1600 Penn: Podcasting and Parenting

The President has rarely been proud of his son? That's what we're supposed to take away from this episode? I'm sorry, but that's it for me. I'll no longer be covering this series. I might check in after Becca has her baby, but I'm not even sure that the series will last that long. At least they manages to give all of the characters something to do in this episode, a feat which isn't conquered often. 

1600 Penn "Live from the Lincoln Bedroom" (S01E08): Skip has a podcast (Xander does the tech), which Marshall wants to stop. But, he winds up as a guest on the show, enjoying himself. [kinda funny.] Marshall talks about his history working for Dale, which leads to Skip realizing that Marshall ghost-wrote him a letter one summer. [ouch!] Dale has to apologize and do four hours of the podcast with Skip, but they make up in the end. [again, I was heartbroken to hear Dale prefer to talk about Commando than tell his son he was proud of him.]

Emily and Becca go to a parent-teacher conference because Marigold doesn't want to take honors algebra next year. Becca handled these issues for a number of years but Emily wants to be in charge now, so she confronts Marigold about it immediately. [Becca did these meetings when she was still in HS?? kinda odd. at the same time, however, I did take my sister to her high school orientation when I was in college.] Turns out, Marigold wants to avoid honors algebra because it's offered at the same time as photography. Emily excuses her from the rigors of honors math because of her diverse interests, but Becca feels academia should come first, dragging Marigold to a science symposium of sorts.

Byron Cohen/NBC

That fails, so Becca offers Marigold money, but it seems that Marigold only wants to see Hope Solo. [...who?] Dale tells Marshall to moderate Emily and Becca, but the situation resolves itself when it turns out that Marigold mis-read the schedule and can take both Honors Algebra AND Photography. [oh, for crying out loud! what a poor resolution!] This forces Becca into a panic over how she'll fail as a mother, so Emily reassures her. [another odd scene.]