web counter
 

"You Just Murdered Joy" and the Rest of the Best Lines from Wednesday Night's Television Comedies

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (9)

1923abbb0ba4ae6b9eafe058bd9046eb.jpg

Up All Night. Grade: B-. Christina Applegate and Will Arnett is so good in this show, I just wish the writing was up to their level because “Up All Night” could be one of the funniest shows on TV. Still, I’d give the parent’s “New Car” plotline a B+, because those two genuinely look like they’re having a great time and it’s wildly infectious. I wanna A-Team van. I think the DeLorean would be a GREAT family vehicle. Think of all the places you go! Reagan and Chris could also teach Phil Dunphy a thing or two about being the good kind of lame parents: Salt n’ Peppa? Spin Doctors? Billy Idol? Absolutely. Unfortunately, the Maya Rudolph B-plot suffers because Maya Rudolph’s character is still crazy annoying and it’s dragging the entire show down.

  • “The A-Team Van, that thing would be so safe for Amy. It could take machine gun fire.”

    Suburgatory. Grade: B. Not as good as the pilot, but very endearing. I don’t think of myself as someone who likes “cute shows,” but with this week’s “The New Girl” and now this, I’m beginning to warm up to cute. Jane Levy rocks this show, and the daughter from “Weeds” is pretty great, too.

  • “I get those constant invitations to dinner every morning. I’m running out of ways to say no.” // “Have you tried running her over with your car?”

  • “If neighbors don’t look out for other neighbors it could lead to baby neighbors.”

  • (Tudyk, referring to his grill) “If she wasn’t made of steel, I’d take her as a lover.”

    Modern Family Grade: C. I feel like we’ve seen variations on these plot lines already. Hasn’t someone else on the show already sold wrapping paper? And isn’t Claire’s stop sign subplot reminiscent of the subplot where she tried to find the speeding vehicle? Gloria does something silly; Jay tries to teach Manny a lesson only to get schooled by Manny; and once again, Mitchell and Cam bicker over something inconsequential. It’s all well-worn territory. That said, the show remains genial, there are a few good lines, and I liked the A Streetcar Named Desire gag. It’s definitely watchable, but it’s getting both a little too broad and way too repetitive.

  • “When I get home, I’m going to scrub this place like a crime scene, which it is because you just murdered joy.”

  • “Change doesn’t just happen. It is forged by empowered women like me, Norma Rae, and the lady in The Blind Side.

  • “Blind side was the black kid who played who played tight end.” // “Offensive line.” // “Sorry, African American kid.”

    Happy Endings Grade: B+. Solid episode, and I appreciate that “Happy Endings” features more than a diner and a living room setting, per the usual sitcom conventions. There were three great highlights: The Cocktail sequence in the food truck; Brad’s obsession with women’s clothing (particularly that dress sequence) and, of course, Jane driving up and telling the girl to get in her van. “Up All Night” should’ve worked a rape van joke into its A-plot last night.

  • “How did you not know that was a dress?” // “I had my suspicions, but the price is right and Daddy likes a deep tuck.”

  • “Which one should I wear? ‘Put me to bed,’ or ‘I pooped”?

  • “Get in the van.”

  • “Boom! Rent. Eat it. Wait, don’t. It’s money. The only thing dirtier is airplane ice.”

  • “So? We can just go to the airport, get some Tom Clancy novels and get hammered.”










    Each Time You Like, Share, Tweet or Stumble a Pajiba Post, An Angel Does the Paul Rudd Dance

    ← Based Only on the Images, Which Looks Better: Snow White and the Huntsmen or Tarsem Singh's Snow White | iMiss Steve Jobs →









    Comments

    Parks and Rec and Community are two of the funniest shows on TV, but am I crazy in thinking that ABC has the best 2 hour comedy block on TV right now? You didn't mention The Middle, but it is very solid.

    Posted by: Will at October 6, 2011 1:19 PM

    • I absolutely loathe the middle. Every single episode is just her playing the shrill whiny needy wife. Or some variation of her basically talking about how much she hates her family before finally swinging back around to loving them at the end of the episode. If it was real life the janitor would've taken the kids and divorced her the fiftieth time she started whining about how unappreciated she is. The Middle is abc's Whitney.

    Posted by: aroorda at October 6, 2011 1:50 PM

    The Middle is pretty decent most of the time, and Axl is always good for a couple of quotable lines. Also, the fact that his name is Axy cracks me up just about every time I hear it. This week's ep wasn't amazingly funny, but it did 1) feature Marsha Mason and 2) demonstrate that people will eat anything if it has enough Nacho Cheese dust on it.

    "Every Mom has that moment when she wants to get in the car, drive to Kentucky, check into the Holiday Inn with a bottle of peppermint schnapps, and watch all the Smokey and the Bandit movies in one night."

    Posted by: Three-nineteen at October 6, 2011 2:04 PM

    I can't wait until Cougar Town gets added to this.

    Posted by: Me at October 6, 2011 2:36 PM

    I wasn't too too impressed by the pilot of Suburgatory but I liked this week's episode a lot. Tessa's one-liners were a lot funnier this time around and Levy seemed more comfortable in the role.

    Also! This cracked me up:

    "If you could have lunch with any celebrity, living or dead, who would it be?"

    "Scarlett Johansson... dead."

    Posted by: Colin at October 6, 2011 2:39 PM

    I agree with Colin - I'm kind of shocked (SHOCKED I TELL YOU) that the Scarlett Johannsen line was left out because that was probably the hardest I laughed during any of the shows. Brilliant.

    Posted by: Nicole at October 6, 2011 4:10 PM

    Frankie Heck is NOT whiny, she just had a bad episode.

    Posted by: kirbyjay at October 6, 2011 8:41 PM

    The middle is pretty good when it focuses on the kids and not so much on her frayed-housewife role. Also, THE JANITOR!!

    Suburgatory is surprisingly good, plus Happy Endings is amazingly awesome.

    Up All Night was pretty funny last night. I thought it was really good and Maya's character was more tone-downed this ep. Funny that you think she's annoying since they bumped up her character arc.

    Posted by: Ashley at October 6, 2011 10:55 PM

    I think Better Off Ted had a 'selling wrapping paper'-episode.

    Posted by: Matthijs at October 7, 2011 3:03 AM