06:30 Perfect Strangers
07:00 My Boys
07:30 30 Rock
08:00 Standoff
09:00 In Plain Sight
Perfect Strangers. Episode 2. "Picture This" contains several classic sequences. Larry teaches Balki to say "No" to people (because he feels that people are taking advantage of the innocent foreigner). This immediately blows up in his face when Balki refuses to do him a favour. Later, there is a fantastic sequence where the boys are not speaking to one another followed by Larry offering up an eloborate Myposian apology (minus the chicken!). Finally they have a squabble in a crowded restaurant while Larry is trying to get a photo of a celebrity to sell to a sleazy paper. The joy of Perfect Strangers is that the comedy is genius-level slapstick and the chemistry of the two stars is such that the bit-at-the-end-where-Larry-learns-a-lesson-of-some-type always comes across as genuine and very effecting.
My Boys. Season 2, Episode 2. "Dinner Party" I never stopped laughing. I think every line of dialogue is a joke, but I'll have to go back and watch it again to be sure. Absolutely the funniest sit-com on TV. I might not have stopped laughing, but I did have to stop the show a few times to rewind and go back on the stuff I'd missed.
30 Rock. Season 2, Episode 15. "Cooter" While 30 Rock is not as funny as, say, My Boys it always manages to be the most inventive sit-com on the air. It's a worthy successor to Arrested Development and nips closely behind shows like The Office and My Boys for title of funniest show on TV. The second season may have started slowly (for me) but it soon picked up speed and never missed a step in it's final batch of episodes. As funny as this episode was (and it was very funny) the thing I loved most was the way Liz and Jack reach out to one another despite being seperated by many miles and different jobs. Tina Fey has managed to create a relationship that is almost as good as Mary and Lou on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. And that's no bad thing.
Standoff. Episode 14. "Road Trip" Generic hostage siege. Mostly rather awful. With characters from the Big Book of Bad TV Clichés and no important scenes between Matt and Emily this is a total waste of time.
In Plain Sight. Episode 4. "Trojan Horst" is a great title for a great episode. It has Dave Foley, a great action-sequence and some top notch character-writing. It was evident from the get-go that Mary is one of TV's best characters, but now we can see that Marshall Mann is just as good and their partnership is also worthy of being added to the TV Hall Of Fame. Seeing the two of them, wounded and trapped, taking time out to analyse their friendship was a real treat. I love the way Fred Weller delivers his lines, too. He's such a perfect foil for Mary. I've also been totally won over by Nichole Hiltz at stage. She does some great work in this episode. What a great show!
Highlight? My Boys
Mon, Jun 23rd, 2008 - Perfect Strangers, My Boys, 30 Rock, Standoff, In Plain Sight
