Rules of Engagement – They could donate the muffin stubs to the homeless

Not a bad episode from Rules of Engagement last night. These days you can’t take that for granted.

There’s something about the introduction of Doreen (Diane Sellers) the waitress into the regular fabric of things that reminds me of what Seinfeld did occasionally. Unfortunately in Adam she’s not playing off a very good partner, which was never the case on the hit sitcom. Still, I see potential in her.

Speaking of Adam, what is up with him? The pretty boy became a dim bulb, and suddenly he’s a special kid? There’s nothing wrong with Sports Illustrated for Kids (I read it as a kid), but his equivalent of “Look at the shiny thing” is absurd. As is his getting his degree from an online college … in six years. Speaking specifically to the show and its point in bringing that up, how dumb are they trying to make him look (and why)?

He is chatty, though, and I really liked it when he and Jeff were hanging out and complaining about their significant others. Jeff applied some of what he usually saves for Audrey to their conversation, and I could just feel how ready he was to jump out the window when Adam started going on and on. Smart move intervening between Adam and Jen.

And Jeff himself was no slouch either. The scene in the coffee shop with Audrey, where Jeff kept circling back to the day-old muffin thing, was priceless. Great follow through having him bring a bunch back to eat later.

And I loved what he said about Audrey’s update calls, what he labeled “The nothing call.” Obviously it’s about letting your spouse know that you’re on your way, but I loved how Jeff turned it into “Like I wouldn’t piece it together when she walked through the door.” He doesn’t care what she’s doing when they’re not together, so the only update he needs is Audrey’s key turning in the lock.

I was trying to figure out whether Audrey was really hostess-ing at a muffin shop. That can’t be right, can it? Except that, even when we saw her getting her on-the-job training, it totally seemed like nothing more than a sit down muffin shop. Those must be some unbelievable muffins to be able to afford a full time “Right this way” woman.

I’m appreciating the continuity in the Audrey job saga (although I’m curious why they chose to follow this and not the surrogate plot), and also in the Russell trust fund thing. Mind you, I didn’t enjoy Russell moving in with Timmy, or even much of what happened last night, but that’s mainly because Russell refuses to grow and change. I thought Timmy would have gotten through to him by the time they found that dividend check — I don’t buy that Russell’s so irresponsible as to throw his unpaid bills out — but he fell short of even my low bar. Hopefully he’ll get another chance to learn, and hopefully that’ll be sooner rather than later.

“Talk less.” – Jeff
“Oh sorry, just being sociable.” – Adam
“I’ll tell you what — you’re the understudy for the TV. If something happens to it, you’re on.” – Jeff

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Dec 07, 2010 @ 17:00 EST5EDT