Articles by DonnaBowman | | The A.V. Club

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TV Club : Sports Night “Kafelnikov”/“Shane”

Yes, it’s troubling that Dan can’t say Yevgeny Kafelnikov, but is it therapy-level troubling?

June 12, 2013 | 2:00pm -
TV Roundtable When an unemployed ice-cream-truck driver whammied Press Your Luck

The ’80s game show was rigged against its contestants—until one of those contestants cracked a code and broke the game.

June 12, 2013 | 11:00am -
TV Club : Sports Night “Cliff Gardner”/“Louise Revisited”

The guy we learn to like makes glass tubes, and the gal we're learning to hate takes her panties off.

June 5, 2013 | 2:00pm -
TV Roundtable When a substitute teacher turned Square Pegs into The Bill Murray Show

This comedy is remembered for its singular approach to adolescence—how did Bill Murray end up stealing a whole episode?

June 5, 2013 | 11:00am -
TV Club : Sports Night “Special Powers”/“When Something Wicked This Way Comes”

Out of the frying pan of near-cancellation, into the fire of a universally hated storyline.

May 29, 2013 | 2:00pm -
TV Roundtable On Fawlty Towers, neither the customer nor the innkeeper is always right

An Ugly American and a couple of screwdrivers cause a revolt at Basil Fawlty’s place.

May 29, 2013 | 11:00am -
TV Club : Modern Family “Goodnight Gracie”

Modern Family puts the fun in funeral and the florid in Florida in a terrific season finale.

May 22, 2013 | 8:30pm -
TV Roundtable Boobies, pee-pees, codependence, and grounding the shenanigans with heart

Two interlopers have very different effects on the core group in an early episode of Friends.

May 22, 2013 | 11:00am -
TV Club : Modern Family “Games People Play”

Three Dunphy children in an RV? Feels like 30 to Phil.

May 15, 2013 | 8:30pm -
TV Roundtable When My Boys tested its prickly chemistry by inviting some new faces to the poker table

One of the ultimate hangout shows considers a few characters who just might be a “bad hang.”

May 15, 2013 | 11:00am -
TV Club : How I Met Your Mother “Something New”

Yep, there's the mother. But don't start packing up. This is Ted's story, not hers, and he's not done yet.

May 13, 2013 | 8:25pm -
TV Club : Modern Family “My Hero”

Modern Family gathers the whole ensemble at a roller rink, which is a recipe for sitcom goodness if we've ever heard one.

May 8, 2013 | 9:45pm -
TV Roundtable A classic Simpsons episode explores the universality of being Frank Grimes

The beleaguered everyman meets his doom: the incompetent whirlwind that is Homer Simpson.

May 8, 2013 | 11:00am -
TV Club : How I Met Your Mother “Something Old”

Ted decides what to toss and what to keep, while delivering rather specific speeches about the meaning of same.

May 6, 2013 | 8:55pm -
TV Club : Modern Family “Career Day”

Why do schools in sitcoms have so many Career Days? So Phil Dunphy can do video bits with his past self, of course.

May 1, 2013 | 9:40pm -
TV Roundtable TV Roundtable begins anew—if that’s what you’re into

Usher in a new TV Roundtable theme with Flight Of The Conchords—if that’s what you’re into.

May 1, 2013 | 11:00am -
TV Club : How I Met Your Mother “The Bro Mitzvah”

Barney's bachelor party might have been predictable. Luckily, there's a clown.

April 29, 2013 | 8:30pm -
TV Roundtable Futurama’s opera was a poignant final bow—until it wasn’t

Fry’s deal with Robot Devil gives him musical prowess that comes with a price. How ironic! (That’s not what ironic means.)

April 24, 2013 | 12:00am -
TV Roundtable Scrubs took its time to make a musical episode, but made it count

The medical comedy was bound to make an all-singing, all-dancing half-hour—all it needed was an assist from the Avenue Q guys.

April 17, 2013 | 12:00am -
TV Club : How I Met Your Mother “Romeward Bound”

It's like one of those plays where stagehands move the stage dressing around without bothering to close the curtain.

April 15, 2013 | 8:35pm -
TV Club : Modern Family “Flip Flop”

Phil flips the house, and Gloria plays charades! No, not really, but they're hilarious while they're failing.

April 10, 2013 | 9:50pm -
TV Roundtable Taxi asks, “How much of a sitcom needs to be comedic?”

Before Girls and Louie, a different Louie pushed the boundaries of TV comedy.

April 10, 2013 | 10:00am -
TV Club : Modern Family “The Future Dunphys”

Phil and Claire see the future, and thanks to Luke it is a paradise of self-flipping pancakes.

April 3, 2013 | 9:45pm -
TV Roundtable It’s okay to laugh at It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s musical trainwreck

Enter the Dayman.

April 3, 2013 | 12:00am -
TV Club : Modern Family “The Wow Factor”

Another episode from writer Ben Karlin: familiar in structure and premise, but rich in hilarious throwaway moments.

March 27, 2013 | 10:00pm -
TV Roundtable The 7th Heaven musical is one of the worst episodes of TV ever made

Watch as our panel attempts to survive its stultifying stupidity with sanity intact!

March 27, 2013 | 12:00am -
TV Club : How I Met Your Mother “The Time Travelers”

Sorry, Present-Day Ted. Twenty-Years-From-Now Barney can't help you decide how to spend a lonely April evening.

March 25, 2013 | 8:25pm -
TV Roundtable After Ally McBeal captured the zeitgeist, Robert Downey Jr. found the show’s heart

“That’s what Christmas is all about, Ally McBeal.”

March 20, 2013 | 12:00pm -
TV Club : How I Met Your Mother “The Fortress”

Barney gives up The Fortress of Solitude, but first: some fun with his Jor-El Floating Head Generator.

March 18, 2013 | 8:45pm -
TV Roundtable Daria’s musical episode comes off like a dare—but does it hit the right notes?

An all-singing, all-dancing episode of this down-to-earth cartoon makes no sense, but it’s still an endearing experiment.

March 13, 2013 | 12:00am -

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