RANDOM THOUGHTS:
The following were on my mind between Monday, April 30th and Monday, May 7th:
-Massive hype+universal acclaim+recognizable faces and characters+inflated 3D ticket prices=an opening weekend box office that won't be topped for quite a while. Not even by "The Dark Knight Rises" (which won't have a chance since it's not gonna be in 3D).
-Is complaining about how "Saturday Night Live" isn't as good as it used to be pretty much as old as the show has been on the air?
-It took 2.5 years, yet it's good to see that the Jake Peavy deal seems to finally be paying off for the White Sox, with Peavy winning the award for AL Pitcher of the Month and performing like one of the season's earliest Cy Young contenders. Hell, the entire pitching staff has been performing well, really. It just sucks that the majority of the team's offense doesn't seem to be rewarding their arms with some offense.
-And now, the brand new edition of the NBC Thursday Night Comedy Power Rankings for the episodes that aired during this past Thursday, May 3rd:
1. "Parks and Recreations"- "Bus Tour"
I guess I chose this episode over the others simply because it was the most consistently hilarious out of the four shows. Chris Pratt had himself a sensational episode for the second straight week, this time in his returning role as Andy's FBI agent persona Burt Macklin. He just stole the show from me, whether it was during his slow motion pie-in-the-face re-enactment with Jerry, his various nicknames ("Been there done that," "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it...," etc.) to his self-congratulatory praise of finding out who caused the pie throwing in the first place ("Macklin. You son of a bitch."). As for the actual storyline that the episode was named for? Well, I thought the final scenes with Leslie Knope and Bobby Newport were great, and, yes, there were plenty of gags to like, but other than that there wasn't any new aspect of the campaign storyline that we haven't seen before, and I think I could've lived without the entire van rental subplot.
2. "30 Rock"- "Queen of Jordan 2: The Mystery of the Phantom Pooper"
Like last week's episode, "30 Rock" decides to bring back one of its more memorable stunt episodes from last season (this time, it was the "Queen of Jordan" spoof). Unlike last week's episode, I didn't end up liking the sequel more than the original. It's not that I didn't find it funny, which it was, or that there were plots from it that I didn't enjoy, which there were. It's just that I found the first "Queen of Jordan" to be a helluva lot more funnier, and served a much greater purpose (last year, it was a way to deal with Tracy Jordan's departure to Africa and how it affected the family).
3 (tie). "Community"- "Course Listing Unavailable"
My main problem that I had with this episode of "Community" was that it all just felt too rushed. I thought if this had been separate into maybe two episodes, then stuff like the study group's angry speeches during Alex's wake, the destruction of the Greendale cafeteria, and Chang's plan to rise in power at the school would've felt more organic (like Eartha Kitt airplane bathroom jokes). This is the main thing that set me back from adoring this episode in the same level that I have all of their April episodes. Other than that, there was plenty about it that I still liked, especially the many wonderful callbacks to "Remedial Chaos Theory." Also, a good table setter for wrapping up a season with an ending that I'm sure will be off-the-chains.
3 (tie). "The Office"- "Turf War"
The thing is, this was actually one of the show's best episodes in quite a while. I like how this actually had some purpose, even if all they did was just recycle the Michael Scott Paper Company storyline from season 5 into one in which Andy collaborates with David Wallace to buy Dunder Mifflin. It was also one of the funniest episodes that the show has done this season, and just for that I'm bumping up to a tie for third instead of a third straight dead last finish. But, yeah, as far as which of these four shows rank in terms of how they performed throughout the season, it's clear that this episode did nothing to make feel that this show wasn't the clear choice as the weakest.
Next week is the season finale for both "The Office" and "Parks and Recreations," which means that this mini-revival of the power rankings will be coming to an end next Monday. It's too bad, but hopefully this column ends up closing itself out with a bang.
More RTs to come next Monday. See you then!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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