Marty started off last week’s episode of Survivor: Nicaragua telling us how he’s got it all figured out. The game is going exactly as he planned it, he’s completely masterminding the Espada tribe, and he can see two or three tribal councils ahead, so they might as well just give him the million dollars now.
WHOOPS!
Unfortunately, Marty failed to realize that this strategy doesn’t work when you systematically vote off the alpha males in your tribe, leaving your team of geezers severely weakened to the point that the producers have two choices a) take the Espada tribe behind the barn and put them out of their misery or b) mix up the tribes. Not surprisingly, they chose option B. Should have seen that one coming Marty. We take back the million dollars.
So with Marty shifting over to La Flor, along with Jill and Jane (whose unabashed glee at the swap was the first annoying thing she’s done all season), Tyrone took up the mantle of chief of Espada, giving the new arrivals the lowdown on camp protocol. While Tyrone was clearly the premier physical player for Espada, Marty was the bigger vocal presence, so it was interesting to see Tyrone step into the breach, especially after he seemed content to let Jimmy J, Jimmy T and Marty fight amongst themselves. But Tyrone, perhaps feeling a bit paternal, decided to be the silverback, and tell the new guys how things are done. Honestly, the rules and regulations for Espada camp didn’t sound all that outrageous, pretty practical really, and Tyrone didn’t deliver the orientation with a condescending or hostile tone. But the younglings, led by Benry and Chase, were going to take any excuse to vote off their biggest male competitor, and when Tyrone appeared to overindulge on the chicken he initially protested killing and cooking, he put the final nail in his own coffin. Always remember, Tyrone: LOOSE TYRONES SINK SHIPS.
In things-that-I-love-meeting-other-things-that-I-love news, reports indicate that Rashida Jones is close to joining Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller’s forthcoming Muppet motion picture, The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made (in addition, the adorable Amy Adams and the cute Chris Cooper are also in talks to come on board). Now that Jones appears to be in, we can only assume that Paul Rudd will not be far behind. And when you have Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones there’s a pretty good chance that you’re eventually going to see Judd Apatow and at least one member of The State. Rudd, we all know, is one of the key faces of Apatowian comedy, as well as frequent a collaborator with State members David Wain and Ken Marino (see: Role Models, Diggers). Jones, in addition to appearing in the Apatow-esque I Love You Man with Segel and Rudd (plus State member Tom Lennon), had a small role in Apatow’s masterwork Freaks and Geeks, and has shown up in State related productions Stella, The Ten and Wainy Days. So from there it’s only a matter of time before Jones, Rudd, Segel, Apatow, The State and the Muppets all team up. We already know that The State and the Muppets have a history together:
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One complaint: Sources say that Jones would portray an ABC exec in the movie. Between her roles on The Office and The Social Network, we think we’ve seen enough of her in business attire. No more blazers!
We might never know from whom Michael contracted herpes, or if the unsightly sore on his face was in fact the nasty little disease (although, we can probably trust Meredith’s expert diagnosis). But what we can surmise is that the unflattering blemish is perhaps the best thing that has ever happened to Michael, because it has put him on a path towards genuine self-reflection and, we can only hope, reconciliation with true love Holly Flax. Who ever heard of an STD bringing two people closer together?
Ah, the good old days, when TV characters could ask if someone was gay through a simple effeminate, flamboyant gesture meant to resemble of how every gay man ever acts. And for bonus points is David Schwimmer AS Ross Geller. Crossover alert!
Lesson learned: if you admire a sweater worn by someone of the same sex then you’re a big-time homo. Thanks Must See TV!
Well, Jimmy T, you got what you wanted last week, ousting TWO TIME SUPER BOWL WINNING NFL COACH Jimmy Johnson, because he was, in your own words “not a Jimmy T fan.” Well, be careful what you wish for Jimmy T, because with Jimmy Johnson out of the picture you sealed your own fate by NOT shutting up about how all you wanted was “one shot” and you just wanted “to be put in there” and see “some game time” and other things you say when you’re 6 years-old and terrible and your t-ball coach rightfully puts you in the outfield. The sports analogies sort of made sense when Jimmy Johnson was still around, but now that he’s gone they’re just plain grating, and pretty much illogical. As was Jimmy T as a whole in this episode, as he failed to grasp that he was digging his own grave, and followed Jimmy J right into the, well, graveyard.
So, Jimmy T, we hardly knew ye. Let’s look back at some of your finer moments:
Expanding on our earlier exposé on last weekend’s “Returns and Exchanges” sketch with Jay Pharoah curiously lingering in the background, we can now compare the broadcast version to the edited clip available on Hulu (the DVR that’s hooked up to our slingbox ran out of space and didn’t record the show, so please forgive this less than ideal screenshot taken with our Droid).
Every era has its own specific genre of TV show, and within that genre there’s a hierarchy: the forerunners, the second-rate but solid middle class and the imitators. For example, in the late ’90s you had shows like Friends and Seinfeld at the forefront of the “good-looking single young people in NY” genre, and then a second tier, with shows like Mad About You, that were good, not great, but still run for over 100 episodes, and then you had outright copycats like The Single Guy and It’s Like…You Know that burn out after one or two seasons. Or in the 1970s (as you can read much more about in the AV Club’s ‘70s Sitcom Primer), you had the top dogs like All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore, then a second level with series like Maude and Rhoda, and then the bottom rung with shows we’ve never heard of because we’re too young (but possibly including Bridget Loves Birney). Likewise, the late ’80s/early ’90s was the golden age for saccharine, safe, wholesome family sitcoms, a genre which basically dominated the airwaves from about 1986 until Seinfeld and Friends changed the game in the mid-’90s. Your preeminent shows in this era included The Cosby Show, Growing Pains and Full House, who were a cut above other successful shows like Who’s The Boss?, Family Matters and Major Dad; and then you had the bottom layer, cheap xeroxes and flashes in the pan like Baby Talk, Getting By, and Day By Day. Right there, in that second tier – the shows that never set the ratings world on fire, programs that are not looked back on as innovators in the genre, and yet ran for many seasons in first run broadcast and in syndication – you can find The Hogan Family. Premiering in 1986 as Valerie, starring Valerie Harper (of MTM and Rhoda, mentioned above), and morphing into Valerie’s Family and ultimately the Hogan Family after Harper left the show due to creative differences following the second season (killed off via car accident on the show), the show ran for 6 seasons with 110 ten episodes across two networks. It never won any major awards, was never critically acclaimed, and was never atop the Nielsens. And yet it was a staple on NBC for many seasons (paired with ALF, natch), and could be seen for years in reruns on local channels and basic cable networks. Buoyed by Sandy Duncan, who stepped in for Harper as Aunt Sandy (creative!), it was a workhorse; a dependable, middle of the road sitcom that perhaps defines the era. Also, no other show featured Edie McClurg and Willard Scott.
Before he was Michael Bluth, Jason Bateman was David Hogan, and if not for the brilliance of Arrested Development (which couldn’t be further from The Hogan Family on the sitcom scale) that could have been his most memorable role (besides Teen Wolf Too. And this). But The Hogan Family is where he cut his chops (and for which his work as director qualified him as the youngest ever member of the DGA), and you can see a little bit of oldest brother David Hogan in most responsible brother Michael Bluth, both of whom often had to play the father figure in their respective TV families.
Indeed, one could argue that Bateman’s finest work can be found in the Hogan Family episode “Burned Out, as the Hogan clan, still reeling from the loss of their matriarch, must watch helplessly as their house burns down, the result of a rogue lamp in the attic (because that sort of thing happened in those days). Scroll to approximately 6:00 to see Bateman work his magic.
Interesting bit of trivia about this episode, courtesy of Wikipedia:
The episode had a commercial tie-in with the McDonald’s Corporation, who financed the expenses accrued in damaging the set for the fire. As a sponsor that evening, McDonald’s commercials aired promoting fire safety.
Because that makes sense.
McDonald’s, we know we speak for Jason Bateman when we say thank you. Thank you.
And, because it’s somewhat relevant, let us again remind you about Justine Bateman.
Marty started off last week’s episode of Survivor: Nicaragua telling us how he’s got it all figured out. The game is going exactly as he planned it, he’s completely masterminding the Espada tribe, and he can see two or three tribal councils ahead, so they might as well just give him the million dollars now.
Jumped The Snark 