Grid Effect

It looks like we’ll have more material within a couple months. Why is that, you ask? Well, because the strike has, for all intensive purposes come to an end. Depending on which side you listen to, the other side won (not terribly surprising that everyone in Hollywood opts to play the victim card). But still, they can at least move on from all this hullabaloo and get back to entertaining us. In two months time we should be having weekly recaps of The Office, and, ummm, huh; well, maybe additional Friday Night Lights episodes. Well, that’s on top of South Park, which should be returning sooner rather than later.

So for the foreseeable future on Grid Effect, we’ll be recapping Survivor and The Wire. At some point in the next couple months South Park will be added to the docket, followed by The Office and potentially (though unlikely) FNL will be recapped as well. That’s five shows, about the best we ever do on this website.

If you’re a fan of the outrageous as opposed to the realistic, then I have some bad news for you, my friend. It appears Heroes and 24 are both done for this television season. That means no detonating nuclear missiles and no cheerleader that always wears her competitive outfit, even while saving the planet. If these things appeal to you, then 2009 will look much brighter than 2008. Also, if you’re looking for an upcoming schedule of which series’ will return to the airwaves when, then look no further.

The strike cost tinseltown an estimated $2 billion dollars. $2 billion. What is the country spending on the war per month? Doesn’t this have to ballpark it? $2 billion for roughly three months is $666,666,666 per month. Clearly I need to be making friends with these people as opposed to mocking them and their sometimes lazy, pedestrian work.

According to a recent survey — which are never inaccurate, much like exit polls — half of all British men would sacrifice six months for a new plasma. First off, six months is nothing. In the immortal words of George Costanza, “I could do six months on my head”. Secondly, suppose we lived in Britain, if we were to give up sex for six months for anything, it would probably be a pizza, or a cheeseburger, or something remotely edible. Not like the awfulness that is mainstream over there. And thirdly, if we’re giving up sex with just Great Britain residents, it’s not something we’d consider a huge loss. So we’d probably be willing to sacrifice sex in Great Britain for six months for a pack of mentos and a new basketball….But that’s just us.

To be fair, we value a pack of these like most people value their offspring.

For whatever reason, Craig Ferguson is voluntarily suggesting that should Letterman leave his post, that Jon Stewart should be named his successor, and not him. I mean, he’s right, but that’s not entirely the point. Has anyone ever voluntarily given up his opportunity to move up a time slot in the late night game? Christ, even Carson Daly is contending to fill Conan O’Brien’s shoes. And as little as we think of Craig Ferguson, Daly makes him look like Carson. In a way I admire this. He’s content with his position (which is a comfortable one) and doesn’t have an over-sized ego that needs validation, but it’s just so atypical.

FNL wasn’t intended to be a cliffhanger on Friday, which we find befuddling. They knew a strike was looming, they knew how many episodes they made and they knew what would happen in the final episode. So…what was the intention again? Look, we know you’re trying to bait Ben Silverman into extending the series at the expense of your fans, and that is fine, just own up to it. As fans, most of us probably appreciate the effort. But your series is too good for us to think you’re a retard, so just own these shenanigans and we’ll call it a day.

Finally, The Wire gets some award recognition. Along with 30 Rock, the WGA anointed these two programs best writing in a comedy and drama. I guess this is appropriate, writers recognize great writing, and is just another indication that we need to start watching 30 Rock.

Speaking of The Wire, here’s an interview with Lance Reddick and how he almost came to play crack addicted Bubbles instead of the straight and narrow, well-intentioned yet ladder climbing police lieutenant. I wonder if there’s any mention of those Cadillac commercials. Enter into this with caution, he has a completely different voice than what he uses on the series, the only person it seems like you can’t say that about is the one character with the most uniquely baffling accent: Snoop.

That’s all we have for the time being, back tomorrow with — yyyyyaaaaawwwwn — probably more of the same.

Though we usually do these on Friday, we figured since it is probably the last episode of the series, and it would free up the time for us to do our weekly Wire recap during the week (though those take twice as long to write as anything else we’ve done or will ever do), we’d just bump it up to a ho-hum day like Monday, wherein everything we watched the night before was a rerun.

It was a good episode to finish on, even with the limited finality to it. I mean, you could make a bunch of assumptions about the trajectory everything will take: Street will be a 19 year-old father, Riggins will hook up with Lyla, Landry does the same with Tyra, Saracen becomes a serial killer, Smash becomes a doctor, Eric and Tami live happily ever after. But assuming any of this would be absolutely presumptuous.

And that’s what’s so disappointing about them ending on a high note, if the dismal season has just continued its dismalness, then we wouldn’t be in a position where its actually regretful that they’re being pulled off the air mid-season. There is talk of ESPN, Bravo or USA picking up the series, should NBC neglect to renew it, but something like that isn’t in the foreseeable future. First the writer’s strike has to officially end, then NBC has to officially cancel the series, then the creators have to shop the series around, then cut a deal, then write, film, edit and produce all the episodes before a single one can air.

So as you can see, even if the series is going to finish its second season, it’ll be potentially a solid year before we see any results. Therefore, on this website were going to just assume the series is over and done with, so as not to be disappointed when it doesn’t come back (and elated if it does).

There was nothing particularly unique about Friday’s episode, essentially several male characters competing over women or rehashing old rivalries. Well, let me restate that, Tami Taylor’s old high school suitor coming back into the fray much to coach Taylor’s chagrin was unique in that we haven’t seen him yet, and that he was played by Peter Berg. The same Peter Berg who is a producer on this series, was the director on the Friday Night Lights movie, and played “Irish” Terry Conklin in The Great White Hype. While he’ll definitely be better remembered in the mainstream for the former two contributions, he’ll always be the dimwitted amateur boxer with a mean overhand right to me.

See, he’s not instigating anything. Just catching up on old times.

Anyhow, seeing Taylor’s perturbed response to his spry, overly-enthusiastic and transparently affable demeanor was something a bit uncharacteristic for him. Typically he’s the Cedric Daniels of Dillon, Texas. Never shook, always noble and willing to offer a helping hand, but his wife’s last boyfriend whose relationship he may or may not have sabotaged resurfacing in Dillon is too much to handle, especially when he refuses to leave. This all culminates in a fight in some restaurant called Carmello’s which is actually a restaurant in Austin, apparently.

Maybe the issue wasn’t the returning ex-boyfriend, but everything else Taylor is dealing with. Namely, Smash demanding his ascendence into a top-tier division I football program. While in reality, he’d still be going to a big 12 or SEC school without any repercussions or fallout, he is relegated to limiting his options to mid-majors in TV land, and settles on Whitmore, an under-performing but close-knit football team.

No word on how quickly Noelle dumps him, but we assume it was abrupt and unpleasant. She reminded us of Bill Paxton’s wife in this really great but obscure 1998 film, A Simple Plan. In the film, Paxton, his borderline retarded brother (naturally played by Billy Bob Thornton) and his alcoholic friend find a bag of cash while hunting, plan to keep it stashed away until any concern for it blows over, and things sort of devolve from there. Throughout the course of the film, Paxton’s wife continually offers up plans as to evade suspicion and every single plan she has ends catastrophically. Paxton even has a line at some point in the film, “Every time we do what you suggest, someone ends up dead!” As you would imagine, its fucking hysterical.

Anyhow, we actually see Smash make the transition from Taylor as his high school father figure to the college coach taking up the responsibility. If this scene reminded us of anything, it reminded us of how Taylor convinced Voodoo to come to Dillon. Hopefully this has better results. Not like we’ll ever know or anything.

College daddy is much more flexible than high school daddy.

Oh, and Taylor is also preoccupied offering child-rearing advice to former players, namely a one Jason Street, whose one night stand from a month or so ago has turned into an experiment in paraplegic fertility. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s producing sperm! Seeing this as quite possibly his only chance to have a child, Street spends the entire episode trying to convince said woman whose name has escaped me to have his child. The episode ends with him pleading with her to “just give it a chance”, which is a little meta, but comical. We tend to think the Street character is a little too tightly wound, but we can see his urgency here. For someone who was always so respectable and committed, we don’t expect him to lose those character traits with the function of his legs.

Also, we’ve been impressed how little this storyline has inflamed conversations about abortion rights because it is so easy for these commenter websites to spiral out of control about something more or less off topic. We suppose this speaks to the caliber of fan of this series.

Switching gears rather abruptly, Riggins is still chasing Lyla, whose greatest advantage will turn out to be his willingness to screw her like an animal, something the chaste Chris seems unwilling or incapable of doing. This, as has been made explicitly clear, is something Lyla is sorely lacking in her life, and while Chris seems remarkably confident for someone so seemingly inexperienced, his chances aren’t looking all that great. He can take heed that he’ll probably be immensely more successful post high school. Something tells me that such a sentiment wouldn’t be very comforting at the moment. Also, we suspect that the radio thing wasn’t only for comedic, plot developing effect, but also something Riggins might end up doing after his high school career.

Other notes:
-Virtually no Julie, but being impressed/embarrassed by her father’s chivalry.

-Landry seems content with Tyra, though her attention span will never stay attached to someone like Landry. He isn’t enough of a drunken lout. Though he is scoring touchdowns in blowout football games.

-Matt seems to have recovered from his existential crisis from last week, but is still wallowing in despair and scorning all women. We didn’t hear much from him all episode.

-Still no Buddy and very little Santiago, which we can’t say was missed.

Definitely a high note and one of their three better episodes this season. We’ve never needed anything groundbreaking, just growth with the already perfectly developed characters, and that is what we got. At this point we almost need those last six episodes for a sense of closure, and so it gives the second season an opportunity to be deemed a success. Because four out of fifteen episodes being strong, does not a successful season make.

Anyhow, we feel like Helen Hunt in Cast Away, we’re not sure whether to move on or mourn this loss. Will it return? Is it gone forever? If it is, what, exactly, would we fill its void with? We imagine nothing.

Back with links tomorrow.

Like was stated in the post on Monday, FNL really experienced a return to form in this episode. Virtually all the camera time was devoted to characters we are familiar with and appreciate, the storylines all felt interwoven, significant and realistic (sans the Smash’s arc. but we’ll get to that in a second) and nothing was overwritten. Any melodrama that was attached to this episode only came out when it was appropriate.

So yeah, we’ve had about fifteen episodes this season, and this is the first one to revolve around Matt Saracen. The quarterback. On a show supposedly about high school football and the community it resides in. Anyhow, his fallout this episode after the abandonment of Carlotta (which was two episodes ago) was a long time coming, never the less, it shouldn’t have been 3/4’s of the way through what is probably their final season. The scene with Taylor dragging him down the hallway then throwing him in the shower, only to feel guilty about it after Matt completely unloaded was probably one of the more poignant scenes this series has had.

And yet it felt inorganic in a way. While Saracen has been piddling away in the background for most of the season, there was really no suggestion that he was on his last straw with Carlotta, or how much he was actually attached to her. It appears it was more about his own issues with feeling unwanted than anything to do with his twenty-something Latino girlfriend, but that only became apparent in that scene with him in the shower. But in a single episode he goes from living everyday of his life like he normally would, to skipping class to get drunk with Riggins, patroning strip clubs and only showing up to practice drunk, which not only is Riggins built better for, but also his position (fullback) accommodates such behavior much better than Saracen’s.

And see, they followed up last episode brilliantly with just a small callback to it, when Riggins approaches Lyla and Chris’ lunch table and intentionally makes everyone uncomfortable except himself. This was surprising yet welcomed, typically this season they’ve dropped plot lines altogether then would pick them up several episodes later, which is alright if you remind us that it exists in moments like this. I suppose that’s hard to do when there are six different stories going at once, and there is never an effort to have them intersect. Obviously you can’t have the same two or three arcs dominate every episode, but just a reminder that they’re still ongoing is crucial.

Anyhow, That Chris kid seems fairly certain that Riggins won’t knock him on his ass, I suppose that’s the result of devout Christianity, but I really have no idea. People have been murdered over much less attractive women then Minka Kelly. And the culprit isn’t always necessarily shitfaced, neither.

The Smash storyline, while we thought the acting from Gaius Charles was superb in this episode, and the writing and pacing of it in this episode alone was fantastic, it has all felt so outrageous. We like the concept of Smash, someone whose spent his entire life relying on football as his sole means to an end, finding his athletic future (and thus his future in general) in jeopardy. But over slugging some kid in a movie theater? People are aware of how much high profile athletes get away with, right? We could see him being suspended for one high school game, but for the remainder of the regular season and to have his scholarship revoked? Please. There were kids at my high school on the football team who got D.U. fucking I’s and missed nary a start.

Point being, public perception carries the day in matters like these. If an entire voting block like the town of Dillon disapproved of Smash missing the subsequent three games, somehow or someway Smash would wind up on that field at the end of this episode, not crying devastatingly in the locker room. The writing for this episode worked perfectly, but there had to be a better manner of getting to this point in his character.

This reminds me of the whole Randy Moss debacle. He was set to got to Florida State, got into trouble over something, they suspended his scholarship and he signed with Notre Dame. Naturally he got into trouble again, and ended up going to an inferior but recognizable D-1 school in Marshall, in Huntington, West Virginia just outside of his hometown. If you are unfamiliar with who Randy Moss is, he just set the single season NFL record for touchdown receptions on the New England Patriots.

So really, if Smash is the prolific running back that the series would have us believe, if he couldn’t get into TMU (UT), then he would definitely be signing at Tech, or A&M, or Alabama who was literally stalking him and his family a couple episodes ago.

Whoa ho, it appears Landry’s not the only one with options. Though I think the above is as absurd as him dating Tyra.

Landry did in fact make a mistake dropping Jean for Tyra. This may be an unpopular opinion given the nature and aesthetic appeal of Tyra Collette, but she just seems really unpleasant to be around. And despite how much Landry wants to tell himself otherwise, the two of them have nothing in common. Remember his referencing West Side Story and her being completely unfamiliar with it? Yeah, not that I’m all that into musicals or anything, but someone who didn’t even know what it was I don’t think I could talk to, or take seriously in any way. I had a friend who didn’t believe in evolution, but didn’t even know what intelligent design or creationism was either.

Anyhow, I like how the writers have handled their relationship. If they had avoided that absurd murder plot, it would have been perfect, actually. But then why would Tyra have ever slept with him in the first place if he hadn’t had done her killing for her? God that made me nauseous. It is also appreciated that Jean is looked upon as sympathetic in this situation, and that there is a great chance that Landry ends up regretting this.

Other notes:

-The Julie character annoys the hell out of me. She actually had something to be bitter about this episode and it was still unbearable.

-Though we loved the scene outside of the DMV with the instructor and Tami, but the scene with Tami waving to her daughter as she pulled off for her drivers test was pretty overly fucking sentimental. Something that this series is occasionally guilty of, but the episode was so brilliant that we’ll let it slide.

-No Street, No Herc, no Santiago, very little Buddy and Lyla tends to make a good episode. Not because any of these characters are completely contrived or uninteresting, but because it let the stories they focused on breath a little more.

Clearly, without a doubt the best episode so far into the second season. And with only one episode left until the strike overtakes this series as well, it is almost regrettable. We were all ready for its inevitable cancellation as of “Humble Pie”, but now we’ve been reminded of how great it can be, and want to see it renewed. Tonight could very well be the last episode ever of this series, so enjoy it while you can. Because their is little incentive for NBC to greenlight the production of the last five or six episodes (you mean putting it on Friday nights didn’t increase the ratings? But, but, it has the word “Friday” in the title. How is this possible?) much less renew them for a third season.

Oh well, we can always hold out for AMC or a premium network to pick up the series.

Back with a Wire recap sometime before Sunday night.

Just a few links to continue this dreary two week stint (and counting) on this website. The only television we watched last night was Daily Show and Colbert Report, both of which furthered the ongoing feud between the comedy central hosts and the future tonight show host. We have to say, in lieu of the writers, continuing this running gag is probably the best alternative for both parties. All three personalities were featured on both variety shows, look for Colbert and Stewart to pop up on Conan’s show some time in the near future (They may have already gone on last night, we didn’t bother to find out though).

Here’s something with Jeff Probst walking through the new tribal council for the upcoming Survivor season. We didn’t watch it, because any type of Survivor hype strikes us as unsettling, unnecessary and flat out corny, in fact its probably the sole reason we didn’t bother to watch the series for its first eight or nine seasons. Essentially, we’re just posting this as an excuse to remind you that there is a new season starting Thursday, and it can only improve from last season.

Here’s an incredibly misinformed article from The Guardian relating celebrity to American politics. Clearly, and we don’t know how else to say this: this cat has obviously never been to a red state. Anyhow, relative to the article, if we’re picking our nation’s leaders based on their caliber of celebrity endorser, Obama (Clooney and Larry David) beats Clinton (Ted Danson and Barbara Streisand) in a fucking landslide.

Jason Bateman confirms Jeffrey Tambor’s confirmation of his previous declarations. Also, he adds what we already did about the decision lying solely on Mitchell Hurwitz’s shoulders. Jesus, you know, its not like the majority of the cast is struggling post AD. Cera has been in two featured films that have grossed tons of money and critical acclaim, Bateman is regularly in films with large releases, Portia De Rossi is trudging along on Nip Tuck, David Cross and Will Arnett are perennially in pedestrian comedies. All this success and they still want to reunite, that in and of itself is surprising and almost unprecedented.

The one-time president of the Bluth Company.

It’s looking grim for the future of Friday Night Lights. Not exactly news, but when the president of entertainment admits as much, then there is virtually no reason to be hopeful. Naturally, this announcement comes in the aftermath of what is unequivocally their best episode of the season. Whatever, I’m sure they can fill their time slot with yet another hour of Deal or No Deal.

Speaking of our favorite melodrama, here’s an article with writers from The Office, Mindy Kaling (Kelly) and Ryan Koh, writing the synopsis for the final episodes of the current FNL season and the climactic (also comedic) scene of the finale. There are four other features similar to this in the article, with television writers taking over for series’ completely different from their natural skill set, though this is the only one involving two series’ we watch.

Oh, and in case you were really anticipating the end of the writers strike, just settle down. Because even if it ended to day, we’d still have a month long hiatus before a new episode aired. Oh, and the WGA would also like to remind you that a deal has yet to be reached. So yeah, don’t look to drop your new healthy and productive lifestyle just yet.

So, is there a more appropriate post to do the day after the Superbowl? I really can’t think of anything relevant outside of the game. Speaking of which, and we don’t want to complain too much, we won a bundle of money last night and enjoyed it thoroughly, but after watching thirty seconds of the Puppy Bowl on Animal planet, the latter clearly had better production values then the former. I mean, they had a camera on the bottom of the water bowl. This is the Animal Planet equivalent of the Card Cam in poker. A freaking camera! We all get to look the puppies in the eye as they are enjoying their sustenance. Man, that is genius.

This pretty much summarizes the three hour telecast, it’s very sophisticated.

As far as commercials went, we thought they were vastly improved on recent years. A lot of talking animals though. Seriously, it was like a fucking Pixar movie. Maybe ad executives looked at how much money those movies regularly bring in, then hoped the same theory would translate to televised advertising, because the abundance of non-sentients verbally exchanging opinions and emotions was hard to not notice. Anyhow, we liked the one with the baby and the hired clown, though we can’t remember what product or service was being hawked, so we’re not sure how effective it was. That award goes to the Career Builder ad where the woman’s heart literally jumped out of her body and handed in her walking papers in hopes of a more altruistic career path. In fact, it served as nightmare fuel.

Some links:

Jeffrey Tambor (aka George Bluth) has now joined Jason Bateman on the campaign, blazing a trail for the Arrested Development movie to be made. I’m giddy, but also realistic, because all of these actors opinions are only good for verifying that they’d be willing to participate. Nothing gets made until Mitchell Hurwitz decides he wants to make it. Considering he was part of the reason the deal with Showtime was shutdown, we’re still only cautiously optimistic.

We are inching closer to the writer’s strike concluding, we kind of don’t care about the details so we didn’t read the article. But still, if this means FNL can pick up where it will leave off this Friday in a couple months, then we are all for it. Speaking of which, after a disappointing episode, they really stepped up their game and delivered what’s definitively the best episode of the second season this past Friday. Seriously, that was vintage season one FNL, the reasons everyone in the small but loyal fan base became so devoted to it in the first place were exemplified three nights ago.

Even with the news of a pending agreement, talks were postponed until after the Superbowl. To which we ask: Who gives a shit? They canceled Sunday school when I was younger for the Superbowl (we used to question the validity of this since we never got off for the NBA all-star game) and it was always a letdown in the mid-90’s. But that was irrelevant, because it’s virtually a national holiday at this point regardless of what some might consider the pervasive elements that surround it, and its place in the cultural landscape is undeniable. If people put matters of faith on hold for it, then it really shouldn’t come as any surprise when a gaggle of millionaires set business aside on a fucking Sunday.

This is probably it for today, back with something similarly non-descriptive tomorrow.

A couple notes while channel surfing last night. We strolled through ABC during the big season premiere for Lost, and it appears they’ve somehow gotten guns on the island. This is good, there’s no way that show could survive without some random plot device. And guns are the best of all random plot devices. Honestly this show is the closest thing to a WWF match there is on scripted television. Its like a revolving door of unexpected characters walking into camera shots, then a tension filled score is queued up and everyone either rejoices or scorns. Someday, I’m sure I’ll understand the fascination, but it is currently beyond me.

You people must think I’m going through some sort of male menopause with how bitchy I’ve been this week. But I can assure you, my tone on this site only correlates with my disgruntled state in relation to the world of television. In most conversations I usually evoke a sunny disposition. Except for when I’m talking about television, then heads roll.

As you can imagine, we were not very big fans of this episode. We can’t figure out if this title is referring to one or several of its characters, or the writers inability to write a predominate amount of original, organic storylines, or the writers current standing in their labor strike. Either way, it didn’t resonate.

They rehashed about three different themes this episode that were significant in the first season. Namely, Tim being in love with Lyla (understandable, but redundant), Smash dealing with Texas racism (from a peer, rather than a coach) and Tyra taking a stab at athletics (volleyball instead of football). All of which, while executed with subtlety and nuance in the first season, are now heavy-handed and predictable.

The Tim-Lyla storyline ended somewhat early in the episode. He discovered last episode she is dating some good-intentioned choir boy, essentially his polar opposite, and demanded she attend his house where he prepared dinner then promptly apologized. In short, he vowed his love again, she for the umpteenth time rebuffed his advances and compensated by loaning him $3,000 she either stole from her dad or the church, so he could payback the meth-addict he ripped off.

And they can’t just report this clown to the cops because…

This devolved into a confrontation with said meth-addict and his unsavory looking cronies pulling a gun on Tim and Billy. It is well-acted and all, but how many people can be living outside the law on this show?

Also in legal trouble? Smash, who cold-cocked some sniveling kid for making an inappropriate remark about Sidney Poitier in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Oh, I’m sorry, I mean about Smash dating his new beau, Noelle. For some reason this is a public concern, filled with press conferences, public apologies and accusations, some kid punched another kid in a movie theater over a girl, how is this “news”? Shit, I imagine something like this happens in Dillon at least three times a day. And did we ever see a single news report about the guy Landry and Tyra murdered? And yet we have local “press” tracking Smash down at an Applebee’s. Maybe Katims and them are trying to make a point about the misplaced priorities in the journalism industry, a la The Wire’s fifth season. Then again, maybe its just an oversight by the FNL team.

In good god we get he makeup of these characters news, Tyra is now playing volleyball at Tami’s request. And since there isn’t another capable adult woman in all of Dillon and FNL is pushing their luck just being on the air much less expanding their budget, Mrs. is also coaching the team. Anyhow, due to relationship struggles, Tyra takes her frustration out on the volleyball and leads the winless Dillon team to their first victory in eight efforts. This would be great if virtually the same thing didn’t happen last year in the powderpuff football game. Tyra was bitter towards Lyla for sleeping with Tim, and indicated as much with her tackle play in a flag game.

The episode wasn’t all bad (note: even when it’s bad I enjoy it), Street’s plight has been an great character arc since the pilot, and last Friday was no exception. Of course we would have loved to have seen him lash out at the Texas caricature of a woman who was sabotaging his work at the dealership. You have to love Buddy’s mentality. He does something borderline charitable by giving Street a job, but indeed benefits from it by manipulating customers by forcing the disabled local football hero’s sales pitch on them. Street has always been exceptional, in character and intelligence so he probably would excel at hawking cars regardless. But Buddy spontaneously offering him a job was really in character.

Seeing Landry move on from Tyra was entertaining and (finally) realistic. While there is no accounting for him and Tyra completely forgetting they conspired to murder someone, throwing Jean into the fray is a smart move, because it helps the characters and the audience move on as well. If they continued with Landry obsessing over Lyla, it’s a constant reminder that he murdered someone in her name. Additionally, we welcome the introduction of Jean, since we prefer her to Tyra anyways. Namely because she has a brain that operates outside of self-preservation. Honestly, has Tyra ever expressed interest in anything beyond her own concerns? I guess with her mom, but isn’t she immediately effected by her well-being? Whatever. Welcome to the cast Jean, we hope your residence lasts for at least the remainder of the season. Or at least the last two episodes NBC has ready to air before they go on an indeterminable hiatus.

We’re obviously not anywhere near bailing on the series, but if we missed an episode here or there, we wouldn’t be regretful about it. That, in and of itself, is a far cry from the brilliance of the first season.

Wire recap later today or Sunday.

We’re not going to lie, we watched this episode in a drunken stupor on Friday night, failed to watch it again, and for reasons need not specified, we are now unable too. Still, we have a pretty strong memory in these regards, so we’ll just wing this and not worry about the finer points. Which isn’t too big a deal, this series isn’t terribly nuanced anymore.

What we found most shocking, is that they depicted racism in Texas. Seriously, this is borderline slander against the lone star state. All I ever met in Texas during my time there were happy go lucky line dancing cowboys with nary a desire for city life, despite living in one of the ten biggest markets in the country. Still, to think a Drayton-Prentice scenario still exists in, of all places, Texas? Really boggles the mind.

Honestly, the entire Smash storyline might as well have been two kids holding up a sign that said, “We’re trying to say that racism exists in many forms, you stupid fucking sheep!” for five minutes. I guess my biggest problem with it wasn’t the themes, or the repetition of themes, but rather the indifference to Noelle. We know virtually nothing about her, and every time she’s been on screen, all she is doing is rambling off football statistics or doing every thing she can to embody, “just one of the guys”. Her character depth is virtually non-existent, and pretty much the most one-not portrayal we’ve seen. So when her parents suggested them breaking up, our initial reaction wasn’t, “In this day in age…well I never” (as is my reaction to so many things). It was more along the lines of, “does that mean she won’t be on camera any more? Great.”

That said, even though that movie theater scene was transparent and predictable as hell, it opened up the window for some potential Dillon and TMU issues. Unfortunately, for most of the western world, you can’t punch people in the face for speaking out of turn.

Santiago has friends trying to hold him back. And, wouldn’t you know it, Buddy is trying to relate to them. He does everything but the macarena, including toying with the idea of hiding his prized sports memorabilia at Taylors house for a “movie night” Buddy initiated, which I’m pretty sure even Buddy knew would turn into a soft core version of the Titty Twister in From Dusk Till Dawn. Eventually Buddy realizes that, sometimes, human decency is worth more than a watch you never wear.

You know what, I’m going to cut this short, because while it was an overall entertaining episode, nothing really changed, and nor do I necessarily want it to. But every single storyline in this episode began and ended within the hour, sans the Tim-Lyla storyline. My question is, how does a kid pull as much tail as Riggins presumably does, but when he actually wants a date, he resorts to essentially pulling her pigtails? Wouldn’t his game be a tad more refined than this? I know he’s supposed to be emotionally stunted and all that jargon, but seriously, a prank phone call to a Christian radio talk show? That’s cutting edge. At least they gave Herc a solid ten seconds of stifled laughter.

Who likes prank calls? This guy, right here!

Let’s see, anything else? Oh, Carlotta’s gone. She came, she deflowered, and now she’s gone. Quite the character arc. I could see the description of the role, “Look, we want you to come in playing a college student working as a caretaker, then sleep with your patient’s high school aged grandson, the get the fuck out”. Maybe this will pave the way for more scenes of Landry and Matt in various local establishments engaging in Seinfeld-ian bantering. Because from this site’s perspective, that is the high point of the show.

Still, a decent forty-two minutes from what we can recall at this early hour. There’s little to complain about when your options are so limited. Like, you know, beggers can’t be choosers, or some such rhetoric. Hopefully Mo Ryan is right and the upcoming stint of episodes bring us back to glory before they’re plum out due to the strike.

Since we’ve already done a “What’s On Tonight!” post on, like, four different Thursdays, and given the schedule doesn’t change much at all, we’re going to post some more links. While this isn’t exactly original or all that entertaining, time is of the essence and needs to factor into the decision making here.

Also, it doesn’t look like we’re ever going to see the Breaking Bad pilot due to some domestic issues (not being brought up on charges or anything, its actually more ridiculous than that), So we’re just going to forgo the series entirely and try to catch it when AMC ultimately replays it, which, if the ratings for the pilot episode are any indication, they will most certainly do. So, should anyone catch wind of when this will take place, please let us know.

Mo Ryan, a critic for the Chicago Tribune and probably the series’ most staunch and public of fans, has claimed that FNL has revisited its season one glory after a slow start too season two. While we wouldn’t go even remotely close to saying that, we will agree that the series has definitely improved in the new year. Then again, she gets advanced copies so we’re speaking on different plains here, but I just don’t recall season one ever needing something as contrived or overwrought as a tornado, or a grief stricken coach tackling a player on the field to ratchet up the suspense in season one.

Yet another reason to avoid getting married and having kids: when we inevitably get divorced, my estranged wife can get a court order to drag them onto a reality series to boost her profile. To be honest, I’m fairly impressed with Denise Richards, in a custody dispute with Charlie Sheen, she has made him the class act. How many people can lay claim to that?

One’s apparently addicted to money, the other reportedly hookers and blow, can you determine which is which?

I usually don’t do this because it feels rather invasive and unnecessary; but I’m stretched thin for material, so here are pics of Conan O’Brien’s new estate. Also, it really bares an uncanny resemblance to my summer home, but as a permanent residence? Pssh, I couldn’t fathom living in such squalor. I mean, where would I take guests?

Like I said, we’re stretched thin for material today, so we will inform you that Jenna Fischer is not dating David Spade. Apparently this was believed to be true at some point, which, no offense to David Spade, would destroy the Pam Beesly character for millions of viewers. For all her bravado about standing up for herself and exuding self-confidence, that isn’t synonymous with dating aging playboys with kids out of wedlock (who we consider funny, though past his prime). Man, it must suck being identified as a fictional character.

If you are looking for insight on Michael K. Williams’ performance as Omar Little, then look no further. Though we rarely listen to any talk radio, we do like these interviews with obscure actors and other creative talent that NPR so frequently seems to attain. Also, there are several other audio clips related to The Wire directly underneath the brief article provided.

Speaking of the greatest drama of all time, Clark Johnson, who directed The Wire’s pilot episode as well as the series finale, also directed the series finale of The Shield. We’re certain he appreciates the work and is flattered and all that shit. But really? There isn’t another acclaimed television director who could cover The Shield? Maybe Fred Thompson could take a stab at it, directing an episode of television appears to be the closest he’ll ever get to being the president. (Oh, snap)

That’s all for today, back with and FNL recap tomorrow.

Yeesh, still haven’t gotten around to watching Breaking Bad, but man is the suspense building. We’ll probably watch it on Sunday before the sophomore effort in lieu of any football to consume. We did, however, watch Nip Tuck. And after foregoing all recaps from here on out, we felt validated. That’s all we’ll say.

Also, something we discovered recently, the reason we liked the hideously deformed Rachel Ben Nattan character so much is because she is played by Maggie Siff, the same Maggie Siff who played our favorite female character on Mad Men: Rachel Menken. We never would have guessed that. As little as six months ago we’d never heard of this woman, now she’s playing two of our favorite characters on, two of the, roughly ten, series’ we watch.

It appears the Grammy’s are so innocuous now the WGA isn’t even going to bother to picket them. Either the union is getting apathetic, or this should tell us something about the dire state of the music industry. Or the awards handed out at the Grammy’s aren’t reliant on the WGA for creative council. Whatever, I’m too lazy to read the article.

An article making the case for FNL being a commercial failure because they never marketed their product with additional supplemental products such as toys, lunch boxes, etc. Not sure if I really agree with any of this, the series makes the other peripheral products viable revenue options, not the other way around. This is like saying baseball never would have reached its apex without baseball cards, seems counter-intuitive. And secondly, I have a Crucifictorious t-shirt, so to say they haven’t franchised FNL is essentially a blatant falsehood.

Clearly the problem is the above was never transformed into a Barbie Doll.

In least expected marriage of all time news, Larry Gillard Jr. who played D’Angelo Barksdale on The Wire before his untimely death in the middle of season two, is married to Michelle Paress, aka Alma Gutierrez. Since no one watches The Wire, for you Sopranos fans, this is like Tony Blundetto marrying Meadow.

In one of the more petty, pointless, and ultimately ineffectual moves of all time, the FOX affiliate in Green Bay that airs Seinfeld reruns canceled their syndication for the day Eli Manning would be in town for the playoff game against The Packers. So Jerry Seinfeld sent the wide-eyed quarterback a free box set. It’s a move that almost made me glad the Giants won despite hating the fucking Giants. And the subsequent interference from Seinfeld almost redeems him from the whole cookbook fiasco, despite considering the decision to berate a woman rightfully looking for her fair share on national television to be completely irredeemable. All told, this was quite the enlightening series of events.

And finally, an interview with Linda Cardellini on her stint with the short lived but cult followed and critically praised Freaks and Geeks. We think she’s on ER now or something, but she’ll always be Lindsey Weir to this website. At least until she’s in a Judd Apatow movie, then she’ll be whoever that character is.

Kind of slow ’round these parts. Back with something more invigorating tomorrow.

A title that references every major plot development in the episode. Not exactly a newfound glory for FNL, but rather a somewhat predictable one. Especially when they throw every spoiler imaginable into the previews from the previous week sans a ridiculous last second revelation.

And what is that revelation? Well, the rival coach who’d been probably as ungracious as a guest can possibly be, tackles Riggins in the middle of their game, stands up and screams at everybody in the stands and on the field about proper tackling technique, then informs Taylor that the reason he’s been flying off the cuff so frequently is because his wife is dying. Now, I understand the narrative revolves solely around everything Dillon. But for this storyline they should have given us third person, and informed the audience of coach Dickie’s situation long before Taylor or anyone in Dillon found out about it. Because to have two episodes revolving around this guy’s idiotic combativeness, then to dismiss it with one line at the end of the second episode is a bit uncharacteristically lazy storytelling for this series.

You’d be happy to know he hasn’t burnt down his house yet. Or rather, his house that his ex-wife and new fiance live in.

Speaking of lazy storytelling, I get the impression that TMU is supposed to be a stand-in for University of Texas (Rick Barnes playing the recruiter for TMU helped tip us off), and that Street a long while ago in the pilot said UT was his school of choice. But I don’t think they’ve mentioned it since that debut episode from over a year ago, and to treat it as his first choice now seems a bit added in. The dramatics in it just felt lacking, and I thought when Chip announced to the entire school that he was going to TMU, that would have been enough of a deterrent. And while his mom is a great character, there was much of an explanation to her motives. They’ve touched on her worrying that Smash was going to start losing his perspective, and while we sympathize, we’d also argue that Smash lost his perspective about, say, thirty episodes ago. Here’s hoping the steroids plot is resurrected.

The lone highlight in this episode was Riggins, yet again, for his discretion to what a drunken brat Julie is. Let me be one of many to say that never in a million years would I think Julie, or someone like Julie would actually take the wrap for that, but Kyle Chandler’s reaction was priceless, to both Tim and Julie, and made the slight avoidance of reality easier to overlook. He also gave us the best line of the episode: “My dad lives in (the neighboring county), if you want to complete the Riggins trifecta”. We hope that woman suffers endlessly after this spectacle. The theft probably would have been great to avoid on the heels of the whole murder plot. If Billy ends up dead at the end of this season, we’re going to be woefully disappointed. Probably enough so to quit tuning in.

One good thing to come out of this episode is Tami’s sister was unintentionally kicked out of the house, and we actually thought they dealt with this brilliantly. The in-law sibling finally losing his patience, the sibling knowing the married couple had discussed her moving out several times, and the one who’s sibling is staying in her family’s house leveling with her sister but doing so in a sympathetic fashion. Rarely are these things as bitter and contentious as they make them on television, and it felt real in this instance. Also, Shelly’s gone, and we are all the better for it without anymore of those insufferable scenes.

All in all, not their best work. But at least we were spared any discussions of past federal and state crimes, so that’s a silver lining. If we have to endure any more rogue coaches or intolerable siblings, it might be too much to bear. We’re not anywhere near jumping ship, but this is definitely the first time it has crossed our minds.

Wire recap later.

Holy hell am I putting this out late. It just dawned on me that it’s going to be a real bitch posting for the only two drama series we still watch on the same day. Never the less, we soldier on. With that said this is going to be incredibly brief, and since I’m not Snoop, I won’t call all of you motherfuckers. And since its been about a month since the last episode, here’s a recap.

It’s a shame time is of such the essence (we started writing this around 7:10 est.), because this episode had a lot of substance to it. A lot of contrived, inevitable substance, but substance all the same. It also gave us essentially what we were hoping to see. I am speaking, of course, of Tim Riggins: A modern day, white, Texan Shaft. He probably ate up a solid thirty minutes of the episode between Julie and the rest of the Taylors, and the team camaraderie. His character is so understated and almost tragic (note: I watched this directly after the second Wire, so nothing on this show could actually be tragic by comparison) that you almost wish this series was viewed from the 1st person instead of the third. Honestly, for all the mistakes the character has made, he’s paid for them ten-fold. I couldn’t have been the only one hoping he would knock that palest urinator in all of Texas on his ass.

Still, the final scene with Julie was going to illicit a confrontational reaction from Taylor, and even had he gotten a chance to explain himself and Taylor believed him, he was still going to blame Riggins for Julie coming home drunk. The backlash on this tonight could be brutal, here’s hoping they turn it into a comedy arc. They could even play circus music in the background as Riggins looks for a place to sleep while his older brother and his pedophile whore of a neighbor nest in what used to be his house.

On to other matters, were somewhat tired of the sisterly rivalry between Tami and her little sibling. We get it, they get along but occasionally clash and it seems to show Tami as actually flawed and capable of errors in judgment (something this series had yet to do, and I have no idea why they waited until now). It just seems redundant with more personal insults exchanged with each argument. And really, what is Shelly doing there if Tami always uses her as a verbal punching bag any time she’s stressed out. The stage set just seems cluttered with her in the picture and we never see Shelly outside the house (though once at a football game, where she showed immense range clapping and gossiping). Anyhow, she’s not going anywhere anytime soon as she seems like a nanny living rent free as her paycheck, so we’ll just move on.

The highlight of the episode, as absurd as it was, were Dillon sharing their school/locker room/field with the despised Laribee, who just in case you were a first time viewer and unsure of who to root for, couldn’t be any more comically villainous. From urinating in lockers to more sanitary vandalizing to snide passive-aggressive comments, when Landry sucker punched “Chip” and Taylor threw Dickie up against the wall, it was entirely rewarding to watch.

Hey, you take your time, Tyra. Landry is totally accustom to having women like you interested in him.

The Landry-Tyra plot almost needs to be thrown out, if for no other reason than its a lingering reminder of the dreaded murder cover up. But Jesse Plemons plays the part with such authenticity that it makes the encounters tolerable. Still, I think everyone preferred him as the lovable nerd best friend of the self-conscious high school quarterback. It was better off with Landry chasing Tyra and her not reciprocating, but several of the writers can probably relate to the character so they figured why not throw him a bone.

Still not too much Smash or Saracen. And the latter’s ridiculous “diddling the adult” storyline is so common on this series that we suppose it’s for the better. Oh, and Lyla should drop off this show just like her ex-fiance apparently has. Or at least for this one episode, because we don’t need any more montages like the one with Buddy Garrity, whose admission to his unforgiving ex-wife was squirm inducing.

Great return to form for the series, we’re hoping for more of the same and an avoidance of melodrama, but judging by the previews (of which you may have not seen, so we won’t spill anything) we’re at least hoping the buildup to the climax is immense.

Have a good weekend, we’re remarkably tired so we’ll be comatose for the majority of it and hope to come back with more vigor than we’ve had the past three days.

We here at Grid Effect we’re particularly enamored with the past year in television and film, but in most instances the two mediums at large cater to an audience we simply can’t relate too. For every No Country For Old Men and Flight of The Conchords there’s ten Evan Almighty’s and five Big Bang Theory’s, not to say we always scoff at the commercial pieces, we love Grindhouse and The Office, but those are two exceptions. While these both have their shallow characteristics there is still an emphasis on originality and characterization, the same cannot be said for their mainstream counterparts.

Given this is a TV blog, at this time of year we like to recognize series’ that might otherwise go unrecognized, regardless of how trivial and irrelevant the recognition actually is. We’ll countdown 10-6 today, and finish 5-1 on Monday. To read about last year’s best series as donned by this blog, go here and here.

First off, lets take some time to acknowledge the series’ we excluded, including Entourage, Rescue Me Nip Tuck and Survivor. The latter of which had secured its place on the board until this dreadful last season. And we tend to think that producing the worst season out of fifteen warrants barring you from any top ten lists. Rescue Me and Entourage, last year ranked 10 and 8, respectively fell off completely this year for a variety of reasons.

That’s pretty disappointing when two of the series’ on last year’s list weren’t even up for consideration (AD and The Wire). Each had their moments, but neither series seems to have a clue as to where they are going, and are just meandering around for the networks while they still grab decent ratings. And Nip Tuck’s absence shouldn’t come as any surprise.

10) Weeds
A bit of a sham because we haven’t even seen their most recent season, but the first two were good enough that we’re going to take the liberty of saying we’re confident in the product. A series about ultra-liberal potheads for ultra-liberal potheads might seem like a cliche given the current Hollywood environment, but this series produces the goods with great performances from Kevin Nealon as Doug Wilson, and Mary Louise-Parker and Justin Kirk as Nancy and Andy Botwin. A comedy as much as it is a family drama, this series produces great bits of dialog and plot development like no other sitcom to date. And trust us, had we been privy to season three, it would be much higher than #10.

You know it’s good when we haven’t even seen this year’s season and still have it ranked.

9) Flight of The Conchords
As quirky as it is fresh (the antithesis to Juno in that regard), FoTC follows the lives of two aspiring yet hopeless New Zealand musicians in New York. They get into mostly self-inflicted misadventures and handle all of them with a bumbling beta-maleness that can only be accurately described as impotent indifference. This would have earned a higher spot if it wasn’t for the all too frequent uncomfortable musical bits, but with Bret, Jermaine, Murray, Mel and Dave all churning out consistent comedic bits, the place as worst best series we actually saw in full in 2007 seems appropriate.

Friday Night Lights
God we hate putting this series so low. The first season was probably the best network drama we have ever seen. The exposition on a small Texas town and its football team couldn’t have been less imperfect. But this second season, with its uneven episodes and murder plots and surplus of adult-child relationships, we couldn’t rationally put it above anything else left. It has a glimmer of hope that they can get back on track, but they’ve effectively ruined Landry (probably the best peripheral character from season one) and taken several characters down paths I’m not entirely interested in nor do I find them to be as organic as the first seasons conflicts and resolutions. Right now, Taylor Keitsch and Scott Porter as Riggins and Street are saving that series.

7) Curb Your Enthusiasm
Surprised we decided to rank it this high given the frequency of letdowns for their first season in almost two years. But the last three or four episodes (starting with whenever Cheryl left Larry) completely redeemed the season’s initial outpour of implausibility. We suppose this speaks to the longevity of Larry David and his capacity for comedic development, but really we’re not so sure we aren’t putting it on here solely for the last minute of the season. They need to return for a seventh so we can see that final sixty seconds elongated.

6) The Office
Fell a couple spots from last year, though still remained strong despite all our incessant nitpicking. We like to hold great series’ to a higher standard and not resort to the old, “it’s still better than anything else on television” defense. But in all honesty, it is. Even the best 30 Rock episode, which is a highly respected and critically lauded series, doesn’t produce as many great moments (comedic or otherwise) as does the worst episode of The Office. So, for all the unnecessary declarations of love and relationship quarrels, we’re still placing it here at number six.

Back with the top five series of the year on Monday.

A quick note to start this recap, in last weeks recap I headed the episode “The Confession” thinking that was the episode in which Landry confessed in the conclusion. But I was mistaken, “The Confession” is actually this weeks episode, last week’s is entitled, “Seeing Other People”, in reference to Saracen’s request for an open relationship among other things. Sorry for the confusion, if it makes you feel any better the title mishap completely killed my opening paragraph.

Also, it warrants mentioning, that we were going to save posting this until the day of the next episode in January. But as it stands, unless you want more blabber about the writer’s strike, there really isn’t anything else to talk about. So here’s last week’s episode’s recap, a solid month before the next episode airs.

To be honest, given how cringe-inducing the Landry subplot has been, and that this episode was overbearing with it, we actually didn’t mind “The Confession”. It’s quite possibly a subconscious thing, being that the arc is coming to an end and the series can presumably move on making all of us happy. But still, one would think an episode so inundated with a subplot we can’t stand would have us questioning whether we should watch it or not. But rather, we’re just looking forward to January.

Clearly plotting another murder. Put that man behind bars.

Landry, for whatever reason (and I’m not buying a pep Christian morals talk from Lyla either) decided to confess his sins to the local authorities. And not only did he confess initially, but did everything he could to bury himself in prison time. Someone should tell Landry about what happens to people like him when they go to prison, because it’s not exactly sanctimonious. His father rushed him out of that joint and tried to berate him into claiming self-defense after Landry pulled the same stunt with his attorney.

I have to imagine that in Texas, if the white teenage son of a local police from a small town murders a rapist then claims self-defense protecting the woman he was with, not a jury in that state is going to convict him. So I can understand everyone’s insistence that he lies for his own good. But its not understood why Landry is so resistant to comply. Once he confessed, he confessed. And from a spiritual standpoint, isn’t it God who has to absolve you? It has nothing to do with the police.

Eventually he decrees and lets the adults handle the situation and it’s ultimately decided not to press charges. I’ll overlook that he didn’t confess for months after the fact, and that they glossed over (or ignored rather) Landry’s dad destroying evidence (presumably because he’s a cop and is above the law) just to be done with this nonsense.

We’re in a hurry today, so here’s the rest of the episode in dash form:

-Riggins finally moved out of his roommates place, realizing how unhealthy of a situation it actually is. I mean, the last time someone barged into my room high on meth and pointed a shotgun in my chest, I was at least to drunk to actually wake-up. Apparently he moves into Taylor’s garage. There could be a conflict of interests with Julie still in full on rebellion.

-Matt’s still screwing his maid while applying all the bad advice he can from Smash. Yet another story we’re hoping ends sooner rather than later.

-The Taylor’s are beginning to annoy, especially Julie and Tami. That little argument in Julie’s bedroom felt contrived and overdone. We don’t think we can handle any more crocodile tears from either one of them.

-Street is dating women off of a website called “Wheellovers.com”. Naturally, a woman into handicapped men is also into urine. Yeah, urine. His understanding waitress bails him out of the situation and the date throws a glass of water in her face. Said waitress offers him a ride home and naturally they develop a rapid fondness for each other, and he sleeps with her at her place.

-As a result of the above storyline, Herc returned and recommended Street move out of his parents house who still exhibit parental-like pity for their son. When they completely unload on him when he returns from his tryst, he apologizes for not calling them, then announces he’s moving in with his paraplegic counterpart.

Since we’re in December, we’re going to start doing year end lists, faux-awards and shit like that to kill the drudgery that is television during the holiday season. And let it be duely noted that this episode title is winning in a landslide for both Ill-advised and non-creative episode title of the year.

Why ill-advised? Because no one who watches this series is interested in this plot, yet they keep hammering away at it instead of pretending like it never happened. If they were so intent on killing the efficacy of the Landry character, wouldn’t joining the football team been enough? Did he really have to kill somebody? And for those saying it was self-defense is a bit of a stretch, the victim was clearly walking away from the scene when Landry beat him to death.

Landry’s like Antoine Chigurh, he’s going to have to murder his way out of this jam. He’s in too deep now.

The manner in which Landry decided to confess was categorically ridiculous as well. Have him and Lyla (as a silver lining, Minka Kelly, who always looks exceptional, looked even more so this episode) even shared a scene together sans the road trip to Dallas for the title game? And the victim’s brother wanting to meet his brother’s victims (what?) a tad contrived. While we never have worked in rape or grief counseling or anything that would give us familiarity with such instances, we find it hard to believe that this is an authentic scenario. But the plot device worked as well as any in this storyline, so what’s one more?

Speaking of plots we’d like to see vanquished, Matt hooking up with his maid or whatever certainly falls into that category. This is at least getting a nomination for inevitable plot development of the year. Not only are we bored with its predictability, but what is this series’ proclivity for high-schoolers engaging in illegal relationships with adults (maybe not illegal, but at least questionable)? I’m not going to go back and do the research, because this is a blog and it’s more fun to simply speculate and make outrageous claims, but if we were to go back and look at who wrote the Riggins-moderately attractive 30-something neighbor and Matt-Carlotta episodes, we wouldn’t be surprised at all to discover it’s the same person. Something tells me someone on the writing staff has some deep seeded maternal issues from his blue-collar upbringing.

As for the Julie-Noah subplot, well that’s just inappropriate. Honestly, if we were place in Noah’s position and Tami pulled us into a room like that. Given that we would have a degree in Journalism from Columbia, we’re quite certain we’d move the fuck out of that small Texas town we’d be gracing with our presence, then we’d leave a note on Tami’s doorstep saying something along the lines of, “she’s your problem now”. Because being verbally berated and accused of something so heinous when the relationship has seemed more or less innocent is quite unnecessary.

Could he have handled the situation a little better? Of course, he didn’t seem to establish any ground rules for their student-teacher friendship when Julie was clearly developing something of a crush on him. Given he’s in the authoritative position, we suppose it’s his responsibility. But to be accused like that in front of a large segment of the student population is uncalled for. We’re just thankful the series portrayed Tami as misguided in this instance and not the “strong-minded working mother of two” that is so often the case. This gives her more depth and adds to what’s already a multi-faceted character.

Smash, on the other hand, doesn’t have such petty concerns, as his road trip to McNeil University is everything he expected. Sure, the entire point was to illustrate how his priorities are still misplaced (which we really don’t see that way, more of a cultural norm than an exception to the rule), and to have him run around in his underwear to end his visit. But it lead to his car ride back with Saracen and his taunting via telephone (we were prone to doing this during our college days), so we didn’t mind the contrivance.

Anything else? They haven’t touched on Taylor’s conflict of interests as head football coach and AD in awhile. Oh, Riggins spent this episode deciding he didn’t want to be a meth dealer, or even some actor with no charisma meandering around in his tighty-whities. His speech at the conclusion of the episode was effective, if not entirely realistic. His team certainly didn’t take his absence personally, and since they’re so miserable without a blocking back I can’t say I’m surprised. But still, not a bad way to cap a decent arc.

In the end, probably one of their more grating episodes. Simply for the Landry and Saracen developments. In the first season, their scenes together were something to be anticipated, now their both deeply involved in their own asinine subplots with predictable outcomes. We need Street and Taylor dominating the screen if this is what they plan to do with Landry and Saracen.

Back with some links to close out the week.

Well, I’m glad I could get this out for my readers* a solid hour and a half before the series’ following episode. If you want an excuse, it’s been a long day and a long week, and we are more than content to finish mailing in the rest of the day, regardless of how late it is.

(*=Presuming I have any)

This was an entirely watchable episode, despite the numerous cliches jam packed into the hour. Really, I we didn’t think it was even an achievable task to cram in as many as they did. Frankly, we’re kind of impressed. But the thing about formulaic storytelling, especially in TV or film, is that if the dialog and acting is credible, it can still work. Particularly if the cliches at hand are plausible scenarios.

We had numerous examples of this. Including Julie’s a little too familiar relationship with her plot device of a charismatic new teacher, Noah. So long as nothing untoward takes place, we thought the arc was handled with the right amount of suspicion and harmlessness. As in, it seems harmless enough at the moment, but we can all certainly understand Tami’s trepidation. As far as we know, Eric Taylor is in the dark about the most recent development in his daughter’s life, we hop to God there is never anything for him to find out, this show has already pushed the envelope enough for one season. Anyhow, we’re certain he’ll find out about any shady behavior when Julie’s assignment coincides with his new title as athletic director.

On the other hand, we got the Lyla-Tyra storyline, which just didn’t have the same credibility. And given the issue of being an accomplice to murder an all, it just doesn’t seem believable that Tyra would be able to function as the provocative young vixen coercing all the boys into whatever she wants to coerce them into and still have a soul. Of course, that might be a little hyperbole, but you see my point. Tyra’s never exactly been an emotionally stable character, so we see no reason why she would be so stoic now.

The Riggins plot continues to flourish, and his whole displaced high schooler thing seems a lot more commonplace than Santiago’s (though we enjoyed that as well, and are hoping for a little Buddy Garrity redemption). Him walking into that falling down abode while its creepy inhabitant eyed him up and down was a little too much, but it really seemed well within Riggins’ character to be so stubborn. Here’s hoping his whore neighbor is pulled off by the local authorities for turning tricks at some point.

Smash is still in fine form, defying anyone and everyone for what seems practical but is also corrupt and ill-advised. But lets be honest, there would be no reason for Smash to even consider attending Whitmore. Of course, this series still tries to invoke idealism here and there, and likes to think someone like Smash should actually prioritize academics over athletics…but that’s preposterous. Clearly he’s looking at the school Owen Davenport is currently attending, with assistance from Owen’s younger sister, and this all seems so random. Where’s Waverly? Psych ward?

Anything else? Oh, Saracen is still seeing the perky little cheerleader (PLC) that highlights all of Julie’s insecurities. PLC helps him buy a car, not through blatant flirtation but actual persuasion, which she still probably thinks has nothing to do with how she looks.

Solid episode, again, but nothing harking back to season one. Tonight, as NBC so unabashedly promoted, is Landry’s big confession. I guess it’s more about the adventure than the actual destination, but it would have sufficed to avoid advertising it for the past two weeks. We’re hoping for some Street tonight, but as the say in The Wire, he’s out the game.

That’s it until Monday, we’re actually rooting for the Big XII south team in the conference title game, so we’ll be in a bit of a daze until Sunday. Enjoy the weekend.