Life In Pieces - General Discussion

[Ina123]

The wine "rack" was hilarious.

[iMonrey]

The story with the wine bra at the Disney show was the best. I also liked Greg trying to wire the house with voice command devices and getting stuck inside. The wedding scene was kind of dumb, though, and so was the one with Jen and Matt.

[ExplainItAgain]

33 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The wedding scene was kind of dumb, though, and so was the one with Jen and Matt.

The Matt and Jen storyline was dumb, but I like when these ensemble shows put together two people that usually don't have scenes together so I enjoyed seeing them together. I got distracted after this first story so I'll have to go back and rewatch the other three.

[UsernameFatigue]

I thought they should have named the wine bra segment "Wine Rack" rather than "Wine Bra" as it is a much funnier title. I didn't mind that segment but also didn't believe that Heather and Tim would smuggle in wine with their kids present, let alone use one as the smuggler. Loved though that Sophia was up for it - love that kid!

This show is one of my favourites for hilarious throw away lines. I loved that when Matt and Jen met at the bookstore  he looked at the book she was holding regarding divorce and she said "That is what happens when you wait a year to buy a wedding present". Ha!

[iMonrey]

Quote

Loved though that Sophia was up for it - love that kid!

And yet for some reason the show shied away from actually showing her from the front wearing the wine bra. Did they think people would boycott the show or something?

[AnnaRose]

I was glad they didn't show it.  I think it would have been crossing the line for a lot of viewers.

[JeezumCrow]

It didn't bother me that they didn't show Sophia from the front. At first, I was expecting it. But after a second, I realized it may have been more comedically successful to just show the reactions. If the front view wasn't perfectly hilarious, it would have just been awkward and weird. The reactions were the best part!

[LucyEth]

Did I miss something, I must have because I don't know why Tim and Heather's son and his wife kept saying "do you feel anything yet"?  Sophia once again does not disappoint, the kid is hysterical!  
 

[ElleBee]

2 hours ago, LucyEth said:

Did I miss something, I must have because I don't know why Tim and Heather's son and his wife kept saying "do you feel anything yet"?  

I was confused about that too, but admittedly may not have been paying close enough attention.

Jen tends to be overly cynical but I think it works for this show, where so many of the other characters have their heads in the clouds. She's really the only adult character who consistently has both feet on terra firma.

[JeezumCrow]

1 hour ago, ElleBee said:

3 hours ago, LucyEth said:

Did I miss something, I must have because I don't know why Tim and Heather's son and his wife kept saying "do you feel anything yet"?  

I was confused about that too, but admittedly may not have been paying close enough attention.

I, too, thought I had missed a very significant plot point here. My best guess was that they had eaten shrooms or perhaps pot brownies or something like that? Whatever it was, if they mentioned it, I missed it. And I'm not quite sure why, because I really love this episode. Maybe it was just mentioned in passing?

Edited February 25, 2017 by curlyblackeggs

[AnnaRose]

I also had no idea what they meant by that.  It was weird.

Edited February 25, 2017 by AnnaRose

[needschocolate]

Not only do I have know idea what they meant, I don't remember them saying it.  

In my defense, I wasn't giving the show my full attention and I may have left the room at one point (because I certainly am not getting old and forgetful) 

[ExplainItAgain]

I just rewatched and there were *three* references to this mysteriousness. Clem asked Tyler if he felt anything yet, Clem said something about "in a few minutes we'll be able to play really well" (in reference to the wedding music) and then at the end, she asked Tyler if felt anything yet again and said they must have gotten ripped off. Obviously pot references.

How could the editors have let all three of these lines go by without the setup? The editors are the weak link on this show because this isn't the first time. They've obviously switched around the story orders before and sometimes the preview scenes they show don't end up in the story. I think that happened in this episode too - the scene where Pop Pop asks Tim to hold the dog?

[Browncoat]

Oh, good.  It wasn't just me who apparently missed whatever Clem and Tyler were talking about.  I was very confused.  Maybe they helped themselves to some of Greg's pain meds.

[Packerbrewerbadger]

I'm surprised Jen the lawyer doesn't explain the ramifications if one of the parents gets seriously ill, the other would not have any power ,   I confess I must have missed the episode where they divorce and I vaguely remember when They hired Jen to help them with their will .  So maybe it was addressed.......?

[AnnaRose]

9 hours ago, ExplainItAgain said:

How could the editors have let all three of these lines go by without the setup? The editors are the weak link on this show because this isn't the first time. They've obviously switched around the story orders before and sometimes the preview scenes they show don't end up in the story. I think that happened in this episode too - the scene where Pop Pop asks Tim to hold the dog?

The segments seem to always be out of order.  Maybe that's their 'thing'?   I would rather they were shown more chronologically.

Also, I have noticed one preview a while back that not only wasn't in the episode, but it didn't even seem to be related to any of the segments.  I can't remember which episode it was at this point.  (I meant to post about it here at the time, but forgot.)  It had something to do with keeping gum in the refrigerator.  I think Sophia and her dad were in that orphaned preview clip... but then it wasn't in the episode (or any others) and nothing seemed to relate to it.  Does anyone else remember that?  

I normally FF through the previews, but after I accidentally caught that, I've tended to watch just to see if they'll make the same type of mistake.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

8 hours ago, Packerbrewerbadger said:

I'm surprised Jen the lawyer doesn't explain the ramifications if one of the parents gets seriously ill, the other would not have any power.

They could probably get away with it, as a doctor is unlikely to ask for proof of marriage if the grown kids go along with it and no one spills the beans about the divorce, but there could be inheritance/tax issues about any assets not held jointly, and if one of them wants to collect survivor benefits there could be difficulties. I wonder if they are filing joint taxes, since Joanne is likely the only one with earned income.

Edited February 26, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ItCouldBeWorse]

11 hours ago, ExplainItAgain said:

They've obviously switched around the story orders before and sometimes the preview scenes they show don't end up in the story. I think that happened in this episode too - the scene where Pop Pop asks Tim to hold the dog?

Yeah, Matt was holding the dog during the "wedding". 

I thought they sometimes included the extra scenes because there was no time to use them in the main stories while still having previews.

Jen did go home and change out of her white dress, though.

[LucyEth]

On 2/25/2017 at 1:29 PM, ExplainItAgain said:

I just rewatched and there were *three* references to this mysteriousness. Clem asked Tyler if he felt anything yet, Clem said something about "in a few minutes we'll be able to play really well" (in reference to the wedding music) and then at the end, she asked Tyler if felt anything yet again and said they must have gotten ripped off. Obviously pot references.

How could the editors have let all three of these lines go by without the setup? The editors are the weak link on this show because this isn't the first time. They've obviously switched around the story orders before and sometimes the preview scenes they show don't end up in the story. I think that happened in this episode too - the scene where Pop Pop asks Tim to hold the dog?

Yes, I wondered what happened to Tim holding the dog.  I even said to the person I was watching with, didn't he ask Tim to hold the dog, why is Matt holding it.  Glad this was noticed.  

[ae2]

The in-episode previews on this show always annoyed me because they tend to spoil the best jokes. But if they start to replace them with jokes that never actually happen during the episode I'd be extremely happy. (Reminiscent of Arrested Development's end-tag previews for the next episode.)

At first I thought maybe Tyler had taken a viagra, but some sort of drug or stimulant probably makes more sense. I hope we come back to it next week.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

21 minutes ago, ae2 said:

At first I thought maybe Tyler had taken a viagra, but some sort of drug or stimulant probably makes more sense. I hope we come back to it next week.

I originally thought they were going to announce a pregnancy, and were asking each other how it felt to "be" pregnant (kind of silly, I know with regard to Tyler), but then it became clear they weren't talking about that.  I wonder if that will be a future plot point, thought.  His parents had Tyler earlier than planned, and these two definitely aren't any smarter.

[Blakeston]

The Tyler/Clementine plot had to be about recreational drugs.

They were waiting for something to "kick in," and they were expecting to feel differently when it kicked in. And they thought they'd play music better once it kicked in. And then at the end, when they still felt nothing, they were convinced they'd been ripped off (ie, sold a fake substance).

It was confusing at first, but by the end I was glad they didn't feel the need to spell it out completely. But at the same time, I get that it wouldn't be obvious for viewers who don't have much personal experience with recreational drugs.

[AnnaRose]

4 hours ago, Blakeston said:

The Tyler/Clementine plot had to be about recreational drugs.

They were waiting for something to "kick in," and they were expecting to feel differently when it kicked in. And they thought they'd play music better once it kicked in. And then at the end, when they still felt nothing, they were convinced they'd been ripped off (ie, sold a fake substance).

It was confusing at first, but by the end I was glad they didn't feel the need to spell it out completely. But at the same time, I get that it wouldn't be obvious for viewers who don't have much personal experience with recreational drugs.

I watched the episode a second time and it was very obvious.  But for some reason, the first time around I was very perplexed by the whole thing.

ETA: That same episode had a segment with Oscar the exterminator.  What is the deal with his mouth?  It looks like they have him wearing some kind of prosthetic to make his teeth look gross, but it makes his mouth look bloody.  Is it supposed to look like his teeth are stained from cherry Koolaid or red wine or something?  Does it bother anybody else?  I notice this every time he's on, and I have to look away or FF when he's on the screen.  (Plus the peeping thing was gross and disturbing.)

Edited March 6, 2017 by AnnaRose

[Traveller519]

"...but I brought something just as good as a man, three women!"

that one played out fantastically, especially her response to the WeVibe. "I used to have a longer commute"

[iMonrey]

I liked the segment with the three kids being dropped off, but I wondered where Clementine was supposed to be. This seems like something Tim would have tried with his kids a few years earlier, before Tyler got married. He seemed a bit out of place in it. 

The whole family accusing Matt of stealing the motor scooter and just assuming he was guilty was hilarious. 

[mansonlamps]

I was distracted by how much I hated Colleen's top.  But there was a lot of my two favorite characters, Matt and Sophia, so all was good.

[OoogleEyes]

5 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

"...but I brought something just as good as a man, three women!"

that one played out fantastically, especially her response to the WeVibe. "I used to have a longer commute"

I really do get a kick out of this show!

[needschocolate]

21 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The whole family accusing Matt of stealing the motor scooter and just assuming he was guilty was hilarious. 

I agree.  

While I understand how frustrating it must have been for Matt to be accused of stealing the money and, later, the scooter, he earned the reputation.  There have been plenty of examples of Matt being a not-so-nice big brother (teaching Greg the wrong way to throw a football, etc).  

[paulvdb]

CBS renews 16 shows and Life in Pieces is one of them.

[candall]

With my pile of brand new cpap gear sitting right here, that "Hello, Sexy" scene cracked me up.

[Blakeston]

The sex dream storyline would have made a lot more sense if Dianne Wiest's character actually had red hair.

[BusyOctober]

We had another case of the bumper showed before the commercial break that didn't happen.  The bumper shows Joan panicking in bed about the noise and while John is going to check, she's holding the phone & says something like "I'll dial 9-1.  Yell if you need me to dial the other 1!"  Never happened when the show resumed (unless I took one of Colleen's magical pills & I missed it).

I did like John and the neighbor sneaking junk food by the trash.  JB Smoove always cracks me up.

My Colleen hate continues to grow exponentially.  When did her character become such a neurotic idiot? Is it because Jen fills the role of serious/snarky spouse (and she is very good at it, so I hope the writers let that be). The wedding can't happen soon enough for me if only to end the  focus on her stupid "lookbooks" or dream boards.  Why oh why couldn't she & Matt just stick to the eloping plan?  I can't speak for every 30 (almost 40-)-something woman getting married, but Colleen's pretty pretty princess wedding wishes seem odd to me.  They are getting married for a 2nd time.  Even if the first time wasn't Barbie's Dream Wedding, I would think those fantasies would be tempered by now.  I got married when I was 36.  We had a wedding but it was simple. Neither my husband nor I saw the need for spending money on frills.  We also didn't want our guests to be inconvenienced (Side Rant -"destination" weddings need to DIE - how selfish and self-centered are you??? You want to get married on the beach in Cabo?  Great!  Have fun & I'll have a gift for you when you get back.  I am not spending the equivalent of a month's salary for a height of the season flight & luxury hotel to watch you do what could have been done locally).

And I'm also over Dougie the roommate.  Hahaha...over weight, unconventional looking women with active libidos are soooo funny! In 1950 maybe.  I'm not laughing any more, and it's not for any politically correct reason.  I just think its L-A-Z-Y writing to go for a "sight gag".

[SongbirdHollow]

For some reason the We Bought A Zoo joke setup and delivery is still making me LOL.

[Traveller519]

Tim's "sleepover redemption" was so gross, but also hilarious. I loved that Grandma "I despise the sound of Children, but apparently I can't be trusted on my own anymore"

[ItCouldBeWorse]

2 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

They are getting married for a 2nd time.

It's Matt's second wedding. Colleen planned her elaborate wedding to Chad, but they never married.

I realize it was a call-back to Sophia's piece, but I thought that Joan's "fear" of clowns was incredibly stupid.  Also, if you thought something dangerous was going on outside your house, why would you have your husband open the door?  Have him stand guard with his ridiculous gun inside, if you must.

[needschocolate]

I was surprised that there was no reaction from sleep-over mom about Tim hanging out in a room of little girls.  It didn't need to be a big plot point, but she rolled her eyes at him not taking the daughter home, I expected to at least see her in the background keeping an eye on him.

Favorite line of the episode (paraphrasing) "My friend Stiffy told me all about it.  That was the night he got his nickname."

[roughing it]

This little show that I love so much is really experiencing a sophomore slump, isn't it?  The only bit I found slightly humorous was the last one with the visiting nephew.

Edited April 7, 2017 by roughing it

[ItCouldBeWorse]

The baby "lip-syncing" was so ridiculously bad, that I don't know why they bothered with that story line. The part where Jen and Lark was crying also bothered me because the baby was clearly upset. I hate the idea of filming a crying young child instead of comforting them.  I know that people do it with their own kids on YouTube or whatever all the time, and that in this case, the baby's job is building a college fund for her, but I still dislike it.

Continuity error: Heather comes down the stairs in pj's and glasses, passes by Sophia and her friend to get the wine, then turns around to exclaim that she and the girl have the same glasses while putting the glasses on.  There's no way she was meant to take the glasses off while grabbing the wine.  It actually would have made better sense if she had left the glasses upstairs, since they are reading glasses, or if she had been carrying them in her hands while coming downstairs so she could better read the label on the wine bottle.

Edited April 7, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Browncoat]

I really kind of hated last night's ep, between the baby "talking" and the glasses thing.  I've worn glasses since I was seven (and am to bifocals now), so get over it, Heather.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

17 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I've worn glasses since I was seven (and am to bifocals now), so get over it, Heather.

Multifocals here.  I do think there is a difference between someone who has needed glasses to see everything since childhood (for me, everything is a blur without them, except that as I have grown older, I can now read print if I hold it close without the glasses!) and someone who makes it to her forties without them. It must feel like a pain to need glasses some times.

Since I read all the time though, I don't understand how people can forgo reading for vanity.

Edited April 7, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Browncoat]

8 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I don't understand how people can forgo reading for vanity.

Especially with all the cute glasses available now! 

[possibilities]

I still like the show, despite its flaws. I agree it has flaws, though. I actually think it's gotten better over time, but now I wonder if I'm just more in need of humor or have gotten less critical.

[idiotwaltz]

I discovered this show a few days ago while I was looking for something to watch. I watched all of season 1 and most of season 2 within 2 days. There are stale episodes but on the whole I enjoy the show. The Cheeto episode made me laugh so hard I was afraid I would pop my stitches (I just had abdominal surgery). 

My least favourite characters are the grandparents and Colleen. I usually skip the segments about the grandparents. I like Heather's family the most, then Greg and Jen. I like Matt better when he's with the family rather than with Colleen.

[BTBAM310]

On 4/7/2017 at 10:28 AM, roughing it said:

This little show that I love so much is really experiencing a sophomore slump, isn't it?  The only bit I found slightly humorous was the last one with the visiting nephew.

Definitely a sophomore slump. Last season was so much better. Laughed a couple of times, but this episode was bad. The CGI baby bit was ridiculous, and the Colleen's Dad story went absolutely nowhere.

Edited April 10, 2017 by BTBAM310

[needschocolate]

On 4/7/2017 at 11:10 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Continuity error: Heather comes down the stairs in pj's and glasses, passes by Sophia and her friend to get the wine, then turns around to exclaim that she and the girl have the same glasses while putting the glasses on.  There's no way she was meant to take the glasses off while grabbing the wine.  It actually would have made better sense if she had left the glasses upstairs, since they are reading glasses, or if she had been carrying them in her hands while coming downstairs so she could better read the label on the wine bottle.

And she took off the glasses in bed before she left the room. The editing makes it look like she walked out the bedroom door, puts on the glasses, goes down the stairs, saying  hi to the kids, then takes off the glasses to get the wine.  Obviously, the scenes were not filmed continuously.  However, whoever edits the show should have noticed that the glasses were on when she cam down the stairs.  

And I can't decided if I like or dislike that they show "previews" that are different from the actual show.  Like the preview where Matt was having trouble saying "I like your work" to Colleen's father.  Then, in the actual scene, he has no trouble saying it.  On one hand, who needs previews in a half hour sitcom when most people fast forward through commercials? So, it is nice to get a different take on the joke.  On the other hand, it kind muddles the actual story and can be confusing.  

Edited April 11, 2017 by needschocolate

[HurricaneVal]

You know, this show has really grown on me.  I'm adding it to my home page.

I really liked last night's episode with the butterflies and Sophia being bored at first, then obsessed, and grandma's total pragmatism over the whole thing.  My mother would have been mortally offended and very angry if one of her grandkids acted like that about a gift, but Dianne Weist just shrugged over it.  Kids are weird, things change and Joan is wise enough or centered enough to know to wait.  The babysitting story was a bit lame, but the expression on Matt's face and the muffled *thump* when the kid hit the floor after falling out of the baby carrier was hysterically funny.  I know they played that over and over in the previews, but it still cracked me up.  But what slayed me was the totally unexpected Forrest Gump impression that Colin Hanks broke out with.   Blink and you missed it, but you just know he grew up doing stuff like that.  (I wonder if when he goes camping--if he goes camping--he runs around the campsite beating his chest yelling "I've made FIIIIIIRE!!!!")

[Browncoat]

Peek-a-Boots sounds like a cool idea!  Maybe not terribly workable (where does the heel go when it isn't in use?  How high is it?), but cute.

[ae2]

56 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Peek-a-Boots sounds like a cool idea!  Maybe not terribly workable (where does the heel go when it isn't in use?  How high is it?), but cute.

The wheel on wheelie shoes clicks into the sole when not in use. You couldn't do that with your typical high heel because the sole is exceptionally thin, but I could see it working with the more boot style heels that are popular. Would love to see it in a cop show where you're about to ask "how the heck is she going to chase that guy in those stiletos?", only to have her click the heal up and run after him in flats. Meh.

Wait... how did I miss a Forrest Gump impression??

[Cherry Cola]

I love this family.  Especially Tim and Heather.  It does bug me that the preview is different than the actual scene.  Thats my only complaint.  

[needschocolate]

11 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

But what slayed me was the totally unexpected Forrest Gump impression that Colin Hanks broke out with.   Blink and you missed it, but you just know he grew up doing stuff like that. 

 

9 hours ago, ae2 said:

Wait... how did I miss a Forrest Gump impression??

The only impression I heard was when he said that Lark's potential preschool likes diversity and he talks in an accent.  It didn't sound like Forrest Gump to me, but I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be, so I checked and the closed captioning said it was a British accent.