiment," so that he can go back to seeming indifferent to his girlfriend?  I love that they are becoming closer with Amy making him happier, and yet Sheldon makes it seem like he's becoming more miserable.  Amy really is the best girlfriend I could imagine Sheldon with ever.

Bobby Sees His Racist Side

Cougar Town, S03E10

Jules wanted Andy to run for Mayor so that he could get her a permit to have her wedding on the beach, which wasn't allowed.  Ellie despised the idea of her husband being in public officer since it would force her to interact with people more.  After making a comment to an Asian man, Bobby worried that he was racist, and Laurie put together a panel to help him.  Travis made out with Holly, and he and Grayson tried to teach Jules a lesson about cutting Holly a bit of slack.

Even though Jules suggested Andy run for Mayor for her own selfish reasons, I think she was right that he would be a good candidate (as least out of the people she knows).  I would be interested in seeing him win that position, although I doubt it will be very easy for him.  I'd condemn Jules further for making Ellie unhappy with her plan to get Andy to be mayor, but Ellie's reasons against it were too funny.  She really is a woman after my own heart.  I would be annoyed too by the idea of having to deal with more people than the few I can tolerate.  The best thing about her opposition of Andy running for mayor was when she told Andy in the car about her opinion on the matter.  Andy said he wouldn't be mad, but he purposely ran over a speed bump quickly so that her coffee would splash in her face.  It's great seeing Ellie on the receiving end of a joke at her expense.  I almost wish that she hadn't come to her senses and realized how selfish she was being to her husband.  I would have preferred to see how she could have gotten him back, though.

Bobby's realization of his racist nature was probably the funniest thing in this episode.  I just can't believe how stupid he was to tell that guy he would probably love a giant camera around his neck.  But you knew that he had no malice behind his words--only ignorance.  So when the guy got upset and Laurie looked at him with horror, it was really funny.  He also thought that all black guys could dunk and asked a man if he could in a later scene.  Bobby's too much of a bonehead for anyone to take his racist remarks seriously.  Plus, like Andy said, the fact that he was so bothered by the racial implications of his words and thoughts, made Bobby a decent guy with the potential to one day to realize when he was using stereotypes to make judgments about people.

It was also nice to see that in Laurie's panel she had included her boyfriend, Wade.  I wasn't sure if he would ever be mentioned again.  According to their routine of getting naked for each other on Skype calls, I would say that their relationship is still going on strong.  That means it's still possible he would visit Laurie once he's done with his service in Iraq.  I'm sure that would make for some really entertaining scenes, knowing how hyper Laurie is.

I never pictured Holly getting together with Travis, but when he later explained that he was just taking advantage of a woman, that made a lot of sense.  The only way Travis could go from small talk at a coffee shop to heavy making out had to be due to him being with a vulnerable woman.  Travis is a bit of a loser with no swagger to speak of, so a girl like Holly is probably his best bet.  I'll admit it's a little weird since she has had a baby with his future stepdad, though.  More than the baby, I would think that he would be a little disturbed by locking lips with someone that Grayson had once done the same.  I wouldn't even eat a piece of bread that he had eaten from.  Eww.  But I'm not sure if Travis really has any feelings for Holly or if he was just messing with Jules to make a point.  Someone as self-centered as Jules needed such an extreme measure to teach her to stop judging people.

I liked the Bobby story enough that I think this was a good episode overall.  I definitely laughed more times than I have compared to other episodes.  I hope that next time we get to see some of Andy's campaign ideas.  I could see the possibility of that being funny, especially if Bobby was his manager.  Almost anything that will take away the focus from Jules' wedding is welcome to me.  I already know that it's not going to be the dream wedding she wants, even if she does get to have it on the beach.

Four Yawns And An Eyebrow Raise

Happy Endings, S02E21

It's already the season finale of this show!  What?  It really feels like it flew by.  I have to say that I wasn't too impressed by the second season, especially when the first one was so funny.  Anyway, this time the gang went to Derrick and Eric's wedding.  Penny tried to hook up with a guy via Skype after looking forward to having a real date at a wedding for the first time that didn't pan out.  Brad lost his job and hesitated telling Jane while she was covering Eric's ass for not having enough money to cover the reception.  Max was reluctant to join his old Madonna cover band because he was worried about how much he had changed physically since his singing heyday.  Penny wondered if she had unrealized feelings for Dave, which led to a possible return of Dave and Alex's relationship somehow.

For someone as interesting as Derrick, his wedding was sure boring.  I did like the wedding party's matching suits (even if Jane looked awkward in her yellow one), but beyond that, I was disappointed the six weren't involved in an event that would let loose all of their crazy and funny tendencies.  I would say that everyone behaved well, and there wasn't much drama (insert Derrick's voice) at all.  Even Max was just sitting around feeling sorry for himself.  What a shame.  If there wasn't a shortage of food at the reception, I would have liked to see him stuffing his face in a ridiculous way at least once (I only got to see him licking a cake wrapper or something).  What a waste.

Does anyone really care about Penny dating someone?  I don't think even her friends do since they were betting how long it would take her to mention the new guy she had met.  Speaking of the beginning of the episode, the pace of their conversation led me to believe that it would just get funnier from there.  Major let down.  Instead of finding Penny's seat at the Skype table and her later dance with a laptop to be amusing, I just felt pity for her.  She's really sad.

Jane wasn't even that aggressive when she tried to get into the wedding party.  Basically, all she had to do was "poison" the person who matched her height, and she was in.  I would have enjoyed her trying slip in there after many failed, underhanded attempts.  Disappointing.  And when she was a part of it all and had to get creative with the food, her innovations (such as the napkin as the brie) weren't that great.  I at least wanted to see someone catching onto what she was doing, and Jane running in to remedy that in some outlandish way.  Things just went smoothly for the most part.

I don't know why Penny was exploring the possibility of liking Dave.  I can't imagine a worse couple.  Even though she has suggested she might have something for him, it hasn't crossed my mind since then.  What do they have in common?  And there's no attraction between them.  There was such a connection once between Alex and Dave (it feels so long since they were almost walking down the aisle together), but even with them having slept together a few episodes ago, I have no desire to see them rekindle that flame.  But since they had a few suggestive moments and were seen holding hands, I guess next season they will be back to old tricks.  Ugh.  Good thing I won't have to see that headache for a good while.

If I had to pick my favorite thing in the story (and I have to really scrap the bottom of the bowl here), I would say that I liked when Max was performing on stage and suddenly Brad was there dancing next to him.  That was a little cute and random.  I could see Brad a part of that band too (maybe he wouldn't be as "pitchy" as Pete).  Brad and Max scenes are great.  Wish they had more this season.

I don't know if I'll want to watch this show as much next season.  The first season was so good, I couldn't wait for it to start again, but the stories certainly haven't been as consistently on point as they used to be.  I definitely will want to watch so I can see what Max's up to, but if they don't do a little better next time, I don't know if even he can continue to carry the show for me.  Let's step it up a notch in the fall (providing they are picked up again)!

"Normal" Abed And Troy Are Still Funny As Normal

Community, S03E11

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

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

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

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

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

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

Katya And Karma Are A Bitch

Archer, S03E08

After losing his maybe daddy in the last episode, Archer gains his only true love we've seen so far, Katya in return.  Krieger, through a convenient yet believable plot hole, took her body to his home lab and has been working on her ever since to make her a cyborg.  Great news for Archer, for the most part.

Archer doesn't deserve someone who can look past all of his flaws and simply love him, but somehow I want to see him happy with Katya anyway.  He has a lot of issues, but maybe if someone cared about him in the right way (not like his mother who is smothering at best), he might be a fraction less of an asshole.  I mean, someone as selfish as Archer could eventually look past the disgusting fact that his beloved could detach her vagina and put it in the sink and ask her to marry him.  I would have really liked to see him married and have Katya stay on as a regular character.  My favorite line of their short reunion is when Archer asks her to close her eyes because it felt like he was "banging taillights on a country road."

The almost wedding is interrupted when Barry crashes in to effortlessly beat the crap out of Archer with a bottle.  I hoped for a fight that Archer could actually have a chance, but with Barry made of metal, it didn't look like he could do anything.  However, Katya came to her man's rescue, and the two cyborgs started to have a pretty cool fight (cool for this show that hasn't seen much action).  We didn't get to see much of the fight because they turned off the lights so that the cyborgs would lose most of their power, and Archer could beat Barry in a more even playing field.  As he is looking for Barry, he has another dirty joke that I would have missed if not for the "phrasing" gag.

[Archer] Oh, Barry, I am coming for you.

[Guy on floor] Phrasing.

I'm really enjoying that joke now.  More than I would have thought.  I might have to use that on someone, but I doubt they will get it (if they are anything like me at first).  

Sadly, when Archer does find Barry, he is banging Katya over a desk.  I did not see that coming, but I should have.  Barry really got his revenge good, without having to necessarily kill anyone again.  Not the titillating conclusion I was hoping for, but all right, I guess.  I couldn't help but feel bad for Archer, especially because even someone like him couldn't refuse to accept Katya's happiness (she assumes she'll have it with her own kind).  As much as I liked Barry in the previous episode and he made me laugh, I didn't care for him much in this one.

At the very end, after Mallory was lording over being right and ignoring Archer's heartbreak, we see that the cyborgs hopped happily on a bus together.  But they stopped smiling and then looked awkward and possibly regretful?  Not sure how I feel about it not being the love connection that the two claimed it would be.  Even if Katya realized that she had made a mistake, I wouldn't want her to come back to Archer.  Possibly a fight between them would be cool, but no more romance.  Barry's always welcome to come back, and I'm sure he will as he is the new head of the KGB.

In the end Barry won his revenge, and Archer ended up back where he started--alone and right where Mallory predicted.  At least balance has been restored, and we can expect the same ol' Archer that love to hate.