Issue #15, 5 – 11 October 2008

Posted by AJ in Entertainment and Pop Culture TV Rewind.

This week: Sheldon and Penny teach us non-gamers what “AFK” means on The Big Bang Theory, Marshall dreams of a world where no one holds their own cups on How I Met Your Mother, another intern bites the dust on Bones, Cherry becomes a mouth-breather on Sons of Anarchy, and Kath & Kim are bedazzling on their eponymous show.

Show: The Big Bang Theory
Episode: “The Barbarian Sublimination” (2×03)
You Can Watch It: Mondays at 8pm on CBS

This week on The Big Bang Theory, Penny’s life was falling apart. Sheldon found her in the hallway struggling with bags of groceries trying to get her car key out of her door lock. He awkwardly invited her inside his apartment (sort of) to wait for the locksmith to arrive. During this time, Penny morphed into Queen Penelope when she became addicted to one of Sheldon’s favorite computer games, The Age of Conan. In a few short hours, she turned from a fashionable aspiring actress/waitress into a Cheetos-in-her-hair all out gamer. Penny became overly dependent on Sheldon’s Conan expertise and harassed him day and night until finally Sheldon had it! He attempted to sign her up for some online dating service, which was a total bomb. But the thing that eventually snapped Penny out of her gaming addiction rut was when Wolowitz initiated a virtual “date” (a little less PG than that) and she accepted. In subplot news, there was lots of sexual innuendo, Leonard was super jealous, and Leslie and Sheldon still hate each other.

Conclusions:
“AFK” apparently means “Away From Keyboard.”

***

Show: How I Met Your Mother
Episode: “I Heat NJ” (4×03)
You Can Watch It: Mondays at 8:30pm on CBS

Things are getting super serious between Ted and Stella, which is a good thing since they are engaged now. But Ted has been struggling with balancing his time traveling out to New Jersey to see Stella and heading back into the city to hang with his best buds (aka the rest of the main cast). So, Stella invites everyone out to her house in New Jersey, which sparks up the age-old controversy between New Jerseyians and New Yorkers: who is better? The fight nearly rips Stella and Ted apart when Stella insists that Ted move out to NJ when they are married, but Ted totally caves because Stella has a house and a cute kid. In subplot news, Barney made horrible jokes the whole night and no one would bump his fist. Additionally, Robin quit her job for a better, more serious job only to find out she only got an audition so she rode a tiny pink bicycle back to her old job and then realized it was all a huge mistake and quit again on national television.

Conclusions:
Robin needs therapy and Ted will probably never see his friends again, which means the show is almost over if it works out with him and Stella.

***

Show: Bones
Episode: “The He in The She” (4×07)
You Can Watch It: Wednesdays at 8pm on Fox

The team investigated a case involving a small Chesapeake Bay town’s pastor. The top half of a woman was found by some Dead Heads (as Booth called them), and with the help of a breast implant’s serial number she was identified to be the pastor. But when the bottom half was found it was revealed that the pastor started out life as a man. Booth was forced to understand the issues transgender people face while solving the murder (one of the congregate’s wives did it…jealous!). Much ignorance and hilarity ensued. Meanwhile, yet another intern failed out of the “try to be better than Zach” program, and Angela and Hodgins are still broken up. Lame.

Conclusions:
Writers, make Zach uncrazy and make Hodgins and Angela kiss. It’s not hard! And get another attempt on Brennan’s life put together, will you?

***

Show: Sons of Anarchy
Episode: “AK-51″ (1×0???)
You Can Watch It: Wednesdays at 10pm on FX

After recovering from the fun of burning the flesh off of a man’s back last week (yeah, I said “back”), the Sons of Anarchy got back into making gun deals. But some of their guns ended up being used in a prisoner breakout that resulted in the death of a law enforcement officer and wounded several civilians. The Feds, including a new sassy Ally Walker character, came down hard on the shop, tearing it apart with the permission of a warrant. Luckily, someone had clogged the toilet earlier (with a thong?) and Jax used the septic truck to smuggle out the AKs before the Feds came to search the clubhouse. In subplot news, Taryn Manning got a recurring role apparently. The tart Clay hooked up with to piss the Prospect off while on the run to Nevada showed up, and Gemma smashed her face in with a skateboard. But it’s cool because in the biker world, scorned wives and mistresses can work through their issues and become friends just by dropping the charges.

Conclusions:
Katy Sagal is one of the most underrated actresses in the history of American television.

***

Show: Kath & Kim
Episode: “Pilot” (1×01)
You Can Watch It: Thursdays at 8:30pm on NBC

During the whirlwind premiere for the series, we met all of the principle characters, saw Molly Shannon’s character Kath get engaged to her boyfriend Phil, and watched Selma Blair’s character Kim leave her husband because she couldn’t use a microwave, get back together with her husband, and then leave him again because of a Rottweiler. Kim moved back in with her mom, and Kath struggled to balance her still new relationship with Phil while she dealt with her daughter’s problems. Finally, we also learned that the two ladies have a love for tacky fashion that bonds them together through even the worst of times.

Conclusions:
Everyone, including myself, will from this point forward use the word “bedazzle” as an expletive.

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