I watched 14 sitcoms this week (no new How I Met Your Mother, and again, I don’t watch Mike and Molly or 30 Rock) so here is how I rank them! Most of these are the season finales, so that factors into my decisions somewhat, since finales are pretty important.
#14 Two and a Half Men (Season 9 Episode 23) – Occasional laughs, nothing very memorable.
#13 2 Broke Girls (Season 1 Episode 23-24) – I didn’t realize this was a full hour episode until after a couple days later, I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that it didn’t feel like a double episode? I was recently wondering if the horse would ever come back, so it was nice seeing Buttercup. Otherwise, a few good jokes but nothing new really.
#12 The Middle (Season 3 Episode 22) – This episode didn’t hold my attention very well so I don’t remember most of it. Sue going to prom with Axl’s friend was pretty funny. If I watched this again and actually paid attention I have a feeling I might bump this a few spots… But I’m too busy watching Bob’s Burgers season 1 with commentary.
#11 New Girl (Season 1 Episode 24) – Winston being afraid of the dark was pretty funny and I enjoyed the coyote scene. The rest of it was too emotional/relationship-ey for me.
#10 Cougar Town (Season 3 Episode 11) – Laurie and Travis’ storyline was interesting and funny, and I enjoyed the whole hurricane party thing. My favorite part was when Travis taped the iPad to his face to be Laurie’s boyfriend’s body. Other than that I can’t remember a whole lot without skimming through the episode again. I’m happy to hear that TBS is picking up the show for at least one more season, I’ll definitely keep watching.
#9 Community (Season 3 Episode 21) – I didn’t enjoy the first half of this episode at all, but I did enjoy the second half. As has been the trend the Dean Pelton feature is what turned things around. I really liked the Greendale Asylum bit. I can’t rank this any higher simply because the first half didn’t work for me at all. I guess the final three episodes of the season all air next week, so we’ll see how that goes. A 4th season of 13 episodes was announced, I hope they back away from the “darkness” of this season. But I’ll keep watching, I may as well see it through to the end!
#8 Last Man Standing (Season 1 Episode 24) – Vanessa’s sister’s terrible advice to Mandy was very funny, and that story worked really well for me. I also liked the bookends of the tank, it felt like a good old episode of Home Improvement. The voice over thoughts bit between Kyle and Kristen was also very funny. Overall a very solid episode, but it loses a few points for not really feeling conclusive about anything like a season finale should. I don’t think renewal has been officially announced, but I’m pretty sure it will be and I will keep watching.
#7 Suburgatory (Season 1 Episode 21) -Like the Middle I didn’t pay the best attention during this episode, but I liked the macrame thing and more Kangaroo Jack. Not a whole lot of other funny moments stuck in my memory though. I’m looking forward to next week’s season finale, and will definitely watch season 2 which was officially announced today.
#6 Apartment 23 (Season 1 Episode 5) – After 4 episodes of “Ugh, why is everything but James Van Der Beek so bad?” this episode kind of nailed it in the non-Dawson categories and I kind of like the show now. My favorite bit was the bathroom camera, it was just so weird yet hilarious to me. Robin seemed to be a bit different in this episode, and it worked really well. If there’s the same amount of improvement next week, this just might become one of my favorites.
#5 The Office (Season 8 Episode 24) – There were a lot of very funny moments tonight, but there were almost as many strange moments as well. It seemed like 10 episodes worth of story development were packed into this episode. Many of the crucial plot points boiled down to “okay now this happens” “alright” “okay, something major over here…” “and done.” Most of it has been set up all season, but it all seemed so abrupt. Why couldn’t a few of these things have come to a conclusion a few episodes ago? I do really like the actor who plays David Wallace, so I am looking forward to that next season. Obviously James Spader will no longer be on the show (that crazy con man) but his character development seemed all over the place at times. Oh, let’s talk about that cold open. What was that? And are the writers like a year behind on internet trends or what? I think the velcro suit prank would have been a better cold open, but they couldn’t do that because I think it’s a rule that the cold open can’t have anything to do with the actual episode. Anyway, it looks like official word on renewal hasn’t been released yet, but I’m sure there will be at least a 13 episode 9th season, possibly leading right in to the Dwight spin-off “The Farm”? Anyway, very weird season finale. I’ll keep watching next year just because it’s too late now.
#4 Big Bang Theory (Season 5 Episode 24) – There were some mushy bits that lessened my enjoyment slightly, but overall it was a solid episode with clear focus and some good jokes. My favorite parts were the Russian astronaut talking about getting a dog followed by Sheldon’s speech at the wedding. I though it was interesting that Sheldon chose to hold Amy’s hand at the end instead of the other way around. Very good story choice for the season finale as well. Of course I’ll be watching next season.
#3 Rules of Engagement (Season 6 Episode 13) – We finally get back to the surrogate storyline (I realize a few episodes this season were actually last season) and it was very funny seeing Jeff become the bouncer to his surrogates womb. However, I don’t see how being intimate with a woman would interfere with the baby at all. It was still entertaining though. I also really liked Audrey’s mishaps taking care of that doll, and it was nice having Russell unable to talk for a good portion of the episode. Adam’s “D Story” was decent too, and I appreciate that they often have four storylines that work every week. Compare that to 2 Broke Girls which basically only has an A story every week… Anyway, I really hope CBS renews this for another season, at this point they must realize this show is excellent for syndication though. This is one of only a handful of shows I am determined to own every season of on DVD. (The only other sitcoms on this list at the moment are Parks and Recreation, The League and Louie)
#2 Modern Family (Season 3 Episode 22) – Disneyland! Hilarious! From Lily on a leash, to Lily in heels, to Manny the businessman, to Phil and Luke’s rollercoaster adventures, to Dapper Singing Dylan, to Gloria in slippers… and the list goes on, it was all great. I’m very much looking forward to the last two episodes of this season and next season. I hope some other shows win the Modern Family awards, er, Emmy Awards this year though.
#1 Parks and Recreation (Season 4 Episode 22) – As great as Modern Family was, Parks and Recreation was better. A fantastic season finale, my favorite moments were when Bobby asked Leslie for help in the voting booth and when Ben was disgusted by the drink Ron ordered for him. “Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets.” It served as a great season finale, and it leaves season five open for all kinds of new adventures. I don’t have much else to say other than everyone needs to go watch every episode of this show at their soonest convenience. No word on renewal yet (renew Community but not this, you’d have to be nuts NBC!) but I expect season 5 will continue to be just as amazing and I’d also have to be nuts to stop watching!
A good portion of the shows are done for the season so next week will be pretty lean. Next season seems like it could be very strange, particularly NBC. There’s going to be a whole lot of new blood, but I guess it was kind of that way this season too. Thanks for reading, as the network sitcoms dwindle going into the summer I plan on writing about some of my favorite summer cable shows, so be on the look out!
