Last night was big on comedies – I watched five of ’em. But which was the funniest? Here’s how they stacked up. We have a sliding scale of 1 through 10 to measure laughs, 1 being those tearful Sarah McLachlan animal cruelty commercials and 10 being laughing so hard you can’t breathe and pass out.
Gay penguins are never not funny. (NBC photo)
5. “Community” (NBC). I was kinda disappointed. It had a few amusing bits and I did laugh, but for all the buzz about it being the fall’s best new comedy, I just didn’t see it. And pretty much every one of Chevy Chase’s lines fell flat. Overall, very mehhh. Still, I think it has potential, so I’ll keep tuning in, for now. On the bright side, Joel McHale plays the likable sleazeball just right (Loved the sweat pants with the sport coat look). And that girl really does look like Elizabeth Shue. And the Aspergers/ass-burgers thing cracked me up because I have the sense of humor of a 9-year-old. John Oliver’s professor was good too. (See what I mean about nuggets of potential? But despite all that, it just didn’t add up to much.) Score: 4
4. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (FX). Again, kinda disappointing. A few great, laugh-out-loud lines, but overall it didn’t flow very well. It was like they were trying to stuff too much into a half hour. Seemed like the foreclosure and surrogate mom plots could have been broken up into separate episodes. Dee looked a little haggard too. A couple hamburgers would do her good. Still, every line out of Charlie’s mouth was comic gold, so it wasn’t a total waste. Score: 5
3. “The Office” (NBC). I really liked this episode despite the lack of big laughs. Maybe it’s because it’s so comforting to have the Dunder-Mifflin gang back. The parkour opening was great, and Michael’s gossip-mongering induced a few good chuckles. Credit good writing and pacing for making that half hour work so well. Not their funniest episode ever, by any means, but still very satisfying. Score: 6
2. “Parks and Recreation” (NBC). A pleasant surprise. Some very funny moments and consistent laughs. The black bar over the amorous gay penguins was a nice touch. Tom’s guest appearance seducing the local talk show was hilarious, and though I was glad to see The Pit not be a central plotline , I loved how Anne’s loser ex-boyfriend has set up camp there. Leslie’s character has been slightly tweaked to make her less pathetic and more sympathetic, and it really worked. Leslie needs to get liquored up more so she can have more opportunities to get her Lady Gaga freak on. I was ready to abandon the show after the spring, but if it keeps this up, I’m back onboard. Score: 7
1. “Archer” (FX). This just killed me. It was raunchy and twisted and induced disgusting snorts of laughter. Certainly not for everyone, but very, very funny to me. Archer, the a-hole of a spy with a disturbing Oedipal complex, was eye of the comedy hurricane. From remarking on the lingering smell of curry to his over-the-top womanizing to comtemplating coarse sand with his manservant, there were so many great I-can’t-believe-they-just-said-that moments. And most of them I can’t repeat here. As I suspected, it had that Adult Swim vibe, which is fine, since I’m a fan. It really did pair well with “Sunny.” Too bad we won’t see more episodes until January. Score: 9
