2 Broke Girls - 1x06 - And the Disappearing Bed

This one was pretty amusing. Still had it's godawful share of godawful jokes, but it looks like the cast and writers are finally getting into the groove of things. Earl is being integrated into the jokes a lot less awkwardly/non-racistly. Caroline has her trademark can-do attitude finally bite her in the ass. And Max, for the first time since the pilot, shows us why she's someone we would actually want to be friends with. She vigorously defends Caroline against a stingy tipper, without hesitation. She willingly opens up and share,about her relationship with Johnny, and takes responsibility for screwing up what should have been a simple talk with Peaches. All in all, this friendship is starting to feel real and not just like the result of sitcom-design-by-committee. It'd still be nice to see the day when Max finally gets on board with this whole bakery thing, instead of letting Caroline do all the damn work, and then whining about passing out a business card, but baby steps, I guess.

How I Met Your Mother - 7x07 - Noretta

Holy crap, there was some goddamn nightmare fuel here. I'm honestly surprised it wasn't next week's Halloween episode.

It's a psychological house of horrors as Marshall and Lily struggle with the concept of having sex with their respective dads, Barney and Nora's date is met with a series of improbable tragedies not seen since an 80's teen movie, and  Kumar   Kutner  Kevin finally has a dawning realization of the fucked up situation he's finding himself in since he agreed to date his patient.

And we sit through this trauma show for the sake of the parade of loveable past guest stars that only stay for cringe inducing scenes. Bring a bottle of whiskey and join me, why don't you?

Up All Night - 1x06 - Birth

No new real ground is tread here, but we get a reliably amusing birthin' story, some great poop jokes, awesome line deliveries from Christina Applegate, Nick Cannon stepping up and getting noticed, and...did I mention the poop jokes?

It also really confirms that unlike a lot of sitcoms this season, this show actually has a singular voice with a story to tell behind it. That story may not be entirely original, but it's told well, and in an entertaining manner, so I've got no regrets.

Also, seriously, poop.

2 Broke Girls - 1x05 - And the 90's Horse Party

After accidentally picking up Max's landline phone and having to deal with a persistent creditor, Caroline becomes concerned about Max's staggering debts. Desperate to find a way to help her friend dig herself out of her hole, even as Max ignores and belittles her attempts, Caroline hits upon the idea of throwing an ironic hipster party with a cover charge. Thus is born the 90's Pop-Up Horse Party, where hipsters dress in styles I've never seen before, dance to bad 90's music I don't actually recognize, and pay $100 to ride a horse. Unfortunately for them, this wasn't an 80's party, so for forking over a benjamin all they got was to literally ride a horse.

How I Met Your Mother - 1x06 - History vs. Mystery

Ted, decides to try and go stalking-free on his latest date. Only for Marriage-After-the-First-Date-Ted, would that be considered a wacky idea.

Marshall and Lily, meanwhile, struggle with deciding whether to learn about the sex of their baby before it's born. Or, well, they struggle with Barney insisting they're struggling.

Dr.  Kumar  Kutner, on the other hand, struggles not to look like a super creepy, uncomfortable, paternalizing weirdo.

Everyone fails.

Because I CAN'T UNSEE

Up All Night - 1x05 - Mr. Bob's Toddler Kaleidoscope

Wow, this one is extremely late (for whatever value of late, late passes for around here). Apparently recaps are harder when your sinus and nasal cavities conspire to evict you from your own body. It's cool though, I just picked up some Kaleidoscope from Dr. Bob down on the corner, and now I'm writing four recaps at once. Unfortunately, they're all this same exact post. Yeah, I thought it'd be better too.

Luckily, what this recap lacks of timeliness and cleverness, this episode makes up for in spades. We get adorable buffoonery, an amusing Ava B-plot, and the best fictional-band-that-should-be-real since Scrantonicity.

2 Broke Girls - 1x04 - And the Rich People Problems

Another episode better than last weeks. There's continuing decrease in the ratio of bad jokes to good ones (though hoo boy, there are some stinkers). This show is slowly inching it's way to the potential it showed in the pilot.

And Earl gets lines that don't have to do with being black! Oleg makes a decent joke! Han's entire subplot doesn't revolve around not knowing the nuances the English language like a native speaker! It's a miracle!

How I Met Your Mother - 7x05 - Field Trip

Yay! Kumar's back!
Ew! He's dating Robin!

Yay! Ted's doing something different with his hair!
Ew! It's the hair on his chin.

Yay! It's another simultaneously pretty great, disturbing, and educational episode.
Ew! Kumar's still dating Robin. His patient.

Join me on this roller coaster ride. I promise Ewoks.

Recaps are HARD

Seriously, folk (singular. I'm not assuming multiple readers here). I'm averaging about four hours per half-hour comedy. Obviously that turnaround time has to go down, and it will, but in the meantime, just to push myself along, I thought I'd do quick (hah) takes on the rest of the shows I'm watching this season, even the ones I'm not caught up on!

Spoilers for ...a metric butt-load of shows follow.

Up All Night - 1x04 - New Car

This show is definitely moving in an upward trajectory. The jokes are just as funny, if not funnier than last week. We're seeing different sides to the characters that make them seen more three-dimensional. Cast charm is finally gelling with each other. And we even got to bring back some buffoonery, but in a way that's actually endearing and funny. Stay tuned for a very special episode of Up All Night, where we discuss the dangers of locker room horseplay...

Free Agents - 1x04 - Rebranding

Alex dips his toe into the dating pool (and gets something stuck on his foot), Helen tries to make sure absolutely no one in the world expresses an honest, heartfelt emotion, and Nerdy and Sleazy are actually somewhat relevant to the plot this time.

No they aren't.

2 Broke Girls - 1x03 - And Strokes of Goodwill

This wasn't so bad. Still a crapload of horrible jokes, but also a bunch of decent ones, and we didn't have to write off half the entire episode like last week. There wasn't much in the way of a central plot in this one, and that actually worked to its advantage. It was more a bunch of slices of Max and Caroline's new life together, which meant we got a lot of nice character moments and non-forced humor.

How I Met Your Mother - 7x04 - The Stinson Missile Crisis

Robin has FINALLY decided to get some much needed therapy for her bouts of ultra-violence. The word decided might be sugar-coating it though, as super-awesome-surprise-guest-star-Kal Penn! points out: she's in court-ordered therapy for assaulting a woman. Who thought that trapping Robin in a room and forcing her to talk about her feelings was a valid way to CURE her violent tendencies? Good luck, Kumar. We're all counting on you.

Free Agents - 1x03 - Dr. Hu

Unprofessional-ism abounds this week as Helen dates her almost psychiatrist, Stephen plays mind games with his staff, and Alex is a complete tool to his assistant Emma. Admittedly, Emma IS trying to steal his job, which is probably kind of frowned upon in most workplaces. What does all this contemptible dysfunction add up to? A pretty amusing episode for the most part, though one that's still failing to deliver big belly laughs.

Up All Night - 1x03 - Working Late and Working It

Men's underwear modelling, horrible 90's ballads, and shocking Spanx-evalations! Join us, on this weeks Ava, for the second fastest turn-around in my opinion of a show in the space of a week!