TV Report: Mother, Wife, Bang

Was it just me or was there nothing on this past week? I guess with the holidays just around the corner, networks are already hibernating. Thankfully, CBS bucked the trend and aired some new episodes giving me at least two hours of new TV to enjoy this week. And enjoy I did as all three shows delivered fantastically fantastic episodes.

How I Met Your Mother - They probably delivered their season-best episode this week (which is great since I didn't like last week's episode) as the gang had to re-evaluate their life choices when Lily/Marshall thought they were pregnant. If I were to say what I loved about the episode, I'd pretty much be talking about EVERYTHING that happened in the episode... from Lily/Marshall FREAKING OUT and learning everything about raising babies in one night to Ted using his "douchey" nature to good effect by kicking everyone's ass AND bringing along a gingerbread house to the movies. I LOVE HIM FOR THAT. There's of course Neil Patrick Harris looking fetching in his diamond suit and I got a little teary when he donates all of those suits to charity. Finally, Robin moves on from her dead end job finally and in the process opens up the possibility of Ted being her best man. Is that foreshadowing to the finale?!

The Good Wife - I hoped TV critics saw this episode BEFORE they came up with their "best episodes of the year" lists, because this should definitely be there. The talented cast show off their skills amidst a tightly written plot of the firm working against the clock to get a man in death row free. All of this is happening as Alicia's house is Command Center to prepare Peter for his debate so the family gets to meet Kalinda (Zach approves!). We even get Cary providing an assists to his old firm just like it was old times. We get a snippet of Kalinda's past as well as some forward movement (albeit teeny tiny) on the Alicia/Will front. Just an amazing hour of TV from start to finish.

Big Bang Theory - I've been a bit mixed about this show since the season began. Some of Sheldon's eccentricities have sort of played themselves out and when the plot revolves around just the guys, it's usually not funny. The season's saving grace for me has been the extra characters (Amy, Bernadette) as well as the realization that Penny is the glue that holds this show together. With that said, I enjoyed last night because Penny gets a good scene with Leonard and her new boyfriend was actually not bad as well. Plus seeing the cast in costume is reliably funny, so no harm there. Extra points for putting Stuart in a Doctor Who outfit.

The rest of the week was spent watching Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and ABC Family since my cousin's family (complete with an adorable four-year old) is visiting for the holidays. Best part was probably the Toy Story marathon we JUST finished watching. Oh and discovering that old school Magic School Bus plays on Saturday morning.