Lone Wolf

I've liked Joel since The Soup and Community, and tolerated The Great Outdoors enough to hang in until it was finally cancelled. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that with this one because I think I'm learning that I'm just not into slapstick animal gag wackiness. The rest is standard comedy fare, although there's nothing new as far as the character tropes (can we all already see where Shred's and the boss's will-they-or-won't-they thing is going?), but I'm struggling with the basic premise. At least it doesn't have a laugh track.

What a coincidence. I started rewatching The Middle a few weeks ago and was wondering what the cast was up to now, if anything, and up pops Sue Sue on this show. I was more pleased by that than by the show itself, which I'm kind of watching out of curiosity, to see what the females are wearing, and inertia. In that order. Not quite hate-watching yet, but just on this side of the border.

Meh, maybe my standards are too low or I give it a pass because it's been a part of my life since Season 1 and I have a great deal of nostalgic affection for it, but I still find it enjoyable. I agree, they don't hit it out of the park with every episode but (for me at least), the good outweighs the bad. And when there's a clunker, as the theme song to MST3K goes, I repeat to myself "It's just a show, I should really just relax."

I did some research: https://www.famousbirthdays.com/shows/the-simpsons.html Barring unforeseen health issues or boredom, they'll likely be around for a while. I heard an interview with Yeardley in which she said that the workload (for her, anyway) is only a couple days a week and of course the money's just stupid. Why not keep going...

That mouth-held cat groomer was weird and kind of crowbarred into the scene. I wonder if it was a product placement deal. My cat saw it and had this reaction:

I asked this (to myself) during The Big Reveal in Ep. 1. Even if she isn't living in their house, she still sees the rest of the family - someone had to have noticed that she had gained a pound or two before she delivered. I think @dwmarch's answer upthread, that it's been discussed and resolved "off camera" is the only one that makes sense. Thank you. In the real world, he'd have delivered that meat through the back door. Surely TPTB know that and chose to ignore it in service to the plot. Maybe Fia has a nanny that we just haven't met yet? I realize it's only been 2 eps, but it seems like this season's taking a little while to get going. Things seem to be happening, but the storyline isn't really moving forward yet compared to last season. Maybe it's just me.

That fish-out-of-water-trope has been done to death. Feh! I think this is the gray kitty that Kat was brushing, checking out the set between takes:

When they found out he wasn't coming back, they were talking like he actually had passed away - I thought that was going to be his send off. Cheyenne at the end pushed me over edge. He did a great impression of Phil when they were in the barn, too. Hey, she's 79 years old and has a damn plate in her head! - j/k, in real life Vicki's 73; still too young. As soon as she walked in I thought, There's the new Phil. We'll see if she sticks.

I'm enjoying the series enough that I'm going to order the book as soon as I finish the one I have going. Interestingly, Amazon has the paperback version for less than the Kindle version. That's only about the second time I've found that to be the case.

And here I was, just assuming that Disney's super-litigious and that's why she didn't name them. I guess I've watched too many Simpsons episodes where their blue-haired attorney pops up: I'd really like to check out a Vantablack exhibit. I went down an internet rabbit hole on that product and it sounds like it would be amazing to be immersed in that level of light absorption in real life. Otherwise I don't have much to add, positive or negative, about the show. I expected it to be a more sophisticated Man Seeking Woman, which I watched when it was on FXX, and it more or less is. I generally enjoy stories about single guys seeking love (being able to relate), and I like Lizzy Caplan (what a great narration she does), so I'll finish this one out.

For me it was a throwaway line in the first Austin Powers movie, when he was teasing/attempting to flirt with Vanessa Kensington. I've heard a few variations since then, but it wouldn't end well to mention them in this forum.

He's 75 years old and certainly doesn't need the money or the exposure. Maybe he's reached the point in life where he's cutting back on extracurriculars. As long as he keeps publishing...

Same here. I liked the Simpsons spin, and I liked the non-It-Stephen-King-references like Kingfield and his other books and characters. My first thought was, I wonder what Uncle Steve thought about it? Apparently, not much... https://www.looper.com/1070054/stephen-king-turned-down-a-cameo-in-the-simpsons-treehouse-of-horror-not-it-episode/

Very sad. He's been making me laugh since he rode into a scene on a Great Dane on Will & Grace. Be on the lookout for a "In Memory Of" or "Dedicated To" black card following the closing credits. I don't see them cancelling the show if there's a penny to still be made, but I wish they would. If they do keep going, I hope Phil just disappears and we find out he went back home to Tennessee or wherever. The show's gotten cringe-y enough without doing a death episode.

<Yawn> South Park did it...24 years ago. Maybe in was an homage. Seriously though, I did like the episode.

I like it when they do the an inside joke/meta thing. Seems like it's been a while since they took a shot at themselves, although I have high hopes for the upcoming Treehouse of Terror.

I think it was a combination of his boss getting Sam angry yet again and Sam having a lower tolerance for it, probably because his "sessions" with Alan are making it frustratingly clear to him that he isn't getting better. There's no doubt that Sam took the early reinspection personally. IIRC, Sam killed Elias when Elias was talking about inheriting the restaurant from his parents, which reminded Sam of his own abusive father, and he just snapped. They didn't make that real clear, but it's been brought out that Sam's still angry with his father and is looking for any excuse to take it out on anyone who he perceives has disrespected him, which he initially told Alan that Elias had done.

That's the direction I'm leaning in. Unless it's a huge misdirect, he was sharpening the bottom of the tube several times during the show and the sound of it was the last thing we heard before the credits. Two eps, indeed. Sam doesn't need Alan anymore now that he has the new therapist, so things are going to come to a head quickly. I don't remember if they said, but I have the impression that it was natural causes.

That's what I assumed - that they were previously proposed plot lines that never got off the ground. I was afraid that it was really going to be Lisa vs. Bart in Boy Explorers, which sounded boring (in addition to having been done a million times). I ended up really enjoying it.

I noticed that and assumed that it was a different actress - didn't even sound like Tilly to me.

Because of the cats! At least that's the only reason I watch. Gotta admit, the show had me almost believing. I was thinking, "If they've stopped with the kitties I'm so out of here." So naturally my favorite part was when they all came running in - reminded me of this: and as always, it made me want to do this to my boy: But I do that anyway... Now they just need to get back to their roots and start giving us some cat-centric plot lines. These characters have little-to-no charm for me, except when they wave and dance at the end.

Morally yes, but she'd still be an Accessory. And I think she'd have a long way to go to get to that point - in the most recent episode she was nagging him about killing Elias like it was nothing more than tracking mud through the house. Just in case we're Spoilering, I think I caught Alan's name, but I couldn't tell what else it said, however.

At the risk of pedantic, there's a distinct difference between a turtle and a tortoise, of which I think the writers are aware but counting on most people not to notice since they used the terms interchangeably. Nevertheless, notice I did, and it took me out of the moment every time they called Slow Leonard a turtle. Anyone else notice the similarity between SL's face and Grampa Simpson's? Maybe that's just how they draw old creatures but I like to think it was an inside joke. I got a chuckle out of Comic Book Guy's protest sign - "Is there a bathroom I can use?"

No, I meant "The Bear" has been greenlit. Sorry for the ambiguity - that'll teach me to wander off topic.

Lip wouldn't put up with Sam's crap for a second. Plus he has the rest of the crew to back him up. Off topic, but I read that they have a Season 2 green lit.