Modern Family: Phil on Wire

There are so many great characters on Modern Family, it's hard to choose one who is my favorite. They definitely have one of the strongest ensemble But if I really had to choose, it would come down to Phil or Luke and then I'd refuse to narrow it down any further. They're both such great characters and it was wonderful to see them paired up tonight in an episode, that maybe wasn't as funny as Dude Ranch last week, but still had lots of great moments, many coming from Luke and Phil who begin the episode by watching a documentary about a tightrope walker.

"Seeing that weird, wonderful little man up there pursuing his dream of walking on a tightrope made me think maybe I could pursue my dream... of walking on a tightrope".

And with that, Phil sets in motion his plot for the episode, assisted by an eager Luke who unbeknownst to everyone has obtained a large stash of junk food from Mitchell (who is going on a juice fast with Cameron. More on that later.) and is on a big sugar high ("There was a lot of chocolate in that bag"). He begins by walking it while on the ground (and he only falls a couple times), but is unable to do it when it's slightly higher. It takes some wisdom from Luke to make him realize that maybe he's only falling because he knows he can fall. So he tries it from seven feet up and pulls it off.

Meanwhile Alex and Hayley wind up in the same math class and hate it. Claire tries to convince them to tough it out, but she only causes them to agree to Alex giving Hayley answers in exchange for a month at the cool table. She also has a couple run-ins with the parking officer at the school and doesn't react well to them at all. As she tells them she's disappointed that they ruined a chance to better themselves and be super Dunphy's, they see Phil on the wire and Claire sees it as Phil teaching them a lesson by actions (teaching Alex to relax and Hayley to challenge herself). As Phil puts it though:

"I kept thinking if I could do this... then I'd have two ways to get across my yard". Oh Phil, never change.

Meanwhile Mitchell is helping Cameron on his juice fast, but is concerned because he's been invited to his boss' fundraiser party and Cameron doesn't act well on diets. (stages he goes through involve dispair and rage. Rage leads to a great gag where Cameron bumps his head on a cabinet and rips off the cabinet door in anger. He gets farther than he's ever gotten, but Mitchell has no idea what's gonna come next When they get to the party, Cam is irritable, but it's Mitchell who winds up having an emotional breakdown as his boss tells his story of a sea lion he became attached to who got caught in some ocean garbage and disappeared. This leads to Mitchell racing to the ocean and Cam having to calm his down. Which they do, but they get caught in a wave. Needless to say, they don't make a good impression.

Jay and Gloria also have a story where Gloria is angry that Jay is paying more attention to the dog than her. This is a small story and there's not much to it, but it still has some good jokes in it (Like Gloria wanting to know why Stella is allowed in the bed, but Manny isn't when he has nightmares. Cut to Manny on the floor wanting Jay to answer the question.)

All in all, another solid episode of Modern Family. If they keep this up, I predict much, much more emmy's for them.

Grade: Awesome! (Good)

Memorable Moments

-Jay: "They're not real cupcakes. They're doggies treats in the form of cupcakes". Gloria: "You should've told Manny that before he ate one." Jay: "Come on! His coat never looked shinier!"
-Phil: "Tightrope shoes. Got them at an estate sale. Only worn once". Claire: "That's not a ringing endorsement Phil."
-Luke: "The other day, Uncle Mitchell brought a bag of junk food over so he and Cam could do a jew fast". Phil: "You mean Juice fast." Luke: "I'm pretty sure they said Jew".
-Gloria: "Gloria: Where I come from, men cherish women. It goes wife, mistress, dog. Dog always at the bottom".

Suburgatory: Pilot

Slowly but surely, ABC has been building up a strong comedy night. They started with Modern Family, Cougar Town and The Middle a couple years ago (The latter two shows have improved from their beginnings) and last midseason, found a bit of a surprise hit in Happy Endings. This season, they've got what looks to be another strong addition to their comedy line-up with Suburgatory, a show that I was expecting to watch tonight and review tomorrow (or Friday.), but found the pilot early and can post a review now! Thank you internet.

Suburgatory is a story about children and parents. It's also a fish-out-of-water story. But instead of the typical "small-town-girl in big city set-up", it's about a New York girl, Tessa (played cleverly by Jane Levy, whose new to the acting business, I do believe) who is forced by her protective single father, George to move to the suburbs after he discovers a box of condoms in her room (She insists they don't belong to her and that's probably true). So now they're in what Tessa calls Suburgatory, with lots of cheerful neighbors and plastic moms. The pilot follows Tessa and her dad through the first couple days or so, as they meet the neighbors, and of course have a bit of a falling out before patching things up. All throughout Tessa provides an internal monologue that gives her thoughts on the situation.

This is a solid pilot with a bunch of interesting characters. Besides Tessa and George, there's George's old college friend Noah (played by the great Alan Tudyk) who has embraced the suburban lifestyle, Dallas, one of their moms who takes a liking to George and who George thinks could be a good female figure for Tessa, Dalia, Dallas' mean girl daughter who is Tessa's "buddy" during her first day of school (like a guide. One of the best lines in the pilot is when she informs Tessa: "Buddies are not your friends".), and Lisa, a shy girl who lashes out at Tessa when she initially tries to befriend her, but later is shown to be more stuck in Suburgatory than Tessa (we also glimpse Lisa's ultra-cheery suburban mom and her popular brother). Jane Levvy gets the most to do in the pilot as Tessa and gives a great wit to all her sarcastic asides, and has a good moment at the end when we see her realize that maybe everything's not all bad.

The show of course draws comparisons to Mean Girls and also Juno. This is to be expected and the show has definitely given me enough confidence to think that this'll be more than Mean Girls but on TV (though that wouldn't be the worse thing. That movie was pretty good.). All in all, Suburgatory is off to a pretty good start. If you have the opportunity to check it out tonight, do it. I won't talk about it every week (it's usually harder for me to watch TV on Wednesdays) but I will keep watching and talk about it from time to time. ABC's Wednesday comedy block is just getting more and more promising and I'm excited.

Rating: Awesome! (Good)

Memorable Moments

-My favorite episode came during Tessa's tour when Dalia points out the one international student in school, Malik.
-Everyone in the suburbs thinks Tessa is a lesbian because of her combat boots.
-Good use of the smash-cut. Dallas tells George "Everyone loves Dalia", where we go to Tessa's narration saying "I hated Dalia".
-As far as the supporting cast goes, Noah and Dalia are probably my favorites. Noah is really enthusiastic and kind of over-the-top and Dalia sounds bored and disinterested all the time (plus she's always texting).

New Girl: Kryptonite

Once upon a time there was an actor named Damon Wayans, Jr. He was in a midseason series called Happy Endings, which was pretty funny, but since there was no guarantee it would get a second season, he did another pilot for a show called New Girl. Which got picked up to become a series (and just got a full season pick-up plus 2 extra episodes). And then, Happy Endings got surprisingly picked up for a second season, so Damon Wayans, Jr. couldn't carry on with New Girl. But since his character worked good in the pilot, the producers of New Girl decided not to change anything and instead write him out of the show in episode 2. So, tonight we're introduced to Winston, whose name is on the apartment lease and who Coach had been subletting from, while he was abroad. Does he work as well? Well, it's hard to say because he didn't get that much focus this week, but he seems solid. As for the rest of this episode, it's also pretty solid and keeps up the quality from the pilot.

The main plot of the episode is simple. Jess hasn't got much of her stuff back from her ex-boyfriend's house yet, but when she breaks the TV throwing a ball around, her roommates insist she go confront him and get him back. Of course, her first attempt to do so winds up with her driving his new girlfriend Rochelle to the airport (and she's picking her up the following week too) so the boys and Cece help her confront him. Meanwhile Schmidt tries to justify having the biggest room, now that the original owner of the room, Winston has returned.

Both of the stories work well, though the climax of the A-story, where the roommates rush to Jess' defense is pretty similar to the climax of the pilot (except instead of singing, they put on wacky hats, which is funnier. And Schmidt slaps Spencer, whilst wearing a thumb ring in the funniest scene of the episode). Zooey Deschanel is as adorkable as ever as Jess (though toned down a little from the pilot.) and you really sympathise with her as she tries to stand up to her "Kryptonite" (Spencer, hence the title of the episode). Meanwhile from the roommates, Schmidt is quickly emerging as the next funniest character, with his plot about trying to outsmart Winston and keep the big room (but in the end, he convinces himself that he's being tricked into taking the big room and so he takes the small room) is possibly even funnier than the A-story. As is the bit at the end, when he leaves with the rest of the roommates, when Jess' movie selection to watch on her functioning (but slightly broken) big TV, only to quickly come back and request Curly Sue.

So New Girl remains an entertaining watch on Tuesday nights. Nick, Winston and Cece could still go for some fleshing out as characters, and hopefully every episode doesn't end with the roommates coming to Jess' defense, but it's still solid and I could watch 22 more episodes of this at least.

Grade: Awesome! (Good)

Memorable Moments

-"We seem like the same size". Part of Jess' first bad impression on Winston.
-"That's not fair. She might be a really nice ho."
-"Rochelle? Fancy name. 'Rochelle'. Like a mermaid".
-Jess tries to get a free TV from the pawnshop when her first attempt to confront Spencer fails. But a smiley face doesn't equal 550 dollars apparently.
-"Schmidt happens!"

Glee: I Am Unicorn

It's not uncommon that Glee has a plot point that's so absurd and implausible, no other show could pull it off. Of course, sometimes even Glee can't pull it off (season 1 fake baby plot, I'm looking at you.) but usually it can because of it's funny. Tonight we find that Sugar Motta (who I'm still loving) has gotten her father to bribe Figgins (with a very large cheque) into starting a second show choir where she is the star, led by the best show choir director in the country: Shelby Cocoran. It's a ridiculous way to bring Shelby back into the fold if you think about it, but it's also really funny so it works. So now Shelby is back, and with her comes memories of season 1 in another good episode.

Shelby's return also allows for more spotlight to Quinn this time around, who only got a couple of scenes last episode. Quinn is still off being the bad girl and hanging with the Skanks when Sue recruits her to be the focus of her newest campaign video, showing how the arts took everything she had. She then is taken by Puck to see Shelby, who tells her that she wants her to be part of Beth's life, but only if she cleans up her act. This only makes Quinn angry but she geets a couple wake-up calls of sorts throughout the episode. First, Quinn does Sue's video and when she confronts Will to blame him in the video climax, Will reprimands her in a great speech about how she only cares about herself, how she always blames the club when it's only been good to her and how she needs to grow up. He even references the time she lived with Mercedes. Then, after Puck (who has seen Beth in a great, tender scene) tells Quinn she has to get her act together for Beth's sake and after a heart-to-heart with Shelby (who went through something similar to Quinn where she gave up Rachel) she dyes her hair back to normal and rejoins Glee. But Quinn has an ulterior motive: she wants Beth back and will do anything to make this happen. Well that should be interesting.

Meanwhile, Kurt is following through with his pledge to run for class president, with help from Brittany who sees him as a unicorn (in a good way. It means he's good and special.). At the same time, auditions for West Side Story (directed by Emma, Beiste, and student director Artie as Will is busy elsewhere) are underway and Kurt hopes to be Tony. So he auditions with a Barbara Streisand number (He got permission from the lady herself, Rachel Berry first.) in a very elaborate number involving him moving around a rafter and showing off his Sai skills (which Chris Colfer actually has, as shown the last time he was on Conan.). He does a good job, but when spying in on the directors meeting, he hears that they're worried he's not masculine enough for Tony. And then he finds his class president posters are pink and feature unicorns, even though he wanted to scale it back. So he gets Rachel and auditions again with a scene from Romeo and Juliet, which he tries to do in a manly way, but gets more laughs then anything. He's discouraged, until his father tells him that he's gotta embrace who he is and write his own plays, if the roles out there aren't suited for him. So he embraces the pink poster design, only to find that Brittany has decided to run for class president too (as encouraged by Santana), because she's also a unicorn. And then Blaine tries out for West Side Story and is asked to read for Tony. So that should also be interesting.

There's other minor storylines that come into play too. Rachel tries out for Maria, but may face tough competition from Mercedes (who's auditioning next week). Will runs a booty camp with Mike Chang, for the weaker dancers as part of his new focus on making New Direction's winners. Finn contemplates a future of working for Burt and is encouraged by Rachel to shoot higher, as he could do more. His dancing also improves. Sue becomes the front runner in the race for congress and Will, Emma, and Beiste begin thinking of someone who could challenge her. These all work to varying degrees, but also make the episode feel kind of cluttered and could've maybe been saved for later.

All in all, this episode of Glee continues my optimism that season 3 will be a step up from season 2. There's interesting storylines (and continuing storylines, which were lacking in season 2) and I'm even starting to like Kurt again. The promise of Rachel versus Mercedes and Brittany versus Kurt makes me excited for next week (plus my favorite character, Mike Chang is getting a storyline.). If Glee can stay this consistent, it'll become as special as it once was. Like a unicorn. And that would be great.

Rating: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

-One quibble. Shelby implies she put Rachel up for adoption, when she was hired to carry her by Rachel's dads. Hopefully, this was just a slip-up and not Glee altering it's whole continuity.

-Actually another quibble. Blaine is established as a junior, which I don't mind because it means Darren Criss will be sticking around, but now him getting all those solos as a sophmore (in a glee club with stricker rules about who gets solos) seems unrealistic. Then again, it is Glee.

-Only three songs tonight! There hasn't been fewer than four songs since early season 1. I didn't mind this though, and all songs tonight were solid.

-Favorite song of the episode: Something's Coming, because I'm a big Darren Criss fan. Didn't have a least favorite.

-"What's the capital of Ohio. Brittany?" "O."

-"You dress like you own a magical chocolate factory". Oh, Burt Hummel.

-"I'm a unicorn too. Maybe even a bicorn"

-Also, the promo for next week looked amazing. I was chilled, but that may be because Coldplay's "Fix You" reminds me of one of those sad Scrubs endings.

How I Met Your Mother: Ducky Tie

Victoria came into Ted's life midway into season 1 as his first serious non-Robin love interest. If the show had gotten cancelled after 13 episodes, she probably would've been the mother. But the show continued on past episode 13, she went to Germany on a two-year fellowship and her relationship with Ted ended when she caught Ted about to cheat on her with Robin (Though to be fair, he was going to break up with her anyways. He just couldn't wait for her call.). And that was the last we ever saw of her. Until she returned last week catering the Architect's Ball, finally giving us the chance for closure on this storyline after all this time. And closure we got in another great episode.

The episode uses a classic HIMYM flashback structure, with Ted telling everyone what happened over the course of dinner at Shinjitsu, a Teppanyaki restaurant, while constantly getting interrupted by the B-Story, where we learn the story of the Ducky Tie (A week after they mention it? That's some kind of record for this show), which is also a great story. The two stories intersect well, with the funnier B-story cutting in whenever the sweeter, more serious A-story is getting too sweet or serious (though the A-story has it's fair share of laughs as well, particularly at the beginning.).

Let's start with the B-story. Lily has gotten her pregnancy boobs before she's gotten her pregnancy belly (as Ted puts it, "It's like you have a butt on your chest".) and Barney is drawn to them. So after losing a bet that he can't go 10 seconds without looking at Lily's boobs, he has to go with the gang to Shinjitsu, where he is less than impressed with the food and all the fancy tricks. So Marshall bets him anything that he can't replicate those tricks. Barney wants to touch Lily's boobs. So after a funny bartering scene with Lily it's agreed that if Barney can do all those tricks he can touch one of Lily's boobs for a minute with one squeeze. But if Barney fails, he has to wear Marshall's new ducky tie (which he's been making fun of) for a whole year.

At first, this seems like a sure thing, until Lily begins suspecting that Barney may know what he's doing. Though it seems ridiculous, they slowly realize that Barney has possibly spent six months learning all these tricks at a school in Hoboken, and by coughing whenever Marshall suggests going to Shinjitsu, he has put a subliminal association in Marshall's brain so that he'd want to go whenever Barney coughed, and has waited until Marshall had something he wanted to put this plan into action. This is pretty crazy, but after years of watching these characters, it sounds like something Barney would do, so it works. After almost compromising by letting Lily flash Barney for 30 seconds in the alley, Marshall realizes that Barney could be bluffing just so he could see Lily's boobs, which is what he always wanted. But then, it turns out Barney did learn all the tricks and is about to win the bet but catching the shrimp in his pocket when Lily flashes Barney, causing him to lose the bet and making him wear the ducky tie for the next year. This was a great story with many laughs and Barney wearing the tie he hates so much should make for some good jokes all season.

Meanwhile Ted tells the story of how he ran into Victoria, and though she accepts his apology and is no longer mad at him, he insists on doing her dishes so that she'll be on time to catch her bus to the Hamptons. As they do dishes, they catch up and she reveals that she's about to be proposed to, probably tonight. This catches Ted by surprise and he's even more surprised when he finds out that she started dating this man a day and a half after she and Ted broke up. After he gets angry with her and wonders if she ever cared (plus he starts licking the plates he just washed), she assures him that she did love him and they reminisce about old times (Marshgammon gets a mention. Apparently Ted's played it since Games Night and he's still not sure how it works) and kiss. Victoria realizes she still wants to marry her boyfriend and they part ways, but not before she gives Ted some wisdom that he omits from telling the rest of the gang.

You see, earlier in the episode after she finds out Ted and Robin broke up but still see each other every day, and Barney and Robin are the same, she finds that weird. She tells Ted that their relationship failed for probably the same reason that many of Ted's relationships have failed: Robin. She also says that Robin's a bigger part of Ted's life than he realizes and that Robin, him and Barney aren't going to be able to go on the same way they've been going on. It just won't work. Future Ted reveals that Victoria was right, but he just didn't see it yet.

This is a great ending, not only because it sets up something down the road, while providing full closure between Ted and Victoria (though I hope she'll pop up again at least once) but because Victoria has a point. Over the course of the show, Robin has been the catalyst for a bunch of Ted's relationships failing (Stella comes to mind, as Robin's presence at the wedding led to Tony and Stella reconciling.). This explains why Ted's relationship with Robin had to be a big part of the first two seasons even though we all knew the eventual outcome. Ted has unresolved business with Robin and it'll be interesting to see how their relationship changes over the course of this season. All in all, this was another great week for season 7 and I can't wait to see where the story goes next.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

-At the beginning Ted asks the gang to guess who he ran into and their list is pretty extensive (and I've actually seen a longer version of that scene where pretty much every girlfriend Ted's had during the course of the show is mentioned.)
-Marshall goes to great lengths to ensure that Ted doesn't see Lily's boobs.
-At the very least, the ducky tie should lead to some great puns as it already did tonight. "Sorry we have to duck out." "Barney can pick up the bill".

Terra Nova: Genesis

In my years of existence, I've learned many things including this: most boys (I'd say all but that'd make it a stereotype) love dinosaurs at some point in their childhood. I loved dinosaurs as a boy. I still love dinosaurs, though maybe not as much as I did back then. Because let's face it: Dinosaurs are awesome. So of course, when Terra Nova was announced over a year ago, I was incredibly excited. Steven Spielberg producing a TV show about people from a dystopian future living in dinosaur times? That sounded amazing! So I waited and waited (the show was delayed a couple times), getting more and more excited until tonight, when it finally premiered. Was it worth the wait? To make a long story short: yes. It was 2 hours of awesome, with enough intrigue to keep me hooked (though it wasn't perfect). Plus dinosaurs. Need I say more? No, but I'm going to say more anyways, so let's elaborate.

After establishing that Future Earth is in a bad place (with both words that appear on screen and with a beautiful opening shot of the view of Earth from the moon, which is covered in smog), Terra Nova quickly establishes that above all else, this is a show about a family. This is a smart move, because it gives us something to connect with and by basically saying "this is about a family" right away, it'll dispel any arguments that may come up in the future (if the show goes on for a while) about whether the show's about mythology or characters. Anyways, we quickly meet the Shannons: Jim (the father), Elizabeth (the mother), Josh (the eldest), Maddy (the middle child) and Zoe (the youngest). A minute into the show and they're already in trouble because in the future overpopulation has caused the government to declare families can only have 2 children. But the Shannon's have 3, and though they try to hide Zoe from the Population Control, she is discovered and Jim attacks an officer to protect her getting himself sent to prison.

We then pick up 2 years later where Elizabeth visits Jim to let him know that she's been recruited to Terra Nova and she's taking the kids but they won't let her take Zoe. With the help of a weapon that she smuggled in inside a breathing apparatus (because the air is harder to breathe in 2149.), Jim breaks out (Which is a bit hard to believe since he's allegedly in a maximum security prison), and with some help, he (and Zoe, hidden in a backpack) sneaks in with his family and the latest immigrants to Terra Nova (This is the 10th group). Although he's almost caught, he makes it just in time and finds himself 85 million years in the past with his family. He then promptly causes a panic when the people greeting the newcomers and helping them adjust notice he has a gun and the pack Zoe is hiding in almost gets stabbed.

Before going on, I have to compliment the explanation given for time travel, which is clever, and given in a way that feels natural. Three things are established: First we learn through a news report that scientists had discovered a rift in time 7 years to the show's start which, when open, leads to the past. We then learn through Josh's conversation with his girlfriend that he's leaving behind that it's a one-way portal, which will keep the show from jumping back to the future too much, if it all. And lastly we learn from a probe mounted in the colony that it's an alternate time stream so that nothing they do will affect the future, so no butterfly-effect type things or weird paradoxes can occur. This is a good thing and I'm glad that time travel for now is just a means to an end and not a major plot point (Though it may come into play later as hinted in this pilot. More on that later.).

Back in the past we're introduced to Commander Taylor, who's one of the more interesting characters in the show so far. He gives a speech to the new arrivals and then meets with Jim and Elizabeth, allowing them both to stay. We're then taken to the Shannon's new home and are treated to a nice scene as Jim realizes that Zoe may not remember him as she was only 3 when he was arrested, and he reintroduces himself to her properly in a cute, funny way. Shortly after that is a more annoying scene where Josh (who of course is an angsty teenager) gets mad at his father for getting himself arrested in the first place. Josh and Jim's shaky relationship is one of the weaker parts of the pilot, and hopefully this will improve as time goes on. This is thankfully followed by a scene where Zoe goes outside and we see our first glimpse of dinosaurs: Brachiosaurs (Long necks for any Land Before Time fans) who have come near the gate to feed.

Speaking of dinosaurs, now would be as good a time as any to talk about the effects. Since this is the most expensive pilot of all time (and the series from week to week should be pretty costly too), there's an expectation that they'll be effective and they are. Of course they're not movie quality, but for television they're quite good. The dinosaurs are most effective though, when you only catch glimpses of them, instead of getting a prolonged look (like the climax of the pilot) both effect-wise and mood-wise (it creates more tension).

Back to the pilot, we see Jim and Elizabeth adjust to their new lives, with Jim having been given a job with the harvesters (In a good scene, he's sent to get rid of weeds, only to find that the weeds 85 million years ago are massive. As are the bugs) and Elizabeth learning the colonies neo-medieval (her words) techniques. Meanwhile Josh skips out on colony orientation and meets a girl named Skye, following her (and having another annoying argument with his dad who sees him), meeting up with some more kids his age, and then following them as they sneak out past the gates to go explore. Josh becomes less annoying once he sneaks out and the focus of his scenes aren't him being mad at his father, and Skye is a fascinating character, as a bit of a rebellious teen, and Josh's guide to this world. We also later learn she is connected to Commander Taylor (He kind of raised her when both her parents died.).

And back at the colony, things get interesting when one of Elizabeth's patients who has been shot for stealing pulls a knife on her, causing a bit of a situation and Jim stops an assailant from shooting Commander Taylor. Seems things aren't as peaceful in Terra Nova as initially believed as we also get a bit of mystery. A group of rebels who all came on the sixth pilgrimage (so they're called Sixers) broke off from the colony and cause conflict. But it can't be a coincidence that they all came at the same time and Taylor suspects someone from the future is behind this. Intrigue. And that's not the only intrigue. Skye takes Josh to the (water)falls where she shows him some mysterious equations on the rocks that seem to have been there for a while. Hmm.

Anyhow, Jim (who was a cop before his arrest) is asked to join Taylor's security team and the two notice a couple of the Sixer's vehicles heading towards camp. They follow them, only to learn that the sixer's are being chased by a Carnotaurus (referred to as a Carno). This leads to a great sequence where Taylor distracts the beast until they're ready to fight off the beast with sonic pulse guns. After this, we still have the Sixers to deal with and we also meet their leader: the enigmatic Mira. A tense face-off leads to them trading the captured Sixers for ores and medical supplies. After this, Jim lets Elizabeth know he's on the security team is Elizabeth is accepting, though doesn't seem too happy.

Once we've gotten everything established in the first hour and a bit of the pilot, the back half is sort of predictable if you're TV savvy enough (Josh, Skye and company are attacked by a group of dinosaurs known as Slashers and take shelter in a vehicle, but it's powerless to go anywhere. Taylor and Jim realize they're missing and set out to rescue them. Dinosaur fight. Jim and Josh (who have realized through conversations with Elizabeth and Skye respectively, that they're both quite similar) reconcile in the aftermath. Episode ends with), but it's still entertaining to watch and still has a lot of good moments (including one where Taylor reveals that when he came through the time portal, a temporal effect caused him to be alone for 117 days before anyone else came so survival in the jungle is possible.) and provides some good television. And of course it also sets up some additional mystery to keep you hooked, with the mystery of Taylor's son who apparently disappeared years ago and is behind the equations on the rocks, which may reveal how to control the future. Plus Mira implies that there's another reason for the creation of Terra Nova.

All in all, this is a solid premiere for what could be an amazing show. Everything I said at the end of paragraph 1 still applies. Also, I had never actually thought about the show this way before watching it, but Terra Nova actually has potential to be the next Lost (It even has it's own Others in the form of the Sixers). There's still a chance this could all go wrong, but as long as they focus on the family dynamic of the show as the emotional core (and still throw in plenty of dino action), Terra Nova should be fine and could be something very special indeed.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

-A small subplot involved Maddy meeting a boy, whose name I've forgotten, embarassing herself a bit with her detailed knowledge of the Allosaurus and then said boy later staying with her and Zoe while her parents are out finding Josh. This'll probably get more screentime down the road.

-Calling this right now: Josh's girlfriend from the future is going to come to Terra Nova at some point, probably when he's getting really close to Skye.

-Dinosaur Scene Count: 3 or 4 depending on if you count the whole thing with the Slashers once or twice. I'm counting them twice, as there was two distinctive scenes with them.

-Best Dinosaur Moment: During the Carno chase, a Sixer declares they're all clear, only to be grabbed by a Carno immediately afterwards.

-Well, That Was A Stupid Idea: Tasha (one of the kids out with Skye and Josh) decides to try and make a break for it, even though they've established that help is on the way and they don't know how many Slashers are out there. When the rescue squad finds her, she is quite bloodied and needs surgery (I think she survives though).

-I stated in the beginning that I would talk about this show every week and I stand by that statement. That is all for now.

The Simpsons: The Falcon and The D'ohman

As I mentioned way back in the beginning of this blog (Almost three weeks. What a ride.), The Simpsons was the first television show I loved enough to watch it over and over and over. As I was less internet-savvy in these days, I couldn't access episodes online and spent over a year catching up on re-runs on CBC and Fox (when we had cable) just to see every episode, which was a long (but rewarding) process. And while the show has gotten on in the years, it's still entertaining (The move into high-def actually helped the show quality-wise) and I can't really recall ever hating an episode. It might not be at it's peak anymore but it can still pack a punch.

Like tonight's episode. It uses a classic premise (Homer tries to get somebody to like him) to start the story (and the old "guest stays at The Simpsons home" premise comes into play later), utilizes a big-name guest star (Keifer Sutherland playing a character somewhat like Jack Bauer.) who factors into the plot in a major way, and features the results of the fan-participation gimmick introduced in the previous season's finale. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing (Using a classic premise and having a big guest star factor heavily in the plot happened in the peak of the show to and the Nedna thing wasn't that bad) as long as they keep the show funny and thankfully, this episode was plenty funny.

.After a decent opening scene with Homer making up words to Police classic Walking on the Moon as he comes into work late (I'm not counting Comic Book Guy pointing out that at some point, the results of the fan participation gimmick.) and a good gag with Homer messing with the punch clock so he appears to have come in early AND worked late, Homer finds out that the plant has a new security guard Wayne (Sutherland) who's gruff and keeps everyone at a distance. Homer tries to befriend him and one night, after being caught in a rain storm, a hail storm and running out of sidewalk (it's being replaced by a pay sidewalk) Wayne has no choice but to accept a ride from Homer and agrees to get one beer with him. But when Snake holds up the bar, Wayne is revealed to be a Jack Bauer-esque action hero and saves the day.

Of course, Wayne is also haunted by constant flashbacks to a dark, traumatic past (In a great gag after Wayne tells Homer this, we learn that Homer is haunted by flashforwards to a dark, traumatic future) and loses his job when one of these flashbacks has him attack Mr. Burns, while he's trying to give Wayne a silver helmet for his brave actions. Wayne's flashbacks are funny (though the one at the end involving him having to write a propaganda musical about Kim Jong Il goes on a little long), especially during a scene where Wayne, who is now a guest at the Simpson household is having flashback nightmares and talking loudly in his sleep about his nightmares. Wayne is forced to confront his past though, when old enemies discover he's alive and kidnap Homer as bait. The kidnapping leads to a couple great gags (Homer getting distracted during the recording of the hostage video, and the revelation that Homer has a tracking device on him because some were in a bowl and he swallowed them) and a good action sequence. Then, with Homer safe, Wayne is about to set off on his own again when Marge realizes a place where someone with his training and violent tendencies would fit in: the DMV.

As I mentioned above, this is a pretty standard episode with a lot of enjoyable gags throughout. There are some weak jokes (Marge has a Top Chef fantasy sequence, which only seemed to exist to shoehorn in another guest star and wasn't that funny springs to mind.) and the scenes concerning the Ned Flanders/Edna Krabapple pairing fell kind of flat (though I actually love the idea of the two dating, which was confirmed after a mislead. It could lead to some interesting things down the road.) Also I don't think any of the good jokes or moments will stand out to me if I try to remember this episode later on the way moments from other episodes old and new (including Keifer Sutherland's last guest appearance in season 18). But this was a solid premiere, and I enjoyed it more than the last season premiere The Simpsons did (and that one had The Flight of the Conchords in it.). So this is looking to be another good season from reliable old Simpsons. And with episode 500(!) on the horizon, it should be a big one.

Grade: Awesome! (Good)

Memorable Moments

-Oh there was also a Taiwanese dramatization of Wayn'es rescue at the bar, which is funny becuase those animations are always pretty ridiculous.
-Good background gag: A sign at the power plant that says "Don't Do This" with an image of a mushroom cloud on it.
- Carl: What's what the new security guard? He's acting all aloof. By the way, that's my word now - "he's."
- Homer: I guess it's not much when you look at real problems in the world like Major League umpires not using instant replay.
-A good "where is Springfield" joke:

Wayne: Your town appears on no maps or charts.
Homer: Yeah, they couldn't find a Google map photo without me naked or urinating.
Marge: And when there was a map makers convention here, we all got Lou Gerig's disease.
Homer: Not the one you're thinking of though, there's another one.

-When Homer is being kidnapped he has one concern. "No! Not the middle seat!"

Fringe: Neither Here or There

When Fringe first came on the air in 2008, it claimed that it would have a mythology and mysteries similar to Lost (except it would answer questions sooner), but there would be less emphasis on those elements and also a case-of-the-week format, so it was easier for new viewers to jump on in. While it's kept a lot of those promises, I can't imagine that one would be able to jump into the show at this point and understand everything that was happening. The show has gotten far too big and complicated (though Fox has posted a series of videos that explain everything in a linear fashion. If you want to jump in to this series after reading this, start HERE!. ) for one to understand everything without looking up the show's backstory first, though this episode makes a decent starting point, with Lincoln discovering the Fringe team and slowly learning what's happening. Luckily for me though, I started at the beginning. And even though I fell out of touch during season 2, I still kept up with major developments and dove back in during season 3, so I was there when the mind-blowing reality-changing cliffhanger struck. Because apparently, Peter Bishop no longer exists.

Of course when you take one character out of the equation, what does that mean for the past three seasons? That was definitely on my mind over the course of the hour and while many of the major events seem to have stayed the same (Olivia was still kidnapped over to the other side, the machine had still turned on and as we saw before, the two worlds still have a common cross-over point among other things), lots is different and the absence of Peter Bishop's effect on the lives of these characters can definitely be seen.

First we see that Olivia is much more emotionally distance as she was back in season 1 and her life is apparently lonely as pointed out by Bolivia (also colder, as she never knew Peter either and never had his child) in a good opening scene, where we see that no one is that happy about the new arrangement, even though it's necessary. Later on we see that Walter was still in an asylum and wast still released, but without Peter to tether him, he is a recluse, as mad as he was back in the series beginning (possibly worse) and he won't leave the lab using a tech-equipped Astrid to be his eyes and ears in the outside world. This is not the same Fringe team we once knew. Also, without Peter the title sequence is orange.

Another difference is that the Over-Here version of Lincoln Lee has never encountered the Fringe Divison and Olivia doesn't seem to have met the Over-There Lincoln (where's he gone off to?). So we see Lincoln who gets involved in the case of the week (involving what maybe a new breed of shape shifter who appear translucent and render their victims translucent) when his partner is murdered and the body is taken by Fringe division. Seth Gabel (who is now a series regular) does a good job playing a man who initially just wants answers, and slowly proves that he can actually pretty useful, while working with Fringe Division catching a couple things that Olivia misses. He proves that more Lincoln is definitely a good thing.

But Peter isn't entirely gone. He flashes into the frame at least once and a subplot involves Walter seeing Peter pop up in the mirror (and at the end a TV) and not knowing what he's seeing or why. The traces of Peter are a problem to the Observers who aren't show how this is possible, as he was supposed to be erased. September, who started this all is sent to end it by building a machine to erase all traces of Peter once and for all, but at the last second doesn't do it. The consequences of this aren't shown now, but since Joshua Jackson is still listed as a series regular, he's bound to pop up again sooner or later.

That's not the only mystery set up. Upon figuring out that a new breed of shapeshifters are on the loose, Olivia takes Lincoln to the bridge between the Earths to meet with Bolivia. But Bolivia (though acting coy) honestly doesn't seem to know what's going on. Hmm. All in all, though I would've liked to have learned more about how much of the last three seasons happened and see more of the two worlds interacting (maybe next week.), this was a solid premiere. Fringe is shaping up for what could be it's best season yet, so if you haven't got on board yet, I recommend you do so now (though maybe watch the series of videos I linked to above first.). It's gonna be good.

Rating: Awesome! (Good)

Memorable Moments

-Excellent effects on the Translucent Men and when the one peels off and eats a finger nail, I shuddered.
-Walter may be more unhinged, but that always provides some good quotes. The best came when he was instructing Astrid at one of the crime scenes: “I’ll need to check her anus. Have that large lady there help you.”
-Also, while talking about something he must note: "I'm not wearing pants" (he had got all his clothes soaked) in the middle of what he's saying, before getting back on track.

-First reference to John Scott in a long, long, time though Olivia doesn't tell the whole story (unless that also changed).

Parks and Recreation: I'm Leslie Knope

When Parks and Recreation debuted back in 2009 to luke-warm critical reception, I knew it would get better. I knew it. It just needed time to find itself. Just like The Office did (The first season of The Office is funny but not as funny as subsequent seasons.). So I stuck with it and kept watching. Then came season 2, episode 4: Practice Date, which aired on the night of The Office wedding episode and would require a "Moment of Truth" (The moment when I realize I love a show and will never stop watching it no matter how bad it gets in case you didn't read the Glee or Community opinions.) to make a lasting impression on me. Practice Date was my Parks and Rec "moment of truth". The whole thing. From that point on the series got progressively better and better. By season 3, a lot of my friends finally saw what I saw mid-way into season 2: this show was amazing. Maybe even Office-level amazing. And going into season 4, it hasn't become any less amazing.

We start where things have left off. Leslie has been approached to run for City Council and has claimed she has no scandals, even though she's secretly dating Ben. And Ron has just learned his ex-wife Tammy has returned. So Leslie is not sure what to do about her thing, but Ron Swanson knows how to handle his situation: he flees City Hall, taking an emergency kit he's stashed in the ceiling and announcing to Leslie (who he drags across City Hall while she's in a chair) that he's taking all 223 Personal Days he's saved up and she's in charge in one of the episode's funniest scenes. We then move three weeks later where Leslie hasn't told Ben that they'll probably have to break up yet, but is still meeting with the people who want her to run. After a inappropiate picture (Think the Anthony Weiner scandal) is sent to all phones in City Hall, Leslie gives a stellar interview to Perd Hapley (still as awesome as ever) and is told she has to announce her candidacy on Friday to capitalize on it.

This leads her to finally try and break up with Ben, but when Ben seems to think the relationship is about to go to the next level, she flees to a full bearded Ron Swanson's retreat, who is an expert in running away from their problems. This leads to one of the best scenes in the episode where Leslie asks Ron for advice and he tells her that you can't run away from her problems (and apparently, he only has 9 toes because he waited to go to the doctor when one was shot with a nail gun as a kid.). This leads to another great scene where Leslie finds out that Ben knew about her plans all along (she gives speeches in her sleep) and the box she was running away from as a Knope 2012 pin. So the two break it off for now in a very sweet scene between the two of them, that didn't feel forced at all.

There's other stories too though, that make the episode even more worth watching then it already is. Ann diagnoses the owner of the lewd photo (Joe from sewage. Of course) and when Chris tells people this, her phone is flooded with photos (Chris: "Your e-mail is literally full of penises"). And when she gets a male doctor to give exams, we learn Jerry is suprisingly well-endowed. Huh. And Tom has started his new company, Entertainment 720, but it's still unclear what exactly the company does other than make lots of swag (including a bra with Tom and Jean-Ralphio's faces on it that Donna wears over her clothes). He tries to get Andy to join, but Andy (who wants to follow his dreams but his dreams don't involve Tom's company) declines. April promises him that he won't be a shoeshinist in a year though and then she gets him hired as Leslie's assistant, once she agrees to run for city council. And lastly we get our first glimpse of Tammy 1 when Rdecides he won't run away from his problems either and she is terrifying.

Oh Parks and Recreation. You are in for another fantastic season.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great.) 

Memorable Moments

-Before quitting the shoeshine stand, Andy gets one last chance to abuse Kyle. When Kyle points out that only half of one shoe has been polished when Andy tries to get him to leave, Andy pours Pepto Bismo on his shoe and declares: "Now I haven't done anything!"

-April somehow becomes acting manager when Ron is gone. When Jerry points out she's not the boss, she talks him down.

-There's a bunch of good quotes but I'm running out of time to post this so I will omit that part this time. I'll make it up for you faithful readers next time though. Promise!

Community: Biology 101

Oh, Community. Only you would start off the season with a big flashy musical number about how you're going to be more normal this season. Of course the whole number is a daydream Jeff is having when asked what they're going to do now that Pierce has apparently left the group for good. But since it's Community, we fans can take it as a meta-joke and message that the show is going to be a bit more grounded this season (while still being Community). That's been something that creator Dan Harmon has been saying pretty much all summer. And it's something that I'm really excited for (even though I loved season 2's weirdness and experimentalness), because as the creators of Community have proven, they can pretty much do anything and make it great.

Before we proceed with this recap though, I feel the need to give some background (as I always do). I've always been a fan of Community. If you read my Glee recap you would've learned that before I can love a show, I must first have a moment (Known as the Moment of Truth) where I realize that I love the show and will never give up on it no matter how bad the show may get. My Community moment of truth happened in the pilot. Jeff has revealed the whole study group to be a scam and before he leaves Abed speaks up: "I thought you were like Bill Murray in any of his films but you're more like Michael Douglas in any of him films". Jeff's reply? "Yeah? Well, you have Aspberger's." (If you read my Glee recap, you'll know I have Aspberger's and find most jokes about it really funny. Also I really relate to Abed.). From that moment on I was hooked. I loved the first season tons (especially when I realized that there'd be commentaries for every episode on the DVD) and I loved the second one more than the first (I don't own the season 2 DVD but when I have money, I will.). I even let the show enter a special circle of shows I consider Office-good. So of course I was psyched for season 3. And with each new detail about the season (The show would be weird in different ways and become more grounded, each character will have an arc, the season's about the high cost of loving people.) I became more excited. So now that it's here, was it worth the wait? Yes. Yes it was.

So season 3 starts with the flashy song and dance I mentioned above. Pierce is gone, possibly for good and Jeff is happy about it (though the rest of the group isn't.). Then Pierce comes back, apparently with a new perspective (He spent the summer in a Laser Lotus celebrity clinic), eager to rejoin the group. This is a bit of an anticlimatic way to resolve the cliffhanger from last season, but it's handled funny enough that I don't mind.  But Jeff doesn't want Pierce back and says that because Pierce can't get into the class they're all taking this year (Biology), he can't be in the group. Pierce argues that the group is beyond all being in the same class now and Jeff argues by stating they can all still be friends, even if Pierce isn't in the room.

Then we meet the teacher: Professor Marshall Kane, who got his degree while serving a prison sentence of 25 to life. He's very passionate about Biology, and when Jeff's new cell phone keeps interrupting, he kicks Jeff out of the class. Leaving room for Pierce to get in. So now, because Jeff didn't want Pierce in the group, he finds himself out of the group while Pierce is back in. This of course, bothers Jeff more than he lets on and his mental decline, leading to him getting hit with a knockout gas intended for monkies (specifically, Annie's Boobs) while he's chasing Chang in the vents with a photo he thinks can get him back in the group (He thinks it's a photo of Pierce with Professor Kane in prison proving they're old friends. It isn't.) is one of the highlights of the episode, as is the aftermath when he hits the study table with an axe.

In the end, Jeff gets back in the group (of course), with some help from Pierce who claims that he bribed Professor Kane into kicking out Jeff. He's lying, but he doesn't mind being the bad guy, because he knows Jeff isn't good at it. And Jeff gets in the class by giving Kane his cell phone (Plus Starburns is trying to get a Breaking Bad type-thing going with the Professor and gets kicked out of class.). This is a good story and it makes an interesting point that whether he likes it or not, Jeff and Pierce are similar people (Jeff basically goes through Pierce's season 2 arc in one episode). And I already like Pierce's character a lot more than I did last season.

Meanwhile the Dean (who's now a series regular. It's about time.) has a new goatee and a new attitude and is determined to whip the school back into shape and be a better Dean. But when he looks into the extra spending of the air conditioning repair annex, and crosses Vice Dean Layborne (played by John Goodman) wanting to know why he bought a cappucinno machine without consulting him. He quickly learns that most of Greendale's money comes from the air conditioning school's alumni donations (they're nationally renowned), and just to show how much power he has, Vice Dean Layborne arranges it so Greendale has much less money. Looks like Pierce doesn't have to be the villain after all. This story works well and definitely sets up some interesting things down the road, now that the air conditioning repair school has been established.

And in a last story, Britta tries to help Abed get over the delay of Cougar Town's third season by introducing him to the British "original" Cougarton Abbey. Except in episode 6, all the characters kill themselves and the show ends. This is a great reflection on how British television is a lot different than what we're used too. Abed is more distraught than before so Britta introduces him to "Inspector Spacetime", which is much longer and fixes it again. The plot serves a bigger purpose than to make jokes about British television though, because it inspires Britta to choose a major: Psychology. She's gonna be a therapist.

All in all, this was a great way to start Community season 3. This is said to be the darkest chapter of the story, but there's still bound to be a bunch of great laughs among the way (and great storytelling.). And more than ever, I can't wait for the next episode. Oh, and Chang becomes a security guard. That won't end well.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

-"We're gonna fly to school each morning. We're gonna smile the entire time. " "We're gonna be more happy. We're gonna finally be fine". "We're gonna get more calm and normal". "We're gonna fix our state of mind." "We're gonna be less crazy". "We're gonna finally be fine". "We're gonna stand holding hands in a brand new land far away from the borderline". "We're gonna seem like a mainstream dream" "and be appealing to all mankind!" "We're gonna have more fun and be less wierd than the first two years combined. And we're gonna live forever." "And we're gonna sleep together (Jeff and Annie!)."  "And we're gonna finally be sunny and shiny. We're gonna finally be fineeeee!"
-“If I wanted to run a monkey hotel, I’d install a banana buffet. I’d use vines as elevators, I’d put tailholes in all the bathrobes, and I’d lower all the shower heads.”
-“All hail, Sir Eats Alone!” “Shut up, Leonard. I know all about your prescription socks.”
-“That’s the great thing about British TV. They give you closure.”
-"You wanted to feel real power this year. Well now you're going to feel my power coarsing frome me to you, from nose to rectum for now until the end of time." "I forgot everything you said right before rectum!"
-“I just came by to tell everyone this year isn’t gonna be that different, with the notable exception we won’t really have any money.” Another meta comment?
-The head security guard, when finding out that they'll now be paid with a course voucher instead of money only stays because he needs his scuba ceritification.
-Oh! And Starburns has a lizard now, in addition to the top hat. Poor guy. Really wants to get away from his namesake.
-"So this is the year we all die."-Jeff after seeing that Chang is a security Guard.

Modern Family: Dude Ranch/When Good Kids Go Bad

I enjoy Modern Family. I'll probably never love it as much as The Office, Parks and Rec, or Community, but I think it's clever, I get a lot of laughs out of the show and I look forward to it every week. I also don't have any objections about it sweeping the Emmy's again. Sadly, there are plenty of people who do have objections to Modern Family sweeping the Emmy's again because it's not the most innovative comedy in the world. In order to fight off the backlash, MF needed a strong episode to open the season. Luckily it had two strong episodes (though one was stronger than the other).

The stronger one was Dude Ranch which saw the family take it's annual vacation, which this year is at a dude ranch in Wyoming. The best episodes are usually the ones where the whole family gets to interact with each other and this one is no exception, with lots of good storylines, good lines, and of course Dylan, who Claire has reluctantly agreed to let come along on this vacation.

Claire's hatred of Dylan has been a running gag in the show for 2 seasons now and it comes to a head here, when she tries to be nice and accepting to Dylan at the behest of Phil (who knows what it's like to have a parent of his girlfriend dislike him.) Of course Dylan initially misinterprets her efforts at friendship as her making an advance on him and is relieved when he learns that isn't the case (though he lets Claire know if Hayley wasn't his girlfriend and Phil was out of the picture, he'd be honored to raise her kids with her). Of course all niceness ends when Dylan proposes to Hayley and Claire fiercely objects. This leads Dylan to run off upset (he lets them all know the fan in his tent sometimes sounds like crying) and Haley to be furious with Claire for interfering. It's a nice moment for Hayley's character when she later reveals she turned down Dylan's proposal and she's mad at Claire because it was her proposal to turn down, not Claire's. Meanwhile Dylan's disappeared and everyone's worried that he's been killed by the various dangers in the woods. When he turns up, it turns out he's taken a job as a ranch hand and ends things with Hayley because they're from two different worlds. Farewell Dylan. You'll be missed
.
That's not the only thing that happened in the episode though. Phil is trying to prove he's a man so Jay will respect him but Jay's distracted by their guide Hank and his constant advances on Gloria (who's having a hard time hearing because her ear hasn't popped yet.). This leads to a couple great scenes. One where Phil tells Jay that he's been a great husband and father and if that's not enough for Jay, then that's his problem and another where Phil and Jay subsequentally confront Hank who claims his advances where an act so Jay could look like a hero, only for Gloria to point out that Jay's an hero every day as a father. As they ride off Phil tells Hank that he will only be checking off somewhat satisfactory on his customer comment card. Oh Ty Burrell. You definitely earned that Emmy this year.

Meanwhile Mitchell is starting to have second thoughts about adopting a son because he doesn't get boys or "boy things". This plot starts out slow but gets better when he starts spending time with Luke who wants to set off a firecracker. Luke and Mitchell is a combination we don't see in action much and it's a great one, especially when the firecracker turns out to be less of a dud than they initially believe when they try to blow up a bird house. And in another story that's pretty cute, Alex deals with an admirer and has a bit of a summer romance.

And while Dude Ranch was the stronger episode, When Good Kids Go Bad was pretty great too. Mainly because it had plenty of screen time for new Lily. Who can talk! And in my opinion, the only thing cuter than babies is toddlers that say cute things. And also things that imply they're not going to be thrilled with a new baby and may in fact, try to harm that baby. Which of course cause Mitchell and Cam to figure out why this behavior is happening. At first it seems to be because Cam is too clingy (and the montage of him being clingy is one of the funniest parts of the night), but then Mitchell learns at her preschool that she's having issues sharing. Something he hasn't been that good at. Of course he hides this from Cam until right before they're about to announce their adoption plans to the family because Mitchell had been glad that for once, he wasn't the one at fault.

Meanwhile Phil and Claire are arguing about who was responsible for Claire taking a spill at the supermarket. Claire is convinced she's right, but the kids are a little tired of her being right. Also Alex and Hayley talk Luke into moving into the attic (which he was planning on doing anyways), despite Claire saying that this isn't a good idea for Luke. And Manny steals a girl's locket so he can remember her, but is willing to fess up and get punished until Gloria just has him return the locket to the girl's locker and lie to Jay about fessing up. Jay isn't buying this and knows it's just a matter of time before Manny fesses up.

Everything converges at Mitchell and Cam's party where they're supposed to be announcing their plans to adopt a boy. Of course Cam doesn't want to tell them anymore, because it won't be a happy moment but it slips out anyways while they're arguing. Everyone's happy about the news and Cam even breaks out his original plan for celebrating, which involves a banner saying "It's A Boy" with the words gonna be added to it and the song "Let's Hear it For the Boy" playing. Then Claire shows up with security footage from the grocery store proving she's right and everyone's shocked that she'd go to such difficult lengths just to prove a point. Until Jay guilt's Manny into admitting he lied about confessing, and Jay declares he was right. Looks like Lily isn't the only one who picked up things from her dad. The episode ends with Claire getting Luke out of the attic, but in a less "I was right" way, even though she was right.

So Modern Family starts off with two solid episodes. They weren't perfect (particularly the second one) but they were pretty dang good. And that's good enough for me.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

-"I want to be able to teach my son all the things my dad taught... Claire"
-"You want me to go home?" "No, it's the opposite of that". "...I want you to go home?" Again, Dylan will be missed.
-"Haha. You kiss boy"- The first words we hear new Lily say this season
-"For what it's worth, my second wife was in high school" Oh Jake, the cowboy.
-Jakes nicknames include Hollywood (Manny), Cactus flower (Gloria), Old Timer (Jay), and Bossy (Claire) The family enjoys that last one.
-"...Worth the wait" Phil, when he get's the nickname Buffalo Phil
-"My sister was born with a full set of teeth" "That never happened." "Oh, yea? You should have seen her crib. It looked like beavers lived there." If we ever meet Cam's sister, and the writers could pull it off, that'd be fantastic.
-"There's a line of ants going to a trick-or-treat bag in my closet, and I don't want to still be there when they get sick of candy."- Luke's motivation for wanting the attic.
-A possesive Lilly pushes Luke. His response? "This isn't over".
-We also learn Claire pushed Mitchell in the dryer as a child. "Is this why I'm afraid of tumbling?! I HAD TO QUIT GYMNASTICS, CLAIRE!"

The Office: The List

I love The Office. I said it in the introduction, I'm saying it here and I'll likely say it again in the future. It is my favorite show in television. I've seen every episode over five times (except for season 7. I don't own that yet because I have no money.). I could do a whole other blog where I just talk about The Office. I'm the biggest Office fan I know and I've proved it too. Time and time again. In fact I'm more than a fan. I'm a superfan. I say all this so you know my viewpoint going into this show. I love this show. That doesn't mean I think it's perfect. That doesn't mean that every episode will be given a perfect rating. Or even a good rating. I'll probably even criticize a bunch. It just means that even if this season turns out to be a complete failure (and based on this episode alone, that seems unlikely) and everyone stops watching, I will keep watching, trying to find positive spots to the bitter end. So now that we got that out of the way, how was the season premiere for a hopeful super fan? Well you'll have to keep reading to find out (but it was great.).

Oh, and spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the new episode yet because you're overseas or something (Not to target anyone in particular, Alanna).

In the cold open, we're quickly brought back up to speed on everything that's happened. Which I will address in point form.

-Robert California was chosen as the new branch manager. On his first day, he took one look at everyone, then left to Florida where he talked Jo Bennet out of her own job and became CEO of the entire company.

-Robert chose Andy to replace him. Andy is the new regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Sabre Scranton.

-Pam is really pregnant. Angela is also pregnant, but not as much (as Angela puts it, they're big pregs and little pregs).

-Stanley has a new thing where he acts like he's being helpful and then tells them to stick it up their butt. He knows it's stupid but it's his thing.

-Dwight is Andy's new number 2/enforcer and we see him put a stop to a bunch of people who have taken up planking (The best of these moments involves him blasting Meredith off the top of a bathroom stall with a fire extinguisher.).

After this opening, which is good if not a little long (the planking bit could've probably waited for another time, funny as it was. Same with Stanley's catchphrase.), we jump to the action. Robert has accidentally left a notebook open on Erin's desk with everyone's names on one side or the other. No one knows what it means. Hilarity ensues as they attempt to find out. This plot has lots of good moments, my favorite being when Dwight lines everyone up according to group and then tries to attack the other group. It gets funnier still when Robert takes all the people on the left side of the list out to lunch and confirms that he thinks the people on the right of the list are losers. Which the losers find out through a mass text from Kevin saying "Suck it losers!" (Kevin's glad he finally proved that everyone was wrong about him.)

This leads to some of the winners gloating (Kevin sprays Meredith with a little water gun repeatedly) and some of the losers (particularly a very hormonal Pam) being upset. So Andy (who was a winner until the first time he admitted to Robert California that they made copies of the list) confronts Robert who tells everyone that he hardly knows them and the list could change so winners prover him right and losers prove him wrong. This isn't good enough for Andy who confronts Robert again and tells them why everyone of those losers (except Gabe) is really a winner and gets The Office a half-day the Friday before Columbus Day (which they get anyways). So it looks like Andy could be a good manager after all.

So that was the episode and it was a great one. Robert California is definitely an interesting character (though we don't know a lot about him yet. That's part of the mystery) and his intensity is funny to watch. It'll be interesting to see how he fits in as the season progresses. There was even a cute Jim and Pam moment where Jim let slip a list of his own for Pam to find. On the left side is listed: Pam, Cece, new baby (which is going to be a boy!). On the right side: Everything else. Oh, Jim. You still bring the touching moments to the show.

So as I said above, I don't know if this season is going to be a failure. I don't know if everything's downhill from here. I just know that I love this show and nothing this season throws at me will ever change that. So bring it on, Office. Prove that this show can still be as great as it was in the Michael Scott years. I dare you.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments
-So apparently, Gabe going back to Florida didn't stick. Well, hopefully they'll do better with his character this year.
-Andy and Erin romance seems on hold for now which is probably a good thing. One of the weaker spots in season 7 was that love triangle (though it still had it's moments.).
-"Planking is one of those things where you either get it or you don't. And I don't. But I am so excited to be part of it."- Erin
-"He talked her out of her own job and I really don't know how someone does that"- Jim
-"Little Michael Scott, right here"-Pam making a joke about her pregnancy AND referencing Michael directly for the first time since he left.
-Dwight has many lists of his own. Including Who would eat who in an Alive situation.
-Kevin's warning when Robert is coming: "WARNING. WARNING. WARNING."
-Robert California refers to Sesame Street as The Street and has fascination opinions on Elmo.
-Kevin: "What I like about Elmo is the tickling."
-To cheer up the ones who didn't go to lunch, Andy throws a pizza party with Margarita pizza.
-"[Stanley] may seem like an unloveable grump but did you know he's in two long term romantic relationships?"

Glee: The Purple Piano Project

All the shows I love first have a moment when like becomes love. When I realize that I will follow this show to the bitter end, no matter how bad it gets. For lack of a better name, let's call this: "The Moment of Truth". The Moment of Truth could come early on in a show's run. It may come later on. But when it comes, I'm pretty much stuck.

Glee's "Moment of Truth" came towards the end of episode 1, which I saw back in May 2009 when Fox had a "special preview" for the show. It wasn't Don't Stop Believing. It wasn't anything Sue said. It wasn't even a major story moment, really. It happens right before Finn changes his mind about leaving Glee club. Basically Finn has gone back to his football buddies and Puck tells him they got a welcome back present. We learn that Artie has been trapped in the Porta Pottie and they want Finn to tip it over. Finn: "Couldn't he get seriously hurt?" Puck's reply: "So? He's already in a wheelchair." In that hilarious, brilliant moment of casual cruelty, I knew I loved Glee and would always love Glee, no matter how bad it got.

So when the second season began to veer all over the place in terms of consistency, put far too much emphasis on Kurt (which I wouldn't have minded, except suddenly they took away all of his flaws and made him a saint basically.) and focused too much on big, loud, spectacle instead of the characters, I endured. Even as a bunch of people I knew who loved Glee in the first season turned away and gave up on it, I kept the faith, enjoying the show when it was good (which actually was still often. Season 2 wasn't that bad. It just wasn't season 1 good.) and looking for bright spots when it wasn't. Because for better or for worse, I was part of this now. And I had to believe my faith would one day be rewarded. And, despite a bunch of behind-the-scenes wackiness before season 3 began, and despite Ryan Murphy basically making the same promises he made before season 2 (more focus on the characters, less special episodes, less guest stars in the beginning, etc.), it looks like that day has arrived.

The Purple Piano Project starts off really similar to the season 2 opener Auditions, with Jacob Ben Israel interviewing all the members of the Glee Club with one big difference. In Auditions, the opening was very meta and basically used Jacob to address all the criticisms made about season 1 (Another thing about season 2 was they'd always acknowledge criticism but never really fixed anything). In Purple Piano Project, besides a bit of expository dialogue to write Sam out of the show and introduce Mercede's new beau, the interviews were all focused on the characters and their plans for this year and beyond (Plus show who's graduating and who isn't). So already, season 3 is more focused.

Also more focused is Will Schuester who, with Emma finally at his side is going to push the Glee Club harder than ever before and make up for their devastating loss at National's last season (I do find it unrealistic that getting 12th place out of 50 makes them the laughingstock losers again, unless it's more because they could've placed higher if not for the kiss. Still why would a YouTube video of this be so popular? Only on Glee, I guess.). His plan involves putting refurbished, purple pianos all around the school, where the glee kids are supposed to sing whenever they see one in an effort to rally new recruits. Of course you'd think that after two years, Will would know that this is a bad idea that probably won't end well, but he doesn't.

The presence of these pianos comes at a good time for Sue, who's following through on her plans to run for Congress but without a solid platform (She's pro-deportation.), she's in 9th place behind a convict running from prison and undecided. So when she guts one of the pianos in a rage, tired of being nice to glee kids (after one day) an encouragement from an arts-hating geometry teacher gives her a platform: stopping funding for the arts in public schools. Which puts her on the warpath with Will Scheuster again (whether this breaks Ryan Murphy's promise that Sue wouldn't go after glee club this year is debatable because she's not directly attacking them but they're still a target.). Will won't stand for this anymore though and glitter bombs Sue in an act of protest (He films it too.). Unfortunately this actually helps Sue in the polls because everyone loves a martyr.

Meanwhile, the glee kids put on a big performance of The Go-Go's We Got the Beat in the cafeteria because a purple piano is there. This of course leads to a massive food fight (started by Cheerio's co-captain, Becky who along with other co-captain Santana has been ordered by Sue to wreck the purple pianos.), and doesn't get anyone to audition, except for Sugar Motta.

I'm going to be honest. Though I had my moment of truth for Glee long ago, last night my love for Glee got reaffirmed with one line of dialogue from Sugar Motta. "I have self-diagnosed Aspberger's so I can say whatever I want". As someone who actually has Aspberger's (something I wasn't going to mention until I talked about my Community moment of truth.), I found this incredibly funny. When Sugar would say something hurtful and offensive and justify it by saying "Aspberger's", it was even funnier. Plus she's pretty delusional and tone-deaf (Her audition scene is hilarious). I hope we see more Sugar in the future, because she's already one of my favorite side characters right up there with Sandy Ryerson, Becky, and Figgins.

We won't see much of her in New Directions though, because Will makes the tough decision (but probably the right one if he's serious about wanting the club to win) to reject Sugar from the club. In keeping with Will's character, this doesn't come easy for him and the show does a good job making his choice believable and in line with his character. As does his other tough decision of kicking Santana out of the club for burning a purple piano at the end of a musical number by Blaine (who's transferred to McKinley now, but everybody saw that coming especially since he's a regular now.). Santana can't play for both Team Sue and Team Glee anymore. The club needs members who are going to be loyal.

In another plot that's also well-done, Rachel and Kurt find out that their plans to go to Juliard together have one big flaw: Juliard doesn't actually have a musical theater program. Emma directs them to another New York-based school with a great, though exclusive, musical theater program. Even though they only take 20 people a year, Rachel and Kurt are sure they're the most talented applicants and go to a pre-mixer of sorts for prospective applicants where they are promptly humbled and given a massive reality check when it turns out that everyone there  (including one of the finalists from last summer's reality show, The Glee Project) is just like them and just as talented, as they show in a mash-up of the songs Anything Goes and Anything You Can Do. This leads to a great scene, where the pair encourage each other not to give up and resolve to do everything they can to get into that school.

In the end, this was a great start for Glee's third season, setting up some interesting stories and character arcs and providing a lot of fun. Of course Auditions started off season 2 well and well... sophomore slump. I have high hopes though. As long as they stay the course with their storylines, Glee is well on it's way to being great again.

Grade: Toally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments
-No I didn't forget about Quinn. I just didn't talk about it up there because it wasn't really a storyline. Quinn's self-reinvention as a pink-haired bad girl who has forsaken Cheerios and Glee and hangs with a group known as the Skanks (who I want to see more of.) is definitely intersting and I'm a bit disappointed we didn't see more of her. Then again, the woman she gave her baby too is returning next week, so I can only hope we'll see more Quinn, then.
-Also Lauren is leaving New Directions and Puck which seems weird after all the focus on her in the latter part of season 2. Fox has her listed in returning in episode 3, so she's not gone for good though.
-More Sugar next week too!
-I was really happy that Finn and Rachel's relationship was not a focus this week.
-Also Emma thinking Kurt and Rachel were about to start dating was really funny.
-Best Musical Number: Either You Can't Stop The Beat or Anything Goes/Anything You Can Do
-Worst Musical Number: Was not a fan of Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead
-"Wait, are you building a time machine, also?" Oh, Brittany. You still make me laugh.
-Future (I imagine) Storylines set up in this episode that were outright stated: The school musical, Kurt runs for class president.
-Future (I imagine) Storylines set up in this episode that were more implied and I picked up on it: Mike Chang graduating a year before Tina (and his parents being kind of controlling in his life. They're coming in episode 3.), Finn being unsure about plans for the future.
-One last thing. Episode titles so far this season are awesome. Next weeks is I Am Unicorn (Something tells me Brittany will be a focus) and the week after that is Asian F (Which should have lots of my favorite character: Mike Chang!).
-That's it for now. Gleek out!