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In This Week's 10 Best TV Episodes Bobbum Man and Black Hitler Fight to THE PAIN

By Dustin Rowles | TV | November 7, 2011 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | November 7, 2011 |


Shows Watched: 33

The Honorable Mentions: 33. “Man Up” 32. “Bored to Death” 31. “Chuck,” 30. “Saturday Night Live,” 29. “Enlightened,” 28. “Once Upon a Time,” 27. “The Middle,” 26. “Modern Family,” 25. “Raising Hope,” 24. “New Girl,” 23. “Suburgatory,” 22. “Dexter,” 21. “Sons of Anarchy,” 20. “Up All Night,” 19. “The Walking Dead,” 18. “Hell on Wheels,” 17. “How I Met Your Mother,” 16. “The Office,” 15. “Revenge,” 14. “Psych,” 13. “The Good Wife,” 12. “Beavis and Butthead,” 11. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

Sunday nights are officially killing me. I make it a point to have the Power Rankings up on Monday afternoons, but to do so, I have to watch six hour-long dramas on Sunday nights, which keeps me up well into the morning. It’s typically worth it, but “The Walking Dead,” “Dexter,” and “Hell on Wheels” made for a slow Sunday night this week. This is why I don’t watch “Boardwalk Empire” right now (I’ll catch up during rerun season) or “How to Make It In America.” I wish a few of those Sunday shows could switch to Monday or Tuesday, where there aren’t as many decent offerings (the reason I currently make room for “Man Up.”)

Also, I enjoyed the Halloween episode of “Psych” so much last week that I decided to put it back in the rotation, and with 30-plus shows a week already, I had to drop something. I’m sorry Maria Bello and “Prime Suspect.” I think your show is totally decent, but — now with the addition of “Beavis and Butthead” —Thursday nights are crowded enough. The exchange was totally worth it, as “Psych” genre-spoofed comic-book superheroes this week and featured an appearance from Joe from New Kids on the Block. The blooper segment at the end featured Shawn, Gus, and Joe singing “Hangin’ Tough.” It was fantastic.

Meanwhile, “Bored to Death” is a good way to describe this season of that show; “Chuck’s” second episode back has already hit the doldrums; “Dexter” had a down week (and damnit, Mos!), and last week’s number one show, “Sons of Anarchy” fell all the way down to number 21, but that was because it was a set-up episode for what looks like a killer episode this week, which might (fingers crossed) mean the end of Tara.

10. American Horror Story: Spoilers: Part two of “AHS” was creepy as hell, with Kate Mara climbing out of her grave to terrorize Vivien and Ben. Y’all should check out Joanna’s new recaps of both this show and “Revenge.” Here’s what I don’t get, however: If Ben is the guy who f*cked up, why does he get to leave the house? If I were Vivien, I would’ve kicked myself out and made Ben stay as his punishment.

9. Top Chef: “Top Chef” is back. In my opinion, it’s the best reality show on television. I was a little skeptical of this audition round, thinking they were just adding it on so they could squeeze a few more episodes out of this cycle. And while that may very well be true, it made for plenty of drama. It also allows us to get to know the players better before they begin with the final 16.

8. Survivor: Normally, “Survivor” hovers around the bottom of the rankings each week, but this week was one of those classic “Survivor” eps. I thought it was incredibly ballsy of Ozzie to put himself on Redemption Island for the overall good of his team (and probably his ego). It looked like Ozzie’s plan was going to come together perfectly, too, that is until Cochran — who was instrumental in the initial plan — switched sides. And you know what? I don’t blame the guy. His tribe was sh*tty to him. I hate the Hantz kid, but he did have the line of the night, after Cochran voted off one of his old tribe members (after a tie breaker) and the medical marijuana guy called Cochran a coward. Hantz said something to the effect of, “And this is why he turned on your tribe. Because you treat him like this.” Amen. Cochran is the only guy on either team I really care for this season; I just wish he weren’t so weak-willed and apologetic. I’m afraid that his old tribe mates might resort to violence in this week’s episode.

7. Parenthood: Can we talk about “Parenthood” for a minute? It’s obvious where this Sarah/Seth thing is going, and it kills me that it will probably mean Jason Ritter gets dumped (or he heads it off at the pass and dumps Sarah first). I’d like to believe Seth is capable of redemption, but sometimes, you just have to give up, right? Also, Dr. Joe? That’s exactly what this show doesn’t need: Another amazingly good person. There’s no one to root against because every character is so kind and likable. And he has the least amount of screen time, but I think Joel is fast becoming my favorite character. He is such an amazingly good guy.

6. Boss: There was a scene in this week’s episode where Kelsey Grammer’s character dressed down the Governor of Illinois that made me think that there might actually be worse things than hell. Being the object of Kelsey Grammer’s rage is top of that list. Christ, that man is a force.

5. Happy Endings: There’s one thing for certain about this week’s episode, besides the fact that Fred Savage seems to involve himself as director on some of the best shows on TV, and that is that we all want a Steak Me Home Tonight food truck in our neighborhood.

4. Homeland: (Spoilers) For a show about the CIA and terrorism, “Homeland” features a lot of soap-opera elements. Even though you could see Carrie and Brody hooking up a mile away, it was still surprising to witness it, and then see the infidelity play out so dramatically in the lie detector test. Also, Carrie: I wouldn’t have gotten into that car if I were you, you crazy, crazy lady.

3. Community: Black hitler! A wacky effing episode, and thoroughly enjoyable. See the recap.

2. Parks and Recreation: The six timelines episode of “Community” from two weeks ago is still the best episode of a sitcom this season, but this week’s episode of “Parks and Rec” wins hand down for the sweetest. Read the recap.

1. The League: I realize that most of you probably don’t watch this show, and as such, could probably never believe that an episode of a show that revolves around fantasy football could be better than this week’s “Parks and Recreation.” But it was. Oh, but it was. Bobbum Man was insane. “”Fee, fie, foe, fum the End are Near at thou Bobbum Time me open Bobbum Van trunk for ruin Bobbum wif Equipmunk.” He was equal parts creepy and funny, and I have not laughed out loud at anything this season as much as I laughed out loud at this week’s “The League.” Any other week and Taco’s Offline Facebook would’ve been the highlight, but nothing may ever compete with Bobbum Man on “The League” again (although, I’d like to see more of Kevin’s Mundane Ejaculation Man).

Finally, out of curiosity — because the feedback I typically get on the 10 Best Eps of the Week comes only from those who vehemently disagree with my rankings — I’ve added a poll here. If you’d do me the kindness of picking your three (3) favorite episodes of the week, I’d love to see how your rankings stack up with mine. I already suspect, in part because of its relatively small audience, that “The League” won’t even break the top 10.