September 3rd, 2007
08:00 Seinfeld
09:00 Corner Gas
09:30 Kyle XY
Until last year, my Seinfeld collection consisted of video tapes (some over a decade old). I don't mind that. I still have thousands of tapes to watch. The problem comes when you reach a gap in your collection. That happens a few times with Seinfeld, and it always seems to happen with part two of some story. Tonight I arrived at the 21st & 22nd episodes of Seinfeld's 7th season, The Bottle Deposit two-parter. And when the DVD rolled past the half-way mark, I realised with jolt: I'd never seen the second half of this!! So, for possibly only the tenth (?) time since I started buying the DVDs last year, I found myself looking at (deep breath) a 'brand new' episode of Seinfeld. Oh bliss!
And what an episode it was. Jerry's car has been left at the garage (because Kramer left his groceries under the hood) and some very expensive golf clubs (belonging to Elaine's boss) are in the back seat, when the mechanic goes psycho and steals the car. Kramer and Newman - while driving a Mail Truck out of state - spot the car and a mad-cap chase ensues. With Elaine and Jerry egging him on, Kramer ditches Newman in the middle of nowhere so as to pick up speed, before the mechanic starts hurling golf-clubs at the Mail Truck to aid his escape.
How do you follow that? With Corner Gas! It's the 100th anniversary of their little town and the residents are all very excited (except for the ones who aren't). Hank decides to build an exact replica of the town from Lego, and - Hey! - if that means having to burn down a building to maintain accuracy, so be it. Corner Gas is a lot like Seinfeld in terms of criss-crossing plots and self-obsessed characters. This episode, the 15th of the third season, highlights a show that works like a well-oiled machine. Best bits? The quick flashbacks to town life in 1906 and that quirky revelations that followed: such as Main St. being named after a guy called 'Main'.
Finally, I moved on to the 8th episode from the first season of Kyle XY. This is the one where Kyle, his foster sister Lori, and her sometimes boyfriend Declan, headed to the University of Washington and made some progress (finally) with the mystery of who Kyle is, and why he can do the things that he can.
There are a lot of things I adore about this show. I love the family dynamic, and I love the way Lori is slowing coming round to liking (and even helping) Kyle. This episode added Declan to the mix, and ended with a pretty good action sequence involving Kyle and the mysterious Tom Foss (Nicholas Lea).
But the best show of my night? Seinfeld. No contest.
Seinfeld, Corner Gas, Kyle XY
