Life In Pieces - General Discussion

[idiotwaltz]

Not a lot of laugh out loud moments this week, but I still really enjoy the show! The characters are not as mean spirited as those on Modern Family, I find. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/14/2017 at 5:35 PM, KIMIKO said:

I love this family.  Especially Tim and Heather.

Partially because no matter what, Heather still finds Tim incredibly appealing. He really lucked out.

[Cherry Cola]

On 4/14/2017 at 1:33 PM, HurricaneVal said:

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!!!!")

I missed it the first time, so i rewatched it.  He did sound like Forrest! 

[BTBAM310]

On 4/15/2017 at 8:04 AM, idiotwaltz said:

Not a lot of laugh out loud moments this week, but I still really enjoy the show! The characters are not as mean spirited as those on Modern Family, I find. 

I gave up on Modern Family a long time ago - it became unwatchable. Some of the first season is still great though.

[Mama No Life]

Yeah, it was supposed to be British but did sound like Forrest.

The butterfly segment was my favorite.  The caterpillars John, John, John and Deirdre.  And when they started to change--Nature's Drag Queens!

I find Colleen so annoying she is ruining Matt for me, but it was funny when they dropped Lark.  Because she wasn't hurt badly, of course. I laughed out loud when Jen said Greg called her a slut after Lark tripped over her shoe.

Nude Feud? ha

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I'm glad they made it clear that Heather no longer works for Tim.

Now that I think of it, do Heather, Matt and Greg all "work" from home?  And Joan!

Edited April 28, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[MaryMitch]

Oh, man... I wish they hadn't shown that closeup of the spider. That was awful!

[iMonrey]

No kidding. I'm with Matt on the whole spider thing. That wigged me out. 

[Browncoat]

I can say with confidence from personal experience that there is no way that spider was still alive when Tim pulled it out.  Of course, my experience was with an insect, not a spider, but it succumbed to asphyxiation by ear wax, and the bug did not come out in one piece.  And yes, it was creepy as hell and still makes me shudder to think about it.

[anna0852]

8 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I'm glad they made it clear that Heather no longer works for Tim.

Now that I think of it, do Heather, Matt and Greg all "work" from home?  And Joan!

Heather and Greg are currently stay at home parents. No idea about Matt though.

[idiotwaltz]

None of the kids were in this episode, which I thought was a little strange. 

I fastforwarded the whole Dougie story - can't stand her. 

[Mrs OldManBalls]

8 hours ago, idiotwaltz said:

None of the kids were in this episode, which I thought was a little strange. 

 

I didn't realize this until this morning. I knew something was off....I think Sophia would have enjoyed the whole bug in the ear thing. 

[LakeGal]

I do not like Dougie.  She irritates me. 

I put a helmet on once that had a spider in it.  It bit me on the back of the neck.  It really hurt.  I do not like spiders.  The thought of one in my ear creeps me out.   

[AnnaRose]

21 hours ago, LakeGal said:

I do not like Dougie.  She irritates me. 

I put a helmet on once that had a spider in it.  It bit me on the back of the neck.  It really hurt.  I do not like spiders.  The thought of one in my ear creeps me out.   

Yes, she is incredibly gross and annoying.  Her segment put me in a bad mood for the rest of the episode.  Please writers, have the character just disappear.  We can find out she moved to another continent, never to be seen again.  Pretty please?!!

I hate spiders almost as much as I hate palmetto bugs and roaches.   I was house-sitting for a friend once, and put on a pair of jeans that had a big roach in the leg.  I was jumping around doing a gross-out dance and screaming for a good five minutes.

I didn't look away quick enough when they showed the spider close-up.  Thanks show.  I did like Tim's line about not practicing veterinary medicine though.  I also like how all of that played out after Colleen confided in Jen, and later when they were going around in a circle blaming each other and started to circle around with the same thing until Heather stopped it.   I chuckled at that. 

Jen was great in both of the first two segments - I love her!   She's so calm and cool and snarky.  I think the actress is stunning, too.

It was nice to see Majandra Delphino in the mom group.  (She was the one with the triplets.)  In the first scene she looked so much like Maria in Roswell... like she's barely aged a day.  I think she even had that same braided hairstyle in one of the episodes back then.   Colin Hanks starred in Roswell too.  Too bad we didn't get to see them on screen together.  

Speaking of Majandra... the older daughter on this show reminds me so much of what I think Majandra would have looked like at that age.  So much so that I actually find it kind of distracting.  (Although she doesn't sound at all like her.)  I think if she had a pixie hair cut, a bit more sass, and tried to sound like Maria, she could be her spittin' image.  [/end Roswell talk.]

[MaryMitch]

I loved how Jen separated herself from the "mommy" group - smart girl! And a great moment between her and Heather.

Oh, and Tim should have never mentioned the spider to Heather. If it weren't a family member, he could probably have gotten away with it, but he should have known that Heather would have to tell that story and... well, what happened.

Edited May 1, 2017 by MaryMitch

[ae2]

On 4/30/2017 at 9:01 PM, AnnaRose said:

Yes, she is incredibly gross and annoying.  Her segment put me in a bad mood for the rest of the episode.  Please writers, have the character just disappear.  We can find out she moved to another continent, never to be seen again.  Pretty please?!!

I hate spiders almost as much as I hate palmetto bugs and roaches.   I was house-sitting for a friend once, and put on a pair of jeans that had a big roach in the leg.  I was jumping around doing a gross-out dance and screaming for a good five minutes.

I didn't look away quick enough when they showed the spider close-up.  Thanks show.  I did like Tim's line about not practicing veterinary medicine though.  I also like how all of that played out after Colleen confided in Jen, and later when they were going around in a circle blaming each other and started to circle around with the same thing until Heather stopped it.   I chuckled at that. 

Jen was great in both of the first two segments - I love her!   She's so calm and cool and snarky.  I think the actress is stunning, too.

It was nice to see Majandra Delphino in the mom group.  (She was the one with the triplets.)  In the first scene she looked so much like Maria in Roswell... like she's barely aged a day.  I think she even had that same braided hairstyle in one of the episodes back then.   Colin Hanks starred in Roswell too.  Too bad we didn't get to see them on screen together.  

Speaking of Majandra... the older daughter on this show reminds me so much of what I think Majandra would have looked like at that age.  So much so that I actually find it kind of distracting.  (Although she doesn't sound at all like her.)  I think if she had a pixie hair cut, a bit more sass, and tried to sound like Maria, she could be her spittin' image.  [/end Roswell talk.]

I've spent two seasons trying to pin down who the older daughter reminded me of and I think you just nailed it! That's been driving me crazy. (The best I could come up with before is she resembles a young Scarlett Johansson.)

[AnnaRose]

2 hours ago, ae2 said:

I've spent two seasons trying to pin down who the older daughter reminded me of and I think you just nailed it! That's been driving me crazy. (The best I could come up with before is she resembles a young Scarlett Johansson.)

I've notice the resemblance since last season, and with some camera angles, I think it's uncanny.   Majandra does look a lot like Scarlett though, too... so I can see that connection.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

The actress who plays Heather and Tim's older daughter, Samantha, guest-starred in Speechless last night.

[Traveller519]

Well... I think that episode may have vaporized most of the goodwill I had remaining for this series. It went from something I thoroughly enjoyed last year to... well... this. All the characters were exceptionally stupid tonight. Moreso than usual.

It's frustrating! I want to like the show because it has so many talented people in it, but I'm beginning to wish I could just go rewatch them all in other things I found them much better in.

[Blakeston]

1 hour ago, Traveller519 said:

Well... I think that episode may have vaporized most of the goodwill I had remaining for this series. It went from something I thoroughly enjoyed last year to... well... this. All the characters were exceptionally stupid tonight. Moreso than usual.

It's frustrating! I want to like the show because it has so many talented people in it, but I'm beginning to wish I could just go rewatch them all in other things I found them much better in.

I know what you mean. Jen feels like the only remaining adult character with a brain. And I'm not crazy about how awful they often are to each other.

[iMonrey]

I knew Matt and Colleen were going to end up missing their flight. You don't play that game with overbooked flights. To this day I can't even believe it's legal to overbook a flight. If I got kicked off a flight because the airline overbooked it I'd throw a fit.

[MaryMitch]

2 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

Well... I think that episode may have vaporized most of the goodwill I had remaining for this series. It went from something I thoroughly enjoyed last year to... well... this. All the characters were exceptionally stupid tonight. Moreso than usual.

It's frustrating! I want to like the show because it has so many talented people in it, but I'm beginning to wish I could just go rewatch them all in other things I found them much better in.

I agree, except I'll still hang in there.  Every family was being stupid. The dog thing was ridiculous.

Getting money for being bumped off a flight is tempting, but I would never NEVER volunteer if I had something important like a wedding to get to!

[Sam215]

This episode just seemed off.  I generally really like this show, it's one the few we watch in almost real time, but everyone was just off.  The timing, the stories and the acting.   Seeing Kevin from the office was great though.   

The show did get the attitude of the airlines correct.  Service and curtesy on airlines has really diminished in the last five or so years.  

39 minutes ago, MaryMitch said:

 

Getting money for being bumped off a flight is tempting, but I would never NEVER volunteer if I had something important like a wedding to get to!

Were they even offered money?  I know one a voucher that had several rules and restrictions.  And of course the night at the Dayz inn!

[Cherry Cola]

This flights episode wasn't the best one, but this show is still better than current Modern Family.  I even like dougie, in small parts.  The actress who plays her does good with the character.  She was also on Mindy Project, and I found her quite funny.  

[UsernameFatigue]

I realized after reading the above comments that the reason I was able to watch this episode all the way through was that there was no Dougie. As another poster said, she puts me in a bad mood whenever she is on, and I usually end up not even watching the rest of the show. 

While the show is nowhere near as good as it was the first year, I did enjoy all segments of this episode. The couple giving gift bags on the plane because they had a baby was funny. The dog segment was a little OTT, but I laughed when John said "Oh crap" over the swallowed ring, which of course was the signal for the dog to stop playing dead. And the segment on trying to get to the airport early and ending up almost being late. Loved Tyler and wife (can't remember her name off hand) starting out with no luggage (and Tim saying that their reasoning was stupid), then ending up with luggage = thought that was pretty funny. 

It is really too bad that so many comedies seem to go down hill so quickly. I haven't watched Modern Family for a few years now for that reason. And Blackish is pretty much unwatchable for me now. All of the characters have become caricatures of themselves, with Dre being nothing short of stupid. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 5/5/2017 at 4:23 PM, Sam215 said:

Were they even offered money?  I know one a voucher that had several rules and restrictions.  And of course the night at the Dayz inn!

It was vouchers, not money, but I guess Dayz Inn prostitutes accept them!

[needschocolate]

The episode had its moments, but, overall, it was too contrived and ridiculous.

They all live in the same area, they are all going to the same place for the same event - it was weird that they were all on different flights leaving at different times.  It was also weird that, after Jen and Greg's flight had to make an emergency landing because of the guy in anaphylactic shock, then ended up in the same airport as Matt and Colleen.  

On 5/5/2017 at 11:21 AM, iMonrey said:

If I got kicked off a flight because the airline overbooked it I'd throw a fit.

Then you would get beaten up and get an undisclosed amount as a settlement.

[Perfect Xero]

1 hour ago, needschocolate said:

The episode had its moments, but, overall, it was too contrived and ridiculous.

They all live in the same area, they are all going to the same place for the same event - it was weird that they were all on different flights leaving at different times.  It was also weird that, after Jen and Greg's flight had to make an emergency landing because of the guy in anaphylactic shock, then ended up in the same airport as Matt and Colleen. 

It's possible that Matt and Colleen were flying out of San Diego for some reason.

Although the different stories on this show aren't necessarily shown in chronological order, sometimes the first story is happening after the 3rd or at the same time, or whatever. So Matt and Colleen spotting Greg and Jen probably happened before they got on the flight from their segment.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 5/7/2017 at 5:31 PM, Perfect Xero said:

Although the different stories on this show aren't necessarily shown in chronological order, sometimes the first story is happening after the 3rd or at the same time, or whatever. So Matt and Colleen spotting Greg and Jen probably happened before they got on the flight from their segment.

I agree.

I don't know why Tim didn't just switch seats with the professor and drive them all to the airport (on the highway).

[Browncoat]

Vet school is NOT cheap, and it is also NOT a lesser alternative to medical school.

[chitowngirl]

Where is the competent but quirky family from season 1? It's like I don't even know these people anymore.

[ExplainItAgain]

I missed the first part and then was only halfway paying attention. Did Colleen fall off the balcony there at the end? Geez!

[ItCouldBeWorse]

37 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Vet school is NOT cheap, and it is also NOT a lesser alternative to medical school.

That's what I was going to say.  There are only 30 accredited colleges of veterinary medicine in the USA, so it's even harder to get in to veterinary school than it is to medical school. (I realize that fewer people want to go to vet school than to med school.)

[AnnaRose]

I pretty much hated all of this episode until the wedding... and even that was largely ruined by Greg.

[mansonlamps]

They need to fix the Greg character, there is no way on earth Jen would be married to this version of him.   I still love Matt, though. 

[Traveller519]

Oh Gus Grimly, when will you learn that you only go confessing your crimes to someone you put in the hospital if they're obviously totally over the moon for you? (apologies for the Fargo reference)

Definitely better than last week. Matt and Colleen's segment saved the show. More of them like this please, and less of the hysteria. 

Hoping the show recovers from its sophomore slump next season.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Where is the competent but quirky family from season 1? It's like I don't even know these people anymore.

I honestly don't feel like the show is significantly different than it was at the beginning. I just think the novelty has worn off. This show has never been laugh-out-loud, side-splittingly funny. It has its charms and an appealing cast, but it's primary draw has always been quirky family dynamics they think most people can relate to in one way or another. The more they stretch it, the less relateable it becomes. They've already sort of run out of the usual new girlfriend, new parents, new babysitter type of storylines so the ideas have become more and more absurd. 

The tiny house thing was really stupid. If they have the money for a motel there's no earthly reason for six of them to squeeze into that closet-sized space. (Nor should you ever leave the house with the dryer running.)

I'm glad they didn't let that vet operate on Tank. He seemed like a real quack.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

4 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

Oh Gus Grimly, when will you learn that you only go confessing your crimes to someone you put in the hospital if they're obviously totally over the moon for you? (apologies for the Fargo reference)

The patient ate the cookie without asking if there was coconut in it, which no one with a life-threatening allergy should ever do.  Now, since Greg claimed to have made the cookies, if the guy had asked him if there was coconut in them, and Greg, not really knowing but not having tasted the coconut when he ate a cookie had said "no," there would be a much stronger case against him.

That's also a good argument against handing out homemade food items to a whole bunch of potentially litigious strangers on a plane.  Hand out commercially packaged food instead, if you must.

Edited May 12, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[MaryMitch]

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

The patient ate the cookie without asking if there was coconut in it, which no one with a life-threatening allergy should ever do.  Now, since Greg claimed to have made the cookies, if the guy had asked him if there was coconut in them, and Greg, not really knowing but not having  tasted the coconut when he ate a cookie had said "no" there would be a much stronger case against him.

That's also a good argument against handing out homemade food items to a whole bunch of potentially litigious strangers on a plane.  Hand out commercially packaged food instead, if you must.

The whole episode was stupid, but this was the stupidest part.

[Blakeston]

7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I honestly don't feel like the show is significantly different than it was at the beginning. I just think the novelty has worn off. This show has never been laugh-out-loud, side-splittingly funny. It has its charms and an appealing cast, but it's primary draw has always been quirky family dynamics they think most people can relate to in one way or another.

I used to be able to relate to these characters, but not any more. They've become so much meaner and dumber. Greg and Tyler, in particular, bear no resemblance to who they were in season 1.

I wouldn't say the show has ever been all that consistent, but there were definitely scenes from season 1 that I thought were side-splittingly funny. With the first season on Netflix now, I recently watched the scene where Greg and Jen get massages while the staff ignores a horrible car accident, and I thought it was hilarious. I don't think anything from season 2 has come close to capturing that, or the Cheeto scene.

[idiotwaltz]

Greg suffers from the Joey Tribbiani syndrome. He's gone from loveable doof to irritating moron. But I'll still take him over the grandfather, whose segments I always want to skip. 

[msani19]

I don't like Colleen. Like at all. I've tried but something about the way the actress has played her this season has just rubbed me all kinds of the wrong way. To the wonderful poster above who said that though the show was never LOL funny, it had relatable moments & now they are just mining the absurd, a slow clap for you. Always happy when a show others like is renewed so that they can continue to enjoy it, but I think I'll find something else to watch. 

[Cherry Cola]

The wedding was so sweet! 

I still like Richard Marx and that song.  It fit perfect. 

[needschocolate]

The last two episodes made me realize that the show does better if the 4 stories are more separate.  There were separate plots but they had to tie them all around the same theme/event, and I don't think it worked well.  However, the wedding made me happy (until there was too much Greg).  

Last week, I questioned why Matt and Colleen would be in San Diego, where Jen and Greg's plane had to make an emergency landing.  This week, they were all in San Diego at the hotel for the wedding. Then I realized that they all live in San Diego. But, if they all live in San Diego, why were they all staying at the hotel - or were they?  (note:  I have no idea why this is important to me)

On 5/11/2017 at 7:24 PM, ExplainItAgain said:

I missed the first part and then was only halfway paying attention. Did Colleen fall off the balcony there at the end? Geez!

Earlier, she threw her wedding dress off the balcony (when she decided that the universe was against the wedding) and it landed in the pool.  The audience knew that the pool was directly below the balcony (which is rather odd), and there was a splash, so we weren't supposed to be concerned that Colleen was injured.  I don't remember if they said how high up the balcony was.    

Sometimes this show is well-written, sometimes not.  The writers do better at funny dialogue than at non-dialogue.

On 5/12/2017 at 11:45 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

The patient ate the cookie without asking if there was coconut in it, which no one with a life-threatening allergy should ever do.  Now, since Greg claimed to have made the cookies, if the guy had asked him if there was coconut in them, and Greg, not really knowing but not having tasted the coconut when he ate a cookie had said "no," there would be a much stronger case against him.

That's also a good argument against handing out homemade food items to a whole bunch of potentially litigious strangers on a plane.  Hand out commercially packaged food instead, if you must.

I feel like I either missed something or something was cut out, because it made no sense that Jen didn't point out that the guy never asked if there was coconut in the cookies.  

[ExplainItAgain]

Thanks @needschocolate, totally missed that. Must pay better attention.

I thought they lived in Los Angeles, or near it? They had that whole episode about the Rams being back in LA. I missed last week's episode so I'm not sure about the plane plot because if they do live in LA, they'd probably drive to San Diego.

[Browncoat]

It being the "Dayz Inn", it probably wasn't more than two stories high.  Colleen probably wouldn't be injured by a fall into the pool from that height.

I just assumed Matt called everyone to come -- after all, no one made their flights and they all would have been back at their own houses.  Or at their children's tiny house in the back yard.

[anna0852]

Not sure if this is the right topic but apparently Zoe Lister-Jones (Jen) has written, directed and stars in a movie about a couple that turns their fights into songs and uses those to start a band. Colin Hanks (Greg) and Angelique Cabral (Colleen) are also in it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5816374/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Edited May 14, 2017 by anna0852

[Perfect Xero]

6 hours ago, ExplainItAgain said:

Thanks @needschocolate, totally missed that. Must pay better attention.

I thought they lived in Los Angeles, or near it? They had that whole episode about the Rams being back in LA. I missed last week's episode so I'm not sure about the plane plot because if they do live in LA, they'd probably drive to San Diego.

Yeah, they live in the LA area.

There are reasons that they might use the hotel voucher in LA. The hotel would be close to the airport, making it easier to get out on the first flight the next day. If they took a cab or an uber to the airport they might rather just stay there than pay for another ride home and then another back to the airport in the morning.

Also, free Continental Breakfast!

[JeezumCrow]

On 5/12/2017 at 0:46 PM, iMonrey said:

I honestly don't feel like the show is significantly different than it was at the beginning. I just think the novelty has worn off. This show has never been laugh-out-loud, side-splittingly funny. It has its charms and an appealing cast, but it's primary draw has always been quirky family dynamics they think most people can relate to in one way or another. The more they stretch it, the less relateable it becomes. They've already sort of run out of the usual new girlfriend, new parents, new babysitter type of storylines so the ideas have become more and more absurd. 

I have always found and still do find the show laugh-out-loud, side-splittingly funny. Not every storyline in every episode, but, for me, the laughs greatly exceed the duds. I'm so happy it's been renewed. This is the #1 show I look forward to each week!

[wendyg]

I think it has to be a strain on the writers to come up with four stories every week and that's why this season has seemed flat (to me, at least). (Plus, yes, the novelty has worn off. We get it, short stories for the YouTube generation.) Think about it: the average sitcom has one to three stories every week and by season 4 the quality is usually beginning to deteriorate. Yes, they have a lot of characters to play with, but even so.

There is no way anyone with that serious an allergy hasn't learned to ask before trying *any* piece of unfamiliar food. Because they'd be dead. There's no problem with homemade items as long as you can trust the person who made them to tell you accurately what's in them. The *worst* situation is pre-packaged food where there's no label, which happens a lot on planes (the label is, I guess, on the big bag all the individual ones came in).