COPYCATS

Last week two of the comedy shows stole scenes from Friends (I can't guarantee Friends scriptwriters did not borrow the material from somewhere else, but from what I remember, they mainly stole from themselves). I watched Friends over a billion times, so that could not have gone unnoticed.

Modern Family introduced a male nanny, and not only they repeated all the key features of Sandy from Friends, they also referred to him as "manny" - Chandler used the word, 'cause in Tulsa, where he worked at the time, people had a tendency to merge words. Unlike Sandy, Modern Family's "manny" stayed, even though he predictably made the man of the house feel uncomfortable.

The second scene was in The Big Bang Theory, where Penny, after failing to be romantic, shows Leonard a box where she keeps all the stuff reminding of what he did for her. This was a copy from the episode where Rachel, after being confronted over returning gifts, brought a box with all sorts of crap from dates with Ross, because she's keeping things that matter.

The original was better both times, of course.

COMEDY DIGEST

Comedies. I watch loads of them. I basically hooked up on watching TV series through the comedies, the first sitcom I adored, and still watch reruns whenever they're on, was Friends, of course. You can't possibly imagine how much this series meant to a sociopathic introvert like me. So, since the last seasons of this aired in between Nip/Tuck and 6 Feet Under on our Estonian Kanal2, I started following dramas as well. And now I'm addicted and in big trouble.

Anyway, I can't exactly say the season started very strong comedy wise, it was more giggles than laughter. Modern Family, IMHO, was the best so far, out of the newbies I'll probably rank The New Normal the highest. Go On is good in it's own way, but this show is a freaking roller coaster, it's not meant for unstable people (maybe only if they don't miss out on their dose of Prozac).

I believe by this time all of the shows had references to the upcoming US elections, and the best ones had The New Normal so far, even though it came out like pro-Republican (I like to think of myself as a liberal). The Rafalca moment on 30 Rock would have been better if they didn't go into the detail of how she was answering Jack's questions. They still couldn't possibly beat Colbert, though.

So, let's roll:

The Big Bang Theory 5/10
I watch this one for the sake of old times. It used to be a good show, now I don't know what it is anymore.The first episode of this season was bad, the second surprisingly turned to be pretty good, the third - even worse than the first one. I do not think it was a good idea to send Wolowitz to the ISS or at least they could have thought of something better for that story line than other astronauts bullying him. Penny and Leonard are not exactly "Ross & Rachael", to be honest I care more for Amy and Sheldon's future together. Taking about Sheldon, I can't believe how much this character degraded. I already wrote before and I'll repeat it: Sheldon Cooper is no longer a crazy genius, he's a plain creep talking about the consistency of his poo.

2 Broke Girls 8/10
It's a very entertaining, "light" sitcom that I like a lot. Unfortunately, the characters experience a bit of stagnation, and so does the story overall, but it delivers its special type of humor I expect from them. Every time.

Go On 8/10
This show is the kind you get emotionally attached (kind of like to the group therapy sessions). I didn't like that they brought the ghost/hallucination of Jenny in, it's not exactly a real life experience; yet I cried and laughed. Very hard to judge this one.

The New Normal 9/10
I didn't plan to watch it, I thought it'd be too weird and I didn't see the point to follow another Cam & Mitchell story. However, it turned out to be one of the best this season. Of course, Bryan (Andrew Rannells) is a little behind Cam (Eric Stonestreet) from Modern Family, but he's still adorable (Cam is fabulous, that's the difference). The show is very up to date, which might make it unwatchable for the future generations, but I don't think the creators intended it to be beyond time.

In fact, I think the creators of The Newsroom could try to learn how to address the issues of the modern day, while building an OK background story. Ryan Murphy is amazing, I have no idea how he'll be able to pay attention to all of his projects (there's also Glee and American Horror Story), but I wish him luck.Barkin is great, but then most of the older actors appearing on TV this season are.

The Mindy Project 6/10
This one doesn't have a comprehensive background story, but the jokes are somewhat funny, plus I like the acting of Messina and Barinholtz (Barinholtz's character, Morgan, I also like the best here). I still think that Kaling can't really act, but she writes well, so in the end it comes out watchable.  

New Girl 7/10
New Girl is something I have to watch in a batch of 2-3 episodes in a row, otherwise I spend too much time adjusting to the mood of this show. 1.5 episode in it gets addictive. It's very different from all the other shows and this by itself is the curse as much as the blessing.

Modern Family 10/10
So they're doing it, they're showing the labor scene. Every comedy show comes to that at some point, but I never got what's so funny about it.

There's nothing to say really, except for that it's still great and there'll be more Emmy awards.
"When life gives you lemonade, make lemons. Life will be all, like "What?!!" "

Up All Night 9/10
This show improved and it should be viewed as a documentaries of all newer families (neither newly weds, nor "married, with children"). I like the characters and I totally care for them. Heartwarming.

30 Rock 7/10
Well, they're trying (and I don't mean Liz and her boyfriend trying for a baby, though they are). I'm afraid they've lost the oomph and the creators of the show are tanking 30 Rock just like Lemon and Donaghy are tanking NBC. Yet they got Bryan Cranston to appear as Kenneth's step father.

2 BROKE GIRLS VS PARTNERS

Part 2/2 Broke Girls

Two broke girls are back and rocking! The show has everything a good comedy should have: references to the recent events, like Katie Holmes' divorce, awesome writing (I loved the part on Hollywood brunettes) and great acting by the whole cast.

'this is really insensitive and stuff!"

In season's 2 first episode we finally get to meet Caroline's father, Martin Channing (Steven Weber) in prison. I was actually a little shocked how easily it happened, considering that the whole last season there was always something in the way of us actually seeing him. I guess, they were just searching for an actor that would resemble Douglas's Gordon Gekko from the Walstreet as much as possible.

Martin Channing

Recap (spoilers) : Caroline and Max come to visit Martin right before the start of the auction where all possessions of the Channing family are to be sold. Caroline does not want to go there for obvious reasons, but her father insists that she buys back one of the things there, her trophy. The way he explained Caroline and Max the importance of getting this trophy from the auction no matter what, made Max (and myself; again, great writing!) believe there were money hidden in this cup. So the girls paid 200$ for it on the auction, but there was nothing inside, because apparently, the trophy had only some sentimental value.

So far it's the best comedy episode I've seen this season, and it was very wise for CBS to put 2 Broke Girls after Partners, not before, otherwise the latter would have seemed so much worse.

BOYS OR GIRLS or PARTNERS VS 2 BROKE GIRLS

Part1/Partners

There must be a special place in hell for those who create trailers for movies and TV series, which make the actual movie or series seem hundred times better than they really are. So whoever compiled a trailer for Partners (CBS) is a very evil genius. I remember that day when I watched all premieres' promos and as I came across to this one, I thought: "Hmm, this looks fun, this might be the next best sitcom!". Boy, was I wrong!

Firstly, the tagline for the show is extremely cheesy: 4 friends. 3 couples. I say, why stop here? Can we go with 4 friends. 4 couples? 4 friends. 2 Swedish families? There is definitely room for imagination.

Here they are, four friends, two couples.

Secondly, the creators of the show, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick (Will & Grace) said they took their own relations as a basis for this show. And may I just say that the show looks outdated, which I suspect is because Kohan and Mutchnick looked all the way back to their past for inspiration? I mean, c'mon, Joe's girlfriend is calling him on his office land-line phone? Via secretary? Isn't now the age of the freaking iPhone5? Besides, I don't recall any reference to anything from the modern world, Britney Spears is the most recent celebrity I heard mentioned and let's face it, she's a dinosaur.

So the story is about two architects who try to run a business together, Louis (gay) and Joe (straight, but acts at least as a bi) played by Maxwell Dobak and David Krumholtz respectively. Louis dates a nurse Wyatt (Brandon Routh) and Joe has a girlfriend, Ali (Sophia Bush).

In the first episode Joe looks like a complete jerk, as we learn that because Ali (when drunk) said she wanted to get married, he decided to break up with her. This is what he discusses briefly with Louis, and goes to the jewelry store Ali owns to dump her. But she is happy that her business situation suddenly improved (she says she was afraid to lose her store before, and again, this is so nice of Joe to break up with her at the difficult time like this), so she backs up on the marriage thing. And then Joe proposes to her, but he does not say a word about that to Louis, which is strange, because later we find out he called Louis from Ali's bathroom right after he had sex with her for the first time.

Anyway, due to the lack of information, Louis accidentally reveals to Ali at their yoga class what was the real Joe's plan and finally, Ali realizes what an immature idiot her fiancee is and finding the leftovers of self respect deep inside she calls the wedding off.

What'd she saaay?..

Clearly, the person responsible for this is Joe; he was a jerk. And the adequate reaction to what Louis did would be: "Well, you didn't know. Please help me fix it".  But somehow, Joe decides to blame his friend for the issues with his girlfriend and acts like a hysterical teenage girl saying that the friendship as well as partnership with Louis is over. In the end Louis fixes Joe's relationship with Ali (I am sorry for Ali) and all is fine again.

As I said, the show is completely disconnected from what is happening in the world now and all jokes are about gay people being gay and Jews being Jewish. Sophia Bush is a weird choice, her voice is hard to adjust to. The secretary from the subway platform seems fun, but that's it.

I cannot believe that as all cast and crew got to see the result of their work, no one actually said: "Guys, sorry but it's crap. We can't air it, I can't risk my reputation like that." Apparently, they were all happy with this.

Summary: I'm not watching this again.

Score: 1/10 

UP ALL NIGHT EP. 1 SEASON 2

The last season of Up All Night in my opinion was the only successful attempt to introduce the concept of real modern family without exploiting the gay parenthood topic (there was one episode where we saw a gay couple raising a kid, but from what I understood they weren't doing such a great job). 

Reagan and Chris Brinkley (played by Christina Applegate and Will Arnett) are shown as truly "cool" parents, well educated, initiative, loving and not afraid of letting go and having fun (usually, with the help of alcohol). The elements of the modern type of family are numerous like the fact that Chris is the stay-at-home dad and Reagan is a working mom, that they have weak connections with their other relatives (e.g. Reagan does not really enjoy the company of her mother and clearly has issues with Chris's nanny, whereas Chris can't communicate with his brother in any other way than bragging), even the fact that when baby is born, the lives of parents, though changed, are not over. All of this was new and unusual, and I loved the series for this and for very warm emotions coming from each episode. The acting was also exceptional.

I don't know why would they want to change all of this so dramatically, but the sad truth is that the first episode of the second season of the show was, least to say, disappointing.

Maybe I missed it, but I did not hear explanations why 'Ava Show' got cancelled. What happened with other secondary characters from the last season? And may I say I hate Reagan's brother, Scott, I hated how obvious was the outcome of the episode i.e. that Chris and Scott decided to found a business. Even Reagan and Ava's fight was lame and lacking passion (though Maya Rudolph was phenomenal as usual).

I understand that it's essential to look for new turns, so the show doesn't get boring as the writers get lazy, but even with these new circumstances, the episode was very weak, I'm literally worried.

So creators, pull yourself together, will you?

Score: 4/10

THE MINDY PROJECT: CAN MINDY HAVE IT ALL?

I'm all for talented people exploring other ways of expressing themselves, but the sad truth is that if you are a witty writer, it does not necessarily mean you can be a great comedy actress as well. This is the issue with The Mindy Project (Fox): the dialogues and jokes are rather funny, and Mindy Kaling must be great at writing, but she is not Tina Fey she's often compared to; that is because Tina can really act and her Liz Lemon does not look like a secondary character even as she's standing next to brilliant Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock. Mindy unfortunately has acting talent of John Stewart (i.e. close to none), so the sooner she realizes that and focuses on what she can actually do well, the better.

The main character of the story is Mindy Lahiri an OB/GYN doctor who was (still is) obsessed with romantic movies as she was growing up, and has not realized yet that what happens in real life is different from what scriptwriters have in their beautiful minds. This naturally leaves her being a mess with troubled love life and a drinking problem. She tries to become more organized, focused and vegetarian, but from what I've seen so far, it won't be an easy task.

Everybody, meet Mindy Lahiri!

Most of the secondary characters are boring and their only task is to fetch out Mindy's personality. Except for maybe Danny Castellano (Chris Messina), at least he seems to have more lines than the others.

To sum up, this could have been a good show, if Kaling got someone else to play the part. On the other hand, comedy premiers this Fall are somewhat dull, so if we isolate it from Modern Family, Up All Night, Don't Trust the B-- from Ap. 23 and even 2 Broke Girls, which will return on TV shortly, it's really not that bad: there are a few jokes you can giggle at.

Score: 5/10

(MY HEART WILL) GO ON

Matthew Perry always seemed a whiteface clown to me; there's so much tragedy behind all his characters that feel like reflections of the same person. He has exceptional comedy talent and it's the type of power you have to decide, if you want to use for good or evil.

I must admit, I am the crier. But up to this point I have not seen a trailer that would make me tear up. There, I said it, I cried as I watched the trailer and then as I watched the pilot of new NBC sitcom (created by Scott Silveri) called Go On. This show is SO SAD. I understand it's aimed at showing people with personal tragedies that there's a way to handle this and go on with their lives, but I'm afraid for unstable people, who skipped antidepressants for a day, watching this may end unfortunately.

So the story is about a sportscaster, Ryan King, whose wife recently died in a car accident. He wants to return to work, but his boss insists he goes to ten therapy sessions first.

Ryan King being sad

I can't really say that the script is exceptional, there are drawbacks in how some of the happenings scripted and directed, for example, Ryan's meltdown seems artificial (I understand they tried to make it funny, but it looked unnatural). Some jokes are predictable, like sympathy-birthday cake part, so it's mainly cast and characters that make this show watchable, i.e. it's how they speak, rather than what they say that makes you laugh and how they act rather than what they do. Facial expressions, tone, moves - this cast is awesome at this!

I love this creepy guy! (Brett Gelman as Mr. K)

Laura Benanti as Lauren Schneider

All in all, I admire Perry's acting talent but I need the right mood to be able to watch this. This will probably have higher than usual critical reception due to the topic, but I'm worried about the actual ratings. As I said, this is just so sad...

Score: 8/10