This Week in Television - Oct. 11-15, 2010

No Ordinary Family
Funnily enough, after my complaint last week I don't think the word "family" was said even once this episode. This show still fails to do anything new though, and the storylines this week were all quite predictable, but I forgot to mention last week that I like the idea of Stephanie's healing powers, because it would make things more interesting if everyone turned out to have more than one power (for a moment when Jim started leaping across the city I thought it was a new power, but I guess it can just be attributed to super strong leg muscles. Maybe Stephanie's healing is simply an extension of the same power as well since it's rapid and all). Also it bothers me to see grappling hooks because I'm pretty sure the only people who use them in real life are rock climbers, and even in a show with super powers I can't accept it.

Glee
Ugh, too much high school relationship drama and not enough Sue Sylvester. And if Rachel and Finn wanted Sam to win, why wouldn't she just team up with Sam instead of throwing the competition? I would think one of them would at least suggest it.

Running Wilde
Puddle's voice was not needed to tell us that the kid thought Emmy was hitting on him or that his dad (Andy Richter) thought Steve was hitting on him. But I'll forgive it for the disturbingly funny car wash scene and Fa'ad's unintentional but dead-on Alan Alda impression.

Survivor: Nicaragua
Why were they arguing over whether to eat a chicken? I mean, yes, it would cut down egg production, which is why they could have eaten THE ROOSTER that came with the two hens. Either they already ate the rooster and edited out that fact, or nobody knows anything whatsoever about chickens. Also I didn't appreciate Jeff commenting on how surprised everyone looked at the tribe swap, because a) it was like Survivor trying to proclaim how brilliant it is, and b) it wasn't surprising in the least to us as viewers because we saw it in the previews. A twist isn't much of a twist if we know it's coming! I would honestly be more surprised if they advertised a twist and then didn't have one.

Community
Wow, more KFC after Running Wilde's stunt last week. But this episode was awesome. I love when Community parodies a genre, in this case Apollo 13 type space movies. I was kind of expecting SANDERS to go crazy like HAL, but instead it was Pierce. And cardboard box spaceships: priceless.

30 Rock
There wasn't much point in doing a live episode. Mostly it just added a laughtrack, which is never needed, but I did appreciate some of the gags that poked fun at their own gimmick. I guess what's supposed to be "exciting" about live shows is that someone could crack up or have a wardrobe malfunction, which were both teased in the storyline but the cast was professional enough that neither one actually happened.

The Office
I saw the preview for this episode and it sounded like a fun concept, and it was to an extent, but it just kind of felt like one long joke instead of a collection of jokes. But it was cool to catch up with Michael's old flames, and funny that he was meticulous enough to include Oscar because of the kiss from four seasons ago. Michael's phone conversation with Holly was cute - she is one of very few people who gets him - and it's always great to see Dwight being so gullible when people are joking about a car crash.

Fringe
Cool, Broyles finally got to do a little ass-kicking! After this episode I am appreciating the parallels between the Olivias, both of them struggling with what pretending to be the other is doing to them, and a third parallel in this episode with the shapeshifters coming to love their pretend families. Also every time Newton shows up I find it funny (and strangely appropriate) that he looks a lot like Chef Gordon Ramsay.

Hero of the Week: For the second week in a row, Michael Scott from The Office, for his message to Holly at the end of the episode. For years we've seen him misinterpret every one of his relationships, but this time he was finally right while Holly was sweeping a good thing under the rug because of her relationship with AJ.

Douchebag of the Week: The cop shapeshifter from Fringe (played by Paul Giamatti's brother!) for the speech he gave to his son. I know he meant well and was trying to soften the blow of what might happen to him, but I think "there are no monsters" would have been a better response than "monsters aren't bad".