Yes, I Like to Watch TV

As I sit here not studying for Footdick and instead watch "30 Rock" online, I suppose I should address the show as I did not with my other TV posts. I very much enjoy "30 Rock". Three months ago, I did not. I tried to watch some "30 Rock" in like season 2, and I was just not enjoying it. It was billed as the next "Arrested Development", which to me is like saying Fall Out Boy are the next Beatles. However, I can admit that I was wrong, and "30 Rock" is indeed, a good show. Rull funny.

I've been wrong about shows before. I HATED "Parks and Recreation" at first and it is now my favorite show "on" TV (BACK JANUARY 20!!!). Based off the commercials, I thought "My Name is Earl" was going to be horrible but I did very much enjoy it throughout its airing. I didn't watch "Chuck" at first because I thought it looked stupid, I was wrong there. Also the first promo for "Community" I saw was discouraging, but I'm glad I've watched that since the beginning. As of non-NBC shows, I wasn't a fan of "Cougar Town" until I watched it a bit more this season, much better than what I saw last year.

So even though I didn't do posts on all the shows I watch, nor did I talk about the shows no longer on like I planned, here is a list of shows that I suggest watching

Current

• How I Met Your Mother
• Chuck
• Modern Family
• Cougar Town
• The Middle
• South Park
• Tosh.0
• Futurama
• Psych
• Community
• 30 Rock
• The Office
• Parks and Recreation
• The Big Bang Theory
• Mad Men
• Breaking Bad
• The Walking Dead
• Weeds
• Dexter

Former Shows

• Arrested Development
• Scrubs
• Andy Richter Controls the Universe
• Titus
• Better Off Ted
• Seinfeld
• Malcolm in the Middle
• My Name is Earl
• Freaks and Geeks
• Undeclared
• Arrested Development

The Best Show You Didn't Watch

Though this post will be mostly about "Better Off Ted" (as pictured above), I do want to give "Scrubs (Med)" a mention as well. Last Tuesday was the final scheduled airing of both shows on ABC. Both were not expected to be back this year, but ABC chose to give them both 13 episodes and another shot, which was amazing for me. Unfortunately the shows continued to draw very low ratings, and not so amazing for me it seems that they are both done.

So first, "Scrubs" and its new format for season 9. The first couple of episodes weren't too great, featuring only a few funny moments. This did not last, as the most recent couple episodes have been, in my mind, very good. There are a couple reasons for why this happened. The first is that the show had a mostly new cast, and time was needed to introduce the new characters which took away from what the show could do.

This was met with the second thing that didn't work, and that was Zach Braff on the show as J.D.. He appeared in 6 episodes, and most of the ones he was in were the bad ones. This was largely due to the fact that they focused too much on him, and not enough of the new characters, who were the new stars. With that they also had him doing too much narration along with Lucy's narration. I think it would have worked if it was shifted either one way or the other, and I'd really prefer that Lucy had taken over.

But when those issues were not being presented, the show worked very well. Lucy wasn't the most enjoyable character in that I didn't care about her perspective as opposed to when the show first started and J.D.'s perspective is what made the show great. I guess this had a lot to do with not wanting to repeat the same things, but oh well. Drew was a great character who became much funnier as it went on. Dr. Cox wasn't as funny this time around, but still great as always. Turk was kind of annoying, but nice to have still. Denise was a nice choice to bring back from season 8, and provided a lot of great jokes.

Then there was Cole. Originally, I hated him. He was douchey, annoying, and a real turn off. Then....he grew on me. Suddenly his doucheyness wasn't a bad thing, but a great and hysterical thing. He quickly became the funniest thing on the show by far, and he is what I'll miss most afterwards.

A couple other quick thoughts:

• Nice to see plenty of Dr. Kelso, Elliot and The Todd
• Only one appearance by Jordan and The Janitor, but great none the less
• No Carla? I think Judy Reyes was pregnant so appearing on the show wasn't really too high on her to do list I imagine. Would have been nice to see her again though

Oh yeah...Better Off Ted

Well, this was one of the funniest shows in a long time, and if you didn't watch it you missed out. Pretty much it was "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" 2.0, and failed the same way. The show was outrageous in that it was clearly unbelievable, but that's what made it great.

Light sensors that can't see black people? Golden. Medieval fight club? Golden. Arguing over if you can harm a baby ("they're not indestructible")? Golden. Mordor the magician? Golden. An army general with a man crush? Golden. Putting children to work in the day care service? Golden.

I didn't even mention the pure genius that was Phil and Lem, the lab guys (pictured above long ago testing pepper spray). I'd watch them as a show (webisodes maybe?) any time, they did nothing but make me crack up. Some of the best things they created in the lab....

• Projected noise that can be targeted...and make people puke when used at full capacity (and not to be called "The Voice of God")
• Cleaning a coffee mug with hydrochloric acid (because soap leave a film)
• Buying a family of robots (but not the grandparents)
• Perfect bagels (that don't expand in your throat to kill the person eating them)
• An energy patch that looks exactly like a Band-Aid
• Throwing needles into the ceiling to see whose sticks the longest ("it's gotta stay in for at least a minutes, same rules as losing your virginity")
• A half organic computer that leaks acid-goo, or "ass-goo" for short, but can be fixed with an acid interface, or "ass-face" for short.

All in all, I hope they air the final two episodes at some point. The first season is on DVD, so when the second season comes out I'll get to see them then. The show was hilarious, and is online, so check it out. Even though it's too little, too late, it's worth enjoying while you can.

Scrubs [Med]

Scrubs returned tonight, and I'm not yet sure how I feel about it. I liked it for the most part, but I am without question biased. While the first two episodes were quite funny at times (whenever the Todd or Dr. Kelso spoke, for example), they seemed mostly uncomfortable. I'm giving them a pass, as the show does have the very difficult task of making the transition.

• I like Lucy so far, but I don't want a new hybrid of young JD and Elliot.
• Elliot is preggerz with JD's baby, all is good in my book.
• So the old hospital is gone and relocated to the med-school campus....I can buy that. Only thing that troubles me is that the med students seem too much like previous interns and residents. I thought I had a general understanding of the medical hierarchy after 8 years of Scrubs, but I guess not.
• Dr. Beardface and Snoop Dogg attending?!?! I think so. We're a Mickhead and Colonel Doctor away from the C-Team reunion
• I hope more of the B-Team is back besides The Todd (though he is my favorite). Specifically, Doug, Ted, and Jordan. I was never crazy about Lloyd (the delivery guy) because he replaced Doug in the Brain Trust

Like I said, looking forward to next week's episode (and the return of Better Off Ted!!!) as I hope it starts to come together more.

I was going to link two of my first posts on this, which were dedicated to the series as a whole then also "My Finale", but I cannot copy and paste on this thing for some reason.

Google "What's Alan Watching" (also linked in the top corner) and read his thoughts on the episode. He gets paid to do this, so go with his feelings over mine

Scrubs, Season "9"/"The Next Generation"

For anyone wondering about the future of Scrubs this winter on ABC, Allen Sepinwall of the Star Ledger posted his thoughts and transcript from his interview with creator, Bill Lawrence.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/08/scrubs-creator-previews-next-season.html

I can give my thoughts on it now, but its still early.

So I guess you should disregard my last post

So it seems Scrubs is back next year, and I dont know how I feel about this. However, I am very happy to see Better Off Ted is back as well.

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/05/scrubs-renewed.html

My Thoughts on "My Finale"

As if fate dictated it, Scrubs came to an end at the same time as my sophomore year. I’m writing this in my now empty apartment (Romo! Rob! Deeg!) and it only seems appropriate to talk about the finale of Scrubs, and its comparison to other finales that have had an impact on me.

As I said, Scrubs was very important to me, so its ending was a significant event to me. “My Finale” was not the greatest episode of the series or even of the season. I say that because it wasn’t as funny as others, nor was it as dramatic as other great ones. Despite this, it falls into its own category of greatness. While not especially dramatic, I found it to be very powerful in that it really made me feel exactly what JD was feeling. I didnt cry, and not just because Rob and Tony were in the room, but mostly because it wasnt sad, just emotional. Watching JD walk down the hall and see all the faces he remembered, I was seeing all the faces I too remembered. That scene ranks right up there with Ben’s funeral, Dr. Cox losing it in “My Lunch”, any of Turk’s dances, or any of Todd’s High Fives.

That hall scene featured characters that I LOVED, and was so happy they brought back for the final episode. I think that’s important to a series finale in that it gives the viewers a trip down memory lane (in this case, literally), and it’s also a good way to give those forgotten about side characters one last moment in the show’s history.

Characters I particularly loved to see that one last time were: Dr. Wen, The Todd, Ted’s Band, Rex, Cabbage, Lonnie (who hates JD, HAHAHAHA), TCW, Randall, Troy, Dr. Mickhead (He did kill her!), Snoop Dogg Attending with Gloria, Leonard (you know, the guy with the really big afro), Lloyd, Colonel Dr, Dr. Beardface, Laverne, My Old Lady….and as much as it pains me to say it….Keith Doodmeister. I know there were others there (Jill, handsome OBGY, Druggy ex from season one), but those mentioned above I was so glad to see again. Notably absent: Doug, who I wish was used more throughout the shows later years for he was one of my favorite characters in the show.

Oh, and Hooch IS crazy

It ended appropriately, both tying up loose ends and leaving possibilities. Overall, it was probably my favorite finale of a show, but just in case I’ll compare it to the endings of other shows that were important to me.

Arrested Development: “Development Arrested” was probably one of the funniest episodes of the series. It ended the show properly, was HILARIOUS, and even left the possibility of a upcoming movie. The dealing with Annyong was such a good set up, 2 years in the making. It just sucked that it had to be the end of the series.

Friends: I didn’t like the ending. Not only was the show no longer funny, but I just didn’t like how all of a sudden Ross had feelings for Rachel again. Best part was Gunther confessing his love for Rachel.

Everybody Loves Raymond: I like how they succeeded in ending the show how they wanted to, just a normal episode. I liked the whole family together for lunch at the end of the show, great way to go out.

Freaks and Geeks: even though I only watched the show in DVD, it had a great ending to a great show. They knew the end was near, and they did a great job of ending the show while still leaving possibilities for more if it was picked up. Lindsay running off with Kim was a great ending

Undeclared: another one watched mostly on DVD, though I did watch it for a while when it was on the air. I liked the ending, despite the main cast not really being in much of the plot. Once again, they were basically cancelled and unlikely to get renewed after one year, so an ending was needed. I liked the whole gang, Hal, and other side players of the show being in the room at once at the end.

Futurama: though the show didn’t end properly, the 4 movies (16 episodes) have done a great job to continue and wrap things up. The final movie was very funny, and did a great job to at one point get “every Futurama character ever” in a series of shots. It ended appropriately, setting up a future.

There have been others, but they either weren’t worth talking about, or were cancelled and never really ended (Andy Richter Controls the Universe). Scrubs was probably the best, followed by Arrested and Freaks and Geeks. I’m biased, but hey, it’s my blog.
Yours Truly,
-Glen Matthews….Or Tony….

My Feelings on Scrubs

So 8 years later, it looks like (but not for sure) Scrubs will be coming to an end on Wednesday night. The only reason I made this was for this specific post so I could say what I have and haven’t liked about the show over the years. Scrubs is my second favorite TV show of all time (behind Arrested Development and ahead of Psych), and its coming to an end is pretty significant to me. The first episode I saw was “My New Coat” (5th episode of season 2, 29th overall) in October of 2002. Since then, there have only been a small handful of episodes I didn’t see in their first airing. While (especially recently) there have been episodes I’ve not liked, I had a very difficult time narrowing my list of my favorite ten of all time. I lumped 2-parters together to showcase more episodes and didn’t include season 8, which I’ve only seen the episodes once.

10: “My Own Personal Jesus” (season one) The first Christmas episode, and I think one of the funniest of the series. It’s hard to resist a Christmas episode ending with JD’s terrible attempt to quote Tiny Tim after an eventful Christmas Eve.

9: “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (season three) Turk ruins his own wedding by being late and going to the wrong church, Ted’s band never gets singing right at the wedding, The Todd has a removable sleeves on his tux, and the first reference to Turk claiming he saw a mermaid once.

8: “My Old Lady” (season one) The first “serious” episode, resulting in all three new doctors losing patients they had grown close to. Not much to say about it besides it was a good way to show that not only the characters lives, but the show itself wasn’t going to be all fun and games.

7: “My Big Brother” (season two) I like most of the episodes with JD’s brother, Dan, and this is in my opinion the funniest (although Captain Bubble Beard in “My Cake” makes a good case). I love Dr. Kelso dressing up as a gorilla on Halloween to mess with employees, and how JD thinks it is the Janitor, an accusation that backfires right away.

6: “My Way Home” (season five) The 100th episode and first directed by Zach Braff. The extended version of it is longer and funnier, but the aired one is still very funny. The episode does a perfect job of paralleling “The Wizard of Oz”, from The Janitor saying “oil can”, to JD carrying Toto on his iPod, to the overall stories of who was looking for what to help them. Also the Todd saying how at the zoo he say “Lions and tigers and bears”, adding “oh my” as he sees a hot girl in the hospital.

5: “My Occurrence/My Hero” (season one) The first episodes that feature Jordan’s brother, Ben, played by Brendan Frasier. The first part is not only funny, but very very sad, and still chokes me up every time I watch it. I like how you are hit with a powerful bombshell of reality at the end, leading to the second part which shows Dr. Cox as very vulnerable when dealing with death on a personal level

4: “His Story II” (season three) The episode narrated by Turk, and I think by far of the My/Their Story episodes. Turk is hilarious as the narrator, commenting on Elliot’s ass and his new boss’ feet. The episode starts out great with Carla in his head not making him his grilled cheese sandwich and ends better with JD and Elliot hooking up (until stupid Shawn comes and ruins everything again).

3: “My Lunch/My Fallen Idol” (season five) Both episodes do a great job of showcasing how Dr. Cox can go from high to low instantaneously. His freak out to the Fray’s “Save a Life” at the end of the first part is one of my favorite moments ever on the show, and the second part does a great job of showing the mutual respect JD and Dr. Cox have for each other, even if they don’t necessarily show it.

2: “My Catalyst/My Porcelain God” (season three) These two feature Michael J. Fox, who I feel was the best guest star on the show. I like how his greatness rips JD, Turk and Dr. Cox to their core as they lose all their confidence, only to feel bad when they see Dr. Casey lose it himself. The second part features the roof toilet (“I’m sorry, you say that as if it is a normal thing”), one of the funniest/most genius jokes in the series.

1: “My Screw Up” (season three) Brendan Frasier returns as Ben in what is to me, by far the best episode in the shows history. I used to watch it over and over again to try to pick up when in it Ben dies (its after Dr. Cox leaves early one if you didn’t know), and every time they reveal that they are at his funeral I get choked up. The first time I watched his one on DVD was about a year and a half after it aired, and I was completely caught off guard when the reveal happened because I had forgotten completely. And, while incredibly emotional, the episode is still very funny. I always love JD’s shower shorts (with complimentary shower wallet), Turk being called a Butt-Face with his upcoming mole removal, and Ted dealing with a potential loss of member of the Worthless Peons

To contrast, here are some things about the show that I really didn’t like
· The Janitor’s name handling: I LOVE how we don’t know his name, but I really wish they had stuck with the first season and a half mentality that only JD didn’t know his name. I don’t like how it is constantly referenced by everyone (Dr. Cox, Turk, Carla, Courtney Cox’s character) they no one knows his name, and I wish they had basically kept it as everyone except JD knew it (but still without revealing it) so JD would feel left out but not bring it up out of shame
· The Janitor after season four: along with the show, the joke went downhill. I really liked it when he harassed primarily JD, and after season four a lot of his antics (pretending to the chief of medicine with everyone’s approval) became just stupid. I would have liked it if he was still seen as the bottom of the barrel and not respected (but feared) by others.
· Admissions by Kelso, Dr. Beardface, and Snoop Dogg Attending that they had slept with nurse Roberts: Lavern was very religious and married, so having these jokes (that just weren’t funny but stupid) kind of ruined one of her strong suits even after she died.

And I’ll finally end this with some quotes from the show that I’ve particularly enjoyed:

· JD: have you been drinking.
Janitor: I’m not drunk

· Janitor: it’s funny I want to go down there and crack him over the head but I’m so drunk right now I know if I move an inch I’ll pass out

· JD [after examining janitors penis]: it looks benign
Janitor: ehh, ‘bout 9, 9 and a half

· Todd: well if your expectations are low, we should have sex