Saturday, July 11th, 2009
01.30 Arrested Development
02.00 The Avengers
Arrested Development. Episode 17. "Altar Egos" Michael has a one-night stand with a blind lawyer. Oh, and Gob gets married.
If I had to pick a favourite episode of Arrested Development, I think this would be the one. Even more than the episode where Michael accidentally kidnapped someone, this episode cracks me up. Largely due to the presence (and amazing performance of) Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Having Jane Lynch and Amy Poehler fill out the guest cast doesn't hurt.
And, except for a couple of scenes with George Michael and Maeby, everything that happens in the story is organic and connected. In fact, this would make a great movie script. The central engine driving everything is the Trial of George Bluth and that's what brings all the characters and storylines together. Michael, Gob, George Sr. and Lucille are all tied to the Trial storyline (although Gob does find time to run off and get married... in flashback. Only on AD.). Lindsay, as usual, is sadly underused. But, unlike Buster, she does manage to appear.
Henry Winkler comes close to stealing the episode out from under everybody, with some of the best Barry stuff.
The Avengers. Episode 138. "You'll Catch Your Death" Ear-nose-throat specialists all over the world are dropping dead within seconds of opening an empty envelope...
Middle-of-the-road case-of-the-week tale. Nothing wrong with it. Nothing to get very excited about, either.
Tara gets captured early on, and spends the whole episode in the clutches of the bad guys. That's a bit irritating. But Steed works well on his own.
There are some great guest stars but - probably - too many of them. Nobody gets to shine. A few more scenes with Fulton Mackay, for instance, would have been very nice. But, then, it would have been nice to see more of Sylvia Kay. Or Dudley Sutton. Or Valentine Dyall. And on and on. Roland Culver gets the most to do.
The character of Mother plays a larger-than-usual part in the story (since, with Tara missing, Steed needs someone to talk to) and provides information that gives this tale a wider scale than usual. Normally, the crimes that Steed investigates are confined to England but, this time out, Mother keeps telling him of similar deaths/murders in various parts of the world and drives home the fact that this is a global crisis.
Peter Bourne is a wonderfully scruffy-looking postman and there are many scenes of him walking the typically pedestrian-less streets of Avengers-ville before he delivers the letters of death. Whereupon he is sped to safety in a Rolls Royce. All very odd. Wonderfully odd. But, a few less scenes of him, and few more scenes of the wonderful guest stars might have done wonders for the episode.
Highlight? Arrested Development
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Arrested Development, The Avengers
