This Week in Television - May 24-28, 2010

Glee
I'm not surprised that an episode with a Lady Gaga theme turned out to be the worst Glee episode ever. Everything about it was either stupid or boring, and no Sue Sylvester at all! (unless she was in the beginning, because I missed the cold opening). So yeah, I did a lot of cringing, except when Kurt's dad yelled at Finn. That part was actually kind of awesome.

Flash Forward
The show had its ups and downs (mostly downs) but I liked how this episode ended. Of course, this was the final episode so I would've like it more if it was going to return for a second season. Had this show been successful it would've been an interesting concept to have a new blackout every season. I'm still glad they gave us a taste of some flash forwards though, because frankly I was expecting it to end with everyone passing out and we wouldn't get to see anything until the theoretical second season. I remember seeing a gun being loaded and a page from someone's will, and a May 2011 date written somewhere, but that can't be the date of the flash forwards because someone went way into the future and saw Charlie as a teen. Unless the point was that this time, not everyone's will happen at the same time... Maybe I should just stick to the present. One other little thing I liked was that the flash forwards didn't happen exactly as they were seen. Lloyd kept his shirt on, Mark didn't tell him to "go to hell" over the phone, Wedeck's seemingly mundane "I was on the toilet" vision turned into him hiding in the stall only to bust out and cap one of the masked men coming after Mark, Nicole thought she was going to be drowned but it turned out the hands clutching her were saving her life... Those were necessary changes so that a prophecy-centric show like Flash Forward can avoid an abundance of predictability. Not that it makes any difference now. In the show's defense, I will say that one possible reason ratings declined is that Thursday at 8:00 is a bad timeslot, especially for a new series, because Thursdays are incredibly busy nights in TV land (I myself watched a maximum of 6 shows every Thursday this season, more than half of my TV week). If they had put it on, for example, a Monday or Tuesday, it might still be here. It seemed to work for V.

Sorry, no more Hero/Douchebag awards for a while. The only shows left for the rest of the season are Glee and Happy Town, and it's not as fun when there's only two shows to choose from.

This Week in Television - May 17-21, 2010

Sorry, I'm behind on my posts. Will catch up soon. It's finale week! Most of these shows ended this week so this is the last large TV post of this season.

Lost
The Sunday finale will be getting its own post, because I said so. As for this episode: Zoe was like a poor man's Tina Fey (you know it's true) and Widmore, like so many others before him, seemed to have outlived his usefulness once he turned to the good side, so it was acceptable for them to die (and even if it hadn't been, this is the second last episode so who cares?). I enjoyed the Ben-Alex-Danielle scene in the flash-sideways, and Michael Emerson's emotional performance upon being told that he was like a father to Alex. And it was cool that Hurley and Desmond were the only two people who know what's going on in the flash-sideways universe, as we were reminded when Hurley said to him "Oh, you didn't tell me Ana-Lucia was gonna be here!"

Glee
Like Kristin Chenoweth before him, Neil Patrick Harris was an excellent choice for a guest star due to his singing ability and comedic timing. His one scene with Sue Sylvester was awesome.

V
I was starting to like Joshua so it was disappointing (yet admirable) that he sacrificed himself for the Fifth Column. But then Marcus revived him at the end, which worries me because I doubt it's that Marcus is Fifth Column. I kind of like the idea of Anna experiencing a human emotion. I don't expect her to start empathizing with humans, but I do think it could make her a more threatening enemy if she starts to get better at manipulating them because of it. I hope Chad will stop being a douche now that he knows the truth about the V's, and I won't miss Valerie because I always found her character uninteresting and even a little dumb.

Flash Forward
This one was just meant to kill time before they show us whether everyone's flash forwards happen. It was a little frustrating that they kept teasing us by going on about how we were only hours away from the flash forwards and then the episode ended. I get that they needed to save it for the finale, but still, I think this episode suffered because of it.

Parks and Recreation
I wasn't really a fan of Wendy because even though her marriage to Tom was a sham, I felt that she was cold to him in spite of the green card related favour he was providing for her. Lucy seems way cooler, and now that Wendy is boning Ron I hope he doesn't develop Andy syndrome and start pining for an old flame when he's with a better girl. Speaking of Andy, I find it funny that this big, simple (albeit likable) oaf was at one point a loser living at the bottom of a pit and now he has two girls into him. Well done, sir. Also like Chris (Rob Lowe) being the unrealistic optimist who always brings unverified good news and then quickly lets Ben (Adam Scott) take it back. And it was very awesome of Ron to offer his own job to save Leslie's, and even awesomer that he invented a bacon-wrapped turkey leg known as "The Swanson". And finally, Leslie referring to Mark as "Brandanoquitz" was one of those puns that makes you laugh hard even though it's eye-rollingly terrible.

The Office
I loved when the IT guy owned everyone in the room for forgetting his name a mere ten seconds after he said it. And the ending was promising, because as terrible as Michael is with women, Holly was without a doubt his best match. I hope Amy Ryan does come back next season, and it would be funny if her boyfriend AJ came with her, because Michael would lose it.

30 Rock
I like Matt Damon and it was cool to see him appear as Liz's "dream man". His character could have been funnier but hopefully he will return to improve on that. Looks like Jack chose Avery after all, just like I said.

Fringe
Finally we got to see Walter reunite with William Bell! Too bad Bell sacrificed himself for almost nothing, because Walter and Peter will probably have to return to the other side once they realize their Olivia is trapped there, which I bet is exactly what Walternate wants.

Hero of the Week: Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation for accomplishing a lot of awesomeness: Being loyal to Leslie and pulling off an awesome grass slide in a frantic attempt to warn her, eating a Swanson, and finally sleeping with Tom's ex wife after previously hinting at his interest in her.

Douchebag of the Week: Walternate from Fringe. He's just not as cool as our Walter.

This Week in Television - May 10-14, 2010

So Heroes and Flash Forward have both been canceled. I think I'm actually a little relieved, because as you can see my TV lineup is already up to 10 regular shows. But I'll miss them, even if they were going downhill.

Lost
I don't know if I would say I disliked this episode, but I was disappointed because, being about Jacob and the Man in Black, I was expecting it to be the mother of all episodes. It did have its share of revelations, of course, but as always it also created more questions that we probably didn't need seeing as how there are only two episodes left. And, dammit, I was so sure the Man in Black would have a name! Even he didn't ask what his own name was!

Glee
So Puck gets his Mohawk shaved off into a very respectable buzzcut and suddenly he's such a loser that nerds get away with throwing him in the dumpster? This is why I hate it when adults try to write about high school. They either have no clue how it works or take way too many liberties with what they do know. That being said, I did enjoy Brittany asking "Who is that guy?" when he walked into the room.

V
That was actually a tense scene when Lisa had to point out her "attacker" from the lineup. I get why she went with Anna's plan though. She needs to make her think she's still with her, and being Anna's enemy is much scarier than being Erica's.

Happy Town
Well, I like that this show takes crazy turns. I would not have guessed that having a bird crash through Henley's windshield (which I also couldn't have predicted) would lead to her having sex with a stranger, who then steals the special hammer thing she found. Also I believe a connection was implied between the disappearance of the writing in Grieves' notebook and the disappearances of people in town. I would still like to think that he is the Magic Man, but again that would be too obvious.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Since this post is late I'm including the Sunday finale along with Thursday's episode. Colby yelling at his brother during the reward challenge was funny. I guess for once he had someone else to blame for his poor challenge performances. And Russell's anger at not being chosen to come along on the reward can probably just be attributed to his arrogance, because his rationale made no sense to me: "Terrible strategic move, she should have brought a guy!" Um, okay. As this season has progressed, Russell has become more and more of a tyrant who throws tantrums whenever things don't go the way he wanted them to. I don't think he was as bad last season, and that's because he actually was in control the entire time. Seeing Parvati squeeze through two more tribal councils in the finale had me seriously worried that she would win after all, but luckily it went to Sandra. Hell, I would've been okay with Russell winning too. As I said earlier, I was strongly against the idea of spoiled little Parv being rewarded the title of first Survivor to ever win twice. But of course that meant that at the reunion show we had to watch Russell and Parvati (mostly Russell) continue to insist upon their own greatness in spite of losing. Russ even went so far as to wave JT's letter around because "proving a former winner dumb makes me the greatest" and then proceeded to suggest that the game was flawed because it wasn't suited to stroking his ego. I thought he was furious last season, but that is some of the sorest losing I've ever seen. And I guarantee you he'll be back for the next all stars season.

Flash Forward
I'm wondering what Gabriel's motives are for wanting the events of flash forwards to play out as he saw them. I guess he just saw something he liked in one of them (Lloyd and Olivia's relationship, maybe?). I don't think Janis is going to kill Mark, and her refusal is why a team of men will be sent into Mark's office to do the job for her.

Parks and Recreation
I'd heard about Rob Lowe and Adam Scott joining the cast so I was interested to see how they would fit in. I liked Lowe's thing where he points at someone, says their name, and then holds for a long pause because it is a believable little quirk that I could see someone having. And Scott's backstory about being an irresponsible 18 year-old mayor was also a good gag, but mainly I like the potential storyline that these two have opened up: cutbacks in the parks department. Not that I necessarily want that to happen - or that I don't enjoy Ron Swanson's giggly delight over it - I'm just interested to see where it leads. Also Jean Ralphio trying to hit on April in front of Andy is not cool.

The Office
The montage of Dwight doing painful things to his groin to make himself sterile was fun, and the acting out of lining up Toby with Hitler and Bin Laden and shooting them all through the throat with one bullet, but overall this episode wasn't that memorable.

30 Rock
I'm starting to think that Jack likes Avery more than Nancy, firstly because he is a man of expensive and classy tastes and she's high society, and secondly because Elizabeth Banks is probably a more readily available guest star than Julianne Moore. Tracy's horrible childhood memories were the highlight of the episode though. "Our basketball hoop was a RIBCAGE!"

Fringe
Damn, I love this show. Starting in the alternate universe and then having a slightly different title sequence (like the 80's one in "Peter") was awesome. Wouldn't it be a really cool and unprecedented thing if there were a spinoff show airing at the same time, only the episodes were slightly different to reflect the two universes? Anyway, back to the episode. Rounding up some other Cortexiphan subjects made the group more like a superhero team, which would've been awesome because Peter looked like a supervillain in that trippy drawing where his eyes were smoking. I am so ready for part 2 of this episode.

Hero of the Week: Sandra from Survivor, because I was hoping she would win, and she did, and to top it off she threw Russell's trademark hat into the fire. You can say all you want about Russell and/or Parvati playing a better game than her, but Sandra used the exact same under the radar strategy as she used the first time, and it worked twice so she's gotta be doing something right.

Douchebag of the Week: Russell from Survivor, because his childish and arrogant behaviour at the reunion was rude and uncalled for. You'll never win with that strategy, so stop calling yourself the greatest Survivor of all time!

This Week in Television - May 3-7, 2010

Lost
This week's episode of Lost was dark and sad, giving us three (possibly four) major character deaths, some injuries, and a Locke sob story in the flash-sideways universe. I have a possible theory that the Man in Black cannot become the smoke monster when he is wet, because after getting out of the water he pulled out a gun and shot those dudes instead of giving them the Mr. Eko treatment. Sawyer should've listened to Jack and left the bomb alone. If Richard had been there, he probably would have agreed given his dynamite experience with Jack at the Black Rock.

Glee
Whenever Mr. Schuester performs rap songs, they stand out as trying way too hard to be cool and appeal to a certain audience (namely the audience that wouldn't be caught dead watching Glee in the first place), so yeah, that never works. And obviously neither did Kurt and company's pathetic attempts at being bad, but at least that part was intended not to work. But scenes with Sue and her sister are always cute.

V
Chad Decker, you tool! I hope the Fifth Column deals with him. The best scene was Erica and Jack at the FBI station, where she was pretending to interrogate him. It's been done before, but I feel it is a step in the right direction toward the characters being cooler and more cunning.

Happy Town
Ok, so I was wrong about Sheriff Conroy killing the dude in the shack (surprised to see that answer revealed in the second episode), but at the moment I can still believe the rest of my theory to be true. It was highly ridiculous that Henley (Chloe?) was able to steal, mold, and copy a key in the amount of time that it took the old redhead to change her socks, but other parts of the episode were trippy and kind of cool, like the bird crashing through the car window at the end.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Finally, Rupert and Colby made a smart move! Candice is still as much of a traitor as she always was, so I didn't mind seeing her go even though she was on the Heroes team. And even though I would've preferred Parvati gone, Danielle going home was also acceptable. And Sandra was the only villain I would've wanted to get the immunity idol, so that was good news too. Overall an episode that succeeded in not pissing me off in what has been an increasingly aggravating season.

Flash Forward
I kind of like Bryce and Nicole as a couple, if only because Nicole's clearly liked him for a while and Bryce only knows the Japanese girl from his flash forward. The second blackout better happen soon though, because I'm not sure Flash Forward will be around much longer.

Parks and Recreation
Being so unfamiliar with sports, I was unaware that Detlef Schrempf was a real person. His name was so hilarious-sounding that I thought it was made up. One thing I enjoy about Parks and Recreation is the various story ideas explored, especially in the second season. An episode about working the crappy late shift on a local cable access telethon was a fun one and a comedy goldmine. As awesome as Ron Swanson is, I wouldn't want to watch him caning a chair either.

The Office
We don't get Dwight pranks as often anymore, so it was nice to see one again this week. And it's always great when Darryl pranks someone because he has as much fun with it as Jim does (except when it backfired, as Andy turned out to be onto something and Darryl was suddenly involved in a serious matter). Also I saw it coming when Donna revealed she was married and Michael was the "mistress".

30 Rock
The two best lines in this episode: "...like a cantaloupe and a ziploc bag of mushroom soup" (Jack describing the difference between Jenna's mother's breasts); and "It's the daytime, idiot!" (Liz yelling at the moon with Buzz Aldrin).

Fringe
This week's episode was heavier on drama than it was on action or cool/weird sci-fi stuff, but I guess we needed one to see how Peter was doing on his end. "Walternate" is back! This could be cool, but I'm really, really hoping it doesn't lead to that cliche moment that happens every time there are clones or twins or imposters in a movie/TV show. You know what I mean: Both of them standing next to each other at gunpoint, going "Shoot him, I'm the real one!" "He's lying, shoot him!" I would hope that Fringe is above that.

Hero of the Week: Jack from Lost, because I cheered when he shoved Fake Locke into the water.

Douchebag of the Week: Chad from V, for being a traitor and putting his trust in Anna just because she claims to have cured him.

This Week in Television - Apr. 26-30, 2010

Glee
Yes, Glee, I get it: be proud of who you are and don't try to be something else. I suppose we're eventually going to get episodes about each individual character learning this lesson (Sue had it last week after her Madonna makeover), but it's getting redundant. The show already has an after school special feel at times, but they could at least offer different messages instead of firing back the same one all the time. But it was cool to see Kristin Chenoweth come back, and Sue's line to Kurt and Mercedes ("How do you two not have a show on Bravo?") was classic.

V
I don't buy that Chad was going to have an aneurysm. The V's used it to gain his trust, and it clearly worked because after his supposed healing he stopped trying to challenge Anna.

Happy Town
New series! Since I don't currently watch anything on Wednesdays (Lost and Glee were both moved to Tuesday), I decided to check it out. There were parts of it that didn't work for me (anything that took place in the high school and some of the domestic scenes), but I was intrigued enough by the weird and mysterious occurrences. I understand that it is hard to create characters audiences can immediately bond with in a pilot episode so I will give it more time, but at the moment there aren't any characters I can say I care about except for Merritt Grieves (Sam Neill) and Sheriff Conroy (M.C. Gainey), and that's only because they're the most interesting. Anyway, I'm going to propose a very early theory, but I sort of hope it is wrong because it would be too easy: Grieves is the magic man, but never actually does any of the killing himself. Sheriff Conroy is the one who killed the man in the cabin at the beginning, but he doesn't remember it because Grieves has some sort of mind control over him via his wedding band, which is why Sheriff went to chop his hand off during his hypnotic rant. However I have no clue what Chloe has to do with anything.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
This show is starting to piss me off. The Heroes continue to stupidly place their trust in the Villains and screw up seemingly solid plans, and as a result I worry more and more that Parvati might win again. As I've pretty much made clear already, I am wholeheartedly against this because becoming the first person to ever win Survivor twice would ultimately make her more arrogant than Russell Hantz and Richard Hatch (hey, same initials!) put together, and I just don't believe in rewarding someone with her personality for any reason, ever.

Flash Forward
So now Janis is a good guy after all? I guess I'll have to go along with it, she was cool and it was disappointing when she was supposedly a rat, but if she's going to be a double agent I don't understand why she can't tell, say, Mark, and get his cooperation to help deceive the people who are trying to deceive the FBI so that she can gain their trust for the CIA. LOL Olivia has a stalker.

Parks and Recreation
An episode about Ron, who hates meetings, having to do 93 meetings in one day (or "a blood-soaked, nightmarish hellscape", as he calls it) can do no wrong. It was also a good contrast to Leslie's enthusiastic reaction and then her having to pile them back onto him due to her emergency gazebo situation. Also funny seeing April's kind (and wholesomely corny) parents and her clone-like sister.

The Office
I was with Pam in that Donna was interested in Michael, but only because of their interactions in a previous episode (where Michael became "Date Mike"). Had this been her first appearance I would have assumed otherwise. Jim and Pam aren't as likable when they're disagreeing with each other, but it does make the relationship more real.

30 Rock
I remember when I said the most disturbing 30 Rock ending was Frank dressed as Liz and kissing her cheek as she drooled uncontrollably, but this one may have topped it by having Jenna make out with her own impersonator. Also enjoyed Liz being "married" to Don Geiss's peacock, because it worked as a character joke pertaining to her continuing relationship misfortune.

Fringe
This week's episode was heavily advertised as being "the musical episode", but I would hardly call it as such seeing as how there are only about 3 or 4 quick moments where a character sings a few bars of a song, and then stops. Nothing in the entire episode would actually qualify as being a musical number. But since there was instrumental music in the background for most of the episode, I guess they thought they could get away with that label. Aside from that it was kind of interesting, using a film noir style for Walter's fairy tale and having things parallel the events from the series's actual plotline. But overall it was a very unnecessary episode.

Hero of the Week: Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation, simply for uttering the words "blood-soaked, nightmarish hellscape", because that is the awesomest phrase ever used to describe something mundane.

Douchebag of the Week: Parvati from Survivor for the hat trick. She didn't really do anything this week, but there were no other candidates and I just plain despise her. I was hoping she'd go before Amanda.

This Week in Television - Apr. 19-23, 2010

Lost
This episode felt a little like filler so I don't know what to say here, but I like that everyone is gradually coming together in the flash-sideways timeline, and that on the island an escape attempt is happening that kind of echoes the first time the Oceanic 6 left. Jack even jumped out of the boat the exact same way that Sawyer jumped out of the helicopter.

Glee
Ok, so first of all I abhor "makeovers" because they're so offensive to the subject involved and they end up turning that person into someone fake, and secondly when Sue was made over to look like Madonna and star in a music video reshoot of "Vogue", my reaction was just "WTF...?" Actually my first reaction was to laugh, but as it went on I just felt that it was so oddly out of place (and with production values impossibly high for a crappy high school video project). As awesome as Sue is, and as nice as it was that they were able to make use of Jane Lynch's pre-existing singing abilities, and even given her supposed obsession with Madonna that only surfaced this very episode, it just felt too widely out of character for Sue Sylvester to participate in something that borders on glee club territory, which she so passionately hates. Also Brittany's dumb lines are classic: "When I pulled my hamstring, I went to a misogynist." Not just what she says but the way she always says these lines quietly, as if she knows it's stupid but is saying it anyway.

V
I'm still having trouble buying Tyler and Lisa's "love" because I haven't really seen anything between them that I found touching. Mostly they probably just find each other attractive because that's about all I can see right now. Shouldn't Anna have Joshua take the empathy test too? I realize that the writers probably need him and all, but it's not really like Anna to overlook that kind of thing. And Valerie's neglecting to at least ask Ryan questions about the thing growing INSIDE HER is creating the same problem that I had with The Thing's wife in the Fantastic Four movie. It makes it hard for me to sympathize with Ryan if he loses her.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Goddammit, I can't stand Parvati. I mean, yes, she made a very smart move, but she spent most of the episode (and basically the season, too) bragging about how amazing she is, calling herself the queen of the game, and complaining that nobody came to talk to her when the tribes merged. I don't care how brilliant a player you are, that just spells spoiled brat. At least Jeff Probst called her out on it at tribal council. I'm disappointed that a Hero went home, but I'm glad it was JT because he deserves it after his extreme stupidity set all of this in motion. Also props to Rupert for finally catching on to what's really going on, although he is an episode too late.

Flash Forward
I just about died laughing when, for some reason, they decided to throw in an old gag from The Simpsons and have Demetri's photo get shot instead of Demetri himself. I'm not sure if it was meant to be humourous or not, but either way it was an odd thing to put into a tense moment in a drama show.

The Office
Kevin as Cookie Monster was even better than the time he made the Kool-Aid Jug face. Erin's reaction to the bad news at lunch was also hilarious thanks to Ellie Kemper's performance.

30 Rock
Double episodes this week! I wish our Canadian channels wouldn't "hijack" the American networks, because even though my satellite was tuned to NBC, I was watching 30 Rock on CityTV, and they pasted an annoying promo over some subtitles in one scene so I probably missed a joke. Loved the randomness of Tracy attempting to bring his wife a sandwich but ending up at a strip club instead. Apparently the second episode with the janitors was meant to be a parody of the Conan/Leno situation, but since that was resolved months ago it literally went over my head. Looking back on it now when there was discussion of 10:00 and 11:30 shifts and one of them had a name similar to Conan (Khonani), I feel stupid for missing it. But that being said, the episode was still funny without that extra layer. Like Jack, I'm not sure if I prefer Nancy or Avery either.

Fringe
Oh, okay, so Mrs. Bishop was the reason Walter couldn't tell Peter. I'm not sure if they'd mentioned in a previous episode that she committed suicide. But I like that they went with Peter figuring it out on his own during the universe fluctuation bridge exchange thing. Makes it more interesting than Walter or Olivia flat out telling him.

Hero of the Week: Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock wins for his second time, because both of his dates are so cool that he spent two episodes agonizing over which one to choose and still hasn't picked one. I feel your pain, brotha.

Douchebag of the Week: Parvati from Survivor, also for the second time. It would have been hilarious if she'd given her two idols to Jerri and Sandra and then the Heroes voted for Parvati anyway, but alas that did not happen, and now I'm going to have to hear her boast about being "the queen" again next week. *Facepalm.*

This Week in Television - Apr. 12-16, 2010

Lost
It was kind of nice that Hurley and Libby finally got their picnic date. Good for them. I suppose love is going to bring the two timelines together. Unless you're Locke, in which case it's being run down by Desmond. My theory is that he was trying to kill him so that Locke would be dead in both timelines for synchronization purposes, but it could also be that he only wanted to injure him to force him into getting fixed by Jack, or that he wanted revenge for being tossed down the well. I really don't know which one. P.S. Hurley's mom is always funny.

Glee
Sue is back and dishing out more insults about Schuester's hair. I like it. But I found it weird that Schuester would make out with the coach from Vocal Adrenaline while dating Emma when he wouldn't do anything with Emma while still with his wife. I guess he's just more of a horndog than I thought. Speaking of horndogs, Finn's three-way date with Brittany and Santana was kind of funny. As opposed to "Schue", I did buy that Finn would ditch Rachel for them because he's already made it clear that he thinks with his groin as per his intentions with Quinn at the beginning of the series.

V
Hmm, I think V may be slowly becoming a better show than Flash Forward. It started off slowly but now it's got my interest again, and I think this is because they apparently have a new executive producer behind the show. I do think they need to work on characters though, because I can't say I like most of them, or even know most of them well enough. But Chad Decker was cool this week when I was previously indifferent to him, because he finally had Anna by the balls and made her sweat a little. I'm also interested to see the Anna egg-birthing story play out. And I hope there is a better reason for Tyler finding out his father isn't his father than just to create drama and tension between him and Erica. Because that would only work if I liked Tyler.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
I want to root for the Heroes tribe, but they make it hard when they pull stupid stunts like giving Russell an idol. Was it really so important to save him from a supposed women's alliance that an extremely risky move was appropriate? It would have been easier and more practical to just try and convince someone to flip once the merge happens - especially with the idol in hand, which they could have used to their advantage to win over a 5-5 vote. And even if they don't know Russell's game being that his season was too recent, they should have figured that he was on the Villains tribe for a reason and therefore was probably not trustworthy. Now Russell and Parvati both have idols. Ugh.

Flash Forward
Oh snap, Demetri is Janis's baby daddy! Oh snap, Lloyd and Olivia are hooking up! Oh snap, Aaron gets guns and FBI assistance to rescue Tracy! Oh snap, D. Gibbons kidnapped Demetri before his wedding! Nah, it wasn't really that exciting. I'm going to keep watching but I don't expect Flash Forward to return for a second season, it looks like the ratings have been steadily declining each episode.

Fringe
Peter Weller is looking old. This was a cool episode though - I enjoyed the time travel resets and the subtle differences between the multiple viewings of scenes. I'm not really sure why Peter would be so mad at Walter though if he found out he was from the other side.

Hero of the Week: Alistair Peck (Peter Weller) from Fringe, for doing the right thing in the end, and because all of the crazy machinery beneath his flesh was almost like a throwback to Robocop. Almost.

Douchebag of the Week: I'm not sure whether to be more angry at JT from Survivor for suggesting such a horrible plan, or the rest of the Heroes tribe for agreeing to it, so I'm giving the Douchebag award to the entire Heroes tribe, including JT. And with that the Heroes tribe become the first television characters to be both Hero of the Week and Douchebag of the Week.

This Week in Television - Apr. 5-9, 2010

Lost
I like Desmond and it was nice that this episode touched on the importance of love, but being that it took place almost entirely in the alternate timeline, it didn't move the story along that much so I don't really know what to say about it. I did like the eerie scene where Charlie and Desmond replicated the season 3 finale moment in the Looking Glass station. I think Charlie knew what he was doing, he had that look on his face.

V
This was probably the best episode so far, which isn't really saying a lot but I hope the show continues to improve. But I don't understand why Ryan thinks he can hide an alien baby from his woman when it's inside her stomach. You might as well tell her now, dude, because she's going to notice when it comes out of her. Anyway, it looks like the war is slowly getting on its way, and that's what made this episode good. It was cool of Georgie to sacrifice himself. He shouldn't have gone to the ship in the first place, although if he hadn't then Ryan would've gotten busted. But then Ryan shouldn't have been constantly looking around him every second he was on the ship, because that was idiotically conspicuous. Is this show full of idiots? I mean Valerie almost ate a rat and she didn't even wonder why. In spite of my complaining I don't mind this show, but I don't think I've seen anyone make any brilliant choices yet.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Amanda and Sandra were the stars of this week's episode. Amanda because she caught JT redhanded with the immunity idol and won the bowling challenge for the Heroes, and Sandra because she brilliantly ran the show by running Russell in order to give Coach the boot. Dragonslayer slayed! But I hope the Heroes will put a stop to JT - if next week's preview is any indication, I smell a future Douchebag of the Week!

Flash Forward
This episode was alright, but the ending with Janis turning out to be a mole seemed like it was in there for shock value and not because it would make any sense. When you put in a plot twist, it's supposed to be logical but not predictable. This one was unpredictable, but only because there was no precedent for it - in other words, it's not something where you could look back at previous episodes and notice that they have been hinting at it all along, because they haven't been.

Fringe
Another movie inside joke this week, with Diane Kruger guest-starring and dropping the name "Gorlami" for the Inglourious Basterds fans. Nice to see Walter making taffy after a short hiatus from food obsessions.

Hero of the Week: Desmond from Lost, because every time the universe tries to keep him away from Penny, he defies time and space to get her back again.

Douchebag of the Week: Let's say Ryan from V. He can be a cool character, but this week he was dumb.

This Week in Television - Mar. 29-Apr. 2, 2010

Before I get to the shows, I just want to say one thing about the countdown timer for V that was in the corner for the entire duration of Lost. I know a lot of people were complaining that it was annoying and distracting, and while that is true, my biggest problem was the countdown itself. A countdown worked when they used it for the season 6 premiere of Lost, because Lost has become an epic show with a huge fanbase. V has neither of those things going for it, and so a countdown does not reflect viewer excitement and certainly isn't going to create any. All it did was piss off Lost fans.

Lost
I was actually kind of surprised when Widmore revealed his intentions were good. But I suppose it makes sense because, while he is often a dick, I do believe that he loves his daughter. It was interesting seeing Sun and Jin being much happier in a relationship that is a secret affair rather than a marriage. And it's been a while since we got an episode that has Keamy, Mikhail, and Desmond. So the man in black needs all 6 candidates before he can leave, because then there's no one left to replace Jacob. But he still doesn't realize Kate is a secret candidate, so all she has to do is sneak away from his group and he's boned. Last week's episode was a very tough act to follow, but this one was still cool.

V
The return episode this week was a little better than some of the previous ones, but I still haven't been able to drum up a ton of enthusiasm for this show. To be honest I'm actually more excited for the return of Glee than I was for V, and Glee is also somewhat near the bottom on the hierarchy of shows I enjoy. Elizabeth Mitchell's character is cool, but no one else is that interesting and her son is still a tool. Anyway, as for this week's episode, it was kind of painfully enjoyable to watch Erica trying to warn people about the V's but constantly having to backtrack and bite her tongue because of the V's keeping watch on her. And of course the disturbing ending where Anna devours her mate.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
I kind of thought the Rob vs. Russell battle would draw on longer than that. But like last week, the plan got screwed up by one person alone, and that one person was Coach, who felt he owed loyalty to both alliances so threw away his vote, thereby voting out Boston Rob without actually voting for him. And then Rob snubbed him on his way out. Nice. It's good for the rest of the tribe though, because whenever we're watching the Villains camp it's always the Rob, Russell, and Coach show and nobody else gets much screen time.

Flash Forward
The revelation here is not that Mark dies, because I don't entirely believe he will (all flash forwards take place at the same time, and Mark didn't die in his, although he may have been about to when the men with guns snuck in), but it looks like Demetri's new partner is responsible for those men, or is at least in on it. Maybe he's also the one to kill Demetri. And once again Flash Forward thinks it's Lost by throwing in something similar to a Dharma orientation video inside something similar to a hatch interior.

Fringe
This was one of the strongest episodes so far. While telling a story we sort of already knew, we got some cool revelations like how Nina Sharpe lost her arm, how Walter intended to bring Peter back but couldn't bear to, and we saw an Observer make a mistake. Also an amazing and touching performance from John Noble and an awesome inside joke about Back to the Future for the movie nerds. Yes, I think this has become my favourite episode so far.

Hero of the Week: Walter Bishop from Fringe. Because who else can jeopardize the fate of two universes and still be that awesome?

Douchebag of the Week: Coach from Survivor. I didn't really hate anyone this week, but Coach is always a douche and practically wrote it on his own forehead this week anyway. Also he gets the dishonour of being the first person to make Douchebag of the Week twice. Way to go, dick.

This Week in Television - Mar. 22-26, 2010

Lost
Wow, go Nestor Carbonell! Not that I thought he was a bad actor before, but this episode he cranked it up to 11 and blew me away with some hardcore character acting. Somebody get that guy an Emmy! It's also awesome that the whole idea behind the series was pretty much already hinted at back in the pilot with Locke and his Backgammon pieces, and nobody knew it! This is the kind of thing that will make Lost a classic - when the series ends, we'll all go back and watch it again and marvel at the hints that were waved under our noses for 6 seasons.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Even though both tribes had to vote someone out, it was nice to see the Villains finally come back to tribal council. Tyson's mistake wasn't necessarily changing his vote, it was trusting Russell. I think he just really wanted Parvati gone, and when Russell suggested it he figured it would be enough votes to do it, so he abandoned the much more solid split vote plan and ended up falling on his own sword. But it was still stupid, because even if Russell was going to vote for Parvati (and I assume Tyson was meant to vote for Russell), you could still sit there and let him do it without joining him and the votes would work themselves out. And as for James, he should've been gone last episode with that knee. In terms of him and Rupert I think a bad knee is more crippling than a bad toe.

Parks and Recreation
Leslie and Ron bonding over a late night breakfast was a nice moment. As was April and Andy's catalog cover and the shots of everyone looking at it. I love the running gag about how Jerry is actually awesome at certain things (like mural making earlier in the season and photography this episode) but his co-workers always find a way to shoot him down in spite of his talent. The tiny cup in the photo of Tom is made even funnier by the fact that it's tiny for him and he's already a small guy. As for Ann's apparent unhappiness: Mark is a nice guy but he's also kind of boring. Andy was fun but a lazy idiot, but now that we can cross out the lazy part I see why she's missing him. It's interesting that Andy will ultimately be the one having to choose between her and April, because in love triangles that decision doesn't tend to fall to the deadbeat.

The Office
Andy and Erin are already becoming a lot like the new Jim and Pam, complete with the attempt to keep their relationship a secret even though everyone already knows about it. But I think seeing a wedding and baby from them would be funnier because of how giddy and simple they tend to be. Date Mike was funny, because Michael trying to be likable is always less likable than Michael not trying to be likable.

30 Rock
As Liz said, Floyd was probably one of her better boyfriends, if not the funniest, so it was cool that he got a chance to be funny here. I do like Jason Sudekis though (he was the funniest part of The Rocker and gets more bonus points for appearing in The Ten). Jack and Danny were the best part of the episode though. Yes, the silver panther is the most handsome animal.

Flash Forward
So, while last week's two-hour episode revealed more than it should have, it did make for quite an entertaining episode. This week was somewhat boring because, as I pointed out, all they have left to go on is Demetri's murder and the second blackout. Well, okay, they also threw in Janis's pregnancy and Aaron going psycho over his daughter's kidnapping, but admittedly those storylines don't interest me much. This show would be awesome if every episode was like last week's, which means stealing Lost's patented "answering questions with questions" formula.

Hero of the Week: Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock. He's always awesome, but the last few episodes he had been slightly less so, until this week when he seemed to be his old self again.

Douchebag of the Week: Tyson from Survivor, because he royally screwed up what would have been a straightforward vote and, even stupider, he only screwed himself in doing so.

This Week in Television - Mar. 15-19, 2010

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town
This was the funniest episode of the series, and the best one because they finally tied everything together. I'm not sure if it's cool or disappointing that I was right about Marny being the killer, but what is disappointing (to me at least) was my inability to put two and two together about her motives. I love that one of the deaths was the sick cat. Too bad Death fixed Rampop though - a special kid who sees people as butterflies and rides the death cycle could be its own spinoff show.

Lost
Good idea taking the sub off the island, Sawyer. All previous attempts to leave via sub were met with disaster but, you know, I'm sure it will work this time seeing as how you know lots of people who can operate a sub... You do, don't you?

Parks and Recreation
I always say that physical comedy is only good in moderation. I also say that I hate seeing old jokes recycled unless something new is being done with them. The scene where Jerry splits his pants bending over during a presentation and then farts immediately afterward was the funniest moment of the episode because they put a spin on it by having everyone trying not to make fun of him as he continues to embarrass himself. In fact this week's episode might be my favourite so far because everything about it was awesome, including Ron teaching a self defense class and Andy Samberg as a loud talking park ranger. One thing though: while I enjoyed the scenes with Ann starting to regret breaking up with Andy, it didn't seem like an appropriate time for them to take place seeing that she is still happily dating Mark. This episode didn't even have any Ann/Mark scenes, like they were trying to sweep that relationship under the rug for the time being just so that the Ann/Andy scenes in this episode would work better.

The Office
As much as I hate to say this... I think I agree with Michael Scott on this one. I mean he may have taken it a little far, but the sales staff actually were being arrogant jerks and needed to be humbled in some way. Michael himself is arrogant and selfish, but seeing as how he is almost always that way and the other staff members are not, he should be the only one exhibiting that kind of behaviour. His garbage fight with Dwight was fun though, followed by the pillaging of an extremely large and smelly beanbag chair from the dump. I'm not sure why Andy and Erin were at the dump at the end (maybe still looking for those leads), but the kiss punctuated by Andy's moronic noise was cute.

30 Rock
Now I'm stuck with a dilemma: Which movie would I rather watch based on its ridiculous title, A Blaffair to Rememblack, or Fresh-Ass: Based on the Novel "Tush" by Assfire? Tough call, friends. Tough call. Other highlights this week included Tracy attempting to seduce Liz and Don Geiss's body getting the Han Solo carbonite treatment. At this point Star Wars should be mandatory viewing for everyone just so they don't miss the myriad of pop culture references that inevitably show up in so many TV shows and movies.

Flash Forward
After an unnecessarily long break, Flash Forward is back with a lot of answers. Too many, in fact. The genius of a show like Lost is that they are able to answer questions by creating more questions, thus maintaining the suspense and ensuring viewer loyalty. Flash Forward is only in its first season and this week they answered the biggest questions already, like who caused the blackout and how, and who "Suspect Zero" is. The only thing I am now anticipating is the potential of a second blackout because that's pretty much the only thing looming other than Demetri's murder. This isn't to say that the episode wasn't fun to watch, because I did enjoy its twists and turns, but if Flash Forward is supposed to be replacing Lost when it ends, they need to work on the suspense. Part of why Lost has such a tight fanbase is because everyone likes to share and discuss theories. Right now this show doesn't have anything to discuss.

Hero of the Week: Leslie from Parks and Recreation. I know I snubbed her last week when listing my favourite Parks and Recreation characters, but she wins this week for her awesome impression of Tom ("Daaaaaamn, Jerry! You jumped into a creek for a burrito? What would you do for a Klondike Bar, kill your wife?") and for sneaking 20 extra Jerry's into the name hat "just in case". Besides, Ron Swanson will always be an honourable mention for having a framed picture of a breakfast plate hanging in his office.

Douchebag of the Week: The entire Dunder Mifflin sales staff from The Office, for being stuck up pricks. ...Maybe not Andy, he handled it well when Erin was hiding his leads.

This Week in Television - Nov. 30-Dec. 4, 2009

Heroes
It seems out of character that Claire would want a normal life so badly that she would turn her back on her family to join the carnival. It was kind of cool the way Nathan turned back into Sylar as he fell. I didn't find Nathan that likable or interesting anyway.

Glee
I don't care much for most of the characters on Glee, but Schuster's wife is my least favourite so I hope she is finally getting the axe. What kind of mattress store sells those GINORMOUS mattresses that are big enough for like 10-20 people to sleep comfortably? Lol, Sue had her tear ducts removed because she "wasn't usin' 'em". Awesome.

Survivor: Samoa
When John bought that immunity idol clue at the auction, at first I thought it was a waste, but then I realized that he was really buying the knowledge that Russell has it. Not a bad idea. It didn't help him though.

Fringe
Poor Walter. He can't be independent because it's just not in his nature anymore. Also Astrid is the most dedicated lab assistant ever.

Parks and Recreation
I love how dumb Andy is. He's not trying to win Anne back because he's persistent, but because for no reason whatsoever he thinks she still loves him. I also love Ron's growing pattern of only showing up at events for the food.

The Office
I liked the juxtaposing of Dwight trying to sabotage Jim with Michael breaking his promise to the kids. I don't know why everyone was so willing to believe Jim being sneaky though - they've worked with him for years and should know by now that he's not the type to do something like that. Michael, yes, but not Jim. The best part was Dwight doing his impressions of Kevin, Stanley, and Toby over the phone.

30 Rock
This episode had one of the most hilariously disturbing endings on 30 Rock: Liz crying out of her mouth while Frank, rocking the Liz look, kisses her on the cheek. Bizarre, but funny. Fun fact: Mel Brooks is also an EGOT winner.

Flash Forward
When Janis told Simon that the satellite photo had been taken in 1991 and then they cut to commercial, the musical cue was terrible. They might as well have had some guy yell "PLOT TWIST!" at the top of his lungs because it was just that prominent. Musical cues are usually supposed to be subtle. I wonder if Mark really shot Demetri or if they just jumped to that conclusion because it was his gun. And if Lloyd and Simon really did cause the blackout (which I don't believe they did), that doesn't mean they caused the flash forwards, so I don't see what the big deal is.

Kenny vs. Spenny
Who can get further [sexually] with the other one's mother? Niether of their mothers was a whore so it wasn't really an easy one. Spenny actually copped a lot of feels and stuff before pissing off Kenny's mom. I thought he might win because Kenny was spending most of his time making bestiality jokes about Spenny's mom.

Overall rating for this week's shows: A

This Week in Television - Nov. 16-20, 2009

Heroes
The stuff with Tracy getting help from Claire after losing control of her abilities was kind of pointless and pretty much the same story we got last season when Elle had the same problem. So if Samuel gets stronger around others with abilities, but he was somehow unaware of this without having seen the film, then the question of why he's gathering people is still up in the air. Disappointed that Sylar left Matt's body since watching those two duke it out was awesome, but maybe it will just continue with Sylar vs. Nathan.

V
Tyler is terrible at lying to his mom and stalling for time. Whatever the V's are planning to use him for, I hope they didn't need an intelligent person, because if so they will fail miserably.

Glee
No Sue at all this week, just some crazy obsessive teenage girls and Kurt trying to convert Finn to homosexuality. In a real life situation I would say it wouldn't happen, but since Glee tends to be unrealistic I wouldn't really be that surprised if Kurt and Finn hooked up at some point, even if it's temporary.

Modern Family
This episode was saved by its guest stars, Elizabeth Banks, who is cool, and Edward Norton, who I don't think of as a character actor but he does a good British accent. I also like the role reversal in having the wife be the one who is terrible with gifts and special occasions instead of the husband. Manny's attraction to Haley just seems like a recycling of the George Michael and Mayby thing from Arrested Development, although in this case I think Manny is Haley's... half uncle?

Survivor: Samoa
I didn't like Laura anyway. I'm still not really rooting for anyone in particular though, and there's only 8 left. Kind of a forgettable season in that sense.

Fringe
Awesome, I always found the observers really fascinating. Glad we got an episode to learn more about them. So if they are observing time, it must be that they are trying to either find something or learn something. And given that they are so bizarrely inhuman, why did that one guy start to have feelings?

Parks and Recreation
The hunting trip was kind of funny, but the best part was April and Andy wasting time doing mundane stuff like playing Marco Polo and practicing spit takes. I think they might get together at some point and would actually make a good couple (albeit a slightly weird one) since they're both so lazy and unmotivated.

The Office
Dwight's Recyclops costume was awesome. Kudos to Jim for punishing Ryan, because sometimes he can really be a smug prick. The ending was great when Dwight was so disgusted with the lineup for questions that he just ended up making suggestions for more efficient lineups.

30 Rock
Frank being the greenest person at TGS: funny; Dr. Spaceman making another appearance: awesome; Kathy Geiss's lawyer being a Teddy Ruxpin doll in a suit: priceless.

Flash Forward
Even back when Olivia first got the text, I knew it wasn't from anyone that Mark told. It's gotta be someone who was involved with the blackout. I like that the majority of the episode was about Bryce, because until now I thought of him as more of a minor supporting character. However it seems too soon to be introducing the girl from his flash forward and setting them up to be situated in the same country, because it looks like the first time they meet is in the vision, which would take place (and air) in the spring.

Kenny vs. Spenny
Season 6 kicked off this week with two episodes. The first was "Who Can 69 the Longest?". I read some of the competitions online and was wondering how they were going to do this one without it being too literal - there was no disgusting oral sex involved, just harnesses keeping them attached to each other in a 69-like position. The funniest part was watching them try to move around, and having the crew decide that it was a boring competition so they tortured them to provoke surrender.
The second episode was "Who can touch the most breasts?", and within minutes the term was quickly distorted to include the breasts of men, cows, chicken, and plastic mannequins and dolls. Surprisingly, I don't think Kenny even touched any bare lady breasts and Spenny got several (They're worth 3 points!).

New record: 11 shows this week! Also, for the first time in... possibly ever... I have at least one show on every weeknight.

Overall rating for this week's shows: A+

This Week in Television - Nov. 9-13, 2009

Heroes
Man, Samuel is really working everyone. Still not sure exactly what his goal is. I'm not convinced that wanting to keep the other "special" people safe is his only priority. The Parkman vs. Sylar stuff was the highlight of the episode though, I am loving that plotline.

V
Still hate that Tyler kid. I like how Decker turned the tables on Anna, although Scott Wolf is admittedly one of the most forgettable actors out there so I wish he was being played by someone else.

Glee
I'll admit it, it was kind of sweet when they revealed that Sue has a mentally challenged sister. Kind of makes me like her more, even though I mainly like her for her hilarious evilness.

Survivor: Samoa
Damn, Russell keeps finding idols and playing them. I still think he'll get his.

Fringe
I knew it was the kid doing the mind control before they revealed it. They kept cutting to him every time someone was being forced to kill themselves. I don't think that human brains would taste like chicken but those kinds of random thoughts are why Walter Bishop is my hero.

Parks and Recreation
I liked this one. It wasn't necessarily the funniest episode, but I thought it was a cool episode idea to have everyone design a new mural for the town hall. Andy shining shoes seems like a perfect job for him somehow, I hope he keeps that one for a while.

The Office
Michael was kind of annoying in this episode, and I never find him as annoying as everyone else who watches The Office does. I guess I just wasn't really a fan of him staying in his southern gentleman character for most of the episode. The Mexican standoff at the end was awesome though.

30 Rock
I love that Liz Lemon's name on the foreign market is "Lesbian Yellow Sour Fruit".

Flash Forward
So I guess the whole debate they're getting into now is: can the future really be changed? On Lost they talked about how the universe has a way of course correcting, but does that apply on Flash Forward? I think what I'm actually most intrigued about is what they're going to do for the second season, which would take place after everyone's flash forwards come to pass (or not?). Maybe they'll all just have new flash forwards to stress about.

Overall rating for this week's shows: A

This Week in Television - Nov. 2-6, 2009

Heroes
Not sure I believe that Charlie is even still alive. I think her apology to Hiro was just a vision created by Samuel to get him on board with his plan. How many powers does this guy have, and how did he get them? LOL HE KILLED MOHINDER.

V
So this new show started up this week. It was cool, although I don't like Elizabeth Mitchell's teenage son and his friend. They're idiots and I don't care for them. The plane falling out of the sky when the ships arrived looked really cool, as did the ships themselves. And the reptile skin under the Visitor disguises. I like the idea of aliens pretending to be peaceful and helpful while secretly plotting to take over Earth. It's more interesting than just having them fly in and start blowing up major landmarks. I thought Morena Baccarin's performance was good too, she has a way of feigning pleasantness so that you can still kind of see that she is cold and robotic underneath. This show is apparently a remake of a mini-series but I have never seen it because it was almost before my time.

Survivor: Samoa
Russell wasted his idol, and in the preview for the next episode he looks scared and desperate. Sucker.

Fringe
The turning people into dust thing was cool. Nice to finally see a bit more character development with Broyles.

Parks and Recreation
Ron and Tammy were hilarious together. I thought it was an interesting take that he doesn't actually hate his wife, he only convinces himself that he does in order to resist her.

The Office
Michael dumping Pam's mom after finding out her age was typical Michael, but the best part of the episode was Dwight and Andy's polite favour war. When Dwight was offering bagels at the beginning I at first thought he had put something in them, but I suppose that's not his style.

30 Rock
I kind of hope they continue to use the robot guy in TGS sketches, just because of how stupid it would be. Did anyone else catch Liz referring to Gilbert Gottfried as "Sir Gilbert Gottfried"?

Flash Forward
Al did a brave thing by killing himself, but if I were him I wouldn't have jumped off a building. I kept thinking how hilariously ironic it would be if he ended up landing on the woman he was supposed to have killed in the future. I don't think this means everyone else's futures won't happen though, it only means they can be altered.

Overall rating for this week's shows: A

This Week in Television - Oct. 26-30, 2009

Heroes
I'm not sure I really have anything to say about this week's episode of Heroes. Sororities and fraternities bore me. Tracy Strauss bores me. Samuel Sullivan perplexes me.

Survivor: Samoa
That puzzle looked hard, man. All the pieces, I think, were exactly the same and you had to find a pattern and put them in just the right way... Surprised anyone even got it. It makes me mad that everyone who doesn't trust Russell gets voted off.

Parks and Recreation
This week's episode was very enjoyable. Halloween episodes of TV shows do tend to be fun though. I like how there wasn't really anyone wearing a creative costume, it kind of feels more realistic that way. The "straight guy" costume being the exact same clothes Mark wears was hilarious.

The Office
Michael being a Dick in a Box guy for Halloween makes so much sense given that some of his previous costumes were listed in an earlier season as being "Janet Jackson's boob, Monica Lewinsky (twice), and OJ". Also found the gag about pretending to hang himself to teach kids about suicide to be really funny, and Daryl not knowing what anyone's costume was. Pam and Andy making sales calls was also a fun team to see.

30 Rock
Oh man, so many amazing jokes in this episode! The two dead "celebrities" barely qualifying as real celebrities; Tracy promising to eat a bowl of cherries and some ghost meat in the Pac-Man guy's honour; Jimmy Fallon's self-deprecating jokes about his show; random southerners being played by Jack McBrayer in costume so that they all look like Kenneth... Best episode of the season so far - although, yes, it's only episode three.

Flash Forward
This was a good one. I liked the tension when they met at Mark and Olivia's house and everyone realized Mr. Simcoe was the dude from her flash forward. Dominic Monaghan's character is interesting and I hope we see him more. I don't think it has been addressed that Simcoe looked upset about something in his flash forward before Olivia called to him.

Overall rating for this week's shows: A

This Week in Television - Oct. 19-23, 2009

Heroes
It would've been faster for Peter to teleport that kid back to the hospital to help Hiro, which is what I was thinking they would do, but apparently that never occurred to him. On the other hand it never occurred to me for Peter to take the kid's power and catch a flight back. I don't think Hiro will get to save Charlie because then she would probably have to become a series regular and Jayma Mays is busy on Glee. I did hear she was going to guest star though so I think we'll see her next week.

Glee
I don't buy that girls wouldn't like Puck for being a jerk. High school girls especially love good-looking jerks. Sue's tacky red zoot suit was great.

Survivor: Samoa
You know, it's really suspicious how they always only have one challenge in episodes where there is too much drama to allow time for a second challenge. And no, I don't think they make that decision AFTER the drama happens, because Russell passed out at the challenge, which was for reward and then both tribes were going to tribal council with no immunity, so there was no second challenge planned before they started. I'm on to you, fake television!

Parks and Recreation
Cool to see Aziz's buddy from Human Giant making a guest appearance, but otherwise this episode wasn't really that special. But hey, at least they finally got the pit filled in.

The Office
Probably one of the weakest episodes of the season so far. Most of it was just Pam reacting to Michael hooking up with her mom. Although I did like that her initial reaction was to run screaming from the room like an 8 year-old.

30 Rock
Always a great episode when Will Arnett guest stars. I hope the epic battle between Banks and Donaghy never ends.

Flash Forward
Okay, so there was no mention whatsoever of Dominic Monaghan or his mysterious phonecall from the end of the last episode. I kind of liked the courtroom stuff though. I guess there's always going to be people questioning the validity of the flash forwards. I wonder if Janis is dead and they were showing her flash forward for irony's sake and to show that it's not going to come true, or to remind us that it still is. She was shot in the stomach I think, not the chest, so she may survive.

Overall rating for this week's shows: B (Okay, so I'll keep the rating after all. Some weeks aren't as good as others.)

This Week in Television - Oct. 12-16, 2009

Heroes
What a weird coincidence, Ernie Hudson guest stars on Heroes as a cop who meets invincible Sylar, right after I just watched The Crow, where Ernie plays a cop who meets an invincible dude. So it looks like the deaf lady can use sound as a weapon now? That's much cooler than just seeing sound. I still don't get this carnival stuff though and why they're so obsessed with having a complete "family". P.S. Told you Gretchen was hot for Claire.

Glee
Another solid episode heavily featuring Sue Sylvester. I loved the use of "O Fortuna" as Sue and Will struggle for control of Glee Club, because I always thought it was the most epic-sounding battle song ever composed. Also like that they performed "Keep Holding On", as it is one of my favourite Avril Lavigne songs.

Survivor: Samoa
Ugh, sea slug guts.

Fringe
Wow, you really gotta give this show credit for coming up with the coolest/weirdest/creepiest concepts every single episode. A sleep doctor secretly addicted to stealing and experiencing other people's dreams, rendering the victims exhausted so that they suffer delusions and commit murder-suicides? Genius.

Parks and Recreation
Fred Armisen is good at playing foreigners. I liked that little montage of him explaining all of the things you go to jail for in his country.

The Office
The best part was Oscar telling the cameras that without Jim and Pam, the sane/insane ratio in the office is severely off balance. So true.

30 Rock
Yay, 30 Rock is back! Not the strongest debut but still a good episode. I liked the jokes about everyone forgetting who Josh is since he hasn't been around much in the last two seasons.

Flash Forward
Not much really happened in this episode except for Dominic Monaghan's crazy appearance at the end. This show likes to be somewhat average for about 40 minutes and then spring a surprise cliffhanger ending during the last two.

Modern Family
Not as good as last week's episode. I saw several of the biggest gags coming before they happened, and the storyline seemed like textbook family sitcom stuff: eccentric relative coming to visit, daughter has a boyfriend the parents don't like, blah blah blah.

Overall rating for this week's shows: B+ (That's right, I went below A.)

This Week in Television - Oct. 5-9, 2009

Heroes
I found this episode to be a bit...dull. I even predicted Sylar popping out of the dirt at the end. But really, not much happened. Nathan turned back into Sylar, Tracy decided not to be a whore, Bennet decided to go back to doing what he's been doing all along anyway, and Hiro told his sister he was dying. Yawn.

Glee
I actually really liked this episode and for once I have no complaints. Easily the best episode so far. The best scene was Sue writing in her journal, funny stuff, and the ending was awesome because Sue being co-manager of Glee Club means more of her in future episodes. For a villain, I don't even hate her in the slightest. Maybe because I don't care about the fate of the Glee Club. It's the least appealing part of the show for me.

Survivor: Samoa
I still don't have anyone to root for yet. Someone has yet to step up and start being cool. I don't think they should have voted off Yasmin. Yes, she does nothing around camp, but she's helpful in challenges, and if you vote her off she still does nothing around camp but your team sucks more at challenges without her. Smart thinking, guys.

Fringe
Hey, we finally got to see Olivia Dunham's meeting with William Bell! And she finally caught Flancis and gave him some lead injections! And Walter finally sort of almost had a love interest! And Dunham screwed up a little and let the enemies resurrect their leader! This episode was so good that all of these sentences have to end with exclamation points!

Community
I've never seen this show before but I watched it this week while waiting for Parks and Recreation. I have to admit I found it bland. It wasn't terrible, it wasn't awesome, it was just very average in my opinion. A lot of the jokes were almost funny but not quite. It felt realistic in the sense that it was the kind of jokes you might hear real people make rather than witty comedy writers. Yes, that is an insult and a compliment at the same time. That's kind of like what watching Community was like.

Parks and Recreation
I just realized that so far this season there hasn't been any talk at all about trying to turn the pit into a park. But I'm okay with that, it's still a funny and enjoyable show, and I loved the idea for this episode about everyone playing a game where they try to find the biggest dirt on each other. I found it really funny when Tom approaches Ron at the end of his performance and says "Duke Silver! I'm a big fan!" and Ron veeeery slowly looks up at him. Other than it being a really cheesy night job I don't even see why that would be considered a "skeleton in the closet", but that's the joke I suppose. I also thought it was hilarious that the congressman on TV reportedly had sex with a prostitute on the way there and back from his apology press conference for having affairs. That's real politics for ya.

The Office
So, the big wedding episode... Jim and Pam were cute, and it had some funny moments. The beginning was the best, when everyone in the office started barfing except Creed, who casually watched while eating some spaghetti. That is a classic scene right there. Also enjoyed Kevin's kleenex box shoes, Andy tearing his scrotum, Dwight pretending to give Michael his hotel room, and Michael hooking up with Pam's mom, of all people. For a little while I almost thought he was going to get with Pam's grandma though, which would have been even funnier.

Flash Forward
I don't believe Demetri's fiancee. I mean I do believe her, but I don't think it was him she saw in her flash forward. She saw him from a distance, first of all, but I think it was just someone else's wedding. He's probably still going to die, but the "maybe you were just sleeping" explanation from previous episodes brings up an interesting point: maybe some people were sleeping and what they saw were actually just dreams, not visions of the future. That would explain why that one guy's daughter was proven dead even though he saw her alive. Unless someone is just covering it up... P.S. I have no idea what dead crows mean.

Modern Family
I had never seen this show either, but unlike Community I enjoyed this one. I am a fan of the mockumentary format and I didn't know this show had talking heads, so that helped me jump on board, but also it was funny and the characters were entertaining too. I like the running gag (at least I hope it continues to run) that the one family has a second daughter we never see because she is literally always upstairs in her room. Also nice to see Ed O'Neil working again after disappearing for about 10 years. The last time I saw him was a guest spot on 8 Simple Rules.

Wow, 9 shows this week! I don't think I've watched that much TV in years.

Overall rating for this week's shows: A- (Maybe I should lose the rating thing, it's generally going to be high since I tend to only watch shows I like.)

This Week in Television - Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2009

Heroes
You would think that a guy whose power was the ability to manipulate ink could better insert himself into a newspaper photograph so that he didn't look BLATANTLY PHOTOSHOPPED. I'm not sure if it was just poorly done or if they did it that way to make him stand out in the photo for the viewer's sake, but I think the latter was unnecessary so they could have done a better job. In reality, a person in a photo with completely different brightness/contrast than the rest of the photo is clearly shopped and Peter would have noticed that. And what's the deal with the deaf woman? Okay, so she can see sound as colour and that's nice for a deaf person and all, but how is it in any way useful in the grand scheme of the show? I'm stumped on that one. P.S. Gretchen totally wants Claire. I think she made the roommate kill herself to get in on that.

Glee
Not enough Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) in this episode, but her one line still managed to be the funniest part. Luckily Kristin Chenoweth was an excellent choice for a guest star and actually made it a decent episode.

Survivor: Samoa
Not sure I like them combining reward and immunity challenges into one all the time now. Ben was dumb and deserved to go home.

Fringe
Man, I'm loving this season of Fringe so far. Was the ending implying that Walter is going to destroy the world?

Parks and Recreation
April was funny in this episode. Probably the least effort anyone's ever put into a beauty pagent. Once again I also like the satire in this episode commenting on chauvinism and how hot girls always get farther than smart girls because of it. Tom's pimp strategy of giving girls his house key was also funny.

The Office
I liked this episode, it was interesting seeing Jim and Michael work together, butting heads and then cooperating, and the nice scene at the end where they didn't have to bare their unpopular decision alone. When Jim had to make his unfortunate announcement, I thought Michael was going to step in and show him up by saying something to fix the situation, but he only made it worse so I liked that I wasn't able to predict that.

Flash Forward
I have one complaint about this show: Too much belittling of audience memory. They must have shown Olivia's damn vision at least five times during the episode (not even counting the recap at the beginning), always the same shots and camera angles and everything. Really, guys, did your market research tell you that the majority of your viewers were burnouts and junkies with 5 minute memories? I mean if you want to show each vision like once an episode, fine, but we don't need to keep seeing them again in such a short timeframe. They weren't complex enough to warrant that. But all of that aside, I am finding Flash Forward very interesting so far. I hope they continue to explore that strange mystery man and why D. Gibbons was talking to him during the blackout.

Overall rating for this week's shows: A