Review: THE MIDDLE season 2, episode 3 “The Diaper Incident”

There’s a moment in time when you learn some of the things your parents told you is a lie. Brick (Atticus Shaffer) has that moment after he finds out Frankie (Patricia Heaton) lied about chocolate being illegal for children under ten. He starts to test some other things Frankie told him, like his face might stay the same if he makes funny faces. Shaffer is entertaining in these scenes – his reactions at being disappointed in his mother are brilliant.

Frankie gets Mike (Neil Flynn) to have a physical. He tells her he’s received a clean bill of health – this coincides with certain things that make her feel old. A store worker mistakenly thinks Frankie is buying adult diapers and she throws her back but tries to hide it from Mike. While taking a bath, Frankie explains to Brick why she tells certain lies. I love how she explains that while it’s bad to lie, certain small lies are permitted when protecting someone. That kind of logic has to confuse a kid. Mike enters the bathroom and questions the mess in the bathroom. Brick lies to his father but there’s a problem – Brick has a “tell.” He whispers he’s lying.

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Review: GLEE season 2, episode 3 “Grilled Cheesus”

Religion is a subject that causes many debates in both public and private settings. Grilled Cheesus treads carefully when broaching the subject. It would have been easy to take a different direction with this but the writers handled the hot topic well, showing a good contrast between different types of belief systems.

Kurt’s (Chris Colfer) father Burt (Mike O’Malley) is fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack. When others are speaking about their faith, Kurt reveals he doesn’t believe in God. The rest of the glee club tries to rally round him but because they are being spiritual, he pushes them away. The scenes with a younger Kurt and his father really help capture Kurt’s emotions when singing “Hold Your Hand.” I also think it was a great arrangement of the song. You can see Kurt’s pain in every one of his scenes, and sense some of the guilt he has seeing as his last words with his father were an argument. These emotional scenes showcase Colfer’s broad range as an actor and are definitely Emmy-worthy in my opinion.

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Community & Chloroform

Sometimes there's one scene in an episode that has you laughing so hard tears start to fall or you continually rewind it. This week there was one scene that had me like this. It was from Community and it was involving chloroform. I mention this scene in my review of the episode for Series.nu. Community TV put the scene up and I couldn't help but highlight it.

Troy and Abed are trying to find an that proves Jeff's old colleague got him fired. When the cleaner finds them in the office, Annie tries to help.


Chloroform Capers - Community 2.02 from Community TV on Vimeo.

Review: COMMUNITY season 2, episode 2 “Accounting for Lawyers”

Drew Carey and Rob Corddry guest star as we get a peak into Jeff Winger’s (Joel McHale) old world. Corddry plays Alan Connor, an old colleague from the law firm Jeff was fired from, while Drew Carey plays Ted, Jeff’s old boss.

Alan has been attending Narcotics Anonymous at Greendale College. After bumping into him, Jeff starts to hang out with his ex-colleague. Annie (Alison Brie) recognizes Alan from the NA meetings and recalls Alan mentioning he sent an email to the Bar Association telling them about Jeff’s deception regarding his education.

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Review: THE MIDDLE season 2, episode 2 “Homecoming”

It’s a proud moment for the Heck parents as Axl (Charlie McDermott) makes the varsity football team. This means Frankie (Patricia Heaton) gets to walk her eldest child out on the field with Mike (Neil Flynn). They are faced with a dilemma when homecoming clashes with Sue’s (Eden Sher) first cross-country meet. We see the parents trying to figure out who goes to which event – even considering playing rock, paper, scissors to help make the decision. It’s evident they both want to accompany Axl, especially Frankie. I love watching her talk to both Sue and Axl, trying to find a way to make it to homecoming.

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Review: Glee season 2, episode 2 “Britney/Brittany”

Finally one of TV’s longest mysteries was solved, Brittany’s full name – Brittany Susan Pierce. All jokes aside this week’s episode was Britney Spears themed and Heather Morris got her first solo performance.

It was great to see Morris come to the forefront and she was definitely a standout in a disjointed episode. I love Morris’ effortless deliveries of her lines. When Glee first started, Sue’s (Jane Lynch) one-liners were a standout but slowly, Brittany’s character has been given more dialogue as the series progresses. She doesn’t disappoint with funny line after funny line. In Britney/Brittany one of Brittany’s favorite lines was “This room looks like the one on that spaceship where I got probed.”

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Review: Community season 2, episode 1 “Anthropology 101

A new season and a new subject await the study group at Greendale Community College. Anthropology 101 is the subject and Betty White guest stars as the anthropology professor, June Bauer.

I felt like it was the first day of college for me, finally getting to see some of my favorite people after a long summer. With such a build up, I wasn’t disappointed by Anthropology 101 at all. The episode had me laughing throughout and was a gentle reminder to why Community is one of the best sitcoms on tv today.

The big questions from the season finale were what would happen between Jeff (Joel McHale) and Annie (Alison Brie) following their kiss at the Transfer Dance, and how Britta (Gillian Jacobs) would be after her love confession to Jeff. I was intrigued to see what path the characters would take

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Review: The Middle season 2, episode 1 “Back to School”

The Middle is back for its second season and proves that being on top of things isn’t always necessary for some families.

It’s the first day of school for the three kids and as usual, the Hecks are unorganized. Frankie (Patricia Heaton) decides enough is enough and makes a plan to keep on top of things. It’s funny watching her and Mike (Neil Flynn) rush around trying to get the kids ready for the day. In contrast, the two of them actually work well together when they are dysfunctional.

The three kids are my favorite characters – they are so different from each other but equally make me laugh in every episode. Axel (Charlie McDermott) is having trouble adjusting his body clock since Frankie set an alarm for him. This leads to him barbequing late at night. Sue’s (Eden Sher) quest to be noticed is a regular occurrence. I enjoy watching her get excited about things. Having made the cross country team, she wears a heavy sweatshirt to show she’s part of the team, despite the fact it’s hot. I enjoy seeing how proud she is making the school paper because she ruins the prep rally. In other circumstances, a teenager would be embarrassed but she sees it as an opportunity to be known.

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