Last night was a great night for television, and if you didn’t watch at least one show from the combination of “Community,” “Parks and Recreation,” “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “Archer,” and “Jersey Shore,” then you’re probably visiting the wrong TV blog. Here’s a quick rundown of what I found most buzzworthy:
Parks and Recreation — A flu sweeps Pawnee, sending even the sharpest characters into fever-induced dementia. Rob Lowe’s “Stop. Pooping.” was probably the highlight of the episode.
Archer — I would have liked to have seen Krieger and Cheryl/Carol in the premiere, but there was still plenty to love, including: the farrier/furrier confusion, a pikemen joke, and “the Alabama of Europe.” (Also, for anyone who liked yesterday’s explanation of obscure “Archer” references, you’ll enjoy this discussion on Reddit. Judge Crater and “lampshade hanging” definitely should have made our list, and I liked the clarification on Chekhov’s gun. Bonus: for anyone who thought Quadroon got snubbed, you may enjoy its Wikipedia page.)
The Office — I’ve got video and a GIF of Ricky Gervais’s appearance on the show below. Nothing ground-breaking or all that special, but it’s cute in its own way. By the way, there’s been a lot of talk about how “The Office” went downhill after Michael Schur left to work on “Parks and Rec,” but it’s worth stating that it’s bounced back this season.
[GIFs via the always-great bohemea]
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I know that the, “Oh I forgot, you took gold medal in the Men’s Downhill” was a cheap joke, but I laughed anyway.
“The Office” completely lost its internal logic the moment those two characters met last night. Are we to believe that these two people led parallel lives with practically identical dialogue and strings of occurrences (particularly in the US version’s first and second season)? And if so, is “The Office” entering into science fiction?
All in all, though, as a throwaway scene, I didn’t hate it.
And saying this season has rebounded from the last is like saying my afternoon bout of diarrhea will be less painful than what I experienced this morning. Clearly it’s making me ornery.
I love that Ron and Andy are all BFF now.
And I actually really liked The Office last night. Especially Kelly’s whole bitch branding plan.
I agree with Patty. The whole Ron and Andy bonding afternoon was awesome. MEAT TORNADO!
I was a fan of Ron explaining libertarianism while grilling meat in his office; I think it’s his character in a nutshell.
I thought Archer was solid. Plus, to paraphrase DG’s twitter, HOLYFUCKNEWTEASERFORJUSTIFIED
Im just going to come out and say this. I dont get Community. Not that great.
I’m going to rip your skin off and wear it as pajama’s… Chang was the man last night in Community
I have the strangest desire for a Green Russian right now.
Michael Scott and Holly are the worst couple in the history of TV and hyperbole.
When I saw all the kids holding baseballs at the beginning of the play in Community I thought maybe they were going to find some fun way to play with the Chekhov’s gun trope. Unfortunately, the baseballs were used in exactly the manner which you would expect.
Chang was hilariously creepy as Drugs, but the Dean is obviously the biggest creeper. Furries are the worst. Just the worst.
Burnsy, I do have to agree that Michael and Holly are incredibly annoying together.
But Perfect Couples clearly has the market on terrible couples cornered right now.
Meanwhile, I mistakenly saw the first minute of Outsourced before changing the channel. They started the show with actual fart jokes.
Last night was one of the greatest nights of television in a long time.
@LittleLarrySellers
Its hit and miss. I finally convinced my brother to watch it and it was the worst episode of the season (Troy’s Birthday) so he said it was terrible and he’d never watch again. But when it hits, it hits big.
i’m sorry, archer sucked last night, right? was it just me?
It’s just you, Mubarak. It wasn’t the best episode in the show’s history, but even the snots at the A.V. Club gave it a B. A “B” episode from the funniest show on TV is hardly what I’d call sucking.
definitely was some good television watching. though the 930 to 1032 block was the best by far with parks & rec and archer. 30 rock needs to move to 830 in place of perfect couples and i am not moving from my tv from 8 to 1032.
Best 30 Rock in a long, long time.
I missed Archer and will have to wait for Saturday to DVR it.
It’s that a gif of Ricky Gervais laughing really hard at something he’s said or done? If so, guard it with your life because that’s like a rare coin.
Burnsy, I will see your Michael and Holly and raise you Pam and Jim. You will fold because no couple is worse than Pam and Jim.
The only problem that Archer had last night was a slow start. It just didn’t feel like a “season premiere”. Once it got rolling it got back to great. Plus now whenever Archer does something sweet it’s “totally McQueen”. Love it.
@Trolls: That is the problem with Community. It is not a traditional sitcom in the sense that it doesn’t just take the same characters and put them in zany situations each week without any growth or change. Instead it tries to tell a compelling story, which requires certain episodes to be light on the funny and heavy on character development. Long time fans may not consider these episodes their favorites (I don’t) but we know that it is necessary for a bigger payoff down the road. Unfortunately if you are a potential new fan and this is the first episode you watch all you see is a so-so sitcom with characters you don’t know or care about doing unfunny things.
It is a tricky balancing act between hooking new fans with single serving comedy and satisfying a core fan base that wants narrative progression. I hope Dan Harmon et. al. pull it off.
P.S. Chang as drugs = Awesome. I hope there is a lot more of him now that Hangover 2 is closer to wrapping.
I agree wholeheartedly with Enrico. Pam & Jim are THE worst couple on TV. They’re the main reason I stopped watching “The Office” a few years back. Well that, and the fact that the writing was terrible.
As for “Community” – it is still my favorite show on TV right now, but last night’s episode, while funny, was IMO one of the weaker one’s this season.
Archer last night was worth it just for introducing “Double Dukes” into the lexicon.
i’ll watch it again, i was pretty drunk.
Thanks for bringing this up, Burnsy. I was beginning to think I was the only one. Michael and Holly are the absolute worst. They annoy me to the point of visible anger.
The meaningful stares on 30 Rock were awesome.
Community’s “Dildopolis” was the highlight of the night.