67 replies to this topic

[TWoP Nikita]

From Zap2it:

The warden (Craig T. Nelson) approaches Earl to help with a gang problem going on in the prison yard; Randy continues suffering from Earl withdrawals.

[ReadIshmael]

Awwwww! Hector and Jamal were so cute! I love this show so much for doing this story and being so funny without being cheap. It was really, genuinely sweet, and I appreciate that.

Good for Randy! I'm so happy for him.

I loved Joy and Randy's exchange at the prison while Earl was playing conflict manager. Joy looked so pleased when Randy said she had a nice rack. That's why I love Joy.

[M. Darcy]

Awesome! When Earl said the warden's favorite show was the Odd Couple, I was so hoping he would say Oz. And...then it did turn into Oz. Aw, romance in prison. Just like the good ole days.

Way to go Randy - 55%.

[nicepebbles]

I laughed my ass off. I thought they were going to go there then I was like no way.

"I'm sad." HA!! And he-slut.

Why am I not surprised that Randy got the job? He's so going to get shanked. Poor Randy.

[JessicaLovejoy]

I love you. And you're the first thing I've said that to that I haven't killed.

He's like a snake in winter.

I was so hoping he would say Oz.

Me too! But we've got the sex and the shiving.....so practically the same thing, but with less people we've seen on Law and Order.

[jedicaboose]

Good, good stuff.

"All I know about is guarding."

[Rinaldo]

So. Awesome.

I really didn't see that coming. Completely blindsided. Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Hector and Jamal. Aw.

So we can see how they're going to finesse Earl's 2 years in prison, but they're making it sort of make sense, so OK. And Randy thought it through, went for a goal and achieved it. Yay, 55%!

Earl the negotiator. Randy salutes Joy's nice rack, and all's well.

And I'm reminded once again that there's hardly another series that matches this for being so straightforwardly insightful and truthful about race and class in this country, and being so funny about it at the same time.

And damn. That was a hell of a lot of undisguised close-up man-on-man action. Well played, Earl.

Edited by Rinaldo, Oct 4, 2007 @ 8:58 PM.

[HickoryColt]

Another hilarious episode. I didn't see the man on man action coming. And the brazilian wax line was funny too. Good to see Randy and Earl back together.

[Aludra]

I love that I spend most of my time laughing but a good part of it awwing. 30 Rock owns me but this show is totally the heart of the comedy block.

"Bad guy zookeeper" is one of the best throwaway lines I've heard. Loved the slow motion slap. And Coach! The Warden is a great spin; not too pathetically chummy but just clueless enough.

"You're just not the right colour, Jamal. Plus the the gay thing. They'll think it's yicky." Said with such tenderness!

Edited by Aludra, Oct 4, 2007 @ 8:54 PM.

[katesus7]

And Coach! The Warden is a great spin; not too pathetically chummy but just clueless enough.

This show has THE best guest actors, because they always seem to find awesomely cool people who just throw everything into whatever random role they're given. They fully commit, and it really comes through, and adds to the show. Plus, I loved Coach.

I loved Crabman's line "My uncle slapped a cop, and got 12 years in the penitentiary. Guess which color he was".

Poor Randy - sat in a stolen car for three days, and STILL couldn't get arrested. Him as a guard can't be a good thing, though.

Another great episode, I'm actually really enjoying Earl in jail, and I thought it would get real old real fast.

Edited by katesus7, Oct 4, 2007 @ 11:18 PM.

[Aludra]

I loved Crabman's line "My uncle slapped a cop, and got 12 years in the penitentiary. Guess which color he was".

Lucky? No, wait...

[LTG]

I'm really impressed that they're continuing to pull off the whole prison thing. I'm beginning to believe they could do a whole season of this.

My favorite little sight gag was the inmate in the garden sharpening the carrot into a shiv. Heh.

[texasannie]

That was a lot of hot gay action for 7pm Central time. About 10 times more than in the entire decade-long run of Will & Grace, and sweeter and funnier. This show should win an award from GLAAD or PFLAG or somebody.

[Rina99]

The thought idly crossed my mind that Hector and Jamal would get together when they initially showed them thrown in solitary, but then nothing seemed to come of it, which made the blindside that much harder when they kissed. These first two episodes have been made of awesome!

[eEagle]

Wow. Just wow, that was great. So many things, that man on man action was great. I love love this show. GLADD should take notice. I echo that I think they can keep this up. I read spoilers, but it gave no hint that what happened was going to happen. Gah.

[mnementh]

I love how far Earl has come from being the guy who ran screaming from Kenny's house. Turning around to see Hector and Jamal making out only elicits a "huh" kind of reaction as he realizes that he has to reformulate his approach to stopping the gang fights. (Since Hector can obviously find something good to say about Jamal.) I, however, was totally blindsided by the reveal and laughed my ass off while still going "Awww." It's a credit to this show that it can be hilariously funny while simultaneously having such a great heart.

And can I just say how happy I was to see Coach? Love, love, love Craig T. Nelson and he was the perfect warden for a Camden County prison. I think my favorite line of the night was, "What? I'm wearing underwear!"

Even after last week, I was a little unsure about having Earl in prison for any length of time this season, but if they can keep up episodes like this I think it could be brilliant.

[Tonedeaf DJ]

I was definitely impressed by this episode, I like many others didn't know how long they could keep the prison situation going. But they have managed that, and also showed a way that he can get out faster. 5 weeks down!

It was also weird to see Page Kennedy as Jamal, after seeing him as U-turn in Weeds. He was nice! ...er.

[LiberryLady]

This is MY week. Man-on-man action* twice in less than seven days!

I, too, thought the door to solitary would open to some lovin', so when that didn't happen I gave a happy whoop to see the guys making out in the warden's office. Nicely done, Earl.

I love how far Earl has come from being the guy who ran screaming from Kenny's house.

So true. It's good to see that Earl can apply the lessons he learns from an item on his list to his life as a whole.

Did y'all catch "BucketHead" in the background when Hector tried to electrocute himself? He had a happy face painted on the bucket. Hee!

*For the record, the other time was on Torchwood.

[Aludra]

How about the Bring Your Daughter to Work day? AD shout-out?

"Spoon? I got the spoon last time!"

[jkingstl]

Such an amazingly sweet episode, and quite groundbreaking I think. We had multiple shots of man on man kissing, then we were treated to the ice cream thing! So funny! It was both touching and hilarious at the same time. What a rare combo, especially on a primetime sitcom on a major network. All I can say is THANK YOU!

I thought it was so cute when Earl took the smelly t-shirt and rubbed it onto the pillow. It was so cool and refreshing how it was presented, like it was no big deal.

Wow.

I didn't think I could love this show any more than I already did.

[arc]

Shoot, I read some spoiler somewhere that gave away the central twist. Serves me right for looking at spoilery sites, I guess.

Awesome work with Buckethead, though.

[tarragon918]

Ha! I saw that coming ... yes, I did. :) But perhaps watching the Luke/Noah SL on ATWT has given me a lead onto this. Thanks for confirming that was U-Turn from Weeds (I thought so!). I continue to be surprised, though, at how they are able to slide this stuff by the censors at 8 PM! Especially the rocket ice cream pop!! Earl has indeed come a very long way with regard to gays--he's much more in tune and tolerant.

Randy continues being Randy - and now, finally, is back with Earl, even if they're on opposing sides of the bars. Can't believe he scored the highest of anyone so far on that guard exam, though. My only gripe is that we're missing the usual regulars and there isn't nearly enough of Joy and Crabman, but they are making up for it by having great guest stars in the prison scenes. WTG, MNiE!!

[firestarter]

Yay writers! Another good one.

Doing a great job of turning the prison movie cliches on their heads and making them funny. And so heartfelt! Jamal and Hector were like, West Side Story comes to Camden County prison. Except without the knife death at the end.

Glad that Earl continues to improve his karma even while in prison. Because when you think about it, even though he didn't commit the crime he's in for, he did break a lot of laws that he was never punished for. So he gets to make up for that, and make prison life a little cheerier for the rest of them.

Love this show.

[crazy4wiggles]

I also thought tonight's episode was awesome, and was laughing till I cried at the ice cream scene (really? this early in the evening? wow!), and I just love the attention to detail in this show. As already has been mentioned, I loved Buckethead, and the guy making the shiv out of the carrot.

And when Craig T. Nelson came on, I said, "Hey! Mr. Incredible is reunited with Syndrome". And as I write this, I realize I need to rewatch to see if I missed any references to that movie. I hope the warden is with us for a few episodes.

[Drew T.]

Buckethead definitely killed me, and it was so smart to never draw attention to it. A close-up wouldn't have been nearly as effective. Unless, of course, they did a close-up and I missed it. It happens.

Another really good episode, and honestly, nothing can beat the image of Earl and Randy back together again. Randy taking his place beside Earl, pushing the other guard away basically, was classic.

[texasannie]

crazy4wiggles: I can't believe I didn't make the connection to The Incredibles! I love that movie!

[thuganomics85]

I can't believe I didn't make the connection to The Incredibles! I love that movie!

I forgot about that, as well. Awesome bit of casting there. First Ben Foster, and now Craig T. Nelson. This show (and 30 Rock) knows how to stunt-cast well.

Loved this episode as well. It was cool see how Earl has changed since the first episode, when it comes to homosexuality. Overall, I thought the show has handled this subject very well, and not coming off to "A Very Special Episode" about it. I wouldn't mind seeing Jamal and Hector again.

Loved Buckethead appearing briefly, and I also laughed when the guard talked about someone used a toe nail clipper to cut off someone's arm... for two weeks. Hee!

[sigmagirl]

"Spoon? I got the spoon last time!"

So you better find some soup!

I agree that the "stunt casting" has been great, but I wish that 30 Rock hadn't advertised it. I know that, even with the Emmy, they're struggling for viewers, so they have to do the Seinfeld! thing, but that promo last night embarrassed me. Better for them to just run the shows and let the viewers say "Hey! That's ______!"
The guard last night was Andy from According to Jim, nobody's idea of a guest star, but well cast.

[peeayebee]

Another great ep! If I wasn't laughing out loud, I was grinning from ear to ear. I'm so glad I didn't see the love angle coming. It was a pleasant and sweet surprise.

The first time I cracked up was seeing Earl having to cut his own toenails. I wonder if Randy will take the job back since he's on inside now.

The carrot shiv and Bucket Head were fantastic. It was perfect that they were practically throwaway bits. "Friends Don't Let Friends Shiv." Words to live by.

The first time we see Ron the guard, I thought he had a Randy vibe to him, so I was pleased that that became an important and funny element. Loved seeing Randy jealous. I certainly didn't expect Randy to become a guard in order to be with Earl. I thought, as we were meant to think, that he'd be there as an inmate.

As always, there were lots of great lines.

Loved when Earl first sees Jamal and Hector kissing, and says, "So, you're kissing. What's with that?" His delivery makes it funny.

Then when we get Earl's VO about how J & H hooked up, discovering that they had a lot in common: "... didn't like spiders or negative people."

As already mentioned: "Plus the gay thing. They'll think it's icky."

Loved all the ways Earl tried to get J & H together again -- the sweaty shirt rubbed on the pillow, the push-up popsicle (I can't believe the things this show gets away with!), the wet t-shirt bit.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Randy handles being a guard. I hope he and Ron have a rivalry.

Oh, and the Joy and Crabman scenes were great too. It's interesting seeing this different side of Joy, nurturing Randy almost as if she were his mother, and being pleased when he compliments her on her rack. I also liked that she was pleased that Randy is remembering more to flush the toilet "especially after a big job."

What a pleasure this show is.

[nicepebbles]

"You're just not the right colour, Jamal. Plus the the gay thing. They'll think it's yicky." Said with such tenderness!

Oh yes. I loved that line.

I loved Crabman's line "My uncle slapped a cop, and got 12 years in the penitentiary. Guess which color he was".

How did I miss this line? Probably laughing so hard at something else.

I'm really impressed that they're continuing to pull off the whole prison thing. I'm beginning to believe they could do a whole season of this.

Me, too. Towards the end of last season, I was almost not caring if I missed this show or not. I felt like S2 lost something. I tuned in just to see if I should give the show up. I'm glad I stuck around.

It does make sense though that Earl could do good things in prison but I still didn't think they would do it. I for sure thought they'd try to get him out or something by the 4th episode. I don't get that impression.