Family Of Quitters

American Dad, S08E08

Francine convinced the family to try to stick to something to the end for once by giving up what they couldn't for their New Year's resolutions for Lent instead.  They were motivated to keep their commitments because Bullock had agreed to cut off one of their fingers if they broke their promises.  When it became too hard to keep it up, they tried to make each other fail so that they could end their Lent promises.  Roger also went on a quest to find a girl with impressive breasts that he had met at his Mardi Gras party by trying to match a nipple to a tassel he found.

I sort of liked that the family was acting collectively.  They never seem to have much in common, but as far as giving up their promises, the Smith family acts as one.  It's sort of sad the way that all of them are failures, especially since their so-called vices weren't that bad.  But I guess if you're so used to giving up so easily even staying away from popcorn for 40 days can seem like an impossible challenge.

It's also sad that the family was acting as a single unit only to set up Francine to fail.  In fact, they blamed her for having Bullock hunting after one of their fingers in the first place.  That was so messed up.  But the thing that I got me thinking the most was why the paramedics or coroners or whatever didn't notice that Stan and the others were just playing around.  I know that Stan sometimes uses his connections to get the authorities and such to fake deaths, but I wasn't convinced that was what had happened.  I dunno.  I feel like they should have made that fact obvious if that was what was going on.

Anyway, my favorite part of the whole story was when the family was having movie night and Stan was doing his best not to yell at Steve who was taking forever to find a movie on TV:

Steve, please, kindly, please find a movie and stop flipping channels before I wring the last breath out of your very, very, very annoying body.  Thank you very much--thanks.

I love seeing Stan try to stifle his rage with an overcompensation of politeness.  It just sounded so strained and unnatural that it was funny. Later, when he was able to yell, I liked that he did so retroactively:

Stop flipping channels yesterday!

People hardly yell at people for something in the past like that, so it was pretty funny.  Just wish there were more funny moments.

At the end, it was almost funny that Bullock seemed to vanish into thin air, save his cloak, but when they pushed it aside, they saw that Bullock had just ducked down into a trap door he had made in their floor.  It was sort of an awkward moment to end on, but it sort of worked for me.

In the side story about Roger, I did think his twist on Cinderella was original, but I knew that it wasn't going to end with some beautiful girl in his carriage.  I sort of thought maybe he mistakenly thought a man was a woman, but it was even more of a twist when it turned out to be a cow.  For Roger that's not too surprising.  It was certainly silly and good enough for a side story to distract the viewers from all that finger-cutting madness.  It also taught me what a "pastie" was.  Never heard that term before.

I guess this episode wasn't bad.  I did like that we got to see the family sort of bonding over their own shortcomings.  It reminds me of when they were all falling apart because they didn't have Dr. Penguin to hide all of their lies.  These sort of stories remind you that despite all of their differences, there is a strong bond between all of them, whether it's a tendency to lie or quit.  I wouldn't say they are the funniest or best stories, but they are interesting regardless.

Mannequin Love

Bob's Burgers, S03E09

Bob was left a storage unit from a deceased relative and found a man named Chet living there.  The family took him in until Christmas and got a lot of business thanks to Chet's talent for making eye-catching window displays.  The family was forced to help find Chet's mannequin wife when Bob refused to believe's Chet's story about being a mannequin and the town was expecting a final Christmas Eve display.

First of all, I was really reminded in this story about how broke Bob is.  He couldn't even afford to give Tina a dry-erase board, the most financially feasible of his kids' Christmas requests.  I think sometimes I forget how poor they are until something like this makes it obvious.  In the end when the kids were happy to get things like exit signs and shoe sizers, you can really see how they are low on funds but imaginative enough to appreciate such meager gifts.  The family may be annoying, but at least they're not spoiled.  After all, they gave up their Christmas money so a crazy man could have his "wife" back.

Second, I'm glad that Bob at least didn't believe Chet's story.  It would be cool if he was an actual mannequin (and possibly explain why he is so good at creating displays), but people just tend to be insane in the town where Bob lives.  I sort of wished that there would have been some good evidence to prove that Chet was just crazy, so that Bob wouldn't look like a jerk.  I mean, why does he have to humor the guy?  Yes, he was helping their business tremendously, but surely that kind of behavior has to be destructive.  Bob was trying to help him, as Chet had helped Bob.

Third, I sort of liked Chet's displays for some reason.  I guess it was because the kids got involved and were forced to freeze-frame in a holiday-themed pictures.  My favorite was when they were elves.  I guess the kids just looked cute.  Then again, when Chet was depressed about Nadine and made this horrific scene of a disemboweled snowman and reindeer below an elf that had hung itself, I really loved it too.  I don't know if I could technically call it a display since they never used that one.  Still, as sick as it was, it was pretty good.  Especially the ketchup bottle squirting to make it look like blood coming out of the snowman's neck.  My least favorite was the nativity scene because it turned out to be a "love-triangle" fight and a make-out session with a head.  The latter was especially gross.  I don't mind if the guy wants to love an inanimate object, but no one should have to watch him actually kiss it.  I mean, it's a little funny he was doing that while dressed as Joseph and the mannequin dressed as Mary, but not more so than it was gross.

My favorite joke in this story was when Chet kept pointing out that Bob and Linda were loud whisperers.  They also needed to back up a bit if they were going to talk to someone because both times Chet mentioned this, they weren't that far from him.  I also thought it was sort of funny when Bob was yelling at the kids to stay when Linda tried to make them go so she could scold Bob for hurting Chet's feelings.  Linda won in the end, but the kids were at odds at which parent they should listen to for a while.  Plus, I just like H. Jon Benjamin yelling sometimes.

I would say I liked this episode, but I think I was mostly annoyed that Bob was treated as heartless because he wouldn't believe a ridiculous story.  Still, I liked the displays Chet made and the fact that the kids showed that they could be selfless to help someone.  If anything else, at least this episode was different.  You don't see many Christmas stories about mannequins, I guess.

Love Is As Real As Black Santa

New Girl, S02E11

Jess got the others to hang out with her at multiple parties, the last night they would be all together before the holidays started.  She unexpectedly ran into Sam at the first party and tried to avoid him while he tried to convince her to take him back.  Nick had a hard time adjusting to Angie's wild and fearless style.  Schmidt and Cece argued about how they had ended things after Schmidt had told her he loved her.  Winston had trouble hearing after he got a cranberry in his ear.

I was just as surprised as Jess to see Sam at the first party the group went to.  I just never thought we'd see him again.  I was a little hopeful for the two because while Sam isn't Nick, he and Jess did make a cute couple.  Also, I felt bad for Jess who put her heart out on the line and got shot down.  It was nice to see Sam pursuing her to the point it almost seemed like stalking her.

My favorite thing about the drama between Sam and Jess was when Jess pretended to be unavailable by using Winston as her new lover:

[Jess] I'm in love.  

[Sam] What?

[Jess] With Winston.

[Sam] What?

[Jess] We've lain together.

[Winston] No, yeah--I mean, I dunno how it happened.  It just got stuck up there so far so quickly.

[Jess] The relationship.

[Winston] You know, sometimes when we're hanging out it can get a little rough.

[Jess] Oh, boy does it.

[Winston] Yeah.

[Sam] Oh, well, I didn't know that, so...

[Winston] What's going on?  I feel like I'm missing something.

 I liked that Sam actually bought that story and confessed to Winston that he thought Winston was his biggest competition with Jess living with three guys.  Apparently "Metrosexual Jones" and "Sweatshirt Guy" didn't intimidate him in the least.  I love how he not only counted out Schmidt and Nick, but gave them those funny nicknames.  Jess might have gotten away with fooling Sam if Winston hadn't realized what was going and did the least convincing breakup speech ever.  He was way too dramatic, as if he was in some kind of ghetto soap opera, and even called her a honkey.  Really, Winston?  But I knew that if Sam had any kind of brains, Winston's little show would definitely tell him that he and Jess were only pretending.

I have no idea why, but when Jess almost got pulled over and was pouring her guts out to this kindly-looking, bearded old man, it was touching when he said that he believed her.  He just told her that sometimes people tell the truth and let her go off.  That guy wasn't Santa Claus, but he was super nice and made Jess believe again.  I think Jess needed some kindness to restore her faith.

The part when the whole gang went to the hospital was sort of dumb, even with them all singing badly so that they could pretend to be a choir.  However, I did like when Angie showed her boobs and Nick had to pull away Schmidt from looking.  Then Winston casually came back for a look and that really made it funny.

I don't know how much I love Nick and Angie together.  I do agree with Jess that she could be good for him, though, because he is a chicken and Angie's bravery might rub off on him.  I did like when he confessed a lot of his flaws to her like being poor, having written a terrible zombie novel, and being obsessed with karate.  His lap dance after that was just embarrassing!  It was like he was about to take a dump on her or something, the way he was pushing out his butt.  But that scene was made better when Schmidt came over to show Angie how it was done and Nick started slapping Schmidt's dumb ass.  I really think that Schmidt would be a dancer if he ever got fired from his job.

Also, when Nick and Angie got exposed making out in the sleigh, Nick shouted out, "This is my nightmare" for the second time.  The last time was when he was being attacked by all the monsters and ghouls in the haunted house.  He has a lot of holiday-related nightmares.

There was a really good line, too, from Nick in this episode after he had insulted Angie about being a stripper and she had stormed off:

Nick Miller, turning lemonade into lemons since 1981.

I am totally going to steal that phrase as my own.  I just have to change the year because I wasn't even born yet.  Haha.

For all the bickering and cold attitude between Cece and Schmidt, I think that they were a lot more civil than they could have been.  Schmidt was really grumpy and a big Scrooge (which that part probably had nothing to do with Cece, though), but Cece was trying her best to be friendly.  She could have been really angry that he seemed to be unreliable when it was most important for her to know that he was serious.  Still, with all of her good will attempts, I think it's weird she would give him a present to thank him for telling her he loved her.  I don't know.  I just don't think that a gift, no matter how thoughtful, will easily mend Schmidt's heart.  But he accepted it because obviously his love for her is true.  I mean, he wouldn't be so hurt about how things had turned out if he didn't.  I'm glad they ended up getting on friendlier terms again, but I'm dying to know what's going to happen with Cece and her arranged partner.  That hasn't been addressed yet, and I hope that it will when the show returns next month.

With all this other drama going on with the couples, it's interesting to me that Winston was the one who was the funniest to me.  As soon as he got that cranberry in his ear and kept talking so damn loud, he had me laughing every time he opened his mouth.  He really started to sound like some old man who had gone deaf in an ear, especially when he had rolled up a piece of paper or something and put it to his ear to hear better.  Winston is usually kind of quiet, so when he raises his voice, it's hilarious.  Also, he kept ruining things for Jess.  First, he basically screamed out her location when she was trying to hide behind Cece and Schmidt, and then he spoke so loud in the closet (or bathroom?) Jess and he were hiding in and revealed her location again.  I really loved that, especially when he was too deaf to realize that Jess was using him as a fake boyfriend.

This was a great episode, especially for a Christmas story.  They managed to fit in Santa without it being corny or unfunny.  It was really cute how they all believed in Santa at that moment and how it helped bring Jess to her senses about giving Sam another chance.  I think that Sam is a decent stand-in for Nick until Jess or Nick realize they're meant for each other.  I'm anxious to see who Cece is going to date (or marry, I guess) in place of accepting Schmidt's love.  I know it will be funny if Schmidt can come between that arrangement somehow.  Nick will probably become a little less chicken if Angie sticks around, but I'm still not over the moon about him being with her.  Winston, as usual, unexpectedly brought me the most laughs.  That cranberry in his ear is one of the best things that could have happened to him.

Best Parent Trap Since Parent Trap

New Girl, S02E08

Jess' parents joined her and her friends for Thanksgiving, and she tried one last time to get them back together.  Schmidt fought with his cousin in a manly competition made by Winston for the right to be the true "Schmidt."

Um, I feel like this episode just kept getting better and better.  I had an easy time ignoring what Schmidt and cousin were doing for the most part because Jess' scheme and Nick's role in it was just so wonderfully funny.  I didn't expect that I was going to love the story of Jess' parents making their first appearance but Jamie Lee Curtis and Rob Reiner completely drew me in and had me wishing they could be around for every holiday.  My favorite moment with her parents was when there was a flashback of one of Jess' many attempts to parent trap her parents.  She made them think she was in danger so she could lock them in a room with romantic music.  I loved Bob's response:

Oh, damn it, Jess, that’s the second time today.

I cannot believe that she tried that many times to get her parents back together and was still trying to do so as a grown woman.  It was adorably naive, but not at all out of character for Jess.  It's amazing that her parents haven't given up listening to anything she says when she's been scheming for so long.  I would have always assumed that Jess was doing another parent trap any time both of her parents were involved in anything.

Probably my favorite thing in this story was that Nick revealed that he was a younger version of Jess' dad.  I laughed when she hinted that they would get along:

Nick, you’re gonna love my dad so much.  He’s so unhappy.

But I had no idea that when Bob and Nick were sitting on the couch talking sports that it would be like looking at Nick's future.  Their similarity wasn't just funny, but it also sort of gave another reason why Jess probably likes Nick in the first place.  It's not uncommon for girls to sort of like a man that reminds them of their father a little bit, and Nick certainly fits that category.

There was another indication that Nick probably likes Jess more than he even knows because Nick was getting crazily attracted to Joan within just a few minutes of pretending to flirt with her.  When Nick couldn't stop himself from sort of hitting on Jess' mother, I was laughing so hard.  It was definitely my second favorite part of the story.  It was a little weird, but I easily got past it thinking that Nick likes that kind of woman, which is roughly the same kind of woman that Jess is.  Plus, it was just cute to see him sort of falling for an older lady.  If I didn't like Jess the best, I would have said that Nick should have gone for Joan.

Lastly, I like that they poked a little fun at Twilight.  I mean, Nick basically created the same story without having any idea that it had already been made with vampires.  So to me, that doesn't say much about the complexity of Twilight if a moron like Nick can write the same thing.  I just love that Bob was there to tell him that his story had already been done (and it's so like Nick to not have heard of Twilight at all, but weird that he would enjoy writing such a romantic story).

The Schmidt versus Schmidt story was kind of dumb, but it had its good moments.  All of those were about Winston.  It was kinda funny that the last battle came down to kissing Winston, but I liked best when Winston had them doing a wheelbarrow:

[Cousin] All day. I can do this all day, Winston.
[Schmidt] I got all day, too!
[Winston] Hey, how long can you do this for?
[Cousin] I can do this all day!
[Schmidt] Yeah, I got all day, too!
[Cousin] Winston!
[Winston] Why are you yelling at me?

I don't know why but when they were yelling his name is was really funny.  Later, I liked how when emotions were bubbling over with Jess thinking her parent trap had finally worked when it hadn't and all the other issues at the table, Winston was the only one concentrating on the untouched dinner:

When can we start eating?

And somehow that was just as funny as when he very softly called out:

Turkey.

I just liked that he was so calmly, but sadly calling out to the food that Jess was angrily tossing into the sink.  It was kinda cute.


I don't think I would have changed anything in this episode--it's definitely in my list of favorites of all time.  It's certainly one of the best Thanksgiving stories that I've seen on TV lately.  I like that there was some hints of why Jess and Nick would make a great couple as well as plenty of laughs.  There was little food shown, but I don't mind that at all.  Seeing this sort of makes me hate the holidays a little less.