The Hour of Power Recap

TV Group got rowdy at Paul's house last night!

There was a whole lot of yelling and screaming after "How I Met Your Mother" but the funny thing was that we weren't really yelling at each other because we are on opposing sides of a disagreement, we were yelling in unison over our collective frustration with last night's episode.

More on that in a minute.

First of all, it has to be noted that "The Big Bang Theory" has come out firing this season. Last night's ep wasn't any thing special or memorable and nothing really "happened", but the writers and cast have found this very productive formula where the episode focuses on Leonard, Sheldon runs brilliantly amok, and the rest of the gang is there to nail a few solid one-liners.

Right now, "The Big Bang Theory" is like a football team running the West Coast offense to perfection.

Leonard is the QB and the focal point of the offense, Howard, Rajesh, and Penny are the possession receivers running 10-yard slants to keep the chains moving, and just when they lull you in with the short, quick-hitting passing game, Sheldon burns you down the sideline for a 40-yard bomb.

It will be interesting to see how Sara Gilbert (Leslie Winkle) fits into the mix now that she is supposedly part of the regular cast. I'm just glad they haven't gone the obvious route (yet) with some sort of story arch where Leonard and Leslie are dating and Leslie and Sheldon's animosity towards each other turns to passion Sam-and-Diane style and then there's a big blow-up between Leonard and Sheldon.

Hopefully we'll stay away from that scenario since Leslie broke things off with Leonard (again) last night.

Moving on...

We all got uneasy as soon as "HIMYM" started because it was setting up to be our least favorite type of "HIMYM" episode.

A Marshall episode.

Really?

In the second week of a new season?

In the second week of a new season in which you almost didn't have because you almost got cancelled last spring?

We all know that you have to have a filler episode from time to time where it focuses on someone other Ted and nothing really happens to move the over all story along. But Marshall episodes are the worst. Barney episodes are the best, Robin episodes are the next best, and Marshall and/or Lilly episodes are the worst.

Like we were saying last night, Marshall episodes are almost as bad as Peggy episodes on "King of the Hill". And usually you don't get a Marshall episode until at least October once the season is up and running (you usually get a second Marshall episode in the spring).

Last night was also frustrating because as soon as the episode started, you knew what was going to happen. You knew the burger place Marshall was looking for was going to be a bank (or ATM) and that Marshall was going to take a job with that bank. You knew that in the first minute of the show and they didn't do anything to try and disguise it.

Once we had that set, I thought there was going to be a classic "HIMYM" twist with Ted or Barney or Robin at the end and the whole Marshall plot was just a red herring.

Um... not so much.

I hate to say it, but right now "HIMYM" is the Cleveland Browns of TV shows. A lot of hype and expectations going into a critical season and they've both come out of the gate flat.

Fortunately it's not too late for either of them to turn it around.

That's enough sports comparisons, I'm out...

- Josh Mahler