Animation Domination Battle Royale - #1 05/08/11

I have a love/hate relationship with Sunday's. I love not going into work but I also hate that Sunday night dread of having to go into work the next Morning.

One of the things that helps me get through that unpleasantness of work is Fox's Animation Domination. It's a joyous 2 1/2 hours of primetime cartoon shenanigans. It starts off with American Dad!, followed by my all time favorite show The Simpsons. It then goes into Bob's Burger's then the Seth MacFarlane double whammy of Family Guy and the Cleveland Show.

I though it would be fun to have all five battle it out to see who had the best episode this week.

#1 - American Dad! (Home Wrecker)

Whenever I talk to someone about American Dad! I always say that Roger the Alien is the best character on the show. After this episode though I might have to change that to the Principal Lewis character. The guy has become the MVP of this season. In this episode Lewis discovers that Barry is idiot savant who could be used to count cards. Of course move forward a few scenes and he has Steve, Barry, and the rest of their group counting cards at a dingy back alley Asian casino. Of course the kids start realizing that they don't need Principal Lewis and try to branch out on their own. This leads to the best line of the night from Steve "He's spends all the money on lap dances and James Ingram cd's".

In the other storyline Stan and Francine are boasting about how great their marriage is. They visit Terry & Greg's house after they remodel their kitchen and Terry & Steve bet them that they couldn't survive a kitchen remodel. They offer to pay for the renovations if their marriage survives but if not they have to give them their marriage license. Of course they end up fighting and do the classic sitcom "you stay on your side of the house and I'll stay on mine" bit. It's been done a hundred times before but they make it funny.

Show score - B+

#2 - The Simpsons (Homer Scissorhands)

Homer's had a lot of jobs over the years and tonight we can add one more to that list. Hair stylist. After a freak painting accident destroys a good portion of Patty's hair, Homer realizes that he has a knack for styling women's hair. Of course that means in the next scene that Homer now has his own studio. While he's actually good at a job for once he realizes that he hates listening to women talk all day. Normally the Homer new job episodes haven't been that good but this one actually worked.

In another funny part of the show Milhouse realizes that life is short (after watching the first scene of "Finding Nemo") and he shouldn't waste any time telling Lisa how he loves her. Of course in true Milhouse fashion he rejects him but a 5th graded named Taffy takes a liking to him after seeing him pour his heart out. Naturally Lisa gets jealous and this leads to a pretty funny scene that involves Milhouse sitting on a flying eagle saying "Everything's coming up Milhouse!" Plus in this episode it's revealed that Lunch Lady Doris is dating Hans Moleman. Way to go Moleman!

Show score - B-

#3 - Bob's Burger's (Weekend at Mort's)

I have to admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of this show when it first came on. I've since come around to it thanks to some great writing and some great secondary characters like Bob's restaurant nemesis Jimmy Pesto.

In this week's episode mold is discovered at the restaurant so they're forced to close down for two days. Mort who runs the funeral home next door to them let's them stay at his funeral home for the weekend. Linda of course thinks this could be their second honeymoon but Bob just wants to relax for the two days and do his "Speed" bus model. Meanwhile the kids help Mort get a date through an on-line mortician dating site. This leads to a great double date with Bob and Linda at Jimmy Pesto's restaurant. Naturally this leaves the kids to explore the funeral home while they're gone.

In case you're wondering the burger special this week was the "I've created a Muenster Burger".

Show score - B

#4 - Family Guy (The Big Bang Theory)

Unfortunately Family Guy was the weakest of the Fox toon lineup this week. Normally Brian/Stewie episodes are great but this one was a bit disappointing.

Stewie invents a time machine which his half brother Bertram gets a hold of and tries to travel back in time to kill one of Stewie's ancestors so Stewie never exists. It turns out that one of Stewie's ancestors was Leonardo DaVinci. Stewie and Brian go back through time to try and stop him.

There wasn't that many laughs and probably the best part was the Stewie/Bertram in air chase through Italy on DaVinci's flying machines.

Show score - C+

#5 - Cleveland Show - (Your Show of Shows)

This week Rallo is trying to get ready for the school talent show and of course goes to his old Jewish friend Murray for advice on what to do. He ends up writing him and his friends (voiced by T-Pain and wil.i.am) a song about fiscal responsibility. Naturally the song bombs at the talent show.

Meanwhile Cleveland ends up convincing his boss that he should have his own talk show on Waterman Cable. The first episode bombs but he repackages the show and target's it to house wives. This is the best part of the episode because it involves a great production meeting scene with Cleveland's pals pitching show ideas.

Rallo

Episode score - B-

This week's winner - American Dad!