Birthing stories to Having Babies: Single Parents "Oh Dip, She's Having a Baby"/"A Night At Camarillo"

"Oh, Dip, She's Having a Baby"

Just as Poppy and Doug adjust to living arrangements at Doug's place, Sharon comes over as she's beginning labor and needs help finding Ron. Poppy, Doug, and Miggy get Angie and Will over to help and tell their birth stories.

We learn that Miggy delivered his son at a 76 gas station; Doug was sitting outside the delivery room; Poppy was upset with Ron for naming Rory after the smoke monster from Lost. Angie delivered Graham in Las Vegas while Will told three stories, one confirmed as it involves Regis Philbin.

Sharon delivered her baby at the same 76 gas station, and Ron arrived at the hospital after picking up a Shaq shoe from Arizona. Poppy sees the bundle of joy and thinks about maybe wanting another baby but with Doug.

"Oh Dip, She's Having a Baby" is probably one of my favorite episodes of the season, maybe even of the series. This episode had everything from solid character development to hilarious and emotional moments as they told their birth stories. Hell, who knew that Miggy could step up like that for a birth at the 76 gas station? Holy crap! The cast did such a fantastic job in this episode. Overall, I give this episode a 9.5/10.

"A Night at Camarillo" 

When Miggy finds out that Poppy has been ordering baby books, she tells him she's been thinking about having another baby and wants one with Doug. During their dinner that night, she was going to talk to him about the idea, but the restaurant had something different going on that got Doug's attention and battle with Dan Marino.

As soon as they got some alone time, Doug was evident with this vision of the future of not having kids, as she still hadn't told him about her idea. She talks with Graham, who watched the other kids at Doug's house. As Doug returns, Poppy tells him they might need to break up. Uh Oh!

I mentioned that Graham was in charge of the rest of the kids. They didn't think Graham could be bossy; he showed his good Italian side and got them to behave. He even needed to take five minutes as Poppy came back.

Meanwhile, Angie and Colin are hitting it off well. Colin is a bit creeped out by Will being around and copying off his clothing style. After Will hears from Colin's ex-wife that they still have an affair together, that sent Will to get to the bottom. Will sees from the air B&B hotel sign-out books that Colin had been with his ex-wife a few days ago.

As Will tells Angie the truth, Will kicks him out, and the two talk and enjoy the room Colin paid for. They even said that maybe Will has feelings for Angie, but they dodged that question again. But in the end, they got Colin back with the sweet revenge of putting the goose he hated in his car.

"A Night at Camarillo" was an excellent episode once again. While the Poppy and Doug story was sometimes weak, maybe the whole restaurant scene felt off. Maybe both Doug and Poppy should break up. Do I think that Doug would change his mind about having more kids? If he can change for her this season, he could change. The Graham story was so funny and different, as we've seen him build his anger and emotions this season. But the Will and Angie story was another winner for me again. I wish that these two would say what they want to say. I understand their friendship means the world, but they make that perfect couple. Overall, I give this episode an 8.5/10.

You can catch Single Parents to return Wednesday, May 6th at 9/8c with a particular one hour on ABC.

Helping and Settling: Single Parents "Hip$ for Dolores"/"Untz, Untz, Untz"

"Hip$ or Dolores" 

Poppy gets a letter from her landlord at her wineberry of the rent increased, everyone tries to help her out with money. Poppy and Will tries to sell her engagement ring for a lot more money, but it turns out that it's worth around $200. She did tell Will how the store has really built her self-esteem after leaving her ex-husband.

Meanwhile, Angie, Miggy, Rory, and Graham try to get money from Angie's co-workers from donations to even feeling bad at knocking Graham's foot to the floor. As soon as they got their money together, they've lost it after Angie's story was actually true.

Even Doug tries to help manage Poppy's store with some drastic measures, but as soon as everyone came back, Angie and Miggy brought back enough money as they sold Miggy's calendars at the office.

"Hip$ for Dolores" was funny at times with its simple story of the gang trying to help raise money for Poppy's store. It had perfect moments like Poppy telling Will how the store had changed her from leaving her ex-husband.

"Untz, Untz, Untz"

After another night spending the night at Doug's house, Miggy gets Doug to consider staying at Poppy's house, which turned into a disaster. First, Doug didn't enjoy it because of not getting in his evening routine, not to mention trying to find a place for his toothbrush and Poppy playing Frasier episodes so loud that she fell asleep. And the kicker comes to the bed as he couldn't get comfortable. 

Poppy didn't enjoy it either. As Doug was too moving in the bed and even talking in his sleep. The two settle their difference and Facetime each other as their new sleeping arrangement.

Meanwhile, Angie tries to hit it off with Colin by using Sophie to bond with his son, as Will takes Graham to have a boy's night. But Graham finds a woman and disappoints Will. Angie's date night that she was hoping for didn't go the way she had hoped but ended well after Sophie finally enjoyed Colin's son after talking about apples.

"Untz, Untz, Untz" was another fun episode. I very much enjoyed watching this episode with both stories as they were hilarious and so enjoyable. This was yet another good performance from the cast, and the writing was as good too. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Single Parents Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.

Bonding: Life In Pieces "Clean Pens Grandma Guys"

From a scary grandma to a guy's party, here's a recap of last week's episode of Life In Pieces.

When Greg and Jen hire a cleaner, it turns out to be the same cleaning lady who has been cleaning Joan and John's house since Greg was born. But here's the thing: she doesn't clean the house but sleeps while working. Jen learns that Joan does most of the cleaning after the cleaning lady is done and that the reason why they've kept her is that she irons John's pants so well. Jen fires the cleaning lady, and soon Greg and Joan decide to fix the problem by cleaning up themselves.

After watching Antiques Roadshow, John decides to turn in those pens that he's given the kids during his time as an airline pilot that could be worth a lot of money. After disappointing John, Greg, Heather, and Matt hunt for the pens, but without any luck,k they find a set of cells on eBay. As they told John they found the pens, they realized they bought the ones John put on eBay for $700. That did make John pretty happy.

Matt and Colleen's son is scared of Joan. Joan thinks it's anxiety, but Colleen believes it's just a phase and that he'll get over it. But she learns that the real reason is that the witch in the story looks like Joan. Colleen confronts Joan about it, and she tries to deny it but accepts and walks away after sweeping up candy on the floor.

The fight of the year is about to start, and Tim invited the guys for a guy's night at his house. But the only person who shows up is Matt, and it turns into one weird and awkward night for the both of them as Tim tries to take off his pants and starts the margarita machine, which takes four hours. But as soon as the fight begins, it's over within 15 seconds, and Matt tries to leave but comes back, realizing that no one is coming to Tim's party. He comes back and takes a photo to show off to Greg.

"Clean Pens Grandma Guys" was an excellent episode, but it didn't live up to the previous episode as hilariously funny. It was a split 50/50 of perfect and okay stories in this episode. The good ones were John's pens and Tim's guys' night. The character development was good, as did the writing. As for the scary grandma and the cleaning lady stories, it just seems a bit predictable at times. But the humor was there at times. Overall, I give this episode an 8/10.

You can catch the one-hour series finale of Life in Pieces tonight at 9/8c on CBS.

Admitting a Problem: Life In Pieces "Letter Promise Adult Seventy"

From a well-thought-out promise to a family divorce, here's a recap of Life In Pieces.

When Matt and Colleen celebrate their son's acceptance to Lark's school, they take Greg and Jen out to dinner to repay them for the letter they had sent. One little problem: they didn't write a letter. Greg and Jen try their best to not only accept the dinner but also try not to go all out, but after sharing a bone with his brother, Greg admits to Matt that he didn't write the letter. Soon, the dinner would be covered by Jen and Greg after.

Sophia confronts her mom and dad about their promise: if she could do all the chores on the list, she could get a pig. Tim and Heather try to talk Sophia out of getting her that pig and get her to agree to get a cell phone instead. But Sam tells them they have been played by Sopha as getting a pig was a plan to get a cell phone. Tim and Heather go with Sophia's program and get her the pig that she always wanted, even if it does leave a mess in the house.

Clementine confronts Tim about a problem with Tyler lumping his left testicle. That worries Tim, and I chatted with Tyler about getting it checked out. But at dinner, everyone learns about Tyler's problem, even Heather, and Tyler finally goes to the doctor. After seeing a children's doctor, Tyler meets with a doctor for adults and learns that it's just a cyst, but he also gets a rectum check. Welcome to adulthood!

John learns the terrible news about his parents; they're getting a divorce after 70 years. John gets Joan to help him get them to stay together by having dinner and remembering the good old days, but that backfires. John learns why they have been together for 70 years and that they thought he would have died during his time as an air pilot. After talking to Joan about it, John returns to see that his mother has died at the dinner table. As Joan gets word about the planned service for John's mother, John remarks about their marriage that could surprise his parents.

"Letter Promise Adult Seventy" was just another witty, hilarious episode, making me laugh from the beginning to the end. As the Greg'Jen/Mat/Colleen story was excellent and funny, it didn't hold up to the other stories like Sophia and her parents, even Tyler going to the doctor and John's parents. The writing was so damn good in this episode. It's probably one of my top favorite episodes of the season. Overall, I give this episode an 8.5/10.

You can catch Life In Pieces on Thursdays at nine or 30/8:30c on CBS.

Once Upon a Time: Life in Pieces "Four Short Fairy Tales"

From lying about a rat in the house to battling for partnership at a law firm, these are just some of the stories in this episode of Life In Pieces.
The first thing 
"Four Short Fairy Tales" is just what it is with the Short family characters dealing with life moments from a fairy tale perspective, and it works. Tim buying (for his efforts to stay healthy by buying a wired wig) gets the family pretending to like it but not. Jen deals with the work-life in a Cinderella style with evil co-workers, thinking that mommy life takes away from Jen's work life. After staying at work and finishing up paperwork, Jen enjoys the night with her boss and co-workers. The next day,y Jen's co-workers try to take credit for the work she did but prove that she did it because of the breast milk stain that was left on the paper.   

Joan deals with her family through a retirement party, but she gets saved by a rat in the house. After Oscar comes and receives the rat, Joan still uses the rat as an excuse for not having the retirement party. She tells Oscar about it and comes to terms with John, but when she sees a real rat across the room, John doesn't believe her.

Meanwhile, Matt and Greg tried to build a playhouse for their kids that their dad took down twice. After realizing that John didn't make his boys builders, he took the time to create the final and perfect playhouse out of bricks but also have its water source.

This episode was another hilarious one, with many great moments, from Tim's new hair and getting the only support from Colleen. Jen fighting for that partnership in the style of Cinderella was good and tied with Joan's crying rat in the house as the best story in the episode. And the father and sons of John, Greg, and Matt building a playhouse for the kids was perfect. Strong writing and good character development, mainly with Jen and Joan, I think. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Life In Pieces on Thursdays at 9:30/8:30 on CBS.

Family Bonding: Life In Pieces "Recovery Discipline Psycho Labor"/"Lost Math Art Glam"

From bonding while walking to dealing with labor during a birthday party and trying to take a family photo. Here's a recap of the last episode of Life In Pieces.

"Recovery Discipline Psycho Labor"

Still, in their recovery from their health, Tim gets Joan to walk with him, but as they walk, they bump into a skeet ball arcade. As soon as they play a game, they get hooked every time they go for their walks. But a few days later, they see that the game has been picked. You,p, and Tim killed the meaning of walking with Joan. That ended when Joan came back the next day and got Tim to join her to walk with her to an air hockey game. 

Matt and Colleen have difficulty with their new adoptive son, whom Dougie influences. They soon learn from Heather that being a parent doesn't mean being their child's best friend. After Dougie showed the kid a video of an autopsy of an alien, the kid went to Matt and Colleen because he couldn't sleep, probably due to the autopsy he watched. After getting into bed with them, all seemed fine for Matt and Colleen.

John befriends the creepy janitor at school. Sophia worries that this could be a problem until she sees that her pop pop is depressed and that he's not his friend anymore. Soon, Sophia confronts the janitor and learns he's not so bad and has a heart. But when she shows him off to her classmates, they get freaked out. 

Trying to celebrate Lark's birthday a few weeks before the baby is due, it turns out the baby is ready to come. Jen tries to make it through with the party as Greg tries to rush along as quickly as possible. But they can't make it as Jen's water breaks, and she and Greg tell Lark that her baby sister is coming and tells her that she will have some gifts when she meets her new sister. Soon, they walk out while Matt and Colleen walk in late, forgetting Lark's heritage. 

"Recovery Discipline Psycho Labor" was an excellent episode. The Tim and Jona story was good, with good character development, and watching these two bond together was just hilarious and heartwarming. Matt and Colleen's story was good, as it was fantastic to see the return of Dougie once again. It's funny watching the kid bond with Dougie as Matt and Colleen try to be good parents to both of them. The Sophia story wasn't as strong as the previous one, but it was okay and probably the weakest storyline in the episode. But the Jen and Greg story brought home the funny as they tried to make Lark's birthday the best, but the baby had plans. I think it was Zoe Lister-Jones' best performance so far this season. 

Overall, I give this episode an 8.5/10. 

"Lost Math Art Glam" 

As Greg brings Lark to meet her new baby sister, Lark goes on an adventure in the hospital. Greg goes crazy searching for her, thinking that maybe she got on the right floor to see Jen, but when Heather learns what happened, she gets Greg to search. After bumping into a singing teddy gram to a child with the flu, Greg finally finds Lark and brings her to meet her sister, who she loves. But when Greg and Jen take the moment, Heather appears so happy that Lark is okay, giving Jen the idea that Greg lost Lark, but she learns that it happened when a Code Adam was being called on the intercom. 

When Sophia is having a hard time with her math homework, Heather and the family try to figure it out, but with it being the new math that it is, it's not at all as easy as it once was. After grabbing Tim, Jen, Greg, and even Colleen to help, Heather was determined to get this work done. She eventually learned from Sam, who paid and let her go to the new rave. 

Matt gives John an artwork from his new grandson and places it on the fridge. But Matt sees that John accepts his son's artwork and gets him to bond with him. But when Matt comes over to check in, he learns that John took him to the golf course but learns even more than his son doesn't like art but rocks. There's a solid case to make as the kid picks up rocks, talks to them, and kisses them. Soon, Matt gets John to join an art class with Heather but learns that he must put his alcohol in a water bottle and not in a wine glass. 

Colleen wants to do a family portrait, but Joan does not want one. She fears how she looks in photos and that it all began in school. Colleen finally gets her to do one after telling her she can fix her appearance, but that doesn't go well with the rest of the family, including Lark. Colleen and Jen get Joan to sit down at the family table, and as she holds the new baby, they finally get the family photo, even though she doesn't smile very well. She still got it!

"Lost Math Art Glam" was an excellent and robust episode. From Greg losing Lark in the hospital to Heather and their family, learning new math was hilarious and hits close-to-home moments with more on the new math. Even the Family Photo was the icing on the episode cake with good character development with Joan and Colleen. The Matt and John story was good and had some moments but didn't follow through, I thought. Overall, I give this episode an 8/10.

You can catch Life In Pieces on Thursdays at 9:30/8:30 on CBS.

The Tough Decisions: Champions "Opening Night"/"Deal Or No Deal" Season Finale/Series Finale

"Opening Night" 

With opening night coming, Michael not only is worried about his play but also if him and Gregg would make a couple. Priya comes for the show but also hangs with Michael and helps him with what Vince can't help. But she's visiting for another reason, that's to ask Vince if he's okay for Michael to go back with her to Cleveland.

At first, he didn't agree, but after watching her and Michael connect so well that he allowed it to happen. But when Michael hears about the news from the dean of the school, makes a counterpoint about the decision. But Priya lets Michael stay with Vince and Matthew.

Meanwhile, Matthew tries to be a bad guy when he tries to give each of the gym staff evaluation reviews. When he helps Dana, he gets her into the staff's group chat, which didn't go so well. But Dana changes with the help from Matthew and now everyone is on the group text chat, including Vince.

"Opening Night" was hilarious but also served some light heart moments between Vince and Matthew on the decision of Michael going back home. Both storylines were each as hilarious as the other, but I very much enjoyed the character development from Matthew. The writing was strong and the performances from the cast was as good as before. Overall, I give this episode a 8.5/10.

"Deal Or No Deal"

As Matthew finally graduates from high school, Vince gets an offer of a lifetime.

With Matthew graduating from high school, Vince has an idea of expanding the gym with a little help from his old high school friend. When Vince meets with him, the tables have turned when he gets an offer to be a manager for a St.Louis Cardinals minor league team.

Vince tells Michael about the offer, they agreed not to tell Matthew about it til after their dinner with Gregg. But that all went down hill when Gregg accidentally tells Matthew about it. Matthew gets upset and attacks Vince, who runs down to the gym. After being separated by the staff, Vince tells everyone about the news and that he's going.

Later on, Michael and Gregg seemed to have broken up, as Gregg is on a new show about family drama. But as Michael talks with Matthew about Vince, he just couldn't forgive him. But a noise coming from Matthew's room got their attention and Matthew shoots the intruder in the leg, that happens to be Vince.

At the hospital, Vince tells Matthew and Michael that he's staying and they continued on to be a family that tries to order nachos from the hospital cafeteria.

This episode was funny, strong and seemed to be close to a finale as it would be if the show had ended. The relationship between Matthew and Vince seemed to be the real focus and the strongest storyline of the episode. The performance between Holm and Favreau was amazing along with Totah as well. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Champions OnDemand and on the NBC app.

UPDATE: As of Friday, TVLine has reported that NBC has officially cancelled Champions after it's first season. I'm just furious of the news that this show, that didn't get a lot of promotion time, even for the final two episodes that were placed on Friday nights to burn off. Champions is an amazing show, just like Timeless and Great News, and deserves another season. It's got a great ensemble cast, strong writing and character development. But as with Timeless, I'm hoping the show gets picked up by another network or streaming service (COME ON NETFLIX!!!). It's been reported by TVLine that Universal Television is shopping around to other outlets.

Let's hope. Let's hope.

Admit and Be Amazed: Superstore "Amnesty"/"Target"

"Amnesty"

After everyone saw the videotape of Amy and Jonah kissing, the two tried to dispel all the rumors about them, but they worsened things. When they pretend to be in love with one another in front of their coworkers, they accidentally kiss. Kelly, who finds out, gets annoyed about it after it doesn't bother her, but to prove that he isn't in love with Amy, Jonah suggests that he move in with her.

Meanwhile, after Amy and Jonah's video, Glenn and Dina offer amnesty to all the employees to confess any that might have done bad things.  But they didn't expect the entire staff at Cloud 9 to come forward, leaving the store unattended. But it allows Garrett and Cheyenne to take advantage of the subject matter.

When Mateo hears of an offer, it worries him about his undocumented status, and he tries to get a hold of Jeff to see if he has told anyone. After trying to get a hold of him, Jeff shows up and tells Mateo that he has quit his job.

"Amnesty" was another hit episode with excellent writing and character development. From watching Dina and Glenn try to get their coworkers to talk, Mateo trying to get a hold of Jeff or Amy, and Jonah trying to play towards their coworker's jokes and games about their relationship, it was brilliant. The one scene in which I was amazed was when Jonah learned that Amy had a crush on him and didn't even know about it. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

"Target"

After announcing his leaving at Cloud 9, the staff throws a goodbye party for Jeff and learns he is leaving to be a manager at Target. Garret asks Glenn, who's mad about Jeff going to Target, for a raise but gets him to believe Jeff had poached him to come to Target. Glenn confronts Jeff, who has no clue, and the two battle it on who can be poached to join their stores. As Glenn and Garrett try to poach the employees from Target, they spot Cheyenne, who tells them that she works part-time at both stores. 

Meanwhile, Dina helps get Amy out on the dating scene on a double date. But when it wasn't working out, probably because he was 20-30 years older than her, she made friends with the Cloud 9 beverage delivery man, who was making a drop-off at the restaurant. Soon, they pretty much clicked when he came back to Cloud 9 and asked Amy out. 

Also, Kelly and Jonah discuss moving in together and trying to lay out their furniture arrangement at the store. Jeff admits to Mateo that he doesn't work at Target but doesn't want his former Cloud 9 co-workers to know he is unemployed. 

"Target" was excellent and hilarious. Take it what you will; even if they try to advertise for Target or not, it did get me to go to the store the next day. I loved the poaching story when  Glenn and Garrett go to Target and find that it's a much better store—even learning about Cheyenne working there. But also, Amy's date, I would say, got better when meeting with that Cloud 9 delivery man, and maybe they could heat things with Jonah, who sees the two at the store. The writing was good, and so was the performance of the cast. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Superstore on Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.