This week the Dads are saving the world from an intergalactic threat, Boyle is being honored at the 99, Jess is being Jess, and The Mindy gang is headed to LA.
Dads
Brooklyn 99
It's a big week at the 99 as Boyle is being honored for his bravery, Peralta and Santiago's bet is coming to a close, and the show picked up two Golden Globes. While most award shows are meaningless (especially the Globes) it is a nice publicity bump and could make a big impact when it comes time for renewal decisions. If there was going to be a post awards bump this was a good week for that to happen. Once everything else is stripped away, this is a show, much like it's forefather Parks and Recreation, about people doing something they like and are good at. While Boyle may have been upstaged by a horse at his ceremony, he was still receiving a medal. He was receiving this award for, as he tells a shocked Diaz, doing what any good cop would do. And as Holt tells an equally shocked Mrs. Jeffords that Terry should be up on the stage with him for saving Holt's life. Peralta and Santiago may have a silly bet, which ultimately leads to them doing their job really well and pushing each other. So while Peralta may rent a tiger cub by the hour adding to his debt, sorry, crushing debt, he can also work a stakeout and make a clean arrest. Even if he gets a little snacky. It was also nice to see Boyle dropping painkiller induced truth bombs. Joe La Truglia has shown through the past few episodes that he will do whatever is asked of him. It's nice to get some dignity and have the pendulum back the other way a little. So if you'll excuse me I'm going to pretend I'm receiving a text message.
New Girl
This was an episode that had to happen if Coach was sticking around even if it's just for this season. Coach and Jess had no connection and even team drug store wasn't enough to remedy the situation. She had worked her way into the other guys' lives in one way( even though Nick had five other reasons he wanted to be her friend). She decides that Basketball will be her in; the only problem is he's a Pistons fan and Nick is a Bulls fan. Meanwhile Winston is continuing his career search by shadowing Schmidt who has a new shark to deal with in the form of an old man who stole his idea, and has a thing for avocados. Winston cracks the case on how to beat him with the aid of a rambling Nick that was quite a treat. Meanwhile Nick and Jess are engaged in the sex standoff trope which I thought they did quite well with. Zooey Deschanel and Jake Johnson are both good physical performers and this allowed them to play to that and ultimately it showed how good of a partner they make for each other. The Coach story line ended kind of weirdly with him bringing up his abandonment issues, but that might be something the show can use in the future. As I mentioned Winston cracked the case and this led to an also freshly job switched CeeCee helping him decide that he should try to become a cop. I'm not sure how the show is going to handle this, but if it means more of Winston's Denzel impression then I'm in. As I've said quite often it will also be nice if this helps to solidify Winston as a character.
The Mindy Project
After a string of solid shows, TMP has hit another bump. Dr. Reed is sending Mindy, Danny, Peter, and Morgan to LA for a conference. This is the first problem with the episode. The past few episodes have been good because they have focused on the office and sticking mostly with the regular cast members. Here we have a certain set of characters shuttled out to LA and no focus at all on anybody else. And suddenly Peter and Mindy are bffs out of nowhere. Speaking of Peter his storyline just had no flow to it and ended abruptly. I will say I enjoyed the Entourage stuff but it seems like they did this episode just for the entourage stuff. This was the problem last year. I felt they were trying to do something big every week instead of focusing on building a show and a cast of characters. It was inevitable that Mindy and Cliff would break up, but I don't think throwing Casey back into the mix was the way to go about doing it. If they are going back to this style, then it's not the end of the world. It is going on hiatus.
Deleted Scenes
Archer came back on Monday and nothing is the same. ISIS is no more and the gang is now trying to sell a literal ton of cocaine. Creator Adam Reed was bored with the spy angle and wanted to try something new. If the first episode was any indicator, we are in for a treat.
It's been a big week for Louis C.K. As Louie has been announced as coming back in May. And FX has ordered a pilot that he is Executive Producing starring Zach Galifianakis
*This did not happen on Dads. This is the plot of Independence Day.
After a holiday break we are back on track with #seentv: Fox Tuesday Night Comedy is back. Dads is Dadsing it up, Jess is going through a crisis, Peralta has the Pontiac Bandit in his sights, and Mindy has to wear a bikini in January.
Dads
This tale of the Old South from the start of the Civil War through to the period of reconstruction focuses on the beautiful Scarlett O'Hara. Before the start of the war life at the O'Hara plantation, Tara, could only be described as genteel. As for the young Scarlett, she is without doubt the most beautiful girl in the area and is always the belle of the ball. She is very much looking forward to a barbecue at the nearby Wilkes plantation as she will get to see the man she loves, Ashley Wilkes. She is more than a little dismayed when she hears that he is to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton and in a fit of anger, she decides to marry Melanie's brother. War is soon declared and as always seems to be the case, men march off to battle thinking that it will only last a few weeks. Now living in Atlanta, Scarlett sees the ravages that war brings. She also becomes re-acquainted with Rhett Butler, whom she had first met at the Wilkes barbecue. Now a widow, she still pines for the married Ashley and dreams of his return. With the war lost however, she returns to Tara and faces the hardship of keeping her family together and Tara from being sold at auction to collect the taxes. She has becomes hardened and bitter and will do anything, including marrying her sister's beau, to ensure she will never again be poor and hungry. After becoming a widow for the second time, she finally marries the dashing Rhett but they soon find themselves working at cross-purposes, their relationship seemingly doomed from the outset.*
Brooklyn 99
This wasn't the strongest episode of Brooklyn 99 but it also features Andre Brougher holding two puppies for most of his screen time so I can't complain too much. Puppies aside the episode focuses on Peralta working with Diaz on capturing the Pontiac Bandit and Boyle's return to work following his butt shot. Diaz has a suspect in custody, played by Craig Robinson, who says he can get The Pontiac Bandit who Peralta has been looking for eight years. This allowed for some good work with Diaz and Peralta which is a grouping they haven't really used much. It allowed for some background that can be used in the future and built a solid character in Robinson's Doug Judy that we will hopefully be seeing in the future. Boyle's coming back from his injury cast and leg warmers in tow. Naturally Boyle doesn't want any help and as anybody with a body cast is pretty gross. There's a few laughs but nothing revolutionary here with everybody slow leaving the office with Boyle knowing what's going on. Not the best but a serviceable midseason episode.
New Girl
New Girl went back to the flashback well last night to mixed results. Jess is having second thoughts about being a teacher after being offered a job at a museum and has only 20 minutes to decide whether she should take it or stick with her poorly ran, poorly funded school. This allows for everybody to run down why they became what they are. This is nice not only for Winston's Rodmanesque flashbacks but because it allows for a change for Winston and gives him something to do moving forward. Winston has had some good laughs but he is also the least defined character and hopefully moving forward this will allow the writers to define him more. Schmidt's fatsuit has lost some of it's freshness and hopefully it will be a bit before they break it out again but credit to Max Greenfield for continuing to be game. Nick got to break free of his law school dropout shackles and be happy with his choice to be a bartender which sets up the future nicely. Ultimately CeCe saves the day by showing Jess that she should be a teacher and gains employment at the bar. This might not have been the strongest episode but it built a solid foundation for future story lines.
The Mindy Project
It's a bit of a shame that TMP will be going on hiatus because the last few episodes have been pretty strong. Aside from Glenn Howerton at the beginning it was also nice because it was just the main cast. There has been so much stunt casting and guests the first part of the season it pushed some cast members to the edge. This was also an extremely physical episode there were falls, slaps, spitting, and bare skin aplenty and that's not counting the focus of the episode, exercise. Mindy is going on a trip with her new boyfriend and that trip includes a hot tub, in January. This thwarts Mindy's system she has in place that assures her boyfriend never sees her naked. (There will be lots of body image talk surrounding this episode. But it won't be from this column.) This allows for Danny to train Mindy and builds even more towards the will they won't they of their relationship. Elsewhere Pete is finding out what it's like to be in charge and is not enjoying it while Dr. Reed is regaining his charming ways having ditched the office for the day. It's a shame the show will be going away but hopefully off the strength of this run of episodes it will be back.
*This is a summary of Gone With the Wind. I didn't watch Dads and plan on never watching it again.
This week the guys on Dads are doing something, the detectives at the 99 are investigating a death threat, New Girl is taking a respite, and Mindy is throwing a Christmas party sex trap.
Dads
The guys get in to some crazy hijinks...Okay I didn't watch Dads. With the recent news of it going on hiatus soon and the old news that it is a terrible show I have decided to suspend writing about Dads. Everything about the show seems lazy from the premise all the way down to the set design. Louie on FX is budgeted so that it can't lose the network any money and somehow has better production value than it's broadcast cousin. If it comes back from hiatus I might give it another shot; or maybe I'll drive my car into a ditch both seem about equally fun.
Brooklyn 99
Brooklyn's finest flipped the script this week to delightful effects. Peralta is put in charge of Holt after Holt receives several death threats that he insists are nothing. Meanwhile, Santiago is trying to make the perfect Christmas card after Holt puts the kibosh on giving him gifts. This would include the six gifts that represent the lessons he has taught Santiago (posture being among the lessons). The Holt Peralta has some good work in the safe house that Peralta tricked and then subsequently handcuffed Holt to himself. Samberg and Braugher are the driving relationship in the show and they already are working together very well. I will also welcome anytime the show wants to do a flashback of Holt as a young detective. The show also has two hidden gems in Joe Lo Truglio and Chelsea Peretti. Lo Truglio has been doing solid work for years in small parts and is finally getting to stay in the spotlight on 99; he can be paired up with anybody on the show and make it work. While Peretti hasn't done as much acting but her weirdness is well balanced against Diaz or Santiago. They go for the full flip with Peralta teaching Holt a lesson about working as a team and the whole unit comes together to catch Holt's would be killer. Overall the show is coming together well with everybody finding their place. The ratings haven't been spectacular but does have a weak lead in. It will be interesting to see how it does next month with Glee as it's lead in.
The Mindy Project
Like Dads, Mindy will be going on hiatus soon but where I think Dads is a trainwreck Mindy has some good pieces it just can't decide where to put them all. And there are a lot of pieces. The show has the cast of an ensemble but it is not an ensemble; it's right in the title. Last night was good because it didn't try to service everybody. There were other story lines but everything came back to the party that was Mindy's idea. Mindy throws a building wide party to try and kiss Cliff the Lawyer using her three point plan. It is a gluten and alcohol free party due to Tamara and Pete's restrictions. Ultimately Mindy gets her kiss but not before Danny breaks out a stellar dance number that almost leads to them kissing. If the show comes back it will be interesting to see how long they keep Danny and Mindy apart. Or maybe they can just keep plugging in love interests from cable comedy shows. They've already got Mark Duplass maybe he can talk Nick Kroll into stopping by. I do hope that it will get an opportunity to come back because if this episode was an indicator they might have found the winning formula.
Deleted Scenes
Louis CK has signed a development deal with FX. This is good news for fans of comedy.
The Veronica Mars movie has a release date of March 4, 2014.
Due to unforeseen circumstances involving the Holidays and birthdays, your faithful television correspondent was unable to fulfill his commitment last night. But there is some maintenance that we can take care of. In an answer to my prayers, Fox has made some changes to its midseason schedule. Dads is going on hiatus starting Feb. 11 following two back-to-back episodes; while The Mindy Project will be going on hiatus on Feb. 4. I’m a little disappointed to see The Mindy Project put on hold, but hopefully it’s allowed to come back stronger than ever and hopefully Dads dies a quick death. We’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming.
So here we go. Dads is dealing with a case of stolen comic books. Should be fun. Meanwhile, at the 99, it's a good old fashion cops fireman rivalry. Over on New Girl, Schmidt is going through some CeCe withdrawals. The Mindy Project is dealing with a PR nightmare, of the racial kind, that requires a high powered PR person in the form of Dharma herself, Jenna Elfman. Lets see how this all shakes out.
Dads
There's a possibility that I had a bias going in; I'm not much for multi-cam, laugh tracked comedies. The only one that I actively watch from this decade that isn't filmed live and has a laugh track added from people watching the finished product is noticeably muted. That being said, Dads is terrible. There's really no way around it. Most of its humor comes from stereotypes: farts or sex jokes. Yet again there was only one storyline in this episode. It involves Eli's comics being stolen and subsequently bought off Craigslist by Werner's dad who sold Werner's collection when he was a child. From there Werner and Eli have some back and forth about who should keep them, ending with Edna and David stealing them back. Oh, also Ernie Hudson pops in as a detective who “has no time for this.” Obviously the comic books are so important because they filled the hole that Eli's dad left. Again there are seven regular characters and the show can barely service the two leads. Two weeks in a row there has been one storyline with most of the cast somehow servicing that storyline in an unnecessary way. Maybe have those characters doing their own thing. There's a weird moment at the end that seems like the culmination of a storyline about all that Camilla does for Werner; however, it comes out of nowhere. Something else that really bugs me is that the title card is the same as Ted. All in all, it was a completely forgettable episode of a completely forgettable show.
Brooklyn 99
Let's talk guest stars. Fox pushed that Jenna Elfman was guesting on The Mindy Project. Meanwhile, they had the always great Patton Oswalt on 99 and Ernie Hudson on Dads. Patton has a rapport with Goor and Schur after his turn on Parks and Recreation that included his great eight minute improvised rant about comics. He plays Fire Warden Boone who is feuding with Peralta after Peralta's favorite pizzeria burned down. In a crazy twist, there are three different storylines. It turns out you can have your cast members do their own thing and be of use. The second and third storylines involve Santiago being jealous of Diaz being offered Captain in a New Jersey town and Jeffords and Gina trying to find a new IT supervisor. After no Gina last week, it was nice to have her back for a little craziness. I think this was the perfect amount of story for her. For a few episodes she played a big part, which can be a bit much. I enjoy her abrasiveness, but it's not for everybody. The show is coming together and everybody is figuring out who they are and how they fit in the show. Lo Truglio is great as Jake's lacky and his weirdness works really well. I'm a little disappointed I can't get his pizzeria ranking email blast. It takes a group of people behind the scenes that can take something as old as a police-fireman rivalry to make it seem fresh. And that's what this show has with Goor and Schur and company. I'm glad that we'll be able to watch this all season and watch as it continues to grow.
New Girl
Another solid episode from the machine that is New Girl. With Coach's arrival, it allows for a shake up in the Schmidt-Cece storyline with Coach asking her out. This is a nice twist that can breath new life into that storyline. I'm interested to see how this plays out. This brings out manic Schmidt which is always great. He was barely keeping it together before he gave Coach permission to ask Cece out and things get ratcheted up to ten thereafter. In the past this has always been where Nick would step in, but he has to help Winston find his cat after leaving the window open. This allowed for some great work between Schmidt and Jess that ended with Jess hitting him with her car. (Sidenote: Did Jess get a weird new car without it coming up in the show? I approve.) Winston has just been floating around and this episode actually gave him a little to do in the form of an equally weird love interest, Bertle, that never has pudding in a cup. She does have bologna though; the kind with the wrapper around it. I don't know if Bertle is going to stick around, but it gave Winston something to do, which was nice. Wayans plays Coach's insecurities well and he actually brings some of what I really liked about his performance on Happy Endings. Everyone is paired off and all three of the dynamics work well, which will help add some weight to the Schmidt/Cece/Coach triangle. Because if Coach and Cece have no chemistry, then that would kill it. I'm looking forward to WNBA game dates to become a trope.
The Mindy Project
I'm still not sure what I think of this show. I do know that I hate Rayron and really hope to never see him again. The bulk of the show is devoted to the practice of defending itself from accusations of racism from the Midwives, who are just trying to ruin their practice, after a white power mommy blog praises them. They bring in the top PR consultant in the city and promptly reject her advice. Also, Danny sleeps with her. This storyline did allow Adam Pally's Peter Prentiss to get more involved in the show, which I am very much in favor of. Peter actually had my favorite laugh of the night after he realizes that the Black Senate candidate is not his friend from Dartmouth. They are still slowly pushing the Mindy and Danny thing and I'm not sure how I feel about it. One good thing is that it would allow the show to shrink some, which I would like. I still think there are too many moving parts on the show and they can't seem to get them to move in concert.
Deleted Scenes
· Comedy Central picked up @midnight for a 40 week run next year. If you haven't checked it out, it's a fun, fast-paced game show after The Colbert Report.
· Jen Kirkman is making a show for FX that will be loosely autobiographical. Personally, I'm hoping it's similar to her episode of Drunk History.
· In a move that is a positive for all parties, John Oliver is getting a weekly political show on HBO.
Tuesday night on Fox, in my opinion, is the best broadcast comedy lineup currently on TV. It's not quite what NBC had with their legendary Must See TV Thursday of the past, but it's what we have now. NBC is too busy watching reruns from the 80's and 90's while weeping and figuring out which show they should try to revive next. CBS is diving into their pool of gold thanks to Chuck Lorre, and ABC is just in a weird middle ground riding Modern Family's tide. Of the four Tuesday comedies, two are new - one from a proven creative team, a well used cast, and a premise that is right in their wheelhouse. The other comes from Seth Macfarlane. Then there is New Girl, which is one of the best current sitcoms with a great ensemble cast with one character that is a work in progress. The Mindy Project can't quite seem to know what it wants to be and who they want to be on it. So while it might be arguable whether it is the best, it is definitely the most interesting. With that said, let's take a look at each show's episode from last night.
Dads
I'm going to be honest with you, when I agreed to write about Dads I wasn't fully informed. Since I don’t tend to seek out news about Dads, I was unaware that it had received a full season order. I was hoping that it would be canceled midseason and replaced with Mulaney. Instead, I'm stuck with Dads and Fox is adding another Macfarlane show to its lineup next year. I guess that's what I get for betting against a Macfarlane show on Fox. So it looks like you’ll have a little schadenfreude each week. So a Wii plays a central role in the plot of this episode - in 2013. The characters are playing in a Wii Tennis tournament and Carmela wants to be Warner's partner. Naturally, Eli is jealous and upset. A marker board is involved to not much effect. Note that this is the only story line in the show. There is no B-story. Eli, with the help of Edna and her Karate Kid Wii tennis skills, beats Carmela and Warner. Brenda Song and the dads are on hand to watch the action joke about Dane Cook and the Williams Brothers. Again, in 2013. It seems like there might have been some scenes cut, because Warner then freaks out and suddenly becomes upset with Eli's laid back attitude. It all culminates with a group counseling session for three that leads to some bedroom stuff between Warner and Carmela and a restraining order for Eli. Again, this was the only story line in the episode. I regret agreeing to do this.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
The detectives at the 99 put in a solid episode this week without a hair bag between any of them. Stacy Keach is guest starring as an old school author that wrote the book that inspired Jake Peralta to become a detective. Keach is great at playing a no nonsense type and his portrayal as Jimmy Brogan is no exception. Brogan, a crime reporter who feels like cops these days are soft, is unimpressed with the credit card fraud case that Peralta and Amy Santiago are working. However, Peralta idolizes both the grizzled report and New York’s gritty past and, despite Captain Holt pointing out the problems from that era, goes out drinking with Brogan. Peralta ends up saying some bad stuff about Holt while trying to impress Brogan and is extremely hungover the next day on account of not being able to “handle his brown”. Elsewhere Boyle and Jeffords are trying to get Diaz jury-ready and to soften her tough demeanor. This is helped by Boyle's hangdog crush on Diaz and Lo Truglio's willingness to commit, no matter how ridiculous a bit is. That willingness is actually true for most of the cast including Braugher, who dons a 70's suit and mustache, Samberg who does great physical work with Peralta’s hangover, as well as the fresh faced Stephanie Beatriz and her multiple costume changes. Ultimately Diaz is able to use Boyle's advice about finding her happy place; which consists of, among other things, reaching down a man's throat and shaking his hand. Peralta tries to talk to Brogan and seems to make things worse by punching Brogan at a Turkish spa. This infuriates Holt who sends Peralta home. However, it turns out Peralta didn't tell the whole story. He had patched things up, but punched Brogan after he called Holt a “homo.” This was a nice ending because the show has to walk the line with Holt and Peralta. It can't have Holt constantly coming out on top or Jake constantly getting one on Holt. This allows for a little compromise and helps grow their relationship.
New Girl
This show is at an interesting place at the moment. It has settled Nick and Jess as a couple, and that works great, but they still don't seem to know exactly what they want to do with Winston. That problem is only compounded now with Damon Wayans Jr. reprising his role of Coach from the pilot. With Happy Endings sadly cancelled, that frees Wayans Jr up (as well as Adam Pally, which we'll discuss shortly) for the remainder of the season. Oddly, the writers seem to have a pretty solid idea of what to do with Coach, but Winston seems stuck with his defining trait being “weird.” Hopefully they can get him settled because I really like Lamorne Morris. Tonight's episode is all about change with Jess funneling her unhappiness at work into a Chinese restaurant's menu policy, Coach trying to change Nick into a doer, and himself back to his old self. Meanwhile, Winston, who’s ankle is healing, gets some laughs with a wheelchair and an MSG allergic reaction. The menus play a pivotal role: they enable Nick to order some breakfast, Winston's injury is from slipping on them, and, of course, they enable Jess's funneling. Everybody does some fine work with Jess threatening to burn down the restaurant, instantly retracting that statement, and eventually driving all the patrons away. Of course, Nick is a real Nick Miller by ordering Chinese food midway through the workout and tricking CeCe into delivering it. It was also the only appearance by CeCe and makes me wonder if Hannah Simone's contract says she has to be in every episode. Coach, meanwhile, demonstrates his inability with women and reveals that he is pretty down from the break up. Schmidt is on the periphery the whole time and clearly regrets moving out. He delivers a classic Schmidtism with “Everywhere you go, there you are.” In a nice break from the norm, Nick motivates Coach and Jess to turn everything around; he is still Nick Miller though and isn't what most people would call elegant. So, all in all, a very solid episode that sets a few things in motion for the future with Coach and Schmidt.
The Mindy Project
The Mindy Project has seen a number of cast changes with the most recent addition of Adam Pally as a series regular. I loved Pally's work on Happy Endings and was happy that he landed another TV gig. His first few episodes made me a little skiddish, but I think they've figured out what to do with him. His work with Nurse Morgan this week was great. The Danny and Mindy situation had some very good moments this week as well, and I'm interested to see how they handle it moving forward. Overall, it was a good episode. I think part of that was they didn't try to service every member of the large cast. It will be interesting to see if there are more cast changes in the future; and if there are, I hope its addition by subtraction. We start things off with Morgan telling Mindy how bad she looks right before they enter the elevator with Mindy's lawyer crush Cliff Gilbert, played by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Glenn Howerton, and his “ass model” date. Mindy can't find her purse that has her phone, wallet, and, among other things, a bag labeled “emergency underwear.” Luckily Danny lives nearby and she talks him into letting her stay the night with him. Elsewhere, it turns out that her purse was in the breakroom where Morgan and Pally's Peter Prentiss find it when Gilbert sends her a text. On the walk to Danny's, Mindy explains that she is interested in somebody who works at the same place, but she feels that he is out of her league. This freaks the already uncomfortable Danny out because he thinks she is talking about him. Things are heating up in both storylines with Prentiss and Morgan texting Gilbert back because they know Mindy likes him. This leads to talk of corduroy pants and Gilbert saying he's coming over. Morgan and Prentiss work well together and I hope we get them paired together more often. Meanwhile, Danny sees his crazy neighbor, who he hooked up with, and gets Mindy to act like his girlfriend. This leads to Chloe Sevigny, his pregnant fiance, appearing with a blood diamond ring that had to be sent back to Africa. After some nice work with Danny trying to set boundaries, some scared farting, and a horror movie, there was a jump inducing shot of Mindy and Danny walking into the living room where his neighbor was waiting on the couch. It turns out that she was basically his live in girlfriend that he just started ignoring. Mindy makes him apologize, but not before saying that she can tell it's real because he never looked at her the way he looks at “Chloe.” The next morning Danny tells her that her crush is not out of her league only for her to say it was Gilbert. Morgan and Prentiss have set up a party at Mindy's to hide that she wasn't the one texting him. This naturally blows up and ends with Gilbert leaving with the girl that Morgan likes and an admonition to delete the texts. Almost as naturally, they don't delete the texts and we end with Mindy reading the texts.
Deleted Scenes
The Pete Holmes Show is on it's third week and is worth checking out. I've been a fan of his podcast, You made it Weird, for a while now and he brings the same sensibility to his televised show. It's on TBS Monday through Thursday after Conan.
How I Met Your Mother is slogging through its final season, but this week’s episode was reminiscent of the HIMYM of yore. Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of the episode was outside of the Farhampton Inn.
