Funny Friday: A Sitcom Roundup

This week:

• How I Met Your Mother
• New Girl
• Modern Family
• The Big Bang Theory
• Up All Night
• The Office
• Parks and Recreation

How I Met Your Mother – “Farhampton”

If you’ve been following my recaps over the past few years, you probably know that I’ve been growing tired of How I Met Your Mother. I don’t know why I keep expecting the show to reignite itself, but for some reason I do. Maybe it’s just because I want to stick around to see how it all ends, so I’m less willing to dump it than I would be another show. Anyway, the season premiere didn’t really do it for me.

Teasing the fact that Barney and Robin will get to a wedding, but not necessarily get married, only made the whole drama of Quinn not knowing about Barney and Robin’s dating history feel irrelevant. I used to actually be invested in Quinn and Barney, but now I just feel like we’re killing time – and aren’t we already doing that with Ted?

What would have been a sweet moment at the end of the episode was kind of ruined for me by Klaus’s terrible German accent. What was he even saying? They threw us a bone with the yellow umbrella, but I wish we knew when that moment was coming. I think that for the series to stay alive, it needs to be this season’s finale. What do you guys think?

Best moment: Barney reciting the entire history of the show at lightning speed was both immensely impressive and a sign that not much has happened on the show in recent years.

New Girl – “Re-Launch”  and “Katie”

Tuesday night is going to be INSANE for comedies once the fall TV season really kicks into high gear. And one of my favorite Tuesday shows is New Girl, so I was glad to have Zooey and the gang back. I mean, weren’t we all wondering what was up with Winston???

I think it’s a really interesting creative decision to start the season with a bombshell in Jess’s life – she’s been laid off. It kind of mirrored the beginning of last season, when we meet Jess as a total mess whose just lost a long term relationship. Now, it’s a different kind of heartache. She’s a character that’s somewhat defined by her profession. She’s great at being a teacher. So to see her lose that is interesting, and I think it’s very appropriate in this economic climate. People in their twenties and early thirties have contract jobs or aren’t tenured or are just lowest on the totem pole at the office, and are first out the door when the going gets tough. It’s definitely something I can relate to, so I think it’ll be an interesting arc to watch play out.

The episodes themselves were very funny. Schmidt was being VERY Schmidty since he was finally getting that, er, groin cast off. Jess was in a hilarious emotional tailspin. Nick cracked me up with the time travel gag. And meeting Winston’s family helped round out that character some more.

Best moment: For Jess, it was yelling out “It’s happening” as she was standing still. For Nick it was his certainty that of the two guys Jess spoke with, Bear Claw would be the one she’s be interested in. For Schmidt it was “Can you believe the zoo wouldn’t let me borrow their white tiger? I mean, the nerve! Philip Seymour Hoffman is going to be sitting at the back of the party thinking, “Look at that guy. He couldn’t even get a big cat.’” For Winston it was…yeah I dunno.

Looking for a review of The Mindy Project? It was posted a couple of weeks ago.

Modern Family – “Bringing Up Baby”

The season premiere picked up right where last season left off – Gloria needed to tell Jay she’s pregnant, Mitch and Cam were crushed after the adoption fell through, and Claire was mad that Haley drank at prom and didn’t try and hide it. The show did a good job of making Gloria’s fear about Jay’s reaction and Mitch and Cam’s sadness and making it funny. I loved how the time jump worked as well. Overall, I thought it was a strong episode to kick off the year and I think this could really freshen up the show for the fourth season.

Best moment: Jay reacting to the news that Cam and Mitch might get a cat with the “love and support” that Claire warned him to have about some “big news” that he was about to get. The way that whole reveal played out was really funny and warm.

The Big Bang Theory – “The Date Night Variable”

I’ve really liked The Big Bang Theory ever since the show expanded Penny’s character and introduced Amy and Bernadette, and I think this episode was a good way of putting the three couplings (plus Raj’s awkward role as the third wheel) on display. Each one is so different, with very specific roles. Comedy wise though, I don’t think this was the strongest episode.

Best Moment: Raj and Stuart hanging out in the comic book store, listening to bossa nova with their “ears and hips”.

Up All Night – “Home/Office”

In reading an interview with the Up All Night showrunners this week, they said the reason they had Ava’s show get cancelled was to be able to focus more on Chris and Reagan’s relationship and get away from half the show feeling like a workplace comedy. I think it’s a good idea for the show, and watching Chris and Reagan have a turf war now that he’s working from the garage was fun. It will be a challenge for the writers to use Ava well as a friend and tap the wealth of Maya Rudolph’s comedic abilities, but I’m confident that this season of Up All Night will be even better than the first.

Best Moment: “Ava, listen to my voice. I am not angry. I am so calm I could host an NPR show.”

The Office – “Roy’s Wedding”

I have a good feeling about this season of The Office; this was another funny episode. We had Nellie’s charity initiative and New Dwight flirting with Erin that led to office shenanigans. Then we had Jim and Pam attending Roy’s surprisingly fancy wedding. Seeing that Roy had turned into a really great dude was an interesting way of building on Pam and Jim’s rut that was highlighted in the premiere, and built on Jim dropping the bomb of the new business.

I didn’t love the tease that Erin might hook up with Young Jim (is that what y’all read there?) because I think the Erin/Andy couple has already gone through too many dramz, and I’m ready for Jim to ‘fess up to Pam. But overall, I thought it was a funny episode.

Best Moment: “When you use a ridiculous font, no one thinks you have a plan.” (Loved the doubling up on font jokes on NBC comedies this week. Papyrus has no place in an office setting, people!)

Parks and Recreation – “Soda Tax”

This week’s episode of Parks was, I think, stronger than last week’s premiere. I liked the three storylines even though they didn’t intersect. Chris training Andy to take the police exam was fun, and the only thing funnier than enthusiastic Chris is depressed Chris. Leslie tackling the issue of obesity in Pawnee and giant soda sizes was the kind of ridiculous Pawnee issue that the show has always done well. I loved watching Ben try and act like a bro to get along with his interns, and while at first I thought drawing the cartoon was a step back in maturity for April, by the end I decided it made sense. April has come a long way, but no one grows up that quickly. It’s normal that she would screw up and do something stupid, but the difference was that she cared when Ben was mad.

Best Moment: “Nooo! I’m never gonna be a cop! I’m gonna have to be a robber.” – Andy

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