tominboston

Today's New York Times has an interview with showrunner Kenya Barris in which he talks about this episode: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/arts/television/blackish-kenya-barris-police-brutality-episode.html I thought it was well done... it's a sitcom, but it's OK to make people think now and then.

Profoundly depressing, but brilliantly done. Opioid overdose deaths are such a big problem these days that it was both brave and appropriate for a show based around women in recovery to address it. I also thought the public service message at the end was well done. Some years ago, I had a close female friend who descended into alcoholism and in spite of several attempts at rehab eventually drank herself to death. I will never forget the phone call I got that brought the news, and for better or worse the scene in the church brought that back. That's how life is sometimes... not always funny.

I'm guessing that part of the idea of the Reagan character was to bring in someone who's not especially nice to shake up the dynamics of the loft, but at his point I'm glad that she's just a temporary fill-in for Jess. Everybody's trying to be friendly, even Nick in his super-creepy way, and she's cold and aloof. Maybe the rest of the story arc will be about her finally warming up... hope so. Schmidt and Cece may want to spring for a hotel room.

I'm not necessarily thrilled about a "Howard and Bernadette bring up baby" story line, but I can see why the writers would go there. Many folks here have commented that the show is getting stale and I agree with that myself. Maybe the writers feel that way too, and figured that they needed a totally new scenario to shake things up. Poor Leonard, trying so hard to give Penny a good Valentine's Day. The confetti-throwing at the end was a nice goofy solution.

I loved Amy's unflappable cheerfulness as the Peralta family was being an utter train wreck around her. It's always better when you sing Itsy-Bitsy Spider! I also loved tough girl Rosa's takedown of the drug dealer. I probably missed something, but did we find out just why Boyle had removed all of his clothing?

I have to disagree... I thought the makeup people made the guys look disturbingly uncomfortable and the really gross swelling added to the general silliness of the situation. Is Holt loosening up a bit this season? Don't change, Captain! Loved badass Rosa bonding with the cute puppy.

I just chanced across the reruns on LAFF a couple nights ago and I'm so happy I did. I was a big fan of the show during its original run and had pretty much forgotten about it. Now I'm revisiting an episode or two almost every night. It's still funny and the chemistry between the characters still works. Now I need to catch up with the discussion here.

Another "unfunny" vote here. Sheldon keeps crossing the line between being funny and a complete anal jerk that wrecks the mood of the show for me. In the opening scenes where he was sick and being curt to everyone else, he was pretty funny. When he invited himself along on a trip he knew he wouldn't really enjoy, he was a jerk, and while I know this is only a sitcom, I don't know why the gang didn't emphatically tell him to get lost. Stuart is just sad to watch, and I want people to give him a hug.

Y'know, that was surprisingly well done. The awkwardness and nervousness that Amy and Sheldon felt seemed perfect for the characters, and for the sake of poor lonely Amy I'm glad things things worked out. And Sheldon's willingness to sacrifice something he really wanted to do for the sake of their relationship would have been unthinkable a couple seasons ago. I do wonder where they go from here. Loved Bob Newhart and Wil Wheaton, as always, and I'm glad they are recurring characters on the show, even if Professor Proton has the unfortunate handicap of being dead.

Nah, assuming that it's appendicitis (my guess too), they're going to grab a surgical textbook and some instruments from a hospital and perform a successful do-it-yourself appendectomy. That's no more far-fetched than most of the other stuff that happens on this show. I'm still trying to figure out how Astronaut Mike learns that his brother and a few others are still alive in Malibu, though.

Seven episodes in, and I'm just not invested in this season. Maybe "The Hagoo" pushed me over the edge, but I find this season's teams to be either dumb, annoying, or bland. I've been watching TAR since season 3 asnd usually by this time in the race I've latched onto one or two favorite teams to root for the rest ofthe way. This season, I just don't care who wins. I always enjoy the scenery and the locals, and I can tolerate the product placement pseudo-ads in the interest of keeping the show on the air, but if there's a TAR 28 they really need to do something about the casting.

What a powerful start to the season. This show mixes serious emotional issues with comedy as well as anything since M*A*S*H back in ancient times. And I loved the sweet old lady that Bonnie mistook for her mother.

Agreed with GenL above; this episode was more uncomfortable than funny. Are we supposed to assume that Phil/Tandy is going mad (which would be reasonable given the world's circumstances), or that he's a masochist? And as for the canned food starting to expire, I don't expect this show to be realistic, but they're on the ocean, hasn't anyone there ever fished, or gathered shellfish? I enjoyed this show last season but this season isn't connecting as well for me.

I loved how after Phil told Carol how beautiful the California beaches were, Malibu is full of dead whales. I know this touches on the point someone mentioned last week about why isn't the world full of dead stuff, which wouldn't be very funny, but an exception now and then can work as a good sight gag. Sorry about Phil's friend the steamrollered soccer ball.

Watching as a not-young person of the Caucasian persuasion, I found last night's episode both very funny and very thoughtful in dealing with the issue of how a nasty word that people of my generation were always taught is unspeakable is sometimes casually tossed around by African-Americans. And I don't mind being made to think while I'm laughing. There is a great deal to love about this show, but I've always been particularly amazed at how good the young kids who play Jack and Diane are. Then again, all of the actors are great. The closing exchanges between Dre and Jack, and then Dre and Pops, were really well written. I love Pops too.

That was pretty much my reaction too. It was a depressing episode. I was expecting wedding hijinks, but not a Penny-Leonard argument that leads to them being back in separate apartments when they returned home, and I was hoping that the Amy-Sheldon breakup would lead poor, sad Amy to embrace the opportunity to expand what passes for her social life without being dragged down by Sheldon. All in all, it was a downer season opener for a show that's a sitcom, not a romantic drama. I'm glad that at least Bernie and Howard are still happily married!

My choice for the winner would be someone from among Paul Zerdan, Oz, and Pip, and like some other folks here I'm glad the final sorting weeded out most of the musical acts and the headache-inducing, light show-flashing dancer teams. I'll give Uzeyer a pity pass into the final 10 but his act really did get repetitive. And the Regurgitator... well, I guess in the old carnival tradition there's always going to be some appeal for gross-out acts. I do NOT like the fact that there are ten finalists to split the votes next week. Theoretically someone could win with just 11% of the vote, hardly "America's choice". They really should have had one more elimination round to cut the field down to four or five, but I suppose the producers don't really care about that sort of thing.

I'm afraid that at this point in the competition Drew Lynch's act doesn't work for me either. To be honest, between his unfortunate speech impediment and his constant giggling, I found it hard to follow what he was saying. I congratulate him for the way he deals with his situation and wish him good luck in life and all, but the AGT winner shouldn't be based on a sympathy vote. For anyone who's interesting in knowing who Ira and his mom's humans are, I posted this link from a Portsmouth, NH, newspaper yesterday in the Live Results 3 thread and I trust it's OK to repeat it here: http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20150901/NEWS/150909942

The Portsmouth, NH, web site seacoastonline.com reveals Ira's human as a guy from New Hampshire: http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20150901/NEWS/150909942

My guess is that Mr. Piffles wasn't in any of the boxes and that Piff pulled off some sort of sleight of hand trick when he pulled him out of box #3. Otherwise, if we believe that Howie wasn't in on the trick (and I believe he wasn't), there would be no assurrance that the puppy-wuppy wouldn't get stomped or shredded. Having said that, I do agree that the performance wasn't as cool as his earlier ones, although he wa still funny. The video effects behind most of the acts last night were distracting. I understand that the producers want to liven things up, but all that color and flashing and movement and the the like sometimes made it hard to watch the actual performer. Tone it down, guys! I do really like the ventriloquist, but I'm also pulling for Samantha Johnson, who aside from being a semi-local girl here has great stage presence and a fantastic rocker/soul voice. Hope she makes it through another round or two.

My guess is that the Regurgitator isn't actually swallowing anything all the way down, just storing and manipulating stuff in his mouth, not that it doesn't take a certain amount of skill. Doesn't Teller of Penn &... do something similar with a needle and thread? And as for Piers Morgan, I rather like him as a judge. There is often too much sweetness and light from the current panel (with the occasional exception of Howard), and sometimes acts need to be told bluntly that they're just not that good.

The contortionist is the sort of act that's interesting in an odd sort of way for about five minutes, but what else is there? I can't see how that sort of thing would support a whole show. I prefer to see the judges promote the magicians, ventriloquists, and comedians who can deliver something new each week. The bluegrass band is really tight and fun to watch and I'm sure the singer's tears were genuine, and the male trio had great harmonies. While I see AGT as mainly a showcase for non-musical acts, I don't mind seeing either of them again. The lip-synching drag singer who got cut, on the other hand, had nothing to offer but a new dress each week and that's not worth a spot in the next round.

So how long does Watermellon Man keep it up before the repeated concussions render him metally nonfunctional? And I too found the 5-year-old kind of freakish... she was all about cuteness, not talent, and she's way too young to deal with show business and still be a normal kid. Having said that, I keep watching these auditions precisely because of the Gong Show acts and one trick ponies. As others have mentioned on this forum, AGT is the closest thing on major network TV to the old time variety shows that used to jump between singers and jugglers and comics and magicians and whatever. I do wish AGT would set an age limit somewhere in the teens, and limit the number of singers the judges can put through since there are other shows for them, but for whatever reason (maybe I'm easily amused) I do enjoy the goofy variety more often than not.

My reaction exactly. Army paratroopers do that sort of thing every day and it's not played up as a stunt act for a TV show. Same for crashing school buses... just demolition derby on a bigger scale. I found the first hour last night much more interesting than the second.

The magician was pretty amazing. I assume that the cards-in-mouth trick was some sort of sleight of hand (or tongue), but does anyone have any guesses on how he got the SW initials to appear on his chest. Tack guy will probably have a career in carnival freak shows. I really don't need to see him again. The 97-year-old dancer was great for a 97-year old and I assume she and her partner got put through as an "awww..." story. But I suspect their act has, uh, a limited life expectancy.