TV

Sunny in a Bottle

/ Katie Man / 1 Comment

Best Episodes

We investigate our favorite episodes of our favorite TV shows. Be warned: these articles will contain spoilers!

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Season 7, Episode 7 – “Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games”

At it’s best, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is imaginative, grotesque, and always hilarious. Episode 7 of season 7, “Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games,” is like a sweet little nugget of golden Sunny, glazed in alcohol and blood, stuffed into a bottle. It is loveable and vile, inventive but true to its characters.

“Chardee MacDennis” is a typical sitcom “bottle episode.” It all takes place in one location, the bar (the bottle), and the only characters involved are the stars of the show. Placing the characters of Sunny in a bottle and shaking really hard leads to explosive and hilarious results. Like shaking up tequila + orange juice + grenadine + gas. The accelerant in this episode is the gang’s homemade boardgame, Chardee MacDennis. And it is not a game. It’s a war.

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Roundtable #5 – Treme – More Auntie, Less Boyfriend Edition

/ kwoloszyn / Leave a comment

We are a little more than halfway through the current season of Treme and thought it would be a good time to attempt discuss the latest episode, the season so far and the series as a whole. 

Image by Karen Apricot. New Orleans

Kerri: I’m pretty excited that we are discussing Episode 6 of Season 3, “Careless Love” (originally we were going to discuss the previous episode, “I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say”). I thought that the episode did some really great things that we haven’t seen much of this season and some other things that I don’t recall the series ever doing in a single episode. I felt like this episode made really great strides in getting the season to point where it now feels like the stories are moving. For me, the episode had a fair amount of propulsive energy. I think that is often lacking in other episodes.

Jane: I agree, Kerri. I’m glad we are writing on Episode 6. I am always the first to defend Treme. It is one of my favourite shows on TV. That being said, it pains me that Episodes 4 and 5 really disappointed me. They were very one-sided. Preachy even.  Episode 6 is getting back to the Treme I know and love.

Kerri: To me there are really only two types of characters on Treme: those who live in New Orleans and those who don’t. The people who don’t are usually idiots. I really find that hard to deal with and I have felt like we had been dealing with that a lot early this season. This episode did away with that entirely and was just a nicely crafted episode with a true beginning, middle and end.

Jane: I completely agree. I really appreciate how this episode veered away from the clear-cut good vs. evil storylines. The characters don’t have much room to maneuver when good and bad are so clear-cut.

Katie: Good point. I especially found that to be true of “I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say” (Episode 5). Annie’s parents were so obviously “not from New Orleans” and seemed to be speaking in generalities rather than actual words. Like, “But is Treme safe?”

Kerri: That’s exactly the scene I was thinking of, Katie. As excited as I was to see Isabella Rossellini, I was really disappointed with her character.

Jane: Ok here is my proclamation. My former fave Annie has finally begun to get on my nerves. Maybe it is because the Davis storyline isn’t doing anything for me. Or, maybe it is because Annie can’t sing. No matter how much I would like her to be able to sing.  Her parents visit really fueled my Annie dislike.

I was also disappointed, Kerri. Let‘s round these characters out, please!

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Email Roundtable #4 – Candy Corn Edition

/ kwoloszyn / 4 Comments

Kerri: There are a couple of Halloween episodes of television shows that made a pretty big impression on me when I was a kid.

Katie: A Halloween themed episode is almost certain to tickle my delight bone.

Jane: Up there on my list is the Community Halloween special where everybody is turned into Zombies. Although zombies aren’t my thing, I will watch a zombie apocalypse scored by ABBA songs any day!

Kerri: That Community episode is stellar, Jane, one of the more creative Halloween episodes I have seen in recent years

One of mine is the pretty much universally hated Halloween episode of My So-Called Life where Claire Danes meets a hot boy ghost! It was basically the exact opposite of the rest of the series, which, generally, is incredibly realistic. But I enjoyed it as a kid because I loved ghost stories and I also loved that the little sister, Danielle, dresses up as her older sister, Angela, for Halloween. That is something I remember doing myself, not for Halloween mind you…

Although, I think that what I like most about that episode is what I like about most Halloween episodes: Characters that you know well are allowed to act like completely different people. In fact, that’s what I like about Halloween the day too!

And obviously the “Treehouse of Horror” Simpsons episodes are also a childhood favourite. There is an awful lot you can do in an animated series that you can’t really do in a live action show. Basically, the rest of the series is forgotten for these episodes and the Simpson family and other folks in Springfield just play the parts of classic horror characters. My favourite: “The Shinning”.

Katie: The best Halloween episode, in my opinion, is from Season 2 of The Office (US). Michael was supposed to fire an employee by the end of the month but he left it until Halloween day. Then over the course of the episode he fires 3 or 4 unsuccessfully and 1 successfully.

Throughout the episode, Michael is such a dick but it’s only because he cares about everyone so much. He doesn’t want to fire anyone. The moment at the end of the episode when Michael is alone in his house, handing out candy to trick-or-treats is devastating. Continue reading →