Week in Review, Oct 15 to 21

The Week in Television

Thursday, October 15th
Liked: 30 Rock (4x1), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (5x5)
Meh: Fringe (2x5), The Mentalist (2x4), The Office (6x5)
Disliked: Parks and Recreation (2x5)

Hoo boy, this was a weak Thursday. The normally reliable The Office had an off week with "Mafia," with too much sitcom-like silliness and not nearly enough Jim and Pam to balance it out. Fringe was back in mediocre X-Files rip-off mode with "Dream Logic." The Mentalist was predictable and boring. And Parks and Recreation's "Sister City" was almost completely awful. 30 Rock's season premiere was easily the best thing on NBC this Thursday, but it wasn't a particularly strong episode either. Fortunately, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia featured the return of the waitress and was very funny.

Sunday, October 18th
Loved: Curb Your Enthusiasm (7x5), Dexter (4x4)
Liked: The Amazing Race (15x4), Bored to Death (1x5)
Meh: American Dad (5x5), The Simpsons (21x4)

The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror XX" was not the worst Halloween episode ever, but it was still well below average. I barely even remember watching this week's American Dad; it was just there. The results of this week's Amazing Race leg went a long way towards making up for last week's. And Bored to Death continued its streak of good but not great episodes with "The Case of the Lonely White Dove."

Curb Your Enthusiasm's "Denise Handicapped" was the funniest show of the week, largely because Larry actually had to face some consequences for pulling his typical bullshit. His conflict with Rosie O'Donnell was hilarious, and the meeting of his two handicapped dates was handled brilliantly.

Dexter was thankfully back to his murderer murdering ways with "Dex Takes a Holiday." And it was a top notch episode all around. Plus the ending was a complete surprise. I am definitely excited to see what happens next in this very strong fourth season.

Monday, October 19th
Loved: The Big Bang Theory (3x5)
Liked: House (6x5)
Meh: Heroes (4x6)

House's "Brave Heart" was an interesting episode that would have played even better if the promos hadn't spoiled all of the surprises. The most interesting thing about Heroes' "Tabula Rasa" was the promise of the return of Charlie; otherwise, it was bland and boring.

The Big Bang Theory's "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary" guest starred the awesome Wil Wheaton playing evil Wil Wheaton, Sheldon's nemesis. Disappointingly, because it was hilarious, this was the B story of the episode and didn't get a lot of screen time. Fortunately, the A story was nearly as funny, with Penny setting Wolowitz up on a initially disastrous date with one of her friends.

Wednesday, October 21st
Loved: South Park (13x10)
Liked: Modern Family (1x5)

South Park's "W.T.F." was a terrific episode--genius, even. It's hard to believe that Trey and Matt haven't tackled the subject of wrestling yet in all the seasons of South Park. But I'm glad they finally did, with hilarious results. And they even killed Kenny for the first time in forever.

Modern Family had another strong episode this week. This cast is pretty damn amazing, and they really bring the funny. I'm finding that I really look forward to Wednesday nights because of this show. (Since I have to download South Park to watch it, I look forward to Thursday after work for South Park.)