Couchbound/Continued #369 - M*A*S*H: Season 1, Episode 23, "For Auld Lang Syne."

There's something about MASH that is simultaneously both infuriating and comforting.

Running eleven years, much longer than the war that inspired the novel that inspired the movie that inspired the television series, MASH is probably one of the best examples of the sitcom that most telephiles remember fondly to this day. It can also be infuriatingly dull and predictable. We forgive that though, thanks to the suave charm of Alan Alda's Hawkeye and how comically easy it is to hate perpetual heel Frank Burns (at least in those early seasons).

This particular episode is doomed from the start. Everyone and their mother knows that the rumored ceasefire is a wash, if for no other reason than there's more show to be had. There are moments of overly-saccharine honesty from pretty much everyone... and even a lot of prevarication... but overall it just feels like a filler episode because there is no possible way that Trapper is wrong and the whole thing is a wash.

It just feels anticlimactic to watch Hawkeye run through his string of nurses, giving each the brush-off (or vice versa) like the womanizing cad he is, claiming to be married when he's anything but so as to remain single... and it's really rather boring to see Frank and Hoolihan commiserate over his very real marriage and the fact that they would necessarily be over.

Honestly, there isn't a tender moment for any of them... except, maybe, for a brief second between Radar and Henry. While they never really play it up too much in the rest of the show, having Radar being more the overly competent and underappreciated aide-de-camp than anything else, in this one scene over his going away scrapbook, Gary Burghoff emotes a softness that is really rather heartbreaking, especially when Blake quickly backs off the whole father/son angle when he realizes how series Radar takes the bond.

And that's the paradox of MASH, I think. There are these wonderfully heartbreaking moments peppered through the series that keep you coming back despite the rote writing and lack of proper character arc. There are tiny messages of humanity sprinkled throughout the series. Often enough, they come through in the artsy episodes, but every once in a while, one of the 9-to-5 jobbers like this one can really kick you in the gut. Making fun of Burns and Hotlips and watching Hawkeye crash and burn is a dime-a-dozen affair, but Radar and Henry having a moment? Kinda priceless.

Until later, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-three - Scrubs: Season 1, Episode 2, "Rowdy? No!"

I love Scrubs... well, mostly.

There was that time where it changed networks and lost (then regained) most of its cast while never truly bouncing back from the transition. Then there was all of the on-again/off-again romantic hijinks between JD and Elliot that was almost as melodramatic as its prime time drama counterparts like ER and Gray's Anatomy.

Q.E.D., early Scrubs is best Scrubs... even if I do love how JD and Elliot eventually take their forever waffling relationship... and this episode is, most assuredly, early Scrubs.

JD and Elliot are playing it cool, not together and officially trying the "just friends" thing, Turk and Carla are busy doing their pre-dating dance, and Dr.Cox? Well, Dr.Cox hasn't yet acquired his perfect foil in the form of Drew Carey alum, Christa Miller. While JD is trying connect with a good patient (with a bad habit) and looking for help from his mentor (Dr.Cox), Elliot pisses off the nurses and has to rely on Turk to help pull her foot from her mouth.

While, thematically, this episode definitely falls into the series' shakedown period, folks still growing comfortable in their roles and relationships starting to develop, a lot of the small asides and circumstantial jokes are started to crop up... like JD's fourth wall breaking and his daydream sequences.

   



I'm especially fond of Dr.Kelso's blatantly obvious two-faced nature and JD and Turk's constant repositioning of their stuffed dog, Rowdy, so as to cause Elliot discomfort. Well, that might not be their reasoning, now that I think about it. It's almost as if, by moving him around, they're allowing Rowdy to live life (or his taxidermied unlife) to the fullest.

It's also nice to see Carla and Turk before they got together. Their relationship, marriage, and family life were the social bedrock that allowed main character JD the flexibility and stability to have a consistently foiled lovelife to keep the comedy and drama going for the duration of many of its seasons. It was a great contrast... for the series... but it's good to see their beginnings, again.

I'm a little bummed how little early characterization there is for The Janitor, but I know there's plenty of good to come from our favorite JD hater, so no real worries there. I guess I don't have any real substantial complaints other than that it's just an alright series at this point. Plenty of potential, but not exactly a shining effort from the get-go. It gets better, though, so there's that.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Fifty-eight - The IT Crowd: Series 1, Episode 1, "Yup, Brits have a Big Bang Theory, too."

Laugh tracks.

Why haven't we evolved beyond them as a media-consuming species?

I really don't want to hate on this series, it's just that it bums me out how generic it is coupled with the fact that so many people absolutely adore it. It really is just another Big Bang Theory (though, granted, IT Crowd came first) in that it marginalizes an entire subculture down to Revenge of the Nerd's-style socially awkward stereotypes...

...to a laugh track.

It's not that I don't identify with Chris O'Dowd and Richard Ayoade's respective characters, it's just that they're such gross overgeneralizations of your prototypical geeks and nerds that the series feels less like a theme-driven comedy and more a trip to the anthropological zoo where these two perpetually single males of the subspecies Homo Inconcinnus are introduced to a female of a similar, less-prone-to-extinction, sister species in the hopes of producing a social reaction.

I think I may have gone a bit too far down that metaphor's path.

Anyway, I had never seen any of The IT Crowd before today, but I knew that it existed as the subject of a decently sized fandom out there on the web. Giving it a try, I was instantly turned off by the Python-esque absurdity that hits from the first moment when Jen (Katherine Parkinson) is being interviewed for a managerial position by company owner Denholm Reynholm (Chris Morris).

It's a patently absurd interview that would work as an individual skit on a satire show like Monty Python or A Bit of Fry and Laurie, but not here on a sitcom. It is as if the pilot couldn't decide whether it was trying to invoke reality or surrealism so, instead, the writers decided to try both equally and only differentiate between the two when Chris Morris was in the room.

I think I'll try and give the series due diligence by at least completing the first series. Thankfully, this is a case where the short runs of British television shows are a blessing, not a curse. Still, if this initial episode is representative of the show as a whole, I'm probably in for a rough time.

Honestly, I feel a bit bad because both Ayoade's and O'Dowd's stars have been on the rise in America lately, at least partially due to their work here... and I just don't see it. But, then again, I just don't see the appeal of Big Bang Theory aside from the occasional one-liner.

And the laugh tracks... honestly, who enjoys being told when to laugh?

Ugh.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and One - Frasier: Season 11, Episode 20, "Finally, after all these years... I guess?"

Usually, when I start a show on Netflix, I go from the beginning and work my way through the series. The only time I generally skip around is when I've recently seen a season and have specific episodes that I want to revisit.

With Frasier, I don't think that's necessary. Frankly, there's not much reason so go back if you watched Frasier over the years. Really, if you've seen one episode, you've pretty much seen them all. The only real progress over the life of the series was Niles' gradual relationship with Daphne.

Sure, if you take the long view, there have been plenty of great episodes... emmy-winning ones, at that, but it's all so much sophisticated sound and fury. They all love each other despite their respective differences in art, entertainment, and animals (Oh, Eddie, how you thwart Frasier's eternal attempts at good Feng Shui) and nothing ever changes.

The only thing I really cared about over the length of the series was Niles and Daphne and them getting together (which took seven freaking seasons, and another three to tie the knot)... then, the only thing that interested me was the possibility of Frasier gaining a lasting relationship.

I was surprised in the final season (eleven) when the writers took a different approach and gave his father, Martin, a second lease on life... giving him a relationship with his sons' former babysitter (and now, vivacious lounge singer) Ronee, who is played by Wendee Malick.

With both Niles and Marty moving on with their lives and only a few more episodes before the series was slated to finished, I was actually expecting the show to end with Frasier riding off into the sunset an eternal bachelor.

And, honestly, I would've been happy with that. He'd have his work, his apartment back to himself, and his family would be taken care of.

Then Laura Linney entered the picture.

It's only on episode 20 of season 11, FOUR EPISODES before the completion of the series... that any serious attempt is made to give Frasier a tenable lovelife. Sure, he meets her (as his freaking matchmaker) in episode 18 and is shown to be smitten with her at the end of the episode... but, really, it's episode 20 that things get both ridiculous and oddly interesting at the same time.

Why? Because not only does he have to make his romantic intentions known, but he has to do so AND beat out the competition. When said competition is a multilingual, devastatingly handsome naturalist who is played by Aaron Eckhart, you'd think things were hopeless.

Now, its obvious from both the placement of this romance towards the end of Frasier's final season and the generally goofy shenanigans that Frasier, Charlotte (Linney), and Frank (Eckhart) go through that Frasier will win the day and the lady, but still... it's an oddly satisfying episode both in terms of tender moments and cheap laughs.

I mean, really, pretty much any time Frank opens his mouth... whether it's to converse in French with a maître d' or ask for a back rub, I can't help but laugh. It silly and pandering, his caricature of the typical Greenpeace hippie, but it works for the sitcom situation.

I also just really, really love Laura Linney. 

Her smile on top of her beauty and personality make her dazzling to my eyes and the way she plays her character feels like a perfect match for Frasier. It would have been nice to meet her quite a bit earlier in the season and have this competition for her affections last longer than a single episode, but I'm pretty darn satisfied with what I've got.

The B and C stories concerning Marty/Ronee and Roz I can just skip over. The best of the episode is all Frasier and Frank. I mean, honestly... "I punched a raccoon in the face" just has to be one of the best lines ever!

Ooo! I should also give a shoutout to the maître d' who is played by Michael Des Barres whom folks might recognize as Murdoc from MacGyver. Always great to see him (he's also been on Gilmore Girls~).

Back to the matter at hand, if you've ever watched Frasier, you know the overall gist of the series. Really, the only reason to go back is to revisit these last few episodes (probably starting with 18). I've watched them so much that I only need to start with 20 (and plan on skipping 22, as it's just a series retrospective episode that has nothing to do with Charlotte).

Overall, it seems that I'm just a sucker for the pretentious snob with a heart of gold getting the girl. I wonder why that is? ;P

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~