namedujour Reviews

Another Period (2013–2018)

Lady Cora's Stateside Relatives

[8/10 · 17 July 2015]

I was expecting this to be Drunken History, which to me is a one- joke show. (We get it. You're drunk.) No offense to Drunken History fans.

Instead, it's apparently a spoof on Downton Abbey, featuring the upstairs and downstairs characters, except that they're in Newport, RI, which is where Downton Abbey's Lady Cora comes from. Throw in a little 30 Rock (or lately The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) wacky, over-the- top characterizations, and Arrested Development in pacing and being completely skewed, and there you go!

It actually pulled some real and totally unexpected gut-busting laughs from me. Since it takes place in 1902, they're unapologetic in being completely, crassly, politically incorrect. Women are certainly not safe from the satire, depicted as Lillian and Beatrice. But they take shots at everything, without remorse. One of their first victims in the pilot is the deaf and blind Helen Keller, for instance. They then meander through appalling (and hilarious) pot shots at race, which at that time in our history included "the Irish." (I think you need to have a slightly sick sense of humor, actually.)

In addition, you have the pleasure of watching actors from The Office and Madmen, Jack Black, and any number of other familiar faces coming and going. It isn't a Tina Fey production, but it kind of has that feel to it, which is a high complement. I'm sure she somehow inspired it.

I think it's great!

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2019)

Be patient and it will all unfold.

[9/10 · 9 March 2015]

The first few episodes were...okay, I thought. I didn't think this one was the equal to 30 Rock AT ALL. But then as the episode numbers got higher and higher the show became incredibly gut-busting hilarious!

I'm not even kidding.

Spoiler begins here: The insane pastor who held Kimmy in the bunker for 15 years does not appear until the last few episodes, when they hold his trial in Indiana. And he is Jon Hamm. Jon Hamm, my friend. Kimmy's lawyer is Tina Fey, "Marcia" (think Marcia Clark from the O.J. Simpson trial). It doesn't get any better than John Hamm and Tina Fey in the same courtroom.

My biggest regret is that I watched it all in two days. And now I have to wait for Season 2.

It's a Disaster (2012)

Great Surprise

[8/10 · 27 December 2014]

I was surfing through Netflix, where this movie has a nearly 5-star rating, and watched because of that (very few Netflix movies rank that high). I didn't even read the preview.

I figured it was a comedy because David Cross is in it, but he seemed at first to be playing such a straight role that I thought this was a drama. It ALMOST lost me until the moment the characters learned they were all about to die, at which point I couldn't stop laughing!

It begins with several couples talking about inane and stupid things, much like an episode of Seinfeld. Just go with it because your reward is to come.

It's as if Jerry, Elaine, George, Newman and Kramer are facing the end of the world, joined by Elaine's new boyfriend, David Cross. These characters all face death with the same focus on petty minutiae in their final hours as the Seinfeld cast would. It's hilarious!

The Office: Niagara: Part 1 (2009) Season 6, Episode 4

Beautiful episode!

[10/10 · 12 October 2009]

What a perfect wedding! And a perfect episode. (I had it on TIVO and watched it twice) I loved the fact that they gave Pam and Jim a really romantic wedding (the one you wanted for them) performed by a ship's captain under the Falls, in addition to the big farce with the families (the wedding you personally wanted to see). I loved the viral Youtube dance, and wondered how the original couple who did it felt, watching. The Office had the rare opportunity to pull it off while everyone still remembered the original video, and before the whole thing got to be a tiresome cliché. Bravo.

Does anyone else besides myself think they're setting up Michael Scott and Pam's mom? Speaking of that, I seem to remember someone other than Linda Purl playing Pam's mom in past episodes. Does anyone know if they switched actresses? Also, wasn't Stanley's wife white? Did I miss the story line where he divorced the white wife and married a black one?