#1, 2, and 3 biggest problem I have with Community (and Glee) is their distasteful meta-awareness. Specifically Community and Abed are standing on the wrong side of that line, not sure how much longer I can watch this. What’re your thoughts on this subject?

Season two of the third (yes, I’m calling Glee a comedy!) best new comedy on network television last year started out by putting everything in its right place. Jeff is not interested in Annie (I don’t know why I thought their kiss at the end of last season meant anything! Was anyone else fooled??) and Britta is still a sad, sad girl. Other than the fact that Troy moved in with Pierce, nothing else has changed since the end of season one. Unless you consider student Chang a big change. I kinda do. Especially if the teaser at the end of “Anthropology 101″ means anything, Chang as an equal part of the group… seems like we dealt with the threat idea of a new member last season and resolved that the group loves the group just the way it is. False drama! False drama! Chang ain’t no thang! What is happening with Jeph/Britta/Annie?!? Can someone please shed some light on this situation? In the past I was fine with the loveless loser (Ed, Pushing Daisies, How I Met Your Mother) but Jeff is not a loveless loser and I shutter at the thought that Jeff being in a real relationship would reunion this program. Would it? Is Community just a place for unhappy people?

I want Jeff, Annie and Britta to convert to the Church of Latter Day Saints so they can all marry each other. This would actually make me happy. I can’t imagine Jeff without either of these girls! Please share you Community thoughts and observations!

A few quotes for the road (no, I’m not quoting Pierce. I’ve got principles.)-

“Men are monsters who crave young flesh” Jeff so perfectly (did the writers steal this line?) encapsulated the entire Twilight series. or saga. whatevs

“Anyone object to us being referred to as donuts? No one?”

“Have you ever seen a cat penis?”

“I’m on the clock for another hour if you want me to do some Batman lines.”

“what the Maku-Maku call dirt roaded.” Which reminds me- I’m expecting to see Betty White as a guest performer at my six year old niece’s talent show. Please, please leave me be with my Golden Girls. Don’t ruin the memories.

Finally I do have to say that the writers got something perfect, epiphany perfect, when they gave Jeff those lines about respect. Respect is not natural, much like love, and we need it (both) if we’re going to make surviving worthwhile.

Tonight’s episode marked the return of four memorable characters. First there’s Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner’s son Marten as Sally’s neighborhood buddy Glen. Then there’s Pete’s wife Trudy played by Alison Brie whom you must recognize from NBC’s Community. Clean and sober Freddy, and Lee Garner Junior round out our foursome.

Glen. I’ve blocked Glen’s telephone number so he’ll stop calling and telling me about my parent’s relationship. I’m keeping the key chain. Seriously will Glen’s predictions come true for the Draper/Francis household?

Freddy returns triumphantly with a two million dollar account (due to a not so anonymous  Alcoholics Anonymous relationship with Cal Rutledge from Pond’s), no drinking problem and a healthy distaste for Trudy’s husband, Pete. Trudy is just Pete’s wife in this episode, no family drama. yet. Since Freddy has been gone more has changed than just the name on the front door. Peggy informs Freddy that he is old fashioned and out of touch, those darned ’60s, and it seems that maybe Freddy will try to keep pace with the times. For Freddy’s sake I sure hope office policy on alcohol changes otherwise the clock on that time bomb has already begun to tick, though it’d be hard to imagine a world where Don and Roger can’t drink whatever whenever. Boom!

Finally Lee Garner Junior flexes his muscles, metaphorically speaking, and the once understated due to financial restraints office Christmas party turns into one of those Fifth Avenue office parties you see in the movies. I don’t remember seeing the prize client (Junior’s Lucky Strike makes up 69% of SCDP business) order everyone around like dolls at a tea party but maybe I wasn’t watching the right movies. Will someone explain to me why Junior has it out for Roger?

I won’t keep track of Don’s sexual conquests but Allison (his secretary) and Don did it. Also Joan knows how to throw a party but we already knew that.

I’ll leave you this week the same way “Christmas Comes But Once a Year” left all of us, with Christmas in August or twice for those keeping score at home. Give “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” a listen, it’s what Glen would want.

Gleeks unite! September 14th Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment releases the complete first season of GLEE on Blu-ray and DVD! You better believe there’s extras, here’s what series creator Ryan Murphy had to say about all of those wonderful extras you’ll find only on the  four-disc Blu-ray and seven-disc DVD set-

“The show started out as a comedy musical about the underdog in all of us and has blossomed, largely due to the incredible support and passion from the fans that have embraced the show…. When we developed the Blu-ray and DVD, we wanted to give those fans something special because they’ve been so great to us. There’s everything from a sing-along karaoke, to a behind-the-scenes look at our Madonna episode, to a dance lesson from our amazing choreographers. There’s even some all new Sue’s Corners which have never been seen before. It’s our ‘thank you’ to the Gleeks.”

If you haven’t seen an episode of GLEE yet then maybe these awards will help sway you- winner of the Golden Globe® for Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical. Winner! People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy (Hello! That’s sayin’ somethin’ in a year that also debuted ABC’s Modern Family and NBC’s Community!) and winner of the Screen Actors Guild Award for Oustanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (Again, they beat out Modern Family and Community!)

Here’s the official synopsis-

“GLEE follows an optimistic teacher who – against all odds and a malicious cheerleading coach – inspires McKinley High’s Glee Club to conquer the world one singing competition at a time.”

Goodness! I’m still thinkin’ about those special features! Why can’t the DVD’s be released next week?! What’re you looking forward to?

They did it again. They literally told the story of the phrase “jump the shark” and that’s exactly what we should expect from Community. When this first season started we thought the references were cute, fun and we were proud of ourselves for recognizing (the ones that we didn’t miss). Of course the references that we did get endeared Community (or Abed) to us. I only hope this magic train keeps on keepin’ on because I don’t want to see what happened to The Family Guy happen to Community. yuck.

Another comparison, one that most have been making all season- this finale couldn’t have been more different than Modern Family‘s. For that reason, evidence of just how different the two programs are, I think we should stop comparing the two and just enjoy them for what they are. They are, along with many other programs, the second coming (at least in my lifetime) of “must see TV” or to use the parlance of our times- must DVR TV.

“Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” was the very definition of what I’ve come to know as a “season finale.” Stories that had been building over the course of the season came to a conclusion revealing what we knew (or thought we knew) and a few things we didn’t see comin’. Okay maybe nothing all that unpredictable happened (other than the return of professor girlfriend, personally I’d rather she not have a reoccurring role). Britta professed her love for Jeff. Professor girlfriend (Anyone getting the veiled The Venture Bros.?? When will The Venture Bros. return!?) anyway I was saying that Professor Slater also professed her love (bleh) for Jeff. Also Dean Pelton digs Furries. Not surprised. Troy needs a place to live and thinks moving in with Abed makes perfect sense but Abed is the wiser and knows that best friends don’t stay best friends after rooming together. Annie’s boyfriend Vaughn transfers to a college in Delaware to be on the best hacky sack team in the nation and Annie’s transfering with him. Wait, Annie can’t do that. Thankfully Annie didn’t do that, changed her mind at the last minute. On her way back to the Tranny Dance Annie runs into Jeff, tells him that she’s staying. Jeff tells Annie about Britta and Slater. Jeff and Annie kiss BIG TIME and I couldn’t be happier. Why am I happy that Jeff and Annie kissed? I think people should be responsible and not kiss around but for some reason I like this. How about you, what’d you think of “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited?”

A couple of quotes to hold us over until season two-

“Britta! Your lipstick looks better.”

“Am I black boobs?”

“The Yankee Doodle”

I’d like to thank Community for bringing John Michael Higgins back and ask that we get to see him even more in season two!

First I’ve gotta talk about last week’s episode “Modern Warfare” which much like “Contemporary American Poultry” was a reference fest and pushed Community further down the runway toward that pool containing a shark. Let’s be clear: I don’t believe Community has jumped the shark yet. Yet. When they do, they will most likely put laser beams on said shark in an episode devoted to Bond, James Bond.

Side note: I am sick and tired of hearing Gene Wilder’s beautiful song “Pure Imagination” (from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) in that AT&T commercial only because the song is not available for purchase on iTunes and I have forgotten where you buy compact discs.

“Glee Club.” For some reason I never thought of Glee and Community as competitors though rather obviously the writers of Community do. I think they went a little overboard in their direct attacks of the popular (how often can you say this?) FOX sitcom but Community has never been one to pull any punches. It is funny to think that most of the Glee students will probably end up at community college…

Oh yeah, JEFF AND BRITTA DID IT! TOGETHER!

And now let’s discuss “ESL” also known as the episode with lots of Chang. Ken Jeong has been on a hot streak over the past couple of years, mostly in film, but I think he’s found his perfect fit on Community as Señor Ben Chang the Asian Spanish professor. No one was surprised when Chang revealed that he had no college degree as well as only a Sesame Street understanding of the Spanish language but that story line was the only interesting or entertaining story line of the episode. And really I’m talkin’ about the scenes between Jeff and Chang. Troy’s Good Will Hunting plumbing skillz was lame. Annie’s involvement in Señor Chang’s outing was bland. Dr. not Señor Chang was a wasted cameo opportunity (though it did give Pierce a chance to show how much he cares for the study group), which reminds me, where has John Michael Higgins been? Can we start an online petition? Or get some of those Chuck fans to do something at a Subway?

More Glee/Community talk: can we get Sue Sylvester and Señor Chang to meet?

“And now crickets”

Photo © 2010 Reuters All rights reserved.

NBC confirmed today that Jimmy Fallon will be the host of the 2010 Emmys for the first time. Fallon has previously hosted MTV’s Movie Awards and Video Music Awards.

The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards will air live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on August 29, 2010, broadcast on NBC from 8-11pm EST.

Fallon has a history of working for NBC. He is an alum of Saturday Night Live (he was on the show for six years beginning in 1998) and has been the host of Late Night since March 2009. In a statement, Fallon joked that hosting the Emmys “has been a dream of mine ever since they told me I was doing it.”

Executive producer Don Mischer told USA Today that “Jimmy has many talents. He can sing, he can dance, he does impressions, and he does it gracefully and with ease,” which could explain why Fallon was chosen as this years’ host. Mischer continued, “I think he’ll make a terrific host and we are really looking forward to working with him.”

Nominations for the awards, which are presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, will be announced the  morning of July 8, 2010.

I had every intention of recapping Thursday night’s episode of NBC’s Parks and Recreation; alas, “94 Meetings” wasn’t much fun for me and so I didn’t care to write a column about how the rest of this season has been awesome. I would attribute most of Parks and Recreation’s awesome to two men, Nick Offerman and Aziz Ansari. While I’m still trying to get Mr. Offerman a woodworking program on PBS, Aziz Ansari can be seen Sunday June 6th hosting the nineteenth annual MTV MOVIE AWARDS. Indeed Aziz can be seen anywhere these days, from Human Giant to Funny People (Adam Sandler), Observe and Report (Seth Rogen), I Love You, Man (Jason Segal) and the soon-to-be-released Get Him to the Greek (Russell Brand). Can’t wait until June for some MTV and Aziz comedy? Enjoy.

I was going to write a recap and review of the 4/29/2010 30 Rock episode “Argus” but the episode wasn’t all that great, kinda like this whole season, so why not talk about Argus guest star Will Forte’s new action comedy based on his Saturday Night Live skit, MacGruber. MacGruber will be hitting theaters on May 21, 2010 (get it, “hitting” — PUN!) and if you haven’t been watching SNL (and I know you haven’t) then let me share the movie’s synopsis with you:

Only one American hero has earned the rank of Green Beret, Navy SEAL and Army Ranger.  Just one operative has been awarded 16 purple hearts, 3 Congressional Medals of Honor and 7 presidential medals of bravery.  And only one guy is man enough to still sport a mullet.  In 2010, Will Forte brings Saturday Night Live’s clueless soldier of fortune to the big screen in the action comedy MacGruber.
In the 10 years since his fiancée was killed, special op MacGruber has sworn off a life of fighting crime with his bare hands.  But when he learns that his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that’s been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), MacGruber figures he’s the only one tough enough for the job.
Assembling an elite team of experts, Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) and Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig)-MacGruber will navigate an army of assassins to hunt down Cunth and bring him to justice.  His methods may be unorthodox.  His crime scenes may get messy.  But if you want the world saved right, you call in MacGruber.

As we all learned in our high school drama class- movies weren’t made for reading so here’s the official trailer. I’m sold. I don’t know about you but that trailer did it for me. If you’re also on the MacGruber wagon then you might want to download the FREE official MacGruber iPhone app here. Fingers crossed, this is the perfect comedy to kick off the summer movie season.

Alright, I can’t completely dismiss tonight’s 30 Rock. Here are a few quotes worth quoting-

“I know this is a difficult time for you but word of advice- if the will says that you have to spend the night in a haunted house you better hope that everybody else there is black guys and sluts.” -Liz

“Are you soaking your tampons in vodka again?” -Liz

“How to avoid getting paper cuts while making love in a pile of money.” -John Francis Donaghy

“Dammit Griz, I’ve known you since you were six feet tall! I’m gonna to be your best man!” -Tracy