GRChereck

Exactly. For Mike, the big difference between now and the last time he was with the group is that everyone is literally paired off (as opposed to Erica being free while Melissa and Gail shared Todd in a polyamorous arrangement) and most are busy raising their own families; even when surrounded by other people, being the odd one out can be an incredibly lonely feeling. :( When KSchaal was on 'Conan' last night, she showed a clip that must have been from the upcoming season finale -- the group was talking about moving to Cancun, and Melissa said something about leaving Jasper some things that would help him find the group in case he ever wants to rejoin them. :)

Soon as I saw the bunker people, I actually said, "Holy crap!" :D But yeah, Will and Jason are so damn delightful; Mike cracking a smile after Tandy made a bestiality joke was especially heartwarming. <3 As for Todd and the ladies, I'm a little surprised they hadn't done more exploring of the house in the past several months or so, but better late than never. Guns, explosives, money, murdered bodies, drugs (I got a good chuckle when Gail recognized the cocaine) -- probably not the best place to be raising babies...

That was a clever touch. :D Also, as much as I've enjoyed the half-hair thing, I'm glad they didn't drag it out as long this time; the shaving scene was a hoot, and I thought the little rat-tail that Mike left Tandy was cute. Will and Jason must have had a blast filming this one, especially when they were "bowling" in the yard (but even when they were spitting insults at each other as Tandy tried to block Mike's truck, I was reminded a little bit of the SNL "Potato Chip Thief" sketch with its over-the-top yelling). Or more accurately, Tandy didn't want Mike to split off from the group to investigate. :) Also, the press-release synopsis for the next episode (4x17, "Barbara Ann") made it sound like the rest of the group was going to leave Todd behind; but instead, it'll be the Miller brothers hitting the road together while Todd and the ladies deal with a disturbing discovery at home (similar to how the brothers spent most of 2x18 in Tucson while the rest of the gang in Malibu had to deal with the drone). Now that the matter of their having a baby together has been settled (thank goodness), it makes sense that their next conflict would be getting more into mundane day-to-day aspects of co-parenting; good to see them already starting to work things out. Gail and Melissa, on the other hand, were the ones who kinda pissed me off this time. It was one thing in s.2 when they spent most of their time sitting around drinking and whatnot in their Malibu mansion, but their laziness is a lot less amusing when there are babies to take care of. :\

I took it as a callback to Tandy's prank when he first introduced Karl to the group, so I could understand why Gail would jump at a chance to try the same trick on him; but yeah, I thought it was a little messed up that Mike (as much of a merry prankster as he is) would want to pull something like that. :p

THR: LMOE Brings Back an Old Friend Amid Uncertain Future -- Will Forte Q&A Some highlights/tidbits: -- The return of Mike would not have happened if Will and the writers hadn't come up with an idea that would be "worth messing with" the end of Mike's original s.2 arc; and Jason was always open to come back if they "wanted to do something cool" -- Sounds like this season might end on a cliffhanger of sorts, but if the show were to get a s.5, Will and company feel they have more stories to tell but would definitely work towards an "appropriate ending" -- Carol's second pregnancy and the time-jump were indeed meant to incorporate KSchaal's real-life pregnancy -- Mike's new arc is supposed to be the catalyst for "different, interesting" story plan that would (hopefully) be implemented in s.5.

Forte and Sudsy are so freakin' adorable together... <3 <3 Todd was still an ass for most of this episode, but I'm glad they actually settled the matter of Erica being pregnant already (I had thought last week it would be way too soon to tell whether his sperm "took" or not, anyway, but I guess she just needed one or two more days...) so we wouldn't get some dragged-out plot of her having to choose between him and Mike to father a sibling for Dawn. As for Mike, I was a little disappointed that he never actually noticed the note Tandy had left for him in 3x6; also, I was surprised that he appeared to be pretty much recovered by then (since, in the show's timeline that I can recall, that episode couldn't have taken place more than month or so after Tandy had first left him in 2x18). Still, he at least confirmed one of my theories about his illness, which was that it was must have been related to his weakened immune system upon returning to Earth after years in space (rather than a return of The Virus).

"Ask Matt" weighs in on 'Speechless' renewal chances in the wake of the 'Roseanne' revival's success: https://www.tvinsider.com/681423/ask-matt-mozart-in-the-jungle-westworld-trading-spaces/ I would say the show's renewal might mostly depend on how 'Alex, Inc.' does, since the already-renewed 'Roseanne' likely won't do more than 13 episodes (and 'Splitting Up Together' is a sure bet for renewal so far). ABC seems to be doing everything in its power to save it despite disappointing numbers (while the 1.1 premiere was on par with the s.2 average for 'Speechless,' it's only been doing 0.9 in the past two weeks) -- including trying it out in the post-'Roseanne' slot next Tuesday (4/17), as well as airing one new episode on 4/18 and two on 4/25 when the rest of the Wed. comedy lineup will be taking a two-week break. :\ *** Not directly about 'Speechless,' but it's mentioned in the list of "Examples of Best Practices," and the "H-E-R--Hero" episode is quoted in "Terminology Tips" (particularly the "inspiration porn" section)... Jewish Journal: Toolkit Touts Hiring Actors With Disabilities The 83-page toolkit can be read / downloaded here: http://www.respectability.org/hollywood-inclusion/

"Cancun, Baby!" (4x18, May 6) -- season finale Sounds like whatever Todd finds in 4x17 might have the gang on the move again... o_O

I seem to recall very early on in s.1, she was initially more excited at the prospect of a female friend than at finding a man, and the show seemed to hint at the possibility of a deep, meaningful friendship for her and Carol; but after Todd came along, that mostly sort of fell by the wayside as both ladies got more wrapped-up in their own lives. (I remember being most disappointed in s.3 when Melissa was going through the worst of her mental illness, and Carol was more concerned about having Gail be her adoptive mother so her impending baby could have a grandparent.) But now I think that may have been intentional; I could see Melissa being the kind of person who might like the idea of having a gal pal she can go to when she wants someone else to talk with besides her man, but having a hard time sustaining that sort of relationship (especially if she's more used to simply withdrawing, keeping to herself and doing her own thing -- which might help explain her particular kinship with Jasper*...). * - in addition to the official Den of Geek "Writers-Room Walk-through" explanation: She's the only one of the group who's the most honest with him, who "doesn't want anything from him or care what he thinks of her" and doesn't just treat him like a child -- she recognizes and respects how he had lived on his own for years before the rest of the group found him, and how he doesn't need them as much as they assume he does (especially since they don't seem to have any real parenting skills that would help him anyway).

A thoughtful response to ABC executives' recent claim about 'Roseanne' being their only show to address "economic diversity": http://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/abc-has-a-great-sitcom-about-white-working-class-american-struggles-its-called-speechless-.php :) (Also, 'Speechless' was included in this Vox piece listing 11 current comedies besides the 'Roseanne' revival that depict working-class struggles and address timely topics.)

*** Den of Geek Writers-Room Walk-through s.4, part 4 -- "Paint Misbehavin'" (4x10), "Hamilton/Berg" (4x11), and "Señor Clean" (4x12) (with writers Matt Marshall, Kira Kalush, and Maxwell Kessler) Topics include the Tandy-shooting-Karl prank, Tandy's intuition being correct for once, the plan for Karl's character arc and how it dovetailed with the "Rubik's Cube of Death" storyline, the core-group dynamic as the heart of the show, Fred's intentionally poor piano-playing, Jasper's unique bond with Melissa (and her decision to keep him from the rest of the group), the "Band-Aid feast," the 4x10 title change, Karl's agreeableness and struggle against his urges, Melissa's suggestion to have Karl killed, the irony and drama of Carol drawing the "short straw," Tandy's reluctance to shoot Karl (after taking Carol's place), the group's lack of awareness about the bomb, the fun of funeral scenes, the Todd/Melissa baby conflict and their compromise to involve Erica, Tandy's maturity and the challenge of having Gail "come around on him," etc.

Sudsy's back! <3 (And the half-hair 'do returns... xD ) So even after the time-jump, Jasper still wasn't ready to come home. :\ But apparently he was the one who told Mike where Tandy and the gang are living, so that's good... Yup. :( Granted, it's an overall weird situation with him, Erica and Melissa; but while Erica just does her part and tries to carry on like normal, Todd has to put too much pressure on her and be an ass about it. On the plus side, I was a little concerned about Melissa's attempts to bond with Erica seeming so strained at first (like she was masking some ulterior motive or something), but I was glad it just turned out to be her awkwardness in trying to make a female friend (which she'd never really had pre-Virus), made more extreme by the added stakes of possibly having to share her husband (as a co-parent) with this friend. I've noticed with the guest stars on this show that, unless their death is made clear to us (Gordon's heart attack and Phil 2 dying on the operating table in s.2, Darrell getting shot and Lewis's plane crash in s.3, both Admiral Roy and Pat getting shot in the s.4 premiere, Karl blowing up), it's safe to assume they're still alive (Mike at the end of s.2, Pat at the beginning of s.3 -- in which case, I wonder if the return of Mike was revealed ahead of time because the show might have another big surprise up its sleeve regarding the fates of Pamela and Glenn...). But anyway, yeah, I'm thinking at some point this season Forte probably realized the end could be near and thus wanted to at least give us some closure on what happened with Mike, if nothing else. (I get the feeling Mike's return could also likely explain the Erica/Todd drama being dragged out in this episode; however, I would hope they're not setting it up for her to have to choose between the two men, because 1) she knows how much Todd wants this baby and 2) she's married to Gail now anyway -- I wonder how Mike's going to feel about that...)

Not to mention that 'Fresh Off the Boat' had a similar cliffhanger at the end of its 3rd season (the Huangs had moved to a bigger house but decided not to stay there, and they couldn't go back to their old house because somebody else had already moved in, so they stayed with family friends Marvin & Honey until the situation was quickly resolved in the s.4 premiere). :\ I thought the idea of having the DiMeos try to buy their house (even if their gambit failed) was actually a neat way to bring s.2 full-circle*: Early on, the kids had to deal with the fact that they were starting school in the same place for the second year in a row for the first time in their lives; and in the finale, the notion of the parents possibly becoming homeowners rather than keep renting / leasing tied in nicely to an overall theme of laying down roots. Still, I think it would be better and more believable for the characters to just cut their losses with this neighborhood and start afresh in a similarly cheap and dumpy place (again, preferably in the same district so they can at least keep the school). * - Speaking of bringing things full-circle, another thing I noticed: In the season premiere Ray was the only member of the family not to be spurred on towards self-improvement by JJ's call from camp, but his relationship with Taylor (especially their breakup and his attempts to woo her back) helped him realize by season's end that he, too, still needed to work on improving himself. All the more reason I'm glad the show didn't end up doing the whole cheesy break-up-just-to-make-up thing with the pair. :)

I should probably post this Entertainment Weekly piece in the "Media" thread, but what the hey: http://ew.com/tv/2018/04/06/last-man-on-earth-jason-sudeikis-return/ :D

There were a couple times late in s.1 where I was seriously concerned the show would go there; but since he got promoted at the beginning of s.2 (as if his past habitual lateness had been the only thing holding him back, despite all the games and "screwing around" he used to do with his colleagues during work hours), his getting fired at some point has seemed a lot less likely to me. :D But yeah, considering Silveri's comment in USA Today about the family possibly being given more "triumphs" in s.3, I could definitely see that including Jimmy getting more opportunities to do some architecture work on the side (especially if word gets out about Eddie's construction project). While I could see JJ being put on track to graduate when he's 19 because that's how old Micah was when he graduated (as well as to keep JJ and Kenneth together one more year while the writers figure out both JJ's post-high school plans and what else to do with Kenneth), I can't imagine him being held back any longer than that. Plus, I think the "JJ gets held back" two-parter "The H-U-S--Hustle" (2x12) / "D-I--DiMeo A-C--Academy" (2x13) could also have been an attempt to top the emotional gut-punch of the s.1 two-parter "C-H--Cheater" (1x19) / "R-U-N--Runaway" (1x20) (the family starts raising concerns about JJ's future independence / JJ runs away) -- in which case, I doubt the show would want to do the exact same thing again next year. :\

Their lease allowed an exception for a service animal, which is what Dylan tried to get (behind JJ's back) -- I don't think it occurred to her at the time that they could end up with a dog that had been kicked out of the training program. :\ Also, I could sort of understand the family thinking it would be easy to keep hiding the dog from their landlord if he doesn't come around very often (at least they realized he would've asked for some sort of license / certification they never would've been able to provide, plus they apparently knew better than to try forging phony paperwork or having Maya lie to and/or threaten the landlord if he ever questioned Pepper's service-training background). I still agree on the explanation for JJ being held back, though. The least they could've done to make a much better episode was, instead of wasting Kenneth on a silly plot trying to impress his ex-wife, to have the big guy do some soul-searching as to how JJ could've been allowed to fall so far behind during the first half of the school year: Kenneth is the one who sits in class with the boy and presumably knows when he gets his assignments, when they're due, etc.; and even allowing for the possibility that JJ's parents and Senior-year teachers had been stepping back to let him be more independent / avoid overly-PC condescending "special treatment" (like his Junior-year teachers had been chewed-out for giving him last year), I would think his own aide would've tried to do more to make sure he was finishing his work or else directly address any problems he was having. Call me cynical, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if their neighbors were the type to simply not care -- even with a disabled child. :( The DiMeos were terrible neighbors throughout s.1 (presumably because they were either still open to the possibility of moving / switching schools yet again, or just in the habit of not caring what others outside the family think); and even after they cleaned up their act a bit at the beginning of s.2 while JJ was away at summer camp, I don't recall them getting any more involved in their neighborhood until literally the next-to-last episode of the season (with Jimmy helping out with Eddie's project, but even then that was all about him relishing an opportunity to get back into the kind of work he loved and was good at). It seems more likely to me that the other people in this neighborhood would just be like "Good riddance to bad rubbish," and I don't think even Eddie seemed like the type who'd feel any sort of guilt at the sight of Jimmy and his family camped out on their lawn with all their stuff. It'll be interesting to see how a hypothetical s.3 might handle what comes next, though. If it picks up right where s.2 left off (setting aside the continuity nightmare that would likely arise), who knows -- the family could wake up to a media circus. Also, I could see Maya reaching out to her special-needs-moms support group or "phone tree," or even people from the school getting word of what happened to JJ's family and offering to help them out. :) In a recent chat with The Wrap, at about the 3-minute mark JRB said something about the writers having already floated a couple ideas wherein the DiMeos could stay put, but also admitted that (as much as their home has become a sort of "character" on the show) he would prefer a situation where the family end up finding a different cheap, "crappy" house within the same school district (which I could see, since it's possible one could've become available due to someone dying or moving out sometime in the year-and-a-half since the DiMeos first moved into their house). *** Speaking of a s.3, I'm curious as to how it might follow up on Dylan's admission that she's "failing two classes." I would hope the writers weren't also setting up to hold her back a grade (I think she's in 8th now), since they're already going to be doing that with JJ, plus I could see some good possible stories out of making sure she can pass into 9th grade at the beginning of the next school year: 1) Depending on how far behind she is in the classes that are giving her the most trouble, there could still be enough time left in the current school year for her to pass them with at least Ds if she catches up on some work, passes any and all quizzes and tests she has left, and/or gets in some extra credit; and I could see some fun plots where she must turn to her family for tutoring, or else tries to make a friend at school who could help her. 2) Depending on the classes, she might be able to make them up in summer school; but even there, she could still have a fun plot where she has to rely on her mother and/or Ray for help with homework, projects, studying for tests, etc.

"Barbara Ann" (4x17, April 29) Sounds like there are going to be some interesting discoveries in this one -- Todd at the mansion (since, I'm guessing, somebody needed to stay home with the babies), and the rest of the gang investigating that "sign of life." :)

USA Today's annual "Save Our Shows" poll includes FOTB and 'Speechless': https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2018/04/04/its-time-vote-ballot-2018-s-save-our-shows-poll-here/470007002/ I would hope so! Otherwise, how much darker could they go than the family losing their home -- have Jimmy lose his job? O_O *** Silveri also had some comments in this ABC News piece on how disability tends to get overlooked in calls for more diversity: https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/hollywoods-diversity-push-snubs-actors-disabilities-54223727

Good point. :) Also, I liked that Erica was given time to eventually come around to Melissa's suggestion -- on her own terms, for her own personal reason (wanting Dawn to have a sibling). I thought it was kinda funny this time that they went into "restaurant" talk (a bit of a departure from their past "camping" motif, as well as their "bedroom" talk while they were on an actual camping trip in s.3). :D

I love Tandy and Carol together anyway, but yeah, they can be so cute yet so gross. xD So there was a time-jump in this one -- some 6-7 months. And by having Carol get pregnant again, they found a way to incorporate KSchaal's real-life pregnancy. :) Overall, I thought this was more sweet than funny, especially with Melissa trying to help Todd, and Erica eventually having a change of heart after finding her old baby picture of herself with her family. (I did have to wonder where Jasper was in all of this, but then he's apparently supposed to be in next Sunday's episode, "Special Delivery"...)

"The Blob" (4x16, April 22) Todd and Erica's storyline continues, and again Jasper is not listed in the guest stars. However, I'm more intrigued by this bit:

You know, I wouldn't put it past Tandy to have deliberately slathered his shirt, etc. in blood and guts because he thought it would make his story about the accidental gun-discharge seem more believable to the rest of the group. :D (If that was indeed the case, then apparently it worked because it got them to "take [his] word for it" when he offered to show them the "Thanksgiving toilet after turkey recall" mess he'd been describing; otherwise, they probably might have been able to guess that Karl wasn't actually shot.)

That was great. xD

Also, the reveal of Tandy's entire back side splattered with blood, and then him singing "Amazing Grace" at the funeral ("... that saved a wretch like him ... and him..."). xD According to EP Phil Lord, the show's concept from the beginning was that Phil/Tandy needed the world as we know it to end before he could eventually start becoming his best self; and I feel like this episode was the first in a long time (perhaps since the first half of s.2, or possibly his talk to God in 3x11) to directly address that. Even so, I kinda figured Tandy getting along with Gail was probably too good to last -- his motivation for impressing her (she gave him a bit of praise for once, and he wanted more) was on the selfish side to begin with, so it shouldn't have been too surprising that he would somehow screw it up rather quickly (by assuming a less-than-wholesome motive on her part -- all the more galling considering that she's married to Erica). :p Still liking Melissa's bond with Jasper, though I had to feel a little bad for Todd -- he's the one who wants the kid, but can't seem to do anything right as a parent. :\ It could be interesting to see what happens with their plan to have Todd impregnate Erica (just so he can have a biological child)...

Yup -- it would need at least another 23-episode season and a full 24 to reach 88 eps without going into a 5th season. :) (FOTB, by contrast, started out as a mid-season show with 13 eps, and thus would definitely have to take another half-season -- at least 9 eps -- to get to 88.)