06.30 10 Items Or Less
07.00 Burn Notice
10.00 In Plain Sight
11.00 Rising Damp
11.30 WKRP In Cincinnati
10 Items Or Less. Episode 2. "Miracle Worker" When a water stain starts to resemble Jesus, the store decides to cash in on it.
A big come down from the opening episode. The story has appeared on other sit-coms and this show does nothing with it. In fact, lots of what they do just isn't funny. And the bit at the very end (where Leslie thinks he is talking to his dad) is just plain stupid.
Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 12. "Seek and Destroy" Michael goes up against a nasty arms dealer.
Such a clever episode from this wonderful, fun show. Most episodes stick to a rigid formula: Michael meets his client, Michael poses as somebody and meets the bad guy, Michael runs a scam on the bad guy and wins. End of episode. This episode cleverly, and easily, flips the middle part and puts it first. Michael needs money so he poses as a security expert and gets himself a job. By the middle part of the episode he's found out what is really going on and meets his real client for the first time. From then on it is business as usual, until the happy conclusion.
It's a great, fun show and I very much admire the way they cleverly flip things around in the formula to give us a 'fresh' type of episode.
Also, there's some nice continuity with Michael and Fiona after the romance last week...
In Plain Sight. Episode 10. "To Serge with Love" Two protected witnesses start dating, which sends Mary and Marshall into a panic.
A story they could only tell on "In Plain Sight" and a great story, too. Not only is it exciting (because we want to know if Serge is trustworthy or not) but it manages to hit several beats on the concepts of love/romance which resonate brilliantly with the stuff going on in Mary's personal life.
Mark Sheppard guests, by the way. Which, let's face it, is pretty much the seal of excellent. The guy is awesome in whatever he does. And this is no exception. He appears in the Brandy ongoing subplot and - as it gains momentum - this is turning out to be a good story.
Best bit? Marshall checks out the info that Mary got, even after fighting with her. Aw...
Rising Damp. Season 3, Episode 2. "Stage Struck" The gang are preparing for a play.
Reaching out, in desperation (one would assume) to generate story ideas, Eric Chappell moves an actor into the boarding house and gets all the regulars involved in a play. Luckily for all concerned Peter Bowles is cast as the new lodger and the results are hilarious. He camps it up and is probably the only guest star in the series history to almost steal scenes from Leonard Rossiter. While their big 'love scene' is so funny it hurts, it's fair to say that most of the scenes in this episode are examples of the show at it's very best.
WKRP In Cincinnati. Episode 67. "Till Debt Do Us Part" Johnny's ex-wife is getting married.
The first half is painfully unfunny (due a very annoying performance from Hamilton Camp) but the second half is rather wonderful. Johnny and his ex are alone and they talk about their past, and - I suppose - their future. It's not very funny, but it successfully avoids every single cliché you can think of and it hits you right in the heart. Not in a schmaltzy way, either. Everything that's said by the two of them seems honest and low key. Very much like real life. And it works. You get a real sense of the strong affection these two people have for one another, despite all that Johnny put them through. And it's amazing to see that captured so well in a sit-com format.
Highlight? Rising Damp (Peter Bowles)
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Fri, Feb 6, 09 - 10 Items Or Less, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Rising Damp, WKRP
