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DVR Cleaning: 30 Minds, Pushing Earl

By fred | October 21, 2007

It’s like a tradition, every week-end I try to clean my DVR of most of the shows I couldn’t watch during the week. I’ll confess that there’s a few new series I still haven’t given a try, some returning ones I’m also recording and recording only, and I still have not watched everything I have to watch. On my list is the last episode of Supernatural for example, which I still haven’t got a chance to see.

But let’s talk about what’s done, the good and the bad, and it includes 30 Rock, Criminal Minds, My Name Is Earl and I also - finally - get to talk about the most talk-about and adored by critic Pushing Daisies.

30 Rock: The Collection

(S02E03) This show keeps being as nice and funny as he usually is. I always enjoy the half-hour I spend watching this show, and I feel pretty much the same as last week.

Mostly, it’s great and funny and I like to see the whole fat thing, though it’s not so new and I think I liked better the How I Met Your Mother version, when Lilly was too skinny for her wedding dress.

Anyways, still fun, Liz and her life are great and Jack is still rocking solid (Just how funny was that fake phone call to get ride of Liz?). And as usual this year, I’m not liking so much everything Tracy-related. He used to be a crazy beast living in his own world, and having some pretty crazy moments, but lately the whole mess with his wife and all just ain’t funny (to me). Hopefully we’re done with this now, and he can be back on the show.

How yeah, because originally we’re witnessing the making of a live comedy show. You may have forgotten about this, seeing how we barely see the actual show and we never see any writers any more. I mean blink as the wrong time and this week like the previous ones, we missed the very little of air time they had. And by they, I mean one character per week. We don’t want to scare viewers with too many writers after all… I’m voting for a big writer brainstorm next week, please.

Also, sure Liz had one, but I miss the Family Guy-like flashbacks or jokes we used to have. Bring more of them, don’t be afraid.

As we were talking about the basis of the show, the show within the show and its behind-the-scenes, you might also remember the “fight” between 30 Rock and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip last year. I don’t know if this was just a great joke, but I suspect it was also a “reference” to the aforementioned and now gone competition, when Liz asks Kenneth if he can walk and talk (as seen so often on Studio60 or any other Sorkin’s show), and he gets confused: “usually, but now we got me thinking about it…”

Just great stuff.

”
- Lemon I’m impressed, you’re begining to think like a businessman.
- Businesswoman!
- I don’t think that’s a word.
”

Criminal Minds: Children of the Dark

(S03E04) What. The Fuck. Was That. !?

This is pretty much how I feel after watching the new episode of this show. I’m not sure it if was just bad writing, or a conscious choice to show how poor they are at profiling once they lost their Gideon. Somehow, I feel it’s the first.

I’ve always loved this show, and one reason for this is that it always had a pretty solid writing, whether it was story or character development. But this episode suffered from such a lame writing it was really painful, and (unconsciously) I feel obligated to associate it with the loss of Gideon, as watching it I just wished Gideon was there, because there’s no way he would have fallen for this.

I mean really, honestly, who did NOT see that whole ending coming ?? It was obviously that he armed the kid one way or another and told him to go kill the tyrant from both their childhoods. Even for them, it was obvious. And because they’re profilers, I still can’t believe how not one of them saw it…

He sends the girl away, so that she can’t hear anything, he agrees to come out incredibly easily, as it was noticed, he even said it out loud for fuck sakes :
“
- He doesn’t have to be you.
- Maybe. Maybe not. So what say we leave it up to him!
”

I mean the guy couldn’t have been any more clear about what was going to happen. Now, when you’re a (good) (experienced) profiler, you put one and one together and you know, and you don’t let it happen.

I was so pissed at such a lame ending, such poor writing, and again I fail to remember such bad quality from that show back in the Gideon days. Which surely don’t mean anything, besides the fact that this episode was really awful. (Or at least that’s the overall taste it left with such a crappy ending.)

Maybe it influenced my way of seeing things, but I also felt like the whole discussion on the plane about (having) kids was pretty weak as well. I’d have much prefer for someone to give us some good quote to conclude the episode. Well, thinking about it, there couldn’t be a good quote after that lame ending, so forget it.

Posted in Reviews
Shows: 30 Rock, Criminal Minds, My Name Is Earl, Pushing Daisies