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.

No, we should be thanking *you*, 静茹

静茹's lovely tribute to all her fans! Set to the wonderful 爱是...

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: "The Northern Wall of Briggs"

Round 1 of Scar vs. Kimblee, though brief, was pretty awesome; the two nemeses recognizing each other, Scar preventing Kimblee from using his Philosopher's stone by driving a crankshaft through the latter's abdomen where the stone resides, Kimblee's crazed, scary monologue, after his escape, of how he loves his morbid task. Also great was Ed and Al's first meeting with General Olivier Armstrong, preceded by (another) pretty cool battle between the brothers and her aide Captain Buccaneer. Judging by Winry's remark, she probably knew that automail doesn't work well in the cold too. Next week looks like a real cracker, with the first substantial appearance of Sloth. The new episode can't come soon enough!

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.

Stargate Universe: "Time"

Very good episode this week. Was about to rail at the initial Kino POV that it was all style for no good reason, when it turned out that TPTB had a good reason. The production designer did a really good job with the jungle setting, and the rain especially accentuated the torridness of the attacks by the planet's creatures. Despite being done probably like a gazillion times before in scifi, I liked the solar flare time travel bit. Scott making use of the solar flare to send a new Kino back in time to tell the crew what exactly will happen in the future nicely sets up the second part.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Episode 32

Relatively slower-paced episode this week. Grumman's disguise was fun, and effective. Didn't recognize it was him till he was standing next to Roy. Highlight of the episode was Ed and Al's visit to the Bradley household, with Selim and Mrs. Bradley humanizing King Bradley with personal snippets of his family life, while Ed and Al obviously knew the horrible truth. My heart broke when Bradley exited and there was his newly appointed personal assistant, Riza, waiting for him. Roy's trusted aides, and his most faithful companion, well and truly have been taken from him. Scar and Marcoh's cat and mouse with Kimbley's troopers was filler material, though it does set up what looks like a real doozer of a battle next week.

The Office: "Murder"

Michael having the entire office to role-play in the titular "Cluedo" like scenario in order to distract them from the rumor that Dunder-Mifflin is going under came across as somewhat unbearable at times. This is especially so when Michael insisted on continuing when the office had heard from Oscar that the company had asked the accountants to withhold payment to suppliers, and when Michael refused to take Wallace's call because he was so insistent on remaining in character. However, as is the trademark of "The Office", even when the premises aren't delivering joke-wise, they almost always have a great payoff. In this case, Jim following Michael's lead in everyone role-play in order to hide the bad news that he had just heard from Wallace. Andy and Erin are shaping up to be Jim and Pam: The Early Years 2.0. Ed Helms is slowly revealing a soft side to Andy (but wisely not so much as to make the change too unbelievably drastic), while Erin is easily likeable being so perpetually perky, so this could actually work, even if first impressions are that the writers might be treading familiar ground. Love the tag with the standoff when it was revealed that Pam was in on the zaniness too, and I also enjoyed the throwaway running gag of Ryan donning ultra-douchebag outfits.