TheOtherOne

I thought I was done after last week's horrible episode, and I wish I'd stuck to that. This one was even more painful, just 30 minutes of every character treating Stewart like shit. I hated all these people--the awful father, stupid Dean, the wretched, gross therapist, even Deb and the kids. This episode was excruciating, and I don't think there was a single laugh to be had. Watching someone--who is obviously right--get shit on by assholes for half an hour? Not for me.

The guys know about the coitus. In the last episode, when discussing taking some time off from Sheldon, Howard notes that Amy took time off from Sheldon and it improved their relationship. Raj's reply: "As long as it doesn't end with us having coitus with him, I'm in."

I know it's not technically true, but I always think of him as writing 4 1/2 episodes, since he contributed so much to Quagmire, and it contains so many of his signature touches (including the stoners from this episode, and all the Moby Dick refs).

In his review, Sepinwall provides a link to Morgan's unproduced Night Stalker script (titled "The M Word"). Interesting to see what was changed to fit Mulder and Scully, and which parts stayed the same.

Well, yes, they are the most underserved characters, which is one reason I mentioned them both. But Shelley at least had the episode with his housing issues and everyone rallying together to get him to take the upstairs room, and his subplot in the Christmas episode. Brett had the episode with his lucky sweater, which I actually forgot was about him (despite the fact that it aired two weeks ago) since it was really about the dance team (sleeping with Charlotte's boss's groom just seemed like a minor plot point in Danny's plot). And Shelley just seems to have more interesting and memorable bits--"Take it to church," bursting through the poster repeatedly to show his weight loss, truth hugs, etc. Brett just says penis a lot. Meanwhile, Burski dated the girl who thought he was blind, and continued stalking Leslie. Leslie had the episode about her proposal, and was stuck with Burski in the plot of doom. And Brett said penis a lot. **shrug** Different strokes and all that. Yeah, the show is fun and I can enjoy it for what it is, while also thinking one character is there as a token, and an annoyingly empty one at that. All of the other characters feel like actual human beings to me, even awful Burski. While many viewers may just be watching for the slapstick and live-taping zaniness, the writers have at least attempted to give most of the characters some development and moments of pathos--Danny's inability to connect with people and unwillingness to confront his feelings; Justin's feelings about being raised by a single mother and neediness in his relationships with Danny and Candice; Candice's traumatic childhood and past relationship and inability to believe in happy endings; Leslie's feelings about her divorce and not being serious about Mike; Burski's feelings for Leslie; Shelley's homelessness and loyalty. And Brett? Is gay. And British. And likes his sweater. Even taking it as a gag-based show, it's hard for me not to notice that all of the other characters have more than one gag to fall back on. Brett has one. PENIS!

I was hesitant to say anything in case I was being overly sensitive, and maybe I am, but I couldn't help but notice at the end of the episode that, for a show supposedly about people who are undateable, most of the cast is now in a relationship...except the gay guy and the black guy. Even awful Burski is somehow considered worthy of a girlfriend (he's not). But yeah, the fact that Brett is the only character who's never really had a plotline of his own, or one driving an episode, this season, and his character really only amounts to saying "I like penis!" in various ways (none of which an actual gay guy would) is troublesome.

The guy holding the title card on the east coast version was series creator Adam Sztykiel (he also did it for the east version of the series premiere).

Ha! I totally thought I spotted Yvette Nicole Brown in the strip club scene in the West Coast version, just checked Twitter, and yep, it was her. Went back and looked at the east coast version, and she wasn't there, so must have just been for the second taping. Loved Leslie and Brett kissing Kevin instead of just hugging him on the West coast version (though I hope he knew it was coming). Couldn't blame them. He was my favorite back in the day too...

Are we supposed to be rooting for Burski and Leslie as a couple? Because, I'm really, really not. He's a gross, creepy stalker, and I hate that the show seems to be endorsing his behavior and treating it like it's okay. Like in the first season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where Charles was hung up on Rosa and wouldn't leave her alone--and the show was smart enough to move on in the second season and have him knock it off. I was hoping this show would finally get there as well...but nope. Looks like it's creepy, gross stalker guys for the win. Bleh.

This was the kind of episode that makes me wonder why I still watch this show, because I really hated every single person in it, except for the guest star. I called the two penises as soon as the "not regular down there" came up (I was reading all the same blogs the writers clearly were a couple years back when the real world guy with two penises started talking about his experiences on Reddit--and showing plenty of pictures--and the story started making the rounds). But the minute Max revealed it to Caroline, and they all started acting like such colossal assholes, I just felt gross. These people are awful. It wasn't funny, it was just a bunch of people acting like jerks, and I left the episode just feeling bad for the guy. Ugh. This show is the worst.

I wish they had left it a one-off unconnected to the modern day characters/storylines. I was really enjoying it until the point with the endless Moriarty conversation, which led to the present-day reveal. Which was actually fun at first, but after the explanation of the mystery and the secret society of women, the whole thing just slowly petered out (and coming after last year's Doctor Who Christmas Special, Moffat's already done the Inception bit too recently for it to feel anything but old). Was definitely fun for most of the running time, but by the end I was ready for it to be over.

I deeply and truly loved that, and am unashamed to admit I cried in the end. Just lovely.

Why 'Mike and Molly' Isn't Going Out With A Bang http://deadline.com/2015/12/mike-molly-cancelation-six-seasons-melissa-mccarthy-cbs-1201667941/

I just rewatched "Deep Breath" (and about four other episodes, but that's the only relevant one), and I thought it was a nice callback that their first episode together ended with The Doctor telling Clara he didn't have any money, and their last kicks off with him telling her the same thing.

I really enjoyed that. It actually made me a little nostalgic for the end of the first season of "Whitney," when it actually started getting good, before they retooled it in the second season and it became worse than ever. It was a little weird that the subplot was her friend being engaged to someone who turned out to be gay--which is exactly what happened on "Whitney." A deliberate callback? Another fun episode.

I have to admit, I would have liked the Adele Thanksgiving sketch more if it hadn't reminded me too much of one of my all-time favorite sketches, the Adele sketch from one of Emma Stone's episodes, where everyone in the office started crying together when Adele's "Someone Like You" came on. That was brilliant. This just seemed like a retread.

I hope there's some kind of payoff to this, otherwise bringing Clara back this season was a huge waste of time and they should have just given her the ending offered in "Last Christmas" before they reversed it at the very end. That would have been a nicely unexpected and understated farewell. Unless there's something more that results from her death, then having her around this series, giving her nothing to do, then killing her just seems pointless. Prove me wrong, show!

Shonda wasn't ripping off The West Wing, unless anyone thinks the real world was ripping off The West Wing, since the filibuster plot was taken straight out of Wendy Davis doing the same thing to try to protect women's reproductive rights in Texas last year. Besides, everyone knows Shonda does all her stealing for this show from Alias....

Yeah, Mellie being a good mother, despite not wanting kids in the first place, isn't new or a reincarnation. As far back as Season Two, she was depicted as being close with the kids, like when they didn't want to visit the White House because Fitz was being an asshole and Mellie delivered her epic "I'm still their mom" and "You're pouting because your precious Olivia doesn't have the secret of the world between her magical thighs" takedown of Fitz in the Oval Office.

I think the specific reason is that usually when Sheldon and Amy talk on the phone, it's a video chat (as with earlier in the episode). That even would have made more sense, since asking him to get back together is something best done face-to-face. (I mean, it's how she broke up with him in the first place.) But in order to prevent him from seeing how crushed she was (and the audience from having to experience her reaction even more painfully) they had her call while in her car to avoid the face-to-face conversation.

Yep, that was Stephen Merchant. And Bernadette not wanting to have children originally came up in "The Shiny Trinket Maneuver" (AKA the one where Sheldon gives Amy a tiara) back in Season 5. So it did come up before the wedding, but they kind of ignored it and got married anyway. Not a good move in real life, but kind of unsurprising for a sitcom.

I liked Priya, too, though I suspect a lot of that is how I usually resist when I feel a show trying to make me feel a certain way toward a character. In her first appearance she was light and fun and showed good comedic chops. When they brought her back, she was immediately slathered in more makeup (Behold the evil dragon lady!) and was more stiff, and it became obvious she was supposed to be less a character than the bitch standing in the way of Leonard and Penny. So the more the show tried telling me, "She doesn't fit in! BITCH! She's trying to change Leonard! What a BITCH!" the more I took her side. Because I don't like being spoonfed how to feel, and what they were doing was too obvious (and lazy, instead of making her a viable alternative that a love triangle could be believable, without the ending being a foregone conclusion), that it just turned me off.

Poor Sheldon.