The Simpsons does the Oscars

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

How do you know when you're watching and reviewing too many different television shows? You can't tag all of them because of the character limit. I was going to have to take out Minute to Win It, Wipeout, The Middle, and Teen Mom 2 to be under 200 characters. So, I've decided to split my Friday commentaries into reality shows and scripted shows. I considered splitting by days instead, but ultimately found that this will probably work better. Now, I should clarify that this is a new idea and I may have to play around with it some, but for now, commentaries and reviews will be broken down as follows:
Scripted: The Middle, The Simpsons, Family Guy, House, How I Met Your Mother, Mr. Sunshine, Better with You, Hot in Cleveland, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, South Park, Terra Nova, Futurama, Melissa & Joey


Reality: Minute to Win It, Wipeout, Teen Mom 2, The Unpoppables, Cake Boss, 19 Kids and Counting, Outrageous Kid Parties, Kate Plus Eight, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant 


This breaks it down fairly evenly, and I think that, with the stigma against "reality shows," it may be a little less annoying for those of you only interested in sitcoms and stuff.

Commentaries this week include: The Simpsons, Family Guy, House, How I Met Your Mother, Mr. Sunshine, The Middle, Better with You, and Hot in Cleveland. If you are interested in any of these, click "keep reading" ... if not, you won't have to scroll forever to get to the next post. :)

Sunday:

The Simpsons (S22E14): No chalkboard message and a hockey opening... okay. The "Itrchy & Scratchy" sequence was kinda funny, with the parodies and such. I personally liked the SAT "punch" card, LoL. Bart's alone at home? haha, "Let's get this yo on the road" haha. Bart reeling himself in with the rope was weird... and stopping to burp on a Flanders' sandwich disgusted me. "Angry Dad" hahahaha. Nice iPad plant, too. "My little Roman Polanski" was shocking. The cards-in-the-pants trick was weird. Whoa... cubicle dominoes. Having to get hit in order to make "pained noises" was very Homer. 4 hours and 35 minutes?? "Mixar" and "Digital Rembrandts" was strange. Lisa not seeing Cars was shocking. "You've Got an Enemy" as "You've Got a Friend in Me" was funny... as was Mr. Carrothead. Homer created the Angry Dad voice by combining... Walter Matthau, Little Richard, and Snoopy when he cries... very odd combination. Jurassic Park theme song seemed out of place. Bart has a retainer?? Lamps Plus... hahaha. Dim sum shout-out... alrite!! The Condiments short was funny. The take on Wallace & Gromit was better, tho! I'm still kinda dumb-founded that The Simpsons is really doing an Oscars episode... the replacements/$5 on Ebay comment was also amusing.

Family Guy (S09E11):The opening moments shocked me... the idea that the kid masturbates SO MUCH that the washing machine is pregnant from cleaning his clothes is DISGUSTING! Stamp collecting... decent idea for a hobby. Peter wanting to kill himself over the dullness of the hobby was crazy. Cricket/darts was a good idea, until Chris couldn't participate. A puppet store!! I want one! Franz Gutentag... um, Good Day, Frank. LoL. Oh man... Twilight strikes again. A Nazi... figures. Oh yeah... they recycled during WWII, LoL. And the "sticky soda bottles" being the problem of the "hard labor" in the camps is a horrible joke. The prostitution versus making-a-porno was amusing, but the LDS reference immediately afterward just left me shaking my head. I tried to do some translation on keineentranzmitplatzmunchen and gluckmachnichtenmechwerchtichlieber but in both cases only pulled out a few bits so I don't really have a good definition for you. Chris confusing Peter and the Nazi was weird, but the birthday thing was funny. "Unwanted Latin music" was strange. And, Quagmire's version of a "white noise machine" was seriously disturbing. Chris calling out for the dog was different. The thunder thighs / ThunderCats things was funny. The music did not match the confrontation scene... at all. "wake up, we're fighting" hahahaha. The pills break was funny, but the "is it Wednesday thing" was better, and the "would you mind calling my nurse" part was better than that. THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE WORST FIGHT SCENE IN HISTORY. Chris and the old guy making up was funny, but the fact that the old man actually passed on Peter's insult to Meg was funnier.

Monday:

House, M.D. (S07E13): Little girl with a black eye is going to let a boy kiss her, but they get interrupted, LoL. House shooting? really? haha, "Timmy" called the Pulp Fiction rip-off. I don't like House's use of the word "Typical." The "tease" part was pretty funny. And the secretary watching the conversation go down was amusing. I liked the girl, LoL. "Rushing the character development" in the story was funny... but I didn't care for it. The whole computer storyline was annoying. The movie kid rocks. Hydrogen sulfite and ammonia, haha. I don't understand why the teacher is letting this shenanigan go on! A bet on double dutch... this kid is weird. The kid hit the puck at the girl's face, haha. House forgot to change the name of Harani in the story?? That's a writing problem... the character wouldn't have done that. My husband agrees, LoL. "My little lie was actually trying to achieve an outcome closer to the truth," was an interesting statement. Getting into a fight in the class with the guy he rear-ended was funny. The boy bought off the rope-turner, haha. House's address on his license was 221 Baker Street... but he's moved since we last heard that was his address... ! 

How I Met Your Mother (S06E17): Hong Kong 2021... okay. Barney not being to say Nora's name without smiling was cute. I don't like what Lily did to her hair. I don't like it when Marshall is disenchanted about life... it's always so sad. The Captain just came downstairs and he's immediately going back up now that Ted is there? Ted agreeing that the "other guy" must have a mustache was funny. Robin lying to Barney to see if he likes Nora was annoying, but Barney not thinking through the fact that Robin couldn't have added her number to his phone yet was funny. The "his father just died" thing shouldn't have mattered. Why would Ted tell the Captain the truth??!? "the eggs are already broken... let's make sure we get a pretty good omelet out of it" ...umm... I still hate Zoey. Wendy doesn't last past Zoey on the show... interesting. And she ends up with the guy who Marshall got fired, LoL. 

Wednesday:
Mr. Sunshine (S01E03):  hahaha, he keeps giving her the wrong number and she doesn't realize that he's doing it on purpose. Crystal wants someone to show her dog, hahaha. she's gotten her dog so many plastic surgeries that the vet cut her off!!?! "You're stupid enough." haha. A framed, autographed drawing of the unabomber... oh geez. "I'm gonna go talk to the Ropers... Regal Beagle..." was a bit too Chandler for me, though I did laugh out loud. Naming a dog after stuff in the Horatio Hornblower series? That's not very "Crystal." I liked Heather's bun at the double-date dinner. "I'd like to avoid death" "good luck with that" hahahaha. Alonzo getting all into the dog show was amusing. Roman is sooo cute, hehe. I'm glad that he and Heather will have a shot, LoL.

The Middle (s02e16): I heard about the plot and decided to tune in. I like how they flashed back to other things that Sue has "won," LoL. Oooooh... they forgot about Brick for a little bit there, LoL. "probletunity" hahaha. oooooh.... overslept. of course. This got me pretty excited... I blame it on the famous Home Alone scene that my brother and I would act out in the living room, LoL. The constant "where's Brick?" thing was making me think about Home Alone even more, LoL. You can tell they don't fly often... there was no way that bag was going to fit, LoL!! Mike's comment about how Axl will drink beer when he's old enough, not chardonnay was funny. They forgot the snacks. and the books. I was shocked that they were able to convince people to move around so that they could sit together, LoL. And even more shocked that the attendant knew it was Mike's first time, since Frankie didn't even know. Brick reading the book of the guy in front of him was funny. oop! the back door is open, too, haha. The fight for the first class seat was kinda dumb. "boys, breasts, bulimia... all the 'b' words" ...hahaha. Circling until they can land... rough. The "control freak" flashbacks were mildly amusing. Brick is 9? He looks smaller than that, LoL. Pittsburgh, hahaha. That sucks. "It's no menopause" was a great line. "driving into a storm.... sounds like something we would do." nice ending.  

Better With You (S01E15): the pizza thing being related but not exactly parallel was a nice change. Maddie and Ben getting cut-off from delivery is funny and in-character. Ben has a favorite bar... where they call him "Ted," haha. We're telling the blanket story that happened in the leather jacket again?? This could've waited a season, LoL. hhaha, "the twilight." Ben trying out different bars, like goth and cigar, was funny. Breath-holding contests.... still? Maddie and Mia reacting to the "mom threats" was funny. That language is weird!   

Hot in Cleveland (S02E06): Susan and Victoria going at it is amusing. Joy finding out that her boyfriend only has a twin on the show and not in real life was funny. I didn't see that coming. Joy tearing up the Ferrari wasn't cool. Elka believing that Robert Redford will track her down is funny. Joy conniving to get Victoria a new part was funny. I loved how Elka booked everyone on a flight to try (yet again) to see Robert Redford. haha on the "difference between Kansas and Utah" thing. Melanie struggling to say goodbye to her house amused me... but I get over things pretty quickly... I'm on my 11th place, I believe. 

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Off season/Coming Up:
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (season 3 continues March 28th at 8pm)
South Park (season 15 starts April 27th)
Terra Nova (previewing in May; premiering in September)
Futurama (Season 6, episode 14 on June 23rd)

Melissa & Joey (some point in the Spring)