TV Report Catch Up: Thursday and Miscellaneous

After this, I should be all caught up on my regular shows that I blog about. It helps greatly that I only really have to talk about one day (Thursday) since Friday has been empty of late without Fringe.


Community - The darkest timeline is over now that the show is back! I actually saw this first episode a couple of weeks ago at an advance screening with other fans and I loved it the second time around. It was a "weird" episode in that it was a rare "normal" episode with a pretty straightforward plot of Shirley getting remarried. Of course since this is Community, there was the meta subplot of Troy and Abed trying to be "normal" to hilarious results. My favorite part of the episode though is Britta's magic skills with wedding planning. All in all, great episode to begin the second half of the season. Six seasons and a movie!

30 Rock - I'm not one of those who has been a huge fan of this show for the past few seasons, but I do still recognize that it's having a sort of upswing. I especially like what they've done with Kenneth bringing him out of the page program and making him be in charge of Standards and Practices. Liz's relationship with Criss has also been a bright spot this season as well as anything involving Jane Krakowski (more notably her storyline w/ her kids). It's probably still one of the sitcoms I watch that I least look forward to week in and week out, but that's more due to the surplus of great comedies on air right now and less about this show's quality.

Parks and Recreation - While it hasn't been flawless as it has been for the past two seasons, this show still has a lot going for it. While it may be slightly frustrating to see Leslie's campaign in trouble adding Kathryn Hahn as the savvy D.C. campaign manager they have to fight against gives this plot arc good energy. Chris' loneliness and patheticness since breaking up with Jerry's daughter has been the best thing for Rob Lowe since Chris got sick with the flu. And April stepping up in the department AND taking a somewhat friendly role with Chris are wonderful developments. All of this and Ben-Leslie are still too adorable for words together. Can't hardly bear to wait until April for the next new episode!

The Office - Catherine Tate is great and she has her moments on this show, but either the show isn't giving her better material or they can't. I admit that I watch this show more out of habit than anything, but I'm not 100% the whole Florida arc worked. Coupled with a few forgettable Scranton stories and the latest update on the Andy/Erin saga and there's not much to write about.

Big Bang Theory - The women are taking over the show! But what abour the boys? That was pretty much what the only episode that has aired the past few weeks was about as Sheldon and co. wanted to have a simple game night only for Amy and/or Bernadette to encroach on said plans. On the one hand, it's pretty meta for the show to do this as the women HAVE taken over the show and it is becoming rarer for just the guys to hang out. On the other hand, I've found the change a refreshing one though more in me loving the girls more than the guys more often than not. One hopes the show will do a better job balancing both genders in time AND quality moving forward.


Awake - My thoughts on the pilot are here, but the next two episodes confirmed my love for the show. My least favorite part of the pilot aka the procedural part is still the weak link for me, but it's used well in the next couple of episodes especially the latter with his son in imminent danger. The most effective AND affective parts of the show for me is still Britten juggling his feelings towards his wife and son. The three of them do a sincerely heartbreaking job week in and week out providing the emotional core this show needs. Extra kudos goes out to the son character since it's rare to have a teenage boy character so deftly acted and written on TV nowadays. Finally, the end of the second episode hinting at a bigger conspiracy is expectantly polarizing. I'm honestly good just going along for the ride not thinking about which world is real or if Britten is in a coma.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

There seems to be a lot more teams I'm rooting against than for on this season of Amazing Race... The finale of The Walking Dead is tonight and I'm still not really sure what my thoughts are regarding this season... Being Human UK went thought so many changes this year and while there's must to praise, there's also much to quibble about... Everyone should be watching Shameless because Emmy Rossum, Louise Fletcher, Joan Cusack, and most of the cast are doing crazy good work... I'm ridiculously excited for the return of Mad Men and Game of Thrones, aren't you?