Friends Guide: 1x03

The One with the Thumb

One of the weaker aspects of the show, especially in the early seasons, is when the writers turn to the tired 'date of the week' plot.  Maybe it was a fresh idea when the show started, there really weren't too many sitcoms about young people and dating, but the generic date plots get old fast, and this one isn't anything to speak much about. 

Monica finds begins dating a guy named Alan, and the rest of the friends all love him.  Why? I'm not entirely sure as he only gets about ten seconds of screen time, and a majority of this plot is spent with Monica complaining to her coworker at first about her friends never liking her dates and the second about her friends liking Alan more than she does.  The whole big twist is in the last scene where Monica has to "break up" with her friends when she decides to no longer date Alan.  Sure, I can see the pitch for this episode---what if you dated a guy you didn't like and your friends did.  But the comedy of the last scene is so over acted it has me rolling my eyes more than anything.  The other twist at the end is that Alan didn't mind Monica but in turn hated all of her friends.  I suppose the irony is funny? But there's little here to make it work.  We just don't see enough of Alan to get any kind of feel for him, nor do we know the friends well enough to know why they have such issues with Monica's dating life.  

Meanwhile, Chandler picks up smoking again.  It's a strange plot line, which feels more like PSA anti-smoking ad than an actual plot line.  (Thankfully, Friends doesn't do these kinds of things too often.)  And most of the jokes involving Chandler trying to sneak a drag while everyone else isn't looking just isn't that entertaining.  The one bright moment within this plot line is when Chandler lists off everyone else's flaws--including Ross's over enunciation of words (which, god, is irritating), Joey's cracking of knuckles (which seems random because it isn't something we ever see him do), and Monica's snort laugh.  All of this leads the Friends arguing among each other about their faults, which is mildly amusing.  

The episode's C-plot revolves around Phoebe and the fact that this week she keeps getting handed free things, first an extra 500 dollars in her bank account, and every time she tries to give back the charity bestowed on her she gets something bigger, like $7000 for finding a thumb in soda.  It's not the best mini plot the show does, but it's bizarre nature is at least watchable compared to the rest of the episode's borefest.  And in a nice twist at the end, the writers actually being pretty good at tying things together, Phoebe gives Chandler the money to stop smoking. 

1/4 stars: The biggest problem with this episode is that it tries too hard to get laughs and pretty much fails at doing that with all of it's plots.  I can see exactly what the writers were going for when they set this episode up, but nothing really comes off as funny as the show wants you to think it is.  On top of that, the acting is still not quite there, but part of that is because the script is asking the actors to ham it up a little too much.  This episode is pretty much entirely skipable.  

Friends Guide: 1x02

The One with the Sonogram at the End

This episode picks up the story threads the pilot dropped off.  In some respects, the episode is more entertaining than the pilot.  On the other hand, the episode feels dated, relying on gender roles and family cliches that ultimately don't serve it well.

Ross finds out his ex-wife Carol is pregnant.  We'll ignore the logic issues---did they have one last romp in the sack for Carol to really figure out that she was a lesbian? If so, they didn't use protection, etc, etc? As long as you don't think too hard about how all of this happened, it's easily the funniest thread in the episode.  What I like about it is that the comedy comes mostly from the unusual circumstances of the situation, and doesn't rely on **gasp a lesbian** humor.  How do you deal with a non-traditional family? I like the story comes out of that.  One downside, however, is that it does sometimes rely on David Schwimmer's physical comedy.  The show finds it funny.  I don't.

Meanwhile, Rachel has to meet her ex for the an obligatory 'let me give you back your stuff' meeting.  Any time Barry is on screen I want to tear my hair out from boredom.  The big twist is that he isn't upset because he was busy having an affair with her bridesmaid (and friend) Mindy.  I wouldn't call it that interesting of a plot twist.  (Ross's ex-wife being a lesbian had far more interesting possibilities.)  The whole point, though, is to show that Rachel gets her heart stomped on even when she thought she was doing that to him---not really original material here, nor is it that captivating.  It's also hard to take seriously when a) the whole big scene between them takes place in a dentist's office (I realize it's to mirror the OBGYN scene with Ross, but logic again, what dentist would have a personal conversation while working on a patient?) and b) Barry's dialogue is god awful: "I wanted to hurt you bad."  Eesh, he sounded like he wanted to actually, physically harm her for a second.

Ross and Rachel have a nice little scene in the cafe together, which is there to show the connection between them and the two storylines.  It's a nice little moment even if the only real connection between them is being in similar circumstances.

The other downside of this episode is that it somewhat forgets that it's an ensemble cast.  Monica and Ross's parents come for a visit---again their parents being the judgmental mother and the obtuse dad are well trodden cliches, which unfortunately are only there to reiterate Ross and Monica's somewhat cliched roles within their "normal" traditional family.  (How boring.)  Monica shares her neurotic side for the first time, but outside of the opening scene, there isn't much for her to do.  Phoebe, Chandler, and Joey have a handful of lines each but mostly don't do anything either.

Minor Thoughts:

~The cold open of a lot of these early s1 episodes has to do with social commentary. Taboo things like discussing sex, etc, and preconceptions of how men and women act, but I can't help but roll my eyes at it now.  It seems to be trying to hard to fit men and women in specific roles that I don't necessarily buy.  I'm kind of glad the show got out of the habit of doing this and just let the show be a funny story for 22 minutes.

~Hey, there's a different actress playing Carol.  Wonder what happened with that.

~I do give the show a ton of credit for giving the world a likable lesbian character, who wasn't relegated to an onslaught of gay jokes, nor defined (for the most part) by her sexuality.  And long before Will and Grace came along, too!

~I forgot to mention it about the pilot, but one thing I love about these early episodes are that they sit around and watch TV.  I understand later on that there just isn't time for it in the story, but these little bits lead to some nice moments of comedy, and make the characters feel a little more real.

~So, this coffee shop is going to let the girl the just hired with no experience close up at night by herself in a huge city? Lol.  Okay.


2 stars.  Ross and Carol's story is pretty funny, and bonus points for the sweet ending with the baby, but Barry is a bore, and the episode plays by standard sitcom rules instead of expanding on its neglected characters.  Also, it loses points for being so badly illogical.

Friends Guide: 1x01

The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate (Pilot)

All stories must get their starts some where and this one does in a coffee shop in Manhattan in the early '90s.  It's interesting to me, coming back to this over twenty years after its first airing, and after being out of my twenties myself.  I understand, very much, how this show would have had a lot of appeal at the time.  It's definitely sitcomish (almost to a fault at times) but there's a deeper emotional thread throughout the show.  The characters are young, and fresh, and learning, and not jaded the way older adults would be, but it's still relatable to all ages in a way.  And, style wise, it's moving out of the 80's-isms early 90's shows held on to, and moved forward into what we now know as very 90's culture.  It's all nostalgic now, in a way, 

But moving beyond that, I'm hesitant to say the episode is worth more than a set up of the characters and location.  

There are three main plotlines in the episode.  The stories of Rachel leaving her fiance at the alter and Ross coping from the finality of his divorce fit together nicely thematically.  Both about starting your life over after you originally thought you had it all planned out.  It's a nice nod to your early twenties when you get out of college and think---ah, okay my life really starts now--and you realize you aren't really sure what you're doing.  The creators have talked many times about that being the theme of the show---in addition to relying on your friends throughout the process.  So, I think the set up of the world is fantastic.  My problem is that the characters, while entirely relatable, aren't necessarily enjoyable, and fall victim to tired cliches.  (Were they cliches then? Maybe not?) 

Jennifer Aniston plays Rachel fantastically, she's one of the stronger actors in the cast right off the bat, but Rachel's poor, dumb rich girl I find hard to warm to.   And while I don't hate Ross like a lot of people hate Ross, his slow whining throughout the episode feels cumbersome.  (Not to mention I think Ross gets handed the most awkward lines throughout the episode.)  Of course, this is the beginning the ever famous Ross and Rachel love story.  The ending scene between them is sweet, and there is chemistry there, but I wouldn't call it a stand out moment---and it's more about the both of them taking that first step out of their previous lives more than their eventual relationship.  

Meanwhile, Monica has the most unmemorable plotline (the beginning of a trend the show unfortunately goes to whenever it has a loss of what to do with a character for that episode) where she dates a guy, and finds out later he was only nice to get her into bed.  It's funny that it was slightly controversial at the time---did it show Monica as someone who slept around? (**gasp**) Now it seems silly and cliche to the point where these scenes I want to skip over just to get to more interesting things.  It doesn't help that Courtney Cox and Guest Actor of the week have almost no chemistry.  (Cox is a generally good actor, but her scenes just fall flat with this guy.)  Anyway, he's the first in a long line of the "haha funny/bad date" trope the show falls back upon to a fault.  

Joey, Chandler, and Phoebe are relegated to second string players in the pilot, left with not much to do, but ultimately having the more enjoyable jokes and lines.  Well, Joey's a bit hard to watch.  I don't know why they told Matt LeBlanc to use a fake Brooklyn accent, but I'm glad it was dropped quickly as it just sounds awkward most of the time.  And admittedly, I'm not a Joey fan in general, but I have a hard time finding anything he says that funny.  On the other hand, Chandler and Phoebe are by far he stars of this episode.  Both Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow are fantastic with their comedic timing, and their jokes land much better than anyone else's---even with the script is weak.  Not to mention both Chandler and Phoebe don't seem from generic mold that the other characters seem to stem from, and feel fresh as a result.  

Anyway, by far, the most enjoyable aspect of this episode wasn't the actual plot, but the little moments scattered here and there, the times when the writers (or actors) deviated from the standard sitcom model and gave the characters the little quirks they'd become known for.  

Minor Thoughts: 

~The entire first scene is in Central Perk, and time elapses, which is amusing to me.  Here it is a show about young people in New York, but most of this episode is in a cafe and their apartments, not to mention Monica, Joey, Chandler, and Phoebe have been sitting there for what seems like hours.  I assume this is a Saturday, but it's still amusing that that's all they do. 

~I didn't feel like grabbing for my box set, but there's a deleted scene of Phoebe singing.  It's cute, and adds a tiny more to her character, but ultimately I can understand why they cut it.  

~So, Monica brought home a guy and had sex with him while her friend who just left a guy at the alter was sleeping in the next room?  I mean...?  

2 1/2/4 Stars: The episode feels clunky, stiff, sitcom-ish, and somewhat generic by today's standards within the script, but it introduces everyone pretty well, and there were some shining moments in the wings.  And it gets a little nudge up for starting off one of the best sitcoms of the 90s.  

Dusting this thing off so I can have a place of my own to write things just for me.  Yay! :)

Don't Stop Believing

Glee!  Before I get into it, here's my thing about Glee.  First, it's a musical.  And for better or for worse, the show puts music first, story second.  Sometimes it's awesome.  Sometimes it seems like it's on crack.  Second, this show is for all the losers out there.  This is a show for anyone who is or was in HS and was seen as an outsider, outcast, or just didn't plain fit in.  I like that aspect.  Sometimes, the writers carry it too far, but it means well.  (most of the time.)

A friend of mine gave me the first 13 episodes after I was going through a rough time.  (*ahembeingdumpedahem*) The first season was divided in half, and they put out the first 13 on DVD before the second half of the season started.  For some people, the Front 13 are considered special.  I don't personally find them better or worse than anything that has come after it.  It's just different.  Because it was written and produced in a bubble, before fans could pick everything a part, before the writers gave into self indulgence, before guest stars, tribute episodes, and lesbian hookups, the Front 13 was at least consistent.  I'm gonna be upfront, nothing else has been consistent, so enjoy it while it lasts.  

The story starts off being about this guy ------------------->  
Will Schuester (or Mr. Schue), a man who's life is about as sad as any of the kids he teaches.  He's a (bad) Spanish teacher at the high school he graduated from (William McKinley HS, in lovely (sarcasm) Lima, Ohio) and spends time between classes staring at the old trophy case, reminding him of the good ole days in the early 90's when he used to sing in glee club.  Because that was the last time he was actually cool.  (or felt cool?  I'm not sure how cool Will was back in the day)

Side note: Will is played by the talented, yet underused or sometimes badly used Matthew Morrison.  It's a shame that a character who starts off as quite likable, and one to root for, and originally the star of the show, becomes a dick and a half later on, because Morrison has skill, is a fantastic musician, and can do some great acting when allowed.  Oh Glee, and your notorious crappy plotlines.  Anyway, I'm amused that Morrison is only 5 years older than I am.  It makes me feel old.

Anyway, Will gets his chance to form a glee club when the old director Sandy...
is accused of feeling up boys during practice.  Btw, have I mentioned that this show is completely gay?  And I mean that in both the happy and homosexual way.  It's deliciously and wonderfully so, and after the songs, my favorite reason for watching.  But here, it's creepy, because teachers really shouldn't be feeling up students during class.  That's just gross.

Moving on, Principal Figgins (who plays a decent role throughout the series, and completely embodies the easily swayed, douchey school administrator) lets Will have the glee club.  Only Will has to raise money or win a competition or something in order to keep it.  I can't remember the exact plot point, but it's reoccuring during the first season because Will is always on the brink of having the glee club shut down.

There are two people not really happy about the new glee club:

1. Sue Sylvester-------------------->  
Sue is the coach of the Cheerios (The Cheerleading Squad).  And she's known for having the most elaborate, insane routines for her group and being one of the meanest people on the planet.  Seriously, Sue is a cartoon supervillian in the most entertaining of ways.  She yells a lot.  She treats people like crap.  She has the most insane dialogue.  She comes up with the most outrageous diabolical plans.  And she has the most amazing one-liners about Will's hair.  Anyway, she doesn't like that Will's club has cut into her budget and will do anything to get rid of the glee club.  I think here, she only threatens, but obviously as time goes on, her words get set into motion.

And I have to take a second to wax poetics about Jane Lynch.  She's one of those actresses you know you've seen in a million things, but don't really remember from where.  But man, she's good.  Again, it's a shame that the writing lags so much, because you can give anything to Jane Lynch and she'll make it gold.

2. Terri Schuester ------------------>  
Unlike the hilariously entertaining Sue, Terri is just awful.  Terri is Will's wife.  You see, in a love story for the ages, Will and Terri were high school sweethearts (her being a cheerleader, homecoming queen, prom queen, etc, etc,) and got married, even though they probably shouldn't have done that.  Terri is selfish, manipulative, mean, and just plain stupid.  She doesn't seem to really love Will, although she seems to love to control him, and get him to do whatever she wants.  Oh man, I can't express how much I hate this character.  Anyway, Terri wants Will to quit being a teacher in general, so that he can become an accountant, grow up (which he probably should), and move on to making more money so "they" (she) can be happy.  She's also pissed that glee club takes time away from his continual adoration of her.  I pretty much hate this character more than any other in the entire show, and because she plays such a big part in the Front 13, it's one reason I can't claim that the original episodes were the BEST EVER!!!

Despite all the crap he's getting, Will is excited about starting the glee club, and comes up with the name New Directions.  Because, you know, his life is going in a "new direction".  And it's a "new direction" for the kids in the club.  Clever, Mr. Schue, clever.  Anyway, the original participants of New Directions:

   <-------------------------------------------------- Mercedes Jones
The black diva, and everything that implies.  She does runs.  She does sass.  And she will not be put in the background.  (played by Amber Riley, who can, oh man, sing wonderfully, but acting wise, um, well, she has her moments.

  <-------------------------------------------------- Tina Cohen-Chang
She's Asian.  And stutters for about an episode and a half.  And Asian.  And sometimes dresses goth-like.  And did I mention she's Asian?  Okay, I'm gonna be honest, I know little about her character.  But truth be told, there isn't much to actually know.  She's really one of the most shafted characters on the show.  (Played by Jenna Ushkowitz, whom I know even less about.  Sorry Jenna.  I should probably at some point brush up on you.  I'm sorry your character is so shafted.)

  <---------------------------------------------------  Artie Abrams
Unfortunately, we don't get to see his audition, which I find a shame.  You can't tell in this photo, but he's a cripple--has a wheelchair.  He seems like he should be really nerdy with the glasses and the suspenders, but he's not really so.  He also plays the guitar, and is part of the jazz band, but that plot point gets dropped along the way.  (played by Kevin McHale.  You may remember him from that one office episode, you know, where Michael locks the pizza boy in the conference room?  Yeah, he was the pizza boy.  Also, ironically, McHale is one of the best dancers on the show. Obviously, not seen very often.)


   <---------------------------------------------------- Kurt Hummel
There are three things to know about Kurt.  He's a fashionista.  He has a high voice.  And he's gay.  And put those things together, you could get one really awful stereotype.  But we don't.  Because he's played by the brilliant Chris Colfer.  And I could gush endlessly about Chris Colfer, but I'll spare you for now.  Just note that Kurt (and Chris) is one of a very few things keeping me tuned into this cracked out show.

  <------------------------------------------------------ Rachel Berry
Rachel is going to eventually take over Will's position of the star of the show.  And rightfully so.  But at the beginning, she's this irritating, fame driven, crazy girl, who has an amazing voice, but lacks any social skills.  We learn backstory on her.  She has two gay dads.  Was raised in every kind of talent show imaginable.  And spends all of her free time practicing so that she can some day be a star.  She also puts a gold star by her name whenever she signs it.  She's hilariously over the top.  (And Lea Michelle is quite the talent.  The girl can sign like none other, and brings a vulnerability to Rachel that saves the character from being so annoying you just want to turn off your tv.)

Together, they're a merry band of misfits.  Did we miss any minorities here?  Latino?  Don't worry, Santana will be here soon.  Anyway, they suck, even though they don't really (because the cast is quite amazing).  And they all feel like outcasts (running theme alert), but at least when band together, they feel like they're apart of something, even if they don't all get along.

And while I get that the show was originally supposed to be somewhat satirical in nature, (which it is), and while, yes I was hooked after the pilot, going back, I wish there was more focus on the kids from the start.  They were/are far more interesting. The adult focus is, dare I say, kinda boring, especially when you know what happens.

So, yeah, they aren't all that great a club, especially since they don't have enough people to compete.  They spend their time dancing (badly) around Artie while ironically singing "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat".

Will sets out to get more people but only really gets one (in this episode):
  <---------------------------------------------------------------  Finn Hudson
Okay, so basically, Will hears Finn singing in the showers of the locker room.  (uh...)  And then decides to blackmail him by planting pot on him and stating that if he doesn't join glee, he'll tell the authorities that the kid had drugs on him.  (double uh...)  So, Finn reluctantly joins the glee club.  And has lots of issues because he's having a hard time being captain of the football team AND on glee club.  He has pressure from his best friend, Puck and gf cheerleader Quinn, to quit because glee is so uncool.  (more on them later).

But, in a somewhat random flashback for Finn, we learn that he was raised by his single mom, his dad died, and that he loves to sing because some guy his mom had a thing for would sign old rock songs while doing the landscaping.  So, he decides to stay.

Also side note, Finn is played by Corey Monteith, who is one of those dudes in their late-20s trying to play a 16 year old.  And really, most of the time it doesn't work for me on TV shoes.  But I have to give Monteith a lot of credit because Finn does come off as more teenager than almost anyone else on the show.  

Also, there's this: 

This photo is from another episode, but it pretty much describes the relationship between Finn and Rachel (or Finchel as even the show calls them).  Rachel has a huge crush on Finn.  Finn doesn't know how to handle it, like he doesn't really know how to handle anything else in his life.

In a lame attempt to raise their spirits, or at least their competitive mode, Will takes the kids to see another high school's glee club:

 Vocal Adrenaline:
A super flashy, show choir, which has become the super villain of glee clubs in Ohio.

Also, rounding out the introductions:

Emma Pillsbury ------------------------------------------------------------->  
She's the school councilor.  She has extreme OCD and a huge crush on Will.  (And is played by the very beautiful Jayma Mays)  When Will decides to quit to become an accountant, she's the one that reminds him that he should follow his dreams and not to give up on the kids.  It's incredibly sweet, and it's a shame they make Will such a tool at times because at the beginning, the romance between Will and Emma is so sweet.  And I still love Emma's character to this day.

Ken Tanaka --------------------------------------------------------------------> 
He's the football coach and is (sorta?) friends with Will.  He has a crush on Emma.  Yes, that's right, we're already looking at a love square here.  That's what Glee does, weird love combinations.  One of these days, I should make a love chart.  Anyway, he's kinda a tool himself, and only slightly more interesting than Terri. He doesn't serve much of a purpose here except to give foil to Will.  Reason #12394 that I'm just not sold on the idea that the Front 13 are the BEST EPISODES EVER!!!

So, yeah, that's the pilot.  It's solid.  There isn't much more plot than Will starting the glee club despite certain protests, and the kids are misfits, except for Finn who is just plain confused.  But it works, especially as dark/satirical writing.   I do get the comparisons to High School Musical, though I'm not sure I agree.  HSM seems to be a) more geared towards kids, where Glee has a more universal appeal and b) the kids in it are a bit too squeaky clean.

A few quotes:
Sue Sylvester: [at cheerleading practice] You think this is hard? Try being waterboarded, *that's* hard! 

Finn Hudson: Look, I owe you guys an apology. I never should have quit. I don't want to be the guy that just drives around throwing eggs at people! 
Rachel Berry: That was you? 
Kurt Hummel: You and your friends threw pee balloons at me. 
Finn Hudson: I know. 
Kurt Hummel: You nailed all my lawn furniture to my roof. 
Finn Hudson: I wasn't actually there for that, but I'm really sorry. 

Principal Figgins: Sue, the dry cleaners here are just as good as the ones in Europe. 

Anyway, the musical aspect I found fascinating, even if the characters didn't captivate me from the start.  But what really sold me was the final performance of "Don't Stop Believing".  And apparently, it's what sold the show for a lot of people.  It's a bit magical, and the first time I saw it, I got goosebumps.  So, here it is, in it's entirety.  

Garden Party Review

Ah, my poor show.  It’s definitely gone over to silly sitcom land.  But it’s season eight, so I suppose that was inevitable.  At least it’s still entertaining.  Still, I sorta miss the somewhat groundedness that it used to have.    The episode reminded me of Viewing Party in away.  Maybe there was more of a plot in this one than Viewing Party, but that odd, semblance of people for no real reason and wavering plotline makes it comparable. 

I did like the episode,  but I have two major complaints.

Andy and his parents and the whole family drama.  Okay, first of all, total recon of his parents from season 4 when they were dorky weird people just like him.  I feel like they made his parents douchebags just to be douchebags.    And how overly cliché is the whole my rich, snobby parents don’t like me and favor my brother?  Gah!  Plus, the five minute musical interlude was kinda boring.  They could have at least picked a more interesting strong.  At least Josh Grobin and the dude from 7^th Heaven didn’t stick out that much like guest stars tend to do on this show.  Ah well, at least hopefully, now that we realize why this means so much to Andy, we can back off the Andy heavy plots and move on to other people.

Second complaint: Robert California.  God, I hate that name.  Spader himself doesn’t bug me that much, he never really has screen time and he doesn’t really do anything.  But the sucking up has GOT to stop.  I’m really getting sick of everyone’s reaction to the guy is to bow down before his feet.  They didn’t do that to Jo or David Wallace.  (Man, I miss Wallace).  So, why this guy?  It’s like some unnecessary ego trip.  I didn’t even mind the toasting portion, which had a few good one-liners.  But STOP with the blatant sucking up and give the character an actual plotline if you’re going to use him.  I feel like the only reason Spader is there is for posterity’s sake. 

Everything else, I liked! 

First of all, Schrute farms is always a riot.  And great use of Dwight the episode.  He was very much entertaining.  And Mose!  It wasn’t much, but I loved it.  Mostly because it felt old school.  Also, loved Jim’s prank on Dwight—also felt old school.  Sometimes I feel like this show is torn in half, between the old dynamics of the original characters and the shoehorning, sitcommy ways of the new characters and direction.  Maybe I’m wrong about my assessment of the show being able to last longer than this year.  This show, while entertaining, is definitely not made for the original audience. 

The b-cast shined as well.  I mean, there were some fantastic one-liners (with the exception of Gabe.  They should have dropped this character all together.)  Only Creed was missing with his normal hilarious line, though I’m sure there’s something in the deleted scenes. 

There was some cute stuff with Jim and Pam.  Glad we got to see Cece again, because part of me wondered if, now that she’s older, they’d stop showing her.  And Andy interacting with her was adorable.  I liked that.  The Angela/Pam nameoff was, well, okay, I guess this pregnancy stand off is an arc, but I’ll go with it.  It’s obvious that Jenna is limited on her time, though, and it makes me miss Pam as more of the action.  I hope that they get to do another year, with all the characters just so everyone has a full season to say goodbye with.  Anyway, also, how many more names are the Halpert family going to steal form my own.  Holy dear, I laughed out loud at that coincidence.  Anyway, JAM was cute and it’s nice to see them showing a little affection, which the writers don’t give us all that often.  So, score there. 

Grade: C+ I mean, it’s not a bad episode by any means.  And I get the impression that season 8 is going to end up like a lot of these episodes.  While I like the little bits here and there, it didn’t round out completely to a great whole.  And while I’m still okay with Andy as manager, I’m getting tired of the extreme focus.  And Spader…just stop writers.  Find him something to do or just stop. 

The Lotto Review

Now that was a pretty darn good episode of The Office.  I had to check, Charlie Grandy wrote a bunch of rather good episodes.  And Double Date...but i'll let that one go since everyone was off their game in season six.  And John directed.  Can't really go wrong with that.  It's relieving, in a way, that season eight seems to be going well so far.  I have a lot of hope.  Though, next week's episode sounds kinda boring and the week after that was written by Ellie Kemper's sister, so I may speak too soon.  Hope not...

Anyway, warehouse one the lotto.  Hilarious.  Though, there's a little part of me that's sad that they're gone now.  I mean, I suppose they didn't have much presence for a while, but still, things change.  And I suppose it gives more material to play with.

The A half of this episode was Andy and Darryl.  Now, it's nice that Darryl got a legitimate plotline.  I mean, yeah, he would feel bad after he's spent all his years doing nothing and it's gotten him nowhere.  And it's nice to see Andy be inspirational.  But, overall, can't say I was entertained the most by this one.  On the one hand, Andy is still retaining his own character and is actually, I'm finding to my surprise, much more endearing than Michael Scott.  On the other hand, the way it was shot was the typical manager a plot and everyone else b plot.  Please, writers, please...don't fall down this hole again.  That said, this plotline wasn't all bad.  I loved Andy interviewing his own hires.  (The hires that came in portion was a little lame and slow--this show should stay away from spending too much time with people we don't know.)  But it also ended well, in a very funny climax, including referencing things that happened in the past.  Always a plus in my opinion.

The B part was Jim and Dwight in the warehouse.  Plus Kevin and Erin.  This was the highlight of the episode.  You just can't go wrong putting Jim and Dwight together and this episode proves it.  Now, granted, they did dock Jim some IQ points, but I chalk it up to pure laziness on the character's part, and for once, I'll let it go for comedy's sake.

And then there was the rest of the ensemble.  I mean, the little bits of ensemble that we got were fantastic.  They should really, really do more of those scenes and I'm hoping, once we get past the 'we need to set up Andy as manager' phase, we'll get back to the ensemble again.

And I loved Pam in this episode.  Loved the lotto banter between Jim and Pam.  Loved her behind reception again.  Loved the small moments between her and Angela and Ryan.  I realize she probably won't get a major story until after Jenna comes back from maternity leave.  But still--ah, Pam.

Oh, and no James Spader.  The Office works well on its own.  This episode proves that.  Unfortunately, we do have Spader for the long haul so I'll deal with it.  But I still say he's not needed.

Two minor things--

**I forgot to mention last week how horrible the cold open was.  I mean dreadfully unfunny.  This week's was a little better but not by much.  C'mon guys.  Step it up.  Or just make the CO part of the story.  This is getting bad...

**The credits.  Geez....it's such a hack job.  The whole thing needs an overhaul.  Plus, I noticed Spader in the cast.  I assume he was there to remind the audience that the guy is sticking around.  But if he's on the season eight box cover, i shall be annoyed.

Grade: B+ Andy/Darryl stuff not only dragged but was too reminiscent of the Michael Scott era of doing an episode.  But that's a minor gripe.  A truly entertaining and funny episode.