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Patrick Willems @patrickhwillems.bsky.social ⋅ 1m
The Verge @theverge.com ⋅ 2d
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️𝓝𝓪𝓷𝓲 
“the boxing episode”
“…nobody does those anymore”
“getting their driver’s license”
“…I’d watch it”
“The hamster or goldfish dies, and the adult needs to find an identical replacement before the kid notices.”
“Classic.”
“My favorite is the one where someone develops a split personality and then watches her father kill someone and then forgets what she saw when she’s in the other personality but has a nagging feeling of something wrong”
I like the musical episodes personally.
Ooo, yeah, that was on Law & Order SVU, right? … wait
Law & Order works better if you think of it as a sitcom.
Fun story. I had that exact thing happen with a kids mom once. You helped me grab another from that alternate universe.
What about the one where the spouse/fiancee loses their ring and tries to hide the fact until they can replace it? Or they lose the OTHER person’s ring, etc.
Honestly, I hate sitcoms.
I like the one where they help the French Resistance blow up a train trestle while the local German commander is convinced he’s going to the Russian Front if they can’t shift the blame for the security lapse to someone else. The moral of the story is “Nazis are stupid and a determined multiethnic coalition will always defeat them” and I think that’s a good moral in these trying times.
That’s pretty much every episode of Hogan’s Heroes.
I see nozing, I know nozing. NOZING!
Bottle episode!
Yep I love those Earth-in-a-bottle hijinks!
“Hey, you know this is like a bottle episode!”
“Please shut up Joe”
“Bravely” refusing to look up bottle episode on TV Tropes.
Save you the trip:
A bottle episode is an episode that only uses main characters and existing sets. they can be for diving deeper into the characters, but are usually filler to replace scrapped episodes or pad out a season on a budget.
And if they do that, but also shuffle the relationship status of one or more characters, they call that “spin the bottle.”
… No they don’t. Probably. I just made that up. But maybe they do anyway.
Not a half-bad idea. Definitely submit that for ‘Trope-age’
Moving outside of Sitcoms, an action/drama variant is “base under siege” which is like 80% of Doctor Who episodes.
and there was an episode of Supergirl this week that was called “The Bottle Episode” and it used main characters but there were multiple instances of one character so they figured a way to wiggle out of the Bottle slightly but without violating the rules
also there is a literal bottle but …spoilers
Incidentally, I think this episode/chapter may be the opposite of a bottle episode
What about the one where they travel to an alternate timeline where everybody is the opposite of what they normally are? Good guys are evil. Bad guys are good. Vegemite is a delicious snack.
I’m still weirded out that the McAwesome’s characters just exist as normal people in DoA.
I mean, they were normal people in Shortpacked too. They just worked at a different store. And had eerie parallels with the Shortpacked staff.
Keep in mind, at least one of the McAwesome’s crew rooms on the same floor as Billie in this ‘verse.
That’s actually true for both dorms…
Ooh I like that one. They did that on Charmed and I enjoyed it, though it made little sense
…. that’s not alternate timeline, that’s alternate laws of physics.
Yes, Evil Alternate Dimension, where every character has a mustache or goatee!
Have you seen Justin Trudeau lately? His been replaced by Alt Universe JT.
did they all have goatees? they have to have goatees if they’re evil
The nosy neighbor (or whoever) gets caught up in shenanigans because they got too close to the main character’s secret superpowers. For example, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian…
Damn near the premise of the show in all three cases, if I recall
In the beforetimes (prior to the internet), Ian Shoales created a small tribute to the Nosy Neighbor sitcom. It’s called I Married a Puppet, and it may be worth looking up.
There’s the one where a continuing secondary character is killed off. That’s always good for a laugh.
The one where, for some reason or another, the boss has to sleep over and acts like an entitled boor instead of a guest asking a favor.
Attack of the Clones where one of the main character’s becomes two people to do shenanagains in two places at the same time but then, the clone decides to go full evil or jealous and fights the main character.
Sounds like Attack of the Clone meets Superman III.
It’s adorable how entertained joe is by this. I didn’t want to ship it initially but oh my god.
Joe/Jacob, you say?
Amber is intensifying.
Because Joyce/ Jacob Baby sounds really really like a Three’s Company episode.
Is Joe being sarcastic in panel 5? I’m bad at sarcasm so I genuinely can’t tell. I think he’s being sarcastic in panel 7 though?
bad at *detecting* sarcasm
Those don’t look like sarcasm eyes in panel 5.
I think Joe doesn’t get the gravity of it, or he doesn’t get the full grasp.
Also notice how Jacob hasn’t said anything about how he also went along with the charade.
I think Joe gets the gravity of it, he just thinks that lying about being your boyfriend is a different magnitude than being a liar about adultery or why he cut his father out.
Jacob’s actions are unforgiving and punishing.
Eh, That one’s a matter of opinion. While i think it’s valid to say what Joyce did isn’t THAT bad in the grand scheme of things, All Jacob has really DONE so far is not start a rebound relationship with her, because he feels like starting on that note of dishonesty is a bad idea.
Now, If he starts being a dick to Joyce or Ghosts her completely over the issue, that’d be going too far, but it’s too soon to tell on that one.
I agree. Jacob has the right to be upset the morning after the stuff with Joyce and Harrison happened. It’s what he does over the next few days that will really show what kind of person he is when a friend screws up. (I don’t think he’s obligated to continue the friendship or even talk to Joyce ever again, save for basic politeness. He is obligated not to be a total jerk or go out of his way to punish her. I don’t think he’ll go that route, but only time will tell.)
A) He went along with the deception. B) When she offered to come clean he told her not to. C) He snogged her before telling her there was no way it would be happening.
He wasn’t exactly completely innocent in it all.
Miri has hit the nail upon the proverbial head
Turns out, nobody’s obligated to be forgiving.
That said, considering Jacob was more than happy to go along with it and THEN called her on it? Yeah, that was definitely a dick move. Maybe if he didn’t wanna break up with Raidah he should’ve told her to back off earlier. Maybe if he wanted to be with Joyce, he should’ve excused himself and broke up with Raidah.
Yeah, I bet that part of the reason he’s in such a pissy mood is because he’s displeased with himself, too.
Ooh good call Racing Turtle! Being wrong is so much more upsetting than being right
Kissed her then got upset btw. But the dude is 18 max.
He could be 19 – Dorothy and Dina both are, off the top of my head. (Sarah and Ruth being 20 doesn’t count, as they’re both in their second year.)
Yep, yes he did.
And I don’t hate him or Joyce, and yeah, the whole point is them developing. Doesn’t mean it’s not crappy or annoying in the mean time
Ahahahaha, haha, … (cough). I thought you meant; On a scale of points from 3 to 20, Jacob is an 18. I’m thinking, “Yeah, no, 16 or 17, maximum. Cause of the Riyadh thing, then farther down I’m thinking, “ …WTF, oh, they mean AGE!” Yeah. Too much D&D.
Scale of 3 to 18, with 18 being perfect, optional bonus of 1 or 2 points for charisma if having 18=Beauty and 18=Intellegence.
He wasnt exactly “more than happy” to go along with it. He seemed pretty confused and rolling with it because he wasnt sure what to do (and definitely LIKES/LIKED Joyce so it was kind of a thrill to play along). He seemed to enjoy MOMENTS of it, which I think made him REALIZE he likes/liked Joyce. But then seeing Raidah when they got back snapped him to reality and he realized how much deceit he was participating in and then, yeah… plenty of blame and anger and guilt for both himself and Joyce
And then, after that realization, he kissed Joyce. I mean, I think I kind of get why he did it and he was caught up in a whirlwind of self-realization and emotion, but it was still pretty crappy.
It’s about the least bad form of cheating possible, but it’s still uncool.
I think that’s Joe being genuinely taken off guard by the reason for Jacob’s acrimony.
Really, when a black belt in “Find ‘Em, F**k ‘Em and Flee” finds your reason for fleeing ridiculous, you should really do some introspection.
Joe’s reasons for fleeing are different than Jacob’s, though. Joe doesn’t flee because of anything the woman did.
Reminds me of when Dorothy reacted to Joyce about her lying about the boyfriend thing.
‘Oh! Well… that’s not great, but I expected it to be worse.’
No. He’s serious. He didn’t know what went down and he thinks that the situation, as presented, sounds silly.
… Cuz it kinda is.
I mean, it is correct in that it is a Stock Sitcom plot, and thus must have been funny at some point, right? Joe is within his rights to laugh at it for at least a minute. After that, I think it becomes crass.
Now, to be fair, Joyce is a louse for using underhanded methods to break Jacob and Raidah up rather than just letting the train wreck on its own and being there to pick up the Jacob pieces. Jacob is now also a louse for going along with it rather than being upfront with both of them. I’m not sure how bad Jacob feels about either of these, but something has him down, and he may project his disgust at himself at being a louse onto Joyce, compounding her louseness in his mind.
And Roger Smith is always a Louse.
oh, ok! Thanks!
Joe is a lot more lighthearted and hijinks-friendly with Jacob. I imagine he would legitimately not understand why Jacob was so upset even with full context. He’s just the kind of guy to laugh that off.
I don’t think he is being sarcastic. It’s just on its face that sounds minor or goofy or silly but it doesn’t really encapsulate everything that happened or that Jacob went along with it.
Beach episode.
Wait no thats anime nvm
Yeah, that one tends to make a series “jump the shark.”
Lake episode. And that was seasons ago.
We’re really due for another. Are there any hot springs near-ish where the cast could go to?
What if Jacob is wearing a permanent scowl to take up Mike’s mantle now that he’s… well… maybe not scowling anymore??
Mike’s doing just great. Halving the time of his life!
A nickel, Blaine’s mom — what more could he ask?
Oh no, tvtropes, another several hours gone!
Joe, were you trying to combine digging for info on your crush Joyce with being a good wingman to your friend Joyce? That’s kind of adorable
That is adorable when you put it that way. It’s a win-win!
It’s a dangerous maneuver, though! Many a young person has felt the pain of “Woohoo, I successfully set up Crush with someone they like!
…oh no my feels why did i do that”
and then they either have to eject or ride their flaming wreck all the way down to the impact crater.
Were we talking about overused sitcom plots? ‘Cause I remember us talking about overused sitcom plots.
My first thought was that Joe is intentionally playing wingman for Joyce in order to get her to end up with someone better than himself so he can finally stop worrying that she will end up with him which would inevitably lead to him ruining it.
Your take is more optimistic though. Let’s go with that.
I think that’s pretty much it. He knows his attraction to Joyce, he actually cares about her, he “knows” he’d inevitably hurt her/cheat on her if they got together, he knows about her crush on Jacob, so this is the obvious solution.
I’m not certain Joe has a crush on Joyce. That feels too much like “Girl + Boy have conversation, THEY MUST BE IN LOVE” and I don’t think Willis would do that.
That said, I firmly believe Joe is wingmanning for Joyce right now and I am here for it.
Back when his list was a thing, Joe said that the only thing keeping Joyce from being a “10” on it was her being a virgin; when the list later went public, he ran from Joyce as fast as possible (immediately after declaring that he could handle anything she said) when she asked him what her “ranking” had been prior to her and Mike beating him up, after which he had marked her as a “zero-minus”.
Joyce being a virgin was what made her a ten in Joe’s book:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/03-men-are-from-beck-women-are-from-clark/corrupt/
you’re reading that backwards
Joe has pretty consistently been into Joyce, all the way back to IW! – in one AU we’ve seen, they were a couple – but convinced that she’s too good for him, and/or that if he let himself get into a Real Relationship with someone he’d just ruin things (like his dad did, by cheating on his mom).
Yeah, while it’s by no means foolproof, it seems like characters who did have some physical attraction to each other in the Walkyverse tend to be similarly attracted here. Guessing it’s part of that ‘sexuality remains constant across universes’ thing that having a type is also relatively consistent.
Add to that the fact that Joe and Joyce’s relationship has developed somewhat similarly to their Walkyverse counterparts – genuinely getting on each other’s nerves turning more into friendly banter and willingness to have the big emotional conversations with each other – and I can easily see Joe having the same response to that he had in the Walkyverse, which is ‘shit. Feelings.’
On Slipshine Joe was fantasising about Joyce immediately after sex with Malaya, I think he has a pretty serious crush.
is Slipshine canonical?
Simply put, yes (with a small handful of exceptions, such as the April Fools’ Day page showing a Joyce/Dorothy makeout) – they’re basically the X-rated “full view”, so to speak, of the sexytimes we’ve seen occur “off-screen” in the main comic; NickG was referring to the Slipshine of Joe and Malaya’s encounter on the day Faz came to visit.
What about the plot where the old relative everyone loves visits only to die in the second act and everyone learns something about themselves because of it.
What about the plot where the two dads everyone hates and fears visit, only to kill a minor character in the second act, and no one even learns about it until many hours later?
This Jacob and his Shortpacked counterpart are both preoccupied with the purity and motivations of their relationships, from opposite sides.
I feel like the last panel needs the Seinfeld theme.
Well prepare to waste a few hours if you go to tvtropes…
Oh, oh! What about the one where the main character accidentally schedules two dates (doing completely different activities) on the same evening and has to run back and forth, making excuses, until both girls find out and find it amusingly charming instead of disgustingly manipulative?
Robin Williams pulled it off in one movie, though.
I think when Zac did that in Saved by the Bell shortly after starting college and telling the new girl Kelly was dead (then Kelly appeared because it turned out she was going to the same college after all), the two girls figured it out then played him hard, and both of them were unamused rather than charmed…
It’s late in the game, but suddenly Joe masters the art of conversation
How about the one where relatives come to visit and meet the boyfriend/girlfriend they have been told so much about? Where the boyfriend/girlfriend does not know anything about the relationship?
Unfortunately, Joe, it’s a lot less fun when you’re living the sitcom plot.
I mean, for you. Brought some lively comment sections around here, that’s for damn sure. It was definitely interesting to see where it went.
Doesn’t Joe have a point? Yes, Joyce made up a stupid lie. But in the end, was it really something that harmful? Maybe Jacob just could give it a rest, considering he and Joyce really do fit each other…
. . . Is it weird that I like Joe more then Jacob? Like . . .obviously Joe started from a worse starting place then Jacob and hasn’t quite become quite the same kind of person that Joyce would seek out but . . .I don’t know he seems more personable and open I guess? At least with his emotions? Even if he is dealing with them in a horrifically awful way?
Joe has always been emotionally intelligent, he just doesn’t like to be. Remember his reaction when Danny was trying to ask him if he’d ever considered doing it with guys.
‘Look, are you gay?’
‘No, but, would it matter if I did?’
‘Yes, because it changes the parameters of the conversation! It’s the difference between ‘no’ and holding your hand through some excruciating discovery.’
Maybe it’s because we’ve seen Joe going through a character arc, while Jacob has only recently discovered what his problems are? Before that, Jacob was pretty, kind, and that’s about it—a little two-dimensional. (Perhaps deliberately so, mirroring the way Sarah and Joyce perceived him.)
Definitely agree with Racing Turtle on this one. People are consistently biased towards main characters and we’ve definitely seen more of Joe’s character arc than Jacob’s so far.
Noooo, Mr. Willis, don’t send me back down the TV Tropes rabbit hole! I’m not… I’m not strong enough. lmfao
This got a big laugh out of me.
Joe, no.
…. yes, it’s funny from the outside. But show some compassion, dude.
No he’s wing-manning for Joyce. I love it! He’s maybe not a perfect wingman, this is new turf, getting his female friend together with a guy, but it’s new and interesting.
Considering that the last time he spoke with Joyce (and Sarah!) on the subject of Jacob he was vehemently opposed to the idea of Joyce breaking up Jacob and Raidah, I’m not sure that that’s what’s going on here.
Well, now they are broken up and no use crying over spilled milk. Joe might as well be the best wingman he can be. Furthermore, he only found out Joyce was involved in the breakup after mentioning her to Jacob.
Which does make me wonder how he learned about the break up and from who?
Apparently not from Joyce. Who else knows?
The more conversation we get in this scene the more I want to know what Joe and Joyce talked about at last night’s party.
Danny was pretty much right next to it when it happened iirc.
You know, we haven’t seen the hospital in awhile. I wonder what’s going on there.
Think Ryan is still in the ICU?
Doubtful. This would be his 14th day in the hospital. According to a 2016 paper on the subject I just googled, 97% of patients are discharged from the ICU within 13 days.
But even if he’s not there, he could be stable and in a recovery ward.
There’s always the hope that Ryan could be in, like, a coma and be part of the 3%, then. Stacey did say that it was Ryan’s family (not Ryan himself) who was suing them.
Ryan’s family are paying for the lawyers either way, and probably did the initial hiring because no one really wants to talk to a lawyer while in ICU and drugged to the gills.
My personal guess is no coma (if he was still in one by now, it seems likely he wouldn’t wake up and that starts putting Amber in the ‘police haven’t ruled out charging her with manslaughter’ area again,) but also no chance of him returning to school this year because he’s gonna need a LOT of transitional care and PT.
If the police rule out charging her with “assault with a deadly weapon”, I don’t see why they can’t also rule out charging her with manslaughter whether he survives or not.
Maybe they brought in a new patient, one with a Johnny Bravo hairstyle.
Joe: “According to tv tropes I am a Knight in Sour Armor, or an Ethical Slut.”
Jacob: “You are annoying, that is what you are!”
I am mostly disappointed that “Ethical Slut” does not refer to switching ethical systems to justify one’s actions at any point with an ethical argument.
That’s called “Republican.”
…or “Democrat.”
…It depends on which party you’re not.
…But seriously, vote against the Republicans anyway.
Its winter in the northern hemisphere, the storyline is in mid-autumn awaiting midterms, and Willis has strips completed almost thru the first day of spring.
Never mind an Escher print; this campus is like a friggin’ T.A.R.D.I.S.
Of all the characters one could have expected to be genre-savvy, Joe is probably somewhere towards the bottom of the list. Will wonders never cease?
I see him a bit like Walky – he knows the rules of the game, but in his desperation not to play he puts himself firmly in the role of the loser.
Between Becky… Joyce… Carla… even friggin’ Mike, knowing or learning the rules and how to acting on that knowledge seem to be a bit of a theme
love how this is just making joe like her more!!
Loving Joe here.
1. He’s completely non-possessive of Joyce to the extent that he’s actively encouraging another guy, and a good one, tbh, to go after her.
2. His genuine amusement over Joyce’s hilarious actions and his calling Jacob out on his overreaction.
3. Joyce is not “girls” to Joe, and she hasn’t been ever since she had him beaten up and he rated her a 0.
Now it’s just a straight up bromance between Joe and Joyce and I’m living for it.
The most cynical face Jacob has ever made
I’m in with Joe in this. Sorry for Jacob, but the whole plot is funny as in “sitcom funny” (even the breaking with Raidah is totally sitcom). Guess Joe will be less intimidated by Jacob’s hotness from now on. “Hey, bro, you really Danned it up” (I can’t remember now if Danny told Joe about Amber ‘s fake-girlfriend thing with the Wilcoxes)
I know it’s you Joe, but could you be a bit more careful with the fourth wall?
So now that Joe knows Joyce isn’t perfect (moreso than he already did as he seemed to be the only one that did) does that make her more of a “not a girl” or more of a person he’s accidentally spending time with willingly?
Maybe this is the wacky sitcom where somebody dies, so they have to keep moving/hiding the body so nobody finds out.
What has Amber got in her closet?
Amazi-Girl’s outfit.
Stockbsitcom plots like the “good girl lies to the hot guy’s brother about being hot-guy’s girlfriend” standard. I think Joe’s smarter than he knew.
No Hugging, No Learning.
⠀–Larry David
Is Joe trying to make Jacob make peace with Joyce by pointing out how much the, rather naive, girl is under the total influence of the mostly used storylines of old sitcoms?
I’m reading it as, Joe is pointing out that barely qualifies as comedy sitcom antics, not well and true evil or harm.
More like explaining that Jacob and Joyce are playing out a typical sitcom or version of boy-meets-girl:
1. Boy meets girl.
2. Girl falls for boy, but boy is in a committed relationship. (Or vice versa).
3. Boy begins falling for girl DESPITE his committed relationship.
4. Girl does something bold and stupid. Boy sees that she is the kind of girl he really wants, but he is hurt by the girl’s lack of judgment or something else about the stupid.
5. Girl—through outlandish machinations that only work on TV—proves herself worthy and gets boy.
Lets just hang this lampshade right here then
Joyce stole my pic-a-nic basket!
Joyce lied about me being her boyfriend!
-and you went along with it.
-and you liked it.
-and you kissed her passionately.
-and you broke up with Raidah over it, which needed to happen because you weren’t happy with her, which wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t.
But she lied! Lying is wrong!
-you lied to yourself for weeks at a time about being happy with Raidah because you thought it would please your brother. Liars everywhere.
Agreed.
Just because he wasn’t good either doesn’t make what Joyce did better for him.
And lying, she knew, was a sin.
Yeah, but she was trying out being an atheist, so “sin” doesn’t apply and as we all know in the absence of the fear of sinning, atheists can do anything they want. It’s a real racket.
Only in novel by Dostoyevsky.
“…when at last the police came by
“Her little pranks she did not deny.
“To do so she would have had to lie,
“And lying, she knew, was a sin.”
House: “Everybody lies.
Based on this, Joyce may have explained what happened poorly.
It’s not clear that Joyce told him anything at all. We don’t know how Joe found out Jacob and Raidah had broken up.
Jacob is a bongo, with hindsight, Joyce is better not being with a guy who takes himself so seriously