CBS

5 seasons in, HIMYM continually ranks among the best comedies on TV.  This epsiode was filled with hilarious Canadian jokes (which seem to be an endless well of gags for the writing team) and a great Marshall & Ted b-story.  After last week’s lacklustre episode, it was great to get a classic.  Who doesn’t have stories of crazy roadtrips with friends.  And believe it or not, I had one with a friend who had to hit the bathroom every 5 minutes just like Lily.  It had me in hysterics.  Plus, we saw the return of the Hoser Hut, which is always ripe with inside jokes.

Speaking of the Hoser Hut, I was wondering if there was a Canadian affialiated Pub/Bar in New York City…A lot of places say no.  But, they’d be wrong.  There’s even a Canadian Association of NYC.  This week in the Hoser Hut, we spotted a framed Paul Shaffer picture on the wall, The Queen behind the bar, and lots of Labbats Blue promotion everywhere.

Of course, despite the fact that it was Tim Hortons recent venture into New York certainly that brought upon its inclusion in the epsiode, it was written in so well that it didn’t feel like overt advertising.  At least I don’t have to hear about a Toyota Barneyism.  Product placement isn’t anything new, but finding creative and seamless ways to tie the product into the show is crucial.

It seems the new trend in TV these days is not to prolong the growth of characters too long.  Whether it’s on a show like The Office which developed the Pam & Jim story relatively early on in the show’s lifecycle to Scrubs’ complete shift from its previous 8 seasons, How I Met Your Mother is following a more realistic (and welcome) trend in TV.  It’s nice to see the characters evolve and grow into their 30s more naturally.  Sure they have their crazy adventures, but they seem rooted in their new circumstances.

• Robin and Barney in a committed relationship
• Ted as a professor
• Marshall becoming a “We”

The group is always changing their dynamic and I think that bodes well for the show’s prospects.  It’s much easier to write 20+ episodes a year when you have constantly changing relationships and character devlopment.

Spoonfuls (Thoughts in Smaller Portions):

1. Canadian Research
From Bryan Adams, to Canadian Curling uniforms, and even hockey rivalries, the crack staff at HIMYM are always on top of things.  It’s also nice to see that colourful currency on TV.  Barney says it best, when seeing the kids playing hockey on the back of the five dollar bill (which is real btw), “It’s like you want us to make fun of you!”

2. Barney Grows Up..a little
“You don’t want her, I’m planting my flag in her.” So Barney shows he cares and is hilarious.

3. Ted is the Dog
When Marshall and Ted makeup, the scene they are listening to compares Ted to the dog in the family.  I guess right now he kinda fits that role.

Any great moments we missed?  Let your voice be heard in the comments and check back again next week for another insallment.

ABC

If you didn’t see Modern Family last night and you’re reading this review of the episode, stop.  Go watch it, then come back.  This show is officially my favourite new comedy of the year.  And, it’s all because of one scene.  Seriously, if you didn’t see it, go watch it now.  The rest of you, follow me.

The Lion King scene was far and away the best comedic scene of the season.  Of course, it’s the first few weeks of the season and with more comedy on TV this year, I could be wrong.  But I’m not.  I didn’t see it coming, and it was fabulous.

I thought I was over the mockumentry style (Thanks for overdoing it NBC!), but I was wrong.  I think being les overtly mockumentary-ish was the best way to avoid the pitfalls of the genre.  It feels like a modern sitcom, not an American version of a Ricky Gervais idea.  I don’t know how long this show can keep up its momentum, but based on this episode, I’ve picked this show to be a lock for next year.

First episodes always have a lot of work cut out for them in introducing every character.  It sometimes leads to a disjointed feeling in the show and a less than stellar episode.  But, even with a pretty large cast (3 families of at least 3 members each), the fact that they are all related really brought the show together.  The casting has a lot to do with this with everyone from Al Bundy himself to Julie Bowen (Ed, Boston Legal, and filled out with comedic regulars Sophia Vergara (The Knights of Prosperity, Hot Properties), Ty Burrell (Back To You, Out Of Practice) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (The Class).

I hope when Better Off Ted returns, it’s paired with this show because they seem to be matched perfectly.  ABC really has a great night of comedy (except for Hank which can’t seem to buy a well written episode) on its hands.

Spoonfuls (Thoughts in Smaller Portions):

1. Watch out for the kid
Manny seems like he’s going to be an unexpected source of comedy on the show.  Already he’s shown his comedic timing and I think they should use him as much as possible.  He’s a great addition.

2. The Gay Couple
Sorry, but The Lion King scene is so funny that I can’t help but refer back to it.  Cameron is the dynamic boyfriend and like Manny stole the limelight from the more well known actor in the scene.

Good shows have great moments.  Let’s see how this fares in the coming weeks.  What did you think of the show?

CBS

I’m sure there are those on both sides of the Stella-Ted debate, but whether you think the relationship is good or bad, you have to admit that Stella fits into the show so naturally, it almost feels like there’s no guest star at all.  Recently, the HIMYM team has been throwing Stella negatives to the forefront for the obvious removal of her character from the show, which sucks.  I was hoping she’d stick around somehow and maybe she will..

But, then again she won’t.  Considering the fact that they basically killed off her character tonight by leaving the wedding with Tony (aka Jason Jones from the Daily Show), it’s likely we won’t see Stella again.  It’s like they wrote a completely different character for post-engagement Stella this season.

The chemistry last season at the doctor’s office was brilliant and really showed off Sarah Chalke’s abilities.  I mean, playing almost the exact same character in two shows while maintaining completely separate personalities made me respect her talent quite a bit.  But this whole season she seemed to turn into an annoyance which turned the focus off Ted & Stella.  The obvious blonde kids moment was a hilarious HIMYM moment that said a big message to all of those Stella-backers (us included), that we were wrong.  I’m fine with that. I honestly don’t care who the mother is, because it’s all the more fun to keep guessing–it’s part of the fun of being a fan.

One last thing about Stella…she balanced out the male-female ratio on the show and I’m hammering the point once more that she should have been a regular cause she’s awesome.  Anyway, the whole Stella-bomb ended up reviving the Ted-Robin relationship which I definitely did not think was going to be reintroduced this soon.  With Barney pining after Robin, it seemed that Ted would get at least a season without Robin in the mix.

And speaking of Robin, is it just me or are they having her do the craziest stuff?  I think it goes by unnoticed for the most part because the show overall is pretty normal.  It’s quirky yes, but still based in a real world.  But Robin…man she just can’t catch a break.  Licking envelopes, riding a children’s bike from New Jersey to New York, and getting fanned and marshmellowed in Japan.  And that’s just recently.  I don’t think it’s a bad thing for the show, in fact, sometimes it’s hilarious, but poor Robin.

Barney’s back.  Two weeks in a row with the classic Barney character.  I loved the way they did the math scene like all the formulaic drama’s on TV.  Here are some of the great things you probably missed from that scene:

ez =(gin+tonic)
relationships=freeway
the hot crazy scale was back
suit ^ (an arrow up)
square root of 4,761  = 69
desperation-judgement=success

And then there’s a list:

- Last person alive
- For $1,000,000
– In a million years
- If on deserted island
- For all the tears (not sure about this one)

It was great and I actually thought it could have been used on a episode more focused upon it rather than the wedding of Ted.  Barneyisms are always deserving of focus and this one was no exception.

One thing I didn’t get..what were Barney, Marshall, and Lily competing to say first in the car..”ditch stop”?

So what to look forward to next week?  Robin’s back in New York for good. There’s definitely going to be a love triangle involving the three single characters, and the move Down Wind of the Sewage Treatment Plant…can’t wait.

Spoonfuls (Thoughts in Smaller Portions):

1. Recycling is a hopless cause (and more Barney moments)
That was one the smaller ones of the night–did you catch it?  We also got Barney planning a bachelor party for Ted despite the fact that Ted won’t be there.  We never did see that party or hear any mention of it afterwards. I’ll touch on the big one in another spoonful.

2. Line of the night
Upon arriving at the Namaste resort, Mashall remarks, “I’m Namaste-ing here any longer than I have to”. Oh and Vegan-Non Alcoholic Wedding?  Awesome.

3.How Can I Have Sex With Robin Again
That scene is so awesome it deserves a second mention.  I love how it ended with ‘Get Robin drunk at Ted’s Wedding’.

4. Stella’s Horny Yoga Instructor-Sister
“I’m a Yoga Instructor, every position’s available”. Classic.  At the end of the day, the fact that Barney ends up with the front desk girl and Stella’s sister is pure Barney and it’s good to see the character return to true form.

And just for fun and extra that all of you who got to the end of this post get as a bonus.  Part of the appeal of HIMYM is not just the jokes and the quirky scenarios but the heart-felt moments that arise every now and then.  It’s handled with such class and originality that it’s hard not to love it.  When Robin reminisces about all the romantic things Ted has done, I love that his response to her assertion that he tried to make it rain was, “I did make it rain”.  I’m pretty sure the romantic in all of us would like to belive that.

CBS

Great episode tonight. Barney introduced the Chinese-Indian-Mexican race and Lilly had her first Burgasm.  Classic.  Four seasons in, and HIMYM continues to top my list of favourite shows.

Also, did anyone else notice how short Regis is?

Tonight’s episode left behind the wimpy Robin-obsessed Barney and we got classic Barneyisms including, “I love this burger so much, I wanna sew my ass shut.”  It was also good to see the entire gang doing something together.  Recently, story arcs have revolved around pairings (eg. Robin & Ted, Stella & Ted) and endings of pairings (Ted & Barney).  I was a little disappointed not to see Ranjiv driving their cab, but otherwise, the search for Marshall’s burger went down as one of the top HIMYM adventures of the series.

Okay, maybe this is a complete stretch, but did anyone else notice Robin was the only one not drinking alcohol at the bar?  Is she possilby pregnant?  Or was that still part of her cleanse?  Just a thought I’m throwing out there.

The carousel of burger joints produced some of the best one liners around. The previously mentioned, “I think I just has my first Burgasm” from Lilly and Ted never brushing his teeth unless it was made from the burger.  Robin licking the ATM evnelopes out of hunger just topped everything off perfectly.

I didn’t love Regis’ guest appearance.  He’s a little over-the-top, but they did a good job of incorporating him into the episode pretty well.  It’s been a while, probably since Seinfeld since a show used their guest stars as well as HIMYM does.  Will & Grace used to use them perfectly until they decided to have a guest star every week.

How do you feel about Marshall taking another corporate job?  And isn’t it a little strange that Barney is essentially going to work for Barney’s company again?  At least he’ll have a job to pay for his new apartment that they don’t ever seem to move into.

It was nice to see a stand-alone episode with no real tie-ins.  I think these episodes tend to wear their age better and upon reflection I have a feeling this will be among the best HIMYM yet.

Spoonfuls (Thoughts in Smaller Portions):

1. Signed Regis Everywhere
Regis Philbin’s signed picture was in every burger place including Veggie Haven which served their “burgers” without
a bun.  Bonus points for having Regis in the Italian Restaurant.

2. 9:30pm in the afternoon
It seems the timing was a bit off since Marshall entered the burger joint in the afternoon and came out when it was
dark.   It could be that he took a long time to get back to the apartment, but it seems to be an error.

3. Dr. Horrible Sang
Barney singing was a little throwback to this summer’s Dr. Horrible.  Or at least that’s what it reminded me of.

4. Underpants Radius
I remember watching the Simpsons DVD commentary and hearing how they always choose to use the word
underpants instead of underwear or boxers because underpants is inherintly a funnier way of saying it.  Also, it’s so
true, everyone does have their own radius.

So, what are your thoughts?  Do anyone notice Robin drinking water only? Could she be pregnant?  How would you rank the episode?  Post your thoughts in the comments.

CBS

Tonight was the official return of TV for me. Until the big shows come out, it’s just a warm-up for the main event.  First up tonight was The Big Bang Theory’s second season launch.

And let me get this out of the way immediately.  The whole Penny & Leoanard idea is just wrong.  It makes me cringe because those two have no chemistry and no business being together.  Leonard pining for Penny seemed more appropriate and worked well within the show.  To me, Penny should have not have been pushed as a love interest but just as a foil for the general nerdiness of the boys.

Glad I got that out out.  Tonight’s episode was full of Sheldon goodness.

With my aversion to Penny & Leonard, I was glad that the majority of the episode was woven around Sheldon.  Sheldon’s “talks” with Penny are always hilarious and tonight we got a dose of laundry time with Sheldon’s Flip Fold Shirt Folder.

With Sheldon unable to keep a secret and unable to reveal a secret to Leonard, his only logical solution was to move out–which lasted less than the one night.  I was a little disappointed that they didn’t flesh out the idea of Sheldon living with Kuthrapali (sp?) or Howard longer.  Hopefully, they’ll revisit that later in the series.

On a side note, I wonder who researched all the facts on the show.  I wonder if the writers have diverse backgrounds or they come into work each week with a list of random facts that might be useful.  Or, possibly, they have some lackey looking stuff up for them.  If that’s the case, they should definitely try out ChaCha.  You really can find out anything about anything. I asked them how much they get paid.

The show ended up with Leonard being almost shut out with Penny.  I’m guessing they were leaving their options open to either pursue the romance if it worked or cut it short if it didn’t.  I’m hoping they saw the disaster it ended up becoming and run the other way.

Spoonfuls (thoughts in smaller portions):

1. The Theme Song
I love the Barenaked Ladies and if anyone didn’t know, they sing the BBT theme song

2. Howard’s Mom
Is that the voice of Fran Drescher?  I think it is and if I’m right, it’s even more funny.

A little light review, but that may be the norm for most shows.  I’m guessing you’ve seen the show, so you don’t need a full recap of what happened.  You can also get that anywhere.

Feel free to comment below on the episode, questions, or what you think you should see here.

Two things I learned tonight: 1) Rachel Ray isn’t the brightest mind around 2) Regis Philbin doesn’t know Neil Patrick Harris is gay I’m not old enough to remember the original game show Password, but I have seen an incarnation of Pyramid or $10,000 Pyramid and so I get the general idea of the game. Here’s the general idea: A celebrity is matched up with a regular person. Like charades or pictionary, they are given a word (aka password) to portray to their partner, but in this case, they can only give hints in 1 word doses. For example if the password was old, a good hint would be Regis. Is it worth watching? And why the Rachel Ray hate? Why does Doogie make everything better? All that and more after the click.

When I was a kid, I loved game shows. The Price Is Right and Family Feud were my favourites, but I was also known to catch the odd episode of American Gladiators and Just Like Mom (I had forgotten about this gem, but it’s a Canadian classic). The captivating nature of game shows are their simplicity. It’s easy to understand the rules, it’s fun to play, and it’s addictive. They’re the precursor to computer solitaire games like Minesweeper.

The problem with these new game shows is that they model everything after Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Every show since then has the same ominous music, the spot lights, the pyramid prize structure and the modern set design. The hype overshadows the game and you can’t tell the difference between Deal or No Deal and American Gladiators.

The most annoying part of the new generation of game shows are the incessant use of delay tactics. What is usually a 30 minute show during the day, can be extended into a full hour–sometimes two hours if the show is new and popular.  And it’s not the number of commercials, but rather the amount of time between the actual game play.  It’s comparable to the 80 timeouts allowed during an NBA basketball game these days.  If you watch Moment of Truth, in an hour you probably get through 5-10 questions…in an hour.  That’s just ridiculous.

Despite my general ranting, I did find the first episode of Million Dollar Password entertaining and I attribute that mostly to Neil Patrick Harris.  I think adding him to your show guarantees a certain level of entertainment value.  While it might be fun to see Rachel Ray’s mind go blank every few seconds, that can only hold your attention for so long.

It was refreshing to have a celebrity who actually tried to compete even though there was nothing in it for him.  He genuinely wanted his partners to win as much money as possible and gave it his best effort.  It’s also really great to see an intelligent person on TV every now and then.  It just reiterates how brilliant the How I Met Your Mother team was for casting him as Barney Stinson. In my opinion, Neil Patrick Harris is probably the most under-appreciated comedic actor on TV today.

As for MDP, give it a shot if you’ve got nothing to do.  It’s fun to play along with and I’m sure they’ll continue to cast a few idiots who you can feel smarter than when you watch…hopefully some of those idiots won’t all be celebrities.

Oh and just in case I get called on the Rachel Ray thing…she seems nice, I just have a pet peeve when it comes to stupidity.

Spoonfuls (thoughts in smaller doses):

1. “Uh, Regis, I’m not into women.”
A couple times, you could see Neil Patrick Harris bite his tongue instead of correcting ancient host Regis.
2. Fiasco.  Ouch.
Although, you knew the 6th and final word was going to be difficult, I felt bad when I saw fiasco on the screen.  That’s a $225,000 word.

FOX

This show really isn’t afraid of doing what it wants.

Sometimes, shows become complacent and formulaic the point where it becomes a detriment.  And, whether it works or not, you have to give credit to those shows that try and change things up once in a while.

Hart Hanson and the Bones crew definitely shook it up to finish up the shortened third season of Bones.

I must confess I’m a recent convert to Bones.  I’m not usually into the crime scene shows, although I have been caught watching the original Law & Order.

But, with repeats on CBS, I switched over to FOX and caught the second-last episode of Bones (S03E14) and got hooked.

Initially, I was mostly intrigued by the shooting of Booth, one of the main characters.  I actually thought the bastards were going to make me wait until next year to see what had happened.  So I decided to do some catching up.  I obtained the first 2 seasons of Bones and starting watching. I found out that Bones has repeatedly put Brennan and Booth in harm’s way and the pair have always lived to tell the tale.  We’re not talking minor brushes with death, but Jack Bauer type survivals (being buried alive, captured by a serial killer, fighting a pipe-yielding bad guy with no weapon, being blown up, etc).

I’ll forgve them their tendency to almost-kill too frequently on Bones–I would do it too.  That’s because they lead to these tender moments between Brennnan and Booth that make the show great.  Their chemistry is what separates this show from every other crime drama on TV.  I think those 2-3 minutes every few episodes are the reason I haven’t got tired of show.

But those almost-kills create another problem and here comes my biggest gripe with Bones so far…it has no impact on their relationship in the following episodes.  Booth will save Brennan’s life in dramatic fashion one week and the next she’s very removed from him.  It’s like each episode they press a reset button and the characters have to build their relationship back up from scratch.  And they did exactly that this episode.

In the last episode, we were left wondering if  Booth would even survive after heroicly taking a bullet in the chest for Brennan.  Instead of continuing where it left off, we skipped ahead 2 weeks to a supposed funeral for Booth.  This might have worked on other shows that left the possibility of killing their lead characters open, but on Bones it fell flat.  I knew it was fake and it took away any emotion from the that scene.  It’s a minor grip for the show in general, but every time the overlook the emotions of dramatic events, I feel it’s a wasted opportunity.

I know a lot of Bones fans detested this episode.  Some hated this episode enough to write off the show for good.  I think those people are liars.  They’ll be back watching next season.  Another group of fans suggest that with all the inconsistencies in this episode that it will be revealed as a hallucination or dream sequence. I’m not like Hodgins, and so I take what was presented at face value.  Zack’s the apprentice and he won’t be back in the Jeffersonian in the near future.  Not to mention his motor skills will take considerable recovery.

Sure, there were inconsistencies, but I think that was an effort on the part of Hart Hanson et al to try and throw suspicision on as many false suspects as possible in order to keep the suspence going.  Everyone became a suspect in the episode with the frontrunners always a toss-up between Hodgins and Dr Sweets.  The writers certainly played those two characters odd behaviour to another level to paint them as possible suspects, but that’s always a good sign that it’s not true on TV.

I have to admit, I only figured out who it was when Hodgins made his discovery that lead levels concluded the killer lived in his neighbourhood.  It couldn’t be Angela, so it had to be Zack.  It’s unfortunate this decision wasn’t made in time to have Zack actually killing the person he supposedly killed. Check out this picture:

Count me among those who would have never suspected Zack for this and to be fair, it’s a stretch going by what we know of his character.  In defence of this choice, remember, we barely know Zack.  I mean, only recently did we find out that Zack not only has a good singing voice, but is also “deceptively strong” because of his home gym workouts.  We also never found out what happened in Iraq (People, please stop pronouncing it EYE-RAQ.  It’s frustrating and wrong.  If you’re going to do that, let’s start calling Italy EYE-TALY so we can hate on country’s names equally).  Potentially, Zack was just a messed up guy who got caught up with the wrong person.

Seeing the rest of the squint squad react to the Zack-Gormogon situation was great.  Cam doesn’t always fit in to the group, and her reaction in the hospital really helped solidify her as part of the group.  I don’t think any of us will know whether this was a smart move yet.  It’s always risky to kill off a beloved character, so let’s hope Bones makes the best of it.  It could be a good thing to shake up the cast a bit and create new storylines and new characters.  It’s always better to stay ahead of the game and make changes out of choice rather than necessity.  Boston Legal has done it, 24 does it to the extreme, and now Bones is doing it.

There was a lot to cover in this episode, and I didn’t even come close to touching on all the subjects (The Bath Scene and Booth & Bones relationship, Sweets, etc).  But, at the end of the day, we are forced to say goodbye to Zack.  It was certainly an interesting way to go.

Spoonfuls (thoughts in smaller portons):
1. Grandfather Gormogon
I wonder what will happen to the old man in the old folks’ home we saw earlier in the season.  Old Man Gormogon will hopefully be caught for a past crime at some point.
2. Angela & Hodgins Non-Wedding
They’re an odd couple, so let’s stop draggin our feet with their wedding.  A full season is enough.
3. Brennan Left at the Altar
At the beginning of this season, Angela made a point of tackling the awkwardness between Brennan and Booth after being left at her altar.  This never ended up going anywhere, but it should be revisited.
4. The Pain in the Heart was..
The titles of Bones’ episodes are always a reference to the case being solved.  This one seemed to be the most figurative title in all 3 seasons.
5. Where was Zack’s Family
Ok, there was a lot going on, but no one in Zack’s family could make it to see him?  They were quick to get to Washington to see him for Christmas.
6. Parker and Rebecca
Speaking of missing people, after 2 weeks, where were Parker and Rebecca for Booth’s funeral?  My only guess is that they were told he wasn’t dead.  It’s still strange.
7. Those Soldiers don’t like to Fight
Those soldiers at Booth’s funeral were averse to fighting it seems.  Booth was taking that guy alone and the only person who stepped in was Brennan?  Interesting.
8. That’s What She’s Saying!
Prosecuter Caroline Julian calls everyone by the same name, which I couldn’t figure out, but I think I have.  She’s calling everyone Cherie (as in my cherie)
9. Hodgins Knew.
He knew about Zack.  I think this deserves it’s own post, so read that for details.