Issue # 2, 18-24 May 2008

Posted by AJ in TV Rewind.

Show: The Big Bang Theory
Episode: “The Tangerine Factor” (1×17)
You Can Watch It: Mondays at 8pm on CBS

The first season of the brilliant half-hour comedy The Big Bang Theory ended Monday night with—ah, I hate to say it, but…a big bang. All season long, Leonard has been pining away for his new across-the-hall neighbor Penny, desperately wanting her to notice him for more than just the geeky company he keeps. But Penny, up until this episode anyway, has been keeping busy with a stream of hunky-yet-dumb types. Until one of them uses their sex life as material for his blog. Penny blows a gasket in the middle of Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment. While Wolowitz heads to the nearest laptop to track down the blog and Koothrappali scores with the now ex-boyfriend’s iPod Penny smashed in the street (“I’m going to sell it on eBay as ‘slightly used’!”), Penny retreats to her own apartment to do some serious wallowing. Leonard’s first attempts at comforting her backfire in his face, but eventually the heartbroken Penny accepts Leonard’s proposal that she try to date a guy unlike any of the ones she normally considers her type—namely him. The episode ends with Leonard making Schrödinger’s cat proud and an unexpected, steamy kiss between the pair. In subplot news, Sheldon begs Wolowitz to teach him Mandarin so that he can discuss the issue of his Orange Chicken really being Tangerine Chicken, which is unacceptable because everyone knows tangerine is a “lesser citrus.”

Conclusions:
Wolowitz: still searching for the blog; Koothrappali: about fifty bucks richer.

—–

Show: Greek
Episode: “No Campus for Old Rules” (1×19)
You Can Watch It: Mondays at 8pm on ABC Family

This week on Greek, basketball and politics collided for the Kappa Tau brothers who just missed the opportunity for hassle-free courtside seats at their school’s championship basketball game. Rusty’s increasingly unlovable roommate, Dale, used the Greeks-only ticket lottery as platform for his anti-Greek system club, which broke Cappie’s heart and gave Beaver a mental breakdown (who knew he even had mentals to breakdown?). Per Dean “I have it out for the KTs” Bowman’s request, Cappie was asked to speak for the Greeks in a forum to decide the fate of the courtside seats and whether or not the school’s administration would lift the restrictions on all of the campus sororities and fraternities. Evan, knowing Cappie incapable of getting anything that’s actually important right, backed him up by calling out all of the professors on the board and somehow twisting all of their youthful indiscretions into proof of the necessity for Greek organizations on campus. Meanwhile, Frannie dispenses some helpful advice to Casey, who finds herself battling a group of pledges (led by Rebecca…of course) after making one teensy tiny mistake as ZBZ president—an explicit show of favoritism towards her BFF, Ashleigh. Also, the girls burn a stuffed cat in effigy. Not really, but it would be cool if they threw in some occult practices every now and then. Finally, the whole Evan paying off some guy to not date Casey so that he can try to get her back thing still hasn’t blown up in his face. Maybe next week.

Conclusions:
I miss Calvin.

—–

Show: How I Met Your Mother
Episode: “Miracles” (3×20)
You Can Watch It: Mondays at 8:30pm on CBS

This week, during the season three finale of How I Met Your Mother, the unspeakable happened: Ted got hit by a car and didn’t die. On one hand, that is good because a lot of people in this world would riot in the streets if this show ended without giving any answers whatsoever about the mother of which narrator Ted speaks. On the other hand, Ted’s constant lady troubles and whining are really annoying so his death could have been a pleasant end to it all. Anyhow, Ted ended up hospitalized after he broke up with his girlfriend, Stella, because she tried to make plans with him farther in advance than they’d been dating. So, freaked out by his fear of commitment (how original), Ted headed uptown (not sure, but it sounded good) and eventually found himself sitting in the backseat of a cab that was T-boned by someone on a cell phone. And on HIMYM, when you have a near-death experience, it is not your entire life that flashes before your eyes—it is the things that matter most. So, Ted saw Stella’s face. They reconciled and then quickly unreconciled with Lily, Marshall, and Robin spilled the beans that the earlier conversation she had with Ted was actually a breakup. Apparently, Stella thought it was just a tiff. In subplot news, Barney and Ted are now bros again because Barney got hit by a bus (which they showed, and it was awesome) on his way rushing to the hospital to be at Ted’s side. With the use of some sappilicious music and Neil Patrick Harris’s convincing yearning expressions, the audience deduces that Barney’s “thing that matters most” during his near-death experience was Robin.

Conclusions:
If I were these kids, I would have told dear old daddy Ted that I didn’t want to hear about his entire sexual history before my own conception. And then CBS could have saved some money on production costs.

—–

Show: Law & Order
Episode: “Excalibur” (18×18)
You Can Watch It: Wednesdays at 10pm on NBC

The eighteenth season of Law & Order might have only been eighteen episodes long (thanks a bunch, WGA strike), but the writers still managed to throw in some incredibly effed up storylines perhaps to appease the masses AKA me. And staying true to the “ripped from the headlines” approach, the L&O crew did it up Eliot Spitzer style for the finale. A jeweler is murdered by his brother-in-law, whose side business of an escort service proves to be his ultimate downfall. When the Feds become interested in tape recordings of conversations dealing with one call girl in particular, Cutter and Rubirosa bring it to the attention of McCoy. When McCoy recognizes the voice of the New York state governor on one of the tapes, he tries to warn his friend (term used loosely) to square things up with his family before the tapes go public and the governor is required to testify. McCoy’s one act of pity leads to the fight of his career as Governor Shalvoy, played by the normally charming Tom Everett Scott, exercises all his influence to get McCoy smeared in the papers before the media gets wind of his infidelities. The episode ends with the murderer taking a plea at the behest of the meddling Shalvoy wife—who included the bribe of a pardon from her husband as part of the deal—and McCoy’s professional future being left completely up in the air.

Conclusions:
Tom Everett Scott: More frightening when he’s not just an American werewolf in Paris or a young Tom Hanks look-alike.

—–

Show: The Real World: Hollywood
Episode: “Greg vs. The House” (20×06)
You Can Watch It: Wednesdays at 10pm on MTV

I wish I could tell you what happened on this week’s episode of Real World: Hollywood, but I don’t think it’s possible AKA this was the most cracked episode of a reality series I have ever seen. I will attempt a quick rundown nonetheless. Sarah’s boyfriend, Ryan, arrived for a visit and an awkward tension quickly developed between Ryan and Will (the roommate who Sarah shared a kiss with her first week in the house despite Ryan’s existence). Greg got into a fight with Dave because Greg told him the straight up truth about Dave’s current not-Kim love interest being unattractive. Kim told Dave she would allow him to shower with her, and on his way to the shower Greg said he brought home an “associate” for Dave to have sex with. So Kim showered alone and whined to Will while lathering up. Greg’s misogynistic ways pissed off all of the female roommates. Greg got into a fight with Brianna. Then Greg got into a fight with Sarah. Later, Greg got into a fight with Will. After that, Greg stole Sarah’s new panties from Victoria’s Secret and got into another fight with her about said missing panties. He later admitted to Will when he was drunk that he did indeed steal Sarah’s panties. Additionally, Greg treated his “associate” Reva poorly, which forced her into Will’s open arms and legs in the confessional booth. Reva told some pretty unconvincing lies to Greg’s face about Will instigating a hook-up, but of course “nothing happened” and they “just talked,” so Greg believed her. (Points go to the editors here for their wonderful treatment of the Reva trying to convince Greg of her fidelity scene that was interspersed with getting-it-on shots of Reva and Will in the confessional.) Finally, the episode ends with Kim laughing about how comical the whole situation is, and again making sure the camera crew gets shots of her reading a book in bed. Regardless of the title.

Conclusions:
Stephen from RW: Seattle: Please come slap somebody.

Until next week, dear readers. Don’t forget to be kind and read your weekly TV Rewind!

TV Rewind |