Hawaii Five-0 - My initial enthusiasm for this show is quickly starting to wane. I think it's due in large part to the introduction of Taryn Manning and her enormous, collagen-filled Lisa Rinna lips. Not even the addition of Masi Oka (remember him from Heroes?) was enough to remind me why I started watching this show. Oka, of course, plays the archetypal genius lab tech seen in every other procedural show on TV (except maybe NCIS; I'll give them credit for switching things up with Abby). We'll see if Scott Caan's dry humor and Alex O'Loughlin's abs are enough to keep me interested in this show despite its increasing resemblance to CSI: Hawaii.
House - This week House had to suck it up and start playing the role of boyfriend in earnest, which in this case meant playing the role of babysitter. Naturally, House tried to guilt Wilson into taking over for him, resulting in enough shenanigans to merit thoughts of a spin-off series: House and Wilson's Adventures in Babysitting. Also in this week's House episode: Gilmore Girls alumni sighting of the week #1: Keiko Agena (who played Lane Kim) as another potential replacement for Thirteen.
How I Met Your Mother - Back in her old time slot but on a different show, Jennifer Morrison (formerly Dr. Cameron on House) guest starred on HIMYM this week, playing an architecture buff set on protecting the old building that GNB plans to demolish and replace with a building of Ted's design. Blah blah, funny joke, "Legendary!" blah. By the end of the episode, we discovered that Morrison's character is married, so I think we can rule her out as the titular mother. The search continues.
TUESDAY
Running Wilde - Fox burned off an episode of its new low-rated comedy this week, despite airing reruns of lead-in shows Glee and Raising Hope. Surprise! It was only a mediocre episode. (I can almost forgive Fox for airing it out of order and on a night without new episodes preceding it.) Though I must confess, I laughed out loud every time Fa'ad got attacked by his falcon.
The Good Wife - This week's episode was another stellar chapter of what is easily the best drama on broadcast TV. Guest stars Mamie Gummer, Corbin Bleu, Anika Noni Rose, Elizabeth Reaser, and Gilmore Girls alumni sighting of the week #2: Edward Herrmann added to the innate magnificence of the cast. We saw huge developments in Peter's race for state's attorney, Kalinda's rivalry with Blake (particularly when she went all Carrie Underwood on Blake's car), and Will's love life post-love-declaring-voicemail. And the game-changing final scene will have you asking what everyone else is: Who the hell is Wendy Scott-Carr?
WEDNESDAY
Survivor - The biggest threat this season seems to be the big bad rain. (Lame.) Last week it was NaOnka having a rain-induced breakdown, and this week's weather victim was Dan, who said he just couldn't take it anymore and wanted to quit. Unfortunately someone talked him out of it (I wish they would stop doing that). Frankly, Dan really shouldn't still be here anyway. He has bad knees, he's worthless in challenges, and he's really rich. So why don't these morons vote his ass out? Because they're morons, I suppose. The biggest moron of all is clearly Fabio (who may just be pretending to be a moron as a strategy), whom Marty convinced he's a grandmaster of chess. As Fabio told the camera, "Duh, it makes sense." Sure it does, Fabio.
Modern Family - The Dunphys tried to see who could last the longest "unplugged" from technology (computers, cell phones, video games, etc.); Cam and Mitchell endured the debacle of interviewing for preschools for Lily; and Jay suspected that Gloria had something to do with the disappearance of their neighbors obnoxious dog. Winning lines of the night: Claire to Phil: "Oh honey, don't take this the wrong way, but I have almost no faith in you."
Mitchell: "Leave it to the gays to raise the only underachieving Asian in America."
Hayley (who fooled her parents into thinking she had lost their competition by talking on her phone, which was actually a bar of soap she had carved and colored to resemble a phone): "I just spent two days in my room talking to a bar of soap!"
Cougar Town - This week was another brilliant/touching/hysterical episode of this fabulous ensemble comedy. Laurie tried to convince everyone she was totally fine after her breakup with Smith, until Andy pulled a Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting (terrible Boston accent included) and she broke down. Luckily she has the self-christened "Cul-De-Sac Crew" to help her get through it. (Not to mention her new vajazzles, the rhinestone butterfly wings of which peek up over the front of her jeans.) It was great to see Grayson actually admit that he likes being a part of the group, and I also enjoyed the heartwarming moment between Ellie and Travis as they bonded over their shared intellectual superiority. Other wonderful moments were Travis wearing his girlfriend's field hockey jersey ("What? I'm proud of her") and Jules trying to say the word "ruin" (which comes out sounding more like "roin").
Terriers - What a travesty that the ratings for this amazing show are so abysmal, because it just gets better and better. At this point, it'll take a miracle for Terriers to not be canceled, but that should be no indication of its quality, which is top-notch. This week's episode involved a teenage amnesiac and some emotional scenes between Hank and his mentally unstable sister.
THURSDAY
Community - This week, Abed decided to film one of the most well-known stories in human history: Jesus. This turned into a strange social experiment, putting Abed in the role of Jesus as he tried to film "the story of the story is the story." While the focus on religion might have been a turn-off to some, I thought it was well-done and very true to the hilariously self-aware tone of Community. I especially like Abed's description of Jesus as "ET, Edward Scissorhands, and Marty McFly combined" and his point that, in a way, The Matrix, RoboCop, and Superman are all different takes on the story of Jesus. The secondary story lines were great this week, too. Pierce joined the "hipsters," a group of troublemaking old people who use their senility to get away with everything from on-campus poker games, to joyriding in the dean's car. Jeff came to get Pierce from the police station, perpetuating the family dynamic of the group in which he is the father figure (upon picking him up, he snapped at Pierce, "Go wait in the car"), Britta is the mother, and the others their various children. The only thing I could have asked for more of was Troy, but it was still a great episode, as always.
30 Rock - Jack was rocking a no-hitter this week, or "Reaganing" as he called it (a reference to his favorite president). The fruit of his 24-hour hot streak included the word "innoventually" and the idea for a new TV show called Child Hell Flight (in which unsuspecting passengers discover their pilot is a six-year-old). Determined to keep his streak going, Jack asked Liz what he could help her with, since she is "the Albert Pujols of having problems." Sure enough, he not only helped Liz identify her Tom Jones-related childhood trauma, but he also found a way to help film Tracy in a one-take commercial for the Boys and Girls Club. Back at the studio, Kelsey Grammer guest starred as himself and joined up with Jenna and Kenneth to pull a con on the Carvel Ice Cream people.
The Office - Timothy Olyphant guest starred. Michael hired him. The end.
The Vampire Diaries - Another high-octane hour full of everything you want in a TV show: blood, sex, tears, torture, vampires, werewolves, love quadrangles, witty dialogue, and more! This week's enthralling episode featured one death, one really close call, and the lesson that you don't provoke Katherine, because she'll make you pay. We got to see some man tears from Stefan, some genuine remorse from Damon (it's always a treat when he reminds us that he actually has some humanity...right after he's tortured someone with a hot poker). Most importantly, the episode ended with an almost-cliffhanger, promising even more excitement in the coming weeks.
FRIDAY
As you may have noticed, I don't watch and Friday night shows, which is sad because it makes my "Week in Review" more like "Four Days in Review." So I asked myself why I don't watch any Friday shows, aside from the fact that none of them interest me. I've deduced that I have been too emotionally scarred by having my beloved shows that aired on Fridays (either originally or because they were moved there to die) and were canceled before their times: Joan of Arcadia, Dollhouse, Firefly... I don't think I can stand to get emotionally invested in another great show just to have it taken away from me by Fox, I mean the network. So there you have it. Sorry my recaps are incomplete. If I find a Friday show worth watching and I'm willing to put myself out there again, I'll let you know.
.................
That's it for this week. Get psyched for this coming week of TV because it's time for... Halloween episodes! So get the candy corn ready and put on your masks, it's going to be a great week. I for one am most excited for (and dubious about) the Rocky Horror episode of Glee. Here's hoping they don't screw it up!