Night 9: Not So Much a Friend As a Racoon

Greetings Zayniacs!  Yep, I think I’m digging that nickname.  So last night was a fairly light night.  Unfortunately, my lineup consisted of some expected disappointment and a fairly decent surprise.  Let’s get down to it.

Parenthood:  Depressing with a side of somber.  Well written and acted though…

Brickleberry:  A new show on Comedy Central that has Daniel Tosh as a voice.  Funny moments but trying way too hard to be offensive.

Survivor:  Another entertaining episode.  We don’t have anybody that’s emerged as a villain really but there are several people that I like and I’m not as stressed watching it now that I don’t have money riding on it. 

Animal Practice:  Exactly as boring and unfunny as I’d heard.

Modern Family:  A solid opening to the season.

The Neighbors:  I didn’t hate it.  It surprised me.

Guys with Kids:  No improvement from the first episode.  Its days are numbered

Just in case some readers are still not current on Parenthood, I will refrain from spoilers.  However I will say that while I appreciate the gravity of the current main storyline and I think it was extremely well done, they need to do a better job of balancing that with the other storylines so you don’t feel quite so awful about life by the end of the episode.  I realize there is hope but it is a very heavy subject and then need to be aware of that and compensate in other areas. 

If anyone else besides Unknown watches Survivor, let me know.  Otherwise, I’m probably going to give this show a pass on the recap unless something incredible or funny happens to share with all of you.  For instance, last night had a string of references to a hot blonde with…let’s say an ample bosom, as using her “booby trap” to lure in the twenty-something guy on their tribe to her side. 

I’d heard from the preview during the Olympics that Animal Practice was pretty terrible.  I didn’t want to believe it because conceptually, a show taking place in a vet’s office that relates better to animals than to people could have some comedic potential.  However, this show squandered almost all of that with over the top characters, flat acting, poorly thought out plotlines, and just overall terribleness.  You can skip this show my friends.  I will be.  I don’t think you’ll have to worry about it taking up a time slot for much longer.

Modern Family had more of the same with its season opener.  In Modern Family’s case, more of the same is not a bad thing.  The characters are so fleshed out at this point that comedy comes just from them interacting.  It doesn’t have to come with stunts.  On that note, I’ll say that the least funny and most predictable moment of the episode was Jay falling off the boat.  It was too basic and this show is better than that.  I thought pretty much everything involving the over-sized stuffed animals was awesome.  Overall, it was a breath of comedic fresh air last night.

After seeing the trailers for The Neighbors, I couldn’t understand how they could possibly bump Happy Endings from the post-Modern Family slot to try and drum up an audience for this crap pile.  I watched last night’s premiere out of morbid curiosity.  Instead of me instantly hating it and turning it off halfway through, something odd happened.  I kind of liked it.  Is it going to be appointment television for me?  Absolutely not, but I may keep it on my DVR for a few more weeks to see where they go with it.  Hands down, what saves this show is the acting by 3 of the 4 leads (the human dad is straight up terrible).  Jamie Gertz (Twister) is great as the human mom.  She always has this look of barely restrained terror that I found funny.  The two actors playing the main aliens were unknowns to me but I thought their line delivery was great.  They sucked me in almost right away.  Now, I don’t think this show has a lot of mileage in it and I’d be very surprised if it became a hit but for now, it’s mildly amusing escapist television.  After some of the comedy crap piles that have squeezed their way onto my screen this season, The Neighbors was a pleasant surprise. 

Speaking of comedy crap piles, Guys with Kids stunk up my screen for the second time this season.  I’m pretty well done.  It’s got audience laughter and crazy faces and just a lot of things that feel outdated on modern television.  Granted Big Bang Theory is a multi-camera comedy as well, but when it gets very sitcom-y I start to lose interest in it.  I think in the whole cast of Guys, one is consistently funny, one usually gets one or two small moments, the other is just bad.  It’s not that he’s a bad actor.  I know that’s not true, it’s just he’s not built for comedy, not everyone is.  Based on the amount of recordings I have in the coming weeks, this show will be falling by the wayside sooner rather than later.

In regards to my show load, I currently have 90 scheduled recordings up to Tuesday, October 9^th.  If the 10^th were included, that number would 100 because 3 new Wednesday show start on the 10^th.  I have to draw the line somewhere and my scheduled recordings reaching triple digits is it.  Starting this weekend, I’m trimming the fat.  I can think of at least 5 shows that are ripe for cutting already and I’ve got to let the axe fall.  I’ll try and do a quick post sometime this weekend with a rundown of what I’m cutting and why. 

Wrapping up, we’ve or I’ve got a busy night of TV tonight.  There are several premieres tonight, both season and series.  In the series premieres, we’ve got Last Resort, about the nuclear sub crew that goes rogue, and Elementary, the Sherlock Holmes show which I can practically guarantee is not going to even approach the quality of BBC’s Sherlock.  I’ll be watching Last Resort as a potential new fixture in my lineup, and Elementary out of curiosity before I let it go out to pasture.  In season premieres, Big Bang Theory is back and hopefully firing on all cylinders like last year, and Grey’s Anatomy will be back with the aftermath of the plane crash and potentially two more main character deaths.  There is also the second episodes of NBC’s comedy block, SNL, Up All Night, The Office, and Parks and Rec.  Lastly, the third episode of Glee and whatever number episode of The X-Factor. 

In closing, I'd just like to take a minute to say thanks to my readers.  Yesterday, I broke 40 page views in a single day.  That may not sound like a lot and doesn't take repeat viewers into account but I'm still extremely impressed by the volume of traffic I'm getting on here.  Really makes me feel good, so thank you all. 

So that’s all folks!  Have a good day and Happy TV Watching!