#307: Prison Break-In

[I Got A Stew Going]

Oh overall, this was still a good episode, I laughed really hard with Gobs gala video.

[Singlefiletobliss]

Did no one else enjoy oscar's suggestion to cremate the turtle which had just eaten all his weed? I thought that was excellent

[gobias23]

Hello, new here.

I have to say that last night's episode was a huge disapointment. This was one of the last chances A.D had to coax Fox or another network into picking it up and they delivered, in my humble opinion, the worst episode in the show's history. The lowbrow teabag, lubrication and weed jokes left my funny bone wanting and the overused "her/him?" and G.M Star Wars riffs left me about as cold as first time viewers. And that blood spurting from Tobias' head? Yes, that was the low point of this series.

A.D is still my favorite T.V show by a long shot-and it has been plagued by you know how many setbacks this year-but season 3 just doesn't feel up to snuff. I hope like hell that A.D gets picked up by somebody or Imagine finds a way to keep it alive via film or direct to DVD but an episode like last night's is not going to help at all.

Just ask yourself these two questions to figure out if you are on the same wave length as me:

1.) Did you ever think you would have to settle for mere chuckles from an Arrested Development episode?

and

2.) Wouldn't the Michael Bluth from seasons 1 and 2 just cut the hair off of Tobias' head to save his family member's life instead of wondering about something that would simply push that episode's plot along?

Man this guy said it all.

Well done.

Is there any way to contact the writers and let them know they've gone astray? I really think ever since Ready Aim Marry Me, Hand to God and those episodes in season 2 they have been very inconsistent and heading in a dangerous direction. Taking the road the Simpsons has taken the last few years. Somebody needs to let the writers know this show was better when it was based in reality!

[gobias23]

Did no one else enjoy oscar's suggestion to cremate the turtle which had just eaten all his weed? I thought that was excellent

Yeah....it's funny...but it's not genius or everything. Everyone gets it.

[bleep_mountain]

a Lid IS a ounce weed..

thanks Panama Red, but i believe that a LID IS AN ounce of weed.

[byron]

Everyone's talking about this season not being good, or as good, and I can respect that...It's your opinion. But the pontificating about people being fanboy's and/or in denial about the show not being as good as season 1 is rediculous.

I've liked *most* of the Season 3 episodes...including Prison Break-in. I think alot of the problems come from Fox wanting Mitch to dumb it down (ie: over use of Narration, simplified episode plot lines, more dirty jokes [although not sure if there's more or if they're just more blantantly dirty?] )

On to last night:

-Ron's "Her" was great, but they've been getting a lot of mileage of that Joke lately.

-Michael and Lucielle's talk in the conjugal visit trailer was priceless. "It's a good thing I didn't cry"

-"I Wish I had read the Man Inside Me"

-I think they're trying to make you uncomfortable with Tobias. Also, not for nothing, but Tobias isn't exactly the most loved member of the family...we've known that from the first episode. How about in "Afternoon Delight" when he was run over by Lucielle? No one rushed to help him or take him to the hospital...GM and Lindsay didn't even care when he fell asleep after his concussion...I think they were using his GVH to make themselves look good by having a fundraiser for it, rather than actually being concerned for his health (michael being the exception).

-Glad to see Oscar....I loved that he wanted to "cremate" (sp?) "Mother".

-Ron sure seems to know alot about pot.

On a whole, pretty good episode. I think we need less recurring jokes, espicially her/starwars. But there were also some very sly/subtle jokes that I loved. 3.5 out of 5.

[AmbassadorOfCush]

I don't consider myself a fanboy simply defending Season 1. Yes, I think Season 1 is their best season beating out Season 2 by just a tad bit, not much though. I do want to say that I have enjoyed Season 3, I really liked "For British Eyes Only", "Forget Me Now" (a potential top ten), and I thought "Notapussy" and "Mr. F" were solid episodes, the "Ocean Walker" I consider good simply because of one amazing joke. Yet my argument is mainly against this episode. Yes, it had a lot of funny jokes and I laughed really hard at Gob at the gala, but not much else. I am simply worried that the show could take a catastrophic direction after this. One thing we should all consider though, is the dvds. A year from now I'll probably come back and post in this thread that I love this episode, because what bothered me most is the Tobias stuff, and who knows..they could wrap it up and fix it in a nice way. Just think about "Ready, Aim, Marry Me!" which I think had the same reaction, think about the last six or so episodes of Season 2, all top notch...let's hope for that starting next week....

[Cannonballism]

Personally I liked season 1 the best, but I'm not going to go tearing down others opinions. I loved Prison Break-In, there was a discussion like this for the first 2-3 months after Spring Breakout. Everyone but a select few hated it, but then came around eventually. The show is different, I see it as a good thing.

[Frightened Inmate #2]

Wow, I was a bit surprised by some of the venom targeted at this week's episode. I thought it was strong, and quite hilarious, holding its own against "Key Decisions."

Some of the stuff I loved:

Tobias calling it a "gay-la."

Rita winning the silver in the "two-legged race."

The turtle's arm falling off.

The prisoner escaping with the jet pack.

Collecting $25,000 for "TBA."

GOB asking the guard to give him a forget-me-now - though he doesn't call it that - before getting clunked in the head. Narrator:"That also works."

How a benefit for ovarian cancer isn't considered a serious option, and is rejected as flippantly as a fundraiser for "shrinkage." I guess they saw it as a selfish thing for Michael to do.

Tobias crashing down from the wheelchair elevator. "This is gonna hurt."

GOB's horrible effects in his magic video, and total lack of attention to detail.

And my favorite subtle moment:

Gentiles walking away from the table after making a veiled threat that's actually a line from his script, saying "I don't know why I assume everyone's read my script." That to me was a reference to fans quoting this show to non-fans, and getting similar blank stares.

Plus many of the other moments mentioned earlier.

One of the funniest of the year, and quite possibly in my top 10 of all time. "I laughed until I stopped."

[1stWifeTracey]

^^ loved "gay-la" also.

my favorite line of the episodes has to be tobias' "...and don't make the water too hot. the scabs come right off." the delivery was PERFECT.

also, loved the return of GM's woodblock.

[1stWifeTracey]

Caught a pretty blatant mistake in my second viewing.

Michael drops the guitar knocking the stand over. When it cuts to George Michael telling him he should talk to someone, it then cuts back to Michael and the stand that was just knocked down seconds ago is now magically standing. Seems they're having one or two of these per episode these days. Last week you saw a set of random legs in a shot, and someone from the crew (most likely a cameraman) in the shot after Buster catches his hook in the staircar.

edit: I also went back to check to see if it was Maeby in the cell next to Tobias and Michael and found out it was clearly just some random couple. What a shame.

Michael also seemed to have changed shirts (from white to red) on his way from the model home to the penthouse to tell buster about lucille/wardern gentiles.

[dave]

This episode reminded me a lot of "Ready, Aim, Marry Me" (which had been by far my least favorite episode).

However, while "Ready..." failed while trying to do something new, "Prison Breakin" failed while trying to do something basic--it was just a regular story with a regular, season 1-like structure, that just wasn't funny.

I think I chuckled five or six times in "Prison Break-in." It used to be that every episode I'd get at least one actual LMAO scene--something so funny I'd have to rewind to see what I'd missed--but nothing at all this time. It wasn't a terrible episode, but it just wasn't very funny.

Unlike most here, I'm not sounding the death knell on AD. I have found no drop in quality in the Season 3 episodes ("The Ocean Walker" is in my top 5 list), with "Prison Break-in" just being an aberration.

[vcalzone]

It's entirely possible that the people who weren't crazy about this episode (myself included) were just picking up on a really sad mood from the cast. The cutback hadn't been announced yet, but they had all hinted that the mood on the set actually IMPROVED after it was announced, and that they were just waiting for the bad news. That CAN'T lead to being all that funny. I saw the same kind of thing in Let Em Eat Cake or Sword of Destiny, though not to this degree.

If the quality IS down because of low cast morale and (as someone else supposed) a continued effort to try to appeal to more people, then I can't say I wouldn't understand. I suppose we'll know when we see these last episodes.

[gobias23]

That's an interesting thought I hadn't considered. But it doesn't explain the writing. There were plenty of funny things in last nite's episode, there always are. But don't you agree there has been a huge drift( from AD's realistic, mockumentary style in Season One towards a cartoonish, surreal world? Sure, it's no linear progression and Season 3 has been great on the whole, but last nite's episode just seemed to take a giant leap in the Simpsons direction. The quality in writing just isn't the same, they are forcing jokes, rather than focusing on good fundamentals.

[leez34]

Someone asked this already, but wtf is the deal with Ron Howard's "all kids like galas" joke?