Jmunney's Blog

Best Episode of the Season: Childrens Hospital Season 5

June 5, 2014

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2013-2014 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Childrens Hospital, Television Leave a comment

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.

Best Episode of the Season: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6

June 5, 2014

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2013-2014 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, RuPaul's Drag Race, Television Leave a comment

Season Analysis: My first foray into the world of drag queen reality television was as breezy as I was hoping for, but it was also poignant, with these ladies finding their way into my heart much more than I was expecting.

“Snatch Game”
As a novice Drag Race viewer, I was promised that the Snatch Game episode is the most reliably entertaining of any season, and this year’s edition did not disappoint. It helped that I was already predisposed to love several elements, as I used to watch Match Game reruns on Game Show Network, and one of the guest judges was Drag Race superfan Gillian Jacobs, one of the stars of my favorite show, Community.
Joslyn Fox may have been too spacy to be the next drag superstar, but that persona allowed her to perfectly capture the spirit of Real Jersey Housewife Teresa Giudice (“prostitution whoreses,” “cumin”). BenDeLaCreme didn’t play Maggie Smith so much as the Dowager Countess, but that was the right move, as it allowed her to kill with bemusement about modern culture, asking us if we could imagine something like a citrus-flavored drink! Not every impression worked, but luckily there was Bianca Del Rio’s Judge Judy (a bold, but ultimately successful take on one of Ru’s idols) to keep everyone in check. (“Beauty fades, dumb is forever,” she snapped at Gia Gunn’s Kim Kardashian.) I haven’t seen any others, but I’ll take Ru’s word that it was the tightest snatch … game in history.

Runner-up: “Drag Queens of Comedy”
Bianca del Rio dominated far and away this year’s race for America’s Next Drag Superstar, and never more so than with her killer stand-up set. Guest judge Jaime Pressly was upset that she wasn’t the target of any of the material, to which Bruce Vilanch noted that it is the mark of a truly great insult comic when the audience is begging to be insulted.

Best Episode of the Season: How I Met Your Mother Season 9

June 5, 2014

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2013-2014 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, How I Met Your Mother, Television Leave a comment

Season Analysis: Stretching out one weekend over an entire season of 24 episodes was a more satisfying experience than expected … but then the series finale rushed to fit decades’ worth of story into less than an hour, and we were all very confused.

“Sunrise”
Some of the best love stories of all time are the ones in which the lovers let go of each other: Rick insists that Ilsa get on that plane, Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper are not meant to be, Jack and Ennis cannot be together. So to have Ted Mosby pining after Robin Scherbatsky season after season, when the audience knew from the very first episode that she was not destined to be the mother of his children, was not wholly unprecedented, even though it was always going to be tricky. Ted had tried to let go of Robin on many occasions before their walk on the beach in “Sunrise,” but he had never truly been able to. On the cusp of Robin’s wedding to Barney, he still was not really ready to, but he knew he had to. Ted ranked his top 5 ex-girlfriends, and, no surprise, number one was fan favorite Victoria. His subsequent revelations – he broke things off with Victoria because he did not want to end his friendship with Robin, and he actually does not have a top 5, because Robin has always been number one – are heartbreaking. He is still not ready to let her go, but this time he knows he has to, and the shot of Robin floating away into the sky is beautiful. (This perfect moment is one of many reasons why the route that the finale took is utterly incomprehensible.)

Watch And/Or Listen to This: Elliphant’s “Music Is Life”

June 4, 2014

jmunney Music, Music Videos, Watch And/Or Listen to This Leave a comment

You know the Sprint Framily Plan commercial in which they drop the beat and everyone starts dancing? “Music Is Life” by Elliphant is the song from that commercial. Elliphant is the moniker of Sweden’s Ellinor Olovsdotter. She’s bringing us a wild mix of hip-hop, reggae, and dance. This is all to say, Kyle Mooney has great taste.

The 10 Best TV Shows of 2014 Thus Far

June 4, 2014

jmunney Billy on the Street, Broad City, Community, Fargo (TV Series), Hannibal, Louie, Mad Men, Review (TV Series), Rick and Morty, Television, True Detective Leave a comment

It doesn’t take much time for the calendar to elapse for me to start putting together lists of the best television of the year in my head, and apparently I’m not the only one. So I now feel compelled to unspool from my brain a preliminary list of the best of 2014. There are plenty of shows not on this list because they have yet to debut or have just barely debuted, or because they were not quite as good as those that I selected. It’s looking like, when all is said and done, this could be the most difficult year ever for putting together a definitive ranking. It has been a strong year for new shows, with half of my selections having debuted in 2014 (or late 2013).

Here are my top 2, listed in alphabetical order:

Hannibal – Unbearable in the best way possible.

Rick and Morty – More inventive than I thought was possible.

And now here’s numbers 3-10, also in alphabetical order:

Billy on the Street – There’s a lot of hilarious New Yorkers out there.

Broad City – Just the right amount of wild and zany.

Community – An excitable comeback.

Fargo – It’s got a lot of character.

Louie – I’m not sure if I would prefer to live in the dream world of Hannibal, or the dream world of Louie, and that’s a compliment to both.

Mad Men – Great job tying it all together.

Review – What is this thing we call life?

True Detective – Mystical, but also personal.

Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 6/3/14

June 4, 2014

jmunney Fuse Top 20 Countdown, Music, Television Leave a comment

Each week, I check out FUSE’s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – “Problem”
2. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – “Fancy”
3. Nico & Vinz – “Am I Wrong”
4. Ed Sheeran ft. Pharrell – “Sing”
5. John Legend – “All of Me”
6. Pharrell – “Happy”
7. DJ Snake & Lil’ Jon – “Turn Down for What”
8. Calvin Harris – “Summer”
9. Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake – “Love Never Felt So Good”
10. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
11. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – “Latch”
12. Paramore – “Ain’t It Fun”
13. 5 Seconds of Summer – “She Looks So Perfect”
14. Christina Perri – “Human”
15. MKTO – “Classic”
16. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
17. Sia – “Chandelier”
18. Katy Perry – “Birthday”
19. Pitbull ft. G.R.L. – “Wild Wild Love”
20. Rixton – “Me and My Broken Heart”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Summer
3. Happy
4. Fancy
5. Latch
6. Turn Down for What
7. Stay With Me
8. Am I Wrong
9. Love Never Felt So Good
10. Ain’t It Fun
11. Birthday
12. Sing
13. Problem
14. Boom Clap
15. All of Me
16. Wild Wild Love
17. She Looks So Perfect
18. Classic
19. Human
20. Me and My Broken Heart

Best Episode of the Season: Review Season 1

June 2, 2014

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2013-2014 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Review (TV Series), Television Leave a comment

Season Analysis: A critical analysis of “life itself” may sound like the most simplistic and gimmicky concept ever, but the first season of Review examined this idea to its furthest absurd and logical conclusions, making it a genuine examination of what it means to live. The unbridled curiosity of Andy Daly’s performance made for a star-making turn.

“Pancakes; Divorce; Pancakes”
Is it the mark of a truly classic episode of television that it is an incredible viewing experience no matter how you watch it? I initially missed about the first 10 minutes of “Pancakes; Divorce; Pancakes.” My first taste of it was Forrest telling his wife Suzanne that he wanted a divorce. After two episodes had made me think Review would be a mildly diverting (but totally worthwhile) pleasure, this moment suddenly had me thinking, “What is this show?” This was the point at which it became 100 percent clear that the experiences Forrest reviewed would have legitimate real-life ramifications. Actually committing to the experience of divorce just for the sake of the experience, and thus having to separate from a woman he loved deeply and had no desire to leave, made Forrest MacNeil a sort of mythic hero – the personification of commitment. What made this experience all the more poignant was bookending it with the seeming banality of overindulging in breakfast food. It was an ingenious move to have Forrest’s producer Grant (a perfectly cast James Urbaniak) remind him, for both the 15 Pancakes and Divorce segments, that he never wanted to be allowed to back out of any segment no matter how much he begged. The twin crises of those first two segments would have been enough to drive any normal human being to abandon the whole endeavor of Review. Moreover, the absurdity of a completely separate person requesting that Forrest eat 30 pancakes should have been pointless enough to drive him over the edge. Forrest did succumb to nihilism, but somehow that became the motivation that allowed him to continue this masterpiece, as he remarked, “These pancakes couldn’t kill me, because I was already dead.” Ultimately, this was an all-time classic half hour of television, a singular mix of insanity and inspiration.

What Won TV? – May 25-May 31, 2014

June 1, 2014

jmunney Television, What Won TV? 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 – Mad Men
Monday – Louie – it’s Todd “Barry,” not “Berry.”
Tuesday – Inside Amy Schumer, with an assist from Todd Barry
Wednesday – Jeopardy!
Thursday – Comedy Bang! Bang!
Friday – Jeopardy!, with Julia Collins settling into the second-longest winning streak of all time
Saturday – Orphan Black

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 5/31/14

May 31, 2014

jmunney Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown 1 Comment

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. Paramore – “Ain’t It Fun”
2. Phillip Phillips – “Raging Fire”
3. Ingrid Michaelson – “Girls Chase Boys”
4. Neon Trees – “Sleeping With a Friend”
5. Katy Perry – “Birthday”
6. Calvin Harris – “Summer”
7. Nico & Vinz – “Am I Wrong”
8. Rixton – “Me and My Broken Heart”
9. John Legend – “All of Me”
10. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – “Fancy”
11. Sara Bareilles – “I Choose You”
12. Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake – “Love Never Felt So Good”
13. Demi Lovato – “Neon Lights”
14. Sia – “Chandelier”
15. Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chainz – “Talk Dirty”
16. Lorde – “Tennis Court”
17. Avicii ft. Dan Tyminski – “Hey Brother”
18. Kongos – “Come With Me Now”
19. Chvrches – “The Mother We Share”
20. Magic! – “Rude”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Summer
3. Fancy
4. Come With Me Now
5. The Mother We Share
6. Tennis Court
7. Am I Wrong
8. Hey Brother
9. Sleeping With a Friend
10. Love Never Felt So Good
11. Birthday
12. Ain’t It Fun
13. Talk Dirty
14. All of Me
15. I Choose You
16. Rude
17. Girls Choose Boys
18. Neon Lights
19. Raging Fire
20. Me and My Broken Heart

Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 5/27/14

May 27, 2014

jmunney Fuse Top 20 Countdown, Music, Television Leave a comment

Each week, I check out FUSE’s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – “Problem”
2. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – “Fancy”
3. John Legend – “All of Me”
4. Pharrell – “Happy”
5. Ed Sheeran – “All of the Stars”
6. Nico & Vinz – “Am I Wrong”
7. Calvin Harris – “Summer”
8. DJ Snake & Lil’ Jon – “Turn Down for What”
9. Paramore – “Ain’t It Fun”
10. Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake – “Love Never Felt So Good”
11. MKTO – “Classic”
12. Grouplove – “Let Me In”
13. Rixton – “Me and My Broken Heart”
14. Pitbull ft. G.R.L. – “Wild Wild Love”
15. Katy Perry ft. Juicy J – “Dark Horse”
16. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
17. 5 Seconds of Summer – “She Looks So Perfect”
18. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – “Latch”
19. Coldplay – “Magic”
20. Naughty Boy ft. Sam Smith – “La La La”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Dark Horse
2. Summer
3. Happy
4. Latch
5. Fancy
6. La La La
7. Turn Down for What
8. Am I Wrong
9. Let Me In
10. Love Never Felt So Good
11. Ain’t It Fun
12. Boom Clap
13. Magic
14. Problem
15. Wild Wild Love
16. She Looks So Perfect
17. Classic
18. All of Me
19. All of the Stars
20. Me and My Broken Heart

Categories