“Are those whistles?” “Yeah, those are whistles.” http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/02/03/new-girl-season-5-episode-5-recap-bob-
New Girl 5.5: “Bob & Carol & Nick & Schmidt”
February 4, 2016
New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television Bob & Carol & Nick & Schmidt, e-broccoli, e-fireworks, New Girl, New Girl 505, New Girl Season 5 Leave a comment
The Muppets 1.11 – “Swine Song”
February 3, 2016
Muppets (2015 TV Series), Muppets Episode Reviews, Television Swine Song, The Muppets, The Muppets 111, The Muppets on ABC, The Muppets Season 1 Leave a comment
“No. Ow. Don’t. Stop. Let go. Cease. Desist.” http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/02/03/the-muppets-season-1-episode-11-recap-
What Won TV? – January 24-January 30, 2016
January 31, 2016
Television, What Won TV? American Dad!, Angelique Kerber, Australian Open, Baskets, Childrens Hospital, Man Seeking Woman, New Girl, The X-Files Leave a comment
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – It wasn’t exactly its best, but The X-Files was mighty fun.
Monday – American Dad!
Tuesday – New Girl
Wednesday – Man Seeking Woman (Woman Seeking Man 2)
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – Childrens Hospital
Saturday – Australian Open Ladies’ Final
New Girl 5.4 – “No Girl”
January 27, 2016
New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television New Girl, New Girl 504, New Girl Season 5, No Girl, Veg-ass Leave a comment
“Veg-ass! You see what he did?” http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/01/27/new-girl-season-5-episode-4-recap-no-g
SNL Recap January 23, 2016: Ronda Rousey/Selena Gomez
January 24, 2016
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Ronda Rousey, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live 4111, Saturday Night Live Season 41, Selena Gomez, SNL, SNL Season 41 1 Comment
SNL: Selena Gomez, Ronda Rousey, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in January 2016.
With a few exceptions, athletes tend to be rather limited in their usefulness on “SNL.” Just having the host play him or herself or some variation in every sketch can solve this problem. But Ronda Rousey and/or the writers concede this point and give her very little to do throughout the night. Thus, she does not really affect the overall quality of the episode one way or the other. There are a few great sketches, a few okay ones, and some recurring sketches that seem to be hiding their recurring status.
Trump Rally – With Sarah Palin’s typically loopy endorsement of the Donald dominating this week’s election coverage, it felt like a no-brainer to bring Tina Fey back home (so long as she could make it through the snow). Back in 2008, there was the sketch parodying the Katie Couric interview of Palin, which was basically just a recreation of the original. The same approach could have easily been employed again this time around, but it ends up just being the jumping off point; she mentions the “bitter clinging” and adds some new rhymes and free associations (“Mom, 2 Broke Girls, and Three Men and a Baby” is a highlight). In addition, the asides from Trump serve as an astute, though not especially deep, commentary. B
What Won TV? – January 17-January 23, 2016
January 24, 2016
Television, What Won TV? Baskets, Childrens Hospital, Jeopardy!, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Saturday Night Live, SNL, The Grinder, The Middle Leave a comment
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – Mike Tyson Mysteries
Monday – Jeopardy!
Tuesday – The Grinder
Wednesday – The Middle, which is best appreciated not from a distance, but intimately
Thursday – Baskets is the best show of 2016.
Friday – Childrens Hospital
Saturday – “The Screen Guild Awards,” as seen on SNL
The Middle 7.13 – “Floating 50”
January 21, 2016
Television, The Middle, The Middle Episode Reviews Floating 50, The Middle, The Middle 713, The Middle Season 7 Leave a comment
The Middle can’t be this good in Season 7. http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/01/21/the-middle-season-7-episode-13-recap-f
New Girl 5.3 – “Jury Duty”
January 20, 2016
New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television Jury Duty, New Girl, New Girl 503, New Girl Season 5 Leave a comment
Nick and Cece are basically the same person. http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/01/20/new-girl-season-5-episode-3-recap-jury
SNL Recap January 16, 2016: Adam Driver/Chris Stapleton
January 17, 2016
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Adam Driver, Chris Stapleton, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live 4110, Saturday Night Live Season 41, SNL, SNL Season 41, Social Puppeteering Leave a comment
SNL: Chris Stapleton, Adam Driver, Aidy Bryant
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in January 2016.
If “SNL” is going to book Adam Driver, then he is going to be called upon to do two things (assuming the writers are not suffering from temporary insanity): reference “Star Wars” and utilize his famous intensity. Surprisingly enough, the former is used sparingly; meanwhile, the latter is taken advantage of throughout the episode (which, depending on your opinion of the “SNL” team’s mental state, is either very much expected or totally shocking). This is the right decision. “Star Wars” is bigger than Driver (or any one person), and reliance upon intergalactic material could have been a distraction, but the character conviction he brings is comedy dynamite if deployed properly.
6th Republican Debate – The standard clown car jokes about the GOP field have mostly exhausted themselves, and Darrell Hammond’s legacy Trump impression is really the only performance here that has a strong enough default mode to run on autopilot. Thankfully, Ted Cruz gifted the comedy world a notorious moment with his “New York City values” comment. Instead of just repeating that jibe (which this sketch could very easily have gotten away with), Taran Killam’s Ted makes it just a little bit absurd by pairing it with “Seinfeld” references. Nothing groundbreaking, but enough to get by. B-
What Won TV? – January 10-January 16, 2016
January 17, 2016
Television, What Won TV? Idiotsitter, Jeopardy!, New Girl, The coin didn't flip, The Goldbergs, The Simpsons Leave a comment
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – The Simpsons
Monday – Jeopardy!
Tuesday – New Girl
Wednesday – The Goldbergs proves once and for all that 2 dates in 1 night can’t be done!
Thursday – Idiotsitter
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – Packers-Cardinals: the coin didn’t flip!
