Bub is called out of town. So, the guys decide to get a Lady in to help...but there's some chicanery! And, Steve almost gets a wife!
Well, I know. It sounds like this one might overdo the corn but it has its charms. The best bits are the "Chain of Command" moments. Bub says Steve needs to take him to the bus station in the middle of the night. Steve gives the car keys to Mike. Mike gives them to Robbie. Robbie gives them to Chip. The same sort of thing happens when Chip ends up calling the "Domestic Bliss" agency rather than the "Domestic Aid" place.
The actual plot is as old as the ages. The Domestic Bliss lady thinks Steve wants marriage. And, no one in the house knows that she is trying to get Steve married. And, when the Domestic arrives (a large, blousy woman, possibly Bub in drag), she is put in the Master Bedroom by Chip due to some goofballery earlier on. There is some nice "not quite meeting up with people in the house" shtick. The woman from the Domestic Bliss place is comically indignant when she talks to Steve. And...there is so much confusion...
In the end, it's another OK episode. The thing that surprised me was that it seems to move quicker than the other episodes. The resolving of the conflict comes on pretty fast once everyone is assembled. I guess because there are a bunch of different things happening here. In the end, the "Don't Pass The Buck" lesson was better when it was shown, rather than told explicitly in the final scene. I think this one feels more sitcom-like than the best episodes so far. The whole thing, in fact, seems very sitcomy. And, it's all right but, if the show is going to be like this for much of its run, I don't know if I can travel with it.
I need an atypical episode soon, please.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
My Slow Sons
Yes, I have been very slow with this. I apologize. I am going to try to get back on track now.
I've had three problems:
1) Other writing. These blog is a lark and an experiment. When my other work (like Bleeding Skull) comes up, it gets first dibs on my time.
2) My DVD-R. I am watching Season One from a series of Uncut episodes aired on Canadian TV Land. I chose these because they have the original music in them, unlike the commercially released DVDs (which are awesome otherwise). My disc with episodes 10-18 is screwy. If you click on the individual boxes for the first two episodes, it takes you there. The other 7 boxes takes you to the middle of Episode 2 every time. So, you have to chapter jump ahead but it's all on EP so some spots jump ahead five minutes, others take you ahead by three episodes. None of the chapter stops are at the beginning of episodes, too. And, fast forwarding, since it's EP, can throw you to the end of the disc in seconds. I don't know the episodes good enough to know where to stop. Laziness on my part? Possibly. But, the disc is annoying.
3) No hindsight. With a movie, you're seeing the full piece. With a TV show, each episode is a chunk. It's much easier to talk about episodes of a show when you know everything. (Have a look at my Green Acres reviews for that.) With My Three Sons, I know up to the point that I'm reviewing so I can only make vague guesses as to the future and the past I have with the show is severely limited. Hence, some reviews end up being "Here's what happened and it was pretty good." I try to do more but, sometimes, that's all I can do.
Excuses? Sure. But, I will try to be more diligent in future.
I've had three problems:
1) Other writing. These blog is a lark and an experiment. When my other work (like Bleeding Skull) comes up, it gets first dibs on my time.
2) My DVD-R. I am watching Season One from a series of Uncut episodes aired on Canadian TV Land. I chose these because they have the original music in them, unlike the commercially released DVDs (which are awesome otherwise). My disc with episodes 10-18 is screwy. If you click on the individual boxes for the first two episodes, it takes you there. The other 7 boxes takes you to the middle of Episode 2 every time. So, you have to chapter jump ahead but it's all on EP so some spots jump ahead five minutes, others take you ahead by three episodes. None of the chapter stops are at the beginning of episodes, too. And, fast forwarding, since it's EP, can throw you to the end of the disc in seconds. I don't know the episodes good enough to know where to stop. Laziness on my part? Possibly. But, the disc is annoying.
3) No hindsight. With a movie, you're seeing the full piece. With a TV show, each episode is a chunk. It's much easier to talk about episodes of a show when you know everything. (Have a look at my Green Acres reviews for that.) With My Three Sons, I know up to the point that I'm reviewing so I can only make vague guesses as to the future and the past I have with the show is severely limited. Hence, some reviews end up being "Here's what happened and it was pretty good." I try to do more but, sometimes, that's all I can do.
Excuses? Sure. But, I will try to be more diligent in future.
1.14.: Mike's Brother
The brother would be Robbie. And, Robbie is very jealous of his brother, the Blessed Mike (that's how Robbie sees it). We've had the sibling rivalry thing before but this is the one that dives right out and says that Robbie is very jealous of Mike. It all builds around their incredibly messy garage. Steve can't get in the garage because the boys haven't put up shelves to clean up all the random debris. So, they will spend the next few days fixing it up.
Robbie is a big ball of jealous hate in this one. Mike is starting a new job. He put up the first half of the shelves. Robbie needles Mike about every single thing he does. And, Mike catches on and asks Robbie what his beef is...And, Robbie blows up and lets off a litany of reasons why he's sick of his older brother...And, frankly, Robbie does seem like a bit of a jerk but he's really just an awkward kid trying to grow up. And, let's be honest, Mike is cooler than he is.
Of course, in the end, both of them goof up. Robbie screws up on the shelves and causes all sorts of garage troubles. Mike is too cocky and doesn't get the job. Both brothers have their problems and the great thing about this show is that it takes the Sibling Rivalry plotline that we've seen so often and gives it a little extra humanity. We like the characters and we want to see them make up but, hey, I've had siblings and, a lot of times, these things never get made up. You just live with them.
I don't think I'd say this is a great episode but it's a good one. We need an episode like this. We need to have the brother's rivalry and jealousy acknowledged. We know that Robbie will screw up the garage but it's nice to see Mike screw up his new job.
An average episode but one filled with great charm.
Robbie is a big ball of jealous hate in this one. Mike is starting a new job. He put up the first half of the shelves. Robbie needles Mike about every single thing he does. And, Mike catches on and asks Robbie what his beef is...And, Robbie blows up and lets off a litany of reasons why he's sick of his older brother...And, frankly, Robbie does seem like a bit of a jerk but he's really just an awkward kid trying to grow up. And, let's be honest, Mike is cooler than he is.
Of course, in the end, both of them goof up. Robbie screws up on the shelves and causes all sorts of garage troubles. Mike is too cocky and doesn't get the job. Both brothers have their problems and the great thing about this show is that it takes the Sibling Rivalry plotline that we've seen so often and gives it a little extra humanity. We like the characters and we want to see them make up but, hey, I've had siblings and, a lot of times, these things never get made up. You just live with them.
I don't think I'd say this is a great episode but it's a good one. We need an episode like this. We need to have the brother's rivalry and jealousy acknowledged. We know that Robbie will screw up the garage but it's nice to see Mike screw up his new job.
An average episode but one filled with great charm.
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