Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Again, too much work and FIFA12 for me to watch any decent amount of TV this week, but I will say that my top two shows this week were a much appreciated return to form.  On top of that, I just don’t have the time to post anything substantial beyond what’s here in this draft form.  I wanted to get something up so here it is.

1.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “Chardee MacDennis” (7×07)  - I love these episodes where they never leave the bar.  7.5/10

2.  Community “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps” (3×05) - Great viewing on the first occasion, good viewing on the second.  7/10

3.  Parks & Recreation “Meet n Greet” (4×05) – It seems like this show can do no wrong lately.  Then again, it’s been like that for pretty much this show’s entire life.  I’m hopeful that the demise of Entertainment 720 will mean that Tom will return to work with Leslie.  7.5/10

4.  The Vampire Diaries “Ghost World” (3×07) – Even average episodes of this show are above average.  If that makes sense.  7/10

5.  American Horror Story “Halloween Part 1″ (1×04) – It continues to be really random and all over the place, yet I continue to enjoy it.  I can’t put into words why.  6.5/10

6.  Whitney “The Wire“ (1×05) – This show is really starting to grow on me, and with impressive considering I don’t like the two other women and the Indian guy.  This show succeeds on Whitney, Alex and Mark.  6/10.

7.  2 Broke Girls “And the Disappearing Bed” (1×06) – Meh.  6/10

8.  The Secret Circle “Masked” (1×07) – Cassie has power outside of the circle.  That’s good news because I didn’t want the development of the character to be hindered by the drama of the rest of the group.  6/10

9.  How I Met Your Mother “Noretta” (7×07) – More lameness.  5.5/10

10.  Survivor (23×07) – Poor.  5/10

11.  Once Upon a Time “Pilot” (1×01) – The real world stuff was far better than the fantasy land stuff.  I don’t have high hopes for this show moving forward, despite the presence of two Lost writers.  5/10

12.  Beavis and Butthead (8×01) – I knew there was a reason I never got into this show back in the day.  Because it’s annoying.  5/10

13.  Grimm “Pilot” (1×01) – So very very lame.  4.5/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Too much work and too much FIFA 12 led me to watch very little TV this week.  It was good that a bunch of shows weren’t on this week as it meant I didn’t miss too much.

1.  The Vampire Diaries “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (3×06) – No Klaus but Rebeka is still around so that’s a bonus.  Stefan still sucks, whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy.  I like that Vicky is back but it appears that storyline is over with now.  Shame.  Looks like ghost Mason is back, and hopefully for a while, because I actually like him.  7.5/10

2.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “The Storm of the Century” (7×06) – Rickety Cricket returns, and it’s another glourious appearance by David Hornsby.  I liked Dennis’ weird zoning out when he spots the news lady.  Plus Charlie was absolutely right when he said Dennis was a little too dark talking to those two chicks.  7/10

3.  American Horror Story “Murder House” (1×03) – The show continues to be really random and all over the place, but I continue to like it.  Although I’m at a loss to explain why.  I liked that I got a little more of the back story for Constance and Moira.  6/10

4.  2 Broke Girls “And The ’90s Horse Party” (1×05) – It wasn’t that great and it wasn’t that bad.  It’s just a standard multi-camera sitcom.  I will say that Beth Behrs is certainly growing on me.  6/10

5.  The Secret Circle “Wake” (1×06) – Thinking back on the episode it wasn’t that memorable.  In fact all I can remember was that Nick’s brother turned up, so did a girl that wanted Cassie’s blood, and Diana broke up with Adam.  Still, I know I enjoyed the episode while I was watching it.  5.5/10

6.  How I Met Your Mother “Mystery vs History” (7×06) – Lame, as the show continues to be.  5.5/10

7.  South Park “Bass to Mouth” (15×10) – If the episode had been solely about Cartman either getting people to kill themselves or helping that kid who shit himself to not kill himself it would of been much better.  Instead we got a lame throwback episode to Lemmiwinks.  5.5/10

8.  Suburgatory “Don’t Call Me Shirley” (1×04) – Jane Levy is still awesome and hot, but the show really isn’t that funny.  It’s amazing what I’ll watch just to see an attractive girl.  5/10

9.  Survivor “Free Agent” (23×06) – Mykayla is gone (to Redemption Island at least) and it’s fucking bullshit.  4/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

This week has again been dominated by FIFA 12, with the added bonus that I got the new iPhone 4S on Friday and didn’t watch any TV.  This has led to a reduction in the number of shows I watched this week.

1.  Breaking Bad “Face Off” (4×13) – An absolutely fantastic conclusion to the season and one which will hopefully set up next season (being the shows last) to be the one where Walt faces the possibility of actually getting caught by Hank.  It’s a shame that Gus is gone but this was an amazing episode.  9.5/10

2.  The Vampire Diaries “The Reckoning” (3×05) – When Klaus snapped Tyler’s neck I was happy.  Not because I thought for one second that he was actually dead, but because I knew there was gonna be another change in the dynamics of the show.  Either Tyler was going to die or he was gonna be turned into a hybrid.  Good stuff.  Plus we also got some info on the guy who’s chasing Klaus.  His name’s Michael and he’s a vampire who’s also a hunter.  Like I said, good stuff.  8/10

3.  Community “Remedial Chaos Theory” (3×04) – I really enjoyed the alternate timelines, each one telling the same short story differently.  It reminded me of the multiple endings to Clue, one of my favourite films of all time.  7.5/10

4.  Parks and Recreation “Pawnee Rangers” (4×04) – Ron was awesome, as he always is, plus every episode where Ron and Leslie compete with each other is good.  7/10

5.  American Horror Story “Home Invasion” (1×02) – It continues to be kinda weird and random, and I like it.  This episode also benefited from the fact that Dylan McDermott wasn’t around much.  He’s the week link for me so far.  6.5/10

6.  2 Broke Girls “And the Rich People Problems” (1×04) – Finally, the girls are starting to develop a friendship.  6.5/10

7.  How I Met Your Mother “Field Trip” (7×05) – Kal Penn was wasted again, but this was certainly a better episode than last weeks.  6.5/10

8.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “Frank’s Brother” (7×04) – Some of it was good, but the gang did just about nothing for the entire episode.  That’s a letdown.  6/10

9.  Whitney “A Decent Proposal” (1×04) – I don’t think this is as good as previous episodes based on the fact that Whitney’s friends were sort of pushed to the foreground.  I like that Mark was more involved this week though.  6/10

10.  South Park “The Last of the Meheecans” (15×09) – This episode was so average I stopped watching after 5 minutes and went and made dinner.  Chicken and pasta for those wondering.  5/10

11.  Survivor “Taste The Victory” (23×05) – It continues to be average, but most seasons of Survivor usually are.  5/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

NBA 2K12 and FIFA 12 have taken up a great deal of my free time this week so I’m gonna do my Best of the Week Twitter style.  140 characters or less.

1.  Modern Family “Door to Door” (3×04) – A really great episode of Modern Family.  Sometimes this show blows my mind with how good it is.  8.5/10

2.  Parks and Recreation “Born & Raised” (4×03) – Ron and April should always be together.  Plus another good appearance of Joan.  8/10

3.  Breaking Bad “End Times” (4×12) – Not as good as last week, but impressive nonetheless.  8/10

4.  The Vampire Diaries “Disturbing Behavior” (3×04) – I love how this show moves at such a brisk pace.  Klaus is back in Mystic Falls.  7/10

5.  American Horror Story “Pilot” (1×01) – It’s a weird, freaky, retro, David Lynchian horror drama from the creators of Glee.  And I really liked it.  I just hope they keep it weird.  7/10

6.  South Park “Ass Burgers” (15×08) - Wow.  This has to be the darkest episode of South Park I’ve ever seen.  It wasn’t necessarily that funny, but it was pretty damn good.  6.5/10

7.  Community “Competitive Ecology” (3×03) – Chang was completely unhinged and Todd was cool.  Much better than last weeks episode.  6.5/10

8.  2 Broke Girls “And Strokes of Goodwill” (1×03) – Kat Dennings is still awesome, and Beth Behrs is growing on me.  6/10

9.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “Sweet Dee Gets Audited” (7×04) – Definitely a step down from the last couple of weeks.  6/10

10.  Whitney “Silent Treatment” (1×03) – I just don’t get the high level of criticism this show get.  It’s far superior to The Big Bang Theory in my opinion.  6/10

11.  New Girl “Wedding” (1×03) – Another poor choice of having the guys support Jess by doing something dumb. You don’t need to force “heart”.  Just be funny.  5.5/10

12.  Suburgatory “The Barbecue” (1×02) – Meh.  It was OK but that’s it.  5.5/10

13.  How I Met Your Mother “The Stinson Missile Crisis” (7×04) – Lame.  So very lame.  5/10

14.  Survivor “Survivalism” (23×04) - Mykayla is still around so that’s good.  5/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

I’ve dropped Hart of Dixie, and I won’t be watching any more of Two and a Half Men, but I’m still willing to give some other new shows a little longer to keep me on the line.

1.  Breaking Bad “Crawl Space” (4×11) – Holy hell.  It’s episodes like this that ratchet the tension up to unbearable levels which shows you why this might be the best show on TV.  I cannot wait to see what happens next.  Although I can’t help shake the feeling that nothing of consequence will happen to the White family or Hank.  It never does.  They play the angle that someone’s in danger but there’s never that payoff.  I hope the show proves me wrong.  9/10

2.  The Vampire Diaries “The End of the Affair” (3×03) - Hooray, another great flashback episode from one of the best shows at doing that.  I’m curious to know who the guy chasing the originals is.  Plus, I really really hope that Stefan and Elena are a thing of the past.  But something tells me Rebekah isn’t gonna be around for too long.  Also, the perfect amount of Bonnie, Jeremy and Matt.  None.  8/10

3.  How I Met Your Mother “Ducky Tie” (7×03) - A massive massive improvement over the double episodes last week.  This one felt far more like a classic episode of HIMYM.  7.5/10

4.  Modern Family “Phil On Wire” (3×03) - Four enjoyable stories from each of the families (two from the Dunphy’s) and another set of impressive performances from Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell.  7/10

5.  Parks and Recreation “Ron & Tammys” (4×02) - Neutered Ron is really creepy.  Now I just hope there’s a showdown between all three Tammys.  I loved the cameo by Roy Hibbert.  One of my favourite young NBA players.  7/10

6.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “Frank Reynolds’ Little Beauties” (7×03) - An episode of this show based on kiddie beauty pageants, how could it not be weird and super uncomfortable?  Thankfully this episode delivers like you’d expect it to.  Dee berates a young girl, Frank is crazy inappropriate, and Mac, Charlie and Dennis do an awesome techno/Kraftwerk performance.  7/10

7.  Archer “Heart of Archness: Part III” (3×03) - The last part of the trilogy opener to season 3.  It was enjoyable, as all three episodes have been, but it feels like something’s missing.  The show doesn’t seem to have that same spark that it had in earlier episodes.  Still good though.  6.5/10

8.  New Girl “Kryptonite” (1×02) - I kinda miss Coach, but this was another positive episode.  It’s a little strange that there was another display of solidarity with the guys backing up Jess.  I’m hopeful that’s not gonna be a running theme with this show.  Still, Zooey Deschanel continues to be unbelievably charming, so what’s not to like about the show?  6.5/10

9.  Whitney “First Date” (1×02) – A big step up from last week and a good episode in it’s own right.  Despite what the various reviews I’ve stumbled upon might say.  Plus I got to see Whitney in another slutty outfit.  Hooray.  6.5/10

10.  2 Broke Girls “and the Break-Up Scene” (1×02) - I’m not sure why the reviews I’ve read said this episode was so bad.  I enjoyed it.  I could do without the horse, so I hope they sell it or it dies, but I thought Behrs was much better this week.  I continue to love Kat Dennings.  6.5/10

11.  Boardwalk Empire “21″ (2×01) - Oh my God this show is slow.  Even the second season premiere didn’t build any excitement for the rest of the season.  I know it’s gonna be good but couldn’t the writers at least tried to hook me with something.  6/10

12.  Community “Geography of Global Conflict” (3×02) - Ken Jeong was the highlight in a pretty ordinary episode.  The whole Annie’s nemesis plot was really lame.  Props for Martin Starr though.  Gotta love that guy.  Freaks and Geeks FTW.  6/10

13.  Person of Interest “Ghosts” (1×02) - Another show that improved on the season premiere.  This time we got another standalone episode (which I think will be the norm with this show), but we also got to see some of the history surrounding the development of the machine.  Some groundwork for the “mystery” of the founder of the company was also laid.  All in all this episode gave me renewed enthusiasm for the show moving forward.  6/10

14.  Pan Am “Pilot” (1×01) - You know what, it was better than I thought it’d be.  And that’s worth something.  6/10

15.  Suburgatory “Pilot” (1×01) - It was definitely better than I thought it would be, and I was very surprised to see Alan Tudyk.  Hopefully he’s gonna be a major player for this show.  I’ll be coming back to see how it develops.  5.5/10

16.  Fringe “One Night in October” (4×02) – I made it about 20 minutes into the episode, up to the point where the guy was clearly going to discover that he was in some weird alternate universe, and then I quit.  I’m not ready to give up on the show entirely, but I just hate these freak of the week episodes.  Give me mythology all the time.  5.5/10

17.  Glee “I Am Unicorn” (3×02) - More Brittany, which is always welcome, but the songs were extremely boring.  I don’t watch this show for Broadway numbers.  I watch it for pop and rock songs.  That’s what I want.  Any episode without that I typically find to be a letdown.  5.5/10

18.  Survivor (23×03) - Brandon’s a dick.  Mikayla is awesome.  End of story.  5/10

19.  The Secret Circle “Loner” (1×03) - I can’t get over the feeling that unlike the first season of The Vampire Diaries, this show just isn’t building any early momentum with the stories it’s telling.  I want this show to develop into a good companion to The Vampire Diaries but so far I can’t help but be let down.  5/10

20.  How To Be A Gentleman “Pilot” (1×01) - I thought I’d give this show a go just because I wanted something to watch, so imagine my surprise when I saw Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day listed as producers.  Unfortunately the show is nowhere near as brilliant as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  4.5/10

21.  The Big Bang Theory “The Pulled Groin Extrapolation” (5×03) - That’s it.  90 episodes of mind-numbingly shit television is enough.  I will not be watching this piss poor excuse for comedy ever again.  I’ve had a large enough sample to be able to say with concrete certainty that anyone who likes this show doesn’t know good TV.  3/10

22.  Terra Nova “Genesis” (1×01 & 1×02) – I made it 17 minutes into this show before I had enough.  That slow motion “reveal” of the kid in the back pack was just too lame for me.  3/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Oh my God, TV is finally back in full swing.  Last week featured the return of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the premiere of some new shows, but this week the floodgates really opened.  And holy hell did I watch a shit ton of TV this week.  Not only did I watch approximately 11 hours 39 minutes of shows that aired this week, but I also watched every episode of The Vampire Diaries.  45 episodes.  The equivalent of roughly 33 hours and 45 minutes.  I can’t believe I’d never seen an episode before last Saturday.

So for the week I watched about 45 hours 24 minutes of TV shows.  And that doesn’t even take into account the movies I watched.  I’m impressed with myself.

1.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore” (7×02) - What’s not to love about this episode.  Dee gets braids, Mac is still fat, Charlie has a romantic moment with the waitress, Dennis and Dee smoke angel dust and people get shot, and Charlie, Dee and Dennis encounter two homeless guys fucking under the boardwalk.  Awesome stuff.  8.5/10

2.  Parks and Recreation “I’m Leslie Knope” (4×01) – What’s weird is nothing really stood out to me, but it was yet another great half hour of comedy, from one of the top 3 comedies on TV.  I particularly liked Ann’s storyline of all the guys in City Hall sending her pictures of their dicks.  8.5/10

3.  Community “Biology 101″ (3×01) – John Goodman and Jim Rash.  I hope that becomes an ongoing thing this season.  And Ken Jeong better get a whole hell of a lot more screen time or else I’m gonna be very disappointed.  Props to this episode for also letting me get a glimpse of Annie’s (Alison Brie’s) underwear.  7/10

4.  Breaking Bad “Salud” (4×10) – The Walter and Walt Jr stuff was crappy, the Skyler stuff was even worse, but the Jesse, Gus and Mike stuff easily made up for what was boring about this episode.  Who the hell knows what’s gonna happen between now and the end of the season.  7/10

5.  Modern Family “When Good Kids Go Bad” (3×02) – Julie Bowen was good in this episode.  I mean, really good.  Plus, “Kill the new baby”, how freaking funny is that.  7/10

6.  Modern Family “Dude Ranch” (3×01) – Same rating as above, but I just didn’t like the setting of the episode that much.  I did enjoy the New York kid and Alex’s scenes.  And I can’t help but be a little disappointed that Dylan may no longer be around.  7/10

7.  The Vampire Diaries “The Hybrid” (3×02) – Just the right about of Bonnie (none), too much Stefan, too much Jeremy, and nowhere near enough Caroline.  It looks like Klaus is either aware that Elena is not dead, or he will be soon.  Hopefully that means he returns to Mystic Falls.  Plus Horn Rimmed Glasses guy from Heroes has arrived as Caroline’s father.  6.5/10

8.  Glee “The Purple Piano Project” (3×01) - The gang singing The Go-Go’s “We Got The Beat” was the highlight of the episode, plus the wonderfully awesome Heather Morris and Naya Rivera are back on my TV.  I really hope they get even more to do this season.  And that they finally start their lesbian relationship.  That whole storyline was easily the most effective and moving aspect of last season.  6/10

9.  Archer “Heart of Archness: Part 2″ (3×02) – David Cross featured so that’s an obvious bonus, but Judy Greer did just about nothing, so that brings it back down.  Plus for the most part it wasn’t very funny.  6/10

10.  New Girl “Pilot” (1×01) – See my review.  6/10

11.  The Secret Circle “” (1×02) – I’m hopeful that this show will develop like The Vampire Diaries has.  The only thing which kinda concerns me at the moment is I don’t typically like “witch” stories.  I think the whole genre lends itself to lazy and easy writing.  Unlike vampire tales, which in general have rules which govern the powers (silver, garlic, vervain, stake through the heart), witch tales aren’t like that.  If something can’t be done, then there’s a spell for it.  I’ve seen it a couple of times in The Vampire Diaries so far.  Someone dies and can’t be brought back, never worry because we just found a long lost spellbook.  As long as The Secret Circle doesn’t fall into this trap I’m gonna enjoy watching it.  And I hope down the line they do a crossover with The Vampire Diaries.  6/10

12.  2 Broke Girls “Pilot” (1×01) – Beth Behrs was completely underwhelming but I really do love Kat Dennings.  Therefore, I rate it as slightly above average.  I have a feeling the show will stick around thanks in no small part to the lead-in it has.  5.5/10

13.  How I Met Your Mother “The Best Man” (7×01) – Has it really come to this?  A show that I consistently thought was among the funniest on TV is now making jokes about its own lame storytelling device.  Yeah, we get it, you’re gonna drag out the whole “how I met your mother” angle until the very end.  Fucking bullshit.  Not even Barney is funny anymore.  Plus, I hate to say it, but Alyson Hannigan is starting to look old.  5.5/10

14.  Survivor “He Has Demons” (23×02) – I want Ozzy to win.  If not him, then Mikayla, Papa Bear, and Cochran.  In that order.  The problem is none of the people I want to win ever do.  That inevitably leads me to get angry with the show.  Just as long as Brandon goes soon I’ll be happy.  And that’s coming from a massive fan of Russell.  5.5/10

15.  Fringe “Neither Here Nor There” (4×01) – It was plainly average.  I don’t have much else to say.  5/10

16.  Person of Interest “Pilot” (1×01) – I’m hopeful that as the season progresses there will be an extra layer of intrigue introduced, because if it stays like it is in the pilot, it’s simply a by the numbers procedural.  And that’s a waste of Michael Emerson’s talent.  5/10

17.  Free Agents “What I Did for Work” (1×02) – Azaria and Hahn are so charming, it’s a shame the show doesn’t appear to be funny in the slightest.  5/10

18.  The Big Bang Theory “The Skank Reflex Analysis” (5×01) – This show is always average to below average, and I can’t explain for the life of me why I continue to watch it.  It must be because I’m continually hoping to see Kaley Cuoco in something vaguely slutty.  4.5/10

19.  The Big Bang Theory “The Infestation Hypothesis” (5×02) – As above.  4.5/10

20.  Two and a Half Men “Nice To Meet You, Walden Schmidt” (9×01) – I checked out the season premiere only because I actually like Ashton Kutcher, not because I’m a fan of the show.  I watched the first three seasons over the last month or so for the first time, and found it to be even less funny than The Big Bang Theory.  Kutcher didn’t help in the funny department.  How this show continues to get good ratings is beyond me.  4.5/10

21.  Up All Night “Cool Neighbors” (1×02) – So far this might be the worst kind of sitcom, one that goes for that “uncomfortable” humour and ends up being completely and totally unfunny.  It doesn’t help that I truly dislike Christina Applegate.  When oh when is Will Arnett gonna catch a break and end up on a good show again?  4/10

22.  The Playboy Club “Pilot” (1×01) – In my eyes this show very clearly wants to be Mad Men.  It’s trying for that same kind of style and awareness of the social mores of the time, but it fails at everything in the pilot.  I didn’t expect it to be good and it’s not.  I love it when I’m right.  4/10

23.  Hart of Dixie “Pilot” (1×01) – I love The O.C..  And it should go without saying that I love Rachel Bilson by extension.  But the pilot for Hart of Dixie was really underwhelming.  I know I shouldn’t feel this way, but Rachel Bilson is just too hot to be a doctor.  And it’s because of that (and my general distaste for medical shows) that I’m gonna have to give up on Hart of Dixie after just one episode.  4/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Late again writing this up due to work.  I still haven’t watched any Dexter this season plus I’ve only seen the first four episodes of last season of The Office so I can’t really watch this season.  Add to that me being behind on both Mad Men and Rubicon and a good number of quality shows aren’t gonna make my Best of the Week for a while.  That being said, the stuff that I am watching I’m pretty happy with.

1.  Eastbound and Down “Chapter 8” (2×02) – “That’s racist.  I love to racist.”  That’s fucking comedy gold.  8/10

2.  Terriers “Manifest Destiny” (1×05) – It’s like a grown up Veronica Mars and is quite possibly the best show on TV right now.  8/10

3.  Modern Family “The Earthquake” (2×03) – More great stuff from Sarah Hyland and Ariel Winter, plus Julie Bowen was really good this week.  I didn’t care for the Cam and Mitchell story that much, but that’s probably because I’m not a fan of Nathan Lane.  8/10

4.  Community “The Psychology of Letting Go” (2×03) – Alison Brie covered in oil.  Yes please.  Plus some really good scenes with Ken Jeong and John Oliver.  Just a shame that Danny Pudi was pretty much absent.  7/10

5.  30 Rock “Let’s Stay Together” (5×03) – It was almost Seinfeld-like in how the various plots came together in the end.  Not a bad episode but I’m looking forward to the live episode way more than these early ones.  7/10

6.  Fringe “The Plateau” (3×03) – I was very surprised that I actually liked this alternaverse episode, but I can’t wait for the inevitable showdown between real Olivia and alternaverse Olivia.  7/10

7.  Detroit 1-8-7 “Nobody’s Home/Unknown Soldier” (1×03) – Pretty decent stories which also introduced the presumed season long antagonist.  I wonder what happened to Fitch in New York?  7/10

8.  How I Met Your Mother “Unfinished” (6×03) – The star of this weeks episode was clearly Cobie Smulders.  Her rage filled rants against her ex were the highlight of the episode.  Of course, I have a friend called Bean so “where’s the poop Bean” is gonna be used on him from now until the day I die.  7/10

9.  Bored to Death “Make It Quick, Fitzgerald!” (2×02) – Way way better than last weeks episode for no other reason than it felt and looked like an episode of Bored to Death.  7/10

10.  South Park “Poor and Stupid” (14×08) – Not that great a return for South Park but it was as delightfully offensive as it always is.  Plus South Park will continue to be the best animated show on TV until Archer returns.  6.5/10

11.  Outsourced “Party of Five” (1×03) – Eh.  That’s about it.  Not really that memorable but not bad either.  6.5/10

12.  Running Wilde “Oil & Water” (1×03) – Another consistent effort from Running Wilde which was bolstered by the increased presence of David Cross but dragged down by the lack of Peter Serafinowicz.  6/10

13.  Glee “Grilled Cheesus” (2×03) – Decent story but absolutely terrible music choices.  Losing My Religion is not a song about faith, it’s about obsession.  That song would have been far more appropriately used in Eastbound and Down if Stevie had sung it to Kenny. Glee succeeds mainly on it’s musical choices but I expect some semblance of a story.  This week there was a fairly decent plot but it was as good as ruined by poor music and some downright ridiculous (even for Glee) comedic choices.  Grilled cheese Jesus.  Are you fucking kidding me?  And again, nowhere near enough Brittany or Santana.  6/10

14.  The Big Bang Theory “The Zazzy Substitution” (4×03) – Average yet again.  What more is there to say other than this show sucks.  Bean, Crystal, Peter and Nathan, you all have terrible taste and shouldn’t be allowed to watch TV until your taste improves.  5/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Best of the Week is a bit late this week thanks to the release of FIFA 11.  It’s sucked a good majority of my time and I only got around to watching my shows late in the week.  So with one week down and I’ve dropped Chase, The Event and No Ordinary Family, plus Lone Star has been cancelled.  Premiere week is always exciting but the next week is when reality sets in and you realise that far more shitty shows are on the air than good ones and that generally the networks have no idea what they’re doing.  Although, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Outsourced wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be or as all the reviews said it was.  It probably helps that it’s not a laugh track comedy, because if it was I’d most likely hate it.

1.  Modern Family “The Kiss” (2×02) – I love that they took an episode which would usually be a sweeps stunt about a gay kiss and turned it into an episode about love, showing affection and how your parents hangups can become your own.  The episode was also a not so subtle confirmation that the writer’s are aware of criticism about Cam and Mitchell’s relationship.  To be honest, it was a little weird that they haven’t shown any kind of psychical affection over the first 20+ episodes.  One of the great things about the relationship between Willow and Tara on Buffy was that them kissing was never a big deal.  It was just what two people who’re in love do.  Hopefully this will be a stepping stone to showing a more natural relationship between Cam and Mitchell.  What I really liked about the episode was that when Cam and Mitchell do finally kiss it’s kinda in the background as Jay hugs Claire.  It’s almost missable if you’re not paying attention.  And let’s not forget about Alex (Ariel Winter) and Haley (Sarah Hyland).  I don’t think I’ve seen them get so much screen time yet.  Plus they got to do some great scenes together.  Right from the very beginning of the show I’ve thought that the kids on Modern Family had a bunch of talent.  This episode was further proof that I was right.  I love being right.  9/10

2.  Glee “Britney/Brittany” (2×02) – A typical Glee random, almost incoherent, plot that was overcome by the awesome Heather Morris.  Although there wasn’t nearly enough of her for me.  I’m not a fan of Britney Spears, the person or her music but it was a small price to pay to see Heather Morris display her amazing talents.  Naya Rivera also got some more stuff to do but just like Morris I’m always wanting more.  Mark Salling, a guy that’s always underused on the show, was kinda on the sidelines this week but I guess that’s understandable considering it was a Britney episode.  Overall it was a pretty poor episode except for the above mentioned Heather Morris, a great rant by Sue after the “sex riot”, and a subtle but very very funny John Stamos.  I hope that Heather Morris gets more and more stuff to do, and that she gets to cover Ke$ha in the future.  A good episode for Brittany fans but pretty poor story wise.  And I know that I rated this episode lower than a bunch of other shows I watched this week but it goes this high because of my love of Heather Morris.  6.5/10

3.  Community “Accounting for Lawyers” (2×02) – Much better than last week’s episode due to the presence of Rob Corddry (“I stopped doing blow, not being rad”) and a pretty strong episode for Alison Brie.  She was given a decent amount of stuff this week and was made the sexy object on more than one occasion.  The more of that the better.  Ken Jeong wasn’t used to great effectiveness this week but that may change as the season progresses.  Plus Abed and Troy didn’t do much either.  I really liked the tag where Troy was gonna try and run at the wall to cross over into the cartoon world.  Finally, how much of a shock was it to see Drew Carey that damn skinny.  Does he have AIDS or something?  God damn he looked weird.  7.5/10

4.  Eastbound and Down “Chapter 7” (2×01) – A great foul mouthed return for Kenny Powers with what looks to be an entirely new cast surrounding Danny McBride.  Holy balls that little midget was hilarious.  I can’t wait to see what type of antics Powers gets himself into, especially with that hot singer in the red dress.  7/10

5.  30 Rock “When It Rains, It Pours” (6×02) – Finally, the show acknowledges that Tina Fey is a hot piece of ass.  The video clips that Jack puts together for his future son was great, especially when he showed how to throw a punch using Lutz, and how to make love to a woman, using Lutz.  Paul Giamatti guest starred so that was fairly cool too.  7.5/10

6.  How I Met Your Mother “Cleaning House” (6×02) – A very touching and funny episode let down only by the writers insisting that Barney act like the black dude was his father.  It would have been a far more effective episode if Barney’s brother finding his dad didn’t have all that silly stuff involving Barney at the end.  Still, the gang was used effectively and it told a very sweet story.  7/10

7.  Fringe “The Box” (3×02) – Never thought I’d say it but I’m happy that this episode was a monster of the week type deal.  I just hate the idea of Fringe dragging on with our Olivia stuck on the other side.  I hate the type of storylines where you can tell the writers are padding out the season.  This week was good too because the fake Olivia is way more fun that the real Olivia.  She dances, she smiles, she tries to fuck Peter.  She’s better than the real Olivia in every way.  Peter continues to be a buzzkill though.  7/10

8.  Running Wilde “Into The Wilde” (1×02) – David Cross hells yeah.  It’s awesome to see him in anything but to have him team up with Will Arnett on a weekly basis like back in the good ‘ol Arrested Development days is all sorts of wonderful.  Keri Russell was way better this week and Peter Serafinowicz was amazing yet again.  I loved his carpet chest hair and the fact that he wears two Rolex’s on the same wrist.  I think Running Wilde has a great deal of potential but I’m just not convinced that Fox will let the show run if it continues to get poor ratings.  That’s simply not the type of network they are.  6.5/10

9.  Boardwalk Empire “The Ivory Tower” (1×02) – A much slower episode this week partly because there wasn’t the need to establish who all the characters are and what their motivations might be.  I can certainly see Boardwalk Empire following the season structure of The Sopranos.  Slow for the most part with one or two episodes of carnage.  6.5/10

10.  Outsourced “The Measure of a Manmeet” (1×02) – For all the complaints I read about this show last week the one that stuck with me was the whole Manmeet issue.  Critics complained that the writers hammered this joke into the ground.  Well just the other day I heard a news bulletin on the radio about the Delhi Commonwealth Games and the piece contained the name of a Games organiser called Sheila Dickshit.  That may not be how it’s spelled but that’s how it’s pronounced.  I laughed in disbelief when I heard the name and then the radio hosts also made constant reference to it.  When something’s funny it’s funny.  I get the feeling that a lot of critics are trying to find reasons or instances where Outsourced is racist or xenophobic but for me I haven’t seen any yet.  The complaint that the show is simply an endless look at how it’s different for an American who lives and works in India fails to understand the very nature of the sitcom.  It’s a situational comedy.  The show derives its comedy from the situations around the characters.  And a show about a guy stuck working in India is gonna derive its comedy from that very situation.  Get over yourselves critics.  Just because the comedy comes from the differences between America and India doesn’t mean it’s racist.  On a lighter note, the cast are all pretty fantastic so far, and I get a real Better Off Ted crossed with The Office vibe from this show.  I’m surprised to say that I’ve really enjoyed the first two episodes of Outsourced.  6.5/10

11.  The Big Bang Theory “The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification” (4×02) – Well the surprises keep coming because I actually found this episode of The Big Bang Theory funny without too many predictable jokes and a very funny premise.  Add to that Kaley Cuoco looking pretty hot in her running outfit and it was a solid effort from the show.  6/10

12.  Detroit 1-8-7 “Local Hero/Overboard” (1×02) – This week was a definite step down from the pilot due to rather uninteresting cases, but it’s still an enjoyable procedural which doesn’t appear to have the same kinds of trappings as every other procedural on the air.  The show is clearly going for a more gritty and real look in order to set it apart from the other cop shows and I can appreciate that approach.  I’m not so sure I like the character traits that Finch seems to possess but hopefully he’ll develop as the season progresses.  Oh, and there was too much shaky-cam again this week.  Just tone it down a tad and it’ll be an improvement.  5.5/10

13.  Bored to Death “Escape From The Dungeon” (2×01) – I remember seeing promos for the first season of Bored to Death was I was in New York in August last year.  It looked really unique and cool and for the most part the first season lived up to my expectations.  Needless to say I was looking forward to the return of the show.  Unfortunately the first entry in the second season left me kinda cold on the show.  The show’s always been slow and not really laugh out loud funny, but it’s had a style and charm all it’s own.  That wasn’t there in this episode.  I don’t know what else to say other than it was a disappointing season premiere.  5.5/10

14.  Survivor “Glitter in Their Eyes” (21×03) – A pretty damn ordinary season continues to be pretty damn ordinary.  At least the hot Asian chick is still around.  5.5/10

15.  Hawaii Five-0 “Ohana” (1×02) – More average TV.  I think Hawaii Five-0 is gonna be the new CSI: Miami.  Lot’s of nice visuals with some crappy dialogue, by the numbers plots and an annoying lead.  I’ll probably continue to watch it though.  5/10

16.  No Ordinary Family “Pilot” (1×01) – See my review here.  5/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

For the first time since May 9th I get to write a Best of the Week.  God I’ve missed network TV.  Cable has been pretty good over the summer (especially True Blood which showed a significant improvement compared to its second season) but there’s nothing like having all my favourite shows back on the air and checking out all the new ones.  Premiere Week is kinda bananas this year because of the Jay Leno Show debacle and NBC picking up just about everything that came their way.  I’ll watch almost anything new this week or two, besides reality TV (I only watch Survivor), and will give even disappointing shows a couple of episodes before I decide whether they’re weekly viewing or not.  With that said, here’s what I thought of the shows I actually watched this past week.

1.  Glee “Audition” (2×01) – It’s back.  My favourite show from last season returns with everyone looking slightly more attractive, a new football coach, and a couple of new kids showing their singing talents.  Emma (Jayma Mays) was nowhere to be seen this week, but Cheyenne Jackson showed up right at the end as the new Vocal Adrenaline coach to poach another newbie Sunshine Corazon (Charice Pempengco).  Also new this season is Sam Evans (played by the impossibly named Chord Overstreet).  I’m hopeful that Jackson will still appear on 30 Rock this season but I guess it all depends on how fleshed out his stories are on both shows.  Time will tell.  Aside from that, there were some decent songs, I particularly liked how New York State of Mind was shot because it was kind of liberating seeing a performance outside of the auditorium or music room.  It wasn’t the knockout punch of a season opener that I like to get but it was a very solid effort that ranks up their with the best that Glee has put forward so far.  It didn’t hurt that the comedy was supplied from a number of characters this week rather than the usual lone source of Sue.  You can check out my full review here.  8/10

2.  Boardwalk Empire “Boardwalk Empire” (1×01) – It’s just as great as you’d expect it to be with the sheer number of talented people associated with it.  It’s like Goodfellas, The Sopranos and Deadwood had a three-way and Boardwalk Empire was the baby that came from this imaginary sperm soup.  I love that Kelly McDonald is in something that so many people will see.  I’ve loved her ever since I first saw Trainspotting.  The same goes for Steve Buscemi.  He’s so amazingly talented that it’s a crying shame it’s taken this long for him to land as the lead in something so ambitious.  I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds for this show.  And HBO obviously has a tremendous amount of faith in Boardwalk Empire because it was picked up for a second season after its first episode.  8/10

3.  Modern Family “The Old Wagon” (2×01) – I don’t know what to say about Modern Family other than it’s consistently great.  Every single person on this show is impressive and there hasn’t been a bad episode so far.  The premiere of the second season doesn’t change that fact.  All the stories were fun and heartwarming and perhaps best of all is that the season premiere got the best ratings the show has had so far.  I guess all those Emmy wins helped.  7.5/10

4.  Detroit 1-8-7 “Pilot” (1×01) – I’ve seen maybe two episodes each of Homicide: Life on the Street and NYPD Blue so I’m not the best person to compare them, but I really think that Detroit 1-8-7 is going for that kind of feel.  The shaky-cam look (which I think was perhaps a little overdone in this episode), the tone of the show, and the stronger emphasis on working the case made this feel far closer to the two shows I mentioned than the endless number of by the books procedurals on the air.  Another bonus was that unlike Chase, another new crime/procedural, Detroit 1-8-7 had some good acting, led by the super-awesome Michael Imperioli, and some pretty decent dialogue.  The really great thing about the pilot was that even though it was only 40-odd minutes long, just like every other procedural on the air, it didn’t feel like there were these quick jumps in clues or evidence.  It felt like actual time had passed and that the cops didn’t have these miraculous breakthroughs out of thin air.  All in all it was the best new show this week on network TV.  It simply has a feel that no other show on TV has and really tries to hark back to the good cop dramas of the 90′s.  It’s like a mix between the great cop films of the 70′s and TV’s love affair with the procedural.  If the show is able to stay based around the characters more than the crime then I can see this being one of my favourite shows in no time at all.  7/10

5.  30 Rock “The Fabian Strategy” (5×01) – It seems like more of the same but when the show is 30 Rock that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Jack hitting on the gay interior designer was pretty funny and I enjoyed the inclusion of CBS and The Late Show, but other than that this episode wasn’t particularly noteworthy.  Still, it’s 30 Rock and it stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin so this grade is par for the course.  7/10

6.  Running Wilde “Pilot” (1×01) – There wasn’t nearly enough David Cross but I’m hopeful that will change of the season progresses, and Kerri Russell wasn’t that great but she’ll probably grow on me.  But the best outside of Will Arnett of course was the clear Arrested Development vibe.  Still, Fox are assholes and it’ll probably be cancelled within 3 weeks.  Until then I’m looking forward to seeing how the show develops and how long it takes for some Arrested Development alumni to drop by.  6.5/10

7.  Fringe “Olivia” (3×01) – More woe is me from Olivia.  How long until she bangs her head and remembers she’s from the other dimension?  Or until fake Olivia screws up and Peter suspects her?  I get the feeling that this plot point is gonna drag on for a bit and I hated it when I saw it coming in last season’s finale.  6.5/10

8.  Community “Anthropology 101” (2×01) – Fuck Britta.  And fuck Jeff for talking himself out of hooking up with Annie.  I’d been looking forward to Jeff and Annie getting together since the show began and it took all of half an episode for the writers to undo what happened in last season’s finale.  That’s bullshit.  If there has to be a relationship between any of the characters it has to be between Jeff and Annie.  Or maybe Troy and Abed.  6.5/10

9.  Undercovers “Pilot” (1×01) – I really enjoyed the sharpness of the banter, plus Ben Schwartz, a guy I know from brief appearances on Parks and Recreation was very very good as Hoyt.  Leon was also pretty cool and added to the loose, fun vibe that I think the show is going for.  I just loved the lightness to the show and visually it looked very impressive.  My first impression is that the show may end up being a less dark, non-mythological version of Alias.  Just a fun escapist spy comedy thriller.  I can’t think of a show on TV that fits that description so hopefully Undercovers will find a place in the audiences schedule.  6.5/10

10.  How I Met Your Mother “Big Days” (6×01) – More God damn teasing about that fucking mother.  Ever since last season ended the producers have said that the 1st episode would be a gamechanger.  It wasn’t.  It was just more of the same stringing along and frankly I’m getting tired of it.  I want some development in my shows and a show about how a guy meets his kid’s mother should have introduced that mother by now.  Otherwise they should forget that premise and just make it a show about five friends living in NYC.  I’ll watch this show for as long as it’s on the air simply because of Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel but I’ve given up hope of this show ever being as good as the 2nd season again.  6/10

11.  Hawaii Five-0 “Pilot” (1×01) – See my review here.  5/10

12.  The Event “I Haven’t Told You Everything” (1×01) – They all want so desperately to be the next serialized show now that Lost if off the air.  Hell, they all wanted to be the next serialized show when Lost was on the air.  None of the shows that have tried to capture the magic of Lost have succeeded.  Either through poor acting, bad writing, shitty planning of the structure of the season or mythology, or a boring premise, all of the Lost wannabes have failed.  I’m sure that NBC will keep The Event around for this season, and I’ll watch another couple of episodes to give it a chance, but I’m supremely confident that it’s just another crappy knockoff filled with barely adequate acting, writing and directing.  The Event was completely uneventful in every way imaginable.  5/10

13.  The Big Bang Theory “The Robotic Manipulation” (4×01) – See my review here.  4.5/10

14.  Chase “Pilot” (1×01) – Oh my God.  It’s just like every other bland law enforcement agency procedural on the air, but in this case the lead is a stone faced woman with absolutely no appeal whatsoever.  It should come as no surprise that NBC has failed once again.  I’m usually willing to give a show a couple of episodes to convince me that it’s worth my time, but I won’t be watching Chase ever again.  There’s absolutely nothing here that can’t be seen somewhere else and done much better.  4/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Oh man, it’s been a long time since I’ve written up my Best of the Week.  What with work, a hectic study schedule and a lot of shows being on break I haven’t had the time or desire to do one of these.  That all changed this week though because I watched a decent amount of shows and my exams are over.  It feels good.  Hell, I even found time to go see Iron Man 2.

1. Parks and Recreation “Telethon” (2×22) – Detlef Schrempf.  That’s gotta be one of the best and most random casting/cameos I’ve ever seen.  Add in some truly fantastic highjinks from everyone at the telethon, Ron’s sleep fighting, and Leslie passing out at Anne’s in the tag and it amounts to one of the best episodes this season on a show which to me is clearly the #1 comedy on TV.  9.5/10

2. Lost “The Candidate” (6×14) – It’s hard to judge individual episodes of Lost because each season is really constructed as one large story which is broken up in 14-16 parts.  Not to say that the show isn’t consistently fantastic because it is.  I feel like I should have had some emotional response to the deaths which occurred during the episode but it just left me stunned that they actually killed off main characters this far from the finale.  I wasn’t expecting the people who died to actually die.  Not now and not in the series as a whole.  And I certainly wasn’t expecting four of them to go in one episode.  Looks like Jack’s the man now though.  I just wish they’d reconcile the two realities already, but something tells me we’ll learn what the whole sideways thing means in the finale and not a minute sooner.  8/10

3. Community “Modern Warfare” (1×23) – It was like Terminator, Die Hard and a John Woo flick all rolled into one.  Fantastic stuff.  Community is really ending its first season on a roll.  This and the great Goodfellas inspired episode were some of the best stuff this season.  What’s even better is that Jeff and Britta hooking up wasn’t the focal point of the episode so we finally got that over with (I’m not a fan of those two getting together, I’d prefer Jeff and Annie) without it turning into a must see episode.  Oh, and Ken Jeong rocks.  8/10

4. 30 Rock “The Moms” (4×20) – All those returning moms.  Brilliant.  Tina Fey’s boobs.  Brilliant.  Alec Baldwin being a fucking comedic legend.  Brilliant.  I really run out of ways to say how much I love 30 Rock.  This is how a sitcom should be done, not like that piece of shit Big Bang Theory.  8/10

5. Survivor “A Sinking Ship” (20×13) – Russell continues to amaze me week after week.  I wouldn’t of thought that was possible after almost two seasons with him but the guy’s a damn God.  He almost certainly won’t win it this season either (he might not even make it to the final 3) but just like last season he deserves to.  His hand has been in every move over the last two seasons.  That’s unheard of.  8/10

6. Fringe “Northwest Passage” (2×21) – Only two good things occurred in this very lacklustre episode.  Martha Plimpton guest starred (The Goonies is one of my all-time favourite films) and the identity of the “Secretary General” was revealed.  And to no-one’s surprise it turned out to be alternate Walter.  I can see it now, Walternate will tempt Peter to join him, Peter will consider but ultimately side with Walter (yay Peter really does love him, isn’t everything grand) and defeat Walternate in some mediocre fashion.  I hope I’m wrong and the plot develops better than that but I don’t think I will be.  5/10

7. How I Met Your Mother “Twin Beds” (5×21) – I didn’t even make it through the whole episode.  I think that’s the first time I haven’t watched an episode of HIMYM all the way through during its entire run.  What the hell happened to this show?  4/10

Didn’t Find Time To Watch: The Office, Treme, Justified, Party Down or The Ricky Gervais Show.