1600 Penn: Skip & Stacey, Dale & Xander, Becca & DB

First, the President saying "cray-cray" was ridiculous. Second, Xander is supposed to be 12? I don't think I got that before... though maybe I should have because he and Marigold go to the same school. Third, I think that the three storylines going on didn't exactly go together fabulously, though they did make for an overall entertaining episode. I could have used less Skip-and-Stacey, but Josh Gad is possibly the reason many people tune-in to this struggling show. This installment was not bad enough to push me off the series, so I've decided to finish out the first season. I wonder how alone I am in this choice, though...

1600 Penn "Game Theory" (S01E09): Emily wants Skip's date to go well, as Stacey is only giving him one more chance. [why? he didn't humiliate her enough last time?] His plans include a hot air balloon, performing a song, and throwing rose petals everywhere, so Emily steps in. She suggests he ignore his impulses, not to argue with his date, and to not put all of his cards on the table upfront. Still, Skip slips and makes a fool of himself pretty early, as Emily spies on the date. [I love her for trying, but this is borderline ridiculous.] She has a Secret Service agent spill water on Stacey so she can give Skip advice and winds up playing Cyrano. [ha!] Well, of course, Skip winds up repeating something Emily was saying to Becca, spoiling the whole thing. Skip thinks that he should have just done things his way, so Emily goes to Stacey to apologize and ask for another chance. Of course, Skip shows up singing, with balloons full of rose petals and accordion music. [geez!]

Photo by: Carin Baer/NBC

Dale, Marigold, and Xander play Risk, and Dale panics when Xander attacks Australia. [this was kinda funny, actually.] He calls a meeting of military generals for advice and makes an alliance with Marigold. But, when Xander points out how long the games can run, she quits. [how has she never played before??] When Dale comes close to losing, he calls it a night. [what terrible parenting!] Xander gets upset, and then Dale actually tries to guilt Xander into giving up before letting him make the final roll. [no surprise, Xander wins for the first time.]

After a trip to a museum, Becca wants a mural to show women's accomplishments. DB wants to do other images instead, and they wind up with a paint fight. [that was one heck of a mural to be done in squares! gives me hope that I could do such cool things!]