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Last night’s final installment of Thursday night Weekend Update made me a little bit mad that I had to be watching Weekend Update on a Thursday night. Oddly, the part that I liked the most was the short sketch about the NFL replacement refs, and that is a subject about which I don’t care or know anything! It was good, though! Loved when Tim Robinson called the time of death. (Also: Tim Robinson seems great!) Otherwise the episode mostly fell flat. Up All Night was pretty standard Up All Night — enjoyable, a nice show to have on while you’re making dinner. Maya Rudolf and Sean Hayes’s duet was very good. The baby is still cute. I’m liking The Office this season. I know Gabe — at least last week — did not agree with me on this, but I feel like it is going in a more interesting direction than it has been in a long time (which makes sense, since it is the last season and they don’t really have to meander around), and I’m enjoying it! PLUS NEW JIM IS CUTE! I hope he dates Erin! (Though, also, it is strange how about two minutes ago we were hoping that Andy and Erin would get back together, and now Andy is awful and we hope she gets with someone else? That was fast!) Parks and Recreation was a dream. I really did not like Louie‘s season finale. I think maybe you guys are going to disagree, but I was tired of it from the very first moment. CHEER UP, LOUIE, IT’S CHRISTMAS! And then it was just dreamy jerk-off nonsense and it kind of made me so mad, like listening to Sonic Youth. Maybe you like Sonic Youth, though? A lot of people do! WHAT DID YOU THINK?
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Louie was just fucking with us by the time he got on the bus.
I don’t agree; it’s possible that was part of his dream, but I’m hoping it wasn’t. For me, the episode hit all the right notes. The holidays are a really depressing time of the year, especially if you don’t really have anyone around (hence why the newscasters mention suicide rates go up). Louie spends a crazy amount of time to make Christmas perfect for his daughters, and they appreciate it but don’t really know what went into it? Perfect. Him meeting Liz on the bus and then she up and dies while midnight is striking – I found this perfect because there were no long, drawn out “I love yous” we expect from Hollywood. Just “bye.” Then he goes to China and finds more companionship with a random family than he had at home, or probably would have in Mexico with his relatives.
All in all, a reason why Louie is still the best comedy on television – though I hesitate to call it a comedy, because it’s much, much deeper than most sitcoms dare to tread.
Dream or not, I have to say that Parker Poesey’s death was really disturbing. It felt extremely visceral and inelegant. When she was just, like, Am I dying? Yikes. So good. But mostly a weird episode. And I liked the visit to the Yangtze. Not my favorite episode, but there were bits of what I love about the show sprinkled throughout.
I have noticed, though, that he’s using way less of his standup on the show. I miss it a little, but I think he feels safer making Louie a show that doesn’t have to be bookended by comedy routines.
It’s evolving as a show – he is probably feeling more comfortable without the standup bookending (look at Seinfeld from season 1 and then later). He still uses standup when the material runs a little short, but lately it seems like he has ideas that take more than one episode.
Why is anyone thinking that was a dream? There was already a dream sequence in the show with his daughters, and he made it pretty clear via their dialogue that it was. The rest was just the usual surrealism of the Louisverse, no more weird or implausible than him hopping in a speedboat to get away from his dad. The fact that Liz’s death “really happened” is what made it so visceral.
I actually kind of didn’t like Parks and Rec last night. April was great and Leslie’s plotline had its moments, but I wasn’t a big fan of anything else.
Chris and Andy’s story was ok, but I’m really not that interested in Chris’s existential crises. I think they covered that enough last season. The Ben story was practically unwatchable. And I love Ben!
April’s reaction to Ben telling her to give even 15% effort made up for the painfully awkward Ben plotline.
I liked the painfully awkward Ben storyline because Adam Scott just makes great faces when he’s being awkward.
I’ve liked other “awkward Ben” episodes (like Media Blitz!) but watching him do a total 180 and start sucking up to those privileged douchebags was just gross. I thought it was out of character. I did like the scene where he yelled at April, and I LOVED the scene where April yelled at Ellis.
No doubt.
I totally agree. The awkward Ben scenes were funny because it made me so uncomfortable. I thought that one intern was going to think Ben was hitting on him.
I thought that too. The look that kid gave Ben after he slapped his butt really made me think that’s where they were going, but I’m really glad they didn’t.
Yes. Adam Scott as an uptight awkward guy (Ben, other stuff) is so hyper realistic that it is always the best / worst. (He reminds me of my brother and I once told my brother this and my brother took it as a compliment… A little worried about my brother, you guys.)
Well, I mean, telling someone that Adam Scott reminds you of them IS a pretty awesome compliment.
True. And they do kind of look a little alike in the way that people look alike because they have faces and stuff.
I like listening to Sonic Youth and i loved the last installment of Louie last night. So great.
Parks and Rec was great. Ben trying to suck up to those dumb interns! “Grab some ‘za, bro!” and all his nicknames for that guy named Ellis! Also everyone thought April was his daughter! Just great.
Up All Night was enjoyable and pleasant as usual. But I am seriously worried about Will Arnett. ARE YOU OKAY? YOU ARE SO SKINNY. At one point (I think it was the barren dog’s party) he gestured and all the veins on his arms popped up and I was like, ahhhhhh. EAT FOOD, PLS, WILL. WE LOVE YOU.
And I haven’t got around to watching it yet, but I DVRed Elementary so I can spite watch and heckle it later. (Also so I can look at JLM’s torso?) Maybe I’ll have a glass of wine too. Who knows?
*gotten not got* SHEESH
Can we please start a collection to buy Will Arnett a sandwich? And force-feed it to him? His arms are becoming scary Madonna arms.
I will donate to this Kickstarter.
I only made it to the first commercial break in Elementary. I wanted to like it but I just can’t bring myself to care, especially after a friend clued me in on how terrible CBS was in creating it.
I was watching Parks and Rec last night and I was struck by how much Adam Scott reminds me of you.
Ummm… It might lose something in the translation…
Have a great weekend!
I’ve never watched Louie because I don’t know why, but I did watch those clips of him with David Lynch and they are just great because David Lynch. Was that the episode that was on last night? Was it great? Because David Lynch?
Can we give David Lynch a TV show on Thursday night please?
No the Lynch thing ended last week. But last night featured a long sequence of Louie wrestling with a doll which was just the best, and you are just gonna have to trust me on that one.
Oh my god I was falling off the couch laughing at the doll sequence. I actually forgot about that until I read your comment because of how batshit the rest of that episode was.
“Nothing….the silent killer.” got a HUGE laugh at my house….but Parks was so-so, totally fine. ok, move along….and the cartoonishness of the Office bothered me [for once] because they kind of squandered and then immediately abandoned an entire premise that they tried so hard to force in [Roy's Wedding]…”what? what the fu? ok….”
and you’d think the two newbies would know if Erin was dating their boss? maybe? If not, Andy should probably stop acting like the overprotective dad of a mentally handicapped child. that was just odd stuff.
but Louie…..god I loved that show. and it seems like every episode reminds me why, because I say that at the end of every episode. although, I think it would’ve come off as a little less of a mopey season had 1) the late night episodes been shown as 1, kinda like the duckling one last season or 2) had they ended the season with it. the last point I’ll make about it is that they should bring back more standup material to cut to. i missed that.
Anyone else feel that the Thursday night Weekend Update is a little, uh, desperate?
Ron Swanson describing his meal from that fast food restaurant made me really want to drive to Pawnee, Indiana to get some of that and also have a waffle of course
not enough gifs
I really liked the Office last night. The idea of going to your massive fuck up’s ex’s wedding and everything is going GREAT for him since the breakup is a wonderful storyline, especially when coupled with the quiet sadness/depression Pam and Jim are going through that was a big part of last week. Also, I love the idea of Dale (what is his name on the show? Clarke?) as a weirdo perv. And the joke about volunteer teaching homeless kids about nautical flags was so great, if only to keep nautical flag awareness alive. And the other stuff was fine, but starting with Roy’s ridiculous wedding was a really smart touch.
it was, but it could’ve/should’ve been the whole of the episode since there was so much rich material to mine….deal with the “are we boring?” consequences of it later
Yes.
Kelly, we probably would not get along in real life, but that is okay. The scene with Louie trying to fix the doll had my wife and I crying laughing. We also thought the Chinese dinner party at the end was really sweet.
Louie trying to get the dolls eyes to move forward and fix it was the best 2 mins of my life. He’s such a good Dad. I love Louie!
Yesterday, I didn’t agree with Gabe’s mild criticisms of Louie. But, then last night’s episode was exactly what he was talking about. Except for the doll fixing bit, it really was like a student film. Granted one with a budget that allowed them to go to China, but still, very student filmy. He should have ended the season with the 3-part Late Night story because that was terrific.
I can see where you are coming from – almost all of his episodes have clunker chunks. But I think what I love about the guy is he has the audacity to experiment and fail. At the very least, all of his episodes seem to be really honest, and that’s what’s missing from so much TV nowadays. I love watching him work, and when he hits, it’s some of the best comedy I’ve ever seen.
I like The Godfather because I’m a cinephile. I like Scarface because I’m black.
That was a fantastic line. Yeah, I totally liked the Office last night.
FYI, a show comes back tonight on NBC that is the best show ever. I’ll give you a hint…
I can’t believe that Kelly hates Sonic Youth… I have to go lie down for a while, guys…
Of course Kelly doesn’t like Sonic Youth. Of course she doesn’t. Can we really be surprised, though? She’s something like 19 and probably has no idea what Sonic Youth’s meant to American music for the past 30 years (rock, punk, “indie,” all of it). No offense, Kelly!
On an unrelated note… I hope Gabe reviews the last season of Breaking Bad. (Once again – no offense, Kelly!) Because, you know, it’ll be the last season and it would be nice to have somebody review it that actually likes and understands the show. I’m getting sick of having to deal with the A / V Club’s site just to read a Breaking Bad review.
I’m pretty sure she’s older than 19, and I’m pretty sure she likes nothing that I like.
“No offense, I just think Kelly is awful and an infant and has no idea what she’s talking about when it comes to anything. But totally no offense!!”
- you
Up All Night: Is Reagan’s brother the new Dawn Summers? Was he ever mentioned on the show before he showed up in the premiere? Is he the key sent to Reagan and Chris to protect the world from ending or just some plot device to get Chris back to work/introduced by the network looking for some other demographic?
Ok, yeah, I was slightly confused about that too. Because first of all, they NEVER mentioned him. And he also does not seem to fit in with Reagan’s family at all. Remember the episodes with her parents? They were disconnected intellectuals. It just seems weird that this brother is a blue collar type. And also, I miss Missy.
He’s American Colin Firth and he’s here because Best Friends Forever got canceled.