This Week in Television - May 9-13, 2011

Glee
Some good Sue Sylvester moments, and I laughed at Rachel immediately suggesting singing "Run Joey Run" again at prom, but once again this show is just crazy unrealistic. I don't think I'll go down the list because there was too much wrong with this episode, but for one thing I would think the Principal or someone would have known the prom queen/king results ahead of time and Kurt would have been saved the embarrassment, or he would've chosen not to announce Kurt's name after seeing it on the card. I mean someone had to tally the votes and put the results in the envelope, and realistically that would have been either a teacher or a brown-nosing student, and they would have done something about it. And if you want people to properly invest in the Quinn/Finn/Rachel love triangle, stop switching them around so damned much. Why should we care about either relationship if Finn is always making eyes at whichever one he's not currently with? It tried to be an emotional episode, but time and time again I have trouble caring about these unrealistic kids in unrealistic situations.

Survivor: Redemption Island
Once again old Probst proves what a dick he is by giving Natalie a hard time at the challenge and telling her she might as well sit down because she has no chance of winning. He was right, but it wasn't something that needed to be said out loud. Figured Ralph would lose the Redemption Island challenge because the puzzle had words on it, and he is nearly illiterate. I'll put the Sunday finale in next week's post.

Community
Cool, I thought the second part was going to be more Western again, but even in a two-parter Community refuses to repeat itself. Though many consider Star Wars to be a space western of sorts, so that makes it a more smooth transition. Didn't work quite as well as last week's Western theme, though, because it was too loose. I'm not enough of a Star Wars nerd to recognize all of the references they probably slipped in, but I got the basics, like the white paintball uniforms resembling storm troopers, the villain in black beneath a costume that hides his identity like Darth Vader, and Abed and Annie's Han/Leia banter. I haven't heard anything about Chevy Chase leaving the show, so maybe season three will be about everyone trying to convince Pierce to rejoin the group, while Chang either steals his spot or becomes even more furious when they continue to reject him even with a vacancy. Or maybe they'll say "We need another old guy" and put Leonard in there, and realize that he (or Chang) is worse than Pierce. Should be fun, though.

The Office
It had to be done. They hinted at what Dwight does with power in earlier seasons, but Michael's exit gave the writers a perfect opportunity to let him be boss for an episode. And one episode is just the right length, because as a permanent replacement it would've gotten old fast and his character would lose motivation, having attained his most desired goal. But it was funny how quickly he went from being drunk with power to everyone in the office having power over him. Creed becoming acting manager at the end was hilarious.

Parks and Recreation
Kind of nice to see another side of Leslie and Ann's friendship, because they've been so loving and forgiving of each other this whole time but at some point they had to acknowledge each other's flaws. Tom's "business ideas" were great (as in funny, not as in practical) and seemed like the exact kind of thing he would come up with. And I'm always happy to see Jean-Ralphio and Andy as Burt Macklin.

Parks and Recreation
I enjoyed this second episode more, though. Amy Poehler and Adam Scott have actually been so good at playing their sexual tension that I was rooting for them to finally hook up, even though it was obvious they were going to. Tom hosting "Know Ya Boo" was awesome, leading to a nice little plot about April and Andy still not knowing each other that well. I attribute Jerry and Donna's success in that game to Jerry being such a nice guy that he has probably taken the time to get to know everyone around the office. And because, while everyone hates Jerry, I don't think Donna's opinion of him has been established to the extent that everyone else's has. And how can it not be hilarious when Ron Swanson eats a little girl's lunch and gives her a land mine to protect her property? Also gold: Perd Hapley's 80's hair.

Hero of the Week: Tom from Parks and Recreation, for his pimpin' business ideas and "Know Ya Boo".

Douchebag of the Week: Gabe from The Office, because his behaviour over Erin was annoying and creepy.