The League, "The Expert Witness"

This is the perfect show to accompany Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX's Thursday night line up.  It is highly underrated, maybe because its first season last year wasn't always the greatest.  People probably wrote it off after a couple episodes, but I highly encourage anyone interested in a good comedy to give this show a chance.

It helps that the cast has at least 2 semi-popular comedians: Nick Kroll and Paul Scheer.  These guys are mostly known from FunnyorDie.com skits, and Scheer has been on 30 Rock, Reno 911, and Party Down.

Rightly so, this episode featured a lot of Andre (Scheer) as the "expert witness" in Ruxin's (Kroll) latest case as a defense lawyer. The jokes kept rolling as Andre insisted on wearing creepy glasses to appear more professional, when all it really does is make him look like he belongs on To Catch A Predator.


The 3 other main characters Taco, Pete, and Kevin are consistently funny as well.  Taco, especially, is an eccentric character with odd but entertaining fascinations.  This episode in particular had him determined to find someone to paint a nude portrait of him to share with a courtroom sketcher.

Alia Shawkat, also known as Maeby Funke from Arrested Development, was a guest star in tonight's episode of The League.  That was the deciding factor for me to write about this show, because where else would I get to declare my love for another show that never got the recognition it deserved.  Fox had cancelled it after a short 3rd season.  I can only hope that FX keeps The League for at least 2 more seasons.

Judge for yourself when you pick up season 1 out on DVD now! 

Community, "Aerodynamics of Gender"

This week's episode had the main group of characters split up.  Annie, Britta, and Shirley were unexpectedly joined by Abed in their new women's studies class.  Meanwhile, Jeff and Troy find a "secret" garden on the campus after playing a simple game of basketball with Pierce.

The plot with the girls and Abed soon involved a group of mean girls, led by the guest star Hilary Duff.  The mean girls intimidated them at first, but predictably, they soon turned very mean themselves.  This particular storyline was obviously very similar to the movie Mean Girls.

Abed has a unique personality, which you would know if you have watched this before.  Once he becomes a mean girl too, it gets pretty funny.  To add a sitcom feel to the episode, we see inside Abed's brain in a RoboCop way as he "scans" people and classifies almost everyone as bitches.

Jeff and Troy met a worker named Joshua in this garden. There is also a trampoline there, which they end up jumping on for hours.  Joshua enlightens them about this area, which is a place of peace, and instructs them they must keep it a secret.  Once they see Pierce in school again, he can't quite figure out what is up with them.  He guesses that they are even on weed, because of their blissful and laid back attitudes.

Pierce finds them in their garden, and ultimately becomes the reason they are banned from it.  Joshua has the funniest reveal of the episode, when he turns out to have been a racist all along but Troy and Jeff had never noticed.

Quirky story lines like magical gardens are to be expected from a show like Community, so if you need a light-hearted comedy, I would strongly suggest tuning in on Thursdays at 8PM on NBC.

Pick up season 1 for under 20 bucks on Amazon!

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "The Gang Gets A New Member"

Jason Sudekeis from Saturday Night Live guest starred on this week's episode of Always Sunny as the gang's long lost member.

The guys set out to reconnect with their old pal, Schmitty, after opening a time capsule they had put together 10 years earlier.  Charlie is hesitant to hang out with Schmitty though.  The reason becomes obvious when Charlie finally gets so fed up with Schmitty and confronts Mac and Dennis to either get rid of Schmitty or he will leave.  They choose Schmitty, of course.

Meanwhile, Dee is revisiting her high school drama teacher after she uncovered a letter she wrote to her future self.  She had hoped that she would be a famous actress in Hollywood by now, and instead she's pregnant and working in a Philadelphia dive bar.

Dee is asked to give an inspirational speech to a class of students, where she is hilariously ignored by everyone.  Charlie finds her at the high school, and applies for a job as the janitor there so that him and Dee can be best friends.

The antics that ensue with Dennis, Mac, Frank and Schmitty are predictable, but definitely make for one of the better episodes so far this season.  Charlie steals the laughs when he uses a picture of Bruce Jenner in the Olympics as his resume for janitor at the high school.

It becomes obvious to the viewers by the end of the episode why the gang had gotten rid of Schmitty years ago.  He is actually far too normal to put up with their odd activities, like wearing matching watches, so that when put together, they make up a four leaf clover.

The guys find Charlie mopping floors in the school, and beg for him to come back to the gang.  I am proud to say that he stood up for himself and is happy with his current job, but we all know he will be right back at the bar with the rest of the guys and Dee next Thursday.

Add season 5 of Always Sunny to your holiday wish list! 

The Office, "Costume Contest"

The Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch did not disappoint viewers with this latest Halloween episode.

Something new to this Halloween on The Office was a contest for the best costumed employee to win a coupon book worth "$15,000 in savings".  In past years, there was no such incentive.  If anything, this coupon book only drew out even more creative costumes for everyone
My favorite costumes:

• Michael - MacGruber, the recurring SNL parody of MacGyver
• Ryan - Justin Beiber
• Gabe - Lady Gaga
• Darryl - Dracula, or according to Michael, "Blacula"
• Kevin - Michael Moore
• Jim, Pam, & Baby Cece - Popeye, Olive Oyl, & Swee' Pea

As true viewers can remember, we rarely have ever seen Jim get dressed up for Halloween.  I think the most effort he ever put into a costume previously was in season 2, when he had 3 circles of paper on his regular button-up shirt and called himself "3 Hole Punch Jim".  The biggest surprise in this season 7 episode then was the reveal of Jim in his Popeye costume that even Pam couldn't convince him to wear at first.  

In true Michael Scott fashion, Michael found a way to ruin the "party" because he felt that Darryl was being wronged by the company.  It comes as a shock to him when he finds out the truth that Darryl received credit for the idea he contributed.  Michael seems to have found a new office enemy in Gabe, which is fine by many of the viewers (myself included), as Gabe is one of the most disappointing new characters in the last few seasons.  

We were given a tiny hint that Darryl has big plans for his career at Dunder Mifflin.  We can only hope that means he just may be promoted to regional manager in May.  *fingers crossed!*

Keep your DVD collection up to date by adding season 6!