Summarizations and recapitulations of television series
Now we are in the home stretch of Season 1. There were some wobbly episodes in the middle, and some so so performances from the main cast (Jerry Doyle) and some of the guest actors, but this is the start … Continue reading The Last Best Hope… -“Babylon Squared”
After a short recap, we drop right back into the action, and it turns out the large mysterious ship from the cliffhanger in the first episode is an Earth Alliance warship, the EAS Hyperion. Captain Ellis Pierce, played by Ron … Continue reading The Last Best Hope…-“A Voice in the Wilderness(Part 2)
Two parters used to be a big part of broadcast television. Before serialized storytelling caught on as the default in most dramas, a two parter gave extra incentive to come back in a week, to see how a bunch of … Continue reading The Last Best Hope…-“A Voice in the Wilderness(Part 1)
This episode feels like a pretty good standard episode of a scifi show. We have an alien culture that is being difficult to work with, and we have a telepath that has to decide on what to do with her … Continue reading The Last Best Hope…-“Legacies”
Product placement is one of those crappy parts of television and film. It was something that greatly offended me as a young show watcher. When I got older I learned to live with it if it meant a show I … Continue reading The Last Best Hope…-“Eyes”
Rewatching episode 15 “Grail” was something of a milestone in my rewatch of Season 1. It is the first episode that I really dont have much of an opinion on one way or the other. It is basically fine. It … Continue reading The Last Best Hope…-“Grail”
After soaring for two weeks in a row, Babylon 5 gets brought back down to Earth so to speak by “TKO”. This is probably one of the most hated episodes of Babylon 5, and easily one of the worst in … Continue reading The Last Best Hope…-“TKO”
In which Stan tries to become the greatest inventor ever and we say goodbye to an Era… Well, Dadders, we’ve reached the end of this particular iteration of American Dad! and it goes out on a weird note. A blend … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 22, “What Great Advancements!”
In which Stan tries to help Steve and American Dad! squanders an interesting idea along the way… A lot of American Dad! plots hang on the Stan/Steve dynamic. But what has somewhat shifted in the later years is a father … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 21, “Guardian”
In which Steve, Klaus and Lewis get Zuckerberged, with singing along the way American Dad! has always had smatterings of song and dance sprinkled in along the way (if you haven’t listened to the released album I suggest you do … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 20, “Silicon Steve”
In which Rogu is sick Rogu as an concept is a specific lampshading or parody of the Cousin Oliver trope, a “cute” character brought in to change the dynamic of a show. Rogu is specifically designed to be off-putting and … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 19, “The Sickness”
In which Stan tries to have a claim to fame When you’re a long running show, you tend to repeat ideas and try to put a new spin on them. Unless you’re Law & Order, repeating ideas can get tiresome … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 18, “Oh Brothel, Where Art Thou”
In which Hayley needs to access her feelings It’s been a strong Hayley focused back half of American Dad’s season. But we once again reach into the well and get some more character work and even a bit of lore … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 17, “Pork ‘N Feelings”
In which Hayley helps Wheels and the Legman on a case I was thinking about this episode (and Wheels and the Legman as a whole) in terms of other shows. A show like Family Guy or The Simpsons would probably … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 16, “The Mystery of the Missing Bazooka Shark Babe”
In which Stan wants to live forever Stan is a vain person. One who takes excessive pride in his appearance and his masculinity. At least depending on the episode. And here is such an episode. We have Stan trying like … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 15, “Get Him to the Greek Lifestyle”
In which Hayley goes Satanic Hayley is a character originally conceived as a “liberal” counterpart to Stan’s 2000s Conservatism. This was the premise going into the show, a sort of All in the Family meets Family Guy (All in the … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 14, “The Girl Who Cried Space Jam”
In which Francine and Roger take a peep Francine is depressed because no one wants to tell her anything or spend any time with her. Steve won’t tell her where he bought his shirt (Amazon), Hayley is addicted to her … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 13, “The Clearview Motel”
In which Francine takes up gardening and unearths some Tremor worms Escalation is the name of the game in American Dad! I think almost all the best plots start off fairly benignly and then escalate to something weird, while remaining … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21, Episode 12, “The Legend of Mike Madonia, the Rototiller Man”
In which Jeff is both Jeff and money… Jeff has been part of the fabric of the show since the beginning, even if he wasn’t technically a Smith until he and Hayley got married. And he’s always been the dumb, … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21 Episode 10 “Idiot Rich”
In which this yearly custom becomes a tedious tradition… When American Dad! first started doing its Christmas episodes, it was born of the same ideas of the overall ethos of the show: “making fun of American Conservatism while also being … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21 Episode 9 “Nasty Christmas”
In which American Dad! gets to emphasize the Dad part We all presumably have parents right? And what those parents do for us or not do for us defines who we are and who we become. On TV that usually … Continue reading American Dad! Season 21 Episode 8 “Piece by Piece”
