HBO

Thoughts on Episode 9

On my “DVR” program guide this episode is listed as “Actor” but I’m thinking it wasn’t. If I were to guess, I would guess the episode was “On the road.” Update: the episode name is “What goes on tour.” So, We find our fearless heroes on a warm-up tour leading to a big gig in Central park. Murray has somehow come up with a huge amount of cash to fund this Rock N Roll fantasy and the guys are excited to travel by tour bus. Unfortunately, the cash comes from Murray and Shelly’s (Murray’s ex) joint account and she continually hassles him by phone throughout the show and the “tour bus” is actually Murray’s Honda Accord. When Murray confides in Bret about sometimes pretending to be a bus driver when he is driving alone at night, I was hoping it was an intro to the Bus Driver’s song..no such luck but we did get to see the guys the happiest we’ve seen in awhile. (Miscellaneous question: Why were the guys so sweaty in the car?) Weird. Anyway, after an unfortunate gig at the LaGuardia airport bar, Murray hands the boys their per diem and tells them it is only for necessities, but the boys come back in leather suits!..so very Rock N Roll! Murray blames Jemaine for the Rock N Roll antics of the leather suits, chucking the TV out the window and raiding the minibar. I haven’t seen such bad luck since “Bad News” went on tour in the 80s. We get a brief cameo of Kate Pierson of the B-52s who refuses to let the boys play at the club because their reputation for destroying equipment precedes them. (Didn’t she look great!) All three guys looked like they would cry standing in the rain unable to even enter the club.. but of course, they’re not crying, right? (Ok, terrible joke. Sorry.) The rain sets up an obvious but still funny joke of the suits shrinking and yet they are still cool enough to hook up with the North Jersey Women’s Water Polo team. Well, kinda.. I won’t spoil that joke like I’ve spoiled all the other jokes so far but rest assure it’s funny. There was only one song in this episode and it’s an oldie, Mermaid from the Folk the World CD. The only disappointment I had from this whole episode was that tempo of the song was so fast! Was there a reason to rush through it? It was only 1:47 long..I think they could have slowed it down a bit. Back to the show, Murray again has a problem with the hotel bill and something very funny happens that results in Murray quitting. Mel and Doug come to the rescue and all the guys are happily reunited, just in time for the big gig. I give this episode an A, it was a good solid funny episode. It does feel like a season finale, I can’t imagine what the rearranged schedule has in store for us now.

[rating: 4/5]

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