Dean Pelton is bulging with American pride in his "sister's" Uncle Sam costume.

I feel like a broken record, but another great night for NBC (well, The Office wasn’t as good as last week, but what could have been as good as Threat Level Midnight?).  I even really enjoyed Perfect Couples, you guys!

Perfect Couples

SB and I are usually totally N-sync, tv-wise (well, fictional tv anyway – she has a totally endearing love for reality that I just can’t get behind) so it concerned me that we had such a different opinion on this show.  After a promising first couple of episodes, I sort of cooled off for a bit, but I can safely say that I’m back on board the PC train.  I laughed a lot during this episode – I think it was partly the re-shuffling of the character pairings for the night that felt fresh, and allowed the mostly great actors on the show to really have some fun.  Dave and Vance’s fancy sleepover, Julia and Rex’s uber competitive tennis tourney, and Amy and  Julia bonding over the fact that their significant others are sort of also married to each other (spiritually, anyway).  I also really liked Rex and Julia’s sibling competitive-ness.  I’ve got a brother too, and we still revert to our teenage selves when we’re together, so I

• Is he a dog, or do you just see a horizontal life force?
• “Why didn’t we start a hedge fund?”  “We don’t really know what they are.”  “Oh yeah.”
• Buncha dumb white snobs with their dumb white kids.
• If I lived in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa or California (pending appeal), maybe I would!
• “Don’t be a wang.”  “You’re a wang.”
• “It’s been 18 hours since you called me stupid.”  “Hey, it’s been 18 hours since you’ve been stupid.”
• Check you on the flipside.

Community

Fuck yeah, Eliza Coupe!  I know a bunch of you were watching Scrubs: The New Class with us until it was yanked, and we were all big fans of Coupe as the snarktastic Denise (god, I miss that show.  Is that weird?  I miss Denise and Drew and AssCole so much.  But not Lucy because she was terrible).  Also, she’s awesome on Twitter.  So great to see her back on tv.

It needs to be said that Jeff Winger has an amazing wardrobe.  I know it’s all part of his douche-ness, but dude has  a serious leather jacket collection, and he wears them damn well.  Unfortunately, McHale’s brushed-forward Soup ‘do followed him to the Community set, and it did it’s best to counter the powers of the jacket.  I really hope it’s not permanent.

In  a great episode (any Dean Pelton episode is destined for greatness), one of the definite highlights was Troy and Abed’s Daily Show-style video.  There was far too much awesome packed into it to mention, but if you didn’t spend five minutes re-watching it to read each graphic including the scroll on the bottom like I did, you must.  It’s so worth it.

Magnitude is apparently a teen genius (he’s only 16); Greedale’s answer to Doogie Howser.  I like the refreshing take on the cliché – not all braniacs want to go to Harvard; I bet some want to become digital animators or funeral directors.   Lastly, oh, my god.  Jeff’s 1997 audition tape for The Real World Seattle (the one where Stephen bitch-slapped lyme disease-infected Irene!) was a thing of beauty.  McHale + Faith = Stunning.  Pierce – still a dick though, in case you were wondering.

Lot’s more after the jump:

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There’s too much to say about each of the episodes on their own, so rather than doing a big intro, I’m just going to jump into it with a mini-recap/review for each one, plus of course my favorite quotes.  But suffice it to say, NBC has been on a major roll lately (with the four main shows anyway), and last night the trend continued in a big way.  I really wanted to get a shot of Jim/Goldenface speed-skate-shooting with Michael Scarn for the post, but alas, we’ll have to settle for a shot of The Scarn in action.  But a little further down there’s a nice shot of Jim as Goldenface because that was incredible – I didn’t realize how much I missed Jim’s old hair until last night. 

Perfect Couples

So, I debated with myself whether to continue watching this show to include it in this post, but I ended up giving in.  I’m not going to lie – I thought it was pretty weak overall.  But, they did earn points by highlighting T. Rex’s ‘20^thCentury Boy’, which is just an awesome song and automatically earned the show twenty cool points.  But the episode was just…meh.  Gender roles, gender roles, gender roles, possum, possum, possum, food poisoning.  That about sums it up.  I don’t know, you guys.  I like the cast (except, of course, Olivia Munn – sorry Andy), but the show is not really making me laugh very much.  And when you compare it to its peers, it just doesn’t hold a candle.  If I’m going to embrace another show about 30-something friends dealing with life, love and friendship, I’m partial to Traffic Light (Tuesdays, Fox, 9:30pm).  This one might not make it into the lineup every Thursday.  What do you guys think?  Is there anyone who’s really enjoying it?  Let me know in the comments.  

• We’re never going to be better.  This is how we are now.
• Ahhh, I sure wish a fire could start in that hole somehow.
• I’m gonna call Amy.  She’s an expert on all things hick.
• Look at us, taking care of business, using ladders.  Put the two of us together we’re like my dad.

Community

I really loved this episode which surprised me, given how Pierce (and therefore Chevy Chase) heavy it was.  I’ve said it before, but I kind of hate him on this show.  As a huge fan of the Vacation movies and SNL, this pains me.  But dude has gotten seriously annoying with age.  That being said, I really loved the documentary style of the episode, and it was so funnydespite the heavier moments, mostly thanks to Jeff and Britta’s juvenille bickering.  One thing I love about Community is that it’s not afraid to not be funny all of the time; it lets itself go really sentimental and dramatic at times, which is needed in a show that’s so out there.  It really helps the viewer get to know the characters and feel emotionally invested in them even when they’re doing things like fighting off zombies and building elaborate blanket fort cities.  I also really love that they’ve embraced experimenting with various gimmicks like bottle episodes, animation and horror movies.  I kind of can’t wait for the ‘traditional sitcom complete with laugh track’ episode – you know it’s coming. 

Much, much more after the jump…

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Captain Mustache and the she-devil make it legal.

It was an A+ night for NBC (well, just counting the four main shows – Perfect Couples was fine, I suppose but you can’t put it in with these other shows and expect it to stand out).  The night went less well for my home and native land, as three of the four episodes attacked either Canada, or mid-nineties novelty bands hailing from Canada.  But, if you’re a fan of men carrying smaller men like babies, this was the night for you.

Let’s get Perfect Couples out of the way, and then break down the most consistently great night of comedy NBC has aired in a while.

Perfect Couples

I want to like it more; I keep saying this, and I mean it.  But this episode was probably the most ‘meh’ so far.  If you read my post on the pilot of Traffic Light that aired this week after Raising Hope on Fox, this type of show CAN be done really well.  Traffic Light is the same idea of friends in different stages in their relationships, with equally likable leads, but it’s MUCH funnier.  As a bonus, Olivia Munn is not in that cast.  I’d be very happy if we could transplant it into PC’s timeslot – it would make NBC Thursdays 5/6 fantastic.  Alas, PC is in this timeslot, so we’ll just continue to hope that the quality starts to approach that of it’s counterparts.

• Ugly girls don’t say ‘hiyee!’; they know they can’t pull it off.
• Ever hear of the internet?  That’s what a sophisticated millionaire looks like now.
• That was you?  Man, I thought I made a black friend.
• Geez Julia, ever try to not like one of Ken’s status updates?
• Let’s talk about butts.  May we stare at them?

Community

The students of Greendale learned a lot about themselves in this episode.  Troy and Abed started out competing for the affection of a cute librarian, Troy won, and then realized that he could never love someone who didn’t love Abed as much as he did.  Britta learned that she’s so focused on living a PC life that she’s become a less genuine person.  She hangs out with a new girl thinking she’s a lesbian, except she’s not – she’s just a wannabe like her who thinks hanging out with a gay makes her cool.  I loved that Annie and the other girl’s Annie just observed from the sidelines instead of clueing them in.  Jeff, in a night away from his usual cohorts, learned that he LIKES that the group relies on him, and misses them when they don’t.  He also learned a lot about the students of Greendale who AREN’T a part of the study group.  Although all I could think was how pissed they’d all be that he had people over and didn’t call them.  You know they’re going to take that personally.  Pierce learned that…too many pills are bad.  I don’t know – much like his classmates, I don’t pay too much attention to Pierce.

• …and in summation, good luck, and bon appetit.
• Okay, they’re BNL now.  We need a shorthand for the Barenaked Ladies, that’s how fundamental they are.
• I’ll see you precisely at 6:30, or as the English call it, gravedigger’s biscuits.
• This is the cutest thing that’s ever happened to me.  (High five)
• “In England doesn’t fanny mean vagina?”  “In England everything means vagina.”
• Who the hell is Nicholas Nicholby?  She wouldn’t shut up about it.
• My whole life is in this dishwasher, man!

The Office, Parks & Rec and 30 Rock after the jump…

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