Twenty Good Years

Bye Bye to Twenty Good Years. NBC has put it on "hiatus", if you haven't heard yet.

I still maintain that it was good but it was also easy to see why it didn't make it either!

Thanks to the 5 loyal commenters each week!

It's November 1, and Twenty Good Years is still on the air! Frankly, every week now I'm wondering if this is the last time I'll see the show. I know one of these times, that will come true. But for now, the more viewers it loses, the funnier it gets.

This was the most consistently funny episode of the series so far. It's funny how it worked for me; there wasn't much that was really memorable, but I was smiling throughout.

It's nice to see Judith Light in something other than a Lifetime movie right now. She plays the stuck-up character quite well, in everything she does. The scene at the bed-and-breakfast where she comes to get Jeffrey was scary — Halloween-night scary! "John, you son of a bitch... I will wash this car with your blood," was a high point of the entire series so far.

Good for Jeffrey, to actually grow some marbles. The lady almost took him to the dark side, but John taught us all a lesson: Patience sucks, and attack relentlessly until your subject obeys. A true visionary, that John is, a true visionary.

Also, the chemistry between John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor is getting better with every show. In fact, it's much better than I anticipated. It almost seems like Lithgow has toned down some of his quirkiness (without losing any of the loudness). That could just be me, though. And can someone explain to me why a lot of people love to take trips to look at leaves? I don't get it. They are leaves. Brown, green, yellow, red — what's the difference? They do nothing. I guess you could say the same thing about my obsession with '80s records. I mean, my Scott Baio album doesn't do anything, either, so I suppose my love of that could be questioned, too.

Until next week, friends.

This was the second of the three episodes to start off with some slight show of athleticism. The pilot had the guys playing racquetball and in this one basketball. For the amount of sports they seem to play, you'd think Jeffrey would be a little better skilled or maybe a little less injury-prone. What was he doing when he busted up his elbow? Simply holding his arms in the air?

I hope old age isn't quite as sad sack as Jeffrey makes it out to be. I guess I also hope that I don't think I'm cool when I'm really just stuck up like John. Of course, combine those and that's my life now, so maybe I can at least hope for a sitcom down the road.

Hey, speaking of sitcoms, this one was quite funny, yet again. OK, so it's predictable and lame in some parts and has virtually no chance of making it (I guess if Fox was able to air multiple episodes of War at Home while the World Series was in a rain delay, then any show has a shot), but there's still enough laughs to keep me interested.

In this episode Jeffrey Tambor really had some of the funniest moments of the show so far. You kind of knew where it was going when he started talking to John about why he doesn't like hospitals, but it was still hilarious to hear him actually say that during recovery the guys took pictures and "rested their items on my forehead!" Or when John was trying to answer his questions before surgery and Jeffrey asked, "What if I toot?" But of course, the scene of the series so far was when Jeffrey signed the "restaurant consent form" and reached over the desk to grab the nurse's breasts and said, "I'd like a table next to these."

I think a real funny moment was kind of lost near the end ,though, in the rematch of the basketball game as John started the Yo Momma joke and then forgot it. The funnier part was really that he said "Your mother is...." Where's Wilmer when you need him? Ah, the perils of being unhip.

Last week I stated that I wanted to wait until Episode 2 to make the judgment call on whether I actually found Twenty Good Years funny. So this week I want to make sure I address this before you beat me into oblivion again. I like this. Really, I do. I'm not just saying this so you leave me my dignity. I really thought this episode was funny. I truly think it hit me differently this week because I didn't see any previews and had no idea what was coming. Plus, I typed Jeffrey Tambor into YouTube on Saturday and watched dozens of really funny clips (you know the first thing that popped up was him on Martha Stewart with a pumpkin gutter. Now that's comedy gold right there — sort of like the Sgt. Pepper of comedy.) This weekend I even plan on renting Muppets from Space so I, too, can continue with the Tambor-love.

So we get our first adventure this week as the guys head on down to the club to watch a rock show. Jeffrey may not know what to do in a situation like that, but John ain't no dummy. He knows the best place to get all the good info is the urinal. Who can blame either of them for flirting with Mary Frances? Jane Leeves has always been a good-looking woman, but hello, hotness! Complete with traditional rock tattoo, Mary Frances is a bad-ass, sultry lady who wants both the guys. John appears to be the one with all the confidence, while Jeffrey has to be pushed to show his. It's cool, though, how one minute you think John has the command but then you quickly see the reality is that neither of the guys really know what life can be like, so they rely on Mary Frances or their kids to guide their actions. Both of the guys want to think dating the same woman won't cause any problems, but in the end of course, they argue about who gets to have sex with her first. Mary Frances' solution — "Let's make love together." The scene on the couch between the two of them contemplating this notion was great. What's the solution to seeing each other naked? Of course — shut your eyes and "when it's safe to look, cough three times." But the best line of the night came as they were approaching the bedroom when John said, "I've been told my skin is as soft as a newborn's. So, just — be sure." Ha!

Now I'm looking forward to watching this show. It certainly has promise now that we've seen John and Jeffrey's first adventure together.

So, I have to admit right off the bat that I'm not sure why I chose to write about Twenty Good Years. I'm really not familiar with Jeffrey Tambor's work and I never really liked John Lithgow. However, Golden Girls was a really funny show. So I like old people in sitcoms. Maybe I'm just hoping for a male version of Bea Arthur. Whatever the reason, I've been looking forward to this premiere for quite a while. Now that it's happened, I will reserve judgment until the second episode.

You have to hope that a show comes out firing right out of the box, which isn't always that easy to do when you need the entire show to set up the premise for the rest of the series. The Class did it well and so did Studio 60 this year — aw heck — I think I've just disproved my own theory. But what I'm trying to say is that this didn't come out guns-a-blazin'. The debut seemed to be almost straight setup with hopes that mayhem will ensue down the road. Either way, the show is about two retirement-age men who decide to live life like they don’t have many more good years left, yet inevitably true emotions get in the way. In the first episode they've established John Mason (Lithgow) as the funny one who's teetering on the brink of madness and causes the hijinks, and Jeffrey Pyne (Tambor) as the serious guy who overthinks everything he does. Going forward it seems as if we'll see various crazy adventures as the two friends explore everything they think they missed in life up to this point. Like I said, I'll reserve judgment on the show until at least another episode but you guys can feel free to influence my call with your comments.

Side note: Isn't it weird how so many new characters have the same name as the actor in real life? These two guys do it, Matthew Perry plays a Matt in Studio 60, Tracy Morgan plays a Tracy in 30 Rock. There are probably many others but since I only watch sports and Cribs, I don't know any more. Another side note; Lithgow's last big sitcom was 3rd Rock and this is airing right after 30 Rock. Neat-o. As you can tell, I'm easily amused.