Up All Night - 1x13 - Rivals

Betrayal! Infidelity! Morbidly Obese People! A not-completely-annoying Megan Mullaly! Join me as I try in vain to find something to say about a perfectly enjoyable episode of a very sweet show that I otherwise have nothing to say about. Also, I may have discovered a new fetish.

Up All Night - 1x12 - New Years Eve

So yeah, it's not really a secret I'm behind. It gets a little harder to hide when the episode in question is "New Years Eve" and we've just rung in April. Ninety-nine percent of the problem is pure laziness, admittedly. But the remaining one percent is that it's hard to figure out what to write about shows I actually like. Shows with very few problems have no hooks, no obvious places to start going off on a rant. It's hard to get excited about writing.

Anyway, New Years Eve is a perfectly cute episode. It's full of exactly what we love about these characters, while all the stuff we hate is rightfully called out. We get some more Kevin and Ava, which I'm always a big fan of. And we even learn more about Missy! We learn she's batshit insane, but is that really a surprise? I love that girl.

Up All Night - 1x11 - First Christmas

A mostly forgettable episode, though not bad or anything. It never came close to the lows of Cool Neighbors, but it also didn't have anything hilarious or memorable in it like First Night Away. Ava sinks to a new low in her relationship with Kevin, but we've seen her sink so much lower, and she manages to maintain much more dignity than usual. We do get Blythe Danner back as Reagan's overbeating/intellectual mom, but she doesn't really do anything but be borderline bitchy, without any of the great over the top moments or anecdotes of Parents. So overall, eh.

Up All Night - 1x10 - Week Off

My recording of this week's ep got a little FUBAR'ed so it took me a little longer than usual to get around to watching it (thank you, Hulu!). Luckily, it was a relatively mellow episode, not great, but not bad either. A catastrophic pipe leakage/bursting issue in the floor above the Ava offices shuts down operations for a week giving everyone seven days to stretch their characters in fresh new directions. We get to see Reagan/Christina Applegate indulge her batshit crazy side without ever losing respect for her (like in Cool Neighbors), which I thought was pretty sweet. We got to see Ava show her sweet side again (not coincidentally due to Jason Lee returning). And to top it all off, we got to see Chris dip his toe back in lawyer infested waters, and thrive in his previous element.

Up All Night - 1x09 - Hirings and Firings

I hate Molly Shannon. This isn't going to be a screed or nerdrage rant about why she's on the show, or how I don't find her schtick particularly amusing, or anything like that. I just felt we needed to get that out of the way first. You know, clear the air, agree on terms of negotiations, all that jazz. It'll also hopefully serve to explain why an episode that was enjoyable in every other respect, really felt like a huge letdown after last week's awesome Jason Lee/Beastie Boys mosh pit outing. In a show like this, where it's best moments are often subdued and naturalistic, a guest star can completely dominate the tone of the scenes they're in. When you've got Jason Lee's affable straight man, you get great chemistry. When you've got Superstar!-as-an-adult, shit gets facepalmy real fast.

Up All Night - 1x08 - First Night Away

Aww, okay now that was fucking sweet. I mean, not in like a "fuckin sweet brah" kind of way, but in a just...just, you know... awww, motherfucker! Reagan and Chris decide it's finally time for them to spend a night away from little Amy so they can get their swerve on, leaving Ava to babysit little Amy and flirt with Studly Single Dad Jason Lee. And aside from a few painfully awkward moments with the hotel clerk, everyone comes out of this episode looking pretty awesome and like someone you'd like to get to know better. Fuckin Sweet, Brah.

Up All Night - 1x07 - Parents

Slowly working my way to catching up. Bear with me folk(s).

So Reagan's parents drop by for a surprise visit, pretty much reverting Reagan back all the way to her adolescent state. It's an episode premise we've seen before, but let's face it, it's cliche for a reason: it happens to all of us. Not all of us, however, were used as unwilling subjects by our psychologist mothers so they could write highly praised (if apparently clueless) texts on the 'correct' way to raise children. In a complete coincidence, the specter of grim death is also a recurring theme in this episode.

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.

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.

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...

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!

Up All Night - 1x02 - Cool Neighbors

Somehow I missed that this had started already...or existed. I'll catch up on the pilot when I find it somewhere (Hulu?). In the meantime - Context-less first exposure reaction GO!