Review: Franklin & Bash, S1, E5 - "You Can't Take it With You"

Airdate: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

Franklin & Bash has to be one of the funniest series I’ve seen in a while. I mean, office chair curling? Yep, that’s how “You Can’t Take it With You” starts and the laughs never stop, despite the seriousness that goes on between Jared (Breckin Meyer) and his father, Leonard (guest star Beau Bridges).

Review: Franklin & Bash, S1, E5 - "You Can't Take it With You" 1

Bash, the Douchey Dad (guest star Tom Arnold) and Hanna in court

Tom Arnold also guest stars this week as a reality show star Ronny Streppy aka “The Douchey Dad.” Ronny wants out of his contract because his antics on the show have embarrassed his kids so much they won’t talk or even look at him. Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) to the rescue at Hanna’s (Garcelle Beauvais) request. Or not. While Bash comes up with a brilliant idea to have the show’s footage subpoenaed in order to prove, as he explains to Streppy, “they maliciously depicted you out of context…Bad stuff making you look bad is bad,” Hanna totally one-ups him in court and succeeds in getting him out of his contract. I’m not going to tell you how because I don’t want to spoil the fun! I will give you this little tidbit though.

Franklin (Breckin Meyer) to Bash: “You know why she asked you, right?”

Bash: “Because she’s done with you and tossed you like a dead battery?”

Franklin: “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Review: Franklin & Bash, S1, E5 - "You Can't Take it With You" 2

The two Franklins, Jared (Breckin Meyer) and his dad, Leonard (Beau Bridges), after court

The major case of this week’s episode involves Duncan Morrow (Robert Pine), a father fighting with his two sons, Greg and Colin (Charlie Finn and Ian Reed Kesler), over the ownership of the infamous lost 1988 Kurt Gibson homerun ball. The sons, who were at the game with their dad, are suing him, saying they caught it so it is rightfully theirs. Franklin jumps on the case because he loves baseball and thinks opposing counsel hasn’t a clue about what he’s doing. Surprise, surprise, Franklin’s rich, hoity-toity attorney father Leonard (Beau Bridges) shows up in court instead. Can two Franklins possibly be better than one? The simple answer: a resounding yes!

Review: Franklin & Bash, S1, E5 - "You Can't Take it With You" 3

Bash visits Franklin after Leonard gets him thrown in jail

Watching Franklin and his father go head to head with each other is a beautiful thing. The way the case unfolds has each of them winning important legal points, showcasing their skills as lawyers while bringing their personal problems to the forefront at the same time. I mean, really – arguing over whether Jared dented Leonard’s Jag in court?! Leonard even gets Jared thrown in jail for contempt! What kind of father does that? Is winning that important?! Hopefully, we’ll see more of Leonard in the future and learn about what makes these two guys tick. I’d also like to know what’s behind Stanton (Malcolm McDowell) and Leonard’s exchange.

Leonard: “The boy’s got potential, Stan.”

Stanton: “That’s why we hired him.”

Leonard: “Yeah, just try not to screw him up.”

Stanton: “Well, if you couldn’t do that with your bullshit Leonard, I suspect the lad’s impervious.”

I like how the writers keep all the characters involved in every episode. Pindar (Kumail Najiani) is hysterical this week, outshining everyone in the humor department, when Damian Karp (Reed Diamond) goes to him for help. After receiving a video from a sleep study for insomnia showing Karp, as he puts it, “relaxing” himself in order to fall asleep, he freaks out and insists it be taken off the Infelds Daniels’ server – NOW! I love how heartily Franklin and Bash laugh at Karp’s admission that he wants to become a judge someday and this video could jeopardize his standing. It’s outrageous that Karp makes Pindar sign a contract before letting him look at the clip. “I’ll pay you $5,000 to remove the file from the server, provided you adhere to a gag order which stipulates that if you ever discuss the contents of this file, I’ll just … kill you.” Seriously, Karp? Masturbation isn’t a secret you know! I couldn’t stop laughing at the scared little sound Pindar repeatedly makes when Karp forces him to sign the contract.

Review: Franklin & Bash, S1, E5 - "You Can't Take it With You" 4

Everyone wants a piece of the "Douchey Dad" outside court

Both Tom Arnold and Beau Bridges acted their parts beautifully, making their characters absolutely believable. So believable in fact, I found myself hating Leonard for how he treats Jared, while thinking somewhere there’s a reality show out there with Arnold’s name stamped on it. That said, I could have lived without the smaller case involving Arnold’s character. It seemed unnecessary and took time away from the other things I was more interested in. That’s not to say I don’t love Franklin & Bash – I do. Each week, we’re treated to hysterically funny one-liners, an amazingly charismatic cast, and cases with outrageous twists and turns. To my mind, that’s a perfect recipe for success.

Speaking of one-liners, here are a few of my favorites this week:

Pindar’s response when Karp admits to “relaxing” himself at night: “Oh, you sing too? … It’s no big deal Mr. Karp. Occasionally when I can’t relax, I also rough up the suspect…”

Karp: “Find it. Destroy it. Tell no one.”

Judge Bayles (Caroline Aaron) to Jared Franklin: “Reverend Franklin, is there a question?”

More Judge Bayles: “If you want to tell daddy that he didn’t have any respect for you, you’ll just have to wait ‘til you’re on the third eggnog like the rest of the world.”

Tune in to Franklin & Bash Wednesdays at 10:00 pm ET on TNT. Next week, Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) guest stars and if he’s not funny, I don’t know who is.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!