Why Sports Night Failed

GIF from Imgur

     I made it 5 episodes into Aaron Sorkin's half-hour single-camera comedy Sports Night before I realized that this two-season show was doomed from the start. It had an interesting premise- behind the scenes of an ESPN-style show. It even had a great cast of promising actors:

Felicity Huffman

Joshua Malina

Peter Krause

Josh Charles

1. The music did not fit the show
2.  It oddly reminded me of Melrose Place.
3. It was funny sad, not funny 'haha'
4. Awkward camera angles
5. The Sorkin "walk and talk." *
6. The love story that wasn't a love story
     Dana (Huffman) is the producer of the show and Casey (Krause) is the anchor. Casey gets divorced. Casey finally has a chance with Dana. Dana kisses Casey. Dana tells Casey he has to date other people because she can't be his rebound. This all happens over the first two episodes!

*Sorkin is big on passing from one location to another with a walk and dialogue. This builds a wonderful foundation for scenes in Gilmore Girls and Sorkin's movie The American President, but it is an over-used trope in this half-hour show. 

I'm Finally Binge Watching The Middle

I'm baaack friends! I was hoping to get back to writing last week, but I'm fighting some neck pain that makes writing more difficult. Alas, I begin to write slowly. I have been taking some summer time for sun, fun, and comedy binge watching!

Image from ABC.com- The Wisdom Teeth

      I was looking for something to put on Hulu while I wound down to go to sleep, and I settled on ABC's The Middle. The Patricia Heaton (Deborah from Everybody Loves Raymond)  and Neil Flynn (The Janitor from Scrubs) led sitcom embraces everyday life to a somewhat extreme point, but the family is ultimately likable. Frankie Heck and her husband Mike live in Indiana with their three kids, Axel, Sue and Brick. Axel and Sue have gone off to college and teen Brick (Atticus Shaffer)  thought he was finally getting comfortable as the only kid in the house. Sue and Axel are far from ready to leave the next, and pop in often from their school, which is less than an hour away.

     This basic premise brings me to the 7th season finale, "The Show Must Go On", which chronicles Brick's 8th grade graduation. Brick's graduation is almost eclipsed by Sue's sendoff to a summer job at Dollywood. Frankie quickly realizes the stars on the calendar must be there for some important event she forgot. Quickly, she tries to make Brick's graduation day special. Brick shares with the family he was going to be one of 15 acts singing in graduation. This would have completed his "hero's journey" because he lost out at being valedictorian. Then, the teachers had a drawing to only pick 9 acts to perform and Brick lost out.

     Suddenly, the very passive Frankie jumps up to protect her son and get him on the stage for graduation. Mike talks to the principal first and gets nowhere, lamenting that everyone thinks their kid is a star these days and he's not buying it. He doesn't even know if Brick can sing. Frankie  meets with the principal, explaining that she's not one of those  parents that marches down to the school and complains but she needs to make a stand this time  for this kid, because he's the youngest and he's always getting shafted. She rants about the "fuzzy math" that led to picking 9 acts. Long story short, all 15 are allowed to perform, and it's the longest graduation ever. Brick surprised the family by singing a beautiful song while his friend played the ukulele.  Sue has to make a quick exit to make it to Dollywood and the whole family piles in the car to see her off to Tennessee. As summer begins, Sue succeeds at playing a grandmothery hostess part at the theme park restaurant, and Axel meets the girl of his dreams. The whole episode was endearing, quotable, and reminded me a lot of real life. It's so hard to find a sitcom these days that resonates with everyday problems. Bravo!

Other Episodes That Rocked this Season:
1. Find My Hecks:
Frankie installs a chip in the kids' phones to track them when they go to parties.
2.  The Lenai:
Frankie has a beautiful new porch and loud neighbors move in next door.
3. The Wisdom Teeth:
Frankie babies Sue and Axel when they come home to have their wisdom teeth out.

So Long, Jimmy

     Has anyone ever held on to the fantasy of their estranged grandparents getting back together? Well little Edie (played by twins Emelia and Layla Golfieri) is oping for two generations to patch things up. Edie is a toddler being raised by a curious group of family in a fairly "Full House". Her app-developer dad and resident sensetive guy Gerald E. Kingsley (Josh Peck) and entrepreneur-without-a-cause mom Vanessa (No-last-name like her icon Rhianna) played by singer Christina Milian. Gerald is also the product of two unlikely parents, hippie social worker Sarah (Paget Brewster, a.k.a. Kathy from FRIENDS), and an unknown father, until the first episode of this show. Gerald shows up at a an L.A. barely-hotspot, Jimmy's, and announces to Jimmy Martino (John Stamos) that he is his long-lost 25-year old son. Jimmy doesn't know how to fit into a family that plays an elaborate game to choose a movie night, let alone how to grandparent or parent a child. He makes an elaborate show of ditching Thanksgiving to take a model girlfriend to the beach. As soon as Jimmy meets a more recent ex of Sarah, he jumps in, trying to show Gerald he can be more of a dad than a guy that raised him for several years.   In the end, Jimmy realized he only wanted to be the his family on the holiday.       

     Over time, the family wears Jimmy down with their kindness. He makes up for lost time with Gerald and little Edie. As expected, jokes about about popular culture, trying to be cool, taking care of children, and Jimmy's obsession with his hair abound.  Yes, it's a bit hokey. It is also loaded with "back together" cameos Bob Saget (as an old pal of Jimmy that wants to keep partying), Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) as a crude potential investor for Gerald's app. The storylines are a bit cliche at times,  but Stamos' charm is never wavering. My favorite episodes included one where Gerald and his dad pretend to be a gay couple to get Edie into a fancy preschool (Edie's Two Dads). In another,  SNL alum Nasim Pedrad (Budget Spa) takes Jimmy on a wild date that makes him realize he craves too much validation from women.  Every character's life generally improves from time spent in this unlikely group. Weekly family dinners happen at Jimmy's restaurant, whether cranky Annalise (Kelly Jenrette) has gotten them a table or not. Yes, Jimmy's sous-chef Ravi and personal assistant Annalise are reluctant at first, but enjoy hanging around with the Kingsley clan. Ravi tries to hard to be liked and be a part of Jimmy's family, while outwardly Annalise could care less. Shy Gerald breaks out of his shell, winning over Vanessa, who goes after tough guys with motorcycles and tattoos. Sarah remembers how wild she was hen she knew Jimmy, and learns to forgive him for not being there for her, and forgives herself  for not telling Jimmy they had a son.

     Jimmy needs this new family, plain and simple. We learn toward the end of the season in a heartbreaking origin episode (Jimmy's 50th, Again) that his dad was never proud of him and he filled the last 20+ years with meaningless flings so he didn't have to connect with anyone. When Jimmy meets tough businesswoman and Queen of the "Thanks for last night" muffin basket, Catherine Sanders (Regina Hall), he has his first honest relationship in years. Jimmy also learns how terrible he has treated women in the past. This is also the same point when Sarah admits she has rekindled feelings for Jimmy. Is one big, happy Kingsley clan in the horizon? The answer is NO! 

     The show wrapped season 1 a few weeks ago and was unabashedly cancelled by FOX along with The Grinder. We were left with Gerald's proposal scavenger hunt  for Vanessa gone horribly wrong but accepted. Jimmy's father passed away. Sarah broke up with her boyfriend the day before they were moving in together. Jimmy told Sarah he broke up with Catherine, then went to really break up with her in a dramatic airport run. Sarah discovered this from her granddaughter, and "pulled a Jimmy", leaving Mr. Martino flying solo at a Cure concert, like he stood her up 25 years ago. While I have wrested with my definition of "pulling a Jimmy" (muffin baskets after a one-night stand,  keeping a secret vault of  moisturizer and tanner, namedropping "B' list celebrities), I think I came come to the true definition. Pulling a show off the air while it was developing an emotional heart is "pulling a Jimmy". It is so hard to find a delicate balance of funny, hokey and emotionally moving these days, and FOX pulled a show that is doing all of this. Seriously, does anyone think they are writing this week on Brooklyn 99? Bad move, FOX.

Who Needs Friends When You Have Happy Endings?

In the fall of 2004, networks began looking for the next Friends.* 

Definition from  IMDB.com: "Three young men and three young women - of the BFF kind - live in the same apartment complex and face life and love in New York. They're not above sticking their noses into one another's businesses and swapping romantic partners, which always leads to the kind of hilarity average people will never experience - especially during breakups."

    I spent some time at lunch today defending Friends to a co-worker. She didn't see the big craze with it. I lamented over the heartbreaks, good times, and the inevitable "We were on a break." After Friends left, the viewing public got a lot of options thrown our way from 2004-2010. Some of these shows were terrible, and some included lasting favorites like: How I Met your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. But it took until the Spring of 2011 for something new. This show embodied the comedic situations, ride-or-die bonds, theme nights, and catchphrases of Friends better than any other show out there. This time, with a post-911, totally millennial lens.This show was called Happy Endings and it ran three seasons on ABC. First there were 13 beloved episodes and the 2nd and 3rd seasons ran 21 and 23 episodes, respectively. I just found out this Chicago-based group of college buddies have made the jump to Hulu and all seasons are streaming since January 2016!

     Situations that were taboo in early 90's sitcoms (Ross's wife leaving him for a woman and the threesome struggling to raise Ben together, Phoebe birthing her nieces and nephews for her brother and his wife) look like child's play compared to HE. The new normal of our diverse society has removed the stigma from situations and replaced horror with humor, like Adam Pally's Max bringing multiple female friends as a beard to dinner with his parents instead of admitting he is gay, or Elisha Cuthbert's Alex leaving her longtime fiance at the altar for a guy on roller blades (so 90's). Another common theme of the show is location. Both shows played off the major city they were set in, except the HE crew spent all of their free time drinking at Rosalita's Bar while the friends sipped coffee at Central Perk. Another uniting factor is that both shows led the actors to future roles and successes, some more than others (I'm looking at your decade vacation from acting, David Schwimmer). Although only off the air for three years and  nowhere close to syndication, the stars of HE bounced back well with projects since the cancellation of the show.    

Image courtesy of TV.com

       
     Alex's betrayal of Dave (Zach Knighton) is a cornerstone conflict of the series and it brought a lot of heartache to the group, but also a lot of laughs. Alex makes the perfect Rachel in this story, always misreading the conversation (guys thought she was a guy dressed like Marilyn Monroe for Halloween due to a deep-voiced cold), but coming through with her heart of gold. She also runs a fashion business like Rachel, sort of. Her boutique's only successful item was a baby onezie that teens wore as a belly shirt. Alex's hyper-organized sister Jane (Eliza Coupe) perfectly represents Monica. She is a neat-freak, teaches English to foreigners, whips up a mean brunch, will probably survive a zombie apocalypse, and always is competing. To complete the package, Jane volunteers advice when it is not needed. SNL alum Casey Wilson's Penny is in spirit, totally Phoebe, but with the put-together mindset and career. Her season 2 catchphrase  "Year of Penny!" is often used ironically as one setback after another befalls her personal and professional lives. Penny gets a condo, a promotion, an assistant (Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez), and a few promising love interests, but disaster follows this girl everywhere.  If hipsters had been identified back in the 1990's, Phoebe might have dated one. Penny tried so hard to impress the hipsters that she ended up hating herself. She found she has too much passion and excitement to go through life ironically. 

     For the men, Dave is a free-spirited mix of Ross and Chandler. On the one hand, Dave is boring. Nobody is interested in his stories and his nice guy status is mostly present as relationship with Alex ebbs and flows through the series. On the other hand, Dave's job at the beginning of the series is basically a transponder like Chandler, but he quits to open up a meats of the world restaurant and settles for a steak sandwich food truck. Max is somewhat by default and somewhat totally perfect as the Joey of this group. Like Joey, Max cannot hold a steady job, and he finally buys a limo and drives people around Chicago. Much like Joey, Max enjoys meat, and can pick up anyone, man or woman. Penny dated him in college, and Alex crushes after him in one episode. Jane's husband Brad (Damon Wayans, Jr.) wears suits like Chandler, but he is much cooler. Brad always has the last word, plays basketball, befriends a secret group of black friends that get him, and yes, Brad does think that long polo Alex sold him is a shirt, not a dress. FUN FACT: In between seasons 1 and 2, Wayans appeared in a pilot for Fox's New Girl (another show that has made its own Friends-style group of misfit roommates), and after the first episode, was replaced with Winston Bisop after HE was renewed for a somewhat surprising 2nd season. Wayans later returned to New Girl for several seasons after HE completed.

My 5 Favorite Episodes for Newbie Viewers: 

5. Blax, Snakes, Home: The season 2 opener found Penny moving into a condo and throwing a Great Gatsby-themed housewarming. Too had the last inhabitant of the house was a crazy old cat lady who may be haunting Penny. Max spies in Brad to discover his group of cool, black friends and learns why Brad dubbed him "White Darryl."  Alex and Dave celebrate one year since their almost wedding and are spurred on by Jane to talk about the things the other did in their relationship that annoyed them. 

4. Like Father, Like Gun: This season 1 episode got Penny and Alex to double date a hot pair of Italians. Penny is only able to communicate to them in fluent Italian when she is plastered. Dave and Max use nerf guns to work out roomate issues. Jane encourages Brad to open up to his dad after a heart attack scare. His dad is played by his real-life dad, Damon Wayans.

3. Cocktails and Dreams: Dave's food truck becomes a speakeasy. Actor Colin Hanks befriends Dave and the gang stop going to the food truck because the drinks dive them weird dreams about Dave. 

2. More Like Stanksgiving: The group views a previously unseen episode of The Real World that followed them in their college days. Dave, who is 1/8 Navajo, insists on  holding a proper and traditional Thanksgiving.   

1. The Shershow Redemption: The gorup heads to hot mess buddy Shershow's wedding toward the end of season 1. This guy was wilder than Penny and Max combined and he suddenly has his life together. Penny brings a gay date to the wedding as her fiance while Alex gets blacklisted as a wedding jinx. Jane and Brad plan for a romantic weekend and end up renewing their vows. 

HONORABLE MENTION:

Any episode with Megan Mullally as Penny's mom, Dana. 

5.24.16 UPDATED: Here is more on the Happy Endings reunion panel and possible plans for an on screen reunion. 

TV Theme Songs Revisited- Whatever Happened to Full House

     Since I'm sure you haven't been living under a rock, I'm sure you know Full House is back on Netflix as a new iteration called Fuller House. It's still the same D.J. (Candace Cameron-Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and neighbor Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber), raising up some kiddos in the old Tanner family home in San Francisco. Eldest daughter Donna Jo is very straight-laced like her father, Danny, and she is recently widowed with three boys, which is the exact opposite of how the Tanner girls grew up. Her sister Stephanie (Uncle Jesse much?) and best friend Kimmy (definitely the essence of weird Joey) are moving in to help. Now Kimmy is a mom, and her teenage daughter adds the Disney-channel style sass. I have yet to delve into the hew show, but I will blog the moment it happens. I'm really here to express my interest in the rebooted theme song. Some of you younger folks might not know what a theme song is. Once upon a time (or at least a good ten years ago), all shows (drama and sitcoms) had an opening song that described the sentiment of the show and showed memorable scenes of the characters, introducing the actors by name. Fuller House took the opportunity to re-do it's theme song, Everywhere You Look.

     The theme song was performed by ABC's TV theme hit-maker of the late 80's and early 90's, Jesse Frederick. Jesse also song and penned themes for Family Matters, Perfect Strangers and Step By Step so he was the king of this stuff in the 90's. Most recently, Jesse debuted his version of The Tonight Show theme song. Back in Fuller House land, he worked with Carly Rae Jepsen (Call Me  Maybe*). This song is getting a lot of buzz, appearing in the show teaser and even being sung by CRJ and Danny Tanner himself,  Bob Saget last week. The tune uses the same words and melody of the original song with more of a poppy, twangy take on the song that asks "Whatever happened to predictability?" Please check out the amazing podcast from the Tuner crew that delves deep into the musicality of the two different versions of the theme song. There's also a bonus mash up of the songs together that sounds really weird and pretty cool. Tuner has some amazing podcasts and I have become a total fan girl after discovering them last week, thanks to my trusty Google App!


* Stay Tuned for a post next week where we really dissect the meaning of Carly Rae Jepsen's hit. I have so much more to say about this song.

Remember That Decade: The Goldbergs Bring the 80's Back

     The Goldbergs is a unique family sitcom based on the real life of Adam F. Goldberg, who grew up in the 1980's outside of Philadelphia. Adam is the youngest of three kids, and he follows his family (a real cast of characters) with a video camera. You may recognize these types of people in your own family.  You may have been a kid in the 80's and relate to some of the very humorous story lines. You may even enjoy watching with your own family to be grateful they're not this neurotic. If you family is this neurotic, let's chat!

     The most recent episode pitted siblings Erica and Barry in a fight about a school dance, which Erica planned with a Dirty Dancing theme (which school administration and Mrs. Goldberg changed their mind about after thinking what qualifies as "dirty"). Barry insists he will show up at the dance dressed like Kevin Bacon from Footloose and encourages Erica to dance out her frustrations in an "angry dance" scene. In the end, Erica gets humiliated and then has her spotlight dance with Barry's friend Geoff, who is obsessively (Say Anything boombox-style) in love with her. In another recent episode, Adam also tries to sneak into the movies to see the R-rated Weekend at Bernie's, shocking his mother and making poppa Murray proud.

     In a third hilarious episode (Laney Loves Lionel), Barry decided to create a clay bust of his girlfriend Lainey for valentine's day in honor of her affection for the Lionel Ritchie song Hello. It does not end well as Barry has a short temper and very few artistic skills.   I love this show and it's made it three seasons full of amusing anecdotes and embarrassing coming-of-age stories, similar to the beloved early 90's classic, The Wonder Years. Older Adam (voiced by Patton Oswald) narrates the beginning of each episode and a video tape is inserted into the VCR to begin the story. Here are the reasons to watch and catch up.

Photo from the web. 

Murray- Dad (Jeff Garlin)
     Murray comes home from work and drops his pants, taking up residence on.the armchair. He loves football, watching football, his dog Lucky, and calling his kids morons.  He does not like to talk about mentions and you will rarely see him dance, but he's got a deep heart in there somewhere. He also has one friend, Bill.

Photo from Pintrest. 

Pops (Beverly's Dad) (George Segel)
     Pops lives nearby in a retirement community, but he hangs at the house on a regular basis. The kids get upset when pops buys a timeshare in Florida because he might not be around as much. Adam regularly declares Pops is his best friend, and pops dispenses advice to everyone, whether they are ready to hear it, or they are too stubborn. He attempts to bail Erica out of jail, despite not having a license. Most important, Pops agrees to go along with all of Adam's crazy ideas (filming an alternate ending to Transformers, auditioning for Double Dare, bringing two girls to the school dance).

Beverly - Mom (Wendy McLendon-Covey)

Photo from Pintrest.

     Adam's mother is often called a "smother" because she mothers to the umpteenth degree.  She calls all three kids schmoopie (or schmoops) and tries to get her "snuggles" in with each of them whenever possible. She does not want the kids to ever meet anyone they will love more than her, which can cause a lot of problems. She also scares the high school principal into getting her way often.

Photo from the web.

Erica - Sister (Hayley Orrantia)
     Adam's big sister Erica is 1980's cool. She wears crop tops, ripped lace and rocks a scrunchy like no other. She gets invited to cool parties with beer, sneaks out to go to concerts, sings in bands, tries to get out of her mom's clutches, and at the end of the day always has her brothers' backs. Beverly and Erica's conflict drives many of the stories, including one where Beverly  showed up at Erica's department store job to constantly use Erica's associate discount.. It's important to note, Adam Goldberg doesn't have a sister, he had two older brothers. But they would not have looked as good in a fringed jacket as she does. Erica's best friend Lainey (A.J. Michalka) is a close adopted member of the Goldberg family and slowly grows to love Barry, much to Erica's disgust.

Barry- Brother (Troy Gentile)

Photo courtesy of pintrest. 

Barry is the middle child and likes ka-ra-tae (and he is terrible at it). Barry is good at one thing and one thing only, a made-up game he and Adam play called "Ball Ball." When the school jock joins Barry's ball ball club at school, Barry is kicked out and competes in a series of events Adam sets up that only Barry could win at. Barry chases after his sister's friend Lainey for a good chunk of time before she finally gives in and begins dating him, although she is a quintessential cool girl and sometimes embarrassed by Barry' bold declaration of love (See Laniey Loves Lionel). When he has free time, Barry can be found trying to rap under the name "Big Tasty", break dancing, or hanging out in the WaWa parking lot with his friends, the JTP (Jenkinstown Posse).

Adam F. Goldberg (Sean Giambrone)

Photo from the web.

     Adam is a cute little middle school pipsqueak beginning puberty (or as Barry calls it, "The Pubening.") Adam carries a hefty video camera around to record his family's actions and to recreate his favorite movies, His best friend is pops, although he is also close with an elementary school pal Emmy, called Muscles Mirsky. Their clash over auditioning to Double Dare was priceless, as Adam got jealous of Emmy teaming up with the class jock, and he demands that pops be his partner. Pops is disgusted with picking through noses and kiddie pools of slime to find a flag and ultimately both kids lose out of the tryouts. The ultimate 80's fanboy, Adam is always found wearing shirts from his favorite movies, Star Wars, The Goonies, Tron and Transformers. Adam is the most willing to let mom indulge in her smothering, promising snuggies for small bits of freedom and dates with his first love, Dana, who moves away to Seattle.

Grinder (noun)

"What does it mean, 'to grind' asks Dean Sanderson's (Rob Lowe) new therapist, played by guest star Maya Ruldoph.

Dean responds, "Doing whatever it takes to find justice, no matter how hard the grind... and the grind is the everyday struggle."

     FOX took a chance this season with a sitcom called The Grinder (not the Grindr) about adult brothers who start (reluctantly) working together in a law practice. Have we seen this type of plot before? Of course…. (Hyperion Bay with Mark Paul Gosselaar >comes to mind). The difference in this show is all in the casting. The brothers are two of my beloved 80’s and 90’s actors. I could not be more excited for Fred Savage’s (Stewart)  return to acting and the return of Lowe to comedy. This is Savage's first foray away from the director's chair since the sitcom, Working (1997-1999).
     

     Let it be known that while I favored his real life brother Ben Savage (Cory from Boy/Girl Meets World for many years, I am back on Team Fred when it comes to choosing which Savage I love. Savage's Stewart runs Sanderson and Yao, a law firm in Boise, Idaho, a firm started by his dad, Dean Sanderson, Sr. (William Devane). Dean Sr. is ticked to have his son home after Dean Jr.'s many successful seasons as TV lawyer, Mitch Grinder.

    Mitch Grinder is his own unique character.  Rob Lowe does what he does best here: he plays an actor playing a lawyer,  and both characters are a bit self-indulgent. It’s basically the best of teen Rob Lowe’s boyish charm (St. Elmo’s Fire, The Outsiders) and adult Rob Lowe’s commitment to #truthandjustice mixed together (The West Wing,The Lyon's Den, Brothers and Sisters). The scenes from the show with a show are pretty dramatic with emotional outbursts, clawing out of a coffin in the ground, romantic trysts on the confrence table, and the last-minute proclamation that "grinds" (pun intended) the case to a swift halt.  In every episode of the show, the Sanderson men, along with Stewart's wife Debbie (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, the waitress from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and teen kids, watch episodes of "The Grinder" and Dean shares his motivation for the episode, with ridiculous things like getting a teenage son in one episode to show his character's emotional depth.


In the episode first mentioned above, Dean's therapist suggests that in order for Dean to move forward in life (or at least move out of his brother's house), he has to let "The Grinder" die. This should be simple because in the new reboot of the show, Grinder: New Orleans, Dean guest stars to give his new TV brother Rake (played by Timothy Olyphant) some advice, and decides his character must die to complete his character arc. This plan took some convincing and entailed a very confusing courtroom scene where Stu showed up as their third long-lost brother and also offered to die on the show, via poison. As for Olyphant, he has done some great work playing a Hollywood version of himself, making Dean look  a little more human and sparking a romantic triangle (at least in Dean's eyes) with Sanderson and Yao's associate, Claire. Other guest stars have included Christina Applegate as a closeted fan pretending she had never seen Dean's show, Jim Rash as a potential client, Jason Alexander as "The Grinder" director.

“We watch The Grinder, we talk about it while we’re watching it, and after we’re watching it, and it feels to me like we should operate more in reality.”  - Stu

“Were you at the bar this whole time, just waiting to interject at the perfect moment?”

      -     Client (Jim Rash) to Dean

Blackish: Neighbors and Sterotypes

 

   In tonight's Black-ish, titled  Sink or Swim, Andre (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) once again confront and challenge the stereotypes plaguing their neighborhood in an effort to teach their kids something. Much like the modern day Cosbys, they want to be treated like everyone else that is white. This usually leads to some major blow-up that embarrasses their four kids. First, the twins Jack and Diane both enjoy the activities of the other twin's boy/girl scout group. After some lying gets to be too overwhelming, Jack bakes a casserole and Diane ties ropes and saves her dad in the pool. Much to their grandmother's disappointment,t the twins defy the stereotypes set out for their genders. If only it was so easy for their parents....

     Andre fusses over not getting invited to their across the street neighbor's house for pool parties, just because he thinks she is biased against their black family and assumes they cannot swim. Dre finds no love at work as his coworkers pick apart more of his flaws (too much cologne, touching all of the doughnuts, etc..), When Dre confronts Janine (Nicole Sullivan from King of Queens and Mad T.V.) about the lack of invitation, she honestly confesses she thought the Johnsons didn't like her and her family (due to several overheard conversations). In an earlier episode, Jeanine wouldn't let her kid stay over because Dre kept a gun locked in a safe in the house, and she went postal on Halloween about teen kids (possibly from a bad neighborhood) coming for their good candy. After securing a friendly invite to the pool party, Dre's children find out he is the only family member that can't swim, due to his "heavy bones". A failed swim lesson later, Dre attempts to go in the pool and almost drowns to prove to Jeanine that he is more than a stereotype. Then he is rescued from the pool by his ten year old daughter and swaddled by his mother.

     Bow tackles self image and worth with her teens, trying to show them there is more to life than likes and being a "woman of leisure." She makes up flimsy excuses to get away from the "Mom Mafia" at school, who try to pressure her into signing up for committees and invite her to a grueling schedule of midday yoga classes. After countless reminders that she is a working mom with 4 kids (and a cardiothoracic surgeon), Bow decides to tell one mom off at the pool party. After shaming the mom for her fancy clothes, lack of purpose in life, feeding her husband, Bow discovers this mom is also a doctor, and she somehow has this work/life balance thing together. In the end, Junior and Zoe toll their mom they're proud of her and they look up to her as a role model for their grown-up dreams. They also show her a video the moms made of Bow yelling at the other mom while Andre helplessly splashes around in the pool, calling for help. This is humiliating image for the parents, but the kids wouldn't have their parents any other way.

Chinese New Year Off the Boat

     Tonight was a winning episode of Fresh off the Boat, one of my favorite shows of 2015. Just in time for Chinese New Year, the Huangs are planning a family trip to Washington D.C. to celebrate the special holiday. Treasures such as fireworks, red envelopes of money and pork buns await, but they missed their flight by a whole day. Now, the family is stuck in Orlando, trying to find another Chinese group to spend the holidays with this year.  First, Louis and Jessica look through the phone book for other Chinese families. "Yang is the Chinese Smith," remarks Louis. They also try to track down a Chinese man they saw when they were on a city bus. After a failed attempt at the Orlando area Asian American group (AAAoO for short) and make several jokes saying "Ayy" like Fonzie and "Ay-Oh!" like Tony Danza. The group is of course, a disaster and a disappointment as it was formed by members from all parts of Asia, with people from India and Russia populating the event), and a terrifying dinosaur dancing like it came from a basketball halftime show. Then the family return back to their restaurant, where the neighbors and staff throw a great party to celebrate the Huangs' tradition. In the end, Jessica explains that nearly everything is meant to bring luck and wealth to the family.

     This is one of the episodes where the family dynamics truly make the episode, similar to the season opener where Jessica and the boys tag along on Louis' business trip. (In that episode, Jessica fights the hotel about the number of guests they are paying for in their room, among other things). Eddie and his little brothers are completely upset about missing the trip because they won;t get any little red envelopes full of lucky money. While Eddie hopes for enough to afford new Air Jordans, baby brother Emery wants to start a business by buying a Snoopy Sno-Cone maker (an amazing toy that my friends had when we were little) and middle brother Evan is so worried about grumpy Grandma,who will not give out any money in red envelopes. Truly brown in the wrong era, oddball Evan hopes to buy a fedora and bring back an era of rail travel, and dressed up in a suit in the hopes of the airline upgrading him to first class. Sweet little Emery puts on a Seinfeld-esque comedy show to cheer up Grandma. In an amusing moment, Grandma explains to people that their supposed "Chinese symbol" tattoos don't mean what they thought they did. This episode is a must-see and hopefully it will become a traditional episode in the coming seasons.

Winter New Comedies 2016 Roundup

Happy Blizzard of 2016 everyone! It's time to catch up on new Winter sitcoms!

Telenovela- Mondays on NBC
     Eva Longoria heads this cast of lovable and attention-seeking soap stars. They work in Miami and end up with the traditional acting workplace drama of trying to cry on cue and meeting a cast member's evil twin. Their more extreme adventures include  getting stranded on set with no food during a storm, and battling another soap cast to build a home for a less fortunate family, and impressing a network executive who believes Eva's Ana can speak Spanish. It's not very deep, but I find myself drawn to watching more episodes. Ana also has to work with her ex-husband Xavi, a recent addition to the show. The scenes from the show withing a show, Las Leyes de Pasion are pretty hysterical. The show's villain Rodrigo defines his acting work and success by his mustaches.

Superstore- Mondays on NBC
     I did not like Superstore for the first episode, but it has grown on me. I have a soft spot in my heart for America Ferrera's Amy (Ugly Betty). Her grumpy banter with new store clerk Jonah (Ben Feldman, from many shows, including A to Z and Mad Men) is well-scripted, so I gave it a second chance, and a third, and a fourth, and I think this week I'll remember to watch it when it's on live. The Cloud 9 Superstore in St. Louis is a Wal-Mart/Costco type store, and all of the employees are miserable working there, but they never have a dull day.

     The employees have watched numerous training videos, had a old man die in the store, searched fro a secret shopper, brought kids to work, had a robbery/proposal, and been interviewed for the corporate store magazine. There was also a mannequin that looked like Jonah that they dressed up and placed all over he store in funny and inappropriate poses. Amy is the floor manager, and he bosses make her look pretty sane. The store manager Glenn tries really hard for everyone to like him, and by-the-book  Asst. Manager Dinah finds reasons to report him to corporate in every episode.

Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life- Sundays on Fox
     This show has been on for three weeks, and I've only watched it online so far. I'm not sure I like the character of Cooper, or his two friends, Barry and Neal. They are lazy slackers trying to launch a hangover cure and are constantly calling Cooper's older brother Josh (Justin Bartha, Doug from The Hangover) to bail them out. Every episode starts in the middle of the action and Cooper rewinds to show how they got there, and how the issue will resolve. I thought it was pretty funny when they were being robbed by Paul Abdul, who danced around and waved a gun at them. As it turned out, they were participating in a medical study and they were hallucinating a homeless man was Paula.

     I like the two female characters, Cooper's tough chiropractor neighbor, Kelly. Also, his at-first stern but wants to be liked sister-in-law Leslie rounds out the group. Plus, their landlord is played by the same actor that played Ramjet the driver in How I Met Your Mother (Marshall Manesh). Only three episodes have aired, with a break until February 14th. I read Alan Ruck (Speed among many things, and just a really nice guy) and Jane Kaczmarek (Malcom in the Middle) play Cooper's parents in an upcoming episode. This show could have a chance...

Angel from Hell- CBS Thursdays
     A post-Psych Maggie Lawson plays dermatologist Allison, who in the same week, meets her guardian angel and finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend. It's a common rom-com cliche, but it doesn't look like she is going to go on a maddening quest to fix herself to try to win him back, or meet a new guy.   So that's a little progress in modern day storytelling right there! In a pretty amusing scene, her dad and brother plot to get back at the cheating boyfriend from the lame (a post-it on his front door saying "Not cool man, not cool" to placing a motorcycle in the bottom of a pool). Both men clearly care for Allison and their family dynamic is fun.

     Amy, the aforementioned  Angel, or "weird friend" is played by Jane Lynch, who is the antithesis of GLEE's Sue Sylvester, a dirty, drunk hippie that is all knowing, and into teaching life lessons. In episode 2, Allison tries to reconnect and apologize  to an old friend by getting NKOTB's Joey Mac to come to her friend's art gallery and sing. As it turns out, this is the latest in a long line of events Allison has ruined in her friend Callie's life, as Callie's boyfriend was about to propose at the gallery. The translation of that lesson is not to try too hard. I like the show, but I'm not sure everyone does because of the religious connotations of an angel among us.

Teachers- TV Land Wednesdays
     For the record, I enjoyed the movie Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz, but I hated the TV show. I wanted to like this show, but the level of insanity of all of these teachers might be a little too much for me. I only watched episode one. The show comes from a web series and the teachers are part of an acting troupe called the katydids. The first episode focused on an anti-bullying program at the elementary school. Threatened with personnel cutbacks, 6 female teachers join a committee for anti-bullying programming, only to cause the kids to bully each other, One shy teacher has a crush on a child's single dad, another berates her students drawings of her while taking selfies, another gives the kids silent free time, a fourth confronts her high school bully and gets the kids to team up on their own bully, and one teacher is reeling from her breakup of 12+ months. I can't remember or do I really care what was going on with the last girl. I might check out the 2nd, but this show might have functioned better as a web series. Alison Brie (Community, Mad Men) guest starred as the mean anti-bullying program coordinator.

The bottom line here is that anything is better than ABC's new show, My Diet is Better than Your Diet!

It's Jess Again!!!

I am so excited New Girl is back!

     I'm not sure what to make of season 5 so far. As we left off season 4, Jess's roommate Schmidt and her best friend CeCe proclaimed their love for each other (after dating multiple people and Schmidt rescuing CeCe from her arranged wedding in the season 2 finale). The first episode of season 4 was a great montage of the gang attending 10+ weddings and the season closed with Jess hanging a save the date for Cece and Schmidt on top of all of the other wedding invitations om the fridge. Suffering from a bit of my own wedding fridge fatigue, I loved the idea.

     We are now in CeCe and Schmidt's engagement and Jess, as maid of honor, unites the gang to throw an engagement party. she arranges for Cece's mom to fly in from India, not realizing that Big Mama P does not know that Cece has gotten engaged again, and to a white, Jewish Metro-sexual at that.  Jess's longtime ex and Best Man Nick, agrees to pick up Cece's mom and in typical new girl catastrophe, brings the wrong woman to the party. Jess, recovering from a broken leg and arm (perhaps a way to disguise her real-life post-pregnancy body?) tries to win over the crowd with Schmidt appearing with a Bollywood dance group, but Cece's mom does not give her blessing for the union.

     Determined to work with a small budget, we take a pause on the wedding planning to catch up on everyone else's lives. Nick and Schmidt now co-own the bar and Nick struggles to be taken seriously as a boss. Jess tries dating a boring guy because he has great parents, roping Winston into the scheme. By the end of the episode, Winston fakes a police stop to distract Jess's date while his parents Flip and Nancy try to convince Jess to marry their very boring son. Jess gets chosen for Jury duty just as she has the option to become acting Principal of her school. Cece and Nick try to work out their differences to make Schmidt happy, and Winston goes back to hanging out with his cat.

     I'm not sure if this season is a bit of a letdown with the departure of Coach, or if I'm just confused by all of the random stories and jumping around. With such a strong first episode, I was a little confused by the next episode, although I loved guest stars Henry Winkler and Julie Hagerty as boring Fred's (SNL's Taran Killam) parents. Maybe some plot lines on the show just getting a little too real? Only time will tell as we prepare for a nearly interrupted season!

Should the "Truth Be Told?"

     I really wanted to like Truth Be Told. I am programmed to like any show that Zack Morris (a.k.a. Mark-Paul Gosselar) stars in, including but not limited to Franklin and Bash, later seasons of NYPD Blue, Hyperion Bay, and Saved By the Bell: The College Years. Yes, there were other TV roles, but these are really the most notable after the original SBTB.

     Unfortunately, I had a bad feeling about this show from the start. First thing, the show was on at 8:30 on a Friday night in its first season. The program was led in by the live showing of Undateable (this is a separate but equally important  tangent to cover because this show is nowhere near the class of a live Will and Grace or 30 Rock). Gosselar plays Mitch, an ethics professor married to a Tracy, a Filipino lawyer (Vanessa Lachey). They live next door (and are only friends with)  an African-American newlywed couple, comedian Russell and pediatrician Angie.  Mitch and Tracy have a 4-6 year old daughter, Sadie that always need to be watched or baby-sat whenever something comes up, like backstage passes to a Jay-Z concert, or admission to the adult film awards. It is also important to note, I am almost certain Sadie was re-cast after the first episode or two for a less likable kid).

     The situation is laid out, so where is the comedy? Stereotypes, race differences and adult content are a big part of the jokes on this show. Taboos such as getting a medical marijuana card or using the same gym pass as another woman of the same race are the bread and butter laughs of this show. Mitch and Russel are mistaken as a gay couple when they are looking at cars and are offered a great deal by the dealer, who is also gay.  The perfect babysitter may be a former porn star, and the new babysitter is free on Friday night because she also works for a Jewish family across the street...
   
     Do you see where I'm going with this? A lot of issues in this show could be funny or story-worthy in real life, but hearing them out loud on TV makes everyone who can relate seem pretty shallow. It's not the same dark comedy of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where not a single character has redeemable moral value. These people want to do the right thing, and it often gets them in trouble. In the Winter finale (which is likely the series finale a sets have been torn down), Mitch is asked to marry friends an Russell holds a grudge over it because he is the comedian of the gang. Angie holds a grudge over Russell making tons of jokes during his wedding vows, and Tracey spends the whole weekend trying to get Mitch to enjoy a childless night in the hotel room. This is unfortunately not the next Seinfeld. I guess the truth is still out there... (It really is, the X-Files is coming back to TV in a few weeks)!

Fresh Off the Boat

     It took me a hit-and-miss watching of the first season, but I now officially am a fan of ABC's Fresh Off the Boat. Season 1 began in February and a full season 2 kicked off in September. The family sitcom is based off Eddie Huang memoir of the same name, about growing up in Orlando in the 1990's with traditional Chinese parents. Eddie is a middle schooler who loves gangsta rap and his mom's best friend, Honey. Eddie's two adorable younger brothers Emery and Evan are very wise, young souls and give sage advice beyond their years. Mom Jessica (Constance Wu) is cheap, wants the kids to work hard, and ends up making people's lives more difficult. Completing the family are grandma Huang, who only speaks Mandarin and doesn't get along well with mom, and father Louis (Randall Park), a true believer of the American Dream.

     The family moved to Orlando from a tight-knit Chinese community in Washington, D.C. for Louis to open an all-American steakhouse, Cattleman's Ranch. His oddball staff mean well, but often get the family into more financial woes during the first season. The restaurant faces many struggles as they try to draw anyone in, and get them to order something besides water and soda. As a special not, The League's Paul Scheer plays waiter Mitch. The show's 90's nostalgia is one of the reason I think I connect to it. When Eddie's school throws a Fall Ball, his dad insists on teaching him and his boys to how dance. The boys think they're taking a girl to the dance, only to find out the girls had chosen someone else in the group as their date (which led to a tense roller rink group date). When Eddie is broken up with said girlfriend, he plays BoyzIIMen's End of the Road on repeat until the whole family sings the song. Jessica competes with her sister for who mom loves more, including a mad run to a store on Thanksgiving eve.

     The show has also had notable guest appearances by NBA players and singers of the time including  Scotty Pippen, DMX and Shaq as the proprietor of Shaquille O'Neal Motors. Jessica keeps demanding to speak to the top executive at the car dealership, finally begin shown into the office of Shaq himself. In tonight's episode, The Real Santa, Jessica tells the boys that Asian Santa is the real Santa and ends up dressing up in a suit to encourage her sons to study hard and get into good schools. I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store. Maybe an episode about Chinese New Year?

Please Don't Page Dr. Ken

Let me first start out by saying, I liked community, and I liked the hangover, but I couldn't make it past the first episode of Dr. Ken. It was pretty dreadful. It's a workplace comedy with too many different personality types, it's a medical show with too many doctor,s it's a family sitcom with too any lessons needed to be learned. The one thing I will treasure for this show and remember for the rest of my life is Ken and his young song in a school talent show acting out the words to Katy Perry's Roar through mime.

Old Girl, New Girl

     I am at the height of summer TV desperation. As a rule, I normally don't watch repeats of shows during the summer. I stick to limited runs and summer-only shows, just to freshen my mind and leave more time for fun.


It's time for more New Girl. I  fully understand the writers and show creates do not want to write Zooey Deschanel's pregnancy into the show. But I am seriously missing Jess, Nick, Cece, Schmidt, Winston, and Coach, who will  not be back until Winter 2016. I think the hardest thing about the new season will be the departure of Coach, played by Damon Wayans, Jr. The weirdest thing it that he was in the first episode, and due to Happy Endings (another really quirky and fun show) getting renewed, he didn't come back until season 3. Although a lot of formative episodes were pre-coach, I can't imagine life without him now. He has grown for a totally emotional cripple to Jess's close friend and co-worker. While Jess bonds closely with Winston over important things (getting a bathtub, lying about Cece's feelings for Schmidt), she and coach have a delightful discourse where she keeps wearing away at his tough outer shell, much the same way she did with Nick. The difference between Coach and Nick is that Nick fell for Jess, and Coach just learned to appreciate life more.

     I have been going back and binging the last few episodes left on Hulu, and watching the first and second seasons on DVD again. My Tuesday nights will not be the same now that The Mindy Project is moving to Hulu.

Welcome Back! It's a Fuller House with Jason Marsden

It's been a while since I blogged, and for my first post back, I'm talking about the best 90's family comedy in history- Full House. In case you've been living under a rock, it's coming back! In more current news, my beloved Uncle Jesse (John Stamos), just got pulled over for a possible DUI this weekend, which greatly worried me about the fate of this winter's FH  reboot.

The episode I'm watching on Nick at Nite right now is an episode about DJ's tough choice (aptly named DJ's Choice from Season 8) between musician Viper (guitarist of Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets) and junior billionaire Nelson. Viper writes a song for DJ, and Nelson hires Frankie Valli to come to the park re-dedication to serenade DJ.

"(Nelson) He's a nice guy, and he pays in cash."- Frankie Valli

It's utterly over the top, which is why the episode plays so well. Much like episodes with famous guest stars (several with the Beach Boys come to mind), FH makes the guest star fit in well to the story. In the end, Donna Jo wisely chooses none of them (because I suspect she's still in love with Steve, who ended up escorting her to the senior prom).  This remains to be seen, but I believe Steve was the love of her life. Only Netflix will tell.

Back to the reason I am fascinated with this episode, dear young billionaire Nelson.
Here  actor Jason Marsden (left) plays Nelson in Full House, circa 1995:

Here he is the same year, playing Eric's best friend, Jason on Boy Meets World. Maybe he can score a drop in on the new Girl Meets World Show. 

He also appeared at the same time (1995-1997) on Step by Step as JT's best friend and Dana's boyfriend, Rich. How did this guy find time to guest star in three sitcoms at the same time? 

That's owed all to talent and a good agent. 

All photos are from IMDB.com

MLK Skiing Weekend

     One of the greatest new shows of the season is ABC's Black-ish. Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross (Diana's daughter) lead the show as parents Dre (Andre) and Bow (Rainbow), who are only content when they try to leave their kids with a positive affirmation of black culture. Living in the hood and moving up to a predominately white suburban L.A. neighborhood causes many issues for Dre. Bow, as a child of hippie parents, often tries to split the middle between Dre's hood logic and the Joneses they now keep up with, and often comes up short.

Ski Jail

      How will the family learn more about the rich culture and heritage of America, they're ditching all of the educational programs and going to a ski lodge. Dre and Bow take two cars up to the lodge. While Bow, her two daughters and son Jack enjoy sing-alongs in their car, Dre causes drama. Dre and his buddy Charlie fight injustice on their drive to the ski lodge, or so they tell themselves. They get pulled over, and in an attempt to prove to Junior and his white friend, Dre yells at a police officer and insisting this happened only because they're black. Later at the ski lodge, Dre ends up in "Ski jail" for calling the clerk racist when trying to book massages. 

Girl Meets 21st Century

     In 1993, I began watching a sitcom that would become one of the most treasured shows of all time for kids growing up in the 90's. Rarely have I met someone who does not acknowledge that Boy Meets World changed the cultural landscape. Unlike the oddball last-ditch season of Saved By the Bell: The College Years, this show followed kids really growing up from middle school through the first year of college, (and some milestones like Shawn's losing a parent, getting married, and Cory's parents midlife crisis baby) ending with them going out to the world. Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his wife Topanga (Danielle Fishel) now live in New York City with their two kids, pre-teen dreamer Riley and too-cute kindergartner Auggie.
   
     The new focus of the sequel show Girl Meets World is daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and her journey into adulthood with with pals Maya, Lucas and Farkle. Maya Hart serves as Riley's own Shawn Hunter, a misguided attention-seeking kid of a single parent that gets kindness and guidance from the Matthews family. I hope to see Shawn unveiled as Maya's long-absent father, or on a more reasonable plot, see him mentor the kid. Maya definitely has some issues to overcome and I know she will eventually open up. We see Farkle Minkus is the son of Topanga's old rival Stewart Minkus (future guest star Lee Norris), a know-it-all. The girls befriend new kid from Texas, Lucas Friar, and Riley is in love with him from first glance. As Coy and Topanga struggle to let go with their oldest, Cory takes on the role of Mr. Feeny, teaching all of the kids at John Quincy Adams Middle school (sounds like John Adams High in Philadelphia?) more than just history, but lessons for life.

     The show is on Disney, so I'm not sure what to expect. I grabbed a bunch of friends and some beers to watch last night's first episode, followed promptly by a screening of the first episode of Boy Meets World. The clothes seem a little unrealistic for your average kid, and all of the girls (and mom Topanga) have extension-laden hair. Cory's son Auggie reminds me of Cory's little sister Morgan, and we know the cute Morgan got re-cast from about age 5 to age ten in one season hiatus, so we'll see how that goes. The plot lines for the upcoming season seem more millennial-comedic than real-life based, but there could be some hidden emotional depth to the show.

FINAL: Favorite Moment 
There was a great cameo at the end of the episode by Mr. Feeny, who appears as a subway poster urging kids to stay in school.

An 80's Flashback Note!

     I'm not even joking how timely this is: Perfect Strangers (the lovely 80s sitcom with lovable Bronson Pinchot as Cousin Balki, and the show that launched Family Matters (and later Urkel)) celebrates 25 years since its premiere. I just saw Cousin Larry (Mark Lynn-Baker) in the late 2010 movie "How Do You Know?"earlier tonight through rental). AOL offers a "Where are they now" and clips piece here. iTunes also recently offered first episodes of 80s sitcoms for free. An yes, I downloaded perfect strangers.I will post more when I finish watching. The other day I revisited the first episode of "Charles in Charge," and yes it was glorious.

     AOL also released "Greatest 80s Catchphrases," which I can only offer,"Watcha talking 'bout cowabunga did I do that?" But I think we were missing the classic Full House quotes "You've got it dude," "Haaaaave Merrrrrcy!" and "Cut it out."

A Note About Why Cougartown Had 15 Solid Minutes

For most sitcoms, there's a zing, a joke, a pause, a plot, a wardrobe change, final zing, and a resolution. But for Wednesday's Cougartown' episode "No Reason to Cry" had me laughing and smirking solidly. The greatness of this show comes from the writing that sounds like real dialogue, the character relationships, and the playing up of all-too-often mundane situations (like Jules accidentally killing a bird). Here below is a list of the reasons why this episode was great:

15. Andy giving people the wrong names of distant acquaintances, only to have them call said acquaintances by the wrong name.

14. The return of Bobby's boat. (How did they get it out of the ocean in such good condition?

13. Lori talking about her screenplay about slutty insects titled "Bug Hookers."

12. Travis likening the cul-de-sac crew to the Children of the Corn.

11. Bobby's one-minute summary of current events.

10. Jules picking out the "Jules dove," which has "finger guns with tiny claws."

9. The commercial for cougartownandysdreams.com. Actual site: http://abc.go.com/shows/cougar-town/andys-dreams/ThemeGallery/671709

8. Lori's complicated coffee orders, including a "Taye Diggs," which is tall, black, and extra sweet.

7. Bobby's shameless promotion of Diet Dr. Pepper, one of the show's sponsors.

6. The reinforced idea that dove brains are only the size of a tic tac.

5. Jules agreeing to talk/yell at Grayson only for the amount of time it took him to cross the street.

4. Pirate references.

3. Grayson's sly Prince reference, "This is what it sounds like when doves cry." Furthermore, Grayson's Prince references throughout the season.

2. Nonfat teeny tiny, extra shot of yum.

1. Andy writing fake apology notes from his wife as a "special" thing between them.