This Week in Television - Oct. 10-14, 2011

Tuesday night FOX programming is on hiatus until November.

Survivor: South Pacific
I didn't even get most of what Stacey was saying at the duel, but every season has that crazy person who rambles. I got what Cochran was saying about Ozzy's arrogant laziness even before he said it, and I think it was a good move to take out his ally. Coach's enthusiasm about finding the idol - and the claim that even his parents call him Coach - was just plain funny.

Up All Night
Probably the weakest episode so far, but I did enjoy the slight creepiness of the peek-a-boos at the beginning, and Reagan destroying the stroller with "Kayla's mom". Might have been a little too much exposition from Ava's assistant in the limo, though.

Suburgatory
To me, this episode felt a little cartoony in a Glee sort of way. However, Suburgatory has at least established that the whole suburban town is kooky, so they can do something unrealistic - like students waiting in the bathroom to save Tessa the best stall - and have it sort of make sense within the world of the show. But yeah, I liked last week's episode better. Kimantha is a funny name though, because it's so awful. Please, nobody name their daughter Kimantha.

Community
Wow, that was tons of fun. I know it's still early, but this episode is the one to beat for best episode of the season. It was genius how everything just fit together so well, like things being hinted at in one timeline and then revealed in another - especially the "Troy gets the pizzas" timeline, where everything - the boulder, Annie's gun, Britta's smoking, Jeff hitting his head, the creepy troll - worked together to create a crazy disaster comedy, and when Troy returned to observe the chaos I was reminded of the third room in Four Rooms. It also makes it true to character when many of the same things continue to happen in most timelines, like Britta's pizza dance and Pierce's bragging about banging Eartha Kitt in an airplane bathroom. And, like last week, I knew there were seven characters and a die with only six sides, so someone was going to have to point out that Jeff technically wasn't eligible to get the pizzas. The "dark timeline" in the tag was really funny, and I'm pretty sure the show Troy and Abed were watching in their pajamas was "Inspector Space-Time".

Parks and Recreation
Ron's Pawnee Rangers club would have been more successful if it were for adults. Or soldiers. Kids (and Andy) need fun too much. The "treat yo'self" day was funny, and made for an interesting group in Ben, Tom, and Donna. As with April and Andy, and then Tom and Jean-Ralphio, it is a proven successful formula to have level-headed Ben reacting to the craziness of others. The Batman costume making Ben's face look oddly fat only added to the humour of him crying in it. Chris' behaviour regarding Jerry's daughter was douchy, but funny because it's Jerry. Had it been anyone else, I might have considered naming Chris douchebag of the week.

The Office
The best part about Jim's fake garden party book is that the author's name was "James Trickington". Hilarious that Robert would be interested in hippo steaks and giraffe burgers, and that Dwight still thinks Jim and Pam's daughter is named Peepee. Andy created too much awkwardness though, and not in the same way that Michael would, because Michael was usually hilarious in doing so. Andy was just painful to watch here. Nice to see the return of both Mose Schrute and Kevin's toupee. And Darryl was totally right about Rosebud.

Fringe
This week's episode was really cool. I guess we'll have to wait on exactly how Peter was doing that funky warp thing, but I had already guessed it was him from the opening scene, so I was not surprised when he appeared at the end of the episode. I also knew Olivia wasn't going to send Walter back to the asylum. Actually this episode was predictable now that I think about it, but I still really enjoyed it anyway. Interesting to note that in this Peter-free timeline, Olivia has not met any other Cortexiphan patients. And is it just me, or did Peter's reaction to Olivia at the end of the episode seem a little distant and underwhelming? I mean he did smile, but for someone he's supposed to be in love with, hasn't seen in a while, and would have been worried that he might never see her again, all she gets is a smile and a greeting that doesn't have much emotion behind it? Maybe he doesn't remember anything from when he was stuck in between reality and nothingness (or wherever he was), and to him no time has passed at all since he disappeared?

Hero of the Week: Britta from Community, because "Roxanne" is a good song.

Douchebag of the Week: Andy from The Office. Don't try so hard, dude.