Television

Community – For A Few Paintballs More

Following on from last week’s exceptional “A Fist Full of Paintballs,” the second half of Community’s
two-part season finale came to us this week in the form of “For A Few
Paintballs More.” Whilst part one focused on the riot between students
eager to get their hands on the $100,000 prize for being the last man
standing, the second part took us to new levels of paintball wizardry as
the college bands together for a common purpose. It is revealed to us
that the empire-like regime of the ice cream company appearing to be in
charge of the competition is actually a front for Greendale’s rival
learning establishment, City College. Their dean’s plan being to offer
the large prize to students so that they will tear the college apart
trying to win, then offing them one by one with his army of paintball
storm-troopers so that no one claims the winnings. With a premise like
that it really isn’t hard to imagine that seriousness wasn’t exactly a
key point in the execution of this episode. How fun it must have been to
act out everything portrayed on screen I can’t say for sure, but for
anyone who has ever played paintball, the nostalgia will likely have
been rampant when viewing.

The Office – Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager

As part of a bridge between Michael leaving and the writers deciding
who will be the boss next year (they literally haven’t decided yet), an
episode with Dwight finally in charge was better than I expected. A few
years ago I would have been incredibly excited for such a storyline,
with Dwight being one of my favorite sitcom characters ever, but over
time he’s become more of his own entity on the show, a bit too
specifically weird to fit in with everyone else, as odd as the show
already is. He’s sort of like Kramer from Seinfeld – for a while he was
the highlight of the show at times, but after some time the only joke
left was “boy this guy sure is strange, isn’t he?”, and they told it
over and over. But I was pleasantly surprised by this episode, and if
anything I wish the idea had been extended a bit longer just so there
would be a fuller arc to it.

Wonder Woman’s TV Chances Not Looking Good

It’s not official, but Variety is reporting that David E. Kelly’s Wonder Woman TV show is not looking good. NBC’s looking to pass on it which is probably a good thing at this point since there isn’t a bit of positive press about the show. I personally don’t care about the costume since it’s more pratical and reflects the comic’s costume, but a lot of people that are only familiar with the cartoon and old TV show wanted the swim suit back. Also David E. Kelly isn’t the producer you want for something like this since he’s mostly a court drama/comedy guy. Again it’s not official, but I think we can put it to rest.

Seth Gabel Joins Fringe Full-Time

It’s a happy day for Fringedom! Okay, so I made that word up but there
really is some good news for fans of the Fox sci-fi series Fringe.
Following the renewal of the show for a fourth season, Seth Gabel, aka
Lincoln Lee in both universes, has signed onto the show as a series
regular. It isn’t yet know which Lincoln will be shown the most.

Top Five Reasons We’ll Be Missing Michael Scott

He made us laugh, he made us cry, and
now that Michael Scott has said farewell it’s time to honor him with
the top five reasons why we’ll never forget our favorite Regional
Manager and all the years he spent entertaining us. Here’s to you,
Mike.

No one could have guessed that Michael
would ever willingly leave Dunder Mifflin, but when he quit because
of David Wallace’s lack of respect, he revitalized a season that had
been a step down from its predecessors. Unfortunately, the competing
business he started could only be called a success in terms of the
laughter and memories it yielded. Michael did redeem himself however
by taking on Wallace and Charles Minor in a buyout meeting that
became one of his best moments of the series. Calling Wallace’s bluff
was a rare spot of competence for Michael, one that was written
perfectly for the character and performed flawlessly by Carell. Fans
couldn’t help but feel proud of the wacky and lovable boss earning
his job back.

Comcast Shells Out for NBC Primetime

Deadline.com
had the story as Comcast execs, including CEO for NBC Universal Steve
Burk, said the company plans to spend $200 million more on the
Peacock’s primetime plumage than GE did last year, and an additional
$100 million on NBCU’s cable networks. Burke replaced Jeff Zucker,
much to the delight of everyone on the planet, when Comcast purchased
NBC Universal in a deal finalized at the end of last year.

The Borgias – Death on a Pale Horse

The
latest installment of Showtime’s period piece saw many advances for
the Borgia clan, one quite literally. As French troops led by King
Charles and petitioned by Cardinal Della Rovere press deeper into
Italy, Pope Alexander VI, all of Rome, as well as the viewer, is
wondering how long it will be until war is at their doorstep. Well, at
least those of us who didn’t study up on fifteenth century
papal history are.

In the
beginning it seemed like the writers were going to again focus on the
romance subplots, which took up much of the last episode, luckily that
wasn’t the case and they were wrapped up quickly so the French
invasion could take center stage. When done right romance can be as
compelling as political intrigue, but in the case of The Borgias
they seem to distract more than add to the story or the characters’
depth. It was also wise to let Juan fall back out of the
spotlight as his performances haven’t wowed. He’s good for a little
comic relief but that’s it; his affair with his younger brother’s
newly betrothed failed to garner interest. And while Cesare and
Lucrezia were dealing with matters of the heart, their attentions
were quickly redirected on what impact the French army would have on
the razor’s edge upon which their family already walks. Their
conversation before Lucrezia returned to Pesaro was excellent, as
they always are, the actors’ chemistry elevating what is written on
the page. The somber tone of their talk made it even better than
their previous lighthearted chats and helped reinforce how much
Lucrezia is maturing in such a short time, and how dark the days have
become for the House of Borgia. Though it does make one wonder if
Neil Jordan plans to take their relationship down the dark path that
rumors suggested it went. In a series that seems to be based more on
historic rumor than on fact, it seems likely.