The Venture Bros. 2.2

Much better than 2.1 and more like the show I remember. The Monarch is hilarious and totally steals the show. Likewise, his henchmen are awesome. There’s lots of violence, and everything moves at a fast-pace. 9/10

The Venture Bros. 2.1

All the big laughs in this episode come from the Monarch and his life in prison. 7/10

The Venture Bros., Scrubs, Dexter, Friday Night Lights

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

04.30 The Venture Brothers
05.00 Scrubs
07.00 Dexter
08.00 Friday Night Lights

The Venture Brothers. Episode 9. "Ice Station - Impossible!" Doc Venture is stationed at a remote ice station with Professor Impossible.

One of my favourite episodes. Professor Impossible and his three friends are a dead-on parody of The Fantastic Four. Very funny, but I don't know how they got away with it.

Scrubs. Season 8, Episode 16. "My Cuz" Sean is back, Turk wants to be Chief.

Another winner. And an episode with a real end-of-series vibe to it: returning characters, characters getting promoted and JD making a big decision about his future.

Dexter. Season 4, Episode 8. "Road Kill" Dexter saves Trinity's life.

More bonding from the serial killers, as Dexter goes away with Arthur and confesses to accidentally killing a man, which - in turn - prompts Arthur to open up and reveal his backstory. Engrossing.

Friday Night Lights. Season 4, Episode 4. "A Sort of Homecoming" Julie & Devon go to a gay bar. Landry & Vince like Jess. Matt & Tim go hunting.

Strong episode where all the cast get something to do. Nice surprise in the gay bar.

Highlight? Dexter (bonding)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

Big Bang Theory, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Supernatural, Flashpoint, Harvey Birdman, Venture Brothers

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

06.00 The Big Bang Theory
06.30 Doctor Who
07.30 Torchwood
08.30 Supernatural
09.30 Flashpoint
01.00 Harvey Birdman
01.15 Harvey Birdman
01.30 The Venture Brothers

The Big Bang Theory. Season 2, Episode 21. "The Vegas Renormalization" The boys hit Vegas.

Two plots: both golden. The boys head to Vegas where Wolowitz scores with Jodi Lyn O'Keefe. Sort of. Bottom line: putting these characters (this cast) in a Vegas setting is sure to generate laughs.

Meanwhile, in a clever stroke by the writers, Sheldon stays with Penny. Always a good pairing.

Doctor Who. "The Runaway Bride"

Catherine Tate normally annoys the crap out of me (I've seen snippets of her awful BBC 2 comedy show and her charm eludes me, to be honest), however... by the end of this episode I was quite liking her character. Tate gives a one-note performance for most of the hour, but as soon as she allows her character to mellow a tiny bit - towards the end - it makes a world of difference.

Anyway, even if Catherine Tate had ruined this for me (she didn't) I would have been blown away by the sight of the TARDIS in a car chase. Sort of. Basically, when the bride of the title is kidnapped by a robotic taxi driver (don't you hate when that happens?) The Doctor flies the TARDIS down the motorway in hot pursuit.

It may well be the coolest thing I have ever seen.

I was wetting my Geek-Pants for the entire chase sequence. It was pure heaven. Thank you, Russell T. Davies, once again, for saving Doctor Who and making it better than it ever was before.

Wow.

Torchwood. Episode 1. "Everything Changes" A cop investigates a mysterious organisation, and ends up joining them!

Eve Myles is crazy sexy (she reminds me of Kari Wuhrer) and I really love that accent. On the strength of her alone, I would want to watch more of this show. But, as it happens, this is a pretty strong opening episode. Rather than tell us very much about Torchwood the show opts to put them in the background and make them into a mystery. The lead character in this story doesn't have much of a clue. She is investigating them. We see everything from her point of view, and what little she learns is all we know by the end of the episode. A pretty strong storytelling technique.

Supernatural. Season 4, Episode 13. "After School Special" The boys return (briefly) to a high school that they attended (briefly).

Superb. The best episode of the season so far, and one of the strongest episodes that the show has ever delivered. This one is a real treat.

It's also one of the saddest stories you will ever see. Soul-wrenching sadness. You will ache from watching this one. I certainly did.

Half the story is flashback, and most of the scenes serve no great purpose in the plot. They exist to flesh out the characters. Particularly the character of Sam (who has never, ever, been better than he is in this episode), but even the guest characters are also superbly sketched in this outing. The stories of Sam's friend, the bully and the nice teacher are genuinely superb. Simple stories. Linear and basic. The teacher, for example, has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. He is part of the story to help us get an understanding of Sam. And, on that level, it's a great story choice. But - and I love this - thanks to a typically fine performance by Chad Willett we get a pretty good character profile on the teacher, too.

But this is Sam's show all the way. Jared Padalecki and Colin Ford bring Sam to life in a way that I honestly think the show has never managed to do before. Dean has been my favourite character for a long time, because the writing has given him a status that is nothing short of epic. Sam, meanwhile, has been a pivotal part of epic storylines and that's just not the same thing.

Well, that changes now.

Nothing is more epic than loneliness. And, with this episode, the writers successful pin a whole heap of loneliness onto the character. In a way that will endure. Not just loneliness, either, they imbue him with some hardcore awareness, too. Which, I suppose, only deepens the loneliness.

Honestly, after watching this, my heart bled for the guy. And that's great.

Flashpoint. Episode 17. "Aisle 13" Supermarket.

After an average outing last time (with famous guest stars), the show returns to form in this episode with a superb story (having no-name guest stars).

Flashpoint excels at making us care about the guest characters and their plight. And James Hurst delivers a lovely motivation in this one: friendship. The protagonist in this tale is driven to doing something stupid by his desire to keep his best friend in town. Just that simple. And wonderful.

The cast are great, the setting is great and the episode delivers in every respect. A+ from me. When Flashpoint is this good (which happens a lot) it's one of the five best shows on TV.

Harvey Birdman. Episode 3. "Shaggy Busted"

I need to stop watching and re-watching this episode. I know it too well. So well, I can't find laughs anymore for even the best jokes.

I need to lock this episode away in a vault and dig it out again in 2025...

Harvey Birdman. Episode 4. "Death By Chocolate" The Yogi Bear episode.

Lots of goodness here: Phil Ken Sebben, the Dr. Quincy bikini-clad-girl joke, the appearance of Dick Dastardly and the entire closing act where Harvey and Boo Boo become lovers...

Surreal? Yes. Hilarious? Yes.

The Venture Brothers. Episode 7. "Home Insecurity" Brock meets bionic man Steve Summers in the woods, and the rest of the regulars are trapped in their own compound's panic room.

Delightful. A great episode. Both plots are funny and switching between them keeps them both fresh and fast moving. All the humour comes from the characters own traits and the Helper robot gets the biggest laughs from me. Best bit? Helper finds the plans for the new robot and runs away from home...

Highlight? Supernatural (epic)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

Arrested Development, It's Your Move, The Venture Brothers, Raven

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

07.00 Arrested Development
09.30 It's Your Move
10.00 The Venture Brothers
10.30 Raven

Arrested Development. Episode 15. "Staff Infection" It's Saturday and Michael must work, but he ends up at the beach. George Michael wants to chill out with his dad, but he ends up being the only one at The Bluth Company. The Staff are being forced to work with Michael, but they end up lost in Catalina. Michael's siblings want their pay cheques, but they each end up working for The Bluth Company, in various capacities. And Tobias goes to a 'men's penal colony'.

There's an abundance of quick-fire sight gags in this one one. My favourite is the encounter between Buster and the sheep in the photo booth. Quickly followed by the very similar photo's of Lucille trying to get an ID card for some chain of stores. The sheep, and the idea of sheep/shepherds crops up many times, and you have to be very quick to spot them. There's some delightful stuff of Buster at work on a building site, shown way in the background, and the on-screen text for Annyong's recurring greeting - 'Hello' - is shown much smaller when he's way in the background.

And on and on...

Visually, this episode is a treat.

All the big laughs, for me, come from Michael Cera as George Michael gets the idea that his father is deliberately spending time away from him ('He's at the beach!?').

This is one of those rare Season One episode, so far, that gives Lindsay a lot to do and is all the better for it. She causes chaos, poor girl.



It's Your Move. Episode 3. "Dating Games" Eli wants a date for the Harvest Dance.

One half-hour of hilarious one-liners delivered by a superbly talented young cast: Jason Bateman (of course), Adam Jay Sadowsky, Tricia Cast and Leanna Beth.

The show casts it's net very wide as it delivers laughs. Early on, network executives come in for a pot shot and it just gets better from there. Eli gets some wonderful lines ("I don't like when you call me homely") and Sadowsky is pitch-perfect in deliver. Nobody matches Bateman, though, and he steals every scene. The story he tells about the death of his father is a true comedic highlight. Every pause is perfect and earns loud laughter from the audience. Bateman really knows how to work a live audience and use their laughter and work with it to make his delivery even funnier. Guy is a master. Even at a young age.

Tricia Cast is the real revelation, for me, because it would be easy to dismiss her as playing the dumb, pretty sister. But, in this episode, there's a lot of good character material for Julie and funny stuff, too. And Cast is very, very funny.

Eli takes center stage, story-wise, and the while episode is driven by his need to get a date with Julie and with Matthew's need to be a good friend to Eli. The show gets major praise from me for really writing the Matthew/Eli friendship as a real friendship and making it clear that Matthew likes Eli and even going so far as to tell us why.

The final twist at the very, very end is superb. Very funny, too.

The Venture Brothers. Episode 5. "The Incredible Mr. Brisby" Dr. Venture is taken captive by a cartoon magnate, while the boys are taken hostage by a group fighting the eccentric magnate.

An average episode. Some good gags here, and a few that are so-so. Roy Brisby is a one-joke character and he gets far too much screentime. The Orange County Liberation Front are a much funnier group, but they remind me of something you'd see on The Tick.



Raven. Episode 3. "Reunion" Jonathan thinks the mother of his missing son might still be alive and - like him - searching for their son.

An example of style over content. This is one of the stronger episodes of Raven, but the story makes no great sense. The first half is devoted to Raven's quest to find out who the mysterious woman is. When he finds her, he totally fails to ask any obvious questions about what has been happening in the story up to that point. Consequently when she betrays him, later in the story, it doesn't come as much of a surprise to the viewer. Indeed, the climax makes very little sense. The bad guy from the pilot returns and reveals his part in the events of the episode, but - even at this point - it's not exactly clear why they bothered to convince Jonathan that his dead lover was alive. It makes no sense.

However, the episode's plot fairly zips along, there are several really great fight scenes and Larry Manetti as a guest star. So, logic flaws aside, there is lots here to enjoy.

Highlight? It's Your Move (very, very funny)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

Wed, Feb 25, 09 - The Famous Five, The Venture Bros.

02.00 The Famous Five
04.30 The Venture Bros.

The Famous Five. Episode 2. "Five Go To Kirren Island, Part Two" Delightful second episode. Very much plot-driven, with almost no scenes where the personalities/character shine through the way they did in Part One. The first third is concerened with the bad guy who is holding George's Dad hostage. The middle third is where the action starts, as George abandons the others in the middle of the night and heads off to discover what has happened to the Professor. In the final third, with both father and daughter held captive, it is up to Julian, Dick and Anne to come to the rescue.

Worth noting is the fact that George (a teenage girl) takes the lead for most of the adventure: deducing what is happening, setting out to mount a rescue and sending Timmy The Dog for help. Also interesting: when Timmy raises the alarm and Julian gets everybody up and ready for action there is never a suggestion that they would leave Anne behind. She might be the youngest, and a girl, but she's clearly seen as an equal by her brothers. Part of the appeal of the show, no doubt.

Once again the music, on the soundtrack, is rather cool and well worth listening out for. The entire show is a blast. Lots of running around in the middle of the night, secret tunnels and a chase through the dawn hours makes for a very exciting tale.



The Venture Bros. Episode 4. "Eeny, Meeny, Miney... Magic" The first truly genius episode. Line after line, scene after scene, are pure gold.

1: We start on a dark and stormy night. The professor's nightmare will have significance in later episodes, while Brock Sampson's nightmare will have significance later in the story. The brothers, meanwhile, are messing with a Ouiji board. There opening exchance is both hilarious and gives great insight into their characters.

2: Doctor Orpheus makes his (stunning) entrance.

3: We are treated to television's best theme tune and opening sequence. Bar none.

4: Dean wakes his dad, and Hank wakes Brock. Hilarious, hilarious.

5: The opening speech from Dr. Orpheus is - simply put - genius. All of his speeches are, of course, but nothing that beat the first time you hear the first one. Likewise the conversationt that follows between Dr. Venture and Dr. Orpheus is wonderful: one of them speaking in phrases of high drama, and the other one concerned with rent and zoning laws and such.

6: Amid the comedy is a wonderful scene where Hank remarks to Brock that his dad never has time for him and - seconds later - Brock is advising on a game he is playing. It's a brief throwaway moment, amid the comedy, but it sure stands out with repeated viewing as a Grade A character moment.

7: Dean meets Triana for the first time. Their conversation in the kitchen contains the funniest lines ever uttered in a Venture Bros. episode. Pretty much everything that Dean says is enough to make me laugh until I hurt. No matter how many times I watch it. It's priceless. And, what I really love, it's not just funny: it's also good character development.

8: By the mid-way point of the episode, the threat-of-the-week has been unveiled and Brock "is stuck in Dad's thing that makes people happy, but it's all evil" and the Venture brothers must team up to save the day. Unlike earlier episodes they actually do team up in this one and set out to do something genuinely connected to the threat-of-the-week.

9: The ending is one of the best things about the episode. Funny and - as always with this wonderful show - a little bit sad. Dr. Orpheus hopes that the sound of a loved one will bring the boys back to safety. The fact that it is the sound of Triana's voice, not their father's, says lots about the boys. Yes, it's also supremely funny. And it's certainly sweet and romantic that Dean is so smitten by Triana after one brief meeting (typical for teenage boys, I suppose) but what drives the comedy/tragedy of all this is the fact that their father pretty much sucks at being a father.

Yes, I know I'm reading way too deap into this half-hour of comedy but - after multiple repeated viewings - you tend to take the characters and their world very seriously when you grow to love them very much.

Highlight? Famous Five (since I've watched this Venture Bros. episode many times)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

Tue, Dec 23, 08 - Prison Break, Worst Week, Rising Damp, Venture Bros., NewsRadio

06.00 Prison Break
07.00 Worst Week
08.00 Worst Week
08.30 Rising Damp
09.00 The Venture Bros.
01.00 NewsRadio

Prison Break. Season 4, Episode 16. "The Sunshine State" A mixed bad, but it's still a lot better than last week's mess.

The show is still reminding me of Alias, with Linc all slicked up and leading his new team on a Search-And-Retrieve mission. They didn't exactly crash a cocktail party, but it has a lot of other elements from the famous/excellent spy series.

It also reminds me - this week - of 24. Sadly, this is a bad thing. Because now that Michael's mother has entered the picture it reminds me of the naff story twist that 24 produced in Season Six wherein we learned that everything revolved around Jack Bauer's family. And had done for a few seasons. Making it all about Jack's family proved to be a mistake and caused us viewers to lose interest.

Making Michael's mother a vital part of the Company conspiracy runs the danger of rendering every thing on the show totally implausible.

Of course, the arrival of Sydney's mother on Alias didn't hurt the show at all, so it remains to be seen what all of this will mean for Prison Break.

For the second week in a row, all of the Michael scenes were duff.

But, pretty much everything else was pretty close to the show's usual high standard. Alex was awesome. Sara was awesome. Gretchen was awesome.

Gretchen's final scene was pretty darn awesome, too. I never expected her to get shot. Having it happen after she showed her true colours/loyalties made it somewhat epic. The aftermath of the shooting was superb, also: Linc about to execute her, while T-Bag and Self acted as his Guardian Angels (one good, one bad).

Worst Week. Episode 10. "The Apartment" Erinn Hayes is hilarious. She's also ridiculously hot, of course, which I know from watching her on The Winner. But as the weeks go by and it emerges that Melanie is almost as unlucky as Sam (she destroys the kitchen while cooking in this episode), and that she is very much Sam's partner in all his misadventures, it cannot be escaped that Hayes is very, very funny. She's always been dropping in some great one-liners, and reactions, amid the chaos that Sam creates, but as the camera lingers on her more and more in this episode the more I found myself laughing.

With this episode the show seems to have opted to abandon the story arc approach. The opening credits no longer have an event written on the calendar and everything about this episode could be done on any other sit-com.

Never mind. Rachael Harris guests and it's a very funny episode. Much as I love the idea of story arcs, maybe the show works best as a series of stand-alone tales.

Worst Week. Episode 11. "The Gift" Weaker than usual. The guy who showed up and stole the car was so totally random that it pretty much didn't work very well. As usual, on this show, pretty much everything else that happened was driven by a large number of little white lies. Christmas, and all the secrecy that that entails, lends itself to telling little fibs, I suppose, but they sure overuse the idea on this show.

Rising Damp. Season 2, Episode 8. "For the Man Who Has Everything" It starts off slow (with too many guest characters), gets better (as the regulars arrive) and builds to a truly great comedy of misunderstanding.

Rigsby has been alone all over Christmas and he is in very bad form. All the early conversations are with guest characters and it lacks the spark of the usual starts. Most episodes seem to open with Rigsby and Alan deep in conversation. Random bickering with random strangers is just not as funny.

Soon Alan and Brenda arrive and things pick up considerably. Rigsby getting the same bad gift from both of them is very funny, but the episode kicks into high gear in the final third. Phillip arrives with a girl in tow. And when Rigsby meets her, he jumps to a spectacular wrong conclusion. Leonard Rossiter has seldom been funnier.

The Venture Bros. "A Very Venture Christmas" An odd little number, this one. Not without laughs, but the conceit that it's all a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream left me with a headache when the credits had rolled. Best bit? The Christmas-themed porn videos!

NewsRadio. Season 2, Episode 10. "Xmas Story" The first episode I ever saw, and still one of my favourites.

Mr. James gives the staff sports cars for Christmas. All except Matthew. For some reason he gives Matthew a box of old radio shows on tape. Bill, meanwhile, is being stalked by a crazed Santa. And nobody believes him.

The Bill storyline is totally crazy, and very funny. The main storyline makes the whole group gather around Matthew for the duration of the episode, and it makes for a fun episode.

Highlight? Worst Week (Erinn Hayes)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

Sat, Dec 20, 08 - Dexter, FNL, Burn Notice, Venture Bros., Rising Damp, Office, Corner Gas

06.00 Dexter
07.00 Friday Night Lights
08.00 Burn Notice
09.00 The Venture Bros.
09.30 Rising Damp
10.00 The Office
10.30 Corner Gas

Dexter. Season 2, Episode 12. "The British Invasion" A superb conclusion. The beauty of this chapter is that - before it starts - it is impossible to predict how it will all turn out, yet once it is over you cannot imagine it happening any other way.

I am shocked that Doakes is dead. I wasn't sure that he would die, and I never imagined that Lila would be the one to kill him. Clever writing. Great performance from Lauren Vélez in the aftermath of the death/discovery, too.

But the episode belongs to Jaime Murray as the evil Lila. Poor Lila. At different parts of the season I liked her and loathed her. In the end, there was almost nothing to sympathise with. She went after Rita's children for Frak's sake!! No sympathy left for her after that.

But the script is clever. Up until that last scene we were led to believe that she has gotten away scott free. Not so. Dexter found her. And justice was served.

It's been a great season. Better than the first. What's next for Dexter?

Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 12. "Who Do You Think You Are?" A mixed bag. Some stories are great, and some are pedestrian.

Carlotta leaves Matt. It's a lazy ending to a pointless storyline. Corlotta was just somebody for Matt to be with while he wasn't with Julie, and the show made no great effort to turn her into anything more. Which is a pity.

Lila, meanwhile, starts working at a Christian Radio station and Riggins makes a play for her. He arrives, flowers in hand, to find her in mid-smooch with her on-air co-host. Predictable, predictable, predictable. Sigh, sigh, sigh.

Over in the Taylor house, Coach and Tami try to figure out what to do with Gracie during the day (when they are both at work). They have the ol' should-the-woman-quit-her-job-to-mind-the-baby conversation. Predictable.

The only good storylines are the ones devoted to Smash and Santiago. So, all told, this is a disappointing and ordinary episode.

Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 9. "Good Soldier" The case-of-the-week is a delight. Michael joins a gang planning a kidnapping and tries to derail the plot by being an uncooperative religious fanatic. The ending (when he rams the kidnapper's car from out of nowhere) is superb. And hilarious (as he spouts off a spiel of made-up religious-sounding guff to fool them).

Meanwhile, over in the continuing story arc, things get very confusing. Carla's plot increasingly makes no sense and it seems that (a) she knows every move that Michael is about to make, and (b) she wants everyone dead. Including Michael. We fade to black after a booby trap goes on at Michae's front door, and an explosion sends him flying...

The Venture Bros. Episode 3. "Midlife Chrysalis" The first very funny episode. Brock loses his liscence and Dr. Venture enters the dating scene. The Monarch returns and sends Dr. Girlfriend (is it wrong that I find her very, very sexy?) undercover to seduce Venture. And inject him with... something.

Whatever it is, it turns the esteemed scientist into a giant caterpillar. Yes, a giant caterpillar.

All of the regular (and semi-regular) character generate lots of laughs in this one.

Rising Damp. Season 2, Episode 7. "Things That Go Bump in the Night" Much more over-the-top than your typical Rising Damp episode. But still very funny.

Rigsby is scared of ghosts, so Alan dresses as a ghostly woman in order to sneak down to visit Brenda (who he is now dating). If you are willing to accept that Rigsby is stupid enough to fall for this, there are laughs to be had.

By the end, however, things are been stretched too far. A couple of priests have been called in to deal with the ghosts and everyone runs around as if it is a farce. It's not. Good effort, nonetheless.

The Office. Season 5, Episode 10. "Moroccan Christmas" Dwight buys up all the dolls of a particular brand to make a financial killing when all the parents come looking to buy them. Meanwhile, the gang (well, mostly just Michael) decide to have an intervention to stop Meredith from drinking so much.

The Dwight stuff is funny. Everything else is serious. And not very good. It's commendable that the show would take on such a subject, but they don't really do much with it. Nothing that happens onscreen is funny enough, or awkward enough to warrant much comment.

Even the fact that everyone finds out about Angela cheating on Andy is handled in blah fashion.

Corner Gas. Season 5, Episode 9. "Game, Set and Mouse" Another classic. While Hank and Brent are busy telling tall tales to Lacey, Oscar sets out to kill a mouse at Corner Gas, and Wanda suffers from a sore back.

Nancy Robertson often gets big laughs by playing things a bit over the top, but - in this episode - she steals the show by underplaying everything. Since Wanda is in pain, she can't move very much or get very expressive in what she does and Robertson uses it to deliver some of the biggest laughs in the episode. Scenes from this episode and the one where Wanda went manic on the energy drink could/should be used to illustrate what a genius Nancy Robertson really is.

But, across the board, it's a very funny episode. The biggest laugh comes in the very last second when the mouse that Davis has saved from Oscar comes to a very bad end (thanks, in a roundabout way, to something Davis did earlier in the episode). I was still laughing very hard at that moment long after the credits had faded.

Highlight? Dexter (great conclusion)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

Sat, Dec 6, 08 - Dexter, FNL, Burn Notice, Venture Bros., Rising Damp, Office, Corner Gas

06.00 Dexter
07.00 Friday Night Lights
08.00 Burn Notice
09.00 The Venture Bros.
09.30 Rising Damp
10.00 The Office
10.30 Corner Gas

Dexter. Season 2, Episode 11. "Left Turn Ahead" A melancholy and unsatisfying episode of Showtime's drama about a likable serial killer.

It's a gloomy ride as Dexter puts his affairs in order and prepares to hand himself over to the police for his crimes. In the end he changes his mind after a conversation with his sister. And it's a pretty unconvincing turn of events. Seems like the writers painted themselves with this story and didn't know how to get out of it. A short, flippant comment from Debra is a weak solution. Had it been Rita and the kids (particularly the kids) I might have bought it. This? Not so much.

Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 10. "There Goes the Neighborhood" Poor Tim Riggins. Guy just can't catch a break, can he? Most of this episode shows how the Taylor household adjusts to having Tim living there full time. And, to my surprise and delight, it adjusts pretty darn well. Eric, in particular, seems happy to have another male in the house.

But it all turns sour over a misunderstanding and, as the episode comes to a close, Tim has to flee the house in the middle of the night. Very unjust.

But great storytelling.

Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 8. "Double Booked" Burn Notice breaks from formula and delivers one of it's most enjoyable episodes.

A hit-man calls Michael and offers him a hit! So, rather than having a client from the start, Michael is 'working for' the bad guy. So he has to find a way to save the target, without tipping off the hit-man (Tim Matheson, who also directed the episode).

The Venture Bros. Episode 2. "Careers in Science" This isn't as funny as the first episode but it's got a much better story and gives you a much better sense of who these characters are.

Dr. Venture and the gang head to a vast spaceship that his dad built when he was a kid. There's no evil-doer in this episode, but the boys spectacularly mis-interpret almost everything that happens and spend the entire episode cowering from a Space Phantom. All the best laughs come from the H.E.L.P.eR. robot (my favourite character, after Brock) who has a run of incredibly bad luck: he is shot out into space, savagely beaten by the boys and - at the end - completely forgotten as the gang blasts off back to Earth.

Rising Damp. Season 2, Episode 5. "A Perfect Gentlemen" Rigsby's love for Miss Jones is one of the main engines that drives the stories on Rising Damp, but the show doesn't miss a beat now that the character of Miss Jones has moved out of the boarding house. Some episode's rely on Philip playing a prank on Rigsby (to teach him a lesson), but this isn't one of those. Rather, it goes back to another established trait of the landlord: Rigsby is a sycophant. Place him with someone he considers superior/important and he becomes hilariously obsequious. We saw it in Season One with the policeman, and we see it here again (to great effect) when a con-man moves in and convinces everybody that he is 'somebody'.

Except except Philip, that is. Long established as the smartest one of the bunch, this episode shows - once again - that he's nobody's fool. Best bit? Rigsby finding the money that Philip planted, putting his foot on it and being caught by Philip.

The Office. Season 5, Episode 9. "The Surplus" Hilarious. There's a surplus in the budget and Michael doesn't know what to do with it. From that simple idea comes another wonderful half-hour of comedy. Best bits? Pam and Jim on opposite sides. Pam fights dirty. How cute!

Corner Gas. Season 5, Episode 8. "Classical Gas" Jonathan Zinetta, former foster child from Kenya, shows up at the door of the family who sponsored him: the Leroys. He wants to say thanks. It should be simple, but this is Dog River. Lots of very funny lines in this one, and good plots for everyone. I love the way Hank tries to bolster Brent's ego, after the arrival of his 'better' brother. Inept, yes, but very sweet.

Highlight? Burn Notice (nice break from formula)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

Sat, Nov 29, 08 - Rising Damp, Cavemen, Corner Gas, Venture Bros

10.30 Rising Damp
11.00 Cavemen
11.30 Corner Gas
12.00 The Venture Bros.

Rising Damp. Season 2, Episode 4. "Moonlight and Roses" While this is still a very funny episode, it is much different to most other episodes of RD. It's a bit more sad. Rigsby wears his heart on a sleeve a bit more than usual in this one, he tries very hard to win Miss Jones and plays a very mean trick to try and derail her impending marriage. But it fails: Miss Jones still moves out at the end to get married.

Most of the humour in Rising Damp comes from the tenants (mostly just Philip) playing tricks on Rigsby. Rigsby (mostly) deserves it, because he's a know-it-all and should be taught a lesson from time to time. But this one is a bit different. He really is in love with Miss Jones. To their credit the boys try and shield him from heartbreak at the very start of the show, but - when that fails to work - Philip goes all out and sets him the landlord up for a fall. It's very, very funny. But, for the first time in the series, you cannot help but feel very sorry for Rigsby. He might have his flaws, but the guy did love Miss Jones.

His trick to ruin her marriage is very mean (funny, but mean). Seldom does he do something so out of character. Desperation, I suppose, drove him to it...

Gabrielle Rose (of Robson Arms) joins the cast in this one and makes a great first impression. When Brenda shows up in a very revealing top and tells Rigsby that she is a nude model, the show delivers one of it's best-ever moments. Watching the inept advances of the lecherous landlord is a real delight.

Cavemen. It's a bit too preaching (which can get embarrassing) but this is still one of the very best episodes. In this one, Joel is trying to bounce back from his break-up with Kate. When he hears that she hated his clothes he gives his wardrobe a total overhaul, and the entire plot thread yields many laughs. It's a good storyline. It captures truth: The moment after a relationship has ended when you still bump into your ex a lot and try to give yourself a total make-over so they will take you back. Highlight? Kate's mom talking about Joel's clothes.

But Andy gets most of the scenes in the episode. This is good for two reasons: Andy is coming close to overtaking Nick as my favourite character in the show, and his girlfriend (Stephanie Lemelin) is both hot and adorable. In equal measure. Not an easy one to pull off. I know. I do it every day :)

Andy takes a stab at stand-up comedy. It's a wild ride. He sucks, gets great, becomes a huge hit, learns a lesson about racial stereotypes and goes back to sucking again.

When it gets preachy (on race issues) this episode veers into the territory of embarrassment but when it stays funny, it is very, very funny.

Corner Gas. Season 5, Episode 7. "Buzz Driver" Written by series creator/star Brent Butt this is a strong contender for funniest ever episode of Corner Gas. It seems as if every line of dialogue is a fresh joke, and the situations are inspired. Not only are the plots great in isolation, Butt is able to make them collide to great effect whenever he wants.

And his cast are a dream. Nancy Robertson has almost overtaken Eric Peterson as my favourite cast member. Wanda is 'jacked-up' on energy drink in this one, and Wanda is hilarious. Easily the funniest thing in the episode. And I say this about an episode which also has Oscar turning a bunch of kids from a Church Group into a dangerous mob, while Hank decides to turn his truck into a advertisement for The Ruby. His 'aggressive' marketing involves parking across two lanes of traffic so everyone has to read his sign!!

Yes, Oscar and Hank are great in this episode, but Wanda steals the show. Highlight? Emma (knowing a good thing when she sees it) asks Wanda to call over over to her house and give her some help with the gardening. Jacked-up Wanda (brimming with energy) immediately agrees and announces that she will jog on over. Next we see her run off at high speed. And the camera (wisely) lingers as tiny (adorable) Wanda runs away so fast she pretty much rises a cloud of dust in her wake.

So Corner Gas. Five season in and they deliver (probably) their best episode. Not bad, not bad at all...



The Venture Bros. Episode 1. "Dia de los Dangerous" A good episode. But not a great episode. And certainly an odd way to start the series. The Venture family (and Brock, their protector) are in Mexico. And they cross paths (by accident) with super-villain The Monarch, whose henchmen kidnap Dead and Hank. There are lots of laughs to be had, but it's unusual (I feel) for a first episode to showcase the untypical episodes in a series. Even more unusual, it starts with the four heroes split apart and doing their own thing rather than arriving together (and being introduced to the viewer) as a team.

Never mind. This is still a good episode. The best bits revolve around The Monarch and Dr. Venture's total apathy towards his sons. Brock (the show's best character, voiced by the awesome Patrick Warburton) is sidelined in this one. He only appears for a few scenes. Maybe that's why it's not one of my favourite episodes...

Highlight? Corner Gas (Wanda running)
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