April 8, 2015
jmunney
Community, Community Episode Reviews, Television
Community, Community 605, Community Season 6, Laws of Robotics and Party Rights
Community, “Laws of Robotics and Party Rights” (CREDIT: Yahoo! Screen)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
Jeff Winger has mostly accepted that he has a big heart, and he has made peace with the fact that he is at Greendale indefinitely. But there is a difference between accepting your station and actually doing the work of getting through that station. Jeff may have learned to open his heart up just a little bit during his time at school, but when it comes to work, he still prefers going to great lengths to take the easy way out. It would take something unusual to knock him out of this routine. A convict attending his Law class via telepresence robot proved to be just the right unexpected development to touch several of his nerves and really set him off.
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April 5, 2015
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
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 – Going Clear
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – The Flash
Wednesday – The Middle/The Goldbergs
Thursday – Archer
Friday – Comedy Bang! Bang!
Saturday – Houston, we have a boner on SNL.
April 5, 2015
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Carly Rae Jepsen, Houston we have boner, Michael Keaton, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 40, SNL, SNL Season 40
SNL: Carly Rae Jepsen, Michael Keaton (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
Michael Keaton’s innate charm was on full display during this past awards season. That was not as present in his third “SNL” hosting stint (and first in over 20 years). Instead, he reminded viewers of his dark side. While he never actually suited up as Batman or Beetlejuice during the episode, his roles did seem to be inspired by that portion of his career. The result was a surplus of oddly severe sketches, some of which were praiseworthy in their boldness, but others which were cringeworthy in their difficulty to watch.
Final Four Postgame – “SNL” was operating right down to the wire here, as the Wisconsin-Kentucky game ended only about 15 minutes before the start of the show. That was no big deal, as the actual result did not heavily factor into this sketch, though there could have been a problem if the game had gone into overtime and lasted past 11:30. Anyway, this sketch was really about the eternal conflict between the two sides of the student-athlete identity. The alternate reality presented here – in which a star player like Duke’s Jahlil Okafor would miss the championship because of a biology test – was appreciably silly, but also way too obvious. This would have been much more reliable if it had just focused on the announcing crew. It would have been inconsequential, sure, but the latest gambling misadventures of Kenan’s Charles Barkley (now he’s got to eat a basketball) have more energy than a crack about Coach K’s $10 million salary. C+
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April 4, 2015
jmunney
Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown
Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
2. Ellie Goulding – “Love Me Like You Do”
3. Taylor Swift – “Style”
4. Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney – “FourFiveSeconds”
5. Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding – “Outside”
6. Pitbull & Ne-Yo – “Time of Our Lives”
7. Nick Jonas – “Chains”
8. Tori Kelly – “Nobody Love”
9. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
10. Kelly Clarkson – “Heartbeat Song”
11. Zedd ft. Selena Gomez – “I Want You to Know”
12. Tove Lo – “Talking Body”
13. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
14. Sam Smith – “Lay Me Down”
15. Imagine Dragons – “I Bet My Life”
16. Lily Wood & Robin Schulz – “Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)”
17. Jason Derulo – “Want to Want Me”
18. Walk the Moon – “Shut Up and Dance”
19. Echosmith – “Bright”
20. George Ezra – “Budapest”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Outside
2. Style
3. Talking Body
4. Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)
5. I Want You to Know
6. Nobody Love
7. Chains
8. FourFiveSeconds
9. Shut Up and Dance
10. Love Me Like You Do
11. Lay Me Down
12. Want to Want Me
13. I Bet My Life
14. Time of Our Lives
15. Uptown Funk
16. Budapest
17. Sugar
18. Heartbeat Song
19. Bright
20. Thinking Out Loud
April 1, 2015
jmunney
Community, Community Episode Reviews, Television
Community, Community 604, Community Season 6, Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing
Community, “Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing” (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in March 2015.
“Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing” took the most advantage of Season 6’s lack of running time restrictions thus far, clocking in just under 31 minutes. This made sense, insofar as there were three plots and only two of them were even tangentially related. The structure of a typical modern network sitcom episode is generally not long enough to fully conclude the normal amount of three storylines. “Community” was not being indulgent here so much as it was just finding the necessary legroom. But even though each plot had enough space, it was not clear why Chang’s performance as Mr. Miyagi, the Dean joining the school board, and protecting a bird’s nest as IT work all needed to be in the same episode.
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March 29, 2015
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
200 onion rings, Banana, Big Banana, Cecily Strong, Dwayne Johnson, Franchise Viagra, George Ezra, I'm always thumping, Kyle Mooney, Kyle Mooney Interview, Long Banana, One Banana, Robert Durst Improv, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 40, Short Banana, SNL, SNL Season 40, The Rock, Two Banana, Vin Diesel as Thumper, Wham Bam Bambi, White Banana
SNL: George Ezra, Dwayne Johnson, Aidy Bryant (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in March 2015.
“If you don’t have a boner right now, you should just kill yourself.”
As he noted in his monologue, Dwayne Johnson is known for joining established film franchises and giving them a successful shot in the arm. Accordingly, his fourth “SNL” hosting stint heavily favored sketches that commented on the host’s reputation and familiar pop culture entities in general. Many of this season’s hosts, even the most capable ones, have been relegated to mostly utility roles. But Johnson was effectively given plenty of opportunities to shine, as he was allowed to play to his strengths, and the result was an episode that overall also played to its strengths.
The Rock Obama – While Dwayne Johnson is now unequivocally credited by his birth name, he has no qualms breaking out his wrestling moniker for a particular “SNL” sketch. He first broke out his hulked-out alter ego of the president the last time he hosted back in March 2009, only a few months into Obama’s first term. He brought it back in a cameo appearance later that year, and that was enough for it to reach iconic status. In its current iteration, it was formulaic, but still vibrant enough to be worthwhile. Michelle She-Hulking out as well provided a welcome addition, so it was nice that Leslie Jones was around to play the part. Bobby Moynihan went above the call of duty by putting together his weaselly impression of Ted Cruz. B
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March 29, 2015
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
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 – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – Community
Wednesday – When I’m tired and thinking cold, I hide in The Middle, forget the day.
Thursday – Archer
Friday – Vice, I guess, but Girl Meets World was a lot more fun to watch.
Saturday – The best SNL of the season. Thank you, The Rock.
March 28, 2015
jmunney
Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown
Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Taylor Swift – “Style”
2. Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
3. Ellie Goulding – “Love Me Like You Do”
4. Pitbull & Ne-Yo – “Time of Our Lives”
5. Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney – “FourFiveSeconds”
6. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
7. Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding – “Outside”
8. Nick Jonas – “Chains”
9. Tori Kelly – “Nobody Love”
10. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
11. Lily Wood & Robin Schulz – “Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)”
12. Kelly Clarkson – “Heartbeat Song”
13. Tove Lo – “Talking Body”
14. Imagine Dragons – “I Bet My Life”
15. Zedd ft. Selena Gomez – “I Want You to Know”
16. Sam Smith – “Lay Me Down”
17. George Ezra – “Budapest”
18. Echosmith – “Bright”
19. Walk the Moon – “Shut Up and Dance”
20. Ella Henderson – “Ghost”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Outside
2. Style
3. Talking Body
4. Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)
5. I Want You to Know
6. Chains
7. Ghost
8. Nobody Love
9. FourFiveSeconds
10. Shut Up and Dance
11. Love Me Like You Do
12. Lay Me Down
13. I Bet My Life
14. Time of Our Lives
15. Uptown Funk
16. Budapest
17. Heartbeat Song
18. Sugar
19. Bright
20. Thinking Out Loud
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