Season Finale: The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory has had some great season finales as well as some that were rather unimpressive. The advertisements for tonight's episode ("The Commitment Determination") boasted crazy cliffhangers and big changes, but I don't know that audiences really received those. Take a look at the storylines that took place...

Bernadette finally convinces Howard that they need to kick Stuart out of their home, but even she can't follow through when they learn it's his birthday. My problem: they've known Stuart for YEARS and have hung out more than a handful of times... how do they have no idea when his birthday is??

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Raj wants to wander around Pottery Barn, not canoodle in a graveyard, but he doesn't want to give up the one girl who has paid significant attention to him, so he chickens out of dumping her... and instead says he loves her My problem: I can't handle people who don't confront issues for no good reason. Fear is not a good reason. Plus, love-lying is the worst lying.

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Leonard and Penny are being teased for not yet setting a wedding date, so they decide to head to Las Vegas immediately. However, Leonard wants to clear the air before they tie the knot, and admits that he kissed a girl a couple years earlier. My problem: I don't believe that Penny has always been faithful to Leonard, nor do I think some kissing is that big a deal.

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Sheldon and Amy celebrate their five-year anniversary, but he's not focused on her, and she gets upset. He decides to propose, but before he can do so, she asks him for some space to re-evaluate their situation. My problem: I don't think the two should marry. He doesn't pay attention to her in the way that she desires, and their mismatched sex drives will likely continue to be a problem in the long run. Also, a nitpick: the Golem thing was too obvious.

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It was just one problem after another. Sure, some of the previous season finales have suffered similar issues, but look at them...

Season 1: Leonard and Penny go on their first date.
Season 2: The guys head to the North Pole for three months, while Penny wishes she wouldn't be away from Leonard for that long.
Season 3: Penny and Leonard have casual sex while Sheldon meets Amy.
Season 4: Penny sleeps with Raj while Howard feels emasculated due to Bernadette's new job.
Season 5: Howard heads to space and uses a flashback to tell the story of his wedding.
Season 6: Leonard heads to the Black Sea for four months, while Raj gets dumped by Lucy and overcomes his selective mutism.
Season 7: Penny and Leonard get engaged, Raj and Emily have sex, Stuart's comic book store burns down and he becomes Howard's mother's nurse, and Sheldon hops a train to avoid dealing with all the changes around him.

Not as interesting in comparison. Plus, the previous season's finale was much more "cliffhanger" with Sheldon off to ride the rails!

Thoughts?

NEW SHOW: The Odd Couple

I have to start out by admitting that I've never seen an episode of the original Odd Couple series. However, I am familiar with its popularity, and after watching this re-make pilot, I wonder if the concept is dated. Mismatched roommates and divorcees living together are not innovative ideas for television. Granted, this is the pilot so part of the storyline has to be dedicated to setting up the characters, but it didn't really lure me in much at all - or maybe I'm just not the target audience. Still, as I mentioned last June, I think that the casting may hold promise, so I'll stick around for a few episodes.

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The Odd Couple "Pilot" (S01E01): Oscar is a sports radio host who works from home. [really? you can do that sort of thing from home now? on a real radio station?] His assistant, Dani, helps him with tasks both business and personal. [I guess she exists so there's a female character?] His agent, Teddy, is also a friend. [odd to see that actor last year being Michael J. Fox's boss and now a buddy of Matthew Perry, LoL.] He hits on his neighbors, and his latest target is Casey. Things with her go awry, however, when Oscar's old friend, Felix, shows up, heartbroken. Despite having been in couples therapy for eight years, Felix's wife, Ashley, has called it quits, so also-newly-single Oscar (divorced from wife Gabby) invites his friend to crash at his place. Felix promptly cleans the apartment, but again manages to throw a wrench in Oscar's dating plans, this time with Casey and her sister, Emily. [awesome living room! a sports ticker that even tells you what you're out of around the house?!?]

Black-ish: Valentine's Day 2015

Blackish just had an interesting holiday episode for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so I wasn't expecting something for Valentine's Day. But, this was a welcome surprise, as the format was a little different, and we were able to get adults/kids storylines which is a breakdown we don't seem to get often on this series. I definitely agree that the more important the day, the more likely it is that big things will go wrong. I was taken aback, though, at the idea that Diane is mean to everyone... I guess I hadn't noticed? Part of me kinda wants to go back and watch earlier episodes to see if it's been a trending trait that I ignored...

Black-ish "Big Night, Big Fight" (S01E13): Dre and Bow tend to have a fight every Valentine's Day, but Dre thinks that he'll be able to make it a perfect holiday this year. He forgets to make a reservation, takes forever ordering and Bow isn't able to get her preferred entree, and winds up putting his foot in his mouth more than once. [loved the guys hanging out in the restroom!]

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It's not the ideal romantic holiday, but probably on the memorable side if nothing else!

Meanwhile, at home, the kids try to teach Diane how to give compliments after she's upset that Jack got more valentines than she did. [when I was in elementary school you had to give one to every classmate, so I never experienced feeling left out. In middle school, some kids got carnations and others didn't but my friends and I would send them to one another so there was no real sad point there, either.] However, it turns out creepy and Bow and Dre tell the kids to "fix Diane" so that she's back to her usual, "mean" self. [if you're a parent, shouldn't you want your child to be a nice person??]

Black-ish: Martin Luther King Day 2015

It makes perfect sense that Dre would use MLK Day as a chance to demonstrate his kids' lack of knowledge regarding Black History, but I still didn't see it coming! I smiled at the idea of using the three-day weekend to go skiing - when I was a senior in high school my youth group went up to West Virginia that weekend to do that, and it was awesome. This episode fell a bit short of awesome, but was pretty interesting... Dre being determined to show Junior that racism is alive and well, only for the teen to wind up taking a stand for something completely different: snowboarding! Of course, his spiel on a bus still wasn't as funny as Dre's sit-in in the lodge lobby!

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Black-ish "Martin Luther Skiing Day" (S01E12): The Johnsons take part in "black ski weekend" during MLK Day every year. [here in California, everyone takes President's Day weekend to go skiing... but maybe I just don't know enough black people here?] One of Junior's (white) friends is coming along, so Dre decides that he needs to beef up the family's knowledge of the cultural icon whom the weekend honors. [Dre isn't at a new company, so why is it that he's only now finding out that the corporation doesn't seem to recognize the national holiday? "it's a holiday for you two, so feel free to take the day off," sounds more like something you say for Yom Kippur, but I grew up with a Jewish superintendent, so we had all the Jewish holidays off anyway. as far as "black holidays" go, I am now curious as to how many people celebrate "Obama's inauguration" and "OJ getting off" as such...]

Dre invites Charlie to come, and then the two of them ride with Junior and his friend while Bow has the twins and Zoe in the SUV. [thoughts on "we raised a bad black person" ??] When the guys get pulled over, Dre begins to act like they're in trouble just for being black, but it was really for expired tags. [ha!] Dre then begins to look for prejudice everywhere, and makes mountains out of molehills, even throwing a fit over not getting adjoining rooms. [well, in all fairness, this sounds like a big deal when you're traveling with five kids!] But, the next day, when it's time to hit the slopes, Junior makes a scene on the bus over snowboarders having to ride in the back, and Dre is temporarily proud of his son.

An Orange and Black-ish Halloween

Who seriously leaves a handwritten note in this day and age? That would have been unbelievable to the point that I would have known something was up. Having a security camera in the house being the tip-off, however, was a perfect fit for this series and its ideal that you just get so spoiled you don't appreciate what it took to get where you are. I've never really thought of Halloween as a particularly big prank holiday, but I remember Roseanne having related pranks, so I guess it might be a regional or generational trend. I am happy, however, that they had a family-themed costume, as I feel like that's something we never see on television anymore.

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Black-ish "The Prank King" (S01E06): Andre decorates the house for Halloween, but the bigger deal is the family pranking one another. These jokes include fake spiders, super gluing items, and wetting someone else's beds... [that last one is gross but was actually pretty funny - a classic example of how younger family members don't totally understand how to participate in a tradition.]

Andre is proud of Zoe's past feats and looks forward to her stuff this year, but she thinks she's outgrown pranking. Andre tries to inspire her by pranking Junior in front of her, but it fails. [I loved the chair gag!] But, little does Dre know, the family works together to prank him into thinking someone is breaking in. But, Dre was wise to it all and played along, and had Josh come scare the family. [Bo punches him in his broken nose - ouch! I was also sad that Josh was punched on purpose at work, too.] And, despite that some of the family doesn't seem to be in the Halloween spirit, they do all dress as the Jackson 5 + Janet. [which is much better than The Beatles!]

The end of the episode played on the old joke that all black people know one another. 

South Park: Uber & Wacky Races

I believe that there is still good in the world. When I use Uber (whether in San Francisco or San Diego or Manhattan), I'm not afraid that I'll get kidnapped or robbed or raped. When I use Airbnb (and I've stayed in three different places in Los Angeles, for example), I don't worry that the homeowners will bring me any harm. I think businesses like these are a great asset to have, and allow individuals to make money using things they already own/pay for. But I've talked with people who look at me like I have three heads when I suggest they take up a stranger for a ride or stay in a room of someone's otherwise-occupied home. South Park didn't address these issues, instead using this episode to illustrate how easy it is to bring up a phone app to get a ride somewhere, before turning the focus to a Wacky Races spoof. While I'm not old enough to know the original cartoon and thus geek-out with the parents, I am familiar with Yogi Bear's similar antics, so I was also caught up in the action!

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South Park "Handicar" (S18E04): Timmy drives for Handicar, which seems to be like the Uber or Lyft services. He uses his motorized scooter pulling a red wagon, but keeps raking in thr dough, raising over $2,000 for summer camp. [dang!] However, there are cab drivers and anti-camp kids out to stop him; the cabbies even beat Timmy's legs, which, of course, doesn't slow him down. [who does that kinda thing to a kid??] An anti-camp kid, Nathan, suggests to Timmy that he expand his business, thinking he'll be able to get a sexual harassment complaint as a driver, but it backfires - the rider is a sexual predator and business booms. [only on South Park!] Elon Musk, of Tesla, gets behind the anti- group, and they challenge Timmy to a Wacky Race. [Dick Dastardly and Muttley! omg!]

Lyft Car, ZipCar, Taxi, Hummer salesman, Tesla D, Canadian concept vehicle, Handicar, Japanese self-driving car, and Dick Dastardly & Muttley all compete to see who is the best driver. [hilarious!] Lyft picks up the passenger, but Hummer steals her. But, they try to make a sale and let her drive, but Tesla knocks the SUV out of commission, and the Taxi steals her during the transfer. The Canadian car breaks down, Dastardly causes an accident, and Handicar picks her up. Every plot to ruin Handicar fails, so Timmy sells the company to Elon Musk for $2.3B. [and I'm sitting here shaking my head! also, rough Italy thing at the end.]

RETURNING: The Goldbergs: Recording the Radio

Pops wanting a fake ID so that a fellow senior would see him as a few years younger was precious! In fact, I really enjoyed the whole B-story much more than Adam’s failure at progressing his relationship with Dana. However, it was fun to have some more 80s music references on the show, and I also really like it airing after The Middle, so I have high hopes for a great season. I do, however, think that a few changes are going to have to be made… I think one thing that would help the show would be additional settings. Last season the bulk of the series seemed to take place in the Goldberg home. Now, that’s not a bad thing, but going to the schools, Murray’sstore, local hangouts, etc. would be more fun. I understand it’s tough to do with a period show (laser light locale isn’t as tough as a vintage arcade, for instance), but I think it would spice it up a bit, don’t you?

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The Goldbergs "Love Is a Mix Tape" (S02E01): It’s September 4th, 1980something, and Adam makes a mixtape for Dana, but Beverly thinks it's for her. [that’s the most awkward thing ever!!] She makes it clear that Adam is her favorite child, so he can't come clean… until Beverly plays the tape when Dana is in the car. But it only gets worse from there! Adam makes a "sorry" tape, but neither Dana nor Beverly accept it. [why doesn’t Adam turn to Pops at this point?!?] Pops helps Bev understand that Adam is growing up, and she helps Adam with Dana by breaking into the control booth at the local laser lights show and altering the images to include the names "Adam" and "Dana" on a heart. [um, I’m not 100% sure, but I think that those things took a long time to input back in those days, so that never would’ve worked.]

When Barry learns that Erica has a fake ID, he demands one, only to brag about it too much at school and get it confiscated, moments after promising a senior he'll pick up ten cases of beer for a party. [I really loved that Barry didn’t know how much beer that was!!] Barry tries to get Murray to help him out, then resorts to taking his father’s ID, not knowing that the cashier knows his father. [ha! Isn’t that like rule #1 of having a fake ID – use it out of town??] Barry blows the beer money on sandwiches, hoping to be seen as a "hero," but Murray shows up and pretends to take beer away from him so he can save a little face. [yay, Murray!]

Last Man Standing: Columbus Day

A Columbus Day episode is a rarity on television... in fact, I can't think of ANY. Normally, I don't think I'd care about the holiday not getting much attention, but this year I think it needs some emphasis. Tonight, at the gym, the manager wasn't in, but I was told she'd be available on Monday. As that's a holiday, I double-checked that the woman would be in, and the employee said "oh, that's right, it's Columbia's Day on Monday." At first I thought I misheard, but the gentleman said it two more times, prompting my husband and I to laugh in horror as soon as we got to the parking lot! Similarly, last May I was teaching a fifth grade theatre class and used Columbus as an example, but was met with a lot of "deer-in-headlights" looks. I glanced at their teacher, who said the students know who he is, but when it didn't seem to click, I changed the example for the other classes. I still remember the song I learned in kindergarten about the explorer, but apparently he needs more acknowledgement! Granted, Last Man Standing might not have been the ideal vehicle for that, but I’m appreciative just the same.

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Last Man Standing "Rediscover America" (S04E03): Eve playing for the football team is now making the local newspaper. However, she’s not thrilled that she's always referred to as "the female kicker," though Vanessa and Kristin point out that she's opening doors for young girls. [does nobody remember that Rudy played football on The Cosby Show in the eighties? However, once Eve misses a field goal and costs her team the game, Kristin is upset at how the newspaper depicts Eve as female. [I hate Kristin.] Eve begins to feel the burden of being expected to represent all women, increasing the pressure on her during games.

Ed's girlfriend is bothered that Mike is the face of Outdoor Man in a regional magazine, which prompts Ed to cancel Mike's Columbus Day sale, despite the fact that he knows Mike's marketing mind has done wonders for them over the years. [pride can be a nuisance.] However, Mike goes ahead with making a Columbus Day vlog, only to make Ed the star, comparing the older man to Leif Ericson, who beat Columbus to "discovering America," but doesn't get the credit. [I thought that this might have been a little mushy for Mike’s character.]

South Park: Feelings of Confusion

I may no longer work in academia, but my time in both graduate school and student affairs ingrained words like “cisgender” into my vocabulary. I’ve had to explain what I mean more than once when I use that term, and I’m generally met with stares meant for someone with three eyes. So, although South Park certainly takes some liberties with what they’re doing, I appreciate that there are now thousands of people who have at least heard the term now, even if they don’t quite understand what it means. All of that aside, I am super intrigued as to how the continuation of the episodes linking this season is going to work… do Matt Stone and Trey Parker have everything in that spectrum mapped out already? Or are they writing in their usual manner and just finding weird ways to keep certain jokes going?

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South Park "The Cissy" (S18E03): Cartman gets upset when both stalls are occupied in the boys' restroom at recess, so he puts on a hair bow and uses the girls' restroom, claiming he is "cisginger." [haha, this show and its gingers!] It causes such a ruckus that Cartman is given his own restroom, but Wendy rebels by claiming she identifies as male, and therefore should share the "other" restroom. [that was a quick remodel!]

A reporter is researching whether Lorde really played in SouthPark, but the truth is that Randy IS Lorde. [::blink::] The reporter keeps snooping and determines that Lorde works part-time as a geologist. Meanwhile, Randy confides in Stan that he is Lorde, and he uses autotune to do alter his voice. Stan then tries the transgender bathroom, as he feels confused. [interesting touch!] Meanwhile, the USGS wants Randy/Lorde to use a separate restroom, but everything blows over and even the school decides that the students can use whichever restroom they feel most comfortable in. [I kinda like it.] Plus, the reporter chooses not to publish the truth about Lorde being Randy. [anyone else start having flashbacks of the blogging gerbil?]

NEW SHOW: A to Z: Beginning to End?

Rom-Coms are big on the programming slate this year, and the gimmick to tuning into this particular one is simple: we already know how long the main characters will date, and each episode’s title will start with the next letter in the alphabet. Simple enough, especially when you factor in that half of the fun in sitcoms is generally the will-they-or-won’t-they factor. I don't really care for the premise, but I'm checking it out purely in support of someone with whom I went to college. I think it’s too soon to see Cristin Milioti as anything other than “the mother” of How I Met Your Mother, but so far I otherwise like the characters!

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A to Z "A is for Acquaintances" (S01E01): Andrew is a romantic guy's guy who idolizes his parents' relationship. [insert eye roll here.] He works for an Internet dating company that is really pushing itself to do hook-ups instead of matchmaking. [this is even worse.]

Zelda is a girly girl pro-bono lawyer who heads to the internet company to be interviewed about her experience. [but we don’t hear it!]

These two folks go for drinks after virtually stalking one another (and having their respective work friends do the same), but he starts scaring her off with talk of destiny and having seen her for the first time three years earlier. [thanks to that stalking, we know we’re in Tustin, CA, so Orange County. Oh, and Waze doesn’t exactly work like that, but okay.] She eventually relents and admits that he did, and we learn that they will date for 8 months, 3 weeks, 5 days, and 1 hour. [and then they’ll get engaged??]