Sunday, July 19th, 2009
03.30 The Big Bang Theory
12.00 Arrested Development
12.30 Andy Richter Controls The Universe
The Big Bang Theory. Season 2, Episode 20. "The Hofstadter Isotope"
Two very solid ideas here: Penny dating someone who is just like Leonard (which is guaranteed to annoy/hurt/confuse him) and the guys go to a bar to find women.
Both ideas are old sitcoms ideas, but they are handled well here.
BBT does a good job, I think, of making nerds/geeks funny without making fun of them. It seems to follow the Frasier template in that these guys are funny because they are so caught up in their own world and we don't have to think any less of them because of that, we can just chuckle at their behaviour. Especially when taken out of their own environment, such as here.
Arrested Development. Season 2, Episode 1. "The One Where Michael Leaves"
Relentless, frantic-comedy. An absolute tour de force of short scenes and quickfire gags. Although there were many, many truly hilarious episodes in Season One, I don't think there were any episodes with quite so many jokes, delivered so fast.
Andy Richter Controls The Universe. Episode 3. "France" The one with the cat.
My favourite episode of ARCTU. It's the first episode where everything about the show is fully in place. The rivalry between Andy & Keith (and between Andy & Byron) seems less serious now and much more friendly. Keith has his own storyline here and - as of this episode - he's a likable main character with a genuine romantic interest in Wendy. After the first two episodes the show (wisely) drops all references to Andy having a crush on Wendy.
Paget Brewster really makes an impression here. Not just because she is utterly gorgeous/sexy but because she has impeccable comic timing. Witness the scene in her apartment where Andy & Byron are competing for her affections.
However, this being said, she still can't steal the episode from Andy Richter. This is the one where Andy desperately tries to get a free trip to France, but inadvertently gets his boss' cat drunk and lost in the air vents of the building. Yes, as Andy says, that age old dilemma. Richter is hilarious as his character gets more manic and desperate as everything spirals out of control.
Best bit? Andy falls through the ceiling, rebounds quickly and tries to have a casual conversation with Byron. Possibly my favourite moment from the whole series.
Highlight? Andy Richter Controls The Universe (the one with the cat)
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