Monday, December 21st, 2009
06.00 Friends
06.30 30 Rock
07.00 Law And Order
01.00 The Incredible Hulk
Friends. Episode 11. "The One with Mrs. Bing" Chandler's Mom shows up. And kisses Ross. While Monica and Phoebe compete over a guy in a coma.
Morgan Fairchild makes her first appearance as Chandler's Mom. Kissing Ross and causing friction between the guys. One of the regulars having a famous novelist for a mother, who appears with Jay Leno in one sequence, is 'very TV' for a show like Friends, which trades on it's ability to be easy to relate to. However, the cast just about makes it work.
The other storyline is much better. The Coma Guy storyline raises many laughs.
30 Rock. Season 4, Episode 8. "Secret Santa" Jack reconnects with someone from his high school days.
Julianne Moore is a bit disappointing, but this is a pretty good episode. Jane Krakowski raises all the biggest laughs, and her scenes with (the wonderful) Cheyenne Jackson are superb. Watching Danny master sarcasm was worth the price of admission.
Jack's romance may have been a bit of a dud storyline, but the ending (between him and Liz) was superb. The show really conveys a great friendship between these two.
Law And Order. Season 20, Episode 2. "Just A Girl In The World" Lupo's dates a suspect.
S. Epatha Merkerson steals the show with a single scene here. We get an insight into Van Buren's fight with cancer and - in an exchange with the doctor on the case - S. Epatha Merkerson does some of her finest work on the show. Fact is: we've been watching this character for well over a decade and we care. We bloody care. So, if the writers want to take us into her person life for a story like this (and they have S. Epatha Merkerson to deliver the material) they will deliver some great television.
Performance-wise, this episode has some great work from Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson also, as Lupo dates a suspect and it causes friction between the partners. I've like Detective Lupo since he first appeared (basically because he's cool) but Detective Bernard never gets passionate about anything. Until now. His speech to Lupo about liking his job was his best moment yet and made me - for the first time - really like the guy.
However...
The story is weak. And predictable.
I knew the girl was guilty. I'm sure most viewers did. Lupo should never have gotten involved. Idiot.
Also, the climax was a little too easy. Cutter doesn't have to do very much to make her go bananas on the stand.
A pity that these truly great performances were buried in a weak episode.
The Incredible Hulk. Season 2, Episode 3. "Ricky" Race track.
Solid, unremarkable episode with a great performance from Mickey Jones as a special needs adult, whose brother is a race car driver. Jones has two stand-out scenes in particular: one where he plays at driving the race car, and one where his character tries to arrange some tools in the garage. He brings a perfect innocence to his role and makes you totally believe in the character. I'm a huge fan of his work from other shows, but this is probably the best he's ever been (and he's always great). Rather than try and 'do' anything with the role, it seems like he's made a choice to very honest and vulnerable in the part and it really, really works.
There seems to be a lot suggest that this was the last episode filmed for the first season of the show. Whether that is the case or not I cannot say, yet, but it's certainly a more polished episode than most of what we saw in season one. And the show's formula is completely intact here. David makes friends through the job he holds and is able to help them (by becoming the Hulk on two occasions). Also, he does more than just help them get out of danger, he actually walks away having made their lives better in some way.
The cast is superb, and each one is given a good character to play. A lesser writer might have left these characters as one-note clichés but Jason Summers manages to give each one some life as a real person. This is very obvious with the two bad guys of the story, played by Gerald McRaney and Eric Server. Rather than being presented as cartoon bad guys there are a couple of scenes to build/establish character. They still come off as jerks, but - thanks to the extra material - they seem like jerks you'd meet in real life, as opposed to jerks you'd only ever see on TV.
So, it all amounts to a perfectly solid episode of The Incredible Hulk. David doesn't really bond with anyone so the ending isn't particular sad. There's a very cool sequence with the Hulk drinking from a soda can to be savoured, however, and the matching up of new footage with stock footage (of race cars) is much, much better than you'd see on contemporary Universal shows.
Highlight? The Incredible Hulk (Mickey Jones)
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Friends, 30 Rock, Law And Order, The Incredible Hulk
