This Week in Television - Jan. 17-21, 2011

Sorry for the late post. Didn't have time to catch up on the Thursday/Friday shows until now.

The Cape
I'm not sure if the former cape owner coming back this soon in the series is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it's soon enough for "Kozmo" to justify taking it back and lets Vince earn his right to keep it, but if they had done that storyline later on down the road it would give the viewer a bigger sense of a lot being at stake because we'd be invested by then. I don't mind this show, but The Cape's wife and kid are boring. I don't really care to see how they're getting along without him. And I don't think the chess pieces in the desk prank would really happen. I don't know how it works in the U.S., but my experience has been that students never get advanced knowledge of a new kid coming, and they especially wouldn't know where he was going to sit and then plant a visual pun in his desk. I didn't buy that, but somehow I did buy PLAYING CARDS STRAIGHT TO THE JUGULAR!

V
I guess the writers really want people to hate Tyler, because his character wasn't getting any more likable and he just became an even bigger tool by helping Anna fight the Fifth Column. It was also annoying (not to mention cheesy) how they kept having people flash their green V eyes at the camera when it was already clear they were Visitors. It's like those old comedy sketches where someone is wearing a disguise and they pull it down a little to wink at the audience. I think I'm only continuing to watch because it will probably be canceled before there's a third season. But I did kind of like the paralleled scenes of Erica and Anna cajoling each other's kids.

Community
All the Jeff/Annie shippers are going to be pissed at the fake-out where it looked like a rain-soaked Jeff was running to declare his love for her. But as is his nature, he was selfishly going to Rich for advice on becoming a better person. Everyone likes to say Rich is perfect but even a fictional character such as him must be flawed, and I think his flaw is naivete. I guess Chang is in the study group now, although it's somewhat unclear because half the group was unhappy about the decision. LOL @ Abed being referred to as "brown Jamie Lee Curtis".

The Office
Haha the cold opening was kind of a new angle, with Jim's silence causing Dwight to just make of him himself because he was expecting it from Jim. I enjoyed the Andy/Dwight/Darryl storyline of them trying to meet women (or in Darryl's case, just trying to read more. Good for him.) Andy and Dwight are a funny pair, but I think you need Darryl in there as the straight man or else the other two might fly off the handle and get too ridiculous. I also liked the stuff with Michael making his happy and sad videos and then celebrating too early. Creed resolving to do the perfect cartwheel was also funny because it was so unexpected from someone like him.

Parks and Recreation
Interesting to see what everyone was up to while the parks department was closed. Poor Jerry, so talented at a lot of things and a nice guy too, but nobody cares. Ron's "Pyramid of Greatness" was epic. I hope they include it as an insert on the season 3 DVD, but if not I will have to pause it so I can read everything on there. I love when Ann and Leslie do practice dates, they always come out ridiculous (the things Leslie apparently thinks are sexy made me laugh). Like Ann, I was surprised that I kind of liked her and Chris together. And Andy's dedication to April was cute, even if flowers are a little corny. Excellent start to the season.

30 Rock
Wasn't a fan of the storyline with Danny and Jenna acting like a married couple, because it's a gag that's been done many times before elsewhere, and it seemed like it was only there to act as a transparent parallel to Liz and Jack accidentally marrying each other, which was much funnier and more innovative because usually that joke involves drunk people waking up the next morning with rings on their fingers. And I have to admit it was a sweet payoff when Mr. Weinerslav (lol) made Liz and Jack realize how important they are to each other. Like Tina Fey, I don't want to see them in a romantic relationship, but I do love them as friends. Also Angie was annoying, but I laughed at Liz and Pete admitting they would watch a reality show about her. Always great to see Dr. Spaceman - loved when he said Tracy's blood tasted like root beer and some of his bones were missing. But the biggest question is whose chart was more awesome: Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness, or Jack Donaghy's NBC priority pie chart, with The Biggest Loser taking most of the space, followed by "Make it 1997 again through science or magic". I'm assuming 1997 because at that point they had big hits like Friends, Seinfeld, and ER still on the air.

Fringe
It was kind of nice to see Walter have a casual buddy this week (I don't think Bell or The Observer really qualified). And even cooler that it was Christopher Lloyd, in an episode involving some time travel from the year 1985, when Back to the Future was released, which was referenced on a movie marquee last season. IT ALL COMES BACK AROUND! Which is very well, because this episode was kind of about the butterfly effect, or perhaps it should be called "the firefly effect" when dealing with interdimensional travel rather than time travel. Firefly also being the episode title, and the name of a show that once held what is now Fringe's new timeslot. Holy crap, it DOES come back around!

Hero of the Week: A lot of candidates this week... I think I'll have to go with Mr. Weinerslav from 30 Rock. Not just for his hilarious name (though I could've sworn it was Ballslave when he made his first appearance two or three seasons ago), but because Liz and Jack had the most touching moment of the week, and he was responsible for that.

Douchebag of the Week: Tyler from V. Do I even have to explain why?