The series that many were afraid wouldn’t last beyond one season is now going on to season four, and the release of season three sees something of a rut within a rather entertaining and easily charming television series that has appealed to fanboys and nerds across the board since its premiere. While I’m not a fan of the comparisons to “Friends,” the CBS series about four brilliant geniuses obsessed with their toys and video games balanced by their ditzy neighbor Penny is about as close to get to a strong and potentially long lasting ensemble comedy.
“The Big Bang Theory” has appealed to folks like me for years since its series premiere, and sadly the third season is not the best that the writers have to offer. After returning from the Arctic, the guys come home to a new way of life, one of which involves Leonard’s relationship with Penny that meets its obstacles. One of them is the lack of clear sexual tension and romantic tension that the first two seasons strived in.
Like all foreign entertainment if you’re willing to keep a wide open mind and are willing to be open to something completely new and off the wall, then “Flight of the Conchords” is the series for you. Admittedly, the New Zealand sitcom about two folk singers slowly working their way to music fame in the New York landscape is an acquired taste, and one that I had a bit of a time adjusting to, especially considering the series will screech to a halt to switch to musical numbers sung by either of the two gentlemen here.
Todd Philips’ road trip comedy is something of a mystery that manages to possess much more of a complex plot than we’re led to believe by the trailers originally. In its heart it’s about four friends re-connecting for one wild weekend before the wedding of their friend Doug, all the while exploring four friends who are also getting in touch with a part of themselves they lost or will eventually lose when they get back home to domestic monotony. The four characters here are much more representations of the male such as Stu who is a delusional male whipped by his domineering wife anxious to break out of his confines. Alan is something of an erratic monster who isn’t a bad guy even if he’s done some truly perverted things. Doug is a man facing a big change in his life about to marry a wealthy woman who is also the girl of his dreams and presenting a life as a married man and possible father, while Phil is a man who refuses to let himself be toned down even though he’s a father and a husband.