05.30 Flight Of The Conchords
06.00 The Office
06.30 24
Flight Of The Conchords. Season 2, Episode 4. "Murray Takes it to the Next Level" The band and their manager take things to the next level: friendship. But the manager's annoying other friend (Jim) causes problems.
Another wonderful and hilarious episode. Season Two is more of an ensemble show: Mel (Kristen Schaal) gets her own musical number and the story is completely driven by Murray. This says a lot about the strength of the show's concept. It has expanded to be more than a show about two guys in a band, but it is still - essentially - a show about two guys in a band. Because the story is driven by the characterisation of Murray this is definitely one of the strongest episodes.
Plus it features Jim Gaffigan. Another reason to consider it one of the strongest episodes.
Best bits? Murray's friendship chart, and Jim's endless questions. "How many steps in your building?"
The Office. Season 5, Episode 14. "Lecture Circuit" Michael and Pam go on tour, Jim and Dwight plan a party and Andy falls in love with a visiting client.
Perfect. Three superb storylines and many highlights - comedic and otherwise. The show has gotten much comedy mileage from casting Jim and Dwight as adversaries, and now it manages to make us laugh by turning them into a team. As wonderful as they are as enemies, they are even better when united in a single goal: planning Kelly's birthday party. It's a genius combination. And a goldmine of comedy possibility. Neither character has a genuine interest in what they are doing, yet their outlook on life is so different that they cannot be united even when they are on the same side.
The Karen chapter in the Jim-Pam story is given wonderful closure by having Rashida Jones return to the show for an episode. The plot was dealt with in wonderful clever ways. Everything between Karen and Pam was low-key and realistic (and very nice and heartwarming) while all the OTT comedy was left to Michael. Very wise. A lesser show might have made Karen central to... something. Something dumb. Instead, she gets a very nice, dignified send-off and some wonderful scenes with Pam. Pam's direct-to-camera segments in this episode are among the best ones ever given to the character.
It's a refreshing change to see Pam existing in a plot without Jim. I hope the writers don't forget that there is more to the character than her relationship with Jim.
Finally, there was Andy. Ed Helms gives us some cringe-worthy comedy as Andy tried very hard to win the heart of a lady who was visiting the office, but he also sold the heartache and sadness of what Andy is going through.
One of the very best episodes of The Office.
24. Season 7, Episode 8. "3PM - 4PM" Jack meets with the President, and then sets out to rescue her husband.
From beginning to end this was one of the very best episodes of 24. We follow Jack from a meeting at the White House, to a meeting with Larry Moss, to a fight with a corrupt Secret Service Agent, to a rescue attempt on Henry Taylor. Yes, this is one of the episodes of the show that employs - what I like to call - elastic time. Most episodes of 24 push the bounds of credibility a small bit, but there are occasional episodes that blast right through the bounds and keep on truckin'! This is one of those. Many characters are shown to cover vast distances in very little time and there are enough events in this chapter to fill two normal episodes.
I don't care.
It's part of the charm/appeal of this show. And, when the story and character developments are this good, what's the point in nit-picking about minor details.
Since the season started, Renee Walker has been a fantastic character: she's intelligent, dangerous and hot. She debates methods with Jack Bauer but is willing to cross the line herself when the job requires it. This is a superb episode for that kind of stuff. The script wisely sends Renee to the home of an innocent woman and her child and require the freckled FBI agent to threaten their lives as means towards getting information from her husband. The act sicken her to her core, but she does it anyway because it has to be done. Superb stuff.
Larry Moss has been a fairly bland character since the story started, and I'm ready to change my verdict on him just yet, but he certainly gets a great debate scene with Jack in this outing. Althought the show has frequently debated Jack's methods, it has seldom been as successful as in this case. Jeffrey Nordling does a great job with dialogue that could have been flat and clichéd.
But this wasn't an episode about debate. No, this was an action-packed episode with a killer twist at the end. I loved every action sequence, enjoyed the coolness of Jack Bauer in action (as I always do) and was totally gobsmacked by what happened in the closing seconds.
Highlight? 24 (the best action show on television)
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Wed, Feb 11, 09 - The Office, 24
