This Week in Television - May 2-6, 2011

Glee
Brittany's talk show and Sue's crazy disguises were the highlight of this episode. Also it's always fun to see Kristin Chenoweth back, as she is one of the better guest stars. As usual, everything else was lame. I don't know why the glee club kids like to think that singing = romance. They're always saying "I don't want you singing a duet with my girlfriend/boyfriend!" But maybe that can be considered typical jealous teen behaviour. At least they balanced it out by showing that Emma was mature enough not to be jealous at the sight of Mr. Schue singing with April. And I saw it coming that Sam was not having an affair with Kurt or Quinn. Even for Glee, that kind of writing would have been too awful if it were that simple.

Survivor: Redemption Island
I think it's unfair when they force someone to choose between their own loved ones and everyone else's. They're pretty much forced to go with the less selfish option or else they'll look like a huge douchebag. Maybe Mike was a nice enough guy that it was easy for him, but still, I don't think I've seen anyone be selfish yet when Survivor does that. Andrea was the right choice for Redemption Island, especially if they want someone to beat those other guys over there.

Community
I knew there was more paintball coming, and I was wondering how they could top, or at least match, the first one. Cool idea making this one a western. That way they're not repeating themselves. I like that Annie was the hero in this one rather than Jeff. The thing with the cards was interesting, because at first I was wondering why Pierce didn't get one of those cool card intros, but it made sense at the end. Josh Holloway was perfect casting as the mysterious "Black Rider."

The Office
Interesting how everyone except Dwight was sucking up to the new boss when it used to be the other way around. It seems a little much that they would go so far as to applaud his imaginary juggling routine though, but it was funny when Pam later made fun of it in the lunch room. Ryan seems to have pulled a Pam in terms of making up a job for himself and convincing his superiors that it exists, though in a much douchier way because he's Ryan. Hopefully with Deangelo gone he'll be back to square one. Speaking of that, Deangelo's exit from the show was totally random and unexpected. I thought he would just get fired or quit, but maybe that would be too easy/obvious.

Parks and Recreation
Another fantastic episode. It's always funny when Ron is bothered by things other people enjoy, and all of that messing with him paid off doubly in a nice ending scene when Leslie gave him a birthday evening she knew he'd actually like. The storyline with Parker Posey had some great moments too, like the public forum about the fence, and when Tom pretended to be angry at her while slipping her his resume and Andy completely buying the angry part.

30 Rock
The cold opening featuring Dr. Spaceman was great because Dr. Spaceman never disappoints, but I have to admit the rest of the episode wasn't as good. Jack using Kenneth as a substitute for Avery just became creepy rather than funny, Jenna tends to lose what little comedic appeal she has when she's not paired with Tracy, Kenneth, or Pete, and Liz's story about Tracy invading her vacation just seemed too generic. Two jokes I recall enjoying were Liz being accused of a hate crime against a Jewish tree, and Victor Garber's blatant setup for an obvious reveal: "Jenna, even with your back to me I can definitely tell it's you."

Fringe
Even though they went into the future, it didn't really feel like the future to me. With the exception of Olivia's niece Ella, nobody looked 20 years older. They mentioned that Peter was supposed to be 47 years old, but it wasn't until the end of the episode that I thought I might have spotted some grey hairs at his temples (not sure though, it was VHS quality since I had to tape the episode). And even if they weren't planning to age the younger characters, Walter probably would have been in his 80's and thus a lot more wrinkled, frail and hobbled, but he too looked the same. I almost thought it was going to turn out to be some sort of third alternate universe. Anyway, enough about trivial, superficial things. The trip into the future was an interesting one, but hopefully they will be doing something good with it because Heroes fell into this trap of showing us several different futures that really didn't matter since the past kept getting changed, and I don't want Fringe to go down that road, too. But combining the two universes together and forcing them to cooperate was an idea that just might be crazy enough to work. I don't understand what caused Peter to be erased from existence, though. Not sure if I missed something or if they left that answer for next season.

Hero of the Week: Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation. There are some weeks where I have to sit and think about who these should go to, but there was no question in this case. Leslie was 100% awesome, from her disapproval of turning waffles into dog excrement, to uniting Pawnee with its rival city through an impromptu wiffle ball league, to giving Ron Swanson the perfect birthday. Rock on, Leslie!

Douchebag of the Week: Ryan from The Office. In the first two seasons, Ryan was actually mild-mannered and likable, but ever since his rise and fall at corporate he's been arrogant, pretentious, self-centered, and apathetic. The only part of his presence I enjoyed this week was when Kelly told Deangelo that he hasn't had a real job at Dunder Mifflin in years.