This Week in Television - Jan. 18-22, 2010

Heroes
Hiro's diner hallucination trial featuring some dead folks was a cool idea. I thought his lawyer should have been Isaac Mendes at first just so they could get another dead guy in there, but then they used Ando. I guess that makes more sense. But it doesn't make sense that his mother could heal him in a hallucination, and if it was a purgatory deal and not a hallucination then it doesn't make sense for Ando to be there. But whatever, I'm down with Hiro not dying. When Sylar was given his Claire tattoo I thought he was going to start wooing her romantically since they're both immortal and they wouldn't be alone that way. Would have been funny, but I guess he's not into college chicks.

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town
I like how the two cops are so incompetent that they accuse each other of murdering the mayor and then a videotape has to remind them that they were on duty together at the time of the murder (which was inexplicably determined by the bald detective). I also find it funny that Heather Weather wants so badly to be the breaking news reporter but has no clue how to report on anything except the weather. For a minute at the end, I thought Death was just going to keep killing off Bruce McCulloch characters.

Fringe
This was actually an intense episode, which was perfect because the concept wasn't as mindblowing as in some of the other episodes (I'm not really a fan of the whole "deadly virus" plot incarnation). The last time an ally turned on Olivia, it was "Flancis" and she shot him outright, but that was a more deadly situation because this time she knew Peter could be cured. I also like those moments where Walter is desperate and fragile, because all those times when he gets excited about science and food, we sometimes forget how much he loves his son.

Parks and Recreation
The best part of the episode was Ron's plans to show up at Leslie's dinner party with a large quantity of deviled eggs and not have to share them with anyone. I think he is becoming my favourite character. I can understand why the guys don't like Justin: there is a fine line between being a fascinating man and constantly telling exotic stories to show off how interesting you are. I mean it's cool if you've experienced a ton of amazing things, but it makes you look like a douche if you bring it up every time you open your mouth.

The Office
Um, okay, I wasn't expecting a clip show. Especially not in the middle of the season. I get that it is their way of saying goodbye to the old Dunder-Mifflin, but it felt more like something they should have done for the series finale or something. But the frame story was funny and I like that they did it via an interview with Toby.

30 Rock
Julianne Moore's back! At least she got some funnier stuff to do this time. I have a feeling that Dale Snitterman could soon become a popular meme for everything that goes wrong with everything.

Kenny vs. Spenny
Who can have more fun? Whenever they do a competition like this, the victory can be considered questionable because the competition concept is abstract and hard to judge. I mean even for a sadist, is torturing someone more fun than partying on a boat with some hot bikini girls (which Kenny would also love)? It's all relative.

NEW FEATURE
I think the rating thing was kind of boring, so I have a new idea: Every week, I will pick two characters from the shows watched. One will be "Hero of the week", the character who has done the funniest or coolest thing in their respective episode, and one will be "Douchebag of the week", the character who has pissed me off or done something I don't approve of. This week's winners are:

Hero of the Week: Our very first hero of the week goes to Ron Swanson of Parks and Recreation, because as I have mentioned, I love when he shows up at events just for the food. Attaboy, Duke Silver.

Douchebag of the Week: Dale Snitterman from 30 Rock. Because he's a bastard.