"You're still such an odd little fruit. Is that a women's jacket?"

"Scrubs", 2001–Present. Three and a Half Stars.

When "Scrubs" first started to air, I thought it looked like another uninspired hospital show, so I never bothered to watch it. Then, in 2007, on a rare day that I was at the gym, a bunch of "Scrubs" episodes were being shown. That's when I fell in love with the show. It was funny and weird!

I got all caught up on the episodes by obsessively DVR-ing and watching all of the repeats that are constantly being re-aired on multiple stations. I was so happy because there were so many episodes to catch up on, and I thought the new-to-me hilarity would never end. But because I'm so good at being obsessive, and because reruns are so popular with TV channels, I was caught up in less than a year.

But thankfully, new episodes were still airing!

Unthankfully, starting a couple of seasons ago, and especially the entirety of the last season, the show began to bite the big one. The fresh and fun characters were getting old and predictable, J.D.'s enjoyable eccentricities started turning into pathetic zaniness, and it was like the show just didn't care about itself any more. I thought that last season was the final season, but it ended on that weird episode that felt like it should have been like the third or fourth episode of the season, and it was just so weird.

Surprisingly, that wasn't its final season though! It moved to a new network. And the latest season has started and is safely under way. I am loving it!

Lots of changes! And successful changes! The actual Sacred Heart hospital is a different building, and it's built closer to the "school". So there are two fresh locations right there. There are much-needed new story archs and general things that happen, but it still fits within the the "Scrubs" universe. Interesting of all, there's like a new "crew" of med students, and they work well with the already established characters. And, there's a new "J.D.", and she's a hot chick! Who is interesting and neurotic and funny! Her name is Lucy. In the first few episodes, we follow around both J.D. (who, after the first few episodes, is gone. It's sad, but very needed.) and this girl, Lucy, and we hear both of their inner monologues. Now we just hear Lucy's. I didn't think this would work out, but it totally does so far!

Dr. Cox? Still there. And still remains one of my most favorite characters on television. The Janitor? Not there anymore unfortunately, but the explanation of his departure was "classic"! Also unfortunately, there are two "bumbling" security guards that seem to have taken over his "place" on the show, and they're my least favorite parts of the new season. Turk is still there, and is currently looking for a new best friend at work. Elliot's there too, and is pregnant with J.D.'s baby. Ted left early on in the season, but did so on a high note. Todd's still totally there, which is most excellent. Dr. Kelso left, but didn't really, because now he's living in one of the dorm rooms. Haven't seen Carla, though she has been mentioned, but have seen Jordan. Other characters like Dr. Beardface are around in the background, so I don't know why I haven't seen Hooch yet. I hope he comes back. Hooch is crazy.

New main characters: Cole is hilarious (and James Franco's lil bro in real life). Already talked about Lucy, but yeah, she's endearing. I'm enjoying Drew. He's like the chill character, but is also interesting. Maya's the super hot Australian student that keeps cropping up. And Denise is back, as a resident physician and also these new kids' student advisor.

I give this show three and a half stars because of its previous awesomeness, and also its ability to bounce back from the brink of craptasticness. I might be in to this season so much because I had completely given up hope on this show, so things just might seem amazing in comparison. But, if you're like me and also completely gave up hope on this show, just give a few of the new episodes a shot and see what you think.

And I found this Scrubs wiki, if you're new to the series or just need to catch up on the extreme amount of characters.

..."But more importantly, you're dressed like a gladiator in a desk fort you built during a bad trip."

"Community", 2009–Present. Four Stars.

This show's not only the biggest surprise of the new shows on the Fall '09 line up, but also the funniest thing on television right now. When I first saw an ad for it, I was confused about what it was about, and whether it would be funny or painful (like most budding sitcoms nowadays). But it had me at the first episode. Wholly original, and just so darn funny.

Seriously, every single character on this show is hysterical. I don't have the patience to write about all of them. But really, the characters are great and the actors that play them are phenomenal.

I do have to mention Joel McHale. I only watched "Talk Soup" when John Henson was on it. He was the only one that made the show for me. And it has been disappointing to see his acting career plateau as him basically playing himself as news reporters in the background in movies. But! I started watching the latest "Talk Soup" variation, "The Soup", one day randomly. I loved that the show focused on all the horrors that reality television unleashes on to its viewers (not just talk shows). And, this Joel McHale dude was on it, and he was hilarious! Just the right amount of self-deprecating humor mixed in with self confidence, sarcastic-ness, and ability to rock a suit while remaining agile enough for bits of physical comedy. Also I'm starting to really like his leprechaun-y face. But then I got worried: Would Joel McHale follow in John Henson's footsteps by being on some weird show about a community college that might fail tremendously? Thankfully, no!

So, also, Chevy Chase is in this. Surprising, and, great! I've heard he's not the swellest gentleman ever (but who in Hollywood is?), but his ability to not take himself seriously in this show really works for him, and makes him funny to me again!

But! The best part in this fantastic show? SEÑOR CHANG!!

Hooray for Dan Harmon, the creator of this amazing show. He's worked on other such gems like "The Sarah Silverman Program" and "Channel 101"!

I can't wait for new episodes to start airing again. 1/14/2010. Yay!

“I’m gay. And you’re brother. And a ghost.”

"Andy Richter Controls the Universe," 2002–2003. Two and a Half Stars.

I didn’t watch this when it was on the air, so a friend let Tim and I borrow the three-disc DVD. The first few episodes were pretty painful; by Disc Two, though, things started rolling.

Though they didn’t roll very far. I love Andy Richter, ever since I almost touched him when I snuck off to a Conan O’Brien taping back in high school (he used to co-host the show; and look, he’s back on the show again!). But this show didn’t live up to his potential. Also, it felt very dated.

So, Andy Richter plays a character with the same name, who is a writer of technical manuals, but wants to be a creative writer so he has lots of fantasies. Most of these fantasies are “look at me, I’m soooooo wacky,” which is a turn off. And the plots are pretty corny and boring. There are some truly funny gems in each episode (some of the funniest parts are when the dead owner of the company Andy works at keeps popping up in his imagination), but over all, this show didn’t really grab me.

The characters… well I think it’s funny that there’s a really handsome dude (who isn’t that handsome, and wish it were Ted from "Better Off Ted"!). And I like that Phil from "Better Off Ted" (I really like that show!) plays Byron (with long hair. Yuck.). Don’t really care about the insensitive boss-lady friend, but I think it might be because of her boring 90’s make-up and hair-dos. Wendy is pretty interesting; she comes off as a flat character, but she has these weird quirky nuances…

But really, there's not much about these characters that makes me really care about them. I ended up liking them all right, but I didn't fall in love with them and I'm not devastated that the show's not on the air anymore.

One of my favorite episodes is the Sensitivity Training one. Also, there's another episode with Jones from "Reno 911!" in it!

And I really liked Conan’s crazy appearance on the show!

Ever notice in shows starring fat guys (THE DREW CAREY SHOW), the fat guys get way more play than fat guys in real life traditionally get? …I like that! If it’s your show, your allowed to do whatever you want. (I'm not picking on fat guys, I'm picking on Drew Carey. He's kind of a jerk.)

Anyways, this show had some great lines, and here are a few of my faves:
“This is the wettest I’ve ever been.” “You know, I’ve always wanted to hear that. But not from you.”
“I found a gay one-armed Native American little person.”
“It doesn’t involve sex, does it?” “No, it involves taking drugs.”

“I killed a swan yesterday. ...Took a shit on it.”

"The Mighty Boosh", 2004–2007 (so far?). Four Stars.

They started airing episodes on Adult Swim. My friend Aimee mentioned how much she loves the show and that she thought I’d like it too. I hate when people tell me that they think I’ll like something! It makes me instantly hate it. But I started watching.

And! I love it!!

I can’t believe no one had love enough to introduce me to this sooner!

After seeing some third season episodes on TV, Tim and I immediately rented all the Boosh DVDs. I like all three series that’ve come out. I like that each season’s different from one another. I like how silly-insane it is!

One of my absolute faves is “Nanageddon” (where this title quote’s from). Holy crap.

“Did you drop any Weather Report?”

“Get stuffed.”

“Fair enough.”

…Okay I’m also obsessed with Old Gregg! And Kirk!

I don’t really want to talk about this any more, because if you haven’t seen it yet, I don’t want to ruin it for you. I probably already have by gushing about it. But still check it out sometime if you like comedy and electro music and fabulously badly-good costumes.

"Can I get some pants?"

"Stargate Universe", 2009. Possibly Three Stars, so far.


I liked the Stargate movie. And I was a big fan of SG-1 and Atlantis, and am bummed that they’re both off the air (SG-1 I can understand since it’s been on for so long, but I think Atlantis still had weekly tune-in-ability!).

And now there’s ANOTHER Stargate show going on the air?

Will it be good? Or will it be a disaster.

Just saw the first episode. I didn’t mind it. It didn’t immediately grab me, but it didn’t repulse me either (I was afraid it would). It was two hours long, which is amount of time to establish the series plot and characters and relationships.

Yay, Carter and O’Neill make an appearance! And so does Daniel Jackson in video form! Eli seems like a lovable Rodney McKay (well, actually I like Rodney, but in general I mean!), so yay! I don’t get how everyone’s so suspicious of Rush. Did he do something horrible that I missed? I also don’t understand how everyone’s generally being bitchy at each other. Wouldn’t being on a moving, old, broken Ancient ship bring people together despite their differences to work toward a solution for survival??

I think it’s cool (and smart) that something new’s being done with the Stargate universe: Instead of purposely exploring new planets and galaxies, these people are transported to a moving, old, broken Ancient ship that hey have no control over. And seeing how this fleshes out is what really has me interested in checking out more of the series. And the first episode hasn’t deterred me from watching the next one, so looks like I’ll be giving this series s shot!

“I was going to say ‘Mini-Me,’ but I don’t think you’d get the pop reference.” “Don’t be daft, woman. Even I’ve seen the ‘Italian Job.’”

"Mystery!", 1980–Present. Four Stars.

My friend Sarah got me into Agatha Christie (and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!) books, so when I happened across a Miss Marple episode, I just had to watch it.

Firstly, I’d always meant to start watching Masterpiece Mystery! ever since I found out that Edward Gorey did the opening sequence (the one currently used is different from this one). How rad is that?? So obviously any show with an Edward Gorey intro has got to be amazing.

Also, ALAN CUMMING presents each episode!! How long has he been doing that??

I LOVE Miss Marple. Her portrayal on the series is much more docile-looking than the character I had envisioned while I read the books, but I like her more than my version! The story I saw was one that I’d read before, but I forgot how it ended; despite the program’s “dry” “English” feel, I was totally in to the story and was really surprised by the ending.

The next week, I caught another Miss Marple episode; again it was a story I was familiar with but was still shocked by the ending. Then I caught a third episode, it was great, too!

Became officially hooked on Miss Marple and Mystery! The next few episodes I saw were Poirot mysteries; I don’t like him as much as Miss Marple, but it’s still Agatha Christie, so it’s still very good.

But then! There were no more Agatha Christie mysteries. Instead, this “Inspector Lewis” character showed up. I gave him a chance. Was immediately turned off; everything about it looked pretty dated (could be the lighting, and the terrible clothes that most of the Oxford students were wearing), and Lewis looked like he was going to be annoying. I think I watched my first episode in 15-minute installments.

But I’m glad I stuck it out… because Inspector Lewis is amazing too! I like how Lewis is so down-to-earth, yet he works in Oxford and has to deal with the hoity-toitys. And DS Hathaway, who kind of came from a similar background as most of the people in Oxford, is also an outsider. So we’ve got two outsiders fighting against all the jerks in Oxford. I love it!

My absolute favorite episode so far is “Life Born of Fire” (where the title quotes from this entry is from). Not only was the premise for the story really interesting (and even though I guessed it, the ending is awesome), but we get to learn more about Hathaway.

And I have such a crush on Hathaway!!!