Mon, November 10, 2008
How I Met Your Mother—6:28 PM
Fox refuses to cancel Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which is a joyous thing (did you hear Life got a full-season pickup, too?) but it creates a conflict with Chuck and How I Met Your Mother. Chuck is a distant third among these three, but tonight's episode features Jordana Brewster – which fucks up the math like a math-fucking-up machine.
So I took to the web to see which show is most easily available from its network web site and/or iTunes so I know which one to cut tonight, and I think it's going to be How I Met Your Mother (funny, since it's in first place out of the three, by several laps). While I was perusing CBS.com's video offerings, I discovered to my great delight that the following clip from last week is available for free. It's only a couple of minutes long, and it's entirely self-contained (except for the explanation of why the entire episode takes place under a table, which is just the sort of awesome thing HIMYM will do now and then, but it has no bearing on this clip so don't worry about it).
If you watch that clip all the way to the end and don't agree that HIMYM is doing comedy at a genius level, then I have nothing left to say to you. (On this subject, at least. I mean, we can still be friends.)
Bee Boy — Tue, 11/11/08 11:14am
Tracking down some comment spam led me to my original review of HIMYM, which was dead right about Neil Patrick Harris, but otherwise far from complimentary. Happy to have been proven wrong. Seriously, watch the clip.
I've also uncovered news that Fox plans to move TTSCC to Fridays after the new year to make room for American Idol. I was thrilled by this (I only TiVo one Friday show – no conflicts!) but then I learned that House is taking its place on Monday (conflicts ahoy!).
And I never thought I would get tired of reading the plaintive cries of sci-fi genre fans whose Fox shows have been canceled or rescheduled, but it has officially stopped being funny. I think at this point, if you're an obsessed sci-fi person with a hyperactive panic reflex, you should have learned to just not watch Fox. I agree that Friday night is typically a dumping ground for TV shows, but in a post-DVR world I don't think it necessarily spells imminent doom for TTSCC. Remember, Fox just gave the show a full-season pickup. And they do have to air something on Fridays.
Dollhouse will be following TTSCC on Fridays, which means those "fans" who've been predicting its demise since the moment it was announced are whipped into yet another tizzy. I'm beginning to think I should just assassinate Joss Whedon, as much as I like him, just to calm his fans down. ("I should want to say hi to Mr. Belvedere nicely, I shouldn't want to keep him in a big jar in my basement.")
Joe Mulder — Thu, 11/13/08 2:19pm
Last time I checked, CHUCK was readily available on Hulu.com.
(and I actually do mean "last time I checked" literally; I haven't checked in a while, and the status of those things tends to change. I didn't mean "last time I checked" in a dickish, high school football coach way)
Thanks for the alert, though; I hadn't heard that HOUSE was moving to Mondays. Major conflict, indeed. Thanks to having two DVRs, though, I can set up CHUCK to record on the bedroom TV. I rule.
Bee Boy — Thu, 11/13/08 2:41pm
As it happens, all three shows are easy to view on their respective sites, and I only looked on iTunes for HIMYM and Chuck, but they're both there. Still, I picked HIMYM for online catch-up because, if I have to watch TV on my computer, I'd rather it be the shortest possible amount of time. Also: if Jordana Brewster has to be viewed on a screen and not in my living room, I would prefer it be the largest screen I have at my disposal.