S03.E10: Welcome to the Procedure

[jewel21]

Quote

When Dave discovers Calvin hasn't seen a physician in nearly a decade, he insists that he schedule a physical; Calvin gets more than he bargained for when Dr. Fisher insists he undergo a routine colonoscopy.

Airdate: 02/22/2021

[jewel21]

I thought this episode was hilarious and laughed my ass off, heh. 

I liked how Calvin admitted that Dave was his BFF at the end. Tina's reaction to learning she had to have a colonoscopy made me laugh. 

Malcolm and Marty at Grover's school was funny. Marty's entrance was awesome in the spacesuit. 

I think this was probably one of their stronger episodes this season. More like this, please.

[highway61]

That was a funny episode - even Grover's getting better at delivering his dialogue!

Anybody else surprised that Calvin's cholesterol and blood pressure were fine? I certainly hope it's true of Cedric in real life but I though that was the direction I thought the show was going to go - not the colonoscopy.

 

[Harvey]

It was weird to see Marty be so excited about living the "independent life" when he has been living alone for years. If anything, this is a step back for him.

Calvin's joke about outliving yet another doctor too was pretty funny 😄 . And I loved how they worked in the message about health awareness - it felt organic and informational at the same time.

[DanaK]

3 hours ago, highway61 said:

Anybody else surprised that Calvin's cholesterol and blood pressure were fine? I certainly hope it's true of Cedric in real life but I though that was the direction I thought the show was going to go - not the colonoscopy.

Very surprised as he seems overweight to me, though not grossly so

And you can't schedule a colonoscopy that fast. Plus, you are put under for it, so there are risks

Otherwise, a pretty good episode. I too wonder why the boys are so excited about living together since they seemed to be doing fine living on their own before

[Empress1]

12 minutes ago, DanaK said:

Otherwise, a pretty good episode. I too wonder why the boys are so excited about living together since they seemed to be doing fine living on their own before

I don’t think Malcolm has ever lived alone; he’s been with his parents. Marty might be excited because I’m sure that house is bigger than his old apartment. Plus the brothers seem to genuinely like each other and enjoy spending time together, so they might just be happy to be together.

The whole thing with the BFF shirts made me laugh. Of course Dave’s is a tank top.

[Driad]

For a patient who is not high risk (no personal or family history of colon cancer), don't they test a sample, and only do a colonoscopy if the the test indicates a possible problem?

[HurricaneVal]

As PSAs go, this was well done!  As we were going through the episode, it all happened so organically.  Of course a colonoscopy is something Calvin would be uncomfortable with even the thought of, and of course that is going to be funny.  I was partway through the episode when I started to wonder if this was just a writers room brainstorm idea of "Hey, I know....lets give Calvin a colonoscopy!  My uncle just had one and his description of the ordeal was hilarious!  Calvin would freak out!" or if was a very special episode.  Kudos to everyone involved that it wasn't until Cedric did his PSA at the end that we knew it wasn't a random plotline, but a targeted PSA.

Best performance by a prop goes to.........the jug of prep solution.  I loved the bookends of Tina presenting it to Calvin, then Calvin presenting it to Tina.  Well done!

They dynamic between the brothers is a good one.  They are both so different that it makes you wonder if they are brothers, then they unite together for something, and there's no question.  Marty is so typically a science nerd, but Malcolm is hard to pin down.  Sure, he's a security guard, but it seems like that is just a job and he's still kind of looking for his niche.  Which may be security, or maybe we'll get an episode where he decides law enforcement and community policing is where he wants to be.  That plotline would be comedy gold as well, he could come to his father for advice on what to do for certain circumstances, and Calvin would be Calvin about it, and overhearing it, Dave would be Dave about it, and Malcolm would implement some solution he figured out on his own which worked perfectly.

[callie lee 29]

2 hours ago, Driad said:

For a patient who is not high risk (no personal or family history of colon cancer), don't they test a sample, and only do a colonoscopy if the the test indicates a possible problem?

I believe after a certain age it's highly recommended regardless. A close friend of mine turned 60 a couple of years ago and her doctor recommended it & and there is no history of cancer at all in her family. I'm the one who took her and picked her as well. She was hysterical in recovery. 

[needschocolate]

I really liked this episode, but I thought Malcolm was a jerk.  First he breaks Marty's robot (the kids would have loved the robot) then he gets all huffy because Marty was more popular.  I am glad Marty ended up "winning" and I am glad they worked it out, but I am getting tired of sitcoms making nerds the brunt of the jokes and making it seem like bullying a nerd is cool or harmless.  

8 hours ago, highway61 said:

Anybody else surprised that Calvin's cholesterol and blood pressure were fine? I certainly hope it's true of Cedric in real life but I though that was the direction I thought the show was going to go - not the colonoscopy.

It was a nice change from what most shows would have done. And it means that we won't have the obligatory scenes with Tina nagging Calvin about his eating habits. 

I am guessing their motive for this episode was to convince reluctant men to go to the doctor.  A lot of people echo Calvin in that they don't go to the doctor because they are afraid that the doctor will find something wrong.  By having Calvin be healthy, they were reinforcing the idea that there is nothing to be afraid of.  

[Browncoat]

26 minutes ago, needschocolate said:

I really liked this episode, but I thought Malcolm was a jerk.  First he breaks Marty's robot (the kids would have loved the robot) then he gets all huffy because Marty was more popular.  I am glad Marty ended up "winning" and I am glad they worked it out, but I am getting tired of sitcoms making nerds the brunt of the jokes and making it seem like bullying a nerd is cool or harmless.  

They were both jerks. Grover chose Malcolm first.  Even after Marty whined, Grover still wanted Malcolm.  Marty was a jerk, butting in like he did in the beginning.  Malcolm did not have to react the way he did, but Marty could have graciously accepted Grover's choice, too.

[MaryMitch]

I thought it was a good episode - I liked both plots. (I would love to see that robot, but I'm not a 10(?) year old boy. And a taser is pretty cool too.)

But regarding the "prep" - that is by far the worst part of the colonoscopy "experience".  I don't know why Calvin would even consider going through that again later.

[HurricaneVal]

I think each brother is a little jealous of the other.  Marty probably has the typical nerd baggage of "not athletic enough, not cool enough, not popular enough."  Malcolm probably carries some "not smart enough, not successful enough, no clue what I want" baggage too.  Malcolm is the oldest, right?  Yet he was the one still living at home drifting a bit, while his little brother graduated from college, has a career, and was living independently.  I didn't watch the first season, and only some of the second season so I don't have the whole backstory.  Is Malcolm the oldest?  Had he left the nest and had to return home?  I seem to remember the security gig being kind of new, something Marty got for him at his tech company.

[willco]

6 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

I thought it was a good episode - I liked both plots. (I would love to see that robot, but I'm not a 10(?) year old boy. And a taser is pretty cool too.)

But regarding the "prep" - that is by far the worst part of the colonoscopy "experience".  I don't know why Calvin would even consider going through that again later.

Exactly what I was thinking ! Calvin is crazy-- once the prep is done, the rest is easy. They sedate you so you don't even know what is happening, There is a very small risk of injury, but if your doctor is any good at all, it's a pretty small risk. I, at my doctor's insistence, have to have one every year. And the prep is awful and I usually fast for 2 days because my colon doesn't clean out very well ( thanks to Crohn's ). So yeah, to do the prep and then just skip the procedure is kind of silly.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2021 by willco
spelling

[SoMuchTV]

47 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

I think each brother is a little jealous of the other.  Marty probably has the typical nerd baggage of "not athletic enough, not cool enough, not popular enough."  Malcolm probably carries some "not smart enough, not successful enough, no clue what I want" baggage too.  Malcolm is the oldest, right?  Yet he was the one still living at home drifting a bit, while his little brother graduated from college, has a career, and was living independently.  I didn't watch the first season, and only some of the second season so I don't have the whole backstory.  Is Malcolm the oldest?  Had he left the nest and had to return home?  I seem to remember the security gig being kind of new, something Marty got for him at his tech company.

Yeah, I was having trouble keeping the names straight.  I knew which character is which (the "bully" brother is older than the "nerd" brother) but I wasn't remembering the names. Then l I realized they conveniently named them in alphabetical order.  So, Malcolm, then Marty.

 

[possibilities]

As I recall, Malcolm was an athlete who lost his career due to an injury.

[callie lee 29]

Yes Malcolm is the oldest and was a professional baseball player (I think he was minor league about to go major?) and had an injury. That's when he has to move home. I can't remember if he went to college at all or just skipped to go pro.

[needschocolate]

On 2/23/2021 at 1:39 PM, Browncoat said:

They were both jerks. Grover chose Malcolm first.  Even after Marty whined, Grover still wanted Malcolm.  Marty was a jerk, butting in like he did in the beginning.  Malcolm did not have to react the way he did, but Marty could have graciously accepted Grover's choice, too.

I forgot about Grover choosing Malcolm first.  

 

 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 2/23/2021 at 5:09 PM, HurricaneVal said:

I think each brother is a little jealous of the other.  Marty probably has the typical nerd baggage of "not athletic enough, not cool enough, not popular enough."  Malcolm probably carries some "not smart enough, not successful enough, no clue what I want" baggage too.  Malcolm is the oldest, right?  Yet he was the one still living at home drifting a bit, while his little brother graduated from college, has a career, and was living independently.  I didn't watch the first season, and only some of the second season so I don't have the whole backstory.  Is Malcolm the oldest?  Had he left the nest and had to return home?  I seem to remember the security gig being kind of new, something Marty got for him at his tech company.

I think they're both a little jealous of each other, too - for the reasons you stated. 

Malcolm is the oldest. He started college, I think, but didn't finish because he lost his athletic scholarship due to an injury. It doesn't seem like he left the nest, but I'm not sure how old he's supposed to be. I think the actor looks much too old to play Tina and Calvin's son and I read elsewhere that he seemed to be miscast because he looks like he's closer to 40 (though I enjoy him and both brothers). I think the younger brother Marty is around 25, making the oldest brother in his late 20s.

On 2/23/2021 at 5:26 PM, willco said:

Exactly what I was thinking ! Calvin is crazy-- once the prep is done, the rest is easy. They sedate you so you don't even know what is happening, There is a very small risk of injury, but if your doctor is any good at all, it's a pretty small risk. I, at my doctor's insistence, have to have one every year. And the prep is awful and I usually fast for 2 days because my colon doesn't clean out very well ( thanks to Crohn's ). So yeah, to do the prep and then just skip the procedure is kind of silly.

 

 

I think that speaks to his fear of finding out something is wrong. The prep is awful but there's no potential cancer diagnosis at the end like there is with the actual procedure. 

It's not smart but I thought they made it entertaining enough while still being a PSA. Well done, show. 

On 2/23/2021 at 4:39 PM, Browncoat said:

They were both jerks. Grover chose Malcolm first.  Even after Marty whined, Grover still wanted Malcolm.  Marty was a jerk, butting in like he did in the beginning.  Malcolm did not have to react the way he did, but Marty could have graciously accepted Grover's choice, too.

Yea, they were both wrong. I like that they're both at fault sometimes.