It has been four episodes now since the super team returned from Florida, and The Office still hasn't found its footing back in Scranton. "Fundraiser" featured some humorous moments, sure, but it was another continuation of the less-than-spectacular installments we have witnessed as of late.To read the rest of my review of last night's The Office, head over to TV Fanatic.
There were highlights - such as Ryan's opening rant about Smokey Robinson, Dwight's efforts to win the silent auction or Kevin's straight forward attitude towards Andy - but even these pleasant sequences failed to make me laugh out loud. Not every comedy needs to have that skill all the time, but it definitely helps.
In the cold open, Ryan was just being Ryan. He always has an agenda, and he usually doesn't have any idea what he's talking about. That's what makes him such a great character. Whether it is professing his love for a girl he will most likely cheat on, or pretending to have loved Smokey Robinson, Ryan will always be a douchebag.
I'm not sure which was funnier, Dwight's arrogance as he quietly outbid everyone at the silent auction by thousands of dollars, or his ridiculous celebrations after finding out he won every prize.
30 Rock completed a very successful live show last season, which made me believe that Tina Fey and company decided to do another one this year mainly because they felt they were supposed to. I went in thinking that it was going to be a bit forced, but came out thoroughly pleased with "Live From Studio 6H."To read the rest of my review of last night's live 30 Rock, head over to TV Fanatic.
You really have to have a good and completely different plan for one of these episodes to actually work. By flashing back to the numerous fake live shows, 30 Rock created both a fun play on the plot, and ample opportunity for the main as well as guest actors to show off their chops.
The MVP Award has to go to Alec Baldwin. Whether it was his exaggerated Jackie Gleason, the drunkard Joey Montero, that quick Nixon impression, or his role in the fantastic NBC News duo, Baldwin proved once again why he continues to get asked back to Saturday Night Live, and that he may actually be underutilized on 30 Rock on a regular basis.
The Best Guest was definitely Jon Hamm. His blatantly racist character Abner was by far the single funniest moment from the episode. I mean between "I's done stoled this catfish!" and "Zip-a-dee-doo-doo," I was on the ground laughing for that entire flashback.
There was a performance by Florence and the Machine, a lot of recapping of Monday night some last chance performances, and a couple of eliminations on the latest installment of The Voice Results Show.To read the rest of my rundown of last night's The Voice Results, head over to TV Fanatic.
Who was saved by America? And who was saved by the coaches? Let's find out...
Team Adam
Saved - Tony Lucca
Mathai - "Cowboy Casanova"
This was a lot closer to her disaster on Monday than her quality performances of week's past. The song was just too big, and she didn't change it enough to fit her softer quirky voice. If she was going to continue to give us performances like that, I won't mind missing her.
Grade: C-
The Voice's Quarterfinals continued this week, as Team Adam and Team Cee Lo were a bit of a disappointment in comparison to last Monday's competitors. Thankfully, one young lady - Juliet Simms - stood out from the crowd, putting on yet another fantastic performance.To read the rest of my review of last night's The Voice, head over to TV Fanatic.
Other than the coaches wasting a ridiculous amount of time laughing about passed gas, and nobody telling Jamar's mom to take the gum out of her mouth before going on live television, there weren't a lot of extracurricular activities going on, so let's get to the performances...
Jamar Rogers - "It's My Life"
They really dug even deeper into the emotion of Jamar's HIV status before the performance, and he certainly allowed some of his feelings to shine through on stage, but this wasn't my favorite of Jamar's. He hit all the notes, but nothing about his performance was special, especially the strange fire people on stage behind him.
Adam thought Jamar was amazing. Blake said the pairing of the song and the person was perfect. Christina liked that he sang with his life on the line, and she's rooting for him. Cee Lo told Jamar that he is such a strong spirit, and that he would die with him.
Grade: B
Many of the main players went to "Far Away Places" in an interestingly structured episode of Mad Men this week. Some left on an physical trip, others took a journey thanks to some killer drugs, and one... well for one, the place she went wasn't so much far as her act there was the furthest from what I ever expected out of her.To read the rest of my review of last night's Mad Men, head over to TV Fanatic.
I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what happened here. Has Mad Men ever played with structure like this before? With three stories occurring simultaneously, but showing each one separately, this was quite the intriguing strategy. Why do you think Matthew Weiner and company decided this was necessarily the best way to plot this episode?
For one reason or another, it had me even more involved than normal, and "Far Away Places" left me thoroughly entertained. The one story of the three that had me a bit annoyed, however, was Don and Megan's, and it wasn't only because the video effects in the car were so bad.
They were pretty awful, and the fake Howard Johnson's wasn't much better, but it was the constant bickering between the newlyweds that lost me early on. Whether it was over work, sherbet or the fact that Don thinks he is Megan's master, I became a bit uninterested until he just left her on the side of the road like a piece of dirt.
The second season of The Borgias is not taking its time out of the gates. Following last week's exciting installment in which Juan figured out what was going on between Lucrezia and Paolo, and subsequently murdered the latter, "The Beautiful Deception" played as a thrilling next chapter.To read the rest of my review of last night's The Borgias, head over to TV Fanatic.
There were two major arcs driving the story of the hour: Lucrezia and Juan's family feud, and Cesare's bold strategy to fool King Charles into retreating.
The former was a fantastic continuation of the main focus in "Paolo," and continued the running theme of the season thus far that the Borgias are fighting just as much with themselves as they are against those outside the family.
Rodrigo has made numerous announcements to his children that the family would not tear each other apart, but recently that seems like all they want to do. This recent battle between brother and sister may have been my favorite yet.
