Jmunney's Blog

Season Analysis: Going in the direction of M*A*S*H by transplanting the staff of Childrens to Japan for the season proved there was still plenty of material left to be mined in the medical procedural parody genre.

“My Friend Falcon”
One of my long-gestating ideas for a movie is one in which the protagonist(s) suddenly switch in the middle.  Like, initially, it’s the story of Bob and Alice, who meet Carol and Charlie about 45 minutes into it, and then about 10 minutes later Bob and Alice disappear for good, and now we focus on Carol and Charlie.  So I was naturally inclined to love Childrens Hospital’s homage to the Werner Herzog documentary My Best Fiend, as it switched midway from being David Wain’s documentary about his working relationship with Ken Marino’s Just Falcon to Falcon’s documentary about his relationship with Wain.  This show has consistently been interested in breaking apart form, as Childrens Hospital is actually a show within a show.  This documentary and its making are presented outside the show within the show, but within the (Adult Swim) show.  This documentary within a show in turn is broken apart and examined, as its existence seems to be beyond the control of any one person.  It is a force all its own.  Bonus points for this episode’s remediating nature are also due for its repurposing of a video from Ken Marino and guest star Kerri Kenney’s time at NYU, presented as a pre-Childrens Hospital moment from Falcon’s career.  “My Friend Falcon” is a fascinating examination of the nature of filmed reality and quite a heady experience for a 12-minute piece of television.

Season Analysis: There were 14 episodes of Childrens Hospital in Season 4.  I liked all of them.  A few of them I really liked.  I wish there had been more Malin Åkerman.  I also wish there had been more David Wain in front of the camera (but of course that always goes without saying).

“The Boy with the Pancakes Tattoo”
Childrens Hospital exists to parody the tropes of over-the-top hospital dramas like Grey’s Anatomy, but it can get exhausting to constantly laugh at the same sort of medical ridiculousness.  Luckily, this show occasionally branches out into other genre parodies, such as this episode’s take on an amnesia suspense thriller.  Interestingly enough, considering all the intense circumstances that can befall a hospital drama, this bout of mass amnesia at Childrens does not feel out of place.  The fact that the amnesia was caused by a criminal act by Sy is a perfectly logical explanation, and the fact that the conclusion of the whole thing essentially makes no sense is also perfectly acceptable, considering that this is Childrens Hospital.