Saturday, July 25th, 2009
04.30 Scrubs
05.00 Perfect Strangers
12.00 Arrested Development
12.30 Superboy
Scrubs. Season 8, Episode 5. "My ABC's" JD, Elliot and Cox mentor an intern. All three interns are horrible people.
A strange episode. I mean, none of the new characters are likable. All three of them suck for one reason or another. So, for that reason, the point of the episode totally escapes me. Having said that, I enjoyed the episode because it reminded us that our leads are decent people.
Aziz Ansari is hilarious. And the point made about his character (he's lazy, and doesn't try hard enough) is unusual and great. I ended up not liking the character at all, but he sure makes me laugh.
Perfect Strangers. Season 2, Episode 5. "Lifesavers" Larry saves Balki's life, and Balki becomes his slave.
Only in Sitcom Land. But... who cares? This is a wonderful episode. Silly, but very funny. Balki becomes Larry's slave and the episode finds a hundred ways to make this funny. Balki's head, for instance, must never be higher than Larry's. And on and on.
There's a truly great scene where Balki has tied Larry's leg to a table (to stop him sleepwalking to his doom!!). It's a genuine pleasure to watch the genius that is Mark Linn-Baker play with the audience's expectations. He continually walks to the Point Of No Return on the rope and always turns back to say something else to Balki. We know what is going to happen, and Mark Linn-Baker knows that we know, so he plays with that. And makes the eventual fall even funnier than it would have been had he done it first time out.
The exchange that follows this fall is also truly hilarious. "What are the chances that I'm going to sleep walk out the window??!!" "Well, now that I've tied you to that table... None!"
Wonderful.
Arrested Development. Season 2, Episode 4. "Good Grief" The fake funeral.
Sometimes a show will deliver an image that stays with you forever. And, if it's a comedy series, then the image will probably make laugh. Such is the case here. This is the episode will all the allusions to the Peanuts comic strip (a favourite of my own, I have hundreds of those little paperbacks of the collected strips). The best bit/gag/allusion comes when George Michael (despondent over his break up with his girlfriend) walks passed a beagle lying on the roof of a doghouse. Just like Snoopy. Wonderful. An image that stays with you, and always amuses.
Even so, I'm not sure it's even the highlight of this wonderful, funny episode.
George Michael tells his father that he has "Pop Pop" in the attic. "Pop Pop" is the boy's grandfather, but his father assumes he is referring to sex with his girlfriend and replies with one of my all-time favourite AD lines: "Well the very fact that you call it Pop Pop tells me you are not old enough to be having sex."
But, on this viewing, from all the comedy goodness on display, I think I would have to select the fake funeral as the part that made me laugh the most. Buster freaks out, upon hearing that his father is apparently dead, and - in rapid succession - ruins Gob's magic trick, sends Gob tumbling into the freshly dug grave and sends the coffin tumbling in on top of him. Ouch. Very funny.
Superboy. Season 2, Episode 7. "The Battle with Bizarro"
Absolutely superb. This is as good as it gets.
The sentiments are innocent and sweet and many viewers will find that off-putting, but for anyone who can take the leap this is a hugely rewarding episode of Superboy.
Bizarro has taken Lana hostage. He tries to build a home for them, in a furniture store, as the police close in. Through their time together the strange bizarre creature comes to understand terms such as 'love' and 'sorrow'.
The ending, where he sheds a tear for the first time, will either turn you off or touch you on a deep level. And, like all good art, how you react to it says much more about you than it does about the actual piece of work itself.
Fantasy storytelling allows us to take a step away from humanity and take a look back at it. With, maybe, some understanding. If we are lucky.
Bizarro's needs (companionship, love and a home) are universal, even if his methods towards getting them aren't. If you can be open to storytelling of this nature, then you should be able to connect with him and his eventual fate.
Stacy Haiduk should help. I constantly marvel at her performance in this show. She sells whatever the script asks her to. She can make a weak script watchable, she can make a good script great, and - such as the case here - she can take superb storytelling and make it magnificent. She, more than Barry Meyers or Gerard Christopher (who are both excellent) makes this tale something special. Her compassion for Bizarro is beautiful and human. And, watching this, I'm reminded why this is my favourite take on the Superman character and why she is always going to be my favourite 'Superman girlfriend'.
Highlight? Superboy (magnificent)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Scrubs, Perfect Strangers, Arrested Development, Superboy
