TV Review: What I Watched Last Night: 31/01/12

American Dad - "Stanny Tendergrass" (S07 E09) Fox (US) 29th January 2012 
Would it be wrong to say that Hulk Hogan saved this episode? No. It would not be wrong to say it. Hulk Hogan saved this episode. Don't get me wrong, I actually liked the episode as a whole. The premise was sound, Stan works summers at the country club while he saves up for a membership (the CIA is quiet during the summer!). Roger (in a persona that Stan can't see through - apparently everyone in the family has one) is already a member, and tortures Stan. When Stan eventually gets in, he becomes a snob, and Hulk Hogan - complete with "Real American" blaring - comes to sort him out. A good episode made even betetr by the Hulkster.
****

The Simpsons - "Moe Goes from Rags to Riches" (S23 E12) Fox (US) 29th January 2012 
Huh. Jeremy Irons voicing Moe's bar rag could have been a great idea. The execution however, is pretty bad. The rag tells his story, vaguely like Forrest Gump, appearing at various points in history. Sadly, The Simpsons' laziest plot device comes into play, as the chaacters are dropped into historical situations. The B-Plot sucks, and only Irons' performance stops this from being as bad as the last two shown.
**

Family Guy - "Livin' on a Prayer" (S10 E12) Fox (US) 29th January 2012 
When Family Guy cover religion, it can go either way. This one veered towards the poor, but wasn't atrcious. Lois finds out Stewie's new friend has cancer, but due to his parents being Christain Scientists, they don't believe in hospital treatment. Lois ends up kidnapping the child to take him to hospital, sparking a major manhunt. It wasn't great, although Peter randomly dressing as Harry Potter was funny. There's not much in the way of a B-Plot, but there were some decent cutaways for a change. It just feels like Family Guy is going backwards.
** 1/2

House of Lies - "Mini-Mogul" (S01 E04) Showtime (US) 29th Junuary 2012 
This show is great. We're four episodes in and it's going from strength to strength. This episode saw some excellent character development - Jeannie possibly excepted, but we did see Kirstin Bell writhing around in her underwear, so swings and roundabouts - and saw the first real starring turn from young Donis Leonard Jr as Roscoe. The consultancy of the week was rather unimportant compared to the relationships that were being explored. Only Jeannie's engagement story, which seems to have come out of nowhere, fell a little flat, but the aforementioned lingirie scene did a lot to make up for that! Excellent once again.
****

TV Review: What I Watched This Weekend - 29/01/2012

The Big Bang Theory - "The Beta Test Initiation" (S05 E14) CBS (US) 26th January 2012
While Leonard and Penny resume dating, and decide to take it slowly, while initiating a computer style beta test of their relationship. As an A-Plot, it actually works surprisingly well, as Leonard once again screws things up. Naturally he fixes the problems by the end of the episode, and it looks like we'll be seeing this relationship for a while. Elsewhere Raj becomes even more pathetic than usual when he falls in love with his phone's virtual assistant, giving some great jokes, especially when Kripke shows up having problems with his voice recognition. And while away from the main stories, Sheldon and Amy create a video podcast on flags. Tell you what, I'd watch it. A very good episode, hopefully the form continues.
****

30 Rock - "Idiots Are People Three" (S06 E03) NBC (US) 26th January 2012
The concluding part of last week's story is a resounding success and one of the best episodes 30 Rock has ever produced. Jack is still in Liz's head over her relationship with Criss, which she eventually sorts out, while Tracy continues his "Idiots Protest". But while both of these threads work fine, it's the other two that absolutely shine. Devon Banks is back (hooray for the return of Arnett!) and resumes his feud with Jack. Cue some excellent work from Alec Baldwin and Will Arnett, as Banks thinks he's gotten the upper hand on Jack, only for Jack to realise that he'll win anyway. And while that was great, the return of the Best Friends Gang is one of the greatest C-Plots in sitcom history. We find out why Pete was unconscious as Kelsey Grammar performs a one man show on Abraham Lincoln. Absolutely magnificent.
**** 1/2

30 Rock - "The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell" (S06 E04) NBC (US) 26th January 2012
The backlog of episodes due to the show's mid-season start this year allows two episodes this week. The scheduling was a little strange, but never mind that, it's still a treat to get two. This episode sees Jack eliminate the page program to impress Hank Hooper. When things go wrong, Jack realises he needs Kenneth and the rest of the pages. Predictable? Yes. Funny? Yes indeed. Elsewhere, Jenna gets caught up in her new found fame and dumps Liz as a friend, bringing in a fake Kardashian, a YouTube sensation, and Mick Foley (yup, Mick Foley, legend) as her new friends. The fake movie Jenna stars in is extremely well done, the Emma Stone and Andy Samberg cameos working a treat. And Tracy almost has an epiphany, but then realises he was just pissed off at Grizz and Dot Com. It wasn't as good as the first of this week's episodes, but was another excellent piece of television.
****

Whitney - "Codependence Day" (S01 E13) NBC (US) 25th January 2012
Ok, it's still not great, but Whitney has at least turned into a steady show. This episode sees Whitney get a job as Roxanne's assistant, hired mainly to spy on her work rivals. Things naturally don't go quite to plan, but she manages to make everything ok in her own special way. The character has taken a while to warm to, but it is starting to happen. A character who was instantly likeable was Alex, and he has another great episode as he attempts to find things after Whitney rearranged the apartment. I could relate to his situation completely, as I frequently find myself in just that situation. Alex takes matters into his own hands and rearranges everything again himself. Pretty fantastic stuff from him. Now, unfortunately, Neal, Lily and Mark's plot was a bit weak though, as Mark goes to the other two for help in dealing with a clingy girlfriend. Not great. But another pretty decent episode with some good laughs.
***

Archer - "El Contador" (S03 E05) FX (US) 26th January 2012
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Cyril becomes a field agent and immediately gets dropped into a mission in the jungle with Archer and Lana. When he disappears, Archer and Lana decide to continue with the mission and find him later. The mission goes awry when they get captured, only to find out that Cyril has managed to get himself into the criminal's inner circle. They facilitate an escape thanks to Cyril's quick thinking, but he eventually takes a beating when he pisses off Lana. It's wonderfully silly, and Archer at its best. The B-Plot sees Cheryl, Pam and Ray worried about forthcoming drug tests. They are offered a solution by Krieger, but that turns out to be one of his experiments, which causes the three to go crazy. Archer is magnificent, there's really no other way to put it.
**** 1/2

Unsupervised - "Rich Girl" (S01 E02) FX (US) 26th January 2012
The pilot last week was alright, unspectacular, but not bad overall. It certainly had potential. The potential is still there, but "Rich Girl" is on the same level as the pilot. A new student has joined the school, a drug addled goth girl called Allie. Joel and Gary take her home after she passes out on drugs only to find out that her dad is a dentist and pretty well off. A plan is hatched to hook the dad up with Gary's stepmum, so they can have a better life. It doesn't work, she ends up shagging Darren, and it's back to the status quo. Meanwhile, Megan decides to start smoking weed. It's been an unspectacular start for this series, but I'll definitely be giving it another couple of weeks.
***

TV Review: What I Watched This Week - 27/01/2012

This will usually be a daily feature on the blog, but I've managed to fall behind after being unusually busy this week. Thanfully, due to NFL Playoffs and Barack doing his thing, there's not been too much on over the past seven days, so it's going to work out just fine! I'll be taking a less in depth look at the TV shows I've been watching (in general, some episodes, particularly season finales and one offs, will receive a full article to themselves) as time constraints and the volume of things I've been watching have made it too difficult to get material done!

Archer - "The Man From Jupiter" (S03 E04) FX (US) 19th January 2012
Following on from a three part mini-season back in September, the world's most incompetent animated secret agent is back causing havoc on our screens. Here, he finds out that his hero, the actor Burt Reynolds (voicing himself), is dating his mother, and sets out to try and put an end to it. He changes his mind when Reynolds helps him elude a Cuban hit squad with a little help from Lana. It's great to have Archer back on television, it really is one of the best animated comedies in recent times
****

Unsupervised - "Pilot" (S01 E01) FX (US) 19th January 2012
The latest animated sitcom to hit FX is Unsupervised, from the team behind It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and starring creator David Hornsby, Justin Long and Kristen Bell. Focusing on two teenage boys who live with virtually no parental influence, I was worried that it may come across as a cheap Beavis and Butt-head knock off. Thankfully it didn't (although there were a couple of shaky moments along the way). This was a solid, but unspectacular pilot, but there was enough to suggest that Unsupervised has a lot of potential quality in there.
***

Up All Night - "Rivals" (S01 E13) NBC (US) 19th January 2012
After a really strong start, Up All NIght has quietly settle into a comfortable little niche. While that niche is still pretty good, it would be nice to see them try something a little different. "Rivals" saw a former protege of Ava and Reagan (Megan Mullaly showing up in yet another sitcom, she's becoming a female Fred Wilalrd!) stealing all their talk show ideas, while Chris found friendship with one of the mums from Amy's playgroup. Reagan, who always has the potential to overreact, gets jealous, and the whole thing gets a little awkward. It's the awkward situations that give this show a lot of it's comedy, but Up All Night needs to be careful it doesn't become too formulaic.
*** 1/2

House of Lies - "Microphallus" (S01 E03) Showtime (US) 22nd Januray 2012
This is the 2001-12 season's best new show. It is dark, funny, biting, and has enough twists in each 30 minute episode to keep you hooked right to the end. "Microphallus" has a lot going on, but it all boils down to Marty at the end of the day. Don Cheadle has been excelling as this bastard with a heart, and his is a complex story in this episode that is going to build into something more over the next few weeks if the last few scenes have anything to go by. And fair play to Kristen Bell for continually stealing the show as Jeannie. Three episodes in and I'm hooked on House of Lies.
**** 1/2

Above Suspicion: Silent Scream - "Part 3" (S04 E03) ITV1 (UK) 23rd January 2012
The final part of what has been an excellent mini-series gave us the conclusion that we may have expected, but it was an exciting ride to get there. Despite ending up in hospital due to the actions of a suspect, Anna finds an integral piece of evidence that manages to catch the killer and his accomplice. The procedural part is wrapped up, but the episode takes a shocking twist at the end as we find out that Anna was the one who cost Langton his prootion after all. A wonderfully written and acted three weeks of television and it's a shame we'll have to wait a year for the next mini-series.
****

Happy Endings - "Code War" (S02 E07) E4 (UK) 26th January 2012
Well well well. It's just getting better this show. Happy Endings had a stellar first season, but the beginning of this second has taken it to another level. "Code War" sees Max and Dave engage in an increasingly silly conflict when Dave dates Max's ex girlfriend (thinking that since he was gay, Max wouldn't mind). Brad and Jane go to war over their "work spouses" while Penny and Alex don't actually do much, but still manage to have some of the funniest moments of the episode. If Happy Endings can carry on this quality, it really is going to find itself at the top of the sitcom tree.
**** 1/2

TV Review: The Office - "Pool Party"

Season 8 - Episode 12
NBC (US)

After last week's excellent A-Plot was let down by a rubbish B-Plot, this week sees a show with an A-Plot by default, which wasn't very good and I don't think many people will ever care about, and a bunch of other unconnected threads and throwaway jokes. This wasn't a bad episode per-se, it just wasn't very interesting at all.

At a pool party at Robert California's soon to be sold house, Andy is unsure whether to propose to his girlfriend Jessica, and Erin decides to try and make him jealous. This is a whole mess of a plot, Andy is in a serious relationship, but still seems to have feelings for (the increasingly stupid - which is really annoying me) Erin. Erin also still has feelings for him, and there's just a bizarre attempt at oneupmanship from her. Outrageously flirting with Dwight (who takes things too far as per usual) to make Andy jealous, she ends up finding the engagement ring that Andy had lost and giving it back to him. It's pointless, very few people are going to care about it, and it's a waste of an A-Plot.

Elsewhere, Jim continuously tries to escape to get back to Pam and the kids. Kathy, Pam's maternity cover, who has done literally fuck all since being introduced, suddenly seems to fancy Jim. Gabe and Ryan get drunk while trying to impress Robert, which culminates with all three of them jumping into the pool (unfortunately Robert being naked). The rest of the characters do very little, but swan around hopelessly, while the funniest part of the episode is Toby trying to pick the best wine from Robert's wine cellar after being invited to take a bottle.

"Pool Party" had a lot of elements, and only a couple of them worked. It was an episode that didn't need to be made, and it's a shame that there's been a few of them this season.

** 1/2

TV Review: 30 Rock - "Idiots Are People Two"

Season 6 - Episode 2
NBC (US)

This being the first part of a two part episode, it did feel a little bit unfinished. With several storylines going on, it was enjoyable, but I think it is going to take the concluding part next week to really get it.

So I'm going to say relatively little about this episode, and see where it goes next week. It will be interesting to see exactly why Pete was found passed out with his pants down, clutching a lingerie catalogue with his head in plastic bag. After Liz defended Tracy against being a homophobe by calling him an idiot, will his "Idiot's Protest", with Denise Richards as a spokesperson (a very funny cameo), manage to change the world. Exactly why is Jack so disapproving of Liz's new boyfriend Criss (James Marsden, yet another top guest star from 30 Rock), and why has he funded him? And what are The Best Friends Gang going to do this time? It was a delight to see Kelsey Grammer return as the wickedly over the top version of himself that he has played on this show before, and it's going to be fun seeing what happens.

"Idiots Are People Two" was more of a set-up episode than a stand alone. But there were a lot of funny moments. Next week will be the clincher, but if the set-up was this good, it should be a pretty good conclusion.

*** 1/2

TV Review: The Big Bang Theory - "The Recombination Hypothesis"

Season 5 - Episode 13
CBS (US)

I hate it when TV shows do this. I really hate it. This, the 100th episode of The Big Bang Theory was one of the best that they've done in quite some time. But then they reveal that almost the entire episode took place in Leonard's head.

And it's a real shame that it was all just a fantasy, because as a storyline it really worked. Leonard decides to ask Penny out on a date and we witness the whole thing going sour, but the two continuing to have sex. It was a believable scenario, as the two characters seem on the surface completely wrong for each other, but have a deep compatibility quite unlike any other television relationship. So when the whole thing is shown to be a fantasy in Leonard's head, it is a bit of a let down. But even having seen things go wrong in his head, he asks Penny out anyway and we'll get ready for the outcome of that. It was actually quite sweet.

And notwithstanding it being fantasy, this was actually a very very funny episode. The B-Story between Sheldon, Howard and Raj may have been full of pretty childish jokes, but they were very funny. As was the interactions with the girls as they helped Penny prepare for the date (once in fantasy, and one for real at the end of the episode). And the little nods to the pilot episode at the very start were a very nice touch, and a nice nod to the show's past.

This was a solid four and a half star episode of TBBT, but has lost something for being mainly fantasy. Ultimately, I enjoyed it enough to rate it four stars, but I do not want to see them fool us like this again.

****

TV Review: Happy Endings - "Lying Around"

Season 2 - Episode 6
E4 (UK)

The second season of Happy Endings has solidly built on the good groundwork laid by the thirteen episode first run. The characters are becoming more fleshed out (and just utterly lovable in the case of Penny, flaky but adorable!) and the plots are working brilliantly.

This episode sees Brad decamp to a local hotel in anticipation of Jane's annoying college friend arriving for a visit. Of course, he tells Jane he's at a work retreat, but his cover is blown by the always bumbling Max. Instead of getting angry, Jane enjoys a little "stay-cation" of her own. It's a drastically silly plot, but it's really funny, and works well in the context of the characters.

Elsewhere, Dave tries to film an advert for his sandwich van, and is helped out by Max. The advert turns out great, but they neglect to mention the business at all. And Penny sets Alex up with a guy who likes grand gestures, and then gets jealous when her own boyfriend turns out to be pretty boring. It doesn't give the girls much to do, but it is a funny little aside.

"Lying Around" is a really good episode of a show that is becoming really excellent television. It's nice to see a sitcom like this doing so well.

****