S01.E04: I'm Going On A Date With Josh's Friend!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When Rebecca learns that Josh and Valencia seem as happy as ever, she goes into a spiral and vows to make healthier choices. As a result, when nice guy Greg asks her out on a date, she wonders if that is the path towards a happier life.

Promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saofFdPGW10

Edited October 27, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Rinaldo]

One can get lost in a long loop of Santino Fontana's singing on YouTube, but here are a few highlights:

 

This maybe isn't the most spectacular, but the two of them got married last month, so that's adorable.

 

He and Laura Osnes, who costarred in Cinderella on Broadway, sing a song from it in Central Park.

 

And because it's my favorite song from Into the Woods, the two of them doing "It Takes Two."

 

"The Happy Medley" from his concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (the whole concert is up, in segments).

[JustaPerson]

*squeals* Santino gets to sing! I mean he's the voice of two princes (one disney and evil, and one R+H and decidedly not so) he should be singing all the songs.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clip:

 

Song:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

 

[Ohwell]

I'm getting a little tired and bored with the crazy from Rebecca.  I'll keep watching the show, but only sporadically. It's no longer must-see.

[Rinaldo]

"Settle for Me" was everything I'd hoped for.

[Rhetorica]

Fred and Ginger! And tap dancing! I'm in Heaven...

(see what I did there)

[Primetimer]

Greg charms and Rebecca loses it, but will anyone learn anything?

Read the story

[Valny]

I was flipping back and forth during commercials while also watching The Voice and caught the Settle for Me number. When it went to black and white and saw it was paying homage to a Fred and Ginger number, no way I was changing the channel back, I had to see it all! That was so great, especially their dancing. Lyrically not the best, but I loved everything about it.

[OptimisticCynic]

The "broken condom and I'll be your plan B" lyric was INSPIRED.

I have to think Greg is endgame (if she ends up with someone). Santino Fontana is just too charming not to be.

[dungeonwriter]

It's really hard for the handsome Santinto Fontana to be considered settling. I mean, I know Greg is supposed to be a nebbish, but he's so handsome and charming, I'd settle him. 

[TheRealWendy]

Why aren't we talking about that kid who hangs out at the bar and gives Greg advice on his love life? He's no Bert, but maybe he's somewhere between Season 1 Manny and current Manny. #cuteboycharactersontv

[alrightokay]

Lots of praise already for the "Settle for Me" number, so I'll talk about other things I liked:

Greg had an umbrella ready for when it started raining during the Taco Festival.

I liked how Greg and Rebecca made up after their mini-fight--that was amazing (before she left with the man-bun guy).  Also, I'm not remembering it accurately, but Greg's line, "How could guys with man-buns know anything about authentic food?!" cracked me up.

I also liked Josh's subplot--there was something poignant about him feeling trapped at the radiology lab, a job his dad called a "healthy" choice, even though they had to wear layers and layers of protective gear to keep from getting cancer.  I'm glad he eventually got the Aloha Tech job, and it seems like a workplace that will give us a chance to meet more characters.  The show's doing a good job slowly introducing new characters and making them seem "lived in."  For instance, Heather, the neighbor, has become more likable and intriguing.  For some reason, it felt sweet when she called Rebecca "Kiddo."

And Rebecca's essay, which she tossed off in less than 5 minutes, with its references to Kafka, Harper Lee, and Go Set a Watchman, was hilariously wrong for the job Josh was applying for.

[taragel]

This was my favorite episode so far (though I've honestly loved them all). The Settle for Me number was just pure perfection (though I thought the other one, Sex with a Stranger, didn't really showcase or add anything we didn't already get with Naughty Getting Ready song). But what I loved most was Rebecca's breakdown at the taco festival after she had a legit adult moment with Greg. I thought that said so much about what Rebecca's mental state/problems are. Plus, the return of the butter commercial/Healthy Choices motif resonating not just for Rebecca, but for Josh as well (and the tag was funny) was great. I think Josh continuing to have nice moments (telling Becky that the application thing wasn't her fault because he should have read it through was nice and unexpected) and Greg continuing to have occasional douchey moments (like calling her out as a terrible hypocrite at the taco fair) gives both characters a nice balance -- even if Greg has to be eventual OTP, right? I also enjoyed Heather having her own adult moment in class at the end.

[OptimisticCynic]

I loved the scene at the end where we learned about the guy who created the butter ad campaign.

[arc]

This was an amazing episode. I just wish I didn't know so deeply how Greg and Rebecca feel, because I've felt like both of them at different points this episode and it's a bummer.

But yeah, super funny and super heartfelt.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Oh, Rebecca. One step forward and then ten steps back. I recognize her self-sabotaging behavior from personal experience (as well as from witnessing other people do it) so I feel for her. I have definitely had moments where I made terrible choices and it seemed like I was watching someone else do it. We know she has daddy issues and that her mom is a nightmare, but she clearly has a lot to work through. It is not normal behavior to ditch your date so you can take home some rando.

 

I like that many of the other characters are getting more fleshed out. Josh is becoming much more real as a person instead of just the fantasy in Rebecca's memory. He is a nice guy and I like that when he is hanging out with Rebecca, he is genuinely supportive and enthusiastic. It's also good to see him being honest with himself, whether it was last week when he realized he didn't want Valencia being such a control freak about their relationship or this week when he admitted it was his own fault he wasn't originally hired because he didn't read the essay she wrote before he submitted it. I'm not sure how I feel about him getting a job at the Aloha place. Sometimes when you start working at a place that you enjoy in your free time, it kills your love for it. But Josh seems like a pretty happy optimistic guy so I could see him really loving his job there. But he gets demerits for his "Long day, that will not end" post on instagram. That extraneous comma was killing me.

 

Similarly, we are getting to know more about Greg. I like that he admitted he has conflicting feelings about Rebecca and that he knows she likes Josh. It's really not the greatest idea to pursue a girl who you know is in love with your best friend and who you sometimes don't like, but at least he is aware of what's going on.

 

Ha, I loved that immediately after Heather made a note that Rebecca shows lack of judgment and poor impulse control, she then took home her own rando from the bar.

 

Loved both musical numbers this week. The sexy stranger song was hilarious because as much as I love the internet (and I met one of my best friends online), the whole "please don't be a murderer" thing does sometimes pop into my head. The settle for me number was awesomely retro and elegant visually which was a hilarious contrast with the plan B lyrics.

[BooBear]

Loved that episode. The settle for me number was just amazing. It overshadowed the sexy stranger song but that was great too. My favorite moment was the end where the "butter commercial" copywriter breaks down. Thank god they put that there or I might start listening to butter commercials for my life advice. I felt bad for Greg but I give Rebbecca a pass because I think the reality is that she doesn't really want to have anyone *really* fall for her because she recognizes how messed up she is and doesn't want to hurt anyone. Thus her obsession with Josh which- I am sure she knows - isn't ever going to happen. But I do like Josh and he was great this episode.

[FurryFury]

Great episode. Holy shit, I think I'm Rebecca. Well, except that I don't have a great job I'm super-competent in, but I'm equally a mess in other instances, about the same age and even have her body type. Needless to say, the episode felt really, really true to life.

 

I love how complicated and nuanced the relationship between Greg and Rebecca becomes. It's so fresh because it initially felt like a generic rom-com setup - girl's in love with an unattainable guy but there's this dude whom she doesn't notice who's so great and nice and he'll slowly win her love. Yeah, not sure how this one will work, but it's way more messy than I expected.

 

Also, loved Heather. Rebecca (and hell, the whole show) really needs a straight man.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I really love that Rebecca has a curvy body (and no, that isn't a euphemism for fat). It's nice to see an actress who weighs more than 95 pounds and isn't playing a character who is constantly dieting/trying to lose weight or who hates her body. And it's also nice to see that the costume department puts her in clothes that are flattering to her body shape instead of trying to hide her in tent-like dresses or squeezing her into styles that are meant for girls who have the hipless bodies of preteen boys. She looked hot in that sexy stranger catsuit and she looked so elegant in that Ginger Rogers dress.

Edited November 3, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Whimsy]

The "broken condom and I'll be your plan B" lyric was INSPIRED.

I have to think Greg is endgame (if she ends up with someone). Santino Fontana is just too charming not to be.

 

I really think he has to be endgame too.  The road to getting there should be fun though (if the show lasts).

 

It's really hard for the handsome Santinto Fontana to be considered settling. I mean, I know Greg is supposed to be a nebbish, but he's so handsome and charming, I'd settle him. 

And this!  I never heard of him before this, but I'm a diehard fan now!!

 

I was surprised at some of the things that got through the censors for this one.  I can't remember what it was, but there was one thing that was said (I think said and not sung) that I was very surprised about.  I don't remember what it was because very little actually offends me, but I remember just immediately being surprised. The lyrics are always kind of racy but I always wonder if it's because they're sung that maybe they can get away with more.  I know that logically doesn't make sense, but all of the songs have questionable lyrics, that are hilarious of course!

[allonsyalice]

I am convinced Santino should release an album with all the songs in the style of Settle For Me! I'd buy it.

Also her sex with a stranger song was amazing. I'm really loving the soundtrack to this show.

I am constantly finding myself surprised with this show. I really get Rebeccas self sabatoging, because I am the self sabatoging queen. I'm loving watching all of these characters get fleshed out, too. It's a solid little show.

[taragel]

The Sex song had some crazy explicit lyrics -- about his balls smelling? I mean yeah, she had the two mini-tennis balls in hand but I was still shocked S&P let that go. 

 

I didn't realize it at the time, but I think I saw Santino in Cinderella on Broadway with Laura Osnes a few years back. (Sadly, he was a bit unmemorable to me.) I think he works really well as the nice guy you'd probably overlook. And I totally agree that part of Josh's attractiveness to Rebecca is actually his unattainability. He is literally the 13-year-old boy band crush you have that you know you'll never have to actually deal with, which is why the musical number was perfect last week. 

 

Do we know what Josh did for a career in New York before he moved back home? I'm guessing he might have said it when he first ran into Rebecca on the street but I don't recall. I'll have to go back and rewatch.

 

Agreeing as well that they dress Rebecca really excellently, especially her bras. Her cleavage is always on point. 

[Rinaldo]

It's really hard for the handsome Santinto Fontana to be considered settling. I mean, I know Greg is supposed to be a nebbish, but he's so handsome and charming, I'd settle him. 

That's an interesting phenomenon, though -- I've been devoted to Santino Fontana for years now (since I saw him in The Importance of Being Earnest), and though he's a crazy gifted actor and singer, I wouldn't call him handsome, not in a traditional sense. He doesn't have that chiseled movie-star jaw, he already has that receding hairline going... and yet he's magnetic. As in other cases over the years, talent creates its own rules for beauty. (No dispute about the charm, though!)

 

He himself has said that he was surprised that they cast him. He figured that for TV, they'd go with "someone who looks like a model."

[FurryFury]

I actually like that nobody on this show looks like a model. Well, except Valencia, but that's the point. The CW sure tries to change their tune from Dawn Ostroff's days. 

[arc]

Hah, yeah, this show is probably the biggest deviation in the CW's history ever for casting for talent instead of looks.  (OK, fine, there's Whose Line Is It Anyways, but that was revived by the CW and the cast was set long before.)

 

Aloha Tech reminds me of the Fry's electronics chain, esp because I used to live near-ish to one that went all-in on a cowboy theme, so I could imagine another branch picking a Hawaiian theme.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When Josh mentioned that Valencia said it was okay for Josh to hang out with Rebecca, I was really surprised that she relented so quickly. But I cracked up when it turned out that their trip to wine country was actually to Temecula instead of Napa. Stop maxing out your credit card though, Josh!

[Snarklepuss]

I am probably way too old to be watching this show, but I don't feel like I am, which is a testament to the writing.  I have no idea who Santino Fontana is, but I am instantly a fan and the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers bit was spectacular.  I thought it hearkened back to "Night and Day" from "The Gay Divorcee" and "Let's Face the Music and Dance".  There was so much in this episode it's hard to remember everything but I like the direction they're taking this.  I agree that the crazy was turned up high this episode - hoping it gets dialed back little by little, enough for her to see that Josh is not the guy for her but Greg is.  Of course, not too soon, though.  Of course she has to encounter much more wackiness before that happens or there wouldn't be a show.  So sorry that this isn't getting good ratings, though.

[dubbel zout]

My favorite line from "Sex with a Stranger" was (paraphrasing): "Is that a gun?! Oh, it's your penis." Hee. The staging for the musical numbers is as hilarious as the songs themselves.

 

Agreeing as well that they dress Rebecca really excellently, especially her bras. Her cleavage is always on point.

 

Someone understands a woman's body really well and isn't trying to wishful-dress her. I think all the women look really good and right for their characters.

Edited November 3, 2015 by dubbel zout

[FurryFury]

Well, the show was originally developed for Showtime, so we can't really credit the CW for that unless we credit them for not giving the show a complete overhaul.

 

I know about Showtime, but the fact that they've picked it up speaks volumes. Plus, Gina Rodriguez of Jane the Virgin also doesn't look like a model, for instance. I definitely feel like they do try.

 

My favorite line from "Sex with a Stranger" was (paraphrasing): "Is that a gun?! Oh, it's your penis."

 

Mine too! Hilarious.

[Rinaldo]

I do also like that they don't try to make Rebecca overly sympathetic. She gets to make the most fucked up decisions even if there is the real possibility that some people of the audience will start to hate her because of that. I hate it when tv executives force the writers of their shows to make characters overly likeable.

I so agree. There are lots of ways to care about fictional characters without liking them in a simplistic everyone-act-nice-now sense. Rebecca fucked up, and will probably do so some more before we're through. And none of the other characters have everything figured out either. And sometimes that's funny, and sometimes sad, and sometimes disturbingly relatable.

 

From an interview Santino Fontana did for a Twin Cities website (he was a member of the Guthrie Theatre a while back, including playing Hamlet there):

 

"I did the scene and they asked, 'Could you hate yourself a little more and be a little more upset?' That's not a way you usually get directed -- especially for a network television audition, even though at the time it was for Showtime. Either way, for a comedy, no one is saying, 'Could you be less likable?' So I thought that was interesting."

[AllAboutMBTV]

 

I actually like that nobody on this show looks like a model. Well, except Valencia, but that's the point.

Valencia and White Josh. Give White Josh a C plot one week and his own dance number! (He can dance. IMDB says David Hull was a dancer on The Sound of Music Live!, so he can at least waltz.)

 

Anyway, love CEG, cringeworthiness and all. I've been Rebecca, at least in my head. Haven't we all? Special props to Donna Lynn Champlin (saw her in "Sweeney Todd"!), Santino Fontana and the CW censors who seem to be asleep at the switch. (Just the thought of "ass blood!" makes me laugh.)

I always watch the musical numbers at least twice, and watch the whole episode a second time on On Demand to give it some extra ratings love.

[possibilities]

I'm starting to not only like and enjoy this show, but to seriously respect it, too. I have to say, I didn't see that coming. I hope they find a way to promote it that brings in more viewers, because I think it could appeal to people who would never expect to like it, and I don't want it to die an early death from crappy ratings.

[arc]

Maybe share the music videos? I mean, A Boy Band Made Up Of Four Joshes is a week old by now and has less than 10K views, Face Your Fears has even less, and I Have Friends has barely over 10K. These are ridiculously low numbers for funny videos.  Hell, some of Rachel Bloom's own music videos have much, much higher view counts.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Two Asian men on the same show!  And this isn't LOST!?  This show is insane.  I'm such a huge fan!

 

Aziz Ansari has been talking so much about race on television lately in promotion of his new show.  He said something like, you never see more than one Asian man on an American television show, as if Asian people never interact with each other.

 

The last scene, with Rebecca dragging Josh to Aloha Tech (?) store and getting him the job, I absolutely loved.  I had the biggest, goofiest grin on my face the entire time.

 

I'm starting to like Josh almost as much as Rebecca does!  These past two episodes have had scenes that show how effortlessly cute and affable Josh is and how Rebecca is just a big pile of happy around him.    It's confusing because she's supposed to be nuts, but - Josh = GOOD!  :)

Edited November 4, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[adam807]

The Sex song had some crazy explicit lyrics -- about his balls smelling? I mean yeah, she had the two mini-tennis balls in hand but I was still shocked S&P let that go. 

 

We got an advance screener of the episode this week (not normal), and it ended with an alternate version of "Sex With A Stranger" that was definitely NSFTheCW. I actually liked the TV version better (not because I don't like dirty jokes, I just thought the slightly cleaner jokes were funnier), but it's worth looking for (I checked YouTube and only found the air version).

Edited November 4, 2015 by adam807

[Snarklepuss]

This just in from TV by the Numbers:

 

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/11/04/the-cw-renewcancel-standings-week-6-crazy-ex-girlfriend-isnt-long-for-this-world/

 

Ouch.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Dougal
Fixed link.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Two Asian men on the same show! And this isn't LOST!? This show is insane. I'm such a huge fan!

Aziz Ansari has been talking so much about race on television lately in promotion of his new show. He said something like, you never see more than one Asian man on an American television show, as if Asian people never interact with each other.

It's true! On the rare occasion that there are two Asian people on the same show, they're The Asian Couple (Sun and Jin on Lost) or they're related (Kono and Chin Ho on Hawaii Five-O). Edited November 4, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[RevmodDon]

Give White Josh a C plot one week and his own dance number! (He can dance. IMDB says David Hull was a dancer on The Sound of Music Live!, so he can at least waltz.)

 

We saw David Hull as a relatively minor cast member of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2011, and he was the only random member of the company who really made an impression.  Enough so that when he showed up in West Covina, I figured out that we knew him from somewhere, and Mrs. Revmod placed him shortly thereafter.

 

You can see what I mean.  On a stage dominated by Daniel Radcliffe, he draws the eye:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNTeeHhpxBE (Song starts about 1:15 - I'm sure there's a way to embed, but it's escaping me.)

[arc]

We got an advance screener of the episode this week (not normal), and it ended with an alternate version of "Sex With A Stranger" that was definitely NSFTheCW. I actually liked the TV version better (not because I don't like dirty jokes, I just thought the slightly cleaner jokes were funnier), but it's worth looking for (I checked YouTube and only found the air version).

The policy as I understand it is that the clean versions will go on the CW's YouTube channel and the dirty versions, if any, will go on Rachel Bloom's own channel.

[adam807]

Yeah, the only thing I saw on YouTube, on either account, was the one that aired, and only the one's on iTunes. I found it very odd that it was there, it just started playing after the credits.

[JasmineFlower]

I loved this episode. Last week I said I hoped that the previews were a suggestion that they were slowly going to start moving this show into the direction of Becca is a mess and her journey but it wouldn't revolve so much on her Josh obsession and that was a show I could love. Well, this episode absolutely sold me on the idea that we're headed in that direction. Loved this episode, definitely my favorite by far. It was the most "together" Becca was while still being a hot mess. Her general crazy wasn't revolving around Josh and that's basically what I've been waiting for. I find the Josh stalker stuff to be the least appealing part of this show, so however we can make that a very small part of the show, the better. This episode did a great job of showing how that can be done. Loved everything, the songs, the inappropriate hookups, the neighbor studying her, Becca showing she not so clueless as to not know the neighbor was using her as a study, the food truck park date, Greg's reaction to realizing he was ditched. Loved it all. I'm in for the ride and hope they can keep it going (the ratings are abysmal, which this was on cable where it would have much more of a shot).

[SmithW6079]

I liked the show well enough when I caught it on demand, but I watched this one as it was airing, and it cemented for me that it's appointment TV. I loved the songs, but I felt really bad for Greg for being dumped at the taco fair. I also liked that he didn't just take it as a sad sack loser, but called Rebecca on her bad behavior. 

 

They're showing that there's a little more to Josh than just her stalkee, but I wondered about his plotline -- don't you require some kind of training to be a radiology tech? How could his dad just hire him if he didn't have any training?

 

If I were the manager of Aloha Tech (or whatever the store was called), I'd have doubts about hiring someone who admitted that he had a friend write an essay that he didn't even bother to read (and what job application has a literature essay question?). I wonder if Josh will realize that being a manager of a retail store doesn't mean playing with all the new games as they come in.

 

She's in the opening credits, so I know she's a regular, but I think the neighbor will be best tolerated in small portions.

 

The kid who hangs out at the bar -- isn't that because it's a Chuck E. Cheese kind of place, with a bar for adults? Either way, I get a kick out of him.

 

No shirtless White Josh, so please rectify that.

 

I had no idea who Rachel Bloom was, but I watched some of her videos on YouTube last night. She's pretty funny. 

 

Agreeing as well that they dress Rebecca really excellently, especially her bras. Her cleavage is always on point.

 

Yes, even as a gay man I can say those are some bodacious ta-tas.

[Rinaldo]

I wondered about his plotline -- don't you require some kind of training to be a radiology tech? How could his dad just hire him if he didn't have any training?

 

If I were the manager of Aloha Tech (or whatever the store was called), I'd have doubts about hiring someone who admitted that he had a friend write an essay that he didn't even bother to read (and what job application has a literature essay question?). I wonder if Josh will realize that being a manager of a retail store doesn't mean playing with all the new games as they come in.

The radiology tech thing may be one of our furthest pushes of plausibility (though, of course, far from the only one). Unless it's just a mindless go-fer job (even so, my impression is that even the most mindless hospital/lab position requires some training and screening), there must be some qualifications. I decided to tell myself that Josh's dad had made him do the training a while back, and Josh just hoped it would never translate into actually doing the work.

 

Yes, as to the application business! I was a tad surprised that in the course of the second visit the interviewer never pointed out the obvious fact that Josh had someone else fill out part of his application! -- nobody was hiding that at all.

 

My impression was that it was just a simple standard "tell us a little bit about yourself and why you want to work here" section, which Josh was way too intimidated by, and which Rebecca went gloriously overboard on in 45 seconds.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Rinaldo

[Jael]

OMG bring me all the Santino Fontana. He is just -- wow.

[Rinaldo]

OMG bring me all the Santino Fontana. He is just -- wow.

Look in the "in other roles" topic in this forum, and then poke around on YouTube. There's a lot of him there, musical and not. Beyond his leading role in the web series Submissions Only (of which you may well devour all 3 seasons in a day once you find it, if you like theater; and it also has "Paula" from this show in a recurring secondary role), check out "Jersey Shore" Gone Wilde, a 5-part bit of inspired silliness in which he and his Importance of Being Earnest costar David Furr read literal quotations from the Jersey Shore dudes in the elegant accents and costumes of Oscar Wilde.

 

ADDED LATER: Rewatching bits of earlier episodes (I can't bring myself to delete them from the DVR) as well as this one, I realized that in addition to the good character development and excellent musical numbers, a lot of thought has gone into specifics of format and presentation. The fact that each episode ends with a one-minute tag, humorously out of continuity and reality with the rest, has already been remarked on here. But also, after the pilot, each episode has a line or question that evokes the opening credits (Rachel explaining her move) as an answer: a recap of Paula wondering what someone with her qualifications is doing there, White Josh asking about her move, Heather wondering how she got there. Very clever construction.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Rinaldo

[DB in CMH]

Guys, the ratings for this show want me want to move to West Covina to see if I would be randomly picked to get a Nielsen Box. I've just been rewatching the numbers on YouTube- how the fuck did all of this get by CW censors? Wow. 

[tennisgurl]

These low ratings make my heart hurt! I finally got caught up on this show, and It has done nothing but get better and better as its gone on. 

 

Do not make me become a psycho ex viewer! 

[possibilities]

I hope they realize they have something great, and if the CW can't get the ratings up, maybe they can keep it alive by selling it to Netflix or Hulu or back again to Showtime or HBO.