A Brief Rumination on South Park

I have no desire to ever review ‘South Park.’ And I don’t mean that in some uppity Parents Television Council kind of way, but instead because I consider the show to be unreviewable by me for reasons I don’t fully understand. I watch the show every week and have almost every year since it started. My very first piece of published writing was an editorial on why people should watch the show the week after the season premiere. It’s cuh-razy because the little kids say the swears! Actually scratch that. I got a poem published as the prelude to a book when I was 8. Suck it, struggling writers; I think my parents congratulated me with a trip to Golden Corral.

Still, as I watched the conclusion of the excellent, “The Coon and Friends” trilogy, I started thinking about the show and what I liked about it. I might be one of the world’s most immature 29 year-olds, but I also know I won’t laugh at any old thing set in front of me. In other words, when I went to that Golden Corral buffet, I didn’t just take one of everything, I left the carrots on the hot plate. Once I started thinking, I realized that what I like about ‘South Park’ is that I can fool myself into thinking that it’s matured with me.

Have you ever gone back and watched early episodes? It’s kind of painful. The animation is a lot worse and the cussing really is half of the jokes. Everything worked because, before then, it had never been done. Back then, saying things like, “oh my god, they killed Kenny,” or, “respect my authori-TAH” was earth-shattering. Oddly enough, this is where my admiration for Trey Parker and Matt Stone comes into play. They saw the limitations of what they were doing and kept an eye on making movies and longer story arcs. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was really well put-together and filled with great, catchy songs. They had already done the wheels-off Orgazmo and fired off BASEketball while the show was in its infancy. Each movie was a strong leap from the one before it, but nobody would have put any money on them perfecting high-concept silliness.

With the dawn of the new millennium, Parker and Stone began thinking bigger for the show. We saw multi-part episodes, Mr. Hanky, Towelie and the wonderful comeuppance of Scott Tenorman. At the same time, they became more self aware with episodes like, “Simpsons Already Did It,” and, “Trapped in the Closet.” Then, Trey and Matt unleashed, Team America: World Police in 2004 and made me happy and ronery all at the same time. I consider this a milestone because since then, many of my favorite episodes seemed to have perfected that balance of ‘South Park’ silliness and a more complex story. “Cartoon Wars I and II” was a fantastic explanation of what is funny and pleasing to audiences, and, in addition to explaining where ‘Family Guy’ got its ideas, it also winkingly admitted that people like shows that “don’t get all preachy and up [their] own ass with messages.”

Since this episode, most of my favorites have taken the epic story-telling approach. If you haven’t seen the following episodes enjoy laughing at distasteful comedy, you really need to use the internet machine to find them:

“With Apologies to Jesse Jackson”
“D-Yikes!”
“Night of the Living Homeless”
“Imagination Land I, II and III”
“Major Boobage”
“Canada on Strike”
“About Last Night…”
“Fishsticks”
“Margaritaville”
“The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs”
“You Have 0 Friends”
“Crippled Summer”

Why am I just listing episodes? Do I have a point? What is a horse shoe? Are there any horse socks? I think Trey and Matt have grown bored with making simple episodes. The fall season opener was some throwaway crap about NASCAR that I couldn’t remember five things about if you held a gun to my head. It was no bueno. But, if you give them three episodes of space, they make a superhero story that is equal parts ridiculous and sublime. Is this the future of the show? Does this mean they are winding this down for bigger things? Comedy Central will probably pay them for as long as they want the money, but I figured I would at least kind of slap these ramblings up and see what everyone else thought. Until next time… MintberrrrryCRUNCH!!!

Things We Like #14: Greg Giraldo

Comedy lost a great today. He’ll be missed.

It’s Always Sunny, “Dennis Gets Divorced”: I’ve made a huge mistake.

I don’t even know where to begin. Thursday’s episode of Sunny wasn’t the best episode ever, but it hit on all its strengths, and even on an off day, it always leaves me satisfied and smiling (hey-oh!). I’m not breaking new ground by saying that the characters are what drive this show’s success, but even at the dawn of season six, I’m still loving everything that makes Frank, Dee, Mac, Charlie and Dennis the funniest assholes on TV.

And each of them had their moment in this episode, beginning with Dennis’ dismissive exchange with his new wife Maureen Ponderosa as he tries to treat her like one of his regular conquests. “We’re married. I’m psyched, dude, that’s great. No, totally.” At this point, Dennis isn’t thinking that the marriage was a mistake… he just seems to be constantly forgetting that he’s married in the first place.

Later that morning, Dennis is at the bar with the gang, and we find that the newlywed glow has faded from Frank and Charlie’s sham gay marriage as well. Plus, Sweet Dee is having an affair with Bill Ponderosa, but it’s okay – she’s not married, so she’s not doing anything wrong. This is where Dee gets her moment as she tries to nonchalantly let the gang know that Bill is obsessed with her! Calling and texting all the time and even buying her a car! As a girl, I can empathize with her desire to be part of the boys’ club, but as someone who’s not tall, blonde or thin, I think she should shut-the-hell-up-because-there’s-no-way-someone-that-gorgeous-could-ever-ever-be-a-loser-and-who-do-these-Always-Sunny-douchebags-think-they-are-trying-to-make-that-shit-believable-I-mean-seriously?

*Ahem*

Anyway, Charlie and Frank are a little underutilized in this episode, but we do get one excellent Charlie moment where he admits that he signed the pre-nup Frank gave him because he thought it was the phone bill. It makes perfect Charlie-sense, and in fact, I’m going to start using the term Charlie-sense, because there are certain things, like signing the phone bill, that just make Charlie sense – like when you’re really drunk or tired or unfocused, they’d fly right by you because all the pieces make sense individually, but if you’re firing on all cylinders (which six seasons have shown us that Charlie isn’t), you realize that the finished product is not so much a model airplane as a piece of macaroni artwork created by a kid who wears a helmet and eats paste by the fistful.

I do love the twisted logic of these characters. Mac is mad at Dennis for throwing him out of the apartment, but hey, Dennis is mad at Mac for not throwing him a bachelor party, so a belated bachelor party where Mac foots the bill is really the only way to set things right. At the strip club, Mac gets his moment when he’s mad at the others for not taking his motorcycle-revving dance move seriously. Predictably, Mac and Dennis get drunk and confront Maureen about the marriage, which prompts her to start beating herself in a hilarious shout-out to the movie Fear (which came out fourteen years ago, if you want to feel old).

In the end, Charlie’s pedophile-lawyer uncle drops by to help with Dennis’ divorce (spoiler alert: he didn’t help), and we get a fun call-back to the lawyer the gang terrorized throughout last season. I love that it’s just as much fun to see the schadenfreude delivered on the gang as it is to see them dish it out. There are shows that speak to our inner child, shows that speak to our inner romantic, but Always Sunny will always speak to my inner dirtbag (I typed asshole first, and then douchebag, but both had the potential to convey the, uh, wrong message; I think you get what I mean).

Things We Like #13: The Sklar Brothers

You don’t understand. If you’re not subscribing to the Sklarbro Country podcast, the terrorists win. Just trust me. And them. But more importantly me.

Between Two Ferns: Steve Carell

For those who haven’t seen it yet. Did you guys know Steve Carell did comedy, too?

All Good Things…

Tonight we say goodbye to one of the best shows in the history of television. Goodbye, Lost. There will never be another show like you, although that won’t stop ABC from trying to find one.

Oh yeah. I’ve got more of this stuff coming, too, for those of you who still care.

Thursday Night Comedy Catch-Up: The Office

The name says it all. There’s no way I can catch up by writing out full reviews of every episode of every show I’m behind on, so NBC’s Thursday night comedies are getting the short shrift, with my thoughts about the last few episodes all lumped together. But on the bright side, my new house is looking awesome. Mediocrity. Enjoy.

I’ve come to the conclusion that The Office is an unforgiving bitch goddess. She gives with one hand and takes with the other. After a more or less solid episode in “Secretary’s Day,” it yanked the rug out from under us with “Body Language,” setting up what has to be Michael’s most unbelievable relationship yet.

At the center of many of The Office’s problems is Michael Scott. I’ll explain in a roundabout way. I think Erin’s a likable character, but having said that, I still thought Michael’s attitude toward her for much of last week’s episode was really funny. She’s kind of a rube? Hilarious! She’s the new Andy. She annoys Michael so much that he can barely bring himself to talk to her (for this episode at least). But later, when he finds out how upset she is about the whole Andy/Angela situation, he does his best to make her feel better, sitting and joking with her outside. I like this Michael. The believable, adult Michael. But this week that Michael disappears, and we’re left with the weird kid in

It’s consistency, or rather inconsistency. We’ve seen a wide range of Michaels over the past six years, and now he’s basically whatever the writers need him to be that week. Forget what he did in the last episode, or whatever he’ll be doing in the next. And Michael isn’t the only character used this way. Pam holding out hope until the very end that maybe, just maybe, Donna had some interest in Michael just didn’t ring true. After how pissed off she got after learning that Michael was dating her mother, I have a hard time believing that Pam is much concerned with his personal life.

But because this is how the show works now, short of getting rid of the characters and trying to start fresh, I don’t think there’s a quick fix for these problems. I would to hate to see the show lose these characters, have the show take place at a Sabre training facility and change its name to Scrubs: Med School. I mean, wouldn’t that SUCK??!? It’s entirely possible that this is just a slump that the show will pull itself out of. It’s coming back for a seventh season, so let’s all meet back up in a year and compare notes.

Now that we’ve talked a bit about Michael, let’s move on to Donna. After Michael sat her in the office all afternoon and acted like he’d rather be spending his time with her in his own personal sex dungeon, she still waited out in the parking lot for him after their meeting. I’m guessing that there’s either something wrong with her, or she’s playing Michael for something. With only a few episodes left this season, getting used to her character probably isn’t a good idea.

A few other random observations about these past two episodes. There was no mention made about Andy and Erin’s relationship this week, which I thought was a little strange. But it’s something the show has done a lot of this year. Jumping several episodes without mentioning potential love interests that it had set up.

Am I the only one who thinks that the big reveal of the show is that Kevin is actually mentally handicapped? The whole Cookie Monster thing provided a few yuks, but did anyone pay attention to the things he was saying? What’s the difference between a tostada and a chalupa? Well, fine. I don’t really know myself. But for me — and I’m really the only one I can speak for — his character’s just become too stupid for me. And the whole thing from “Happy Hour” with Pam’s chest, I’m still having nightmares.

The Office is a show that on the surface is still enjoyable, and funnier than a lot of comedy on TV these days. But they’ve really fallen into a rut this past year, and with it being one of the only successful comedies on NBC (the only successful comedy, depending on who you ask), it’ll probably be around for a while yet. We’ll see if it can pull itself up.

LOSTWATCH!! – “I think I’m remembering stuff.”

Eccentric millionaire and shut-in Hugo Reyes has it rough. He spends most of his time at award ceremonies, being honored for his various and sundry philanthropic work.

After this latest ceremony, his mother surprises him with an unexpected announcement.

So Hurley goes on his date.

And there went his first impression. Unfortunately, things don’t get much better.

Something’s obviously wrong with Libby, and it isn’t long before someone comes to take her away.

Now that Hurley sees there’s something wrong with her — and realizes they could never, ever be together — he must have her. His obsession consumes him and he sinks into a deep depression. And it’s in the throes of that depression that Desmond finds him stuffing his face in the middle of a Mr. Clucks.

Maybe Desmond’s got a point, or maybe the crazy Scotsman is just craaazy. But he does give Hurley an idea. If Libby can’t come to him, he’ll go to Libby, and visit her in the barrel! Or the bush. But then there would need to be two of them. Wait—nevermind. To the mental institution! Hurley’s first obstacle, getting past the stuffy, old institution keep!

Luckily, Hurley’s wise to the cut of his jib and makes himself look like a nubile fifteen year old.

Ugh. Haunting. Anyway, Libbey’s pretty happy to see him. And even happier to hear Hurley’s idea.

Well, maybe not that idea. But the next one is pretty good.

So they go to the beach that very moment!

And who’s that, spying our two lovers from afar?

But Desmond isn’t done yet. He’s spotted again, across town, spying on a bunch of kids Mr. Locke at the high school. But never fear. Mr. Linus is on the case!

W. T. F? Anyway, on the island Hurley is sharing a different kind of special moment with Libby when he’s interrupted by that jerk, Ilana.

And that’s exactly what happens. Ilana’s so sure that her idea is the best. She took some dynamite from the Black Rock. How hard could it be to use it to blow up the Ajira plane, right?

Ilana blowing herself up seemed so unlikely, that when Hurley volunteers to take over as leader, NO ONE OBJECTS.

And off they go. Jack looks resigned. Richard looks frustrated. Miles looks nervous. Lapidus is still there? And Sun, well, she still can’t speak English.

Things aren’t much better in Locke’s camp. After sitting still for days, Sawyer’s gotten restless, and Locke is sick of his lip.

Things perk up a bit when Sayid comes back to camp with a special surprise for Locke.

Locke tells Sayid that he has something to show Desmond, and the two go off alone into the jungle. As they’re walking, Desmond hears someone following them, but why the hell is the show throwing out more questions with only FIVE EPISODES LEFT? Seriously, who is this kid? And why is he dressed like one of the Lost Boys?

Anyway, they finally reach their destination. And what is it that Locke just HAD to show Desmond? It’s a…well? Where could this be going?

And PUSH!

His mission accomplished, Locke heads back to camp, and to more of Sawyer’s questions.

But wait. Who’s that coming out of the jungle?

Lazy Sunday

Because honestly, I don’t know what else to put some of this stuff under. Please pardon the advertisement clustercuss YouTube is slowly becoming.

LOSTWATCH!! – “What if this wasn’t supposed to be our life?”

Hey, does anyone remember that Desmond guy? No? Me neither. But it turns out that Widmore had him hidden on his submarine to use in his nefarious scheme. Let’s watch!

They’re not going to be able to do much with Desmond acting like this, so Widmore decides to move his SECRET TEST up a bit…like NOW!

So Desmond is prepped inside a box that looks like the raptor cage from Jurassic Park. Once everything’s ready, they flip the switch.

The discharge is so powerful that it drains energy from all over the station!

And we fade to white to reveal…

Desmond decides she isn’t worth the trouble and finds his limo driver. It ain’t no thang, because let’s face it, Desmond’s got problems, but a b***h ain’t one. Ya heard? Anyway, if he really needs a woman, Minkowski’s got it taken care of.

Desmond tells Minkowski to just drive him to the boss’s office. Just who is this boss, you may be wondering. Well, Desmond’s boss is none other than…Zoe?

Just kidding. It’s Widmore.

Widmore sends Desmond to pick up Charlie Pace, who’s hair is all buzzed and gross now. Charlie’s band is supposed to play with Widmore’s son at some fancy-schmancy party. What follows is the dumbest and most cliched scene we’ve ever seen in Lost.

Inside some sh***y little dive bar…

Which he’ll do on his way to Widmore’s expensive, rich-people party. As they’re driving, Charlie’s band SOULSTORM comes on the radio.

A sudden attack of conscience forces Desmond back down to rescue Charlie. But as he reaches the car, he sees a mysterious vision.

Desmond calls “the boss” (his secret name for Widmore) to tell him the bad news.

Widmore’s a busy man and can’t be bothered with things like talking to his family, so Desmond’s charged with disappointing him. He doesn’t care because there are much weightier things to be discussed!

How the hell did Faraday make that jump? I had a dream I made out with Scarlett Johansson once, but that doesn’t mean I broke into her house the next day to tell her that we were lovers in another life (yes I did). All I’m saying is that it’s very convenient that he figured out EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON. And from what, deja vu?

So Desmond goes to meet Penny, who for some reason isn’t scared to death by being approached by a man in a completely empty sports stadium.

And of course Desmond quantum leaps just as he’s about to bag the girl. When he comes to on the island, he’s a changed man.

Huh? But suddenly…!

Desmond just watches her go, that big, charming Scotsman grin plastered on his face.

Yep. That’s the one. When he gets back to the limo, he has a question for Minkowski.