tvdinner&amovie

NBC is offering up two episodes of Bent each week. Couple that with the low ratings from the premiere episodes, and it’s pretty unlikely this show will make it to a second season (#oneseasonandacancellation). Aside from the few outliers, new shows generally need time to build a fan base. However, with so many comedies on now that are already vying for viewers (Community, Happy Endings, Parks and Recreation and Cougar Town to name just a few), a new show has to be pretty freakin’ hilarious to get some attention.

With all that stacked against it, I’m going to continue watching Bent until the very end. After four episodes, I can genuinely say the show is pretty funny. I’m still not quite sure why the full credits weren’t played until the fourth episode, but there’s probably a reasoning behind that which escapes me.

Here are the best/funniest moments, as well as quotes, to the show you probably aren’t watching, but REALLY should be:

HD

• “Whoa! Way to kill the music. You’re like Buddy Holly’s plane.” – Pete, creator of the ‘Rebuttal to a Grey Life’ mix-tape, who seems to be pretty quick with the pop culture references.
• Alex and Pete’s almost kiss wasn’t blown off and instead, the writers are jumping right into this “will they/won’t they/eventually they will” dance. “You lean in a couple more times, it’s gonna be a great year,” said by Alex just before sliding on the aviators most recently made famous by Mr. Jeff Winger.
• Walt (Jeffrey Tambor’s character) and his Artist’s Day, which is like the taquitos and replenishment-themed equivalent of Treat Yo Self Day.
• Apparently when determining if a guy is cheating or not, the placement of the hand on either the lower-back (not cheating) or high ass (definitely cheating) makes all the difference.
• “Look at yourself. You’re a snowflake. No one else has your face.” – Clem offering a little bit of encouragement to the adorable, yet awkward, Gary.
• “Don’t make me be the responsible one. We’ll end up in Vegas.” – Tawny Dean Screwsie
• Clem being electrocuted and calling it “marvelous”, as well as mentioning that he saw his dead grandmother.
• Alex’s boyfriend Ben and Pete going to her room to fight (MMA vs. college wrestling) and finding that the room was anti-sexual. We’re talking books on the bed, heating pad on the dresser types of not hotness.
• Michaela Watkins (Bitch Pleeze Blogger, SNL) as Carol, one of Alex’s work buddies. I couldn’t quite place her face, but when she clutched the red Solo cup (similar to how she clutched her iced coffee) it all came back to me.
• Alex going into mamma bear mode (“I’m a lawyer, my words hit like punches”) and heading off to the homes of the kids that were torturing her daughter at school. Writing JL BRD (jail bird) on someone’s lawn is lazy, and although it wasn’t the best anti-bullying message to send, they all deserved to have their houses egged.
• Hearing Two Door Cinema Club’s ‘Something Good Can Work‘ towards the end of the episode.
• “Street music: the purest union of art and commerce.” – Walt

A-Game

• Gary’s nickname going from “goggles” to “back fat” all for merely requesting goggles during the safety meeting.
• “This is some racist crap.” -Clem
  “All right, a lot of us are white, so that’s kind of confusing.” -Gary
  “Dammit back fat, get indignant!” -Clem
• “I snuck in like an Indian.” – Alex’s boss, Bob (Larry Miller, who generally plays the same role. A funny role, but the same nonetheless).
• “Don’t try to get in my head.” -Alex
  “Oh, I’m already there. Just making a couple of Pop-tarts in your mind kitchen.” -Pete
• Bob Clendenin (Scrubs and more recently Cougar Town) as Terry, Walt’s boss. However, with Clendenin and Tambor in the same scene, I really wanted it to be a little funnier.
• Pete noting that Gary was about to cry “orange tears.” Does anyone else feel like jokes against redheads have become more frequent in the past few years, similar to how blond jokes were all the rage in the 90s?
• Walt asserting that bow-ties are like a “scarlet ‘U’ for unemployed actors.“
• Pete, Vlad and Clem wearing jackets on steak night (something JD and Turk would have appreciated). Poor Gary didn’t get the memo.
• “I need booty heat. My back runs cold.” – Clem

Another Bent 2-for-1 happens Wednesday, April 4th @ 9/8c. Watch it.

Nicole is a TV junkie and TVDM helps her feed a lifelong addiction. She can be found here, providing biased commentary (sprinkled with a few Pop Up Video-esque insights) on her favorite shows, every week.