Or even just not have it sitting and waiting outside for him, double-parked on New York City streets, for an indefinite amount of time. It certainly seemed as if his limo was the only one there, and I doubt that the CEO wouldn’t have had a car to take him home, so there was something weird going on that allowed Michael to sneak back in after running from the shareholder meeting.

But either way, this was a rather weird and off-the-wall episode. So let’s pull it back for a moment and start at the beginning. Is it Earth Day? I didn’t think so, which confused me at first, and then I noticed the little green peacock in the corner of my screen. And then I realized that The Office is the first show I watch on NBC all week. As well as the penultimate one, so I have no idea what that was about. But a cold-open with Dwight as Recyclops, surfing through the years (and receptionists) was truly back to form. I can’t believe they brought in Ronni (Dale Raoul) just for that! But was Ryan at the desk in the right chronological order? Read the rest of this entry »

(Season 4, Episodes 7-10)

Some weird black and white recreations/flashbacks were going on in these episodes, as well as in episode 4.6, and I hope it’s not a new thing. It felt very Cold Case, only that’s not what this show is about. If no one in the courtroom gets to see these things during trial, what do we need them for?

Six episodes with Richard Bay (Jason Kravits) down; only 25 more to go!

4.7 “Victimless Crimes”

Interesting episode title, considering the two cases of the week were Jimmy defending a woman accused of murdering her rapist, and Bobby defending his cousin, a dentist who bit Lucy on the breast while she was anesthetized. Read the rest of this entry »

I mean, come on! Talk about taking the easy road. What ever happened to getting your hands dirty? Or at least some creative thinking? In that respect, this serial killer was a definite disappointment.

And yet last night’s episode of Criminal Minds was an interesting development in the story of Hotch and The Reaper. It was a bit subtle, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people missed it, but I thought it was a strong move by the show to have The Reaper insinuate himself into an investigation into the current serial killer, at least enough to lead Hotch and Prentiss to spend all of their time tracking down a potential lead that never was.

This episode reached back in time to three cases that live in the annals of Criminal Minds history. The first is clearly that of The Reaper, an ongoing investigation that for now has forced Hotch out of the drivers seat at the BAU. The second was a throwback to season one of the show, and the case of “The Fox,” also known as Karl Arnold, the killer that Hotch and Prentiss went to visit in prison. Arnold was pertinent to the investigation both as a result of his own crimes, as well as because it seemed that the current killer was sending him communications through the mail. Read the rest of this entry »

This is what comedy is all about. A typical, everyday situation that snowballs into a series of events that just leaves you shaking your head and laughing.

In the case of last night’s episode of The Middle, that situation was garbage day, an event that only occurs once every two weeks in the Hecks’ part of Indiana. The garbage truck is heard rumbling along a block away, waking the entire family and kicking their cleanup efforts into high gear. Frankie tosses a beer bottle towards someone, and it hits Brick in the arm. And then “Mom hit me with a beer bottle” brings in the social workers. Read the rest of this entry »

Now this made for an interesting turn of events, didn’t it? Or at least some food for thought. Out of nowhere, we, and Alicia, were hit over the head with the possibility that Peter was on his way home on bail. Thus the episode’s title, “Unprepared.”

I’ll tell you something, folks: I feel a little bit of anger towards Alicia for being so compliant in this entire situation. I’m not saying that, ultimately, she should have acted any differently than she did. But doesn’t it surprise you too to constantly find her just going along, without voicing what she’s thinking or feeling? I feel like a ridiculously tough backbone is sitting right there beneath her surface … for the life of me, I can’t figure out why she doesn’t use it. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been thinking back, yet again, to the days of old. So many shows that have joined the annals of television history, some good, most bad. Actually, an overwhelming number of shows that have seen life have been bad. Yet in the totality of things, every network can boast at least one lineup of historical successes per night.

Or so I’m out to prove. Or disprove. Well, really, all I’m out to do is schedule the ultimate in television experiences for a week. If I can ever make it that far. Many months ago, I talked about my ultimate in NBC Thursdays. Then, more recently, I moved on to Sundays on FOX. The goal is to find one perfect week of TV, but that’s many posts away. So for now, let’s deal with the challenge at hand: Tuesday nights on ABC. Ah, the memories. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s an interesting question, and certainly one we’ve come face-to-face with in the recent past. Those of us up and down the East Coast got hit with the big one back in 2003 … I walked 140 blocks back from work to my wife — then my fiance — getting in just before nightfall, which would have left her stuck in my apartment in the pitch black.

But it didn’t matter so much that the electricity grid was down. Everything was closed, so worst case scenario we couldn’t send personal e-mails (although it did require me to be in the office the following Sunday).

But life at NCIS does not stop for the lights. And boy did that lead to a lot of amusing situations. Read the rest of this entry »