We are not kidding when we put up spoilers warnings. Because of the strenuous task of editing I now know the secrets that Dollhouse contains (hint: tiny people!). So, if you see one you want to avoid, scroll like the dickens.
But really, doesn’t it seem sort of ridiculous that it’s nearly mid-January of 2010 and some shows are STILL on break. You’re not fooling anyone, Liberal Hollywood Elite. While the rest of us are snowed in, huddled around our BluRay’s and computers, desperately seeking entertainment, you’re all in Maui plotting secret agendas and drinking a lot. NOT COOL.
Fortunately, some shows were back this week, so here’s what we thought of ‘em–you tell us what you thought in the comments!
Scott
Modern Family: “Up All Night”
It wasn’t until Modern Family took its first vacation around Thanksgiving that I realized just how much I’ve come to love this silly little show. I welcome breaks on high-concept dramas so I can absorb their increasingly challenging plot development (see below). But great comedies have a way of working themselves into our lives, and when they’re gone for a while it’s like missing a friend. Excuse me while I feed my 18 cats.
OK, I’m back. I greeted this week’s Modern Family with good cheer. Ty Burrell’s Phil continues to become one of TV’s funniest comic creations since Steve Carrell’s Michael Scott, getting his biggest laughs this week as he seeks to reassure his children that he’ll recover from a kidney stone while shouting things like “Death! It’s gotta be death!” I also loved Benjamin Bratt’s guest spot as Manny’s dashing deadbeat dad. Has any first season sitcom ever had this many A-list guests?
Dollhouse: “Getting Closer”
This week, Dollhouse delivered the kind of episode that would’ve stunned the nation if anyone was still (or ever, really) watching, a shocker on par with Lost’s classic “Two For The Road” (the one where Michael kills Ana Lucia and Libby) filled with heart-tugging character development, astonishing deception, sudden deaths and game-changing reveals. *SPOILERS THAT WILL FOREVER DESTROY YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS SHOW AHEAD* I confess that I’ve taken Dollhouse’s unexpected plot turns at face value; since the show seemed doomed from the start I never devoted the same mental energy to its twists that I did to a zeitgeist-capturing phenomenon like Lost that I knew would have a dependable moneyman around to back its wild imagination. But even without a close reading of everything that’s happened in Dollhouse, the reveal of Boyd as not just this season’s big bad, but the whole freakin’ series’ big bad, packed a punch. How is this possible? Have we been played by him from day one? If he’s the guy behind Rossum, are the Dollhouse’s methods not as sinister as we thought? Is he an active himself programmed by a system that’s become self-aware? At least we won’t have to wait long to find out: only two episodes left before Dollhouse goes to The Attic (see what I did there?).
Dennis
Better Off Ted: “Change We Can’t Believe In” and “Beating a Dead Workforce”
Two more new episodes, and two more reminders for me to be sad that this show might be done soon enough. Portia de Rossi and Andrea Anders are still neck-and-neck for favorite person on this show. Anders made a solid contribution with this quote: “Did you hear the latest office gossip? Ryan the security guard quit his job because you’re a giant douchemobile. That’s right, you’re a douche on wheels. Or perhaps a decorative sculpture hanging above a baby douche’s crib. The gossip didn’t specify.” But then de Rossi sang “I Got You Babe” in the first episode, and “Never Gonna Give You Up” in the second. De Rossi win’s this week!
Oh, and I sort of feel bad for the show’s recurring cast member Merrin Dungey. First they kill her character on Alias, then they kill her character’s doppelganger on Alias, then she has to play parental figure number 4 to Jesse McCartney and Zac Efron on Summerland, then she gets recast out of Private Practice, and now she’s on this barely on life support show. Girl can’t catch a break.
Modern Family: “Up All Night”
True confession: I don’t love this show as much as a lot of people do. It’s like my fifth or sixth favorite comedy on the air right now (after 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Better Off Ted, Community, and maybe The New Adventures of Old Christine if I ever remember to watch it again), but I have to commend it for really growing into a good show. Some have called it the best comedy of the year, and some overzealous folk called it one of the best shows of the decade event though it only aired for like 4 months of the aughts), and while I obviously wouldn’t agree, I do declare it the best family comedy in a really long time! Sure, it’s like one of the only family shows to come along in awhile, but for anyone who’s ever had to endure through an According to Jim episode, it’s praise nonetheless. My favorite scene in this week’s episode was Cam subjecting baby Lily to Scarface. Even if promos for the show did give it away, it still made me chuckle.
Cougar Town: “Rhino Skin”
It’s been a big week for guest stars on ABC shows. Modern Family had Benjamin Bratt. The Middle had Brooke Shields (which I missed it when I aired earlier in the week, and ABC doesn’t put episodes for the show online. Seriously, networks still do that?). And this show had Lisa Kudrow and Scott Foley. (Next week it’s NBC’s turn: James Franco on 30 Rock, Jack Black on Community, Will Arnett on Parks and Recreation. What, they couldn’t get Emily Blunt to do The Office.
It was nice to see Kudrow reunite with her old (groan) Friend Courtney Cox. At least, better than that time Jennifer Aniston showed up on Dirt, and she and Courtney made out for no apparent reason. Even more so, I’m really enjoying Foley’s arc as Jules’ boyfriend. I’m always happy to see any Felicity alum (Cougar co-star Ian Gomez being another one), but more than that, his character is a nice grounding force for Cox’s usually high-strung hot mom. Can’t they just make him a regular? I know the partial premise of this show is for Jules to go from younger man to younger man, but this one works.
Dollhouse: “Getting Closer”
If only I were as interested in Summer Glau as Joss Whedon seems to be. We spend a chunk of this episode tolerating her, her looks, her limited acting range, and in flashbacks, her stupid glasses (so that she can receive a She’s All That-style makeover, naturally). Still, maybe this has always been the weak point of Dollhouse. Whedon seems way more invested in some of his characters (star Eliza Dushku’s Echo primarily, though also irksome geeky mouthpiece Topher), while some of the actually engrossing ones, like Victor and Sierra are often marginalized, as they are in this episode. I have heard some say that the show is finally hitting its stride just it has been cancelled. I don’t quite buy that. It started to get good at the end of last season with the threat of cancellation looming and upon its miraculous renewal, it languished for the start of this season too. I fear if the it hadn’t been evident to Whedon that the end was near, we’d still be getting subjected to Echo’s doll-of-the-week storylines. If getting axed is what it takes to get this show back to the future we glimpsed in the DVD/iTunes-only episode “Epitaph One,” then I say bring it on.
Zoe
Friday Night Lights: “The Toiler Bowl”
Yay, my favorite show is back! Boo, it was a weak episode. Not the worst, but just sort of there–little momentum, little development (either of plot or characters). Just something pleasant and, because it’s Friday Night Lights, something beautiful as well.
That said, as always, there were touches I liked. One of my Christmas presents was the Friday Night Lights book and while the book v. TV show discussion is both length and inappropriate here, there was a larger emphasis on the fact that, football might make you a star for a little while, but it was never going to help you all that much. Despite this spinning wheels and despite some plots coming up that could go really bad, I like what they’re doing with Riggins. This season has been about that aspect if the book, in a lot of ways. He won a State Championship, but he can’t even get a job at Sears. The futility of sports expressed perfectly by a few shots of the now-useless championship ring.
Ellen
Shark Tank
Even during a recession, American ingenuity continues to blossom like a thousand deeply weird flowers. I’m going to take a page from Dennis’ playbook from last week and highlight a show a network is desperately trying to kill for no good reason, but that may make America feel better about its current troubles — a Mark Burnett-produced reality outing based on a Japanese game show. ABC may be trying to desperately burn off its two remaining episodes of Shark Tank on Friday nights, but this is must-see TV because of the breadth of the ideas presented. As entrepreneurs present their often pointless inventions to one of five millionaire “sharks” who will decide whether to invest real money in them, you’ll find yourself rooting for a contestant in a reality show again, even if it’s some dude named Marix who makes 3-D motorcycle helmets. A second season looks grim so enjoy the blood in the water while it lasts.