Life In Pieces - General Discussion

[needschocolate]

19 hours ago, ae2 said:

Each segment had a black title card that said "if so and so called." 

My understanding of what was going on probably would have been helped if I actually watched it instead of mostly just listening while I was exercising.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I like Colin Hanks and Dianne Weist so I can't believe I haven't been watching this show from the beginning! I saw that it was on Netflix so I gave it a try. Congressman Furlong was an awesome bonus.

The thing I loved about the birth scene was how far we have come about giving birth. Up until about 50 years ago, it was common to put women to sleep while they were in labor and men weren't allowed in the delivery room. No one but the doctors and nurses knew about the labor pooping! I'm all for normalizing stuff like that. It's what happens. No need to keep it a secret or make women feel bad about what their bodies do.

The funeral birthday party was both horrifying and hilarious. There's a reason why people don't do that!

I'm cracking up from the previous comments predicting that this show would be canceled immediately since I have the luxury of knowing it survived and is now on its third season. Different strokes for different folks, which is what makes having all of these different show and channels so great. If you don't like this, there are a million other things you can watch instead!

On 9/22/2015 at 5:48 AM, ae2 said:

I really want a Colin Hanks show to succeed. (Preferably The Good Guys, because Bradley Whitford is amazing and that was such a fun show. But that ship sailed a long time ago.)

I miss The Good Guys too! Mr. EB and I still refer to "computer machines" thanks to Dan Stark.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 9/28/2015 at 10:08 PM, possibilities said:

I'm not opposed to mocking the excesses of bizarro hipsters, but there really are great lactation consultants who aren't creepy and stupid, so that was kind of a bummer, too. Don't give up after one idiot consultation. You have to wonder who gave them that referral.

Considering that the referral came from someone who named her daughter Sephora, I think you can draw your own conclusions!

I don't mind the Brolin/Weist couple being shown as still sexually active. Lots of people over the age of 23 with more than 6% body fat have sex. I like the fact that they have been together 49 years and still enjoy each other's company AND clearly are still attracted to each other. They haven't turned into one of those old sexless couples who just sit silently while they eat dinner together.

My nitpick in this episode was when Matt asked Colleen asked what else the reception site owed her and they cut to a DJ, lights, and a champagne tower. I don't know what kind of weird contract she had with the reception site, but 99% of the time the DJ is a completely separate booking. Champagne is usually covered under the bar vendor, so if they set up the champagne and all those glasses, then there should have been a bartender and a full bar too. I can't imagine any hotel or banquet hall just throwing in a champagne tower as part of the rental agreement. I know they just wanted to have a reason to let Matt and Colleen dance together but it just made no sense to me from a logistical standpoint. Either you get one of those Vegas packages where EVERYTHING is included or you have multiple vendor contracts. When Mr. EB and I planned our wedding, not a single vendor said, "And we'll throw in a DJ and a champagne tower!"

Weirdly, Samantha was the one I related to the most in this episode. My family moved when I was a little younger than she was and I was the only one crying about how we were leaving the house I grew up in. I also wanted to dig up my dog's ashes from the backyard.

Edited January 16, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The tree scene totally cracked me up because a few years ago, we had a tree that needed to be cut down (it fell over during a storm and was resting on top of the fence). He got two chainsaws AND a tree saw stuck in it at the same time. I was also cracking up because my only other exposure to chopping trees with an ax has been seeing those lumberjack competitions on ESPN so I am used to seeing a guy with an ax chop through a log in about a minute. Watching three men chop that tree like crazy and then seeing that all they'd really done was chip some of the bark off was hilarious.

The whole Wizard Fingers/Meat Straws thing cracked me up. I was yelling, "Nooooooooooo!" when both Greg and Jen decided to buy some.

On 10/6/2015 at 0:55 PM, possibilities said:

Would one tiny espresso really cause that much fallout?

As for the diarrhea, caffeine is what causes the coffee squirts. The higher the caffeine content, the more likely the diarrhea. Espresso has a lot more caffeine than just regular coffee, so if Tim is really sensitive to it or doesn't drink coffee regularly, then it's totally possible that one tiny espresso had him exploding all over Greg's bathroom.

[ae2]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The whole Wizard Fingers/Meat Straws thing cracked me up. I was yelling, "Nooooooooooo!" when both Greg and Jen decided to buy some.

The Wizard Fingers scene is still my favorite scene from this show!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

21 minutes ago, ae2 said:

The Wizard Fingers scene is still my favorite scene from this show!

“Fist me.”

[JeezumCrow]

On 1/14/2018 at 4:54 PM, ae2 said:

Each segment had a black title card that said "if so and so called."

This episode reminded me of the “Remedial Chaos Theory” episode of Community. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it was nearly as successful and I found the majority of the episode to be seriously lacking. One standout moment for me, though, was when Tim thought he had wet himself but it was really just the heated seat - I am in no way exaggerating when I say he had me crying with laughter. 

 

This episode underwhelmed me, but I still love the show overall and look forward to it every week. 

[AnnaRose]

55 minutes ago, curlyblackeggs said:

This episode reminded me of the “Remedial Chaos Theory” episode of Community. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it was nearly as successful and I found the majority of the episode to be seriously lacking. One standout moment for me, though, was when Tim thought he had wet himself but it was really just the heated seat - I am in no way exaggerating when I say he had me crying with laughter.

I too thought of Remedial Chaos Theory, and I thought this episode sucked in comparison.  It suffered from not having any clear reason for what we were watching.   Was Matt just imagining possible scenarios?  Were they supposed to be parallel universes playing out in different ways?  The whole thing was just weird. 

I don't even remember anything about a heated seat joke.  The whole episode was just a huge miss for me.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

It seems to me that 2k is a small price for Tim to pay to buy his in-laws' affection. And since he and Heather pocketed the insurance money that was for hotel accommodations, he could well afford it. (Although I suppose that might be how he rationalized buying it for himself, but he didn't say that to Heather when she expressed surprise.)

I can possibly believe that John installed the toilet himself, but there is no way he synced the 2 phones to the toilet himself, not in 3 days nor in a lifetime.

I thought that the normal thing for Heather to gave done would have been to look st Sophia's legs at the very beginning to point out how blonde and sparse her leg hair likely was. I knew there was no way Sophia had accepted her mother's ban and must have already shaved, but in real life, she would have used the razor that Samantha used for the same purpose, perhaps even asking her first. That's what big sisters are for.

[msrachelj]

On 2/4/2018 at 3:29 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

It seems to me that 2k is a small price for Tim to pay to buy his in-laws' affection. And since he and Heather pocketed the insurance money that was for hotel accommodations, he could well afford it. (Although I suppose that might be how he rationalized buying it for himself, but he didn't say that to Heather when she expressed surprise.)

I can possibly believe that John installed the toilet himself, but there is no way he synced the 2 phones to the toilet himself, not in 3 days nor in a lifetime.

I thought that the normal thing for Heather to gave done would have been to look st Sophia's legs at the very beginning to point out how blonde and sparse her leg hair likely was. I knew there was no way Sophia had accepted her mother's ban and must have already shaved, but in real life, she would have used the razor that Samantha used for the same purpose, perhaps even asking her first. That's what big sisters are for.

i would think a toilet that complicated ( is that an actual toilet, i know there are some crazy japanese one's out there, but music etc?) should be installed by a professional. and it's not like either of these families can't afford to a) buy the toilet as a thank you gift, or b) call a damn plumber to install it. they are pretty well off.

if your daughter is telling you all her friends are shaving their legs than i would think you might talk one of her friends mothers for advice. if it were true, let the girl shave her legs also. it's a small thing, and would not make her look like a freak besides the rest of the girls. things change, maybe girls are shaving their legs at a younger age. and get an electric razor for her. 

[UsernameFatigue]

My favourite line of this past week's episode was John referring to Clementine as Tangerine. I don't think I have heard that nickname before, but it is adorable. 

[Perfect Xero]

37 minutes ago, UsernameFatigue said:

My favourite line of this past week's episode was John referring to Clementine as Tangerine. I don't think I have heard that nickname before, but it is adorable. 

I don't think it's a nickname as much as John forgetting. I just watched the pilot again the other night and one of the jokes there is that John can't remember Jen's name even though she and Greg have been married for 5 years.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

All three siblings are amazingly underemployed. (Heather demonstrated that she didn't need to be home all day for the kids' sake when she temporarily worked for Dan, and I don't get the feeling that Greg takes care of Lark anymore.) And then there's Tyler....

Edited March 5, 2018 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Perfect Xero]

It's somewhat curious that this episode, coming out of a break, seemed to mark an abrupt end to both the Tyler/Clem divorce story line and the Greg work from home inventor story line. I'd assumed that both were going to linger all season and pay off in the season finale, but they seem to have decided to clear the deck on both of them as quickly as possible.

[ae2]

9 hours ago, Perfect Xero said:

It's somewhat curious that this episode, coming out of a break, seemed to mark an abrupt end to both the Tyler/Clem divorce story line and the Greg work from home inventor story line. I'd assumed that both were going to linger all season and pay off in the season finale, but they seem to have decided to clear the deck on both of them as quickly as possible.

Great catch! This seems like a good thing. The general feel around here is that the first half of this season has been a bit lacking. Maybe they realized that and are course correcting. 

[rhys]

On 3/3/2018 at 1:11 AM, UsernameFatigue said:

My favourite line of this past week's episode was John referring to Clementine as Tangerine. I don't think I have heard that nickname before, but it is adorable. 

Maybe the show is too cheap to pay a royalty to halos.

[idiotwaltz]

I enjoyed the show this week, especially Heather’s segment and Jen’s segment. Greg is still really annoying but I actually liked Colleen in this one!

[ari333]

On 3/3/2018 at 2:11 AM, UsernameFatigue said:

My favourite line of this past week's episode was John referring to Clementine as Tangerine. I don't think I have heard that nickname before, but it is adorable. 

I thought the Clementine/ Tangerine thing  was hilarious, but I thought it was him getting the name wrong - forgetting, or making fun of the name on purpose.

[ari333]

I just started watching this show. I liked the one where the parents came to visit Hanks' character and his wife . Sorry, l dont know the character names yet. Anyway, they decided to tag team the parents during the visit. 

[roughing it]

ari333, the first season is the best, very funny

[iMonrey]

I enjoyed the segment with the Ancestry.com stuff, where Joan finds out her grandfather married his own niece. "He took a baby and married it!" She'd had all these family stories about how her grandmother couldn't walk and had to be carried . . . and now she realizes why. "It was a different time then!" 

[Perfect Xero]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I enjoyed the segment with the Ancestry.com stuff, where Joan finds out her grandfather married his own niece. "He took a baby and married it!" She'd had all these family stories about how her grandmother couldn't walk and had to be carried . . . and now she realizes why. "It was a different time then!" 

I wasn't sure if Joan was surprised by it or not, she didn't seem surprised by the revelation the way the others did, it kind of seemed to me like she already knew and had already been rationalizing/romanticizing it all along.

[LucyEth]

Don't like when Heather and Tim get disgusting.  Why do the portray them as so stupid and uncaring at times.  Not liking them lately.  I get it the family is weird that is the "charm" of the show, but sometimes they take it too far IMO.

[Mystery]

Last year I broke my foot and had three pins put into it. I was terrible at using crutches, so I got myself that scooter thing, and now I realized what a jerk I looked like! Fortunately, I just mostly used it at home because it was my right foot, so I couldn't drive to work. 

Edited March 10, 2018 by Mystery

[Blakeston]

On 3/9/2018 at 9:21 PM, LucyEth said:

Don't like when Heather and Tim get disgusting.  Why do the portray them as so stupid and uncaring at times.  Not liking them lately.  I get it the family is weird that is the "charm" of the show, but sometimes they take it too far IMO.

Most of the characters are really pretty awful human beings.

And I don't think that's necessarily bad - hell, I love It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where the characters are monsters. But I'm not sure these writers actually understand that these characters are selfish and cruel. There was just that storyline where the spouses realize that the Shorts are really an awesome family because they like each other and have each others' backs.

Yeah, except when Matt's parents treat him like garbage, and when Greg's siblings treat him like garbage, and when John is a thoughtless dick to everyone, and when Heather and Tim are godawful parents.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

When John and Joan stayed over at Jen and Greg's we had the crazy scene with the air bed in the living room because there is no spare room. Since Jen and Greg were clearly sleeping in their own room and Lark was not with them, exactly where did her parents sleep, especially with her father's hypersensitive foot? Not a hotel, since Jen had packed them up at the end. Be consistent, writers.

I also wondered if Jen stayed home the whole week her parents were there. If not, going to work would have provided some respite. As would Jen and Greg going out a few times and leaving Lark with her grandparents, who rarely see her.

Edited March 12, 2018 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Cherry Cola]

"We're Wingz with a Z for legal reasons! " best quote of the episode.  

[chitowngirl]

So why does Joan have Heather’s jewelry?

[Blakeston]

Everything about the graffiti story was cringeworthy in a bad way. The final quote wasn't nearly as funny or shocking as the writers thought it was.

Sophia wanting so badly to be seen as a cute little baby seemed somewhat out of character for her.

The only parts I liked were Dianne Wiest's increasingly violent exclamations, and Jen and Greg professing their love of quinoa after the description of two bland white people.

[BTBAM310]

On 3/30/2018 at 10:06 AM, Blakeston said:

Everything about the graffiti story was cringeworthy in a bad way. The final quote wasn't nearly as funny or shocking as the writers thought it was.

Sophia wanting so badly to be seen as a cute little baby seemed somewhat out of character for her.

The only parts I liked were Dianne Wiest's increasingly violent exclamations, and Jen and Greg professing their love of quinoa after the description of two bland white people.

Agreed on the graffiti story...

My favorite exchange was:

Sophia "me hungwy"

Heather: "are you speaking Korean?"

[Perfect Xero]

I thought the graffiti story was bad, but I don't think the graffiti was supposed to be shocking, the joke was supposed to be that something so dumb caused so much trouble and the boss getting fired. And possibly that for all the "wokeness" of the company the clueless middle aged white guy is the one who somehow came out ahead.

[Danielg342]

That puppet musical scene was the trippiest thing I have ever seen. Good singing voices though.

[mansonlamps]

Was not a fan at all of the puppet musical and normally Sophia is my favorite.  The rest was just ok.  Colleen works my last nerve sometimes and this was one of those times.  

[iMonrey]

I liked the stolen bicycle story, and the way they kept forgetting Tim. I laughed as soon as I saw that they had left him behind after stealing the bike. I liked Joan trying to be tough too and trying to insult the thief's mother.

But I was not a fan of the puppet musical, and I say that as someone who generally likes musicals, when done right. This? Was just odd. 

[AnnaRose]

Yeah, I was disappointed in the musical too.  And I LOVED the Buffy musical and Galavant, and even the little musical number Sue and Brad did at the end of a The Middle episode... so I was really looking forward to this.  (Plus Sophia is one of my favorite characters on this show by far - two of my favorite episodes featured Sophia, one when she was grounded and another when she went to the grocery store by herself.)

She has a nice enough voice, but it sounded very strange to me... like they didn't produce the sound correctly or maybe autotuned it or something?  There were parts when her voice was so much lower and deeper than I thought it would be, which took me out of it because it didn't seem like she was naturally singing.  The whole thing was so weird already, so that aspect was very distracting.  Also, I thought the lyrics and arrangement kind of sucked. 

The stolen bike segment was pretty good for this show, but Colleen vies with Greg and the grandparents for most annoying character in this series for me, and she has really been making a run for the most-annoying title this season.  I hate the whole toddler pageant business in real life, and would not have shown the restraint Jen did in dealing with that situation.   Jen is my other favorite character, so I usually at least enjoy her part in storylines that feature her. 

I would like this show so much more if it was just the main family with kids plus Uncle Matt and Jen plus very limited Greg nonsense.   I would not miss the grandparents or Colleen at all.

[rhys]

Can anyone tell me what "plan beef" is?

[possibilities]

I think it was supposed to be a joke on "Plan B"

[AnnaRose]

9 hours ago, rhys said:

Can anyone tell me what "plan beef" is?

I was wondering that too... and I still don't get it.

[ae2]

I remember when this show started, just a few episodes in, calling up my dad and telling him this was the funniest sitcom on TV right now. 

It just hasn't been living up to its potential lately. 

Even when it experiments with the typical formula - the animated chicken story, Matt's what-if sperm donation, Sophia's musical - it falls short. And I always love when shows push their boundaries like that.

Sophia, who is one of the few precocious but still likable children ever portrayed on film and an easy favorite, had two stinkers in a row. Last episodes I'm not the cute one any more, and this sing along which should have been hilarious, both felt off. Sophia's has always been deceitful and manipulative. In an adorable way. None of that was present here. Tim jumping in at the end of the song was funny though, as was Heather singing "when he bought me a purse and I promised to give him ..."

Lark has never been funny, and is nowhere near as cute as the writers think she is.

There are still some laughs. Leaving Tim behind was perfect. It's just not living up to what it should be.

[chitowngirl]

So Greg and Jen walk in late to a family gathering-where is their daughter??

[Blakeston]

I honestly thought this show was circling the drain after the last few episodes, but I really liked the first three segments in this episode (the babysitter search, Samantha's boyfriend, and Colleen's half-sister.)

Heather and Tim seemed like halfway decent parents in this one! And I love that Samantha actually acts something like a real-life teenager.

[msrachelj]

On 3/29/2018 at 10:00 PM, chitowngirl said:

So why does Joan have Heather’s jewelry?

i kept asking myself that also!

On 4/5/2018 at 10:22 PM, Danielg342 said:

That puppet musical scene was the trippiest thing I have ever seen. Good singing voices though.

trippy! excellent way to describe it. i liked it.  was that really them singing? if so, the little girl is awesome. the one eyed bear was it? and why he poked his eye out was hilarious. 

On 4/6/2018 at 2:02 PM, iMonrey said:

I liked the stolen bicycle story, and the way they kept forgetting Tim. I laughed as soon as I saw that they had left him behind after stealing the bike. I liked Joan trying to be tough too and trying to insult the thief's mother.

But I was not a fan of the puppet musical, and I say that as someone who generally likes musicals, when done right. This? Was just odd. 

i wonder if it was really her stolen bike. the seller didn't seem to come across as having stolen it. 

[msrachelj]

did joan put on some weight very recently? i'm not always all that observant so it could be the outfit. 

[roughing it]

2 hours ago, msrachelj said:

did joan put on some weight very recently?

Don't know, don't care.  

I finally laughed at this episode.  It's been a long time, like 1-1/2 seasons, since I laughed at this show.

[joanne3482]

5 hours ago, msrachelj said:

On 3/29/2018 at 9:00 PM, chitowngirl said:

So why does Joan have Heather’s jewelry?

i kept asking myself that also!

I figured that Heather had left it when she left for college and Joan put it aside for safe keeping and forgot to give it back to her.  I left a lot of stuff at my parents' house when I left for college. 

[Blakeston]

I thought the idea was that Joan is so batty that she takes things that don't belong to her without even realizing it.

[iMonrey]

They've had Sophia and Tyler in almost every episode but I can't remember the last time they showed Sam. I wonder if it's because the actress is doing something else or if it's just that the writers aren't interested in her. 

It's really absurd that Heather and Greg just don't put their foot down and tell Tyler and Clementine "No, you're not moving back in here and we're not opening up our house to strangers renting your Tiny House." 

They are really going out of their way to hide Angelique Cabral's pregnancy. Not only is she draped in black but something is always blocking her midsection. Matt literally had his arm stretched out in front of her when they were standing at the counter. 

[Perfect Xero]

21 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

They've had Sophia and Tyler in almost every episode but I can't remember the last time they showed Sam. I wonder if it's because the actress is doing something else or if it's just that the writers aren't interested in her.

Sam was just in last week's episode, the plot about her boyfriend dating other girls and Heather stressing over if she should ask Sam about it or not.

Sophia is in almost every episode, but I've noticed that Tyler has been left out quite a bit this season.

I think that it's mostly a screen time issue, if you look at Modern Family, which has 3 adult couples and 4 kids/teens to write for that seems to be the upper limit of what a 30 minute sitcom can support and still have reasonable screen time for each character. By comparison Life has the same number of kids/teens, but an additional adult couple to write for.

[OtterMommy]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

They've had Sophia and Tyler in almost every episode but I can't remember the last time they showed Sam. I wonder if it's because the actress is doing something else or if it's just that the writers aren't interested in her. 

 

Wasn't Sam in last week's episode?  Wasn't that the ep with her boyfriend who had many girlfriends?

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

They are really going out of their way to hide Angelique Cabral's pregnancy. Not only is she draped in black but something is always blocking her midsection. Matt literally had his arm stretched out in front of her when they were standing at the counter. 

Is she pregnant again?  She gave birth last September, so that would be ... fast.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Sam was just in last week's episode, the plot about her boyfriend dating other girls and Heather stressing over if she should ask Sam about it or not.

Oof. Shows how much attention I'm paying!

Quote

Is she pregnant again?  She gave birth last September, so that would be ... fast.

Well they're certainly shooting around her in a way to suggest she is. Maybe it's just that they shot these shortly after she went back to work and she hasn't lost the pregnancy weight. It's awkward because her character is unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant.

Edited April 20, 2018 by iMonrey