Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
07.30 Arrested Development
08.00 The Incredible Hulk
09.00 Mission: Impossible
01.30 NewsRadio
Arrested Development. Season 2, Episode 10. "Ready, Aim, Marry Me"
After an episode that I don't much care for, comes an episode that I consider one of my all-time favourites. Martin Short is a great guest star and his character (Uncle Jack) is one of the best ever featured in the series. The episode contains some of the best-ever Tobias material and highlights Jason Bateman's considerable skill as a straight-man, mostly in reacting to lines delivered by David Cross.
The Incredible Hulk. Episode 7. "747" The one on the airplane.
A complete departure from formula, and a damn fine episode as well.
David takes a flight to Chicago. However, one of the pilots has plans to drug the remainder of the flight crew and parachute to safety with some very expensive cargo. Luckily, for everyone on board, David notices some very odd things (great script by Thomas E. Szollosi and Richard Christian Matheson) and sticks his nose where it doesn't belong. Cue: a fight, and a transformation and pretty soon the Hulk is running rampage on a passenger plane. Cool!
Things get even better when David must take the controls and land the plane. It's a situation we've seen many times over, but The Incredible Hulk puts a great spin on it, as David fights off a second transformation as he fights to control the plane before it crashes.
Superb.
Continuing a trend from the previous episode, this one has another gorgeous guest star who has appeared in every show I've ever watched: Sondra Currie. Some of the close-ups on Currie are so tight you'd imagine you can feel her beautiful red hair tickling your nose. A concept that bothers me not at all...
Mission: Impossible. Episode 81. "The Code" Trying to break a code to stop an invasion.
From watching this you learn two things: Paris has balls of steel, and Jim is very, very smart.
Leonard Nimoy is a joy to watch as Paris goes undercover as an arrogant dictator/revolutionary type. With nothing more than a wispy beard he bluffs his way with two high level bad guys and it's fun to watch him in action. Balls of steel, my friend, balls of steel. Jim Phelps, meanwhile, uses brain-power as well as technology to break the code that will bring the bad guys plans tumbling down around their nasty ears. Boo! Hiss!
The guest cast includes greats like: Michael Constantine, Harold Gould and A Martinez. And the ending is classic: the IMF gather around to listen to events in the office of the bad guys. A shot rings out. One bad guy has shot the other. Who fired the shot? "What does it matter?" says Jim and they drive off.
NewsRadio. Season 3, Episode 12. "Rap" Bill learns about rap music, while Lisa copes with being called 'cute'.
A 'cute' episode. The stuff with Lisa and the girls in the office follows a predictable route. As does all the stuff with Bill (with Phil Hartman's performance making it funnier than the material).
Episode highlight? Beth explains the meanings of words like 'cute', 'sexy', 'beautiful', etc.
Highlight? The Incredible Hulk (Superb tension as David fights a transformation while landing a plane.)
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Arrested Development, The Incredible Hulk, Mission: Impossible, NewsRadio
