I adore TNT. For me, they seem to have come out of nowhere when Leverage boomed onto the scene (I know, I’m a late bloomer), but I’ve been keeping a good eye on them since then, and every decision they have made has been a winner.

Before Leverage, TNT was going strong with The Closer and Saving Grace, two unique series driven by strong women. Nothing bad about that angle! Since then they’ve realized their original programming is kind of kick-ass, so they’ve debuted Dark Blue and HawthoRNe. It’s like watching a good game of poker, as Kenny Rogers said: “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em (Leverage), know when to fold ‘em (Trust Me), know when to walk away (Saving Grace being allowed to finish out), know when to run (*cough*Trust Me*cough*)….”

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“I’m worse than shallow — I’m a kiddie pool.” – Caroline

I’ve got to hand it to The Vampire Diaries. Just when I think they are going to deliver a boring episode, or go someplace entirely lame or sappy with the storyline, they fool me. In a good way, because they are not afraid to kill, maim or otherwise off a character that we all (well, those of us who didn’t read the books anyway) thought had some staying power for one reason or another.

Where I need to suspend my disbelief, or extend my total trust to the writers, is when it comes to everyone being so very stupid when it comes to Damon. OK, Caroline can’t really help it, but everyone else should be able to have a synapse or two from their brains firing at some point in the episode. It’s not going to be much fun if Damon gets away with everything, all the time.

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One of the things I love about Modern Family is that it’s not only quotably funny, it’s situationally funny. Like tonight, for instance — I roared with laughter through the entire cold open, but I couldn’t pick a quote from it, because it wasn’t the lines that made me laugh, it was the situations the characters were in.

From Phil getting manhandled by Jay (while he was enjoying Gloria and Claire hugging far too much), to Cam shooting the film, to Haley rubbing the battery on her head, there’s something special that happens when the entire extended family interacts. Therein lie the situations.

You want quotes? Let’s break it down to pairs of characters, because that’s where the rich quotes happened tonight.

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TV’s in full swing and we’re just about to enter November sweeps. Do you have something to say about what you watch? Are you a sci-fi junkie, or maybe nighttime soaps float your boat? Perhaps you’re up-to-date on all the latest TV news and have your own take on what it means for the television world. You might just be a writer looking for an outlet, a place to share your unique voice. Hopefully you’re snarky, knowledgeable and funny, without being insulting and overbearing.

With November also comes the holidays, and well, people eat during the holidays. Do you like to cook? Bake? Eat? Maybe you create original recipes and want to share them with the world. I’m betting you like to scour the internet for top-notch recipes too, don’t you? Maybe you like to eat out and drink out and write about your experiences. You might consider yourself a food snob, or you want to tell all the food snobs where to go and praise the simple food in life. If you’ve got something to share about all things edible, CliqueClack Food may have a place for you.

You can go about writing for CliqueClack in a number of ways:

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“That must be that tantric bagpiping that Sting is into … shut the bagpipes up.” – Ted to Robin, about the noisy “bagpiping” neighbors upstairs

What? A How I Met Your Mother episode that was centered around Robin and Barney being a couple, and Marshall and Lily’s domestic issues? I guess that’s not so weird this season, but what is weird is that I actually liked the way both situations were handled, and I laughed.

I’ve been lukewarm about Barney and Robin being together this season. At first, I was really open-minded and on-board, trusting the writers. But then, as they became just a typical couple, I felt disappointed, let down by Bays and Thomas and the entire writing team that I trust to deliver such greatness as “Slap Bet” and “Naked Man.”

Tonight, it worked. I enjoyed Robin and Barney together on several levels, and here’s why it worked:

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I’m just not sure that the ratio of OMGs to eye-rolls is favorable after this episode of The Vampire Diaries, but to be fair, I think we should tally it all up and see where the goodness falls. Just a few observations first, though.

Could Damon have turned a more irresponsible person? I’m thankful that the Vicki storyline isn’t going to become an ongoing saga, but it did account for several eye-rolls this evening (which we’ll get to). And speaking of Vicki, those open-toed boots will probably sit alongside the high-heeled sneakers in the annals of bad style choices.

Oh, a question: can anyone help me figure out who the actress is that plays Mrs. Lockwood? She’s nowhere to be found on Epguides or IMDb in association with this show, and I don’t know where else to look when I can’t remember where I’ve seen her before. I’m thinking a soap opera or something … anyone?

Now onto the tally….

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The best part about Cougar Town is not Jules and her dating problems. Don’t get me wrong, we get some great lines because of it — “I had to sex away his tears” –  but I’m really digging the men on this show. OK wait, the sucking on chocolate for three seconds was pretty classic too. Back to the men….

I started off adoring Travis and the relationship he has with his mom. Then, I appreciated Grayson for all that he was: cold yet sensitive, snarky and unavailable. “Please stop coming to my bar.” That pretty much sums it up.

Tonight, Bobby stole the show for me, with his honesty, the way he can just be who he is without worrying about what other people think, and the way he is clearly still in love with Jules.

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