Yodelling Llama

One of my favorite 101s of all time is “Yacht Rock.” I was sad to see it go last month. I’m happy, however, to see it break out of the 101 format and keep going on its own. [Yes, I know I'm being a hypocrite, given my position toward "Your Magic Touched Me." Bite me.] Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the creators of “Yacht Rock” are planning at least two more episodes. Hooray!

Channel 102, having taken a month off, should have been especially good. That this month’s primetime is fronted by a newcomer, however, does not bode well.

“I’ll pay you back when I have pockets.” Excepting, of course, that “The Defenders of Stan” is absolutely hilarious. Set amid the premise of “what if there are too many superheros,” “Stan’ delivers consistent laughs on a high concept. Going places? Absolutely. And full of hot chicks to boot.

“Communism and Al Qaeda and homosexuality will run rampant.” The second installment of “Dr. Miracles” is about the same in terms of production values. And about the same in terms of hilarity. That is to say it is somewhat above average. Very good use of The Beatles and Ghostface Killah. And abortion as a comedy agent. Kudos to “Dr. Miracles.”

“Everyone knows white is God’s favorite color.” The second edition of “American Cookbook” clarifies what it was about the program that attracted viewers originally. It is witty and simple. ’nuff said. Hooray!

“Miles, you’re a dweeb. What we need is a hero.” “The Bicycle Thief” manages to maintain, after a slight stall in the first part of its second episode, the unbearable and yet tantalizing tension it has developed. Cheers.

“There will be no fucking, or sucking, or tenderness. The Baby Birds are through.” I realized recently how young I am. It wasn’t until I heard a review of the mediocre Boyton Beach Club that I realized there was a late 60s, early 70s program called “Love, American Style” that almost certainly served as at least a partial source for “Sexual Intercourse: American Style. Imagine that. The program itself continues to puzzle. In a good way. I suppose.

The seventh installment of “Classroom” is the “bulimia” episode. Touching enough in its own right, “Classroom” has, in recent months, consistently failed to bring enough funny to the table. It’s almost as if, instead of parodying after school specials, the creators of “Classroom” actually want to make after school specials. Amazingly enough, though, it works pretty well. Works about as well as an extremely low budget “Strangers with Candy,” at any rate.

“I bet your dick is shaped like a tuna can, huh, short and fat and…” I was all prepared to hate “Your Magic Touched Me Nights” as a cheat (and as a continuation of a bad program). But “Nights” won me over by completely changing formats (from whatever the hell “YMTM” was to “CSI” / “Law & Order: SVU” parody), introducing at least the shells of good characters (to be filled in later episodes), imparting some unnecessary but amusing bathroom humor, and by delivering some fine production levels. With “Nights,” Nagata et al. finally have a worthy place in the primetime.

Newcomer “Raptor” is a nice office comedy, with the twist being that one of the new guy’s coworkers is a dinosaur. Reminded me of the set-up from the “Homer’s Enemy” episode of “The Simpsons.” In a good way. I’m not sure that showing “Ray” as much as they did was wise. And I’m not sure that the show is sustainable long term; that is, it may have blown its load in the first episode. But worth a watch.

The third “Phone Sexxers” has a nice story arc and a few amusing moments. But methinks Mr. Ridley’s penchant for fantasy and fight scenes is overtaking Mr. Gheith’s comedic and swarthy abilities. And that tip in the balance of power is hurting the show. It’s funny: “Phone Sexxers” is one of the better 101s precisely because it fails to follow a formula. But it suffers for it as well, drawing from too many sources and too many genres as it tries to tell stories. Without grounded characters with grounded motives, and without a consistent setting, a fan is left asea.

The latest Sloan and Yonda offering, “Fun Rangers” is strange. Amusing at times. But mostly strange. Not sure what to make of it. Seems almost like Steve Sutton bait. Almost.