This week:
- How I Met Your Mother
- Happy Endings
- Don’t Trust The B—- In Apartment 23
- New Girl
- The Mindy Project
- Cougar Town
- Modern Family
- Parks and Recreation
- The Office
How I Met Your Mother – “Band or DJ”
This was the closest thing we’ve gotten to a good episode of HIMYM in a long time. There were funny moments (everything about your parents being on Facebook), warm moments (Lily tearfully telling Ted that sometimes she wishes she weren’t a mom), and there were important plot moments. We know Robin and Barney do tie the knot. We got to see much more about how Ted comes to meet the mother, and it will be a sweet story when we see the rest. I just hope that’s actually May 25, 2013. Like other episodes of HIMYM though, this episode had its issues – one issue, anyway. Having Ted continue to pine over Robin was a mistake, we should be over that by now. Despite that annoyance, I thought this was a pretty decent episode.
Best moment: “Best” would be Ted and Lily on the roof, but “funniest” is the confetti. Come on. That was funny.
Note: ABC has already abandoned the idea of doubling up on these shows because, you know, it was a bad idea.
Happy Endings – “Kickball 2: The Kickening” (Sunday)
Like most episodes of Apartment 23 this season, this was an old episode of Happy Endings aired out of sequence. Luckily, it was less noticeable for Happy Endings. This was obviously a take on A League of Their Own, and baseball movies in general, and as a major fan of that movie I had to love it. It was a very simple, but fun, episode.
Best moment: “I didn’t even know you could pronounce the name of your store. I thought it was a four letter keltic symbol for failure.” (Alex’s store is called Xela, so “Alex” backwards, but pronounces “Shayla”.)
Happy Endings – “The Ex Factor” (Tuesday)
This episode of Happy Endings really worked for me. First of all, we had Penny interacting with her new boyfriend’s group of friends. It’s one thing for Penny’s normal boyfriend to interact with the gang and think they’re weird, but it was especially funny for Penny to be the odd, loud one out. “Oh, you guys don’t do pile-ons?” This guy’s friends didn’t go on adventures. Meanwhile, Penny’s friends were doing HILARIOUS things! Max was on the search for his new roommate, who’d been missing overnight. Turned out he was married. Jane and Brad were having dinner with Jane’s ex Ryan, who happened to be a woman. Jane’s bisexuality was totally believable for her character, and Brad learning that Jane had actually loved Ryan – and didn’t just have sexy pillowfights – led to some sweet moments. It created some nice balance for the episode, and it was even funnier when Penny selected Jane and Brad as the friends she expected would be having the crazier night, when in fact it was Dave, Alex and Max who were up to wacky antics.
Best moment: Dave once rescued Max from a well, which is a backstory detail that I absolutely adore and Max loathes. “A real gentleman saves someone from a well and never mentions it again!”
Runner up: Max owes Jane $11,000 and…three cats. “You’ll get those cats when you get those cats!”
…Apartment 23 – “Mean Girls” (Sunday)
Unfortunately, the episodes aired out of order is really bugging me with this show. This episode was meant for early in season one – the second episode ever, I’m reading – and there it would have made MUCH more sense. In fact, it was a good episode. They should have aired it last year, because I liked what it did for the June/Chloe friendship. And I mean, JVDB with that kid was just hilarious.
Best moment: “Can anyone go to Argentina, or do you have to be a Nazi?”
…Apartment 23 – “Dating Games”
Aaaaand we’re back in the world of season two, folks. It’s a good thing I find this show so funny, because ABC is doing everything they can to ruin it. I thought this was an incredibly funny episode. It made great use of all the main characters – including Mark, who is in the show a lot more now because of his crush on June and friendship with James – as well as some secondary characters like Luther and Robin. The jokes were solid and there were a lot of them. Chloe’s disgust over picnics, June trying to interact with Mark immediately after hearing that he has feelings for her, and the reveal that the talking head interviews were actually the gang explaining everything to a very frustrating detective, were all moments that made me genuinely laugh out loud.
Best moment: It has to be the picnic. The chair, the whiskey, the egg. It was all hilarious.
New Girl – “A Father’s Love”
I don’t think this was the best episode of New Girl that I’ve seen lately, but it was just fine. A bit forgettable, but fine. The introduction of Nick’s dad allowed for some funny moments for his character and, unexpectedly, a sweet moment for Winston. It also somewhat brought Jess and Nick together, in a way that didn’t feel cheesy or forced. The stuff with Schmidt and Robby was also pretty funny, and it was nice to see Max Greenfield play off someone else for a change.
Best moment: “Jess, if you’re gonna mess with my sink, put some goggles on. Your eyes are twice the size of normal eyes—it’s a bigger target.”
The Mindy Project – “ Bunk Bed”
I consistently find this show hilarious. There’s just something about the comedic timing and the dialogue of Mindy that really plays to my personal preferences. There are still flaws – anything that happens in the workplace that doesn’t involve Mindy is pretty bowing. But Shauna should be gone soon, so let’s not worry about that. I did really like the way the show addressed Mindy’s disdain for her BFF’s kid. Not everyone is good with kids! And that’s OK! Critics say Mindy is selfish and shallow, and her saying “I can do anything as long as it’s just paying for something” could be evidence of that, but it’s also true. I often feel that way. I like Mindy’s flaws. And Mindy eventually figured out how to bond with the little munchkin. Meanwhile, Danny took Gwen to the hospital (a broken arm, thanks to bad bunk beds) and flirted a little with Allison Williams, who did a quick but funny guest spot. Overall, a good episode.
Best moment: The cold open where the horse dies during Mindy’s carriage ride date. “I’m a gynecologist, Evan! Why don’t you web design him back to life?”
Runner up: Mindy’s most masculine song is from Rent.
Cougar Town – “I Need to Know”
Travis has never been my favorite character on Cougar Town, so episodes that focus on his and Jules’ bizarre relationship are rarely my favorite. I also don’t always love the dynamic of Ellie and Andy’s marriage, even though I love them (especially Ellie) individually as characters. There were funny moments here and there, but overall this was far from my favorite episode.
Best moment: “Zooey Descha-hell-no.
Modern Family – “Party Crasher”
Even without the episode title, I had a feeling that Gloria would go into labor during Manny’s birthday party when the whole family was there. But there were so many funny, lovely, and surprising moments in this episode. Every storyline worked. Manny having his first kiss as the entire family was lurking in the dark to surprise him was hilarious and humiliating. I loved Haley’s storyline with her too-old boyfriend. She was obviously pushing the envelope, and it was a good way to acknowledge the feelings of disappointment surrounding her getting kicked out of college. That last moment she had with Phil was really sweet. And Cam accidentally hurting Lily over and over was just good clean fun. The best was when he knocked her into the pool. It was a really great episode, and a sort of classic Modern Family episode that served as a good end to this era of the show. Now there’s a baby in the mix, and I look forward to those fresh storylines.
Best moment: “Hi, I’m Kevin.” “I’m disgusted.”
Parks and Recreation – “Two Parties”
As an avid Settlers of Catan fan, I had a fit of giggles when Ben selected the game for his bachelor party. Truly a man after my own heart. He’s nationally ranked! It isn’t even really fair! The bachelor parties was the highlight of this episode for me. Funny, sweet, and a great use of the male cast. Leslie’s bachelorette party, and her sneaky move to save the park, was decent but not on the same fantastic level. A fantastic episode overall, but one storyline outshone the other.
Best moments:
“Can I ask if this entire establishment is a practical joke of some kind?”
“I always have a backup cone, he drops it about half the time.”
“I WANT MEAT!”
The Office – “Suit Warehouse”
I really liked this episode, and thought both storylines – Scranton and Philly – worked well. There was an unfortunate C plot with Dwight and mini-Dwight that didn’t float my boat, but I’ll focus on the positive this week. The Philly storyline, and Darryl’s interview with Jim’s new company, was both hilarious and heartwarming. I’m glad that Darryl is achieving his goal and I liked that we’re seeing Pam’s fears about moving come to the surface. Back at the office, the team getting high on espresso felt like classic office fun. I thought this was a good episode, and I have high hopes for the last half of this season. If you’ve watched the show in the past and want to know how it ends, you may want to tune in now and watch more than the series finale.
Best moment: Oscar discovering hardwood under the office carpet.
