The A.V. Club - TV Club

TV: The Big Bang Theory:"The Vengeance Formulation"

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:42:00 -0600

"The Vengeance Formulation" might be my favorite Big Bang Theory so far this season. It didn't have any single plotline that was as sustained in hilarity as last week's Sheldon and Penny extravaganza, but both plotlines were warmly funny, both treated the characters as actual human beings, and both managed to - gasp! - continue with plots introduced in previous episodes. I think I've said before that The Big Bang Theory is a very good show that's not quite a great one, but there are times when the great show it could be peeks through from behind whatever ...

TV: Heroes:"Thanksgiving"

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:07:00 -0600

Nothing advances the story in Heroes like the time between episodes—at least it feels that way, especially when the characters begin each one by explaining what's gone down in the interim and what's about to happen next. It must be amazing to be someone who's just tuning in to Heroes after so much time away, or dare I even imagine for the first time ever. (Run!) They must see those first few minutes and think, hey, I can do this. I'm all caught up, it sounds like some great stuff is about to go down ...

TV: House:"Ignorance Is Bliss"

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:52:00 -0600

The previews for this week's episode, "Ignorance Is Bliss," had me nervous. Of everything that frustrates me about what House has become, the one thing I'm least able to tolerate is the back-and-forth between House and Cuddy--for reasons that I've detailed at some length and will no doubt wind up mentioning again in this review. Judging by the preview, "Ignorance" was going to focus on a group Thanksgiving dinner with House, Wilson, Cuddy, and Lucas, who like the proverbial cat, keeps returning no matter how many times I imagine him choking to death on his own tweeness ...

TV: How I Met Your Mother:"Slapsgiving 2: Revenge Of The Slap"

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:59:00 -0600

You're setting yourself up for failure if you bill your Thanksgiving episode as a sequel to one of the most beloved episodes of the series. And for most of tonight's "Slapsgiving 2: Port of Call New Orleans," the failure is real. It's all delayed gratification and garden-variety family drama until the last two minutes. Then those last two minutes provide a high for the season so far. Isn't that how it always is with sequels? It's Marshall and Lily's first time to be hosting Thanksgiving in their own apartment, and in gratitude for Ted ...

TV: The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, American Dad:"Pranks and Greens"/"A Brown Thanksgiving"/"Jerome Is the New Black"/"My Morning Straitjacket"

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:20:00 -0600

It was an evening of odd characters wandering into the lives of our favorite Fox animated characters, of new mentors and crazy friends. It was also an evening of half-hearted social messages, occasional holiday references and assorted speeches about someone getting their life back on track. Also, two of the shows had a gag about someone getting stuck underneath a pool cover, though, to be fair, when it was Seymour Skinner, he was trapped under there with a bunch of worms. While it wasn't the best week of shows this season, none of the shows was horrendously bad either ...

TV: Dexter:"Hungry Man"

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:24:00 -0600

So, listen, Dexter fans. That episode was a big step up from the last couple of go nowhere bore fests, but that final twist was completely ludicrous. When some of you were saying in comments how obvious it was that the reporter was behind the shootings of Deb and Lundy, I didn't want to believe you because a.) it sounded stupid and b.) I have a vested interest in journalists being portrayed as non-serial killers. But the more you guys argued for that point, I realized that was the case. I was prepared to find out that she was ...

TV: Other Shows:"Metalocalypse: Dethhealth"

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:25:00 -0600

Hi ho, regular jackoffs! If you're reading this, you're probably one of the people who's asked us to do regular coverage of Brendon Small & Tommy Blacha's totally metal animated sitcom Metalocalypse. We're not quite there yet, but we figured that since the show has made a major shift (from a 15-minute mini-sitcom to a full-length half-hour show), we'd dip in and write up an episode and see where it goes from here. Frankly, I'm not sure what to wish for: I love the show, but it's also on really late at night ...

TV: The Venture Bros.:"Self-Medication"

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:23:00 -0600

The "let's begin in the middle of a standard-seeming action sequence" opening is a much-loved Venture Bros. standard by now, and "Self-Medication" goes at it with the gusto you'd expect. The doc is being menaced by the Monarch and his floating cocoon, things are at their worst, and then Rusty's alarm goes off, and he's got a therapy appointment to go to. This is not really surprising; nor is the revelation that there's a new clause in Guild contracts that allows time off for mental health issues. Monarch isn't very happy about it (we ...

TV: Curb Your Enthusiasm:"Seinfeld"

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:00:00 -0600

"We don't do endings like that. It's all bullshit. What couples get together at the end?" I don't mean to be hyperbolic, but I'm pretty sure Larry David made the universe fold in on itself tonight. More specifically, he made the Curb universe and the Seinfeld universe merge and then fold in on itself—and it was nothing short of incredible to watch. Larry David playing "Larry David" playing George Costanza, aka a fictional Larry David? Could there be a stranger feat for an actor to pull off than playing two fictional versions of himself simultaneously ...

TV: Other Shows:Sit Down, Shut Up: "High School Musical Musical"

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:48:00 -0600

Because I used to cover the Fox Sunday Animation block—which Todd VanDerWerff has been doing quite splendidly—my DVR is still set to record all the shows. And even though I had read the news that episodes of Sit Down, Shut Up were going to be burned off late on Saturday nights, I was still surprised when I noticed a new episode had popped up amidst my other recordings. I never considered SDSU appointment TV, but curiosity got the best of me, and I popped in every few Sunday mornings to see what the show was up to. It ...

TV: Saturday Night Live:Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Dave Matthews Band

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:01:00 -0600

Best episode ever? Of the season, I mean. I had a feeling ahead of time that Joseph Gordon-Levitt could pull off a good show--I liked him on 3rd Rock from the Sun and if, as a kid, he could be funny next to French Stewart (and I guess, John Lithgow too) I figured he might be able to pull off at the very least an energetic performance on SNL. I liked that in his monologue he made fun of his indie darling status and then really worked his ass off during "Make 'Em Laugh," complete with singing, cartwheels, pratfalls, punches ...

TV: Community:"Environmental Science"

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:54:00 -0600

As it wraps up its appearances in November sweeps, Community is really on a roll. That's, by my count, four straight really good episodes, with at least three of them being all-time keepers (especially last week's terrific half hour). The series seems to have worked out its kinks, and now, it's a pretty lean show, pared down to just what it needs to get laughs. Tonight's episode felt weirdly like a season finale (especially in its closing moments), so it's possible this was the last episode filmed of the initial 13-episode order (just in case ...

TV: 30 Rock:"Sun Tea"

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03:00 -0600

Hello, 30 Rockers! My name is Steve, and I’ll be covering the show tonight for The T.V. Club. I realize coming here and getting me rather than Nathan Rabin is like tuning in to Pardon The Interruption for the entertaining repartee of Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon and instead seeing the fat, red faces of substitute hosts Dan LeBatard and Bob Ryan. (Sadly, this won’t be the only sports-related metaphor I use tonight.) But I’m super duper thrilled to be here. I haven’t been totally on board with The A.V. Club’s criticisms of ...

TV: Project Runway:"Finale: Part 2"

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:00:00 -0600

Will Carol-Hannah stop puking in time to make it to Bryant Park? Will Irina slaughter a couple of minks at the last minute to up the luxe factor of her upscale loungewear collection? Will Althea develop a design aesthetic besides "eh wear"? Can this season get any worse? Let's all find out tonight, together, in the way that our friends at Garnier Fructisse and the thoughtfully used Macy's Accessory Wall intended, via LiveBlog. Starting at 10pm ET Donna Bowman, Kyle Ryan and I will be your grand marshals in this (probably sad) fashion parade. See you there! Project ...

TV: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia:"The D.E.N.N.I.S. System"

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:42:00 -0600

“The D.E.N.N.I.S. System” was a little lighter on laughs than last week but had an amusingly intricate plot (something that’s rare for Sunny), and a fantastic, disgusting denouement (something that’s very common, but always very welcome). Best of all, though, it took Dennis and it gave him an easel on which to explain his system for attracting women through cute acronyms and silly slogans. It felt like a warped, disturbing take on Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother: rather than the pick-up artist being soulless but still loveable, he was soulless ...

TV: Fringe:“August”

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:30:00 -0600

Because I work at home, by myself, I spend some portion of each day roaming around the house talking and/or singing in a funny voice. I also spend some portion of each day locked inside my head, in pained reflection, recalling something stupid I said or did decades ago (and feeling humiliated all over again). So if there really were Observers in this world, watching what we do and reporting back to their superiors, frankly I’d be mortified. Of course, I’d feel even worse if I was Walter, and I knew that I’d been closely observed ...

TV: Supernatural:"Abandon All Hope"

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:13:00 -0600

Hey, remember Ellen and Jo, the only two non-dead recurring non-evil female characters on the show? Remember how they disappeared for a while, but then came back for this season, and it was like, we're gonna be fighting against Lucifer, so we gotta have all the good guys together again? Yeah. That didn't last so long, did it. I've mostly been impressed with the way Supernatural has expanded on its mythology over the years, taking what started as a one note premise and then expanding it and developing it as the series went on. If you'd ...

TV: The Office:"Shareholder Meeting"

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:10:00 -0600

Hello, Officeianados! Nathan Rabin, well-selling author and man about town, is off leading the lifestyle of a jet-setting ne'er-do-well, so it again falls to me to recap this week's escapades at the possibly insolvent Dunder-Mifflin. This episode was directed and written by Charles McDougall and Justin Spitzer, respectively, and they've brought us some of my favorite installments of the show, so I went into "Shareholder Meeting" with high hopes. I was a bit nervous about the cold open -- the network-mandated theme bits are often pretty awkward -- but this one was a real winner, featuring a very ...

TV: FlashForward:"Believe"

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:30:00 -0600

Maybe we should only be watching FlashForward in the odd-numbered episodes because after last week's complete snore, "Believe" was quite possibly the show's finest hour yet. It probably doesn't quite deserve an A-, but I believe in using these grades as encouraging signs for anyone from the show who reads this (if, indeed, anyone does), so there it is. "Believe" is the first episode of the show that legitimately feels like an episode of the show I thought I'd be watching when I signed up to cover the series, and it's the first to really ...

TV: Parks and Recreation:"Hunting Trip"

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:59:00 -0600

A few weeks back, Leonard Pierce was covering this show for TV Club and made note that the Fred Armisen episode lacked the strength of Parks & Rec's supporting cast. Tonight we saw the other end of the spectrum. Even though every single cast member played some part of the action, "Hunting Trip" lacked the character focus that made episodes like "Ron And Tammy" and "Kaboom" such successes—a few guys get their screen time, a few others help, and the rest sit out. If "Sister City" is the example of an episode not playing to the show's solid ...