Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977, Phil Roman and Bill Melendez)

There’s only one adult referenced in Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. When the bus leaves Charlie Brown (voiced by Duncan Watson) stranded, they’ve established the driver’s silhouette. Not having any adults makes a lot of sense since, somehow, the Peanuts parents all decided to send their kids to a camp on the other side of a distant desert with no adult supervision. The camp’s name? Camp Remote.

The desert bit gives Sally (Gail Davis) a scene to threaten some local kid, which doesn’t go as expected, but since the movie’s setting it up for Sally to back down… it’s a bit of a surprise. I think the local kid is from the comic strip somewhere. She and her little brother (the anti-Browns, in a way) seem familiar, and they’re only in the one gag.

Sally prominently figures in the first act of Race for Your Life, right up until Peppermint Patty (Stuart Brotman) starts talking about running things as a democracy. The boys and girls have been split into their different tents, with Patty running for tent leader. She confuses the other girls with her version of fair voting (by secret ballot), which becomes a recurring gag, and from then on, Sally’s just got the occasional lovelorn wail for Linus.

Both the boys and girls have a similar problem in the first act—the camp bullies. There are three of them with their mean cat, and none of them have names. Two of them have the letter “R” on their shirt; it never means anything. What’s so peculiar about them is Race never tries to humanize them, never tries to redeem or even provide context for them. They’re just assholes.

Okay, now, I’m reading something into the “R.”

Anyway.

The second act of Race is all about the best tent competition. The kids do various activities, with the bullies winning by cheating. Since there are no adults and presumably the teen counselors supervising the events are paying attention to the other two dozen campers we rarely see (at least two Peanuts supporting cast members, Violet and Frieda, end up amongst them). The most important race is the raft race.

It’s more a wilderness survival race, with rafting involved. The kids have to camp at night, feed themselves, and get back on the river. It seems to be a three-day event. If it weren’t a cartoon with a dog and his best friend, a bird, riding around America on an Easy Rider chopper… it’d seem dangerous.

Though there is danger. For a fairly long section of act two, Snoopy thinks Woodstock’s dead, the kids think Snoopy’s dead, and everyone’s lost in the woods trying to find one another. So it goes on for a while, with Snoopy mourning his presumably lost friend. Oh, and then the evil cat hunting Woodstock as he tries to survive on his own.

It’s impressive how Charles M. Schulz’s script—the pacing and plotting—and then Melendez and Roman’s direction make it so intense. There’s objectively no danger to the characters, but the movie makes believe so strongly, the emotions come through. It’s a fascinating use of narrative empathy and sympathy.

The raft race takes up most of the movie. The bullies have a speedboat with a wonky motor, so the Peanuts kids can get ahead often enough for tension. Snoopy and Woodstock add a sail to their inner tube, which leads to some pastoral scenes and disasters, though maybe if Snoopy didn’t sleep while at the wheel….

The boys and girls each have a raft, with Charlie Brown’s arc for the movie involving him becoming more of a leader. Peppermint Patty’s would possibly be listening to others while leading. No one else gets a character arc. Linus (Liam Martin) gets to defend the kids from the bullies thanks to his blanket snapping, and there are some other recurring personality gags, but not arcs. The movie’s too busy and the race too severe to slow down for them.

The original songs are strange but not bad; imagine a disco Cat Stevens, and then also more pop-folk. Ed Bogas’s score is good. The animation’s beautiful, with excellent editing from Roger Donley and Chuck McCann. Race has a somewhat peculiar vibe; while there’s a lot of action, including harrowing POV shots, there’s also the tranquil nature stuff, especially for Snoopy and Woodstock. It’s a fine mix. The end credits are a hallucinogenic Charlie Brown sequence, which provides the final synthesis. It’s weird and a perfect finish for the film.

Acting-wise… Watson’s okay. He’s got some weaker moments, but the movie never leans on him too long or adjusts for it after doing so. Brotman’s good, Davis is good, Martin’s good. I was expecting a lot more from Lucy (Melanie Kohn), but she gets less than Marcie (Jimmy Ahrens), who doesn’t get much.

The filmmakers know how to get the best out of the performances. Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown’s good.

Ms. Marvel (2022) s01e03 – Destined

This episode feels oddly short like they knew they needed to keep the big action finale, so they cut material from before it. It’s a good episode—much better than I’d have been expecting had I known A.C. Bradley’s name was on the writing credits (she wrote a lot of “What If,” which is a very poorly written show). But it’s uneven. The episode gets away with it thanks to director Meera Menon, who got a fabulous grounding for the big action sequence.

But does everything need to do a Jurassic Park raptors-in-the-kitchen reference now?

Anyway. The too-short episode.

The episode opens with a flashback to 1940s India and the discovery of the bangle bracelet, along with a Captain Mar-Vell nod (I figured the blue arm was a nod, I didn’t realize to who, thanks IMDb trivia). It’s an Indiana Jones-ish archeology scene with a diverse, affable cast. First, it made me worried they were going to tie in “Moon Knight,” then I realized no one was thinking hard enough on “Moon Knight” for them to do it.

In addition to the Norse Gods and the Egyptian Gods being real, we’ll find out some supernatural creatures from Muslim mythology are real too. In the comics, Ms. Marvel is an Inhuman. In the MCU, “Inhumans” was a major flop and the last gasp of the pre-Disney+ TV unit. It seemed unlikely the origin would carry; the replacement is solid. Though, again, the MCU’s going to run out of gods to literalize at some point.

Cute and apparently very good guy Rish Shah’s mom, Nimra Bucha, knows all about lead Iman Vellani’s origin. Including Vellani’s great-grandmother, played by Mehwish Hayat in the flashback. Vellani’s only got so much time to process her secret origin before Bucha asks her to magic her and her friends into their home dimension. Did they know Peter Parker was Spider-Man from somewhere across the Spider-Verse and got dumped in the Tri-State Region? Probably not. Wouldn’t be terrible, though.

Okay, so. Vellani’s best (non-Muslim) friend Matt Lintz is jealous of Shah and worried about Vellani after her first public night out as a superhero, but still very interested in the origin and the don’t-call-them-Eternals Vellani’s pals with now.

He’s going to start researching Islamic mythology and running experiments on Vellani’s power vectors or something, but he also—apropos of maybe a cut scene—makes her a Robin mask. It’s a good scene when Vellani gets the mask because she’s about to talk about superheroing with her understanding mosque sheikh Laith Nakli, but it makes as much sense in the moment as Lintz getting her a sandwich.

They never talk about the mask for the rest of the episode. It’s like something got shuffled and never fixed. Because Lintz and Vellani have big scenes together. Lintz tells her he’s going away to Cal-Tech, he tells her helping Bucha will destroy the fabric of the space-time continuum, but he doesn’t tell her how or why on the mask.

Of course, Vellani’s also very busy getting ready for brother Saagar Shaikh’s wedding, which will be the backdrop for the main plot. Important subplots include Vellani’s best friend Yasmeen Fletcher winning her mosque council campaign and dealing with racist federal agent Alysia Reiner. That plot at least lasts a few scenes; there’s another subplot about ace YouTube video producer Vellani going viral with her first night out fiascos. It goes nowhere.

It’s seriously like they had an episode, cut half of it, and tacked it on to another episode. Destined’s only got about forty minutes of actual content. So it’s short by all metrics.

So, the wedding preparation, then the wedding. There’s a big action sequence at the wedding, with the don’t-call-them-The Old Guard attacking Vellani, which has significant repercussions for Lintz and Fletcher as well. Not to mention Shaikh and Travina Springer’s wedding getting interrupted.

It’s a great tone shift. Like, the wedding preparation stuff is strong. Good material for Vellani, Fletcher, and mom Zenobia Shroff. It fudges the first act being truncated. And the wedding, with some great dance sequences and very nice, light, lovable family drama, comes out of that preparation run-up.

But the public attack and superhero fight in the reception hall? It’s a sharp turn. And very well-executed.

The resolution’s a little less complicated than it ought to be but still good—the show knows to just focus on Vellani, and it’ll get through—with an intriguing, albeit seat-of-its-pants cliffhanger.

This episode should’ve been the longest, not the shortest.

Ms. Marvel (2022) s01e02 – Crushed

So, there was an end credits scene in the first episode of “Ms. Marvel.” It gets recapped in this one’s intro; there’s no end credit scene in this episode. Marvel/Disney+ needs some consistency, warning, or not to drag out the end credits to make the run times look longer.

The scene introduces Damage Control agents Arian Moayed and Alysia Reiner. Reiner’s a racist; Moayed knows she’s a racist and tries to manage it internally. Not much else to the characters.

We don’t find out Reiner’s a racist until this episode when it’s a lengthy scene beat. I actually wasn’t expecting “Ms. Marvel” to be so blunt about the U.S. government being racist against Brown people, especially Muslim ones. I also wasn’t expecting them to do a young Muslim woman empowerment arc either. Lead Iman Vellani’s best friend, Yasmeen Fletcher, is running for mosque council against the odds (meaning entrenched sexism).

For most of the episode, Fletcher’s second lead. Like, Crushed gets a lot done thanks to the script (credited to Kate Gritmon) and Meera Menon’s direction. The first episode did sitcom-level introductions for most of the cast, particularly Vellani’s family; this episode quickly and efficiently deepens the characters.

It’s outstanding work.

The episode starts being about Vellani and her best (guy) friend (who loves her and she doesn’t know), Matt Lintz, doing superhero training for her new powers. Vellani knows the bangle bracelet has something to do with it, but not what. Lintz’s souped-up StarkPad (though Apple exists in the MCU, at least AirPods) determines the bangle just unlocked Vellani’s pre-existing abilities. She thinks it’s got something to do with her great-grandmother, but mom Zenobia Shroff doesn’t want her asking questions about that part of family history.

Then Fletcher needs her help with the campaign. Part of her decision to run involves their mosque having a shoe thief on the women’s side and the male governing body not caring. It seems like it’d make a good first mission for “Ms. Marvel,” but it will not be her first outing, which this episode ends with. Vellani’s got a doozy of a first night out, like, it’s great stuff.

The postscript to it, which moves the plot along too fast, is a miss, but the episode’s already done so much. Including introducing a good romantic interest (Rish Shah) and doing an Adventures in Babysitting homage.

We also meet brother Saagar Shaikh’s fiancée Travina Springer; they crash a sorta date for Vellani and Shah, and it’s a great scene, then Springer’s back at family dinner. It’s a fine device to get in some exposition (Springer hearing family history relevant to the bangle) and strengths the family stuff. Dad Mohan Kapur continues to be an adorable sitcom dad.

Vellani and mom Shroff get one really nice scene, but Shroff’s secrets are now a brewing b-plot.

The hard cliffhanger’s a letdown, but the episode’s otherwise excellent, with multiple especiallys.

Snoopy, Come Home (1972, Bill Melendez)

Snoopy, Come Home’s parts are better than their sum. The film’s a number of vignettes, usually set to music, sometimes with songs. Sometimes there’s connective material between the vignettes, sometimes the circus shows up, and it’s time for a new scene. Also, sometimes, the vignettes have a rough cut between them. Not too rough, there’s a fade-out and a fade-in, but there’s no attempt to transition between them. Usually when the action cuts between Snoopy and Charlie Brown. As the title indicates, Snoopy has left home, and Charlie Brown wants him to come home. So the action cuts between Snoopy and Woodstock on adventures and Charlie Brown whining.

I guess it would be hard to find the right transition music for whining.

Though Charlie Brown does get a song to himself late in the movie, which is effective, but also entirely changes what the movie’s about. Sort of. The third act has a couple surprise turns, narratively speaking, and the Charlie Brown song fits one of those turns but because the film’s pushing hard to make it work. It’s a stretch, though it comes right after (and refers to) an absolutely fantastic, out-of-nowhere scene. About halfway through Come Home, director Melendez starts doing these phenomenal sequences occasionally—a hallucinogenic astral dream, for example—and they’re outstanding. The second big sequence, that third act one, it’s completely different than the dream sequence, instead relying on the characters. Though, specifically, the visuals they can all create. Come Home’s always very visual, for better or worse.

The worse is how often Charlie Brown and Snoopy use their comic strip expressions, which the film uses more in the first half than the second. The expressions are deadpan, reminding the viewer it’s an adaptation of the comic strip, which kills the momentum a little. At least until the expressions change. It’s a strange device, especially since Come Home shows off a bunch of expressions on Snoopy from multiple, not-comic-strip angles too. Come Home’s got innumerable visual flexes; they just sometimes come with distracting music.

The film runs eighty minutes, with the first twenty building to the inciting incident. Snoopy’s fed up with “No Dogs Allowed” places getting in the way of his good time. Every time Snoopy comes across such a location, there’s an accompanying song sung by Thurl Ravenscroft. It’s not a great song; it does pay off in the end, but it’s not great.

The film’s best song is easily Linda Ercoli’s one, which accompanies Ercole’s character tormenting her new pets, Snoopy and Woodstock. They went to her for help, and she just couldn’t wait to hug them and squeeze them. The duo’s just passing through; Snoopy gets a letter from his former owner, a little girl named Lila (voiced by Johanna Baer); she’s sick and in the hospital and would love a visit. So, peeved at the no dog zones as well as Charlie Brown being a jerk lately, Snoopy goes to visit her, Woodstock in tow. The incident at Ercoli’s is just one of their adventures along the way.

Performance-wise, Come Home’s got a couple significant problems. Chad Webber’s rarely good as Charlie Brown, and Baer’s usually bad as Lila. They do the most talking—both pleading their cases with Snoopy. The resulting turmoil gets the film into the third act with a firm footing and enables Melendez to mix style and narrative better. Though it gets rocky because the third act goes on way too long. Also, it’s rushed. Never a good combination.

Oddly, the charming end credits help pull Snoopy, Come Home around at the last minute; they last-minute find some humor they lost in the first act.

Besides Webber and Baer, the voice acting’s good; Robin Kohn and Stephen Shea, as Lucy and Linus, respectively, are really good. Kohn gets more range, including some good laughs.

Lovely animation, good music (Ron Ralke); it’s technically solid. Snoopy, Come Home’s fine. It’s got the chops to be better but just makes some hampering choices along the way and leans into them way too hard.

But when Melendez hits, he hits hard.

Frasier (1993) s05e23 – Party, Party

Despite last episode’s big changes for at least one of the characters (not to mention a party plot line), this episode does the same thing. Well, not big changes for anyone, just another party plot. This time it’s Kelsey Grammer’s birthday and he’s stuck trying to get out of two parties so he can go on a date with Lisa Waltz before she leaves town for a month.

One of the parties has David Hyde Pierce trying to impress his new girlfriend, Marcia Mitzman Gaven (Gaven lives in Grammer’s building, which allows Grammer to go up and down the elevators between parties), and Grammer tagging along so they can get into some elite club. As they’re wont to do, amusing complications ensue.

The other party is the birthday party. There are a bunch of people from work (including Dan Butler and Patrick Kerr) and Grammer’s constant attempts to blow everyone off again lead to complications. There’s a particularly good sequence where they’re playing charades and Grammer gets stuck with John Mahoney and Butler and, well, they’re not the best guessers.

The episode’s setup—Grammer missing dates with Waltz—establishes that plot line as the main, with everything Grammer ends up doing to get out of the parties tied to it. But there’s not much meat to the plot; David Lloyd has writer credit on the episode and the entire setup is a protracted, then delayed setup for a punchline in the finale. The episode’s excellent moments come from the incidentals at the party, particularly Hyde Pierce’s subplot with Gaven; there’s no plot running through the birthday party other than Grammer trying to get away. The final punchline is good, but it’s nowhere near as good as anything else in the episode. It’s like they came up with the setup, came up with the finish, then worked harder on everything connecting them.

It’s all very competent—with good direction from Jeff Melman—but not very exciting. It’s one of those episodes centered around Grammer and unable to make him particularly interesting. Tends to happen with the ones where the object of his affection doesn’t really factor into the plot.

There’s a really nice credits sequence for Hyde Pierce and fellow party guest James Harper, who’s got some highlights through the episode and after the somewhat pat punchline, it’s a nice reminder of the higher points.

Party, Party is good but a rote good.

Frasier (1993) s05e22 – The Life of the Party

This episode’s a very pleasant surprise and not just because it’s the return to form for director Jeff Melman. The story takes a big shift in the middle and it all comes together very nicely in the end, particularly for Peri Gilpin and Kesley Grammer, but everyone gets a great showcase.

Suzanne Martin and Jeffrey Richman share the writing credit; it stands out as neither regularly shares writing credit with another writer. It opens as a somewhat traditional—albeit funny—Crane boys griping about their love lives, with Grammer and David Hyde Pierce relating their tales of dating woes to one another until John Mahoney tells them to stop whining and throw a singles mixer. Contributing to their exasperation at their lack of lady luck is Leeves having successfully met a nice man–it doesn’t bother Hyde Pierce, which seems odd, and then when they do throw the party, Leeves is off on her date (to a bat mitzvah). She’s not exactly missed at the party, but she is missing.

Grammer and Hyde Pierce are busy having a brotherly competition for the attention of one party guest—Claire Yarlett—while Mahoney tries setting them up with other female guests (since everyone there is single). Gilpin’s got some good material trying to flirt while pregnant and then Mahoney’s got a great subplot about his hair dye leaving stains everywhere. It’s a lot of funny all in a row; the script rattles off jokes continually, not taking a break until the big plot development.

There’s still humor post-big development (including a return to the continual joke rattle) but there’s also a lot of heart to it. The episode finds a wonderful balance between the party and the resolution, getting a lot of laughs while also letting Grammer and Gilpin exercise more dramatic chops. Leeves also gets a good quirk post-bat mitzvah; the episode does well introducing new gags throughout, some getting more immediate resolution (like Gilpin’s flirting subplot), some going the rest of the episode (Mahoney’s hair), so Leeves is able to get a showcase in the last five minutes or so. Very well-written. Very well-acted. Very well-directed.

I’m not sure if The Life of the Party is an exemplar “Frasier” (sadly, despite often being real good, this season has less and less of them), but it’s a really successful conclusion to a season-long plot thread and a winning episode besides.

And it’s so nice to see Melman directing well and ambitiously again. It’s been a while since he was doing either.

Frasier (1993) s05e17 – The Perfect Guy

As much as I’ve liked Billy Campbell over the years, seeing him guest on this episode of “Frasier” reveals his weirdly affable lack of network charm. His timing is just off or something. He lacks rapport with the costars. He’s fine, but he’s not great in what seems like a very Billy Campbell way. And he needs to be great because the B plot is about John Mahoney needing to pull one over a French store clerk to get Eddie the dog gourmet food. The A plot has Campbell starting work at the radio station and Kelsey Grammer being intensely jealous over Campbell’s good looks.

That intense, obsessive jealousy leads to Grammer befriending Campbell and throwing a party in his honor. Only we never see them hanging out. We never get an idea of what it looks like for them to hang out, which leads to the friendship having even less personality than Campbell. Meanwhile, the Mahoney subplot also brings in David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves. Hyde Pierce introduces the store to Mahoney, who gripes about the prices and pretense and pisses off shop keep François Giroday. Mahoney’s got to get more dog food and has to play nice with stuck-up French caricature Giroday, eventually involving Leeves in his schemes. It’s all very funny.

Whereas the A plot is just amusing. There’s a decent scene with Grammer, Peri Gilpin, Dan Butler, and Edward Hibbert at the radio station with everyone mooning over Campbell from afar. It’s the standout until the resolution. And the resolution’s great, but it’s like they figured out the punchline for the episode and just filled on everything else. Rob Greenberg gets the writing credit. It’s impressive for the Mahoney arc, less the Campbell one.

Oh, and Grammer’s got this weird romantic subplot with done-in-one coworker Lindsay Price, some twenty-one years his junior, who fawns over him. It sort of plays like an ego trip but for the comeuppance leg of the journey. It’s not even Price being bad, it’s just her being an absurd match for him.

It’s a fine episode, funny stuff at times, just something off about it starting with Campbell and spreading throughout.

Frasier (1993) s05e16 – Beware of Greeks

I want to know who had the idea to give the Crane family Greek in-laws—well, Greek in-laws once removed or whatever (John Mahoney’s brother, John Mahon, is married to Patti LuPone). Was it David Lloyd, who gets the script credit? Because it’s an inspired idea. And years before My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Throwing Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce into a situation where they can’t mock people for not being WASPs? It’s awesome.

LuPone’s the fearsome matriarch of the Greek side of the family, which we learn about in the opening scene; they haven’t been mentioned before—Grammer tells Peri Gilpin and the audience—is because Grammer gave cousin Joseph Will some advice LuPone didn’t appreciate. Grammer told Will to follow his dreams of being a street juggler instead of going to medical school and LuPone’s banned the Crane boys since.

Based on Will’s age, these events presumably took place before “Frasier” started but after “Cheers.” It only matters it’s been long enough Grammer can quickly patch things up with LuPone in time to get invited to Will’s upcoming nuptials. He’s going to be marrying the very WASP Valerie Dillman, who LuPone adores.

Thanks to the reconciliation, Grammer, Hyde Pierce, Mahoney, and Jane Leeves get to go to the wedding—starting with the rehearsal dinner at the family restaurant (see, it really does seem like a Greek Wedding knock-off). There Grammer tries not to interfere with Will’s imminent wedding, even though Grammer suspects Dillman might not be the best match for his cousin, Hyde Pierce runs and hides from another, amorous cousin, Lori Harmon, who’s been after him since youth, Mahoney gets to reconnect with Mahon, and Leeves gets to be upset after LuPone assumes she’s Mahoney’s escort. The last plot point is initially somewhat unpleasant, until Leeves and Mahoney get wrapped up in a joint subplot about erasing a wedding video.

Hyde Pierce’s entirely playing hide and hide again with Harmon, Grammer happening across him as Grammer learns more and more from Will to suggest he needs to intervene. Only LuPone is hovering, waiting for Grammer to make a mistake.

It’s a really funny episode. It gives Grammer a chance to do his meddling thing, with LuPone a worthy de facto antagonist, and the end is great. Strong direction from Jeff Melman. It’d be nice if Hyde Pierce and Harmon had a subplot instead of a series of gags, but small gripes for a fine episode.

Frasier (1993) s05e13 – The Maris Counselor

After a rough opening—with Peri Gilpin trying to gin up interesting callers in a bit where transphobia and ableism are the punchlines—the episode quickly becomes a David Hyde Pierce episode. Kelsey Grammer’s always around, but is always playing support to Hyde Pierce, who gets two great comedy set pieces. John Mahoney gets the subplot, which is about him finally agreeing to go on a date with one of their neighbors.

The episode (sort of) juxtaposes Mahoney’s dating adventure against Hyde Pierce’s latest marital woes, which has he and ever off-screen Maris finding a marriage counselor they both like—a very funny Bob Dishy—but Maris maybe likes him a little too much, leading to breakdowns and breakthroughs for Hyde Pierce. Grammer’s around to offer advice, but not really. They’re finally ready to resolve Hyde Pierce’s season and a half long marriage separation subplot. Also, as Hyde Pierce points out, Grammer’s actually not equipped to offer good relationship advice.

In the end, it’ll be a nice Crane boys episode for Hyde Pierce, Mahoney, and Grammer—particularly well-directed, courtesy Jeff Melman, who does well all episode and then goes out on a high point with the finale—though Grammer’s just along for the ride. They also make a big deal about Mahoney being unlucky in love, but he only broke up with Marsha Mason like three episodes ago so they’re clearly stretching to make it work.

David Lloyd gets the script credit. Outside the rough opening, he does a low okay job. The really funny scenes are really funny because Hyde Pierce is excellent. There’s one where Hyde Pierce is getting ready for some romance, which means he gets to show off physical comedy, then there’s one where he hijacks a couples group with his own problems, so dialogue comedy.

Hyde Pierce is great, Grammer and Mahoney are both good (the script’s not there for either of them as much). Gilpin only gets that crappy opening scene and Jane Leeves has a moment in Mahoney’s dating subplot but disappears fast. There just doesn’t seem to be space for them in the episode.

It’s a bit of requisite episode—Hyde Pierce’s outstanding separation subplot needs to get some resolution—with some highs and lows. It’d be nicer if it could’ve gone out on a high instead of a return to a low but Lloyd’s got to get some ageism in at the last minute for the end credits. But as a Hyde Pierce showcase (and for Melman’s return to directing form), the episode works well enough.

Frasier (1993) s05e10 – Where Every Bloke Knows Your Name

I don’t know if the laugh track is actually louder in the first scene or if it just seems louder because the laughs seem a whole lot more forced. The episode opens with an inspired flashback to Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce’s characters in middle school having lunch and being obnoxious prigs, then fast forwards to them having a similar conversation in the cafe. Only all of the jokes are really forced in the present and the laugh track seems to be amped up to convince everyone to laugh along instead of accompanying existing laughter.

Laugh tracks were weird.

Anyway.

The episode sadly has nothing to do with the flashback kids (Andrew Dorsett plays young Grammer, Michael Welch plays young Hyde Pierce—Dorsett’s better but Welch is funnier), instead having to do with Grammer being sick of hanging out with Hyde Pierce all the time and looking for something else to do. It ends up being Jane Leeves’s hangout bar, as it taps into something Grammer hasn’t had since “Cheers,” though it’s an English pub in Seattle where Grammer’s the only Yank and so it fuels his obnoxious Anglophilia.

On one hand, it eventually gives Leeves an arc where she gets to treat Grammer as an equal not act like she’s the hired help, on the other, Leeves initially brings Grammer to the bar to meet her lingerie model friend (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), which isn’t without awkward optics.

The episode’s mostly Grammer, Leeves, and the bar. Peri Gilpin’s single scene has her playing poker with John Mahoney and his buddies, which is one of the best scenes in the episode (I wasn’t expecting much from an episode with a solo Rob Hanning writing credit, but the poker scene’s real good). And Mahoney’s got the poker and then trying to take advantage of an empty apartment and giving Leeves advice based on that desire.

Though Mahoney gets the excellent end credits sequence.

The episode’s got its moments and it’s nice to see Leeves eventually get some agency, it just never lives up to any of its potential. Again, it’s about on par with what I was expecting from Hanning but Jeff Melman directed; I’d gotten used to Melman episodes being better.