Season Analysis: Season 3 was my first taste of Louie. It did not quite hit the individual highs that I heard Season 2 hit, but it remains true that each individual episode is its own fascinating experiment, straight from the mind of its creator at the height of his career.
“Miami”
More and more people are hating on the word “bromance.” I do not think that is so much because of what a bromance is as much as how it is presented. It is a word that should not have to exist. But as much of the comedy of Louis C.K. and this particular episode of his show demonstrate, two straight men striking up a friendship can be a painfully awkward situation. The end scene in which Louie attempts to explain to Ramon why he stayed a few extra days is indeed painfully awkward, but also poignant. How do you explain yourself in a situation like that? Maybe there are some people who are gifted enough to explain themselves, but Louis C.K. is definitely not one of those people. The scene with Louie telling his ex-wife he is staying a few more days was a nice touch. It was sweet of her to wish him well, despite making an incorrect assumption. This episode is also about the desire to make vacations permament, which sounds like a nice idea, but often ends up being as awkward as Louie’s attempt to do so.
Does anybody write VH1 Top 20 fan fiction starring Alison Becker and Rachel Perry? (Also, VH1-FUSE #1 agreement alert.)
Original Version
1. P!nk ft. Nate Ruess – “Just Give Me a Reason”
2. Pitbull ft. Christina Aguilera – “Feel This Moment”
3. Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida – “Troublemaker”
4. Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko – “Stay”
5. Emeli Sandé – “Next to Me”
6. Ed Sheeran – “Lego House”
7. Demi Lovato – “Heart Attack”
8. Phillip Phillips – “Gone Gone Gone”
9. Bruno Mars – “When I Was Your Man”
10. The Lumineers – “Stubborn Love”
11. Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”
12. Fall Out Boy – “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”
13. Vicci Martinez ft. Cee-Lo Green – “Come Along”
14. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dolton – “Can’t Hold Us”
15. Taylor Swift – “22”
16. Icona Pop – “I Love It”
17. Goo Goo Dolls – “Rebel Beat”
18. fun. – “Carry On”
19. Jessie Ware – “Wildest Moments”
20. Jason Derulo – “The Other Side”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. I Love It
2. Mirrors
3. Stay
4. Wildest Moments
5. Come Along
6. Stubborn Love
7. Troublemaker
8. Heart Attack
9. Can’t Hold Us
10. Carry On
11. My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)
12. Next to Me
13. Just Give Me a Reason
14. When I Was Your Man
15. Gone Gone Gone
16. Feel This Moment
17. Lego House
18. Rebel Beat
19. The Other Side
20. 22
“Remedial Chaos Theory” – still the high water mark of the series for me and many others – presented a series of alternate timelines that diverged from one seemingly minuscule moment. Though the potential reality of alternate timelines may appeal to theoretical physicists, the argument has been made that the alternate timelines actually all only took place in Abed’s head. At least as far back as “Debate 109” (Season 1, Episode 9), Abed has displayed such a deep understanding of the group as to practically be able to predict the future. So it is a little odd that the timeline that has been revisited on occasion – the one in which Troy got the pizza, i.e., “the darkest timeline” – has become so decidedly unrealistic. And each time it has been revisited – the tag of “RCT,” the Season 3 finale, the tag of “Intro to Knots” – it has been clear that it was in Abed’s head. As demonstrated in “Virtual Systems Analysis,” Abed has become so close to his friends and therefore too emotionally invested to be able to always have the wherewithal to make the accurate predictions he has made before.
But the return of the darkest timeline in “Advanced Introduction to Finality” is not a look into the head of Abed Nadir, but that of Jeff Winger, he who has constantly repeated, “Abed, there are no other timelines.” Jeff is finally set to graduate, he’s ready to get back to his old life, and his friends are supportive of him – but something doesn’t feel right. The “It Was All Just a Dream” trope is one that should be used with great care, as it can come off as little more than a “get out of a jail free” card. The just a dream reveal in this episode gets away with that by making it immediately clear that the darkest timeline plot is a dream, or, more specifically, a daydream (and therefore Jeff has more control over how the fantasy goes than he would if he were asleep). Jeff indicates as much when he declares, “I just need to give Abed a chance” – for his own sake, he needs to examine his role within the group by considering an alternate timeline, the way Abed does so so readily. Jeff has a nagging fear that going back to his old life will lead him to also go back to his old jerkass ways. Thus, the alternate timeline that Jeff uses to work through this issue in his head is the darkest timeline.
Since Jeff is not as practiced as Abed at considering alternate timelines, the Evil versions of everyone in Jeff’s head are wildly cartoonish and huge exaggerations of each character’s trademark characteristics. This would be a problem if this were all supposed to actually be taking place in reality (or the reality of Community, that is, a reality which is … not most of this episode). Luckily, it is a fantasy, and we are allowed to laugh at it. The repartee between Evil Jeff and Evil Annie – as previewed in the “Intro to Knots” tag – wins my vote for the funniest element of Season 4. Their passion for each other is thrilling, while their deviousness towards everyone else is entertaining – it’s like a more insane version of “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design.” Actually, scratch that, “Conspiracy Theories” was already plenty insane – “less grounded” is a better description. Evil Jeff wishing that Evil Annie were even younger really seems to get some people’s goats – too bad that their prudishness gets in the way of appreciating something so hilarious. Seeing Evil Abed – who is not evil anymore – as a sci-fi shaman was also a treat. True, Abed is already a shaman anyway, but it was nice to see him in the shamanistic beard and robe. Unfortunately, all the other evil iterations of the study group amounted to little more than a few quick gags. And Abed’s declaration that they finally made paintball cool again was a bit premature – if something is truly cool, it should not have to be announced so baldly.
As for reality, Jeff’s graduation ceremony was nicely understated but also a little oddly extravagant. With the theme of “marriage,” Jeff being wed to the Human Being was certainly a memorable sight gag. The presence of Leonard, Quendra, Neil, Vicki, Todd, and Magnitude was a little strange, and strangely heartwarming. And of course, the use of the “Greendale Is Where I Belong” musical cue is guaranteed to always tug at my heartstrings. And finally, Pierce also graduates, which was was probably the most decent way possible to finish up Chevy Chase’s run on Community. B+
Season Analysis: It always sounds a little suspicious when high school movies and TV shows are described as perfectly capturing the high school experience, because everyone’s high school experience is different. Having said that, Awkward.’s characters really do seem like real people, and similarly, it is a show that is delightfully confident enough to be its own self and move at its own pace (Season premiere taking place on New Year’s Eve airing in summer? Why not?!).
“Once Upon a Blog”
I may be a sucker for a show messing with its normal format, or “Once Upon a Blog” really was a truly unabashedly fun episode of Awkward. The thing is, most Awkward. episodes are, well, a bit awkward. So, it was a delightful change of pace to go through what-if scenarios and genre flips. If the entire series were like this, it would all be a bit too lightweight. But as a one-off, it encapsulated all that the show is and could have been.
Season Analysis: It’s not like the 2012 output of Futurama was bad or anything, it’s just that there wasn’t anything about it that really excited me.
“Decision 3012”
One of Futurama’s major strengths has been its ability to take social and political issues of the day and demonstrate how they could continue to crop up 1,000 years from now, such as the endlessness of political debates (the 3012 debate is the 3,012th debate of the 3012 election) and mathematically unsound economic policy (candidates are asked point blank if they believe they can lower taxes and fix the deficit). The biggest target of this episode is the birther movement, in which the Earth citizenship of Senator Chris Zaxxar Travers (running against the head of President Nixon for President of Earth) is called into question. Futurama adds its sci-fi bent to the social commentary, as it turns out that Senator Travers cannot produce his “Earth certificate” because he is a time traveler who has not been born on Earth yet. Eventually, in true Futurama fashion, what started as a takeoff of the political issues of the 21st century became its own thing, with time travel paradoxes and erasure from existence.
Taking a cue from The A.V. Club, this feature is a list of ten episodes from a particular television show that more or less best represents that program.
Was Stella a sitcom? Was it sketch comedy? Apparently it was “dumb comedy in a suit.” That’s how Comedy Central promoted it, and that did not really do the show any favors. To be fair, Stella was not an easy show to explain in a way that could make it widely appealing. It was a sitcom more than anything else, but it is unlike any sitcom that has aired before or after it. That is not meant as a criticism, or a compliment – it is purely descriptive. An extension of Stella the comedy act, Stella the TV show was Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain as id-driven man-children versions of themselves who wore suits all the time. Stella is one of my all-time favorite shows, thanks a great deal to its frequent subversion of common television tropes in the most absurd manner imaginable.
“Pilot” (Season 1, Episode 1)
The guys get kicked out of their apartment, deal with homelessness, search for a new place, and ultimately end up right back where they started at their original apartment. The stretching of natural logic that defined the series was here right from the get-go: the torrid love affair that begins as soon as Wain meets the co-op broker to the strains of Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” (“What are we doing?”), the guys having only a single bean to eat while homeless but a full plate of condiments, the mustache disguises that fool everyone, the dance while wearing skunk tails that wins over the co-op board, and the boys performing open-heart surgery despite obviously not being doctors, along with Wain running off in the rain in the middle of it to make a Big Public Declaration of Love and then sticking his hands right back in the patient’s chest after coming back from the rain. There is also the petty bickering, accompanied as it often is with the shaming of Michael Sho. Finally, the bizarre lessons learned ending is also established right away, with the guys being presented gifts such as a wicker laundry hamper from Pier One to recognize their killing of Josef Mengele (because, as it turned out, their landlord was the Nazi doctor in hiding). Also, Rashida Jones is in the pilot as one of the three girls who lives downstairs (she didn’t stay on for the series and was replaced by Samantha Buck).
“Campaign” (Season 1, Episode 2)
Michael Ian Black runs for resident board president after the current president, Bob Feldman, doesn’t allow them to have any fun around the apartment (“Fine, Mr. Zookeeper, we’ll go back to our cage”). With Michael Sho as the campaign manager, David is relegated to menial intern work, leading him to turn to Bob (Robert LuPone in a wonderfully straight-faced guest performance), who tasks David with assassinating Michael Black. Regarding playing around with tropes in the most absurd manner imaginable, Michael Black explains that he was going to read from prepared remarks, but then read from the heart, but then he decides to NOT read from the heart and actually read from his prepared remarks. It is revealed that the Michael Black that David shot was actually a robot – a robot that is obviously just metal with a picture of Michael’s face taped on. And there is a flashback to explain that Michael Sho knew what David was planning, by virtue of the hint he dropped when he told Michael Black, “You won’t be saying that after I kill you!”
“Office Party” (Season 1, Episode 3)
Amy, one of the girls downstairs (in a rare moment of the girls not appearing altogether), asks Michael, Michael, and David for some tape, and the guys use the request as a chance to beg Amy to let them join her at her office party. They run afoul of a couple of office bullies, then get their revenge at the office picnic, at which they manage to get hired and put in charge of the “big account.” Stella had great guest stars, in this case fellow The State alum Joe Lo Truglio and everyone’s comedy friend Paul Rudd as the office bullies and Sam Rockwell as the previously mentioned but not seen Gary Meadows. The office presentation scene is a television classic, and it sometimes progresses from the guys getting fired to them informing the mayor (who wears a sash that says “Mayor”) that they are in charge of him as members of a democracy. The phone call with the black teenage girls and the office picnic game montage (reminiscent of Wet Hot American Summer) are also highlights.
“Coffee Shop” (Season 1, Episode 4)
Worried that their lives are purposeless (sort of), the guys all get involved in the coffee business: Sho becomes a barista at their local coffee hang, Black starts a coffee stand on the corner across the street from the shop, and David starts a coffee joint that becomes the latest hipster hangout. Everything is wonderfully inexplicable: Sho inexplicably wants a job despite the guys never previously showing any concern about employment, Black has exactly one explicably loyal customer (played by Alan Ruck), and Wain’s shop is inexplicably a runaway success (and the guys burn it down at the end of the episode). This episode is also notable for its framing device, in which the guys recount the coffee story to the girls downstairs to teach them a lesson about friendship (which was sort of the theme of the entire series of Stella).
“Paper Route” (Season 1, Episode 5)
The guys accidentally run over their paper boy Kevin and then agree to take over his paper route so that Kevin can continue to earn the money he has been saving for college. But before making that offer, the guys try to make up for hitting him by giving him a harpsichord. The guys eventually get the hang of the paper route (on a bicycle built for three), but they then have to deal with the teenage bullies who have been tormenting Kevin. After the bullies beat them up, they experience the tribal shaming culture of the paperboy world. The guys eventually stand up to the bullies by performing “The Friendship Song,” whose magnificence must be observed to be believed. Guest starring is The State alum Ken Marino, who fully commits to the role of the paperboy gangland boss.
“Meeting Girls” (Season 1, Episode 6)
Sick of spending Friday nights alone, the guys head to a bar to meet girls. Michael and Michael both hit it off with someone (Michael Black’s girl is played by Elizabeth Banks), while David remains alone. This episode is the best example of Stella stretching the limits of logical temporal development: Michael and Michael go through every stage of a relationship, while David gets new roommates and changes his name, and the entire episode takes place over a couple of days. Also, in a romantic comedy parody ending, David chases after Michael and Michael as they board a plane – but finds time to stop for a bite to eat on his way there. This episode is also notable for Michael Black introducing himself to a bar patron by saying, “Hi, I’m Michael Ian Black. I love the ‘80s.”
“Camping” (Season 1, Episode 7)
Desperate to escape the rat race of the work week (because apparently the guys have jobs now), the guys head out on a camping trip. Things quickly go awry, but a kindly mountain man promises to lead them back to their car, but they accidentally kill him (or so they think), and things get even worse until a group of rangers rescue them. “Camping” deconstructs the trope of flashbacks revealing the truth in – you guessed it – the most absurd manner imaginable: they didn’t kill the mountain man, he was actually a ghost; they didn’t eat the mountain man’s remains, they ate hamburgers and French fries! (Although they did kill someone – just some loser camper nobody cares about.) Tim Blake Nelson pulls double guest star duty as the mountain man and the head ranger. The montage of the rangers cleaning the guys after rescuing them was a prime example of the homoeroticism Comedy Central wanted them to refrain from.
“Novel” (Season 1, Episode 8)
Wanting to make something out of their lives, the guys are inspired by novelist Jane Burroughs (Janeane Garofalo) to write their own novel. But Jane, who is suffering from writer’s block, steals their story, and they do not have any backup copy with which to prove their authorship. So they must write the whole thing again in the course of one night before Jane can turn it in to her publisher. The montage of the initial novel writing – which also took place over one night – is the best montage of the series. The Jane Burroughs book reading scene mercilessly skewers stupid book reading questions (e.g. David’s “What is a book?”). The chase scene of the guys running after Jane – including David pulling Michael and Michael along in a rickshaw – is epic, with a piece of bologna serving as an example of Chekhov’s gun.
“Vegetables” (Season 1, Episode 9)
The guys luck into discovering that their apartment floor is perfect for growing vegetables, which they then hawk on the street, and they start selling like hot cakes. But their avarice results in them over-plowing the land (i.e., their apartment floor), and they are forced themselves to work on a plantation. This episode stretches both temporal AND economic sense. Once again, the action takes place over no more than a week, if that. There are takes on the tropes of the wise minority/magical Negro (fellow plantation worker Maggie reminds the guys of the importance of friendship – and spends the night with Casanova David) and the newly rich tossing dollar bills out of a limo (“Maybe throwing money out of the limo wasn’t such a good idea”).
“Amusement Park” (Season 1, Episode 10)
The guys have tickets to the amusement park, but it’s raining, so they attempt to recreate the experience at their apartment. It doesn’t work, they get to fighting, and the girls insist that they go into therapy together. I will not spoil the twist of this episode, as it brings the whole series together, but I will mention that it is perhaps the greatest subversion ever of the “You look familiar” trope and also a suitably bizarre example of altered flashbacks filling in previously unknown information. The guys prove to be the worst possible subjects for traditional therapy as they are so incredibly, bizarrely, and thoroughly petty (“Black has such a superiority complex,” “Sho’s a little girl,” “Wain’s a sex addict and a compulsive masturbator”).
If you liked those, well, I can’t recommend 10 more, because only 10 episodes ever aired!
You know that song in those Lowe’s commercials? Sure you do, because they’ve been using it for a while. I guess they like it. It’s “Don’t Stop,” by Kiwi chanteuse Gin Wigmore. I like it, too. How can I not? She scats!
Original Version
1. P!nk ft. Nate Ruess – “Just Give Me a Reason”
2. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton – “Can’t Hold Us”
3. Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”
4. Imagine Dragons – “Radioactive”
5. Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko – “Stay”
6. Icona Pop – “I Love It”
7. Bruno Mars – “When I Was Your Man”
8. Fall Out Boy – “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”
9. Demi Lovato – “Heart Attack”
10. Pitbull ft. Christina Aguilera – “Feel This Moment”
11. Taylor Swift – “22”
12. Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida – “Troublemaker”
13. will.i.am ft. Justin Bieber – “#thatPOWER”
14. Ariana Grande ft. Mac Miller – “The Way”
15. fun. – “Carry On”
16. Emeli Sandé – “Next to Me”
17. Drake – “Started From the Bottom”
18. AWOLNATION – “Sail”
19. J. Cole ft. Miguel – “Power Trip”
20. Ace Hood ft. Rick Ross and Future – “Bugatti”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Sail
2. Radioactive
3. I Love It
4. Stay
5. Mirrors
6. Troublemaker
7. Heart Attack
8. Can’t Hold Us
9. Carry On
10. My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)
11. Next to Me
12. Just Give Me a Reason
13. Started From the Bottom
14. When I Was Your Man
15. Feel This Moment
16. #thatPOWER
17. Power Trip
18. Bugatti
19. 22
20. The Way
Cold Opening – Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends are reliably funny, though rarely excellent. But, hey, that’s a winning formula when it comes to SNL cold opens these days. The Fox crew generally needs a reliable “friend” to play the role of straight man, which Fred’s Mike Bloomberg dutifully provided. His retort that you might as well leave your cars unlocked if you’re not going to have background checks was not too laugh-too-loud, but I did like the logic. My favorite correction was “Croquettes are not female crocodiles.” B
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