TV Moments of Joy 3: With a Vengeance (May 14-20)
As a sidenote, we recommend Sarah’s new memoir The Bedwetter. It’s dark and funny and has some great insights into both stand-up comedy and how sitcoms work. And it’s filthy. At least one network sitcom writer’s penis appears in the book, but we’re not naming names. (OK, it’s Harris Wittels.)
2. The Good Guys – This new summer series premiered on FOX this week, and we’re already in love. Starring Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks as a pair of cops with bad reputations, it’s a fun action-comedy from Burn Notice creator Matt Nix. And what really worked about the pilot is that it’s essentially a Burn Notice plot that the cops stumble onto while tracking down a stolen humidifier. They’ve been assigned to routine investigations, and the hunt for the humidifier intersects with a surprisingly straightforward crime story involving the second greatest assassin in the world (Andrew “Mikhail from Lost” Divoff) and a crime boss who wants to look exactly like Erik Estrada. We especially enjoyed Bradley Whitford as a loose cannon who’s still coasting on his moment of glory from 25 years ago. It looks like this one’s going to be a lot of fun.
3. The Simpsons – Yeah, it was a Sideshow Bob episode. You know what are always good? Sideshow Bob episodes. This time, Bob escaped prison thanks to face-swap surgery and set about his
annual Bart-killing scheme. There was some nice continuity, with a nod to “The Five Corners”, the one spot in America where five states meet. (Including New Jersey, California, Texas, and whatever state Springfield is in.) The Simpsons is funnier than any show should be after 21 season, and this was another fine installment.
annual Bart-killing scheme. There was some nice continuity, with a nod to “The Five Corners”, the one spot in America where five states meet. (Including New Jersey, California, Texas, and whatever state Springfield is in.) The Simpsons is funnier than any show should be after 21 season, and this was another fine installment.4. The Big Bang Theory — I love a good flashback episode, like seeing Fat Monica on Friends. In this look back at when Leonard moved into Sheldon’s apartment seven years ago, we got to see that Howard once sported a Jewfro, that Raj thought Miami Vice fashion was cool in ’03 and that Sheldon actually saved Leonard’s life, while simultaneously refusing to rat him out to Homeland Security for misuse of rocket fuel. Which is also why the elevator in their building–an ongoing joke since day one–doesn’t work. The roommate agreement was classic, especially the part about the possible invention of time travel.
5. House – Dude! House and Cuddy! This will either be the greatest thing ever to happen to either of them, or a complete and utter trainwreck. Either way, we’re going to enjoy it.
6. Justified – We’re giant fans of Timothy Olyphant’s new show. Originally, we were just happy because Olyphant in a cowboy hat meant we could squint and pretend it was Deadwood. But Justified really stands on its own. It evokes the best work of series creator Elmore Leonard with quirky plotting and fast, funny character work. This week, Walton Goggins (The Shield) stole the show in his recurring role as Boyd Crowder. Boyd’s a lowlife who went to jail in the first episode after he tried to draw down on Raylan Givens, which is always a mistake. Boyd’s out of jail now, and he’s taken on a new persona as a man of God. Sort of. Basically, he’s teaching Bible study to a group of criminals and drug addicts out in the woods, and he seems to be running a protection ring in the meantime. We’re sure there’s more to the story, but it’s a blast to see somebody so dumb try to seem so sincere.
7. Glee — How did we love Glee this week? Let us count the ways! Neil Patrick Harris guest starred 
as a bitter ex-glee clubber turned school board member named Bryan Ryan. Idina Menzel was back as Vocal Adrenaline coach and–SPOILER ALERT–mother of Rachel Berry, Shelby. Both guest stars had incredible duets (NPH dueling with Matthew Morrison in “Dream On” and Idina harmonizing on “I Dreamed a Dream” with Lea Michele). There was a sweet subplot with Artie and Tina (loved the flashmob dance sequence) and further development of what is behind Jesse St. James motivation in joining New Directions, The genius is that it’s not simple sabatoge, but rather a way for Shelby to get to Rachel, who Jesse now really cares about. I love that I can’t see exactly where this is going beyond the inevitable meeting of mother & daughter next week.
as a bitter ex-glee clubber turned school board member named Bryan Ryan. Idina Menzel was back as Vocal Adrenaline coach and–SPOILER ALERT–mother of Rachel Berry, Shelby. Both guest stars had incredible duets (NPH dueling with Matthew Morrison in “Dream On” and Idina harmonizing on “I Dreamed a Dream” with Lea Michele). There was a sweet subplot with Artie and Tina (loved the flashmob dance sequence) and further development of what is behind Jesse St. James motivation in joining New Directions, The genius is that it’s not simple sabatoge, but rather a way for Shelby to get to Rachel, who Jesse now really cares about. I love that I can’t see exactly where this is going beyond the inevitable meeting of mother & daughter next week.Oh, and don’t forget NPH and Sue Sylvester having anger sex in her secret room (“like Letterman”). I’m going to go ahead and say this is one of the best episodes of the series!
8. Fringe – Fringe is maddeningly inconsistent, we’ll admit. But the two-part season finale, which took us to the Other Universe, has been all kinds of fun. We love the way that the Other Universe is just sort of randomly different – they don’t point to a specific divergence point, but there are all these weird things like Richard Nixon on the $20 bill, or the fact that they don’t know what a Driver’s License is. Also, despite being slightly ahead of us technologically, they use a lot of blimps. It’s like in the Other Universe, people aren’t concerned with getting places quickly. (As Sterling Archer put it, “Hello, Planes? This is blimps. You win. Forever.”) The lack of an overriding logic at work should be frustrating, but it’s a lot of fun. We were particularly delighted to see a cover for Red Lantern / Red Arrow in the Other Universe, a direct copy of a classic cover from our own universe, where the heroes are Green. Also, the Other Fringe Team is clearly meant to be over-the-top in their cheesy, badass dialogue, only they’re actually sort of awesome. We would totally watch a show where Anna Torv had red hair, carried a gun, and said things like “Lock and Load”.
9. Brothers and Sisters — Honestly, there wasn’t a lot of joy on ABC’s soapy family drama this week; at least not any that would be very long-lived. After yet another Walker family dinner (this time called to have everyone “taste test” the menu for Scotty & Saul’s new restaurant), the family was caravanning home to Pasadena when tragedy struck. A truck cut off the car carrying Robert & Kitty, who were then struck by the cars carrying the rest of the fam, except for Justin & Rebecca, who had been the last to leave. The ensuing five minutes (the last of the season) showed a massive wreck, and some pretty bad injuries to Holly and Robert. Army medic Justin was trying to figure out who needed help, and was sent to help Holly by Robert, who was motionless and sporting a pretty gaping head wound. He said he could “wait for the ambulance”. Clearly, he knew he couldn’t be helped in time.
The acting in this death scene by both Rob Lowe and Calista Flockhart was touchingly realistic and completely heartbreaking. It’s too bad that Lowe’s character had to leave the show in a casket, but at least he went out on that dramatic high. Word is that next season will fast forward one year, meaning that the restaurant should be open, Scotty & Kevin will have a new baby, Kitty will be farther along in her grieving process (meaning she can date!) and Uncle Saul will be dealing with what was apparently an HIV Positive diagnosis. Should be a great reset for the series.
10. NBC Comedy Finales – You know what? We could break this up over four separate items and pad the list, but that would be really obvious, even if we tried to spread them out… like we’ve done every other week. But let’s be real – that is a strong comedy block.
Community stayed true to its meta nature by bringing as many of the minor characters as possible into their season finale. This means that we got to see John Oliver and John Michael Higgins again, as well as the Dalmatians. And we learned that Pierce calls the women in the study group “Big Boobs, Medium Boobs, and Black Boobs”. While it took a while to find its footing, Community has been firing on all cylinders and we’re glad to see it’s coming back.
We’ve been talking about this all year, but Parks and Recreation may just be the best comedy on
TV. And we were a little nervous about Rob Lowe and Adam Scott joining the cast, if only because the characters are working so perfectly together. But these guys are hilarious – “I have a resting heart rate of 28 beats per minute. The doctors who studied me said my heard could pump gasoline into a jet plane.” It was a near-perfect season finale, with every character getting at least one killer line. We saw April and Andy’s first kiss, we got to know Tom’s girlfriend (Natalie Morales from the much-missed MiddleMan), and Leslie shared a nice moment with Mark. Oh, and Ron Swanson got a massage from Rob Lowe and advocated selling zoo animals to cosmetics labs.
TV. And we were a little nervous about Rob Lowe and Adam Scott joining the cast, if only because the characters are working so perfectly together. But these guys are hilarious – “I have a resting heart rate of 28 beats per minute. The doctors who studied me said my heard could pump gasoline into a jet plane.” It was a near-perfect season finale, with every character getting at least one killer line. We saw April and Andy’s first kiss, we got to know Tom’s girlfriend (Natalie Morales from the much-missed MiddleMan), and Leslie shared a nice moment with Mark. Oh, and Ron Swanson got a massage from Rob Lowe and advocated selling zoo animals to cosmetics labs.It was a weird way to end the season for The Office – while almost every previous season has ended with a big moment for Jim and Pam, they hardly appeared at all this week. Instead, it was a true ensemble piece as Kathy Bates returned to investigate who leaked the story about the printer fires. Toby, tragically underused this season, gets a few fantastic bits, and we learned that Andy Bernard’s family were the villains in a Woody Guthrie song. Plus Dwight tries his hand at real estate, Ryan’s “Woof” is still cracking us up, and we got what might be the setup for an amazing arc next season.
Finally, 30 Rock wrapped up another excellent season with a goofy outing featuring three weddings, a pregnancy, several break-ups, a promotion, a firing, and Fart Doctors. It’s always amazing how much plot and character development they can fit in, while still keeping the jokes fast, funny, and surreal. Matt Damon showed up as Liz’s perfect man (he hates people too!), Will Forte dressed like Cher. And half of Cher. While we’re not going to give away any specifics, let’s just say they wrapped up the season the only way they could – with a shirtless Tracy Morgan.
Normally we’d say “That’s it for this week”, but technically, it isn’t. We’re going to have our first-ever weekend posting with the final Lost Pre-Game. This weekend, spunkybean will not sleep! We may take a break to go see MacGruber, but we will definitely not sleep!
We’ll see you back here for another week full of TV Joy.
