Another wild episode to add to the stable of them that The Office has produced. The main plot, as the title of the episode (”Double Date”) suggests, was a double date involving Pam and Jim, and Helene (Pam’s mom) and Michael. On Helene’s birthday. A more awkward dining experience I can’t imagine.

Or can I? Anyone else recall the ill-fated lunch that Jim and Pam shared with Phyllis and Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration? The one where Phyllis and Bob disappear, only to have Jim and Pam discover that they’re having sex in a closet? I’m honestly not sure which date was worse. Read the rest of this entry »

A combination of baseball and pre-sweeps repeats made for a bit of an odd week. Repeats don’t mean there aren’t numbers of note however. We had Jay Leno’s first shot against CSI: Miami and NY repeats, and a look at what running repeats on Friday does for FOX. That is, nothing good for Dollhouse season 3. Also interesting this week — The Mentalist finally topped CSI in viewers and the demo, and even a repeat Gibbs appearance is worth 16 million viewers. Read the rest of this entry »

Halloween week on TV always is fun. Costumes, parties, and horror stories, oh my! This week wasn’t all about the Day of the Dead, however. We saw Derek buck the odds (and his boss) and perform a miracle like surgery, NBC cancel my favorite new show of year (Favorite show not named Glee that is), and the folks from Supernatural meet their future counterparts. And its not even November Sweeps yet!!

Community

“Batman.” — Jeff
“Yeah.” — Abed
“Are you staying for the party?” — Jeff
“If I stay, there can be no party. I must be out there in the night, staying vigilant. Wherever a party needs to be saved, I’m there. Wherever there are masks, or there’s tomfoolery and joy, I’m there. But sometimes I’m not, ’cause I’m out in the night, staying vigilant, watching, lurking, running, jumping, hurtling, sleeping. No, I can’t sleep. I don’t sleep. You sleep. I’m awake. I don’t sleep. I don’t blink. Am I a bird? No. I’m a bat. I am Batman … or am I? Yes, I am Batman. Happy Halloween.” — Abed

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Was there any particular reason that this was billed as The Office’s Halloween episode? Cold open aside, last night’s comedy could have taken place any time of the year. Wasn’t there a time when themed episodes were themed throughout? At least have some decorations in the office, or employees in their costumes during the day. We’ll see if Christmas makes it into an episode this year.

With Jim busy with Michael, Pam was free to go cold-calling with Andy, the two having the lowest sales for the previous quarter. What happened to Andy the salesman? Actually, in the end their plot was really just a means to show how sad Andy now is. And clients mistaking the pair for a couple was cute, but I didn’t really find anything about it funny. Read the rest of this entry »

We do often get caught up in the big numbers from the big networks. It is, after all, hard to overlook the fact that NCIS is still growing its audience in the 7th season. There are still some very interesting stories happening on the little network, CW. When it was announced that Vampire Diaries would be paired with Supernatural, while Smallville was shuffled off to Friday, many people expected that was the end.

The show wouldn’t be able to come back from a year grinding away on Friday nights. After a few weeks looking at the numbers though, that’s not the case at all. Clark and the gang can celebrate good times, despite taking a hit from the move. In fact, this week Smallville topped new episodes of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, 90210, and Melrose Place. It’s far from done. Elsewhere, we had our first sizable crop of repeats this week, which brought some interesting results. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s column is a tribute to the new sitcoms network television has given us this season. Sure, we’ve still got some hour-longs in there (because you know I’m not going to let one of these posts go up with out some Glee love), but we’re mainly highlighting the the half hour comedies this time around.

Modern Family

“Why is she dressed like the Hamburglar?” — Mitchell, about his baby Lily

“I’ll tell you what’s weird. Our son is not weird. What’s weird is that her kid wears aftershave and dresses like a count.” — Claire, about Manny

“It’s not just the game. It’s the bands, and the drama and the pageantry.” — Mitchell
“Don’t forget about the team mascots.” — Cameron
“They wear ascots?” — Mitchell
“No, mascots, with an ‘m.’ That could have been very embarrassing.” — Cameron

“Claire likes to say you can be part of the problem or part of the solution. I happen to believe that you can be both.” — Phil

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Jim and Pam are back! And the good thing about an office environment is that dating, married, or friends, the fun has the potential to go on. But did it?

Certainly can’t make that call yet, as far as I’m concerned; “regular” office business was not a theme of the week. Instead, Michael dropped a bombshell on everyone, and Dwight took a page out of Greek mythology. No one ever said that you could anticipate plot on The Office. Read the rest of this entry »