It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

"Who Got Dee Pregnant?"

In the past on Thursdays, I would watch my marathon of comedy on NBC and then delightfully switch over the FX to catch It's Always Sunny. It was the dessert to my main course. The overtime after the regulation time. The afterschool latchkey program following the full school day (Any latchkey kids out there? No, of course there aren't. Because they are all in therapy sorting out what a lifetime of confusing your nanny with your mother will do to a child). However, recently I have been playing trivia at 9:30 on Thursdays (rather successfully I might add, ah thank you) and thus usually have to catch the latest episode the day after. I might add that it is quite sobering watching It's Always Sunny in the afternoon as opposed to the anything-goes immoral darkness of the night.

Well this was certainly somewhat of a departure from the usual episode (although it did have a faint familiarity with "Who Pooped the Bed?). In fact, the timing of the flashbacks coupled with their subtle changes in details over the duration of the episode was rather impressive. Sometimes, and I'm not complaining, the show can get by simply by putting the gang in a room and letting them banter (I could personally watch an entire episode of Frank, Dennis and Dee's podcast). Yet the writer seemed to have gone above and beyond in creating a very well executed flashback episode.

Let me say one thing though, Mac didn't invent the term "browning out". Two separate social circles of mine (social circles? Who says that? Are we in The Great Gatsby all of a sudden?) have been simultaneously using it for years so clearly its out there. Nevertheless, I found Dennis' frankness, as I often do, hilarious in his declaration of not only using the term liberally but proceeding to use it several times in the upcoming sentences.

I recently listened to an interview with Danny Devito on NPR before the premiere of this season, and he talks about how different it is to hang around these guys but how youthful and casual they are about everything during the filming. I am so jealous of anybody that is on this show. It just makes me want to be them (morally? perhaps even yes). In fact, when I started watching the show, my life's ambition was to open a bar with my friends. Not exactly well thought out and it's also somewhat startling that a young adult's life goals can be so heavily influenced by a television program. I wonder what would happen if I got really into Dexter? Would I become a serial killer? If I got really into Gilmore Girls, would I start getting my period?

-"We don't care about you, or your body, or that baby bird you're carrying around inside of you."
-"He eats theater people!" "No, he doesn't." "I think he might."
-A complaint of mine: No scene inside Charlie and Frank's bedroom. I have discovered that any scene taking place in that location is guaranteed to be funny. The pinnacle of this hilarity?: When Mac moves in with them to discover Frank cutting his toenails with a knife and then him and Charlie plugging up the cut with trash.

Community/The Office

Community "Epidemiology"

First of all, regardless of the fact that shows traditionally go all out for Halloween epsiodes and I expected Community to be no different, this episode really adds another vibrant crayon to the chromatic multitude that is the Community crayon box. (PS Did you know that Crayola used to have a crayon color that was called "flesh" and it was like a light peach color? Seriously.) Let's see here, in just that past three episodes, Community has covered a zombie movie parody, an Apollo 13 tribute and an episode molded after the Gospels and Jesus. I'm all for shows that maintain a certainly consistency throughout, but I'm even more for shows that can orchestrate such a grand variety of styles and actually pull it off. And pull it off really really well too. (I could also mention the Goodfellas episode and the paintball episode, which this somewhat reminded me of).

Let me bring something up. What's up with Dean Pelton? Is he gay or does he just have eccentric sexual fetishes? Be me guest to deliberate on that topic. Either way, his repeating iPod ABBA mix interspliced with his voice note reminders was great. ("Add Eat, Pray, Love soundtrack to workout mix.")

NBC Thursday Nights

Since it is Thursday (or as I think of it, the Cooper Manning of days to the Eli and Peyton that are Friday and Saturday, respectively), I will give a quick rundown of my thoughts on NBC's comedy lineup for the year thus far. Bear in mind, I literally shut down my life from 7 PM to 8:30PM to watch these shows (7-9PM last year due to Parks and Recreation). I've been known to call it my "bubble bath". It is by far the greatest hour and a half of comedy in existence on TV.

The Office:

With the impending departure of Michael Scott and the hinted return of Holly Flax, the season of The Office has not been without its subtext thus far. While there hasn't been much of an arc so far, one is clearly in the works. The million-dollar question of course is: Who will replace Michael? Will it be an outside hire? A promotion? Some think that, by centering a few episodes on Andy Bernard, the show is testing how well he could "Helm" the ship that is Dunder-Mifflin. I think he is an unlikely choice though. And Dwight? No way. We have seen what happens when Dwight takes over the office for merely a day a la "The Job" season finale and the outlook is grim. Personally, I'm puzzled yet optimistic.

A few thoughts on the episodes so far..

-Last week's scenes of Andy, Darryl and Kevin's band were gems. Kevin is underutilized but wisely. Also, he may be a fat idiot but I think he has a better sense of what "cool" is than most people in the office. "Cool" in the way that the Rat Pack and Blues Brothers are cool.

-Are they playing the Ryan Hipster D-bag card too blatantly? Yeah, sure. But even as a caricature, I appreciate each joke at him.

-Most drastic change from Season 1 to now: Pam (Unless you count Kelly because if you go back and watch those first few episodes, she is weirdly conservative).

-If properly executed, Michael and Holly's rekindling could make me embarrassed for even caring about the Pam and Jim saga.

-Also, I used to hate Gabe. Now I appreciate his character's irritating persona for just how irritating it is. (Memory: Kevin imitating Gabe last season). Sort of in the same way that I actually like watching Pete Campbell on Mad Men.

30 Rock:

Yeah, some people say that 30 Rock has declined. Some people also say that The Office has declined. But you know, after you've climbed Mt. Everest, climbing K2 is still considered a feat. (Did that translate?) What I'm saying is, if it has gone down, it has gone from an A to an A-. Nothing to thumb your nose at.

Really, 30 Rock is a lot different than The Office in the sense that it tells so many more different kinds of jokes that vary in absurdity. Whereas Erin on The Office throwing away disposable cameras before developing them was borderline out of range for the show's comedic realities, that would be tame for Tracy Jordan. Either way, I love both equally but in different ways. My only thing about 30 Rock: How believable is the whole "Liz Lemon is fat, gross and disgusting"-gag? Considering Tina Fey has established herself as something of a sex symbol in comedy and Liz mirrors Fey, are we really to believe she is so repulsive? Apparently not enough for Matt Damon to be turned off.

My thoughts on the live show?: As a spectacle to pull off twice in one night as well as a commentary on the history of television and its appreciation, sure, it worked. As an episode of 30 Rock? I found it abrasive and hard to sink into. By the time I got used to it somewhat, it was over. Best part about it was Jon Hamm.

Community:

I love Community. For a show that shot out of the gate and found its footing almost immediately, it truly is a wonder. Some people that say they don't like this show clearly haven't been watching it. It has the familial tone of The Office with the pop culture relevancy of 30 Rock. Also, I would seriously watch an episode of this show without any jokes I think. Same with The Office. That's how well developed the characters are.

Outsourced:

A skidmark on an otherwise perfectly clean pair of Fruit of the Loom's.

Parks and Recreation (returning mid-season):

You know, I just crammed all of Season 2 on Netflix in a matter of about three days, and this show is terrific. Just terrific. I hate to admit it, but when I would watch the shows on Thursdays last year, I would sometimes shower during Parks and Rec because I didn't think I was missing much. Too be fair it had a wobbly first season but I am really looking forward to its return. How this got pushed out to make room for Outsourced is beyond me. But then again, NBC hasn't made the smartest programming decisions in the past year or two.

NBC tonight at 7 PM central time. I don't think there's a 30 Rock though because of some Shrek Halloween bullshit.

Introduction

Since the majority of my writing these days has been relegated to interoffice e-mails and 140 character quips, my verbal skills have rapidly gone all the way from "proficient" to "Forrest Gump-y" in a matter of a few months since graduating college. Whereas I used to write several pages a week for class, I have now resorted to simply pointing at things and grunting.

Therefore, in an effort to lure my carpal tunnel syndrome out of remission, I have decided to find something to write about often. Now, my normal daily schedule consists of: Waking, showering, driving to work, working, driving home, eating, watching TV, sleeping, pissing the bed, blaming it on my dog, going back to sleep, having the same dream where I show up to a test I haven't studied for, waking up and repeating. There isn't much there to divulge to the world except for the television watching. I watch a lot of television. Actually, let me rephrase that. I don't exactly watch every show on TV, but I watch