As I said below, feel free to keep talking about the "Entourage" finale in the "Conchords" post. Spoilers for "My Boys" and "Saving Grace" coming up just as soon as I stop for directions...Last night's "My Boys" didn't have anything nearly as egregious as the over-the-top "Sex and the City" lampooning, but also nothing nearly as brilliant as the douchebag intervention. Still, a good episode, and as someone who made the city-to-suburb shift a few years back, I could relate to the various factions of the party. Mike, Brendan and Kenny competing for Hot Mom felt a little odd, if only because it's so rare to see the guys trying to sabotage each other like that, but the payoff with Bobby getting The Vouch was unexpected, and it was nice to see Mrs. Gaffigan again as Mrs. Andy.
Having ditched the Disapproving Black Captain back in episode two, "Saving Grace" showed a willingness to embrace another cliche: the minority supporting character who only gets storylines about being a minority. After doing little but exposition in the early episodes, Bobby finally gets a subplot of his own, and naturally it involves the murder of a Native American. Ham, Butch and the other guys are defined by their relationships with Grace; Bobby's defined by being the token. I did like the scenes with Grace and her "Geepaw" -- and, connected to that, the establishment of Grace's sister Paige as the seeming wet blanket who's really the most admirable member of the family -- and I'm intrigued by Butchie throwing his hat back into the ring with Grace. (Between Butch, Ham and Henry, is there a guy in that office Grace hasn't had sex with? Oh, that's right: Bobby.) Still don't care about the police stuff, but the interpersonal material is working very well.
What did everybody else think?
It seems like Saving Grace is expanding the family roles and amping up the interpersonal issues at work. And I liked how this episode and last one show emphasized how Grace can be a lot of fun and kind of a jerk. I thought this came out both in the Geepaw storyline and in the simmering Ham, Butch, and most especially Henry storyline. People are going to get hurt all around.
ReplyDeleteAt this point I'm just curious about how the show adjusts for season two. They can't just drop the procedural stuff (I assume), but they do need to find a way to neutralize it. I mean, if I had a choice between a few more murder investigations vs. a few episodes of the Hanadarko family cruise, I know which one I'd like to see.
Anon
If 'My Boys' wasn't a comedy, this episode was how a couple of 'Twilight Zone' episodes would have begun - peaceful life in the suburbs and suddenly you find you're living somebody else's life. Even came complete with a "Bobbleganger" to replace the old Bobby.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, when I get home from work on a Tuesday morning, the first thing I want to watch is the 'My Boys' from the night before. These are people I like to spend time with. I don't need the big-time laughs, I'm comfortable with the grin-inducing moments.
When this show goes the DVD route, I'm there.
I like 'My Boys' a lot. The characters are growing on me and Jim Gaffigan is great. The cicadas were a nice touch although, believe me, they were MUCH louder. Deafening even. And gross.
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