TV Couples That Should Get Together for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Kris M.

After watching characters on TV for an extended period of time, you start to feel like they’re your best friends. But unlike your real best friends, you can’t tell TV characters that their constant flirting is getting tired and that they should probably just date already. This Valentine’s Day, let’s hope that Cupid’s arrow finally finds these TV couples so that they can drop the romantic tension act and finally consummate what we’ve all known was going to happen for awhile.

Jack and Liz – 30 Rock

Image: wordpress.com

Jack and Liz’s relationship might be best described as a ‘bromance,’ but it’s one that could easily turn into something real. Jack provides Liz with the tools to become a responsible adult while Liz provides Jack with an opportunity to relax and enjoy life. Jack’s recent meddling in Liz’s relationship even further confirms how desperately these two should just admit that they need each other.

Sookie and Alcide – True Blood

Image: vampires.com

There have been so many guys in Sookie’s life—Bill, Sam, Eric– but none seem quite the right match as Sookie and werewolf Acide. Maybe it’s because she sees him as a friend that she allows herself to be so much less annoying when she’s around him—or maybe it’s because we feel sorry that Alcide is stuck with crazy Debbie as a wife. Either way, these two should become the new alpha couple in Bon Temps.

Britta and Troy – Community

Image: tv.com

Even though Jeff spent the first season trying to get with Britta, that romantic plotline has since fizzled out to make way for Britta and Troy. These two loveable dummies feel more natural than Jeff and Britta ever did. Jeff is callous and calculating, while Troy is sensitive and sweet—which is a better match for bleeding heart Britta.

Carol and Daryl – The Walking Dead

Image: unaffiliatedcritic.com

Despite their unfortunate rhyming names, these two survivors seem like they’re a zombie attack away from jumping into a relationship together. Carol sees the good in Daryl that even Daryl himself isn’t able to see. Now that Sophia is dead, it’s time for Daryl to step up and be that good man that Carol needs.

Damon and Elena – The Vampire Diaries

Image: fanpop.com

Sure, getting together with your brother’s ex-girlfriend is going to make family gatherings that much more awkward, but that shouldn’t stop Damon and Elena from going official. Even if Elena and Stefan fans were so upset that they sent death threats to the show’s creators when Damon kissed Elena, we think ‘Delena’ is here to stay.

Best of the Best: Community

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Kris M.

Image: wordpress.com

It’s easy to hand out titles like “best show on television,” but a title is just a meaningless collection of words unless you can back it up with some evidence. In Best of the Best we pick the five best episodes of the finest shows on television to give you an example of what makes them so special.

If you were within earshot of a Community fan when the show was put on hiatus by NBC, then you’ve probably already heard about how creative, original and streets ahead this comedy is. Community is a TV show about TV shows for TV fanatics like us.

Contemporary American Poultry

Image: screened.com

“As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be in a Mafia movie.” – Abed

In an effort to keep his friends flush with chicken fingers, Abed gets a job at the school cafeteria. It’s not long before Abed’s kickbacks to his friends spiral into an underground chicken finger racket in the style of Goodfellas. Underneath all this lampooning is a great character story about what happens to the group when someone other than Jeff is calling the shots.

Cooperative Calligraphy

Image: plasmapool.org

“Accidents don’t just happen over and over and over again, this isn’t budget daycare.” – Annie

Annie’s pen goes missing and it turns into one of the most frantic witch hunts ever televised. With nowhere to go and nobody else to accuse but one another, this character driven episode shows the characters getting raw and naked—literally. The episode ends with the gang forgetting about the pen and the audience finding out that Troy’s monkey was the culprit all along.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

Image: troll.me

“This is why I wanted to play Chutes and Ladders.” – Troy

The gang plays a game of Dungeons and Dragons with a suicidal classmate in order to cheer him up, but Pierce crashes the party to punish his friends for excluding him. What follows is an epic tale of good versus evil that takes place entirely in the viewer’s imagination. Except for that haunting image of Chang looking as stealthy as a B-2 bomber in dark elf makeup– that’s something we could never imagine.

Modern Warfare

Image: screenrant.com

“I thought it was paint but I’m just bleeding. Talk about luck!” – Jeff

Jeff takes a nap before a game of paintball assassin and wakes up to find himself in a warzone covered in paint. This episode had the monumental feat of riffing on every action movie under the sun, while also breaking the will-they, won’t-they tension between Britta and Jeff by having them hook up.

Advanced Chaos Theory

“This is the darkest timeline.” – Abed

Only Community could deliver seven different alternate timelines in one episode. With the simple roll of a die, we get to see what Troy and Abed’s housewarming party would be like under different circumstances. Some of the results are grim, while others hint at things to come—but the final result is driven by choice, not fate, and ends with a happy gathering of friends.

When Bad Characters Ruin Good TV Shows

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Kris M.

Image: graphicdesignhero.com

Nobody’s perfect. Even if your TV show is cooler than a hotel made out of ice, you’re still bound to have that one little flaw that otherwise spoils a perfect series. Scooby-Doo had Scrappy-Doo, Saved by the Bell had Screech and Lost had Ana-Lucia. It’s too late for these shows to polish off their blemishes, but there are still characters on TV right now that are ruining perfectly good shows.

Gabe Lewis – The Office

Image: buddytv.com

I like to rag on how much The Office has slipped in quality over the years, but you know —Gabe is a big part of that. Gabe was introduced as Jo’s brown-nosing assistant but after Kathy Bates left the show for her failing drama Harry’s Law, Gabe is just a leftover creepy little worm. The only thing that could redeem him is if they revealed that he was the Scranton Strangler all along—but even that would be a shark-jumping moment for the show.

Vince Masuka – Dexter

Image: p4.focus.de

I get why Masuka is a part of the show—you need the other lab tech guy to be a complete idiot in order for Dexter to get away with killing people. The problem with Masuka is that he’s just so gosh-darn unlikeable. In a real police department he’d be out on the streets after countless sexual harassment charges. The worst thing about Masuka is that he’s always a one-note sex freak, like a 13-year-old boy. Every time you think he’s matured, he goes out of his way to prove you wrong.

Tara Thornton – True Blood

Image: spacecast.com

The end of Season 4 saw Tara and her partner driving off into the sunset, possibly leaving Bon Temps behind forever. We can only hope. The problem with Tara is that the writers never know what to do with her and every attempt to reexamine the character just makes you hate her even more. This last season was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Tara was partially responsible for the whole witches-VS-vampires fiasco going out of control.

Joffrey Baratheon – Game of Thrones

Image: tumblr.com

I know you’re supposed to hate Joffrey, but I just can’t stand the sight of this little twerp anymore. Whether he’s picking on little girls or running home to mommy, this sniveling coward of a king is always annoying. However, Joffrey crossed the line when he had Ned Stark beheaded instead of sparing him. I can only hope he gets his comeuppance soon.

Ben Chang – Community

Image: koreanbeacon.com

It might seem sacrilegious to put Chang on this list, but really there hasn’t been anything for the character to do since Season 1. Ken Jeong is a hilarious guy and he made Chang the perfect crazy college professor in the first season—but after losing his job, Chang’s just been hanging around because he’s got nothing better to do. His weird Gollum act is no longer funny, just creepy. If Community needs to trim the budget in order to stay on the air—Chang should be the first to go.

Seven Compelling TV Characters That Deserve Their Own Spin-Offs

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Kris M.

Image: ew.com

Does The Cleveland Show leave you wondering what makes Cleveland so interesting that he got his own series? Were you outraged when Joey was picked out of all the Friends to be the star of his own show? Does the thought of a Snooki spin-off make you want to cry?

If so, you’re probably suffering from spin-off fatigue—the inability to enjoy a mediocre TV show just because it was spun-off from a show you love. The only cure is to watch plenty of Frasier and Angel reruns as you wait for any of these compelling TV characters to star in their own spin-off series.

Troy Barnes and Abed Nadir - Community

Yes we’re including Troy and Abed as a pair—you just don’t break up a great comedy duo. With Community possibly on its last legs, this might be our only chance of seeing six seasons and a movie. The series would follow Troy and Abed as they make movies and rip on pop culture.

Lafayette Reynolds – True Blood

Image: blogspot.com

Lafayette has gone from drug dealing short-order cook to magical spirit medium. He continues to be one of the most interesting people in Bon Temps. We want to see him reunite with the spirit of his dead boyfriend Jesus as he guides Lafayette around the south, helping restless spirits to find peace.

Gus Fring – Breaking Bad

Image: mostlyjunkfood.com

The Machiavellian meth dealer was the most mysterious, meticulous and powerful character we’ve seen on TV in a long time. Even though Gus was recently killed off, we’d still love to see a prequel series that tells the story of how he became the southwest’s biggest drug kingpin and fried chicken restaurateur.

Joan Harris – Mad Men

Image: letspolka.com

Even when she didn’t work at Sterling Cooper, the cameras couldn’t help but follow Joan. She has a red-hot personality but underneath is a complex woman who wants to be both desired and respected. We want to watch Joan as part of the women’s lib movement in the 70s, finally achieving the success she deserves.

Michael Scott – The Office

Image: tumblr.com

We know Steve Carell wants to focus on his movie career, but if that doesn’t pan out we’d welcome Michael Scott back with open arms. The series could give us a peek into the married life of Michael and Holly, the dorkiest couple in the world. Add some adopted children to the mix and that awkward humor pretty much writes itself.

Artemis – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Artemis is Sweet Dee’s friend, Frank’s former sex partner and one of the most interesting reoccurring characters on the show. She has next to no shame, zero class and a raging food fetish—stick her into any premise and we’re watching.

Andy Botwin – Weeds

Image: tumblr.com

The Showtime series Weeds has gotten a little long in the tooth lately and Andy has always been one of the funniest, clever characters on the show. The best plan for moving forward would be to ditch Nancy and her drama and focus on Andy and Doug, getting stoned and planning their own schemes.

Five of the Funniest Meta Moments in TV History

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Kris M.

When TV characters break the fourth wall, they make us aware of the fact that we’re watching a fictional show instead of real people. However, when used properly, self-referential humor can make audiences feel like they’re in on an inside joke. These five comedic TV moments were made even funnier by the inclusion of meta-humor.

Community – “Paradigms of Human Memory”

Image: girlsonscreen.com

“Community” might be one of the most meta shows on TV, so picking only one moment to celebrate is so not streets ahead. However, if we have to choose just one, then this second season “clip” show would be our top pick.

Image: cinemablend.com

Instead of showing actual clips from the show, the characters flashed back to adventures we never saw, running the TV-cliché gamut from Wild West hijinks to a haunted house mystery of Scooby-Doo proportions. The episode brought up the idea that TV characters are always getting into zany situations—even then we’re not there to watch.

Family Guy – “Back to the Pilot”

Image: spoilertv.co.uk

In this time travel story Brian and Stewie return to January 31,1999– the day that “Family Guy” first premiered. The show has never shied away from making meta-jokes, but watching the first episode through the eyes of a modern Brian and Stewie was a completely different experience.

Image: blogspot.com

To address how far the show has come since it has been on the air, new scenes were animated using the unpolished style of the first season. Brian and Stewie even go so far as to point out animation flaws and plot holes you may have never noticed before.

30 Rock – “Live Show”

Image: nypost.com

Since “30 Rock” chronicles the backstage antics of a live comedy sketch show, a live episode was almost inevitable. And since “30 Rock” is known for dropping winks to the audience, it was almost inevitable that the live episode would be a meta-joke about live TV itself.

Image: tumblr.com

Tracy spent the episode trying to convince Liz to allow him to break character live on TV, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus stepped in as Liz Lemon during flashback cutaways. When asked by Jack why her flashback self looked better, Liz remarked that her flashback had “Seinfeld Money.” Speaking of which–

Seinfeld – “The Pitch”

Image: tvfanatic.com

“Seinfeld” was often touted as a “show about nothing,” because the comedy came from the character’s reactions to everyday situations, not the situations themselves. A great meta moment came in the fourth season when Jerry and George pitch a TV show “about nothing” to NBC executives.

Image: tvfanatic.com

George is a stand-in for series creator Larry David, who helped develop the series with the real-life Jerry Seinfeld. So when George freaks out at the NBC executives when they don’t understand his vision, you can’t help but wonder if some of the comedy borrows from real life. Speaking of Larry David…

Curb Your Enthusiasm – “Seinfeld”

Image: nj.com

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” is based on the meta-concept of Larry David playing a fictional version of himself. The meta-humor was in full swing for Season 7 when the plot revolved around Larry putting together a “Seinfeld” reunion.

Image: dctobc.com

Fans of “Seinfeld” had been waiting for a reunion for years, but unfortunately we don’t get to see the reunion episode in full. What clips we do see does give us an idea of what the characters are up to these days—which is nothing.

Top Ten TV Bromances of 2011

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Kris M.

When a relationship between two men becomes too epic to be labeled as a friendship, it can only be defined as a “bromance.” In 2011 we saw a number of bromances blossom between best buds on TV. Here’s just a few of our favorites.

10. Sam and Dean – Supernatural

Sam and Dean may be actual brothers, but face it—when’s the last time you treated your own brother as good as the Winchester boys treat each other? When you’re battling the creatures of the night, it’s nice to know your bro has your back.

Continue reading →