This Week in Television - Dec. 6-10, 2010

Glee
Last year Glee didn't get a Christmas episode because they ended the fall season with sectionals. I'm kind of glad they did this year because I generally enjoy holiday episodes of shows and this one wasn't too shabby. Sue as The Grinch was fun (though I'm aware that I praise everything Sue does except for last season's Madonna debacle), and Brittany's wide-eyed belief in Santa and magic was cute, and I had to laugh when those two arcs came neatly together in a recreation of the scene where The Grinch first meets Cindy Lou Who (Brittany even had the hairstyle). Brittany is the second best character on Glee (there is no third), and I must admit, grudgingly, that I was charmed by her whole storyline, from her conversation with Coach Bieste as Santa to her giddy reaction when Artie took his first step. But props to Mike for telling the mall Santa that he wants Channing Tatum to stop being in stuff. Me too, Mike. Me too.

Running Wilde
I was expecting a Christmas episode since all the other shows are doing it this week, but seeing as how Running Wilde probably isn't returning after the holidays, they might've had one in there but it looks like FOX isn't planning to air the last five episodes. Anyway, I thought this one was a little more fun than the last couple of episodes but it's still having some trouble being outright hilarious. Once again, we get another story where Steve and Emmy compete to prove each other wrong, and while this formula is getting old I'll let it slide this week because it was interesting to see them try to live each other's lives. They were successful at first, but ironically failed once they took on each other's mannerisms because they were basically carbon copies with all of the negative qualities that come with the job but none of the skill to perform adequately. With an eye-patched Fa'ad stealing the show again as he tries to become an A-lister.

Survivor: Nicaragua
If I were Sash I'd stop blindsiding people and start worrying about jury votes. I thought he was making a mistake after ignoring Fabio's request to tell him if his name comes up, and it turned out not to be necessary since he didn't go home, but it probably would have benefited him to say something to Benry. The reward challenge was hilarious because you could just hear Jeff getting a boner as Chase breezed through each round. Chase heard it too because he asked Jeff if he wanted to hug him. I almost thought he was going to accept.

Community
Ever since I first heard about it and then saw the promo photos, this episode was probably the television event I've most been looking forward to this season (except for maybe the return of Parks and Recreation). To be honest I ended up finding it slightly underwhelming. I mean the animation was awesome and it had some good moments (like the nerd that I am, I got excited at seeing the Lost season 1 DVD play a part), but it was lower on laughs, the singing was a little bland (although the songs were original - take that, Glee!), and while I'm a big fan of Abed and saw what they were aiming for, it somehow didn't affect me like it should have. But still enjoyable because I love stop-motion, and Teddy Pierce was weirdly cute.

30 Rock
Jack has always had issues with his mother and her harsh criticisms, and it was nice to see him trump her for once. I don't really consider her fake heart attack to be a proper retaliation because it was more of a cheat than anything else, so Jack still wins it. Tracy's career tends to take turns parodying either Eddie Murphy or Martin Lawrence (this time Eddie and the Norbit/Oscar loss situation). I think I'd rather see him just be an original character, although I always enjoy some obvious hand-over-the-mouth hose barfing. The two black swans costume was a good gag too, but I don't think it's a rekindling of Jenna and Paul's relationship. They were just two people who love to entertain.

The Office
This felt a lot like a classic episode from earlier seasons of The Office, thus making it awesome. It had some really funny gags (Erin thinking Holly is plain and uninteresting, Dwight having a wig for everyone in the office, Creed for some reason thinking Holly was a sassy black lady), and in spite of most of the characters experiencing some sort of Christmas disappointment, some sweet moments when things started to look up for each of them. I thought having Jack Coleman on the show would be cool, but as of this episode all it's done is given Angela yet another reason to act like she's better than everyone else. But it might make up for a funny storyline or two in the future, as it appears he is gay and might not even realize he is dating Angela. When I saw all the snowmen in the parking lot, I knew Dwight wasn't going to be in any of them. Too bad Jim didn't.

Fringe
This episode turned out to be a surprisingly deep character study. We rarely see Olivia so broken (not even when held captive on the other side), we've never seen Peter deal with being in the wrong and having a lot to apologize for (not that I can remember, anyway), and we've never had such a remorseful and well-intentioned "villain" (we may have come close when Peter Weller guest starred last season). The ballerina corpse puppet dancing scene and that whole storyline reminded me of the movie May - creepy and disturbing, but with sweet and moving undertones. And I actually kind of liked Peter and Fauxlivia together because, truthfully, she was more fun and laid back while our Olivia is mostly all business. But Olivia makes a good point: if you love someone, you would know when something is off. So did he just not love Olivia, or was he in denial about all of the signs? It might be more that he was just blinded by lust; he certainly responded strongly every time Fauxlivia wanted to get physical.

Hero of the Week: Pam from The Office, because that comic book actually was a really, really awesome present. She shouldn't have bothered to show it around because Phyllis isn't the type of dorky young person who would "get" it, and like Angela, Ryan likes to be a pretentious prick whenever possible.

Douchebag of the Week: Angela from The Office, for pointing out too many times that her boyfriend is a senator no one had even heard of until she started dating him. I don't hate Angela as a character, she can be funny, but this week her arrogance just got annoying.