By Amy Van Veen (Contributer) – Email
Better With You steals NY Yankee Nick Swisher from his cameo on HIMYM and puts him smack dab in the middle of Ben’s favourite bar, The Shamrock. The problem is Ben is the one who dropped a blanket on Swisher, making the Yankees lose the game. When Joel and Casey still want to go, Ben plays along as a gay, Mudslide drinking Escalade salesman in order to not get punched in the face. In the ladies world, Vicki has only two tickets to her fundraiser for Skid Roses, which teaches the homeless how to make flower arrangements. Mia and Maddie, who at first fight over who doesn’t have to go, soon change their tune when they see the gift bags. Mia was always Ariel, even though Maddie always wanted to be the red-haired mermaid princess, but thanks to a sunburn and volleyball injury that forced her to walk sideways, she was only known as Sebastian the crab. Truths are revealed, the opening and closing sequences reveal some foodie habits for each of the couples, and the show barely scrapes by with some basic humour.
Claire and Phil have a fight on Modern Family, unfortunately Phil has no idea what it was about. Jay got Gloria the perfect gift: a karaoke machine; even though he prefers listening to a spoon go through the garbage disposal. Cameron is putting on a fundraiser and his only desire is to upstage his recent arch enemy, Andrew. Mitchell, however, forgot to mail out the invites. We learn Claire’s dirty habit at the mall’s massage kiosk when she goes with her dad and Gloria helps Phil get to the bottom of his fight. Alex, meanwhile, only desires to have her sister’s lies discovered. Thanks to Manny, Gloria’s singing career comes to an end, and Luke makes quite the little assistant for Cam.
Heather and Roman flirt up the office space on Mr. Sunshine and when Heather wants to set up Ben on a date with her sister, his fear of the repercussions of dating a crazy girl’s sister are put at ease when he gets along smashingly with her. The only problem is, she likes everything he likes. Everything. Roman begs him to double date, though, because his own phobia of a first date has kept him from going out with Heather. Turns out, the guy who spurned her sister is the one who she set on fire and her case isn’t made any better when Ben sees a signed picture of the unabomber, framed at her desk. Crystal has a prized show dog named Riverdale Admiral Horatio Nelson Ticklefight, of course, and the dog show at the Sunshine Center is the last chance he’s got to perform since the doctors have put a cap on the amount of plastic surgery Ticklefight has had. Alonzo has been chosen to be his walker, which he is at first hesitant about, but when he gets cheers from his fans, he plays it up with costume and everything. Great episode, including Ben’s small hands and his love for Tony Hawk.
Big Bang Theory mixes it up when Leonard’s relationship with Pria has them eating at Raj’s, which is unacceptable for Sheldon. “Five people eating and chatting is a party,” but only when it’s not at the Cooper-Hofstadter residence. Penny is the therapeutic barkeep to Sheldon’s angst-ridden patron which leads Sheldon to learn that Leonard is the nucleus of the group. It’s Leonardcentric. In response, Sheldon leaves the rest of his crew to eat at Raj’s while he brings Zack, Stuart and Bawy Kwipke together for a night of goodie bags and a “Waffle”. Penny is needy for Leonard and, thanks to Bernadette and Amy, gets some support for a night of regrettable fun. The guys miss Sheldon, Sheldon misses the guys, and LaVar Burton travels from Community to Pasadena.
Joe Biden is visiting Greendale Community College, which means the Dean is looking for a new student body president. Thanks to Greendale College TV or GCTV, Troy “Buttsoup” Barnes and Abed Nadir give their commentary on the top political choices: Jeff, Garrett, Leonard, Pierce, Magnitude, Star Burns, Vicki and, of course, Annie. Vicki has a yellow shirt and hat and Pierce wants to take her down. The two are out of the race pretty quickly. Star Burns bows out in fear of his political career interfering with his drug dealing. Magnitude stays in the running with “Pop! Pop!” Annie starts a chant that actually works and Jeff wants to prove a presidency can be won with a handsome smile and vague speeches. Abed notices secret service agents in preparation for the Vice-President’s visit, and one of them notices him; Special Agent Robin Vohlers, played by the hilarious Eliza Coupe, takes a fancy to the equally robotic Abed and stays close with random spot checks on the only Arabic in the gang. When Annie shows Jeff’s audition tape for Real World: Seattle, the two are quick to withdraw: him out of shame; and her out of guilt. The political showdown of the century is left to Leonard the Human Raisin Rodriquez and Magnitude Pop Pop. The winner? “South Park.” The Dean, dressed in “his sister’s” Uncle Sam costume remembers why student elections stopped at Greendale in the first place and Abed and Agent Vohlers share a date via binoculars and a bug. Adorable.
Perfect Couples opens to the different ways each pair tells stories. Dave doesn’t say “the black guy” when describing someone in his tales, which Julia mocks him for her in her own nerdtastic way. Vance can’t follow anything Amy says and when she finally skips to the end, he’s frustrated at being so lost. Rex and Leigh include sound effects to make it more exciting. In the actual episode, though, Vance and Dave decide to have guy night at a gorgeous house they’re trying to sell, which isn’t illegal, just completely unethical. When Amy comes and Dave becomes a third wheel, past betrayals between the bros brings up past voicemails of shame. Leigh fakes yet another injury with her tennis elbow, among others like golf wrist, surfing ankle, and horse allergies. Turns out, she feels bad she’s not as good an athlete as Rex needs her to be to win, but when Julia steps up to save her brother from a loser walk of shame, Leigh gets jealous, and Julia gets even more hilarious. Side note: when chasing someone in a pool, it quickly becomes anti-climactic.
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