Sat, Jan 26th, 2008
07:00 Baywatch
08:00 Corner Gas
Baywatch. Episode 16. Two average plots and one pretty good one make up the 16th episode of Baywatch. Cort is - once again - at the centre of things when he gets into trouble and Mitch punishes him by sending him to a Theme Park to train teenage lifeguards. He cons Eddie into joining him (in a very funny scene) and their adventure at the theme park makes up the brunt of the episode. It's a standard sabotage storyline and except for one good character with a very dark storyarc there is little to distinguish it. Shauni, meanwhile, is in trouble for appearing in a cheesecake calendar while wearing her Batwatch uniform. It's a kinda pointless storyline, but it shows how clever Craig can be. It also highlights one of the many strengths of the show. The bad guy of this storyline is Captain Thorpe. Yet, he's still displaying the same character traits that made him the sympathetic character in the previous episode. He's exactly the same inflexible guy. It's just that the circumstances have changed. And that's one thing to admire about Baywatch. It uses it's characters very well. And Thorpe was one of the very best.
My favourite storyline, however, in this episode is the one given to Mitch. It only occupies a few scenes and it - ultimately - goes nowhere but it does demonstrate one of the cornerstones of the appeal of the series: it's a about a bunch of people who are passionate about what they do, even when the world doesn't always give them the respect that they are due. In this episode, a class trip to Baywatch HQ is cancelled because many parents feel that Lifeguard is not a serious enough profession to warrent inclusion in field trips designed to showcase various professions. Mitch's reaction is wonderful and honest and will strike a cord with anyone who has had to defend doing something they love to do. Even better, just like the real world, nothing much is resolved. The people who ridicule Mitch's job continue to do so, and he continues to carry on doing it. Pretty cool. Great storyline.
Corner Gas. Season 4, Episode 6. I love Corner Gas. I love the fact that from the moment it starts to the moment it ends you are always laughing. This is a wonderful episode. Davis volunteers to stay in jail until funds are raised for a good cause, but Hank feels sorry for him and offers to keep him company. Thus driving him insane. And ultimately winning the sympathy of a previously disinterest town population. Genius. Genius. Genius.
I also love the quick cutaway gags they use on the show. This one features quick clips of Oscar nailing (first) a TV and (later) a toilet to a wall. And watching them fall. I laughed so so so much at that.
Highlight? Corner Gas.
Baywatch, Corner Gas
