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JUNE 17, 2005.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Robson Arms has nothing in common with Corner Gas, but is almost as entertaining - and the acting in it is top notch from the entire cast. Gabrielle is spectacular as Bobbi, Tobias Mehler is superb as Bobby, John Cassini is outstanding as Yuri, and the rest of the cast delivers almost as well. The show is yet another testimony to Canada's ability to produce outstanding comedies, but along with Corner Gas it's further proof that good comedy can be made without a laugh track - something that Hollywood has yet to figure out. On top of that, in Canada it's a primetime show on a non-cable network, and it has - gasp! - profanity (and, if the previews of the show are accurate, some nudity to come in further episodes). I want no part of Canada's taxes (even higher than ours, hard to believe as that may be) or socialized health care, but it sure would be nice to be rid of the American FCC and the Nanny State that supports it. At least Canada treats their television viewers like adults - I often wonder what that must be like.
KUDOS TO GABRIELLE: On other pages on this site I have cited Gabrielle's ability to play a wide variety of different roles well as the reason for her being my favorite actress, and have used contrasting roles such as Fling (Sliders) and police officer Angela Perry (The Twilight Zone) as an example. Since launching this site I received a letter downgrading that comparison because so much time had passed between the two roles. Although I don't agree with the point, if you do I invite you to compare her roles of Bobbi Briggs and Lacey Burrows, which were shot within the same year. This example, which was not available to me when I launched the site, is actually far better than the other ones I've used, because the two characters have absolutely nothing in common and yet Gabrielle is unbelievably good in both roles.
If you're inclined to pick a favorite actress on looks alone, Gabrielle's appeal in this aspect is obvious, and her role as Bobbi Briggs - especially in this episode - won't disappoint you at all. However, what sets her apart from other good-looking actresses for me is that she excels in everything she does, to include what most of the others don't seem to be able to handle well at all - and a great example of this is her job of acting drunk. This may seem like a rudimentary example, but I've long since lost count of actresses that I've seen do a bad job of it. Gabrielle, on the other hand, was so convincing as someone who had a few drinks too many that if the producers of Robson Arms were to tell me that she got tanked in preparation for those scenes I wouldn't doubt it for a second. There are other examples in this episode (and in everything else she has done that I've been lucky enough to see), but this is the most obvious one.
On this site I've referred to Gabrielle as "North America's most versatile and talented actress." If you disagree with me, just watch this episode immediately before or immediately after any episode of Corner Gas (I recommend "Grad 68" or "Comedy Night," but any Corner Gas episode would do just fine), and just try to tell me that I'm wrong.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS:
1.) When Bobbi was going off on some nerd in the building's laundry room. She goes into a diatribe about how men who wear white socks can't be trusted, and while we were watching it my better half took a look at my socks to see if they were white. They weren't. What she didn't know and won't until I post this is this: the guy who sent me the tape from Canada warned me in advance not to wear white socks if I was going to watch this episode with her, and added "just trust me."
2.) The way my better half looked at me after the episode and said "I have to say this just in case: do not EVER call me 'Kookaburra.'" Hilarious, but you had to be there to appreciate it.
3.) If I were to limit my list of memorable moments to just those having nothing to do with me or my better half watching the episode, Bobbi's diatribe about white socks and every reference to white socks from that point on would still make up a fairly long list.
MEMORABLE LINES:
1.) From Bobbi's aforementioned diatribe: "Let me tell you something about women. They HATE white socks. You can never fully trust a man who owns white socks."
2.) From Bobbi, upset that not enough people signed up for her "Exerjive" class to keep it from getting cancelled: "Everyone in this dumb town does yoga, you know, or "Pilates" or whatever the hell it's called. Or they're f---ing kayaking.Or rock climbing." I include this not because of her use of the f-word (although had I not seen Liebe auf den 2. Blick, hearing it from her would have been a first for me), but because it so perfectly sums up her mood just as Bobby changes the subject and says he has good news and bad news - which makes Bobbi's rant a perfect setup for #'s 4 and 5 in my "funniest scenes in this episode" list.
3.) When Yuri takes a girl into apartment 108 and flips down Dr. Wainright's picture. At this point the plot twist is (or at least should be) very obvious to the viewer, even before you see the brand of condom Yuri uses.
FUNNIEST SCENES IN THIS EPISODE:
1.) I don't know why this struck me as funny as it did, but shortly after Bobbi finds the condom wrapper in the bedroom, the next scene shows her at the kitchen table staring at the condom wrapper as if she's waiting for it to start singing and dancing or something like that.
2.) Bobbi's diatribe in the laundry room.
3.) When Yuri, listening to Bobbi's diatribe, does his best to keep the socks he's wearing out of her view.
4.) When Bobby cuts off Bobbi's rant about the exercise habits of the greater Vancouver area, he says he has good news and bad news, and puts his feet up on the coffee table - to show a pair of white socks.
5.) As if that weren't funny enough, just as this happens, Bobbi stares at the socks for a couple of seconds, and just before she looks back up at Bobby, she squints a little - sort of an "evil eye." You might have to look carefully to notice it, but it is hilarious how she does it.
6.) When Bobbi is at a restaurant trying to get attention, a guy waves at her and she does a ridiculously non-subtle hair flip.
7.) The look on her face when she sees the guy wears white socks.
8.) Her parting words to the guy as she leaves the restaurant - or, more specifically, the way she drunkenly delivers them.
9.) Grandma Tan's observations about Bobbi, spoken in Cantonese, when Bobbi stops by the building's convenience store.
10.) When Yuri gives Bobby a detailed account if the maintenance done in the Briggs' apartment when he (Bobby) was on the road. The humor was predictable and by no means original, but the way John Cassini did the lines and the way Tobias Mehler played the likeable sap who just doesn't get it was perfect.
11.) When at a very romantic point in the evening, after gifts have been exchanged in the Briggs' heavily candle-lit apartment, Bobby tells Bobbi "I'll be right back, I just have to go take a dump." This was actually the moment in the episode that made laugh hardest, largely because of the way Mehler delivered the line as if he were relaying information vital to the evening (and because most guys would just say "I'll be right back"). As if this potential mood-killer wasn't funny enough, without hesitation a highly preoccupied Bobbi doesn't even hesitate in saying "okay."
TRIVIA: If Bobby and Bobbi seem convincing as a couple to you, it's not just that the actors are doing a good job. In real life, Tobias Mehler and Gabrielle were a couple when this season of the show was shot.