1106  -  Kelly's Gotta Habit


This review might be a little jaded because I'm writing it after watching "Spring 
Break" (due to a SKY special)...on the bright side, that dire two-parter has 
probably improved my memories of the other episode. Not that it especially needed 
improving because I enjoyed this one quite considerably. There are some really 
excellent moments in both plots, both Kelly's frustration and Al's parading around 
town. I loved the pottery sculptures joke and also the nun's prayer whilst the 
three younger people are fighting it out. For some reason it made me wonder what 
the Bundy household would've been like with three children, but I suppose Al would
have committed suicide long before....

The Kelly plot is another one-joke storyline but it holds together by virtue of a 
very accomplished performance from Applegate and Faustino, and some neat little 
touches. Much, much better is the reality-TV parody which harks back to earlier 
episodes in its merciless destruction of all those cliches - right down to the 
handheld camera bouncing around, plus some (rare) location work. At the moment SKY 
has every Tuesday night full of three hours of this kind of television and it's 
such a cliche by now that it was only a shame they didn't show this episode on a 
Tuesday. Ed O'Neill seems to be particularly enjoying himself here both in his 
words and in the physical comedy such as his attack upon 9766 Jeopardy Lane. 
Officer Dan doesn't get much to do overall but what lines he does get are good, 
such as his 'crack house' line; I think Dan Tullis is probably as good an actor as 
Harold Sylvester, but the latter makes more appearances because it's far easier to
work him in. It's a shame in some ways. 

Definitely worth rewatching and a real sign that Season 11 is an improvement upon 
10, this episode also marks out the changes in form that were introduced in 
"Twisted". A pre-credits sequence, much shorter titles (which were always too long 
IMO) and the short 'epigram' between the end of the episode and the final credits 
- plus the credits on a black background, which seems a slightly odd choice. They 
bring the show more in line with common televisual practice, yes, and the cast are 
definitely not used to doing the teaser sequences, but concrete improvements.

Things are getting better every day. Rating 8/10.