It's a funny episode, boisterously so in parts, but it's difficult to shake the feeling that we've seen this before. After eight seasons, it's started to become too easy to spot Curb Your Enthusiasm's patented ironic twists and callback gags coming a mile away.
There are moments during The Marriage Ref where the show manages to lull you into a kind of thoughtless stupor--a trance where you gawk at the screen, mouth slightly agape, and just kind of take in the strangeness of it all with a thin smile. However, getting through an hour of the show is a workout. Were it not for Gervais, the program would be completely unbearable.
Louie is smart, cinematic, and bitterly honest, constantly dancing between revelatory moments and hysterical bursts of humor that are both surprising and touching.
Archer is sleekly animated, has a cool retro design, and writing that manages to be both smart and bawdy all at once, but most of all, it has a fantastic voice cast.
The series has a decent cast, a solid premise, and it's in the middle of the best block of comedy on television; how, then, did the show turn out to be so woefully bland?
While Frank's high jinks are good for a chuckle, and his love/hate relationship with his kids speaks a lot about the complicated nature of having a down-and-out family, Shameless tries too hard to milk weighty drama from generally dull characters.
As you watch the look of quiet determination spread across his player's faces, it becomes clear that the show's final season may not be perfect, but it still has the power to make you feel like storming the football field yourself.
