TV Reviews for Oct 10-14

Community-Basic Rocket Science: B+

The whole hour on NBC with 30 Rock and Community was excellent this week. S.A.N.D.E.R.S. and the space simulator was a bit unbelievable but once you got past that, the episode was hilarious. I also didn't really get why Annie was suddenly this really disloyal character that is trying to transfer (again) - it didn't mesh with what the character has done in the past. I loved Pierce's delusional behavior on the KFC simulator and the Dean's creepiness was also great. Some of the better lines in the episode:

- "Pierce. You're talking to an Atari cartridge. Sit down."

- "Reroute to what?"

- "They thought I was doing product integration for KFC"

- "Here. Right next to the truck stop with three thumbs."

30 Rock-Live Show: A

That was a lot of fun. I loved the enthusiastic crowd and the callbacks to many of show’s earlier episodes. Jon Hamm was great in his SNL style mock commercial and the “Dr” Spaceman character was as always just terrific. The cutaway/flashback to a “young” Jack was also good stuff with the male model type guy dancing. Liz with her semi-racist jokes to Jonathan was also hilarious (as was Elaine from Seinfeld as Liz in some of the scenes). I thought the intro song by the Canadian guy on the west coast show was delivered really well and much, much better than Jenna “singing”. The Fox News segment was awesome; the caption under Tracy’s Obama – “Kenyan liar”. Kenneth like he normally is was kind of awful and I guess a complaint would be that nothing really happened but those are really minor quibbles. This was literally the most enjoyable 30 Rock in years. Some of the better lines in the episode:

- "My memory has Seinfeld money."

- “Hello, I’m “Dr” Leo Spaceman.”

- “Wow, you were very fit back then.”

- “My shirt is accidentally falling off”

- “Please take off your rings”

- “Surprise, I was totally in on it. It was expensive!”

Running Wilde - The Junior Affair: B+

"Don't you do a f*^#ing thing". The best episode of Running Wilde's run so far; it was heads and shoulders above any of the three prior episodes. There were several things that worked really well like the New York gangster gag, the Alan Alda impression, and the mix-up with the Andy Richter character. I though the Chevy Volt product integration was a bit ham handed and seemed overly contrived - I understand that they may have to use product placement but they should really try to be subtle about it. The first half of the episode was rather boring and the episode only picked up in about the last 10 minutes.

Dexter-Practically Perfect: C+

I'm fairly sure Dexter will never be as great as it was in Seasons 1 & 2 and I have come to the realization that last season was not really that great. Aside from John Lithgow's Trinity the show was tremendously boring and they waste time focusing on what their terrible supporting characters are doing. Dexter is a great show when we watch Michael C Hall - it’s a boring third-rate crime procedural when the show decides to focus on Angel or Quinn or anyone else in the office. The great issue of Season 5 is introduced at the end of the episode when a woman watches Dexter kill a guy. My guess is that Dexter is going to have to grapple with whether to kill her and try to find a way to make sure she doesn't tell anyone about what she saw. The entire scene with the nanny interview was cringe-worthy and totally unnecessary.

Modern Family-Strangers on a Treadmill: A

I though last week's Modern Family was as good as the show could get, but I was wrong. This week's episode was hilarious, enjoyable, and somewhat dramatic (which is a nice change of pace for Modern Family). It still bothers me that they never have a story go on for more than a single episode and that there are no real minor recurring characters (like a Newman in Seinfeld or a Todd Packer in the Office). I thought the story lines for each individual family were exceptional this week (with the minor exception of the whole sister's argument. I really cannot stand the older daughter.) The reaction on Jay's face when the couple are dancing and he thinks that its supposed to be a father-daughter dance was hilarious. Some of the better lines in the episode:

- "You just throw them an Obama steak and run to the golf course."

- “Slow down there, muchacho.”

How I Met Your Mother - Subway Wars: C-

Not really a whole lot to say other than this was yet another disappointing outing for How I Met Your Mother. The only thing that really stuck with me was the Bing.com advertisements all through the episode. I think HIMYM is now approaching Office levels of mediocrity.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia-Mac and Charlie: White Trash: A-

Mac and Charlie’s story line was A+ material – there wasn’t a weak moment in their half of the episode. Frank’s disgusting behavior was totally on par for his character and was also pretty solid. Dennis and Dee are really unlikable characters (more so than the rest of the cast in my opinion) and their douchey quest to prove that they are better than the rest of the gang wasn’t that funny. The elitist pool guard/worker was one of the better minor characters the show has had. Some of the better lines in the episode:

- “Membership is currently at capacity”

- “Dude, they will always be at capacity for us”

- "Send a little something sweet his way. We’ll sweeten this”

- “I bartered it fringe style with that guy over there”

- “This is a very specific sect of lower class. This is like felon class”

- “You gotta be kidding me, he’s Chinese. His English is pretty good though.”

- “I’m sorry man, he’s white trash”