This episode opens with a retro (70′s-style?) spy show opening narrated by Morgan. It appears to have no motive other than some fun for the cast and crew. Morgan wakes up, and has a rather uncomfortable close encounter with the scantily-clad girlfriend in the kitchen. Chuck tells him he’s inviting Sarah to move in; is this supposed to put his frustration to rest? She’s standing behind him and cheerily declines, which is a little weird. After a brief stopover in the Congo with Devon and Ellie we return to Castle where Chuck & Co. receive their next assignment: he and Sarah are to shadow the most renowned pair of married agents in the CIA, Mr. Craig and Mrs. Laura Turner (played by Fred Willard and Swoosie Kurtz), in order to school the youngsters in the ways of keeping a spy-sided relationship going. John, meanwhile, will begin working on the arduous task of shaping the new Agent Grimes. As Chuck worries, and Sarah rolls her eyes, the Turners approach the apartment and moan that they have to meet themselves “thirty years ago!”

Fred Willard and Swoosie Kurtz guest star as CIA veterans

Mrs. Turner turns up her nose at the old spy stories Mr. Turner hauls out, and they tell Sarah and Chuck they are to visit a bad guy (at — wait for i-i-i-t — a PARTY!) who’s developed a decryption software that could render the nation’s security software useless. Whatever. Could have been a rogue footlong from Subway. The Turners work the room at Otto’s party as Chuck and Sarah work hard at watching and learning and staying out of the way. Unfortunately as Morgan begins making his way up the looong learning curve with Casey, we see the Turners appear to be having an off-day; as they make a scene Chuck and Sarah decide to take matters into their own hands. In the Master Suite as Sarah looks for the software, Chuck discovers a whip coiled on the bed. It’s not for someone’s kinky amusement — a low growl turns their heads and we see a tiger in the open closet. Oops.

As the tiger corners them Chuck flashes: the software is on the tiger’s collar! Cornered in a closet, they begin to sneak up on the tiger, who has inexplicably jumped up on the bed for a nap. It must be psychic, because Morgan is at the same time tasked by Colonel Casey to steal Big Mike’s keycard as he naps at his desk. Both are successful, hilariously, just before Big Mike wakes up, and just before the Turners take the software from the Bartowskis at gunpoint.

Back in the Congo, the torrential rains have stopped and Ellie and Awesome meet another, more experienced doctor, who smacks the head off a snake that also wants to make friends. Welcome to Africa! Um, what was that background music choice?

General Beckman rattles their cages in Castle. Ellie begins to make some headway in her struggle to acclimate herself to the insanity around her. Chuck and Sarah get the drop on the Turners in their hotel room and Morgan undertakes firearms training. The Turners, in chains at the Bartowskis’ kitchen table, begin to turn on each other but as Chuck’s patience reaches its end, there’s a knock at the door. Expecting federal marshals, Chuck is stunned at the sight of Otto and his tiger at the front door. Well, in retrospect, anyone who puts software on an animal’s collar would probably put in a tracking device. Right?

As the tiger sniffs around the house looking for the Turners, the Turners escape out the bathroom window and leave Team Bartowski  holding the bag again. The handler takes the tiger outside to continue the search. Next, Morgan and John return from the unsuccessful trip to the gun range and Morgan has to take on the tiger after it apparently killed its handler. Or the Turners killed the handler but spared the endangered captive Bengal. Hmmm. The Turners then decide to return to rescue Chuck and Sarah even though it spells the end of their career. Chuck and Sarah keep treason out of their debrief and General Beckman is congratulatory, until the elder agents turn in their badges and retire. Last but not least, we see a montage of Casey and Morgan squaring things between them and of Ellie becoming acclimated to Africa. Fade music. Oh, I guess it wasn’t last after all. Team Bartowski undertakes to restore the disaster area that the tiger rendered of Ellie and Awesome’s apartment. As we think things are brightening for the credit roll, Ellie discovers Devon in his tent. Devon is sick. Very sick. They head for the airport, and the doctor who had taken them under his wing pulls out a Ring phone. He dials and tells the person at the other end that he “…made it look like malaria — the wife suspects nothing!” Something about that dude whispered “cuh-REEE-pee!” in my ear from frame 1, in that time-honored Treasure Island tradition of the rescuer who just squints too much. We’ll just have to see, won’t we? Oh, yeah, and Sarah decides at the end to move in with Chuck.

Glee style recap- Kirk gives 110% to his crush on Finn. Mercedes tries Sue’s diet and realizes she’s happy with the way she is, or was before the diet and Kristin Chenoweth graces us with her presence.

Sue Sylvester Master Cleanse- water, maple syrup for glucose, lemon for acid, cayenne pepper to irritate the bowels and a dash of ipecac a vomiting agent. When that recipe was recited by Jane Lynch (Party Down) is was perfectly hilarious in its absurdity, now that I read it I realize it’s just sick. That is the power of Jane Lynch, I could quote almost every line she delivers in any given Glee episode but they’ll always sound evil (at best) only Jane Lynch can turn those lines into the purest of black comedy. Jane Lynch is to Glee what Ty Burrell is to Modern Family, invaluable and the more we get of either actor the better.

Okay while I’m making comparisons I say that Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies) is every bit as awesome a talent and asset in a guest starring role to this program as Fred Willard is to Modern Family. Sometimes I wonder if either Chenoweth or Willard were weekly regulars would we still love them? I think so. I think I know so. I know so.

Anybody else wonder where Quinn’s baby bump has gone? For that matter where has Quinn been?

“I’m pretty sure my cat’s been reading my diary” may I suggest keeping a blog instead of a diary, cats hate computers.

“Sometimes you just need a little Burt (Bacharach)” truer words were never spoken.

What was your favorite part of “Home?”

“When my grandaughter’s boyfriend’s band plays an under 21 club with my daughter-in-law’s brother’s gay partner I show up, that’s just how I was raised!”

There you have it “Travels with Scout” was another great episode of ABC’s Modern Family, due in no small part to the fact that the story revolved around Ty Burrell and his character Phil’s dad played by guest starring Fred Willard. Once upon a time these two funny men were on ABC’s short lived Back to You starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. When Back to You was canceled I immediately missed newcomer Burrell and old standby Willard thankfully Modern Family brought both of these talented actors back to my living room and exposed their greatness to a much larger (spanning beyond the borders of my living room) viewing audience. I like the entire cast of Modern Family but I think I’ve gotta claim Ty Burrell as my favorite. The way he always entertains reminds me of David Cross’ Dr. Tobias Fünke from FOX’s Arrested Development = comic gold. Enough about Modern Family the series and more “Travels with Scout!”

How about some quotes?

“I shoulda told Claire about the dog and I was going to but I was just waiting for her to be in the right mood, actually I did get one right mood a couple of nights ago but I cashed that in for something else.”

“I made the mistake of letting him sleep with me on the road now my sheets look like two Bigfoots did it. Pardon the language.”

Dylan says to Cameron, “I’m not sure we like the same sorts of music.” Cameron replies, ”Oh what, because I’m gay I’m just gonna wanna play show tunes?” Dylan, “No, because you’re old.” Cameron, “Wow. That hurt more, Dylan.”

Cameron plays the drums. Cameron played football. Cameron was a clown. Cameron is not just a gay parent of an adopted Asian child. What else will we learn about Cameron before this season is finished?

Oh wait, Cameron believes “We happen to be a very traditional family.” “Yes, that’s what the disabled lesbian shaman who blessed Lillie’s room said too.” Mitchell sarcastically agrees but which is it- Modern or traditional?

Some Phil quotes to soothe your soul-

“It probably just sounded like he was crying, have you heard the noises he makes when he gets out of a chair?”

“We talk all of the time, he pranks calls me at work like three times a week!”

“My dad isn’t like your dad. There’s nothing deep and dark inside, his hard candy shell is just hiding more candy.”

Al Bundy Ed O’Neill’s Jay makes another poor parenting decision and takes young Manny to a slasher flick, Manny is scarred for life, one thing leads to another and Manny takes first watch standing guard over the homestead with fencing foil in hand- protect that house, Manny.

“I’ll always remember him as the stranger holding my baby. Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a second?” another great line from traditional family man Mitchell Pritchett.

When asked where his recreational vehicle will take him Fred Willard replied, “I’m just gonna drive wherever the wind blows me which is usually into the next lane.” I only hope the wind leads Fred Willard back to many more Modern Family guest appearances.

I’ll close with this Ty Burrell masterpiece- “I always felt bad for people with emotionally distant fathers but it turns out I’m one of them. It’s a miracle I didn’t end up a stripper.”

Pixar knows how to deliver and they didn’t miss one step when it comes to WALL-E. This love story disguised as a sci-fi/animated movie delivers the laughs and the romance for the whole family to enjoy.

Earth has been abandoned for 700 years as the planet was consumed with waste from the materialistic mentality brought on by the giant corporation Buy N Large. A plan was put in place for the population of Earth to escape the planet and come back when life was able to be sustained. In the meantime the Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class robots would clean the planet allowing mankind to come back to Earth. After 700 years, only one robot was still doing this job…WALL-E.

WALL-E lives a simple life with his pet cockroach. He gets up in the morning and charges up his solar battery. He goes to work and cleans the trash from the cities. He then goes home and studies human life as he watches the movie “My Fair Lady.”  Things are normal for WALL-E until one day when a rocket lands on Earth. This rocket contains EVE, a probe droid sent to Earth to look for any signs of sustained life that if found, will signal that the population can return to their home planet.

With that I bring back the GOOD, the BAD, and the GEEKY:

The GOOD:

• Animation from PIXAR is always breathtaking; this one is above all of the previous entries.
• The story is a fun family movie that all will enjoy; parents will have to explain the ending to the kids as they won’t understand the one sad scene in the movie.
• For a movie that has no dialogue for the first 15 minutes, this movie is still able to keep the audience glued to the story and character movement.
• This is the first PIXAR movie that worked some live action into the CGI animation; Fred Willard plays the president of the Buy N Large corporation.

• The story likes to push the fact that Humankind is getting fat and lazy with their materialistic nature and the “BUY N LARGE” corporation that resembles the current Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s Club stores.
• The last scene in the movie may be too much for the kids and some adults; my wife was crying by this scene as it will draw at your emotional strings; parents will be trying to explain this to the younger children.

The GEEKY:

• John Ratzenberger is back to reprise a role in a PIXAR movie.
• When WALL-E’s solar battery is fully charged he makes the Apple MAC computer startup sound.

This movie is beautiful and is a must see on the big screen. WALL-E is rated G and distributed by Disney.