S01.E10: Enlightening Strikes

[Actionmage]

When Felix substitute teaches a yoga class, his teaching style rubs everyone, including Emily, the wrong way. Also, Oscar and Dani get trapped on a subway car, adding to their frustration about living in the city, and Murph asks Teddy to be his agent when he’s approached to be the spokesperson for a Norwegian health supplement.

[Actionmage]

It was a nice episode.  It had the typical NYC subway breakdown/"adventure". It had Felix leading a yoga class.

 

I know Murph isn't supposed to be a discerning individual, but you'd think Teddy would double-check what that stuff was, not just take what Murph said for granted. Still, that had to be one of the easier days on set for Mr. Pierce.

 

I loved Yoga Steve and hope he will appear again. He's a fun foil to Felix.

 

"I'm not made of goats."  

[sinkwriter]

Yoga Steve = Weird Al Yankovic, wasn't he?

I must say, Thomas Lennon is quite the gymnast/yogi. And I got a kick out of his couples' pose with Emily at the end and how they hand-walked out the door in that pose. Heee.

[DeLurker]

Yoga Steve = Weird Al Yankovic, wasn't he?

Yep. I was taken by surprise by Regis on the subway.

[AstaCharles]

I watched Perry and Lennon do a live chat on Google and they were great together. Later when I watched the episode, I kept thinking if they are getting a second season, Perry needs to act more like himself. He is a very funny guy, but I think he tries to be "out there" like Lennon. He works much better with his dry sense of humor

Edited May 11, 2015 by AstaCharles

[SmithW6079]

I like episodes with Murph in them, but that might be my affection for Geoff Stults talking. I think he's a good foil to the others. I'm kind of glad Dave Foley isn't really appearing anymore.

 

I could have done without the subway. I've noticed in comedies set in Manhattan, the main characters only take the subway when needed for a plot line. Why wouldn't Oscar have taken a cab to court?

 

I liked how progressive out of control Felix's class got.

[Bazinga]

 

I could have done without the subway. I've noticed in comedies set in Manhattan, the main characters only take the subway when needed for a plot line. Why wouldn't Oscar have taken a cab to court?

In the original show there was a stuck in the subway/New Yorkers are great once you get to know them episode.  I assume that was the genesis for this episode.

 

Over time this show is becoming more of an ensemble then the original.  Oscar's agent and assistant are constant presences and Emily is almost always around, as well, and now Murph.  Seem to be adding characters to cover for lack of chemistry between Perry and Lennon.  This episode (as well as the second one aired) had only limited Felix and Oscar interaction, which should be the basic foundation for a show called The Odd Couple.  I didn't like there being two separate plots.  Could have had a stuck in the subway episode with Felix and another Felix teaches yoga with Oscar in the class. 

 

I think Perry is the weak link.  His Oscar is not likeable and is basically an angry curmudgeon character.  He shouts all his lines with a pinched face.  Why any of these people would be friends with this guy is an open question.  I think downplaying the neat/messy disparity for a slightly annoying, Metrosexual/angry guy dichotomy is a mistake.  Felix isn't enough of a pest to be truly funny and Oscar isn't messy enough to be funny.  They are now just standard TV characters with different personalities.  That this show is the "number 1 new comedy" and the original struggled for ratings, is so wrong.  Yes, I know it is because The Big Bang Theory on Thursdays is a higher rated, more compatible, lead-in then the lower rated, geared toward kids and teens, Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Room 222 on Fridays in the early seventies.    

 

Another flaw is that in the original series, the episode plots were memorable and could be recited in a simple sentence.  The Odd Couple go on a game show, go to a fat farm, get new furniture, get a car, get arrested, meet Howard Cosell etc.  This show's plots are more convoluted IMO.  Here Oscar gets a ticket then gets trapped in the subway without Felix while Felix teaches a yoga class without Oscar. 

 

Show is OK and watchable but not really memorable or all that funny.  I watch dutifully but I don't love it. 

Edited May 13, 2015 by Bazinga

[designing1]

 

I think Perry is the weak link.  His Oscar is not likeable and is basically an angry curmudgeon character.  He shouts all his lines with a pinched face.  Why any of these people would be friends with this guy is an open question.

 

As a Perry fan it pains me to say this but I couldn't agree more.

 

I watched the first couple of episodes, hated them, then watched the last couple as they seemed to be getting some good feedback here. I didn't hate them as much as the first two -- the pilot in particular was painful -- but they still aren't good. I have no idea what Perry is trying to do with the character of Oscar. I don't know why he's still projecting to the rafters rather than modulating his voice, or why he's always bulging his eyes like he's one step away from a coronary. (I also don't know why he hasn't discovered sunblock, but that's another story.) I don't know why Oscar is a cold, cranky, not especially messy guy, rather than a warm, sympathetic slob. I don't know when Perry lost his gift for generating more laughs with a lifted eyebrow, a smirk, or a subtle gesture than many comic actors can do with the best-written jokes.

 

Maybe he fears coming across as too Chandler-ish or as Klugman 2.0. He's done some fine, nuanced dramatic/drama-comedy work so I don't understand why he seems so challenged in creating an Oscar who's real and likable, yet distinct from both Klugman's Oscar and Chandler.

[mstar1125]

Perry definitely doesn't know what to do with his face anymore. I think you're right - facial expressions were definitely a Chandler thing, and Perry seems to be willfully keeping his face expressionless to avoid the comparison. It doesn't work.

I enjoyed the Weird Al appearance. There's always one guy like that in a class, isn't there?