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The 10 Best Television Episodes of the Week: "What? Oh Now a Brother Can't Twirl?"

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (36)

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Episodes Watched This Week: 33

The Runners-Up

28. “The Amazing Race,” 27. “Hart of Dixie,” 26. “Pan Am” 25. “Survivor,” 24. “Archer,” 23. “Terra Nova,” 22. “Community,” 21. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” 20. “Raising Hope,” 19. “The New Girl,” 18. “Weeds,” 17. “Awkward,” 16. “Sons of Anarchy” 15. “Prime Suspect,” 14. “Up All Night” 13. “Revenge,” 12. “Modern Family,” 11. “The Office.”

The 10 Best Episodes of the Week

10. “Parenthood”: OK, I still don’t like what they put Vince Howard’s character through, but I loved seeing Adam come to his defense, which provided a great “Parenthood” moment. I think Haddie will now disappear into the background for a few weeks so that the show can focus on Amber, who I think we all suspect will soon come out as a lesbian. What the show is missing right now, however, is more Joel. And where did Jason Ritter go? Also why aren’t Joel and Jason Ritter best friends? Make that happen, Jason Katims.

9. “How I Met Your Mother”: Why Victoria! Why! You are meant to be the mother goddamnit. Please come back. See Courtney’s review.

8. “The Good Wife”: By slowly developing the relationship storylines and building them around strong weekly cases, the “Good Wife” has managed to move the chess pieces around without forcing them into unbelievable, untenable situations. Chris Noth has gone from prison to the state district attorney, from sympathetic adulterer to villain, all without stretching credibility. I’m stoked that they also found a way to keep Eli Cummings on the show; when “The Good Wife” runs its course, he and Archie Panjabi could provide the basis for a spectacular spin-off series. This week’s highlight, however, was the stand-off between Josh Charles and Eddie Izzard.

7. “Happy Endings”: Damon Wayans, Jr. is the best thing in sitcoms this side of Troy Barnes and Ron Swanson. Is there a “Fuck Yeah! Brad Williams” tumblr yet? There should be. I also want a frolf T-shirt.

6. “Suburgatory”: This was my favorite new comedy of the season, eclipsing both “The New Girl” and “Up All Night.” I think Jane Levy is going to be a huge star, if not here then somewhere else. See my full review.

5. “Dexter”: Great opening to the sixth season. The question will be, as it always is with “Dexter,” is if it can maintain its momentum. See my recap.

4. “Parks and Recreation”: Am I beginning to detect a small rivalry between readers who prefer “P&R” and those who prefer “Community”? Show waaaaaaaaar. “Parks and Rec” won this round by a sizable margin.

3. “Homeland”: Seth is going to post a full review tomorrow, and I know that with the stacked Sunday lineup of shows, some of you may not have caught it yet. I won’t spoil anything. The show is free on Showtime’s website. Seek it out. I don’t know how Seth is going to come out on it, but I thought it was the best new show of the season. Easily.

2. “Breaking Bad”: I watch “Breaking Bad” live, without the DVR delay. Sometimes, I need the commercial breaks to decompress. See Dan’s recap.

1. “Doctor Who”: It was an outstanding episode of “Breaking Bad,” but I’m giving the nod to a “Doctor Who” season finale that successfully tied together a season steep in mythology and complicated story lines. See C. Rob’s recap.


**************

Season Pass Deleted from my DVR This Week: “2 Broke Girls,” “The Gifted Man,” “Person of Interest,” and “Fringe.”

The second episode of “2 Broke Girls” was worse than the pilot. I’m done. I couldn’t make it through the second episode of “The Gifted Man,” which has already bogged down in case-of-the-weekitis.

Alas, I also finally pulled the plug on “Fringe” midway through this most recent episode. There is too much good TV to waste time on frustrating mediocrity week after week, even if I have devoted this much time to it. It’s time to cut my losses.

“Person of Interest” showed some promise in its pilot, but once the mystery of the machine was revealed, it turned boring fast. The second episode suggested that the show will also fall into the case-of-the-week rut that is so popular with CBS viewers. I allow myself one case-of-the-week procedural at a time and right now that slot belongs to “Prime Suspect,” at least until it’s cancelled by November.

Season Pass Previously Deleted from My DVR: “The Ringer,” “Free Agents,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Unforgettable,” “The Playboy Club,” “Castle,” and “Whitney.”

On the Season Pass Bubble: “How to Be a Gentleman” and “Hart of Dixie.” I do like to give shows, even middling to bad ones like these, at least two episodes before I can them.










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Comments

Archer should be much higher. For pure, goofy adult fun it's the best 30 minutes on TV.

Posted by: logan at October 3, 2011 4:11 PM

I want to like "Happy Endings," I really do, but it suffers badly from one of the most common sitcom pitfalls -- everyone on the show is trying too hard. It's the Courtney Cox curse. Funny(ish) lines are not always funnier just because you make a big face, wave your arms around, or say your lines REALLY LOUD.

Posted by: jimbob at October 3, 2011 4:18 PM

And when "The New Girl" is 19 on the list, something is very, very wrong because that show is BAAAAD. Not one laugh in the entire 30 minutes. And I'm not a Zooey hater.

Posted by: jimbob at October 3, 2011 4:26 PM

Archer is back?? Awesome.

I'm not understanding the loss of love for Community. No way is The Office better. I mean "shove it up your butt?" Really?? Community makes jokes about Dr. Who? Where else do you find that?? Where??

I understand that for some reason some people want Community characters to grow and evolve or something. Who cares! I just want to be entertained for half-a-god-damn-hour once a fucking week. It doesn't need to win Oscars. It just has to be funny. Which it is. WAY MORE FUNNY than The Office, which became pedestrian and populist and predictable years ago.

Posted by: Sbrown at October 3, 2011 4:28 PM

Archer is back?? Awesome.

I'm not understanding the loss of love for Community. No way is The Office better. I mean "shove it up your butt?" Really?? Community makes jokes about Dr. Who? Where else do you find that?? Where??

I understand that for some reason some people want Community characters to grow and evolve or something. Who cares! I just want to be entertained for half-a-god-damn-hour once a fucking week. It doesn't need to win Oscars. It just has to be funny. Which it is. WAY MORE FUNNY than The Office, which became pedestrian and populist and predictable years ago.

Posted by: Sbrown at October 3, 2011 4:29 PM

And obviously the internet agrees because it posted my comment twice. Therefore, I win.

Posted by: Sbrown at October 3, 2011 4:31 PM

I'm with Sbrown on all points, other than the double-post.

Posted by: ChristianH at October 3, 2011 4:34 PM

Was the Amber becoming a lesbian comment just a knock on her haircut? I really don't think that is going to happen. They haven't hinted at that at all before. I thought they might have Drew be gay, but now he's going to have a girlfriend, so who knows. Excellent episode overall though. I give it an A, but more Joel and Jason Ritter would make every episode an A+++.

Posted by: elizabeth at October 3, 2011 4:41 PM

Dustin, were you never watching Up All Night? Since we fit the target demographic pretty well (new parents), the wife and I have given it plenty of chances, but Maya Rudolph is killing any good vibes that Will Arnett creates.

It's frustrating to love one half of a show so much, and abhor the other half just as much. I want more baby scenes! Bring on the baby!

Posted by: JP at October 3, 2011 4:45 PM

The Office was better than Revenge. But there is no way it was better than SoA and Raising Hope. Heck, Terra Nova was better, and it had a whiny teenager I wanted to smack every time he was on screen and whose scenes I ended up fast-forwarding through in the second half of the show.

Posted by: Three-nineteen at October 3, 2011 5:41 PM

Oh, my chick show loving self really wanted to like Hart of Dixie, but that shit is baaaaaaad. Are we really supposed to buy Rachel Bilson as a surgeon? It would be more believable if she wasn't wearing short-shorts while seeing patients.

Posted by: Candace at October 3, 2011 6:02 PM

I'm with you on "A Gifted Man". The second episode showed that the writing of the secondary characters are awful. There is enough good tv for me to put up with that.

However, I think you're doing "Sons of Anarchy" injustice.

Posted by: kerokan at October 3, 2011 6:02 PM

I kind of liked Hart of Dixie. It definitely had some charming moments, so I'm going to give it a chance. It was a million times better than Ringer, but of course, that's not saying much.

Posted by: Mel C. at October 3, 2011 6:04 PM

I can't argue about most of these because I don't watch. Here's my personal ranking of the shows I watched last weel:
1. Parks & Rec
2. Sons of Anarchy
3. Revenge
4. Boardwalk Empire
5. The Office
6. Community
7. Up all Night - the first 2 eps were great. This one was a bit weaker, but Arnett and Applegate still win me over. And apparently I'm the only person that actually likes Maya Rudolph.


Simply making the list is a testament to quality. I have no earthly idea how someone can watch all the shows people attest to watching. Of course, I'm writing this at my office at 6:15pm waiting for an overseas TV conference meeting to start at 7 so that may explain my lack of viewing time. At my low tolerance for crap.

Here's a good rule of thumb, if you have DVR'd a show but when you find yourself with some free time decide to channel surf rather than watch, just delete it. DVR guilt starts to be an irritating bitch after awhile.

Posted by: TylerDFC at October 3, 2011 6:19 PM

Definitely liked Suburgatory and Homeland.

In Homeland, I don't know who creeped me out more Claire Dane's character or Damien Lewis' character.

Posted by: John W at October 3, 2011 6:24 PM

I don't understand people who say that Community's characters don't grow and evolve. That's one of my favorite things about the show - the characters all start off looking like stereotypes, but the more you watch it, the more realistic and grounded they become - much like real life. P&R, on the other hand, has loads of characters that are immediately interesting and unique but never change or develop, and it's starting to get tired.

I feel like P&R is already running out of juice this season. It got old fast, unlike Community, which has always been spotty, but is almost always compelling and fresh (last week's episode, however, wasn't very good).

Posted by: The Dead Burger at October 3, 2011 6:29 PM

Has anyone else watched the abominable "Playboy Club"? It is --amazingly enough-- beyond awful. It's a cheapo mob show involving a cheapo murder, mixed with a half-assed "sexy" show where the "sexy" consists mostly of squeezed boobs in those ridiculous outfits, mixed with really horrible acting, mixed with Hugh Hefner's corpse narrating while pretending there's anything about being a Playboy Bunny that's empowering. All results in one vomit-flavored drink starring the blandest pair of dimples since Mario Lopez. Stay the hell away.

Posted by: Figgy at October 3, 2011 6:33 PM

Figgy, I officially love you for the "blandest pair of dimples since Mario Lopez" comment. It's gold, I tell you, pure gold.

Posted by: MM at October 3, 2011 6:48 PM

I can't understand why there is a need for a show war between people who like P&R and people who like Community. Aren't they watched by a good portion of the same people? I love both whole-heartedly and couldn't compare the two because they are so different. They are both consistently in my Top 5 shows of the week.

Posted by: Arrogant Ambassador at October 3, 2011 7:16 PM

Thank goodness you posted Happy Endings. That is the best show and I love it! Even Elisha Cushbert (sp?) is not ruining it yet!

I love both Community and Parks and Rec- maybe Community more because I found it before I started watching PandR.

Posted by: Ashley at October 3, 2011 7:20 PM

13. “Revenge,”

Hahahaha.

Posted by: jcollier at October 3, 2011 7:28 PM

I loved "Homeland." No surprise there--Damian Lewis--right? But, I was very surprised at Claire Danes, whose shrill shtick usually makes me crazy. I thought she rocked it.

Posted by: Cindy at October 3, 2011 7:48 PM

Oddly enough, Happy Endings has become my favorite show on television (aside from Doctor Who). Very unexpected. It makes me laugh far more than any other comedy on TV right now, Community included.

Posted by: beckster at October 3, 2011 8:45 PM

I love Happy Endings! Watch

Posted by: MiniTs at October 3, 2011 8:52 PM

Really on Suburgatory? As someone who lives in the middle class, white suburbs of New Jersey I have to say that nothing in this show is anything like it. I have never seen anyone watering their grass. I have never known anyone who got a nose job. I know maybe three mothers who are like that. A girl like Dahlia, (sp?) would be vilified and a girl like Tessa would do fine socially in high school. I think both you and the writers of this show are too far removed from being teenagers and at the same time have never spent more than a drive through the suburbs.

Posted by: Me at October 3, 2011 10:22 PM

Yeah and what's the deal with Finding Nemo. Fish don't talk.

Posted by: googergieger at October 3, 2011 10:35 PM

I originally had no intention of watching Revenge, but after reading Joanna's thoughts on the show, I caught the pilot. It's nothing but a prime time soap (not that there's anything wrong with that per se), and unlike, say, the first season of Desperate Housewives, it takes itself much too seriously. No thanks.

Posted by: Uriah Creep at October 3, 2011 10:38 PM

You call this tying together? Blogger please. Nothing was tied together at all. No real answers, they gave most simplistic solution to the Doctor's death(jeez is a little creativity too much to ask for?). It was just a pathetic attempt to continue dragging this storyline for a freaking third season. Moffat is such a a hack. I miss the old days

Posted by: YesPlease at October 4, 2011 5:59 AM

There is a lot of overlap between the Parks and Recreation audience and the Community audience, but I think that's what leads to the inevitable comparisons. They're on the same night back to back and both have small, but loyal audiences with high expectations. Especially with some shows on the potential chopping block, we're kind of forced to pick our favorite child here.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at October 4, 2011 10:47 AM

These all sound great. I only get to watch ADDtv and PBS (except on Sunday for Breaking Bad). But frontline and Nova are my favorite shows with Nature coming in a close third. Sometimes the clicker lands on something new but last night it hit 2.5 men and even my teenage son said they really f*&%ed that show up, and we maybe saw three of the Charlie Sheen episodes ever.

Posted by: Phat girl at October 4, 2011 11:42 AM

Parks and Recreation, a show so lousy it couldn't even make the Louis CK appearance's funny.

Posted by: Beardo at October 4, 2011 12:28 PM

MUCH better than calling this a power ranking. Thank you.

Posted by: valerie at October 4, 2011 1:12 PM

The Middle!? How could you omit The Middle?

"Tardy sweep!"

The Middle and Suburgatory were the best hour of tv last week.

Posted by: grumpiestoldman at October 4, 2011 4:34 PM

The last episode of Fringe was mediocre??? Are you on a particularly insidious pain med?

Dual Olivia's working the same case. Anna Torv was just so good.

Posted by: Adam C. at October 4, 2011 5:40 PM

Interesting Website. Thanks for writing this. I'm going to tweet it to my chums

Posted by: Damian McCarthy at October 10, 2011 8:25 AM

This idea is such a so great. I really think that others would all make such stupendous blog posts and present them freely to the public as you have! Thank you for this!

Posted by: Adela Mattke at November 24, 2011 3:17 AM