#5) Rachel and Puck's Rendition of "Need You Now" on Glee - This may have been the only good thing about the post-Super Bowl episode of Glee, which was grossly disappointing, save for this beautiful Puckleberry duet of Lady Antebellum's hit song.
#4) Ted and Zoey on How I Met Your Mother - I wasn't initially a fan of Zoey's character (played by former House star Jennifer Morrison), but this week's episode won me over, and she actually might be my favorite of Ted's love interests since he and Robin broke up. The way Marshall orchestrated their getting together (after overcoming some obstacles, such as her broken marriage to The Captain, Ted's attempts to push her away, and her hot cousin, played by Katy Perry) only added to the adorable factor. I mean, how can you not root for a romance based on mutual friendship and awesome pranks like Zoey filling Ted's entire refrigerator with ketchup?
#3) Troy and Abed on Community - As adorable as it was the way Troy and Abed tackled the rom-com cliche of two friends competing for a girl's attention (with her choice to be revealed at the Big Dance, of course), we all knew that there's no one more perfect for Troy and Abed than Abed and Troy. When the sexy librarian picked Troy over Abed (and Abed graciously accepted defeat), Troy just couldn't get past the fact that she didn't want to be with Abed. When he asked her why, she pointed out that he talked about the Saw movies for two hours. (But as Troy pointed out, "there are eight of them, and they're two hours apiece, and the first one did redefine the genre.") Troy just couldn't be with someone who doesn't think Abed is as amazing as he does, so he left her at the dance to go find Abed. He hugged his friend and told him, "We'll find someone." Don't we all wish we could find someone as perfect for us as Troy and Abed are for each other?
#2) The Return of Raising Hope - Continuing with this week's theme of bromances, Jimmy met the man of his dreams at the super market: another young single dad! He put the moves on him, and actually managed to get his number. Unfortunately, Jimmy's phone skills are not exactly up to par, and it took him several tries (between which Virginia had to use her recorder to imitate the sound of pressing "1" to rerecord a message, since Jimmy was calling from a rotary phone) before he came up with a non-embarrassing message, which he didn't get to finish before Justin called back and said he'd gotten a missed call from their number. The boys made a play date for their kids, which was actually a play date for them while their respective sets of parents bonded over being former teen parents. Everything was going well until Justin asked Sabrina out, and then said he was "on deck" for after she breaks up with her boyfriend, even though Jimmy clearly already had dibs on being "on deck." The next thing you knew, they were wrestling in the living room. After all, boys will be boys.
#1) 30 Rock - Liz and Carol discovered the unfortunate consequences of the "double-edged sword" that is being in a relationship with someone just like yourself. Their mutual stubbornness resulted in an uncomfortable public confrontation on Carol's airplane, during which Carol (played by Matt Damon) got a little carried away with his authority to enforce Sky Law and actually drew his gun. It's hard to blame him, though, considering the disrespect of most of his passengers, who "think that 300 dollars and a photo ID gives them the right to fly through the air like one of the guardian owls of legend." (Apparently Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole had been the in-flight movie for several months.) Meanwhile, Jack and Avery were busy trying to flee Canada so that their baby wouldn't be Canadian. (Oh, the horror!) Willing to go to extreme lengths, they hitched a ride with John Cho, who generously offered them seats in his mobile meth lab. Unfortunately, they couldn't escape the Great White North in time, and Avery gave birth in a Canadian hospital, where they refused to take their money. Jack wouldn't accept this nonsense, and told them, "We will not be party to this socialist perversion. You will take our money." Hopefully Jack's daughter can overcome her Canadianness and still become president of the United States and "declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome."
So Beyond Amazing That It Surpasses Numeric Qualification: FRINGE. I can't even. Words are not enough. I just. Holy crapbaskets.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
*The series premiere of Traffic Light...was actually good! Bonus points for their excellent use of Chumbawumba's classic song, "Tubthumping." (You know you love it.)
*Florence + The Machine performed "Cosmic Love" on Gossip Girl.
*The return of Clive Bixby on Modern Family.
*Jimmy Fallon was this week's guest judge on Top Chef.
*The montage of insanity of Ron and Tammy (guest star Megan Mullally) on Parks & Recreation, which involved Ron punching a glass window, corn rows, a spontaneous wedding, and getting arrested.
DISHONORABLE MENTION:
*Glee - Feel free to stop sucking anytime. Read all about my issues with Glee's disappointing return here.