Friday, September 25th, 2009
05.00 Michael And Michael Have Issues
05.30 Community
06.00 The Vampire Diaries
07.00 Defying Gravity
08.00 Warehouse 13
10.00 FlashForward
Michael And Michael Have Issues. Episode 6. "Sh... Bag House" Michael Ian Black forces Michael Showalter to accept an invitation to stay over at his place, then kicks him out after a minor incident.
Perfect. Everything that happens is typically absurd, but - this time - there is a nugget of truth in the midst of it all. Showalter accepts an invitation he doesn't want to, just to be courteous, and it comes back to bite him on the ass.
As often happens in real life, I find.
This altercation ends with excrement being smeared across someone's house.
That rarely happens in real life, I find.
But it sure is funny here.
The sketches are funny, too. The buying-a-new-bed skit goes on a tiny bit too long, but it is nonetheless great.
Community. Episode 2. "Spanish 101" Jeff and Pierce work together on an assignment.
There's a moment towards the very end of this, where Jeff suddenly realises that Pierce does look up to him, that really got to me in my soft spot. It was wonderful.
Joel McHale is the perfect performer for material like this, and he's well paired with Chevy Chase for the insanity that follows. Community seems like a show that wants to make us feel, as well as laugh, and it could get sickly sweet very fast. But it won't, I feel, because of McHale.
The Vampire Diaries. Episode 3. "Friday Night Bites" Football.
The death of the coach seemed a little unnecessary (how many people are going to die, anyway?) but this was a fun episode for exploring the character of Damon (how awesome is Ian Somerhalder?) and the powers of Bonnie (who knew she'd be such an interesting character?).
Meanwhile, the Jeremy/Vicki romance gets more compelling.
Truly, this show is not putting a foot wrong.
Defying Gravity. Episode 3. "Threshold" Ted goes MIA, leaving the Antares without leadership. Paula gets very sick. Ajay adjusts to life as a civilian.
This show started strong and every episode peels back the layers of the onion a bit more.
The scene where Eve and Rollie (on Earth) watched their partners (on the Antares) was haunting and sad. The camera angles did all the storytelling. And it was powerful.
While the stories of the week continue to be mundane, the characters and the mystery make this an A+ TV show every week.
Warehouse 13. Episode 4. "Claudia" Artie is kidnapped, and haunted by his past.
W13 is all over the place. The show lacks consistency, delivering episodes of varying quality. This time out, the episode is nothing short of superb. The performance of Allison Scagliotti does a lot to sell the story, and she gets wonderful support from Saul Rubinek, who never ever puts a foot wrong in anything that he does. The man is amazing.
After all the crazy fighting last week, Myke and Pete are again written/played as a likable team that is fun to watch.
FlashForward. Episode 1. "No More Good Days" Everyone on the planet blacks out, sees a vision of April 29, 2010 and...
Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer deliver a solid premise and an enjoyable hour of TV.
Joseph Fiennes is an earnest, if unspectacular, lead. Indeed all of the cast - thus far - are fine, without being overly exciting.
The central mystery is a good one, and - even better - it promises a pay-off before the end of the season. That's wise.
Highlight? FlashForward (mystery)
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Michael And Michael Have Issues, Community, The Vampire Diaries, Defying Gravity, Warehouse 13, FlashForward
