How I Met Your Mother: Season 8 Finale

For all of the die hard HIMYM fans, the time has come. Can this show conquer the unrealistic expectations it has set for itself? They say there's an explanation or everything. Unfortunately, there is no explanation to how someone can write a finale that has absolutely no exciting points in it.

How I Met Your Mother just wrapped up its season 8 finale by pulling a "Classic Schmosby," as Punchy would say. The show revealed something they know the audience is dying to see to cover up their terrible writing in both the plot and the jokes.

Marshall and Lily start off the episodes with packing up their belongings for the move to Rome. A lot of the jokes and content between Lily and Marshall were things that could have been placed in The King of Queens, or Everybody Loves Raymond, or some other family sitcom no one respects. These same jokes continued when Marshall went to Minnesota to smooth things over with his mother, only to receive a call saying that his application to be a judge has gone through. It's almost embarrassing to see the writers try to make the audience care about Marshall and Lily. These are two characters who have been absolutely pointless and useless throughout most of their existence. Once the baby was born, they became even more useless. Their whole idea of moving to Rome is about as farfetched as the idea of Marshall being a Judge, since we've seen him go to trial once during this entire series.

Also, how does Marshall have two or three brothers, but none of them were in his wedding party?

Meanwhile, Robin and Barney are celebrating their completion of every wedding task, including the over the top dance number planned as their first wedding dance (it involves confetti). Their celebration dinner is ruined by the appearance of Casey Wilson and that one guy from Key and Peele. There could be more detail in the plot line with Robin and Barney trying to sabotage Casey Wilson's relationship, but it is completely pointless. It has absolutely no relevance. So useless, it felt like something that could have been thrown in mid-season. Barney and Robin are supposed to be getting married in a week, yet the writers have these two characters doing absolutely nothing. They're supposed to be the focal point of how the next season turns out. It's all riding on what happens to Robin and Barney, not Ted. There was no conflict between the two in the finale, yet the creators have been teasing conflict for this wedding for the past three seasons, which isn't an exaggeration. There wasn't a single joke in the finale that would make a normal person laugh out loud, besides Robin talking about shoving things in her butt because, well, butts are kind of funny. Robin was featured more in the show, but al in flashbacks.

Lily plays a more prominent role in this season then she has for a while now. Ted and Lily go to the house, which results in Ted revealing he is going to sell the infamous house his kids are supposed to grow up in and move to Chicago. Lily is enjoying being at the house, since the internet-less and cable-less apartment is like "Little House on the freaking Prairie." While Ted reveals that Marshall love his waffles, which include cinnamon, he mentions his heartache in not finding his wife yet, while watching his one true love marry his best friend. Ted and Robin failed in finding her necklace/locket thing in Central Park in the previous episode, only to reveal that Robin was drunk and dug it up years ago. Apparently, Robin and Lily dug up the necklace/locket in season 4 when she was depressed Ted was marrying Stella and not her. This past season did do a good job showing how much Ted really wants to be with Robin, regardless of anything he might do to cover up that sign. HIMYM turned Ted and Robin into a version of Ross and Rachel, but with the promise they're not going to be together.

Also, Ted is taking the train home from the wedding, the mother is at the train station, blah blah blah, stuff that no one really cares about.

The audience knows what happens to Ted, regardless of anything that is thrown in the way. Ted gets with the Mother, who is now officially played by Cristin Milioti, doesn't move to Chicago, doesn't sell the house, and does typical Robin nonsense. Barney has been set up for the past three seasons to debate over whether or not he wants to marry Robin, yet he has been relatively fine for most of the season. The previous episode put in on real thick with the rain and the holding hands between Robin and Ted, yet Robin barely did anything in this finale.

The show has now officially ran into the problem they knew they would run into: there is nowhere to go with any character. They have backed themselves into a corner where there is nothing to anticipate, therefore, the audience immediately loses interest. Unless there is an actual plot twist within this final season where some thing major happens in the Barney/Robin/Ted storyline, no one will care. There was legit shocked when HIMYM revealed the mother for the very first time, but that was the only thing consistent and interesting in the episode. The reveal was going to happen at some point in time. Whoever plans the overall story arc of the season has been absolutely inconsistent, almost like they don't even remember their own show.

How I Met Your Mother has set it up to the point where if Robin ends up with someone other than Ted, no one will care. Robin has been shaped and molded, since she really has no consistent character direction, to be the girl Ted should be with. The writers have one season to explain to the audience why the Mother was worth Ted's pain and suffering and that monologue at the end of that time traveling episode where Ted cries and spills his guts out doesn't count. It's not that the reveal of the Mother wasn't important, it's just that HIMYM set it up to where her reveal had no pop or flare. It was a dud. Let's see if Craig Thomas and Carter Bays have the balls to swerve the audience and make Robin and Ted be together somehow, because they clearly do not care about the Mother.

End of Watch: Review

My recent inspiration to film my own found footage film, which probably will not come out well, inspired me to look into films that have that same found footage style. The first film I chose to watch was a more recent film that has a normal feel with found footage added into it. 

I felt the film was exceptionally well for a cop drama. The found footage aspect of the film added towards its realism and how the audience is able to connect with the feelings of the characters. Jake and Michael had really good chemistry with each other and it showed when certain parts of the movie got heated, making their bond more realistic. It builds really well and has an amazing climax that definitely keeps you glued to the screen. End of Watch is definitely my favorite Jake Gyllenhaal movie and one of his best performances. It would of been nice to see Anna Kendrick topless, but I am happy with the movie not having that shot. David Ayer, the director, is really good at making cop dramas and films involving guns and shooting and none of his films that I have seen feel like the same. They all have a different feel and you're able to connect with the emotions of every character, whether it is Training Day or Dark Blue. I recommend those movies to anyone, but I can't imagine anyone who hasn't seen, or at least heard, of Training Day.

I heard nothing but good things going into my viewing of End of Watch. I knew Michael Peña was costarring in it with Jake Gyllenhaal, along with Anna Kendrick, all of whom I'm familiar with. What I didn't realize was how familiar I was with Michael Peña's work, as I realized this would be my six film of his that I have viewed. The others being Million Dollar Baby, Tower Heist, 30 Minutes or Less, Everything Must Go, and Observe and Report. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars and it is definitely worth a rent, maybe even a purchase. 

Here are a few links to the film.
http://www.endofwatchthefilm.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Watch
http://www.imdb.com/endofwatch

The New Normal: Part 4

As the semester comes to a close, I wonder if anyone cared that I had this generic sentence at the beginning of the blog to try to show how clever I think I am?

NBC has ordered a full season of The New Normal and it really has me thinking what their entire strategy is. They obviously want to go back to a traditional sitcom base and move away from what gave them critical acclaim for almost a decade now. Their primetime strategy clearly shows as shows such as 30 Rock and The Office finish up their final seasons, yet these were the shows that partially saved them from their disaster of have Friends and Frasier leave in back to back seasons. NBC picked up a full season of Guys With Kids and are changing Up All Night to a multi-camera show, even though it has been on for two seasons already. Guys With Kids is one of the worst shows I have watched in the last few years. There is nothing good on that show. They are trying to move towards multi-camera sitcoms and have it more of an original base, yet they keep Go On and The New Normal. The New Normal is nothing but a rip off of Modern Family and they clearly do not care about it. NBC wants to be traditional, but they decided to pick up a show that is a carbon copy of a hit non-traditional sitcom from another network. They are trying to move away from shows that brought them critical acclaim, but are going to end up using these shows to help bridge the gap between good content and terrible generic primetime nonsense. Parks and Recreation and Community are praised for how good they are, yet it seems NBC wants nothing to do with them. Also, Whitney is a terrible show. Whitney Cummings is not funny. She is the creator of 2 Broke Girls and Whitney, both of which could disappear right now and I could completely care less. Neither show is even remotely funny.

Either way, congrats to all of the shows who got picked up for a full season and did not get cut. I'm very happy that Revolution is successful because NBC could use a good show like that to fill the gap they've been looking for in the sci-fi kind of genre. The New Normal is a lot better than what I was expecting coming into this semester. It has very good chemistry between the stars of the show and I hope it last for at least a couple seasons.

The New Normal is on Tuesdays at 9:30 Eastern on NBC

Around the World in 80 Plates: Part One

Is now the time to mention that you can only cook an ingredient so many different ways before I realized I've already tried this before?

As you can tell from this title, this blog is discussing the current reality competition Around the World in 80 Plates, which is on the Bravo network. The show follows 12 chefs competing in a culinary race across 10 different countries in 44 days. The show is hosted by chefs Curtis Stone and Cat Cora, two individuals who made their fame on the Food Network. The format of the show seems like a rip off of Celebrity Apprentice, which makes this show all the more reputable. Everytime a team wins the competition for the week, they get some sort of reward for their hard work and dedication. The whole idea is to not only recreate, but reinvent the menus for world-renowned restaurants. Each of the contestants have a cooking background of some sorts. Like all other television cooking shows, this does nothing for the cooking genre. No matter what the content of the show is, if it is reality programming, it all has the same kind of atmosphere. You can only have so many shows that consist of cooking something different to be "unique" only to win a competition after betraying your friend you have such a close bond with. If I never watch another reality television program for the rest of my life, I would die a happy man. If I type any more about this idiotic nonsense, this blog will turn even more into a rant then it might already appear to be.

I would tell you when to turn in, but the first season is currently over.
http://www.bravotv.com/around-the-world-in-80-plates

The New Normal: Part 3

You know it is a network television comedy when there is a pop culture reference in almost every single scene. I'm not sure if I am smart enough to get all of these cool and important references to such scholarly articles like People Magazine.

As The New Normal goes into its eighth episode, one can only question what other controversial topics it will tackle next. This show seems to make it a point to turn any sort of topic questioning homosexuality and make it a focal point for the entire episode. The last two episodes aired touched on the topics of homosexual marriage and Christianity, God and Spirituality. Having every episode touch on topics that should last for multiple episodes, or at least stay in the minds of the characters past the episode, makes the topics they touch on very trivial. The episodes start to feel like a teenage sitcom where the viewer knows they are watching the "very special episode," yet try to cover it up with a bunch of jokes and pop culture references. I'm guessing they figure every viewer of the show watches E! News religiously. Every episode that features Goldie's mother, the crazy right wing racist, is absolutely annoying and could easily disappear. The character lays on her views extremely thick and yet she apparently has the best intentions for everyone, not to mention every time someone argues with her, it is like the writers copied an Aaron Sorkin script. The show could easily replace her with Bryan's Assistant, Rocky, which is what they sort of did in this most recent episode. The newest episode that will air will have Jane, Goldie's mother, in the episode. Let's hope for the best. There is some good to this show, as everything usually involving Shania and Bryan is great. Also, Goldie is somewhat growing on me.

The New Normal airs this Tuesday with their Halloween themed episode at 9:30 pm Eastern/8:30 pm Central.

Here are some links to The New Normal
http://www.nbc.com/the-new-normal/
http://www.imdb.com/TheNewNormal

The New Normal: Part 2

While I'm perfectly fine with looking past NBC's plan of making sure there is a minority in every single scene, I do wonder how much this show is making for having the main couple own a MacBook Pro.

It took the fourth episode to put a terrible signature into the start of the show, but The New Normal is off an running with a solid idea. The plot did move rather quick in the first episode, with Goldie deciding to be a surrogate without any real explanation to why, but the performances by the entire cast are very solid to cover up the incompleteness, especially from Andrew Rannells. The promos for the show were questionable because they refused to show the more obvious homosexual man, but he is hard to miss in the show with his banter between him and Goldie's daughter on the show, played by BeBe Woods. I don't understand the excessiveness of Ellen Barkin's bigotry on the show. They lay it on pretty thick with no real forgiveness or resolution in the end. The first few episodes tackle and feature some topics that weren't really necessary for a show just debuting, such as the Presidential Election and how society views homosexuality and family values, but some of the performances make me look past its pushiness. It's a pretty typical show where no one ever uses the bathroom or pays attention to money, so that's always a plus. I've looked past how quick every bonds on the show so quick and have become an alternative family to decide that this show is definitely worth a watch. I'm not going to compare it to the ABC show Modern Family.

Random Notes
Andrew Rannells always wears green
Goldie doesn't look 24
Goldie's daughter is going for an Abigail Breslin look

The New Normal airs at 9:30 pm Eastern/8:30 pm Central on Tuesdays after the new show Go On.

Here are some more links to The New Normal
http://www.nbc.com/the-new-normal/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2087571/

The New Normal: Part 1

As I write this blog and wonder why I need all of these Microsoft Words settings at the top of this page, I wonder if someone would film me writing this like they would film Carrie Bradshaw writing her weekly column. If only YSU were as glamourous as NYC...

As you can tell by the title of the blog, I am writing about the new NBC comedy The New Normal, set to debut September 11th, 2012. It is a show about two men, Bryan and David, who live in Los Angeles and are looking to become parents. They find Goldie, a single mother who just moved out to LA to change her life. She agrees to become the surrogate for Bryan and David they all become friend, or something. The show stars Justin Bartha as David, from The Hangover, and Andrew Rannells as Bryan, from the hit broadway musical The Book of Mormon and most recently the HBO show Girls. Those two somewhat recognizable actors will have to carry the load, star wise, since the part of Goldie is played by Georgia King, who is an absolute nobody. There is also the grandmother and daughter of Goldie on the show, but those parts don't matter to me right now.

I guess it is safe to say that NBC is trying to capitalize on the success ABC has had with Modern Family, but they already had a successful show featuring two homosexual men with Will & Grace. So they're not doing anything different, with the exception of this showing being in single camera format. This show seems like a safe choice in NBC's transition to regular television sitcoms and their attempt to distant themselves from their critically acclaimed, but not financially successful alternative comedy shows, such as The Office, Parks and Rec, and Community. Unfortunately for everyone in Salt Lake City, they will not be able to watch it at the regularly scheduled time. The NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, KSL-TV, claims that that the show's "dialogue might be excessively rude and crude. The scenes may be too explicit or the characterizations might seem offensive.. For our brand, this program feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time." I never realized how offensive homosexuals are...

So tune in Tuesday Nights at 9:30/8:30c and take a look at how surrogacy and single parenting can be a ton of fun!

Here are links that relate to The New Normal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Normal_(TV_series)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2087571/
http://www.nbc.com/the-new-normal/