This week:
- HIMYM
- New Girl
- The Mindy Project
This week was light on TV because of Thanksgiving. And you know what? That wasn’t the worst thing for me. No new shows on Thursday night gave me the opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping, both for my friends and family and for a local charity I’m donating items to through work. Pro tip: WalMart is way more fun when you fly through the aisles picking out toys for kids and cute stuff for moms in need. Then I picked up my Yanksgiving ingredients. Phew! It was a busy night.
How I Met Your Mother – “Bedtime Stories”
I’ve stopped blogging about HIMYM because it infuriates me so, but I’m including it since there was so little else on this week. If you didn’t see the episode, the whole thing was written in rhyme, under the premise of Marshall trying to get Marvin to fall asleep by mimicking his favorite nursery rhymes. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t the rhyming that bugged me – that was, at times, clever. It was the stories. Marshall told three stories from the past. The meant flashbacks instead of that awful Farhampton Inn. But the stories were dreadful, and relied on the worst character stereoytpes that HIMYM has come to lean on over the past few seasons. They’ve especially ruined Barney’s character. I really wish I’d bailed on this show years ago.
New Girl – “Thanksgiving III”
I’ve always liked w
hat New Girl’s Thanksgiving episodes, and this was no exception. It was the perfect storm for comedy – Jess wanted everyone to be together despite some awkward group dynamics, and Nick forced everyone to go camping because Coach teased him. Watching Nick Miller try and fail to be, basically, Ron Swanson, was hilarious.
The Nick and Jess stuff really worked here, but so did the other pairings. Coach is bringing out Schmidt’s competitive side again, which leads to a lot of laughs. And I liked seeing Winston and Cece function together as friends who really, really didn’t want to be camping. Winston’s character issues haven’t exactly been solved, but I have to say, his random moments are often the ones that make me laugh the hardest. This week it was “Guess who just got free passes to a pottery seminar!”
The Mindy Project – “Wedding Crushers”
So far, I have been a fan of Adam Pally on The Mindy Project. I have to be, I love him too much as an actor. But I think his best moments so far have come from his interactions with Mindy (like the drinking contest), so this was a good episode for me. Mindy attending her ex’s wedding with Pete, and not Danny, (only out of desperation to look successful and cool) was a good way to bring them closer together. Meanwhile, the rest of the office attending a party for Danny’s kid brother. They wondered if Danny knew his lil’ bro was gay and, yes, he did.
I read that Mindy is going on hiatus at the end of January, to return in April. I assume they’ll be making changes to try and salvage the ratings, which is a shame. I think the cast has really been working well together thanks to the addition of Pally, and the reduced focus on Mindy’s life outside dating or work. (Having her friends in the mix was too much, despite my love for Anna Camp.) I hope this show survives to see another season, I know I’ll definitely miss it while it’s on hiatus.
