Whitney Does Halloween

by Kelly Bedard

The Halloween Episode used to be a rarity. In 10 years of FRIENDS we got 10 Thanksgivings and what, maybe 2 Halloweens? Ugly Betty dressed up as a caterpillar in season one, and there was that one year when the Scooby gang became their costumes*. But lately it seems as though every show is onto the trend- it's not just The Office anymore, it's every show on TV. This is the week of The Halloween Episode.

But the ever-improving folks over at Whitney decided to give us something different. The sitcom is quickly becoming one of my favourites of the season and their Halloween-light Halloween episode was easily their best yet. I laughed out loud almost the entire way through.

Whitney, 4 Episodes In

by Kelly Bedard

I'm at best a casual viewer of NBC's Whitney. I've seen all 4 episodes but never on the night they air and I haven't been expecting much of the poorly reviewed series. But it's for those very reasons that Whitney was able to sneak up on me, becoming one of my favourite new shows of the season.

The episodes are getting a bit repetitive already and the supporting characters could use some work (Roxanne especially), but I like Whitney Cummings' observational humour (the movie-watching commentary that kicked off episode 4 was particularly fun) and she's a fresh and relatable character with her gawky 5'11 frame and overly competitive nature.

Pilot Watch: How to be a Gentleman

by Kelly Bedard

Watching the CBS Upfronts last May I was really impressed by 2 Broke Girls and thought How to be a Gentleman looked pretty darn stupid. But as 2 Broke Girls enters its third week of existence I'm disappointed to find it going down in quality pretty quickly (though I am enjoying this Johnny character and Caroline is still enchanting, even if the dialogue is overwrought). Whitney Cummings' other show Whitney, on the other hand, is so far getting better. Meanwhile, back on CBS, I was surprised to find the premiere of How to be a Gentleman thoroughly enjoyable, if not particularly groundbreaking.

Pilot Watch: Whitney and 2 Broke Girls (aka Whitney Cummings' shows)

by Rachael Nisenkier

Whitney Cummings was not a name most of us knew before this TV season. Now, thanks to the annoying and ubiquitous ads for her eponymous new show Whitney, she feels like a familiar and annoying relative.

Still, Cummings is the driving force behind not one, but two new shows starring women and about women, and as such, as My TV’s resident feminist theory devotee, I can’t help but wish her some measure of success. So let’s look at her efforts.