08:30 The Greatest American Hero
09:30 Flight Of The Conchords
10:00 Greek
11:00 Scrubs
11:30 The Hardy Boys
The Greatest American Hero. Episode 3. "Here's Looking at You Kid" Much better than the previous episode, even though it follows the same template: it opens by showing the bad guys (stealing a plane), switches to Ralph trying to get his students excited about a project (student elections) and only really comes to life when Bill Maxwell shows up.
Bill forces Ralph into joining him for the evening to find the missing plane which means he has to skip out on meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time. Along the way, Ralph accidently learns how to turn himself invisible. The episode switches between Ralph and Pam for the whole evening. The scenes with Pam and her parents are funny and (as she is forced to defend Ralph to her father) give us a good insight into Pam and her relationship with Ralph. Many Stephen J. Cannell shows had a female regular that (a) the writers couldn't use, and (b) was written out. Not so here. Pam is an integral part of the team/show. Even when she is not with the guys, she gets equal screen time. And so it should be. I love Pam and the voice of reason she brings to the show/team.
But the meat and potatoes of this show is the relationship between Ralph and Bill. The episode stops (for about two boring minutes) to show us (yet again) that Ralph can't fly very well and tends to crash into things a lot. But - after that - the episodes is flawless fun. Ralph and Bill are high on the list of Television's Greatest Partnerships. They are polar opposites in every way and the show (brilliantly) ties them together over the use of the 'Super Suit'. Watching them interact (and eventually become close friends) is the greatest joy of this show. And this episode, where they go up against a house full of mercenaries, is a fine example of how much fun the show is.
Flight Of The Conchords. Episode 12. "The Third Conchord" Brilliant ending to a brilliant first season. The real genius of this show is the way it managed to wring so much comedy from two basic plots: Someone leaves the band, or someone has a girlfriend. These two elements are at the core of nearly every story from this first season, which makes sense given the character's general ennui. These guys kinda amble through life, not really trying very hard about anything. (Except, of course, in the majestic musical sequences where they come alive.) In this wonderful outing, there is more band disharmony (but this time for a novel new reason) and several stand-out i-want-to-rewind-and-watch-that-again scenes.
Greek. Episode 15. "Freshman Daze" If you haven't seen Greek, you need to know two things: it is very funny and it's a superb character-drama. This is, by far, it's finest episode so far. Most of the episode is taken up with flashbacks, which show us that everything was different two years ago.
Greek is about college life and the stories are driven by the romances and friendships of the core characters. In this episode we see how different that landscape (of loves and friends) used to be. Greek is one of those shows that uses an extreme environment of some kind to examine commonplace themes. Shows like Star Trek, Supernatural and Wiseguy have done this in the past. Star Trek set it's stories in outer space and was then able to write about issues that could have appeared taboo in a modern setting. Wiseguy was a very profound and affecting drama about the nature of truth, honesty, friendship, loyalty. Themes that could be mawkish in some settings, but worked perfectly in the world of the mafia and undercover cops. Supernatural is basically about the love between two brothers. The brothers fight ghost and demons and such, and the writers then have free rein to write full-on scenes of brotherly love, etc.
There have been a lot of teen soaps, some very good, and they have all dealt with the same themes as Greek. But Greek is cleverer. By making the show specifically about pledges, sisterhood, sororiety life and so forth the writers are able to make all of these themes take center stage without seeming obvious and false.
The rituals of sisterhood (and all that bitching jazz that goes with it in this show) are as alien to me as anything I saw on Star Trek, Supernatural or Wiseguy but the core feelings of these characters are very real. I was really on the edge of my seat wondering whether Casey would speak to Frannie or not. And, what's even better, I'm fearful she may have made the wrong decision. I hope not.
Scrubs. Season 7, Episode 3. "My Inconvenient Truth" Like Flight Of The Conchords, Scrubs is driven by a limited plot: JD needs to grow up. And, from this episode onwards, he might actually manage to do that. Not that I mind. I never tire of JD and his silly ways, and would happily see him behave like that for many more seasons. Having said that, some of the best years of other shows (Magnum, Beverly Hills 90210) came about late in the run when the characters started to change and mature. So, for Scrubs, the best is possibly ahead.
The Hardy Boys. Season 3, Episode 7. "Defection to Paradise" When I watch this third season of The Hardy Boys I am amazed at how good it is. Bloody brilliant, in fact. Easily the best season. The only real problem is: it's very different to the show it was, and the sense of fun and innocence is completely removed. The Hardy Boys have grown up. Particularly Joe, who is a very different character since the opening two-parter. He's now a much more aggressive investigator, very clever and very driven. Quite the action man is our Joe. He takes the lead totally in this rather superb story. This probably has a lot to do with Shaun Cassidy's successful music career away from the show.
Ironically, since it is a third season tale, this is much more like the early seasons (minus the fun and innocence) in many ways. Joe and Frank are working in Hawaii trying to find missing band equipment, and thus prevent an international incident with Russia. So, since we have no murders or plots at the start, it could well pass for a season one episode. Also, much like the show's original template, the boys discover that they have been lied to by everybody and gradually realise that something else is happening.
That something else is a defection. A defection that has gone wrong and left a young woman alone and on the run. Not sure of who to trust. US Government agents are after her but, as Joe points out, they are more concerned with the secrets in her head rather than her safety or well-being. There is also a KGB team on her trail. We learn that they have orders to kill her, if necessary, but the team leader has no great desire to do that. He will kill her, but he feels a great empathy for her. This kind of character shading (given to all the characters) makes the story many times more enjoyable.
We really do feel for the girl, as she hides out and watches Americans having fun, as she looks for a way to contact Russian and get back home. In one great scene she steals money from a guy, who catches her but shows nothing but compassion. In little ways like that, and many more, it is a very satisfying script. And it portrays Joe as a clever and resourceful young agent who, backed by his brother, is well capable of cutting through diplomatic BS when he has to.
It's a pity fans stopped watching: 'New' Hardy Boys was a great show.
Highlight? Greek.
Wed, Jun 11th, 08 - Greatest American Hero, Flight Of The Conchords, Greek, Scrubs, Hardy Boys
