Thursday Night Madness

It is common knowledge the love I have for one Justin Tiemeyer of Cavemen Go, but sometimes I have to respectfully disagree with his opinions.

This is one of those times.

Currently, Justin is working on trying to discover the best show that aired on the over populated Thursday night.

Pretty fun little idea, right?

Sure.  The problem, however, comes from the fact that there are two clear choices for the funniest shows to air on Thursday this last season

AND NEITHER OF THEM ARE INCLUDED IN JUSTIN'S BRACKET!!!!!!!

(Breathe, breathe, it will be okay, Josh Man)

Okay, sorry about that.  I'm better now, I swear.

Anyway, as I was saying... well, let's take a look at his bracket, shall we?

As you can see, the only shows in contention are Big Bang Theory, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Community, The Office, and 30 Rock.

His seeding system is based on ratings, which is severely unfair to It's Always Sunny, considering that FX doesn't get near the same number of homes as do the network shows.  I'm not sure how to fix this issue, other than perhaps using some sort of rating system such as on IMDb or tv.com.

But that isn't my main issue.

The funniest show on NBC (and Thursday night, if not television in general right now) is without question Parks and Recreation.

While the show took a little time in its shortened first season to find a foothold, it has quickly become by far the most consistently funny
comedy currently on television.

With the same awkward type of humor that Seinfeld and Ricky Gervais pioneered (and for which The Office is currently known), Parks and Rec also builds far superior stories and humor out of the strong characters, which it refuses to sacrifice for an easy joke (unlike The Office and far more regularly 30 Rock).  There is the outrageous situational humor that you find on The Office, 30 Rock, and It's Always Sunny for that matter, but the characters are  far more real and therefore the situations are that much more hilarious.  And, as I said, it is at a consistent high level unlike any other show on the night.  Since hitting its stride very early in season 2 (and considering that Season 1 was only 6 episodes long, that as far into its run as it sounds), there has not been a single episode of Parks and Rec that wasn't fantastic.  The same cannot be said for any of the shows in Justin's bracket.

On FX, all the attention is given to It's Always Sunny, and it deserves that attention, but the last couple of years, it has actually been outshone by the show that it is paired with, The League.

While you might get a little more enjoyment out of the show if you are an avid Fantasy Football fanatic, the show is hilarious even if you can't tell the difference between a corner back and a half back.  Again, it is the characters that make The League so hilarious.

If you do play Fantasy Football, you will recognize all of the different types of characters on the show in how they obsess over their lineup and dish out their trash talk, but if you don't you will still recognize your friends (or acquaintances, because like It's Always Sunny and the show that clearly inspired it and this, Seinfeld, as recognizable as these characters are, you don't really want to be that close to them as to call them friends) in the banter and situations that they get themselves involved in.

So, while I recognize the intent for what Justin is attempting to accomplish with his little bracket, when he's leaving out the two funniest shows of the night, I'm not sure that I can officially condone his findings.

If on the other hand you are wanting to discover what the 3rd best show on Thursday night is, then by all means, check out the tournament in progress at Cavemen Go.

Until Next Time, for my money, I'll place it on the shows that featured Lil' Sebastian and introduced us to the genius of the Bathroom Cubby.

Archive Files #2, The Big Bang Theory

One year, I got it in my head that I should review every single pilot of the new network television season.

While this is quite an ambitious project, I actually succeeded.  It was the Fall of 2007, and one of the new shows that debuted that season was a little sitcom called The Big Bang Theory.

This is one of my favorite television shows now, and while others might think that it has done everything it is capable of and is creatively in a funk, I disagree.  I think that it can continue it its current entertaining vein for quite some time without losing its steam.

When the pilot aired, however, I wasn't as fond of it...

BIG BANG THEORY

Yeah, it had it's moments, and I like the lead Johnny Galecki a lot.  You might know him from Suicide Kings, but more likely as David Healy on Roseanne.  Not so sure about his roommate, played by Jim Parsons.  He got some great lines in the episode, but I never really laughed at them.  Looking back at the lines, I should have laughed, but I just didn't like the delivery.  The character really seems a little too ridiculous to me, I guess.  I also wasn't too thrilled with the female lead, mainly, again because the character didn't appeal to me.  I doubt I'll pay too much attention to this show.  If I'm too lazy to find the remote after How I Met Your Mother (which was, as always, Legen... wait for it, and I hope you aren't lactose intolerant, because the next part of the word is... dary) I might leave it on, but it's not one that I'll have to watch.

Interesting fact, Kaley Cuoco who plays the female lead in the show was on an episode of My So Called Life as young Angela Chase, Claire Danes's character.

Pilot Grade: 74%

Looking back, I can remember having these feelings.  Loving the show as I do now, it is a little strange to take myself back to that place and remember my dislike of Sheldon and Penny as characters and how they were portrayed by Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco.

There was a very real possibility that this would not be a show that I watched regularly (the idea that this possibility very much existed horrifies me now).

In fact, I don' think that I watched another episode of The Big Bang Theory past the first episode for the next six or seven months at least.

Then, however, I went to my parents house one weekend and, with nothing much to do, I discovered that my mom had the entire season on her DVR.

Where would we be without this little guy?

I then proceeded to watch nearly the whole season in one sitting, and while, at first, it was just something to do, it quickly became a favorite television show of mine.

Sadly for The Big Bang Theory, that was a year that I did my Josh's Choice For Best New Show of the Season post on time (in April, sometimes I don't get to it until September when the next season is starting; that happened twice) and therefore there is no mention of The Big Bang Theory in the Fourth Annual Josh's Choice For Best New Show of the Season.

Now, however, it is a show that I make sure to catch week in and week out, in large part because of the characters so ably played by Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco.

Until Next Time, Bazinga!