It's Thanksgiving morning as I'm writing this. I've got five pounds of potatoes boiling for our mashed potatoes, the turkey is in the oven, and the butternut squash is cut up for the risotto I'm making. My baby is playing ball with his dad, and the dog is on the couch trying to sleep and just remaining thankful that said baby isn't trying to pet her eyeball right now. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, but as others have said before, me, this is a TV blog, so let's talk about television-related things I'm thankful for.
As we're getting close to the mid-season point, I feel more and more that this is an exceptionally strong season of television-- even with the whole Leno debacle. There are several new shows that I'm quickly falling in love with, and some returning shows that are better than ever. In no particular order, here are things that I am thankful for.
To paraphrase Dexter's Trinity Killer, traditions matter because they give us a sense of history. They also teach us who we are and what's expected of us.
So in celebration of that fiendish character's warped but delightfully old-fashioned worldview, I'm happy to take part in this little Thanksgiving Day tradition we have here at TV Squad. Here are a few things I'm thankful for this TV season ...
Year four of Dexter– Well, duh ... Sure, the Batista-Laguerta relationship is a little dull, and Quinn is a poor stand-in for Dokes, but Dexter's dealings with Trinty and his Dark Passenger are fascinating to watch. John Lithgow's complex and unnerving portrayal of suburban serial killer Arthur Mitchell is sure to earn him an Emmy nod, if not the win.
Community - Here's the thing: It's just so damn funny. And it has the best and weirdest cast of characters on TV. I can't get enough of Señor Chang and Abed.
You know, it's funny. When I started here I was a lowly IT guy with no girlfriend and lots of time on his hands to watch TV, even on Thanksgiving. Now I'm engaged, the editor of this site, and have to run around to so many family and friend-related events this weekend my head's already spinning just thinking about it. So I have a lot to be thankful for (and I just realized how friggin' long I've been here... wow).
But TV has always been a part of that equation, and it had no less of a role for me this year. So, in the TV world, here is what will make me thankful as I dive into the turkey tomorrow:
ABC's Wednesday comedy line-up: Against all trends, ABC rolled the dice and started a whole new night of comedy on Wednesdays. And while Hank flamed out, The Middle, Modern Family, and Cougar Town look like they have staying power, both from a quality and a ratings standpoint.
(S01E10) Hey, Jeff was kind of a selfish douche and then at the end he became a good person and did the right thing. Quick game: which episode am I describing?
I know I've complained about the predictability of this plot procedure in every episode, but for some reason it worked this week. Probably because even in the execution of it, you could see that Jeff had at least gained a sense of loyalty to his study group. In other words, he felt bad about what he was doing from the beginning. He still did it, but somehow that made all the difference.
I think the more shocking development was that Pierce offered to help Shirley with an upcoming speech she had to give, and she actually accepted. He also learned the "secret" to Jeff's power over the group, though I still think it's just confidence.
(S01E9) Do you think the fact that this was the ninth episode of the first season had anything to do with that number in the episode title? I'm sure there could be a Debate 109 class in college, but I don't believe in coincidences that big. I do, however, believe that I really enjoyed this outing. It was nice to see Jeff buckling down and doing some work.
It's odd that he wouldn't have done that in the legal profession. Or maybe he was just used to his Legal Assistant doing all the research for him and just hitting him up with the highlights. Either way, I can't believe that he thought singing in a debate would work. Come on, Jeff.
The rest of the episode featured the return of Abed's student films. Only this time, there's something a little eerie about them, and it's freaking everybody out. And it's not just that he found people in the school who look incredibly similar to every member of the study group.
Leave it to the folks behind Community to go the extra mile for a joke. Last night's episode featured Britta's small-nippled ex, Vaughn, singing a song about what a B Britta is. First of all, I love it when anyone on TV calls someone a "B," because it always makes me think of Arrested Development ("Don't call mother a 'B,' Michael!"), and secondly, having Pierce on keyboards and backup vocals singing about how Britta is a "GD B," is just hilarious.
My sister has a friend named Britta, so anytime there's any Britta hate on Community, we harass her on her Facebook profile with clips. Because maturity is my middle name. So enjoy this video and bask in the glory of more of Vaughn's tortured rhyme schemes. Sample lyric: "I wouldn't strangle her, but I would sell her to the highest bidder." It even becomes a singalong at the end!
(S01E08) Well, that ending was disappointing, wasn't it? Spoiler alert: the gag over the closing credits did not feature Abed and Troy. What were they thinking? Those were some of the funniest moments of the first seven episodes!
It was about time we saw the financial repercussions of Jeff having lost his license to practice law. There's a lifestyle that comes with being a big-shot lawyer, and it's not at all the same lifestyle of your typical college student. That's Abed's life, and we got to see that, as well.
Meanwhile, Annie tries and tries and tries to muster up the courage to talk to Troy about her feelings. The problem is, I think she's expecting him to put two and two together as long as she drops enough hints. But it doesn't look like math is one of Troy's strong suits. Or thinking, for that matter.
(S01E07) My wife bought me one of those giant weekly pill containers as a joke once. She even took my allergy medication and dispersed them across the different daily containers. Looking at it, though, made me think about that day in the future when I just might need to be taking a bin full of medication on a daily basis.
Granted this revelation that Pierce carries one of these around with him shouldn't come as a real surprise. His age is a huge part of his character. That, and the pills were a major part of getting us where we needed to go in this episode for Pierce's arc. And Jeff's for that matter, but then again Jeff is at the center of everything, isn't he?
Speaking of which, is he really all that charming and good-looking? Maybe I don't see it because I'm a straight man. So tell me, if you're not, would Jeff's best moves and lines work for you the way they were working on the teacher this week, or are you more resistant to his affectations, like Britta?
(S01E06) See, now that wasn't so hard, was it, Community? I knew you could give me another good episode. And finally a sympathetic side to Britta. So far she's been the annoying, self-righteous blonde that Jeff wants to sleep with for some reason. But that's about all we've seen of her personality. In fact, I couldn't even see why Jeff wanted to get into her pants.
This week, we got to get behind Britta's walls a bit and see her even take her first tentative steps outside of them. Shirley, as the social queen of the show, was right there to help her along the way. And Annie was right there, too, to give Britta the chance to be a shoulder for someone to cry one.
Which brings us to what Jeff's up to this week. I guess it's going to take a really damned long time for Jeff to "grow." Every time he seems to have a moment of self-awareness about his douchebaggery, he turns around the next week and is just as big an ass.
(S01E05) Hmmm, I'm not even sure what it was. I still really like Community, and there were some moments that I recognized as humorous throughout this episode. And yet, I found myself kind of bored with most of it. Maybe it's me.
There was certainly plenty going on, with Señor Chang on the warpath because someone cheated on their Spanish test, Abed learning the highly cultured art of "messing with" someone, and Annie recruiting Pierce to write the new school song. You have the Dean running around still pretending the community college is Harvard or Brown, while Jeff's friend, Professor Duncan, began his quest to beat Jeff into Britta's pants.
I will state, officially for the record, that I am about as done with Britta constantly accusing Jeff of only wanting to get together with her. We're five episodes in and it's getting tired. Either he is or he isn't, but I don't need to hear about it in every scene they have together.
(S01E04) All hail Ken Jeong, returning to the cast this week. Now we see how he can be a part of storylines even when the students aren't in his class. Despite being in very few scenes so far, I can already tell that his Senor Chang is going to be one of the funniest characters on the show.
Couple him with last week's Professor Whitman (John Michael Higgins), and it becomes clear that the teachers at this community college are going to be the ones who are completely off-the-wall insane.
Our motley crew is more eccentric. We got an opportunity to get a little further into Shirley's unique personality, as she and Jeff discovered something they could bond over and talk about. In fact, it turns out this thing is about the only thing they can talk about, and it's something we can all relate to.
(S01E03) Hey Glee fans, Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) is Abed's father! Not the character, but the actor. We can always pretend, though. When those kids graduate McKinley High, they can come here. And Theba's not the only fun guest star we got this week. Fresh from a failed stint on Kath & Kim, John Michael Higgins appeared as the most free-spirited economics professor you could ever meet.
Throw out your books, your shoes and stand on your desk. Carpe diem! Wow, easy "A," right? That's what Jeff thought. He tried to look like he was seizing the day to earn the grade, but to truly do it requires a combination of relaxation and impulsiveness. Jeff's not capable of doing anything without planning and an ulterior motive, generally self-serving. Still it was fun watching his carefully orchestrated attempts to appear spontaneous.
(S01E02) It looks like self-awareness has come to the study group of Community, or at least to one member of it. Also coming to Community is Ken Jeong, finally. Jeong is hilarious in ... well everything he's in, and here is no exception. We were introduced to him in a lovely scene where he berates and screams at his Spanish class for no reason at all.
Now that we're past the introductions, it's time to start getting a feel for what this show is going to be like. I'm guessing that they're still trying to figure out everybody's personality, and it's going to take time to get it right. Not to mention that it will probably take a few episodes to give everyone a chance to expose their inner selves.
I guess I was a little surprised at how quickly Shirley and Annie not only connected with one another, but went on a well-intentioned but incredibly tacky protest crusade. They did confirm that the show will be more Scrubs-zany than realistic. I can hang with the more screwball humor.
On tonight's hilarious second episode of Community, we see the first appearance of Ken Jeong, who's joining the cast as Spanish professor Señor Chang. Chang has a bit of a chip on his shoulder because he always has to fight against Asian stereotypes.
He's a welcome addition to the cast, and he's been having a hell of a summer. Besides his memorable turn in the massive summer hit The Hangover, he was also in All About Steve and The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. To promote the latter movie, Jeong and co-star Jeremy Piven bounced around the ring on WWE Raw in August. Imagine a tiny guy like the 40-year-old Jeong trading blows with huge wrestlers and you can see the comic potential.
When I talked to Jeong at NBC's party at the TCA press tour, we were interrupted by WWE's The Miz, and the exchange between them was just too funny for me to keep on my hard drive. Audio is after the jump.
You know, it's funny. When I started here I was a lowly IT guy with no girlfriend and lots of time on his hands to watch TV, even on Thanksgiving. Now I'm engaged, the editor of this site, and have to run around to so many family and friend-related events this weekend my head's already spinning just thinking about it. So I have a lot to be thankful for (and I just realized how friggin' long I've been here... wow).
(S01E10) Hey, Jeff was kind of a selfish douche and then at the end he became a good person and did the right thing. Quick game: which episode am I describing?
(S01E9) Do you think the fact that this was the ninth episode of the first season had anything to do with that number in the episode title? I'm sure there could be a Debate 109 class in college, but I don't believe in coincidences that big. I do, however, believe that I really enjoyed this outing. It was nice to see Jeff buckling down and doing some work.
(S01E08) Well, that ending was disappointing, wasn't it? Spoiler alert: the gag over the closing credits did not feature Abed and Troy. What were they thinking? Those were some of the funniest moments of the first seven episodes!
(S01E07) My wife bought me one of those giant weekly pill containers as a joke once. She even took my allergy medication and dispersed them across the different daily containers. Looking at it, though, made me think about that day in the future when I just might need to be taking a bin full of medication on a daily basis.
(S01E06) See, now that wasn't so hard, was it, Community? I knew you could give me another good episode. And finally a sympathetic side to Britta. So far she's been the annoying, self-righteous blonde that Jeff wants to sleep with for some reason. But that's about all we've seen of her personality. In fact, I couldn't even see why Jeff wanted to get into her pants.
(S01E05) Hmmm, I'm not even sure what it was. I still really like 
(S01E04) All hail Ken Jeong, returning to the cast this week. Now we see how he can be a part of storylines even when the students aren't in his class. Despite being in very few scenes so far, I can already tell that his Senor Chang is going to be one of the funniest characters on the show.
(S01E03) Hey 
(S01E02) It looks like self-awareness has come to the study group of 
On tonight's hilarious second episode of 
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