Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense (20 Dec. 2012)

Director:

Richie Keen

Writers:

Rob McElhenney (developer), Glenn Howerton (developer),

Stars:

Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Charlie Day	...	Charlie Kelly
Glenn Howerton	...	Dennis Reynolds
Rob McElhenney	...	Mac
Kaitlin Olson	...	Dee Reynolds
Danny DeVito	...	Frank Reynolds
Seth Coltan	...	Man

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

reference to isaac newton | evolution | cereal | faith | one day | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Release Date:

20 December 2012 (USA)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Temptation Sensation (Main Title)"
Written by Heinz Kiessling
Performed by Heinz Kiessling

User Reviews

Season 8: Focuses on the characters more than plot and is mostly funnier for it

The thing that really made me love this show so much was just how consistently amoral the characters were – they had very fixed rails that they stuck to and the jokes worked again and again. In the last season or so, the focus seemed to shift to being more time spent on the plot rather than how the characters worked within those plots. With the exception of one or two episodes in this eighth season, this has been addressed and mostly the plots don't really matter too much (in a good way) so much as the way the characters act.

I can understand why this approach means that some feel it is getting old but for me I still find it consistently funny and it is down to the writing and delivery from the main team. The scripts are where the characters exist every week but the delivery is just as consistent and they all work very well here, with their mutual frustrations, intolerance and selfishness all on show. I can't pick a favorite because everyone is great here and there isn't someone who isn't getting it and making the most. It is very telling that the weaker episodes tend to be the ones where they don't have as much time to do things as the focus is on events; so for example the horror/wedding episode was the weakest because it had a lot of setup and telling and not so much time for the characters to be horrid to one another. This was the exception though and happily the rest of the season was a lot stronger.

I do love this show, so I am biased but season 8 represents a refocusing on the strengths of the show – the characters – and the show is best when it has enough plot to provide structure but not so much to distract from them. Very funny stuff indeed, with the therapy episode being a real high point in the season.