TV Roundup: Week of 23 November 2009

Not much to say of this week's Thanksgiving-themed episodes of HIMYM and Modern Family. Both were pretty ok. Light on the laughs department. The see-saw between Ted and Robin got old quick, and the resolution was pretty much telegraphed that Marshall would end up being the one to slap Barney all along. Didn't much care for the Lily subplot with her dad. The chaotic finale to the Modern Family ep was less satisfying than all the build-up. The plot device of having the quasi-mystery of who got hurt at the hospital and then flashing back to the earlier events didn't seem necessary, while none of the plots (Cam as clown; Manny seeking dating advice from his dad; Claire at the crafts table) were particularly funny.

Stargate Universe: "Life". Goodness, another turgid, turgid episode. The show seems to see-saw between watchable and unbearable eps, and this one's firmly in the latter category. Felt for TJ, who had the unenvious task of seeking folks out for their pysch evaluation. Rush was insufferable (what else is new?), while the personal storylines involving Young, Ming-Na's characters and Scott would have been more interesting had I been more invested in the characters, which I'm not.

TV Roundup Week of 16 November 2009

Excellent episode of HIMYM this week. Was becoming less invested in the show, but this was a winner. Barney taking centerstage is always a plus, and Neil Patrick Harris gets amply opportunities to show off his comedic chops here. The various plays in the Playbook was nicely enacted, and I always love it when Lily and Barney interact.

Modern Family was a good episode too, especially the guest-star turn by Edward Norton as a haughty star whose ego far far exceeds his talents.

The Office: "Shareholders Meeting". Fairly ok episode. Highlight was how Jim dealt with Ryan's utter poor attitude, by Jim's own unique prankster style. Very nice. Pam's TH about almost forgetting to support Jim was an LOL moment. The main plot of the shareholders meeting didn't do much for me, with Michael doing his thing and falling on the side of grating. The office's excitement at seeing the limo was rather infectious though, and underlines the small town nature of the Scranton branch that a limo can generate so much commotion. I would be over the moon too in their shoes.

Parks and Recreation: "Hunting Trip" Hilarious episode. P&R is the funniest comedy around lately, and it's good form continues this week. Both main and subplots hit the target (pun unintended). The subplot with April and Andy fooling around in the office while everyone was away on the hunting trip was unexpectedly sweet in its on off-kilter way. Anything with Ron F*ing Swanson is comedy gold these days, and his TH about his hunting trip being stamped out once Leslie told him chirpily that she was tagging along was an LOL moment. Nice bit of pathos at the end too after Ron realized that Leslie, whom he had thought was the one who shot him, was actually covering for Tom. Good change of pace too to see Jerry, for once, being accepted into a circle (in this case being part of the regular hunting party together with Ron and Mark), instead of being the target of the office's ire.

TV Roundup: Week of 2 November 2009

Parks and Recreation:
Superb episode this week. Ron taking centerstage is always a treat, and libraries being vilified like they've never been vilified before was hilarious. The Andy-Mark-Ann subplot inevitably suffers by comparison.

Modern Family: "En Garde"
Brilliant. Just brilliant. I thought nothing could possibly come close to "Parks and Recreation" this week, but boy, did this match it blow for comedy blow. Laugh-out-loud from start to finish, and I lost count of the number of great one-liners in this. My personal favorite was Phil proudly proclaiming his son to be the future real-estate mogul "He's gonna drink your milkshake". The whole Manny fencing plot was pure comedy gold, and also very nicely tied in to the (by now obligatory) "family is good" moment of the week, which didn't seem out of place at all and indeed rounded off the plot well. Claire and Mitchell's history as figure skaters also provided its share of the laughs, especially Mitchell's snide remarks about why their team was named "Fire and Nice". Phil and Claire's TH as they do the rundown on their kids' potential (Alex is the best at everything...she'll settle on something eventually; Ashley's good-looking...she'll find someone who's the best at something; Luke...we kinda dropped the ball on that one...yea, we kinda did) was another LOL moment. All in all, solid solid installment. The next episode can't come soon enough!