Hello everyone, I have been given the duty of recapping and reviewing Fox’s Sunday Night comedy line up. Formerly called Animation Domination, an awesome name, it had to drop this name as the line-up now has one live action comedy, The War at Home, which has its series premiere this week.
This week also has three of the four other shows season premieres. I will pass on recapping the re-run of King of the Hill this week, it returns with new shows next week.
The Simpsons
8:00 p.m
Chalk board:
Does any kid still do this anymore?
(no Bart they do not, maybe that is what is wrong with society)
Couch Gag:
The family go through a metal detector before they can get to the couch. The whole family gets through fine except Homer. Homer is stopped because the alarm goes off. He takes off his belt, alarm still goes off, eventually he has nothing on but underwear and the alarm still goes off. The guard wands Homer and it beeps all over his body.
Plot
Homer decides that he wants to gamble on football games (stop me if you’ve heard this one before). Homer tells Lisa that Professor Pigskin correctly predicted the outcome of the Broncos game that just ended. Homer wants to subscribe to his pamphlet.
Lisa points out that it is mostly likely a scam. Sadly she doesn’t mention that she was formerly known as Lisa the Greek.
Well Homer, being Homer, goes ahead and bets a large sum of money on next weeks game. Sadly the Raiders have turned to drunks to fill their roster. He tells Lisa not to worry because he bet Fat Tony’s money not his own.
Homer than gets worked over by Tony and his goons. Tony offers to settle the debt if they can shoot an adult film at his house.
Moe gives Homer tickets to Santa’s Village in order to get Marge and the kids out of the house so Tony can shoot the porn movie.
At Santa’s Village the kids soon find out that Santa is not very jolly, he got some bad medical news. He is enjoying reading Tom Clancy’s Op Centre.
Lenny and Carl show up at the Simpson’s home and find porn stars on the couch. Lenny has always dreamed of being in a porn film, he will be on the soundboard. Carl decides to be in the sex scenes.
Marge and the kids head home early from Santa’s Village. She freaks when she sees a movie crew out front of the house.
We find out that Carl has a tattoo of Foghorn Leghorn on his thigh.
Marge walks in and confronts Homer, she gets mad and leaves. While she is leaving she smashes the other car several times .Bart turns to Homer and says he has never seen Mom THIS MAD before.
Homer tries to re-assure the kids that Marge will be home. He says this has happened before and it always works out in the end.
Marge is despondent in her car. She decides to call and say she is coming home. She goes over the whole routine of their break-up and make-up, how he will be apologize but be back to his old routine in a week. (at least they are acknowledging how they have done this episode at least five times before.)
Before she can finish the call a manatee starts banging on the phone booth. A man gives the seal yummy yummy kelp to calm it down. The voice of this guy is Alec Baldwin, and his name is Dr. Caleb Thorn.
He puts the manatee out to where a jet ski runs it over so he runs out to give it a hug.
She talks to Dr. Thorn about her and Homer’s fight. He says the problem is that she expects Homer to change. Marge decides to join Dr. Thorn as a way to gain back a zest for life.
Meanwhile in the parking lot Dr. Thorn gives birth to a baby manatee.
Homer and the kids set off to find Marge who left Homer hanging on the phone. Bart is in the dog carrier.
A fry cook at the diner where Marge and Thorn were describes how Marge ran off with a rugged looking man and proceeds to describe the difference between handsome and rugged.
In her quest to find herself Marge is trying to help a manatee. It vomits in front of her. She hugs and feels happy she bonded with the animal. The manatee then takes her out to sea.
Homer and the kids are still searching for Marge. Lisa convinces him to stop for the day. Homer says he has cousins in the area. His cousin’s are not the rubes he told the kids they were. It turns out that they are related because their dogs are brothers.
In their tree house Lisa looks through a telescope and sees Marge who says, “I’ve got my groove back.”
It is the end of the day with Marge and her fellow manatee-helpers are recounting their day. Dr. Thorn is cooking a manatee that they failed to save.
Homer shows up with flowers and chocolate. She accepts his apology but she isn’t coming back yet.
Homer decides to get her back he needs to save all the manatees.
He sees a gang of punk on Sea-doos starting to “romp” the manatees. Homer jumps in a swan paddleboat to save the animals. Homer tells them to pick on someone their own size when they point out that the animals are in fact bigger than them.
In fact they are bigger than us.
Homer convinces them to leave through his bravery. They turn around after he calls them rubes. They start to thrash him and his swan boat. But Homer’s cousin shows up in a boat with a court order that scares away the punks.
Marge shows up to see a battered Homer who proceeds to puke just like the manatee did before.
Marge says he is the real endangered species, a devoted husband.
Meanwhile at work a manatee is covering for Homer. Burns and Smithers walk in. Waylon points out that the manatee is dying of dehydration. Burns orders him to grab a sponge. The two of them start bathing him and have a water-fight with the theme from the movie Carwash on in the background.
And fade to black…. Marge-centric episodes suck and this one was no different.
The War at Home
8:30 p.m.
Brief intro
The show revolves around a family of five. Father: Dave; Mother: Vicky; Daughter: Hillary; Older son: Larry; Younger son: Mike.
Plot
Michael Rapaport (Dave) gives a monologue to the audience in front of a white background. He basically just introduces his family.
There is a really bad laugh track.
Dave is worried that his 15-year-old son, Larry, is gay. Cut to Larry show him dressing up as a woman.
Larry tells the audience he is not gay, he asks the audience if any girl wants to sleep with him to call.
Hillary, the 16-year-old, wants to go on a date with a freshman…from college. The parents, mostly Dave, are upset she wants to date someone so much older.
Dave heads to work, Joe, his co-worker comes into his office. They discuss how Joe has a gay child.
Back at home Larry’s friend Kenny is visiting (this is the friend Dave worries is his “special friend”) Hilary looks perfectly slutty with her short skirt. She brings in a boy named Tay, a gangsta looking black guy. (it turns out his name is short for Bootay.)
The parents are at first upset over this development but Vicky insists its just a ploy by Hillary so they will allow her to date the older guy.
Cut to the funniest gag of the show; a scoreboard showing “Days Left Till the Kids are Out of Here” aka gone to college.
Larry dresses up as a woman, but there is a purpose. Kenny and him steal a car. It seems Larry is dressed up like his mom to getaway with stealing her car. They are planning on going to see some girls.
Mike comes home and sees Larry arriving back still dressed as his mom. He tells his dad in order to get a new Playstation.
The parents have a “talk” with Larry about this new activity of his. Instead of admitting to steal the car Larry admits to enjoying cross dressing.
The doorbell rings and an older black guy shows up, it’s Omar, Tay’s father. It turns out Hillary is doing Tay’s homework and his grade average has actually gone down. Omar tells Dave that Hilary is using Tay to drive him nuts.
Vicky recognizes Omar, she says she met him at a PTA meeting. Dave is worried she is attracted to him, which she denies but has a fantasy clip of him.
The parents think they have things figured out as they will keep allowing Hillary to hang out with Tay, whom she doesn’t like, instead of allowing her to date the older college guy.
Cut to Hillary and Tay making out.
The show seems to be trying to be a modern day Married with Children, but fails miserably. My friend Neil compared the Dave character to Titus (yeah not many people remember that show and for good reason), it’s an apt comparison. Problem is Titus got cancelled whereas Al Bundy is TV icon (at least to me and a few of my friends), and Dave (no last name given) is no Al Bundy.
Family Guy
9:00 p.m.
Plot:
Lois tells Peter he has got to go the PTA Meeting. Peter gets Brian to go to the PTA meeting for him.
At the PTA meeting Brian checks out a hot, big-breasted black chick. He goes over to talk to her. She is the 11th grade history teacher. Ms. Shawna Parks.
Brian tells the family about his date with Shawna. Peter is mad that he is bailing on their plans to go to The Clam to play darts.
Brian goes on his date with Shawna. He asks why they named the high school after James Woods. He suggests it should be named after someone more deserving such as Sidney Poitier, Reggie Jackson, Martin Luther King. (all black figures to show he is not racist)
Shawna loves the idea of renaming the school after Martin Luther King.
Back at home Peter is annoyed that Brian is ditching him for Shawna again. He will go find a new best friend, Barney (from Flintstones).
The next morning Brian brings in the newspaper; there is a story referring to a school board meeting about changing the high school’s name.
Peter does not agree with changing the school’s name away from Rhode Island’s own, James Woods.
At the school board meeting the board is impressed with Brian’s argument for changing the school’s name.
Peter shows up to object to changing the school’s name. He has brought with him the one and only James Woods (real voice). James Woods actually agrees with the plan to honour MLK. The board is impressed with how humble he is so they don’t change the school’s name.
Brian is upset at Peter for sabotaging his efforts to change the school’s name. Peter thinks Brian only wanted to change the school’s name to impress Shawna.
Peter decides to replace Brian as his best friend with James Woods. James thinks it will be fun to just hang out with regular people.
On their next date Shawna is mad because Brian refuses to drop Peter as a friend. She says it’s either Peter or her…and they break up.
Brian comes home to apologize but James Woods has usurped his position in Peter’s heart… and at the foot of the bed.
James and Peter start to have problems in their friendship when James doesn’t want to catch a Frisbee in his mouth. James wants instead to watch the movie Videodrome so he can show Peter how great of an actor he is.
Brian tells Stewie how he feels that Peter is ignoring him now that he is friends with James Woods.
Brian and Peter run into each other at The Clam and apologize to each other, admitting that neither James nor Shawna can properly catch things in their mouths (oooooh).
James Woods is waiting at home and upset that Peter is late for the nice roast beef he cooked for him, which is now cold.
Peter tells Brian they need to find a way to get James Woods out of his life now that he has become obsessive. They set a trap for James Woods, luring him with candy.
Later Brian asks what happened with James Woods and Peter tells him not to worry as we see the box with James Woods in it being put in a big storage warehouse with other boxes (same ending as Raiders of the Lost Ark.)
Jokes:
Old People agree with Arnold Palmer, “I enjoy things I remember.” Spanish Quagmire. Peter spitting milk on Meg. Stewie playing Marco Polo with Helen Keller. Lois’s talking about The DaVinci Code and how since it has short paragraphs it makes you feel smart. Peter “vanishing” into thin air. “You think you have a crap job.”- Pelican/Barney’s toilet. Peter treating Meg like a dog. The other guy from Platoon…”We were looking for Tom Berenger.” Cockpit joke. Peter riding the washing machine. Peter as Christina Aguilara’s manager, “You look like if I touched you, you would be sticky.” Reagan SMASH, Reagan sleepy. “I Have James Woods” song. Drunk Chick at a Party. “I’m Sleeping with Someone at Paramount” staring Ashley Judd. Peter hitting on girls at the Miss USA Pageant; Mosquito-bite boobs. Stewie’s whores that owe him money. Peter and Brian having the same problem with James Woods and Shawna (catching things with their mouths). That 70’s Show psychedelic scene transition. Peter-“Man I hope that’s James Woods in there because if it’s me in there again I’m gonna be really pissed off.” Raiders of the Lost Ark finale (James Woods in a box).
A solid episode, not enough Stewie for my taste though. The jokes about Meg being such a useless character (this week Peter treating her like a dog as a replacement for Brian) never get old. The ending was awesome, Spanish Quagmire classic and Stewie’s game of Marco Polo with Helen Keller being the highlights.
American Dad
9:30 p.m.
Plot
Main Plot: Stan’s attempt to get a promotion, while his boss Avery sleeps with Hayley.
Side Plot: Steve and Roger using Dick Chaney’s blackberry to crank call various world leaders.
The Deputy-Deputy Director is dying and Stan is after his job.
Jeff gets dumped by Hayley because he always agrees with her and never challenges her.
The family all go to the CIA Fair. Hayley and Stan’s boss, Avery, trade insults. Meanwhile Steve finds Dick Chaney’s Blackberry.
Stan shows up at the Avery’s home after running some errands for him, (picking up Viagra and shining his big shoes.) He sees Hayley in her bathrobe…and screams.
To calm Stan down Avery starts talking about Stan’s promotion and he forgets all about Hayley.
Back at home Francine is upset Stan is not doing anything about Avery dating Hayley. She knows he is letting his daughter. She tells him to do something about it.
Stan decides to train Jeff to be an assertive man. He does this by torture, burying him alive and threatening to make him go on a drive with Joe Rogan.
Avery tells Stan he is going to announce Stan’s promotion at the Senate committee tomorrow.
During the ceremony Hayley calls him and dumps him over his cell because she is getting back together with Jeff.
Avery wants Stan to kill Jeff.
Stan and Avery take Jeff on a hunting trip. They give him a vest with a target on the back and tell him they are going to hunt him.
Jeff starts crying so Stan and Avery decide to give him a 30 second head start. He steals the car and drives away.
Jeff stops at a diner and calls Hayley to tell her that Stan and Avery are trying to kill him.
Stan and Avery find Jeff at the diner and shortly after Hayley shows up. Avery starts to kick the crap out of Jeff.
Avery begins insulting Hayley prompting Stan to stand up for his daughter. Stan punches Avery and the two of them are really going at it. Stan is just about to finish Avery off…when Avery pretends the whole thing was a farce to test him before promoting him. Stan buys the lie, ignoring Hayley who knows Avery is just trying to save himself.
The show ends with a cheesy moment between Stan and Hayley, commentated by Klaus the fish.
Not a bad end to the night. American Dad is a solid, if not always spectacular show. The highlight of the show being the CIA Fair
Jokes:
Stan swallowing the exploding invitation, “I’m pooping blood tonight.” Stan singing Africa by Toto. Metrosexual Soccer Icon David Beckham Napkin folding. CIA invented Malt Liquor. Shouldland High Football team getting their ass kicked by Reality Check Tech. WMD hunt, Defibrillate Dick Chaney. Stan’s fantasy of shooting everyone, Blind guy who didn’t see anything. The Fish narrating, “It’s a smart joke and the fans have come to expect that from us.” Inciting Pakstani-India conflict, “I’m punching a cow right now.” Picture of Hayley on toilet, lecture on boundaries. Avery: “I’m afraid I left all my electrolytes with your daughter.” Roger’s crank call, “Hello Israel, this is Syria ..we can spend the day at 6 Flags Istanbul. Yeah like, like.” C-Spin update of Bullock being dated. Hayley: “I wonder if he will hit me? But only because he loves me.”
Stan: “What’s a frittata?” Stan: “This guy rode me like an animal for 3 hours, do you know what that is like?” Avery: “Silence man-horse.” The death of Jimmy Ng. Klaus commentary: “Oh we just missed the funniest joke in the episode.” Jeff’s twitching corpse. Klaus commentary: “This speech is completely our of character.” Ending scene with Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream its Over” and Stan hugging Tranh “Jimmy” Ng… in loving memory.
