Quick TV Thoughts...

It's difficult to get my head to remember the past week's TV especially with my mind focused on tonight's Academy Awards. Nonetheless, just some brief thoughts on some of the shows...

A Firm Divided in The Good Wife

The Good Wife returns after its brief hiatus with a predictably excellent episode that features not only the welcome end of the debt storyline, but also a storyline that put Elsbeth and Eli together. For the latter, seeing these two breakout characters teaming up to fix Eli's problems was something to behold and I just think the show should find a way to make Elsbeth a series regular already. As for the debt storyline, the firm is all of a sudden in the black and in fact showing profits which makes the existing partners re-think their previous partnership offers to Alicia, Cary, and their fellow fourth-year associates. This creates a fun and tense episode pitting Alicia and Cary against Will and Diane and coloring their mock trial. I love it when Alicia and Cary partner up, but of course in the end the partners decide to offer partnership to just one person: Alicia. Thankfully she accepted showing great growth for her character, but what does this mean for her relationship with Cary? She also kissed Will... drama!

Sad, But Tense Revenge

I've been more frustrated than in love with some of the story beats and character work on this show this season, but I thought last Sunday's episode was quite spectacular especially with regards to anything dealing with Emily-Amanda. Knowing someone was going to die by the end of the episode made every scene in the boat tense and in the end I'm just very saddened to see Margarita Levieva leave the show, since her character, compared to most, was the one that grew the most and I'm really going to miss her. With her death and Helen Crowley's, it's certainly a turning point for the show this season which I'm hoping gets better in the second half. Give Nolan more to do and can we just stop humoring this whole Aiden deal?

Once Upon A Time Expands Family Tree

Everyone probably should've expected this from the very beginning, but this all important pivotal episode of the show finally confirmed it: Henry's family tree is FUCKED UP. We all finally found out that his long-lost father is also Gold's long-lost son! We all predicted this, but to finally see the all of the characters realized this as well was a fun moment for the show and I think everyone involved handled it well. It'll be very interesting to see what this means especially once they're back to Storybrooke. Certainly Regina will be pissed that yet again someone she loathes is blood-related to her adopted son.

I Love You and I Like You Parks & Rec

The wedding episode of Ben and Leslie was everything I could have hoped for. It even seems silly to write about what I loved about it, because it would pretty much just be EVERYTHING. From everyone working together to Leslie's amazing wedding dress to Ron giving Leslie awar to those wedding vows with those black & white flashback scenes... it was glorious. I heard this was written as a series finale if need be and though I would've been depressed if it was, it would've let the show go out with one of its best episodes. They then followed that episode with another one that takes place after the honeymoon is over and it was pretty much an episode to make everything go back to normal again. It was a good and funny episode with Leslie dealing with surviving a correspondent's lunch and Ben getting used to his new job at Sweetums. Renew this show, NBC, or face my wrath!

Miscellaneous TV Thoughts

No time to talk about any more TV, but just want to say quickly that I think How I Met Your Mother has been slightly on fire this month with a strong episode this past week that highlights the show's unreliable narrators. Castle also began its usual sweeps two-parter this time putting Alexis in danger. I just wish the threat was actually real, you know? I also liked this week's Girls episode though a step down from two weeks of really great episode, but I liked putting Ray and Adam together and that Marnie/Hannah phone scene in the end was genius. And finally, how could I not love Community's Inspector Spacetime convention episode?

End-Of-Year: Favorite 2012 TV Shows, Part 1

I watch a lot of TV. A lot. I can't even tell you the number of shows I regularly watch, because you will probably think I need to see a specialist. All of this is just to say that coming up with a top 30 list of my favorite shows is not at all easy. Ranking them is even more impossible to the point that most of the rankings are quite truly arbitrary. This year, I've decided not to include any reality TV shows so I can make room for scripted shows. My top 10 post will come tomorrow, but for now without further a due...

30. Suburgatory - This should've been included in last year's list, but I guess I didn't realize how much I would like the show until the end of its first season making me super anxious for their sophomore season, which thankfully has kept up with the quality of its first.

29. Castle - Clearly I love the show since I'm still watching and it perhaps doesn't deserve a relatively low rank. But it's that kind of show that while I'm watching it I love it, but seem to forget when I'm not watching it. This is not a knock though on the actors as Fillion and Katic are great together, even more so now that they are officially a couple.

28. Political Animals - In some ways this show could've been much higher on my list or not at all. It was that kind of show that really felt like it was going in a bunch of directions. What truly set the show apart though was the glittering cast and while plotlines could get too insane, I just kept wanting to see what happened next.

27. How I Met Your Mother - I began this latest season with much apprehension and unfortunately nothing they've really done have allayed my fears save for Barney's proposal. But I will always be an apologist for this show, because I still truly love these characters and will stick with them through thick and thin.

26. Girls - The voice of a generation? Well, I don't know about that, but Lena Dunham did create a show with a unique voice that slowly, but surely sucked me right in. These girls' lives are a mess and I can't help but watch it all unfold.

25. 30 Rock - For me the show lost some of its freshness a couple of seasons back, but it has truly found itself again the past year especially as the show does its victory lap towards the end of the series. This show, like Jenna's whole life, is thunder.

24. Last Resort - This show had my second favorite pilot this year offering a real adrenaline rush so rare for TV that I immediately knew they would never be able to sustain it and also it would be cancelled after this season. Fortunately, they were able to sustain some of it mostly due to the cast, but unfortunately they still got cancelled.

23. Ben and Kate - I was a little lukewarm to the pilot (though I still liked it), but the more episodes I watched, the more I realized I'm going to really miss the fun sincerity these characters brought. I'm a sucker for sibling relationships also, so this hit all the spots. Plus, best theme song ever or best theme song ever?

22. The Walking Dead - Last season, spent mostly in Hershel's farm, wasn't great, but the latter half of that season ramped up the drama and stakes and kept it going through the first half of the third season that has given us a rawer, visceral experience to this zombie-filled world. Leading man Lincoln has never been better.

21. Dexter - Talk about a much improved show! Who knew all they had to do was pull the wool over Deb's eyes? The way they handled her arc this season was pretty great with Carpenter selling every "fuck" that came out of her mouth. Couple that with Dexter forcing to do some real soul-searching about his dark passenger, LaGuerta's chilling quest, and a three-dimensional villain made for a damn good season.

20. Once Upon a Time - Last year, this show barely made my Top 30, but the end of the first season focused on more interesting characters (Ruby, Mad Hatter) then orchestrated a magnificent reboot of sorts to start the second season giving more meat to previously one-dimensional characters and a much-needed urgency to the plot.

19. Revenge - This show's relative high placement is mostly due to the extreme goodwill the show built up in its freshman season with its addictive soapy drama and excellent use of Stowe and Mann. This second season has been more perplexing and just a bit underwhelming at parts even if I still enjoy the heck of it.

18. Cougar Town - How thankful am I that last season wasn't its last? I wasn't at all prepared to say goodbye to those lovable idiots most especially during the beach wedding finale that make me laugh and cry simultaneously. I just can't help but love these crazy drunks.

17. Happy Endings - I'm just going to repeat what I said last year. This show is "a piñata filled with candy and crack" and while some of the material and relationships seem a little less fresh this time around, it's all still damn addictive. Plus Hip Hop Santa end tag was too awesome for words.

16. Mad Men - Don't ask me why this isn't ranked higher, because unlike what some people seem to think, this wasn't a "weak" season of the show. It wasn't perfect, of course, but off the top of my head I could name so many great moments, episodes, character development that happened. Hendricks and Moss continue to be the series' MVPs.

15. New Girl - Not sure when it happened, but I suddenly fell head over heels in love with this show. It's weird since for most of its freshman season, I felt like I was watching it more from obligation than desire. But then the show became much more of an ensemble and the writers suddenly figured out how to write each characters better. And voila!

14. Awake - Even though this just missed out being my favorite new show of the season, it does get the honor of being my favorite pilot of the year. I was immediately hooked on its brilliant concept of a man experiencing two realities, one in which either his wife or son lived after a car accident, and each subsequent episodes let me fall into the rabbit hole of obsession.

13. Game of Thrones - My favorite new show last year fell a bit in the rankings this year mostly because while I still love the show's world building, you can already feel things spreading too thin. It's still a gorgeous show though with some powerhouse performances from such actors like Dinklage, Headey, and Williams.

12. Veep - *BEST NEW SHOW* As a huge fan of creator Armando Iannucci's film In the Loop, I knew this show, which borrows a lot of its tone and sentiments from the film, would quickly be one of my favorites. A great lead turn from Dreyfus and a hilarious ensemble make it all work and I can't help but laugh uncomfortably at every other scene.

11. Doctor Who - There were only 6 episodes this year, including the super enjoyable Christmas special. The other 5 episodes saw the last adventures of the Doctor with beloved companions Rory and Amy and like many things this show does, they were all sufficiently epic and even heartbreaking especially Rory and Amy's final episode. Smith, Darvill, and Gillan had real chemistry I will sorely miss. But from the looks of things, Coleman will be just fine.

So there they are! As for my top 10, as I said before, they'll be posted tomorrow sometime, but looking at my nominations and using a process of elimination will make it easy to figure it all out. But the key question is... which show will be #1? Any guesses?

TV Report: Premiere Week

How's Premiere Week treating everyone? I myself have watched roughly 12 hours worth of TV shows, which is par for the course for me. I've already made my thoughts known on the new pilots. I already can't wait to see more of what Mindy Project or Last Resort have to offer. On the other hand, I practically have to force myself to watch the second episode of Revolutions, which I haven't even done yet! Of course there's one more day left to Premiere Week and it's packed. There's approximately 7 shows I want to watch tonight. Yes, that's not a typo! But that's tonight. For now just a few very brief thoughts on the returning shows this week I've seen, but haven't yet talked about...

- Steven Weber is Caroline's dad on 2 Broke Girls? I didn't see that coming. I really was expecting some older dude or perhaps keeping his character unseen by the audience. The show itself? Not much to recommend sadly.

- Castle is much better at the funny stuff than at the serious stuff so I was pleased by all the bedroom hijinks and less so at more Kate's mother's murder drama. Though making HRG the Big Bad? Nicely done.

- I recognized that New Girl got way better throughout last season, but was it just me or did the 2-episode premiere kind of started off a wee bit slow? Future Nick was funny, but everything else just sort of happened.

- My thoughts on Modern Family winning the Emmys has been noted, but I still can admit a good premiere episode when I see it and I think they knocked it out of the park. That said, still not sure how I feel about the time jump.

- Is it just me or is it hard to care about Big Bang Theory? Stuart and Raj's scene at the end was nice, but everything else was pretty meh. Kind of over Amy's unhealthy fixation on Sheldon.

- Yes, I still watch Glee, but I actually thought its premiere episode a couple weeks ago was quite good. Unfortunately these last two have not. This week's especially started off with a Blaine solo and ended with Finn returning. DO. NOT. WANT.

- I loved, loved last week's Parks & Recreation premiere with Leslie visiting Washington D.C. This week's episode was more of a mixed bag with three storylines that didn't really gel with each other. Still the best comedy out there though.

- Last, but not least, the Fringe premiere was fantastic. Edge of my seats kind of stuff with the requisite heartbreakingly emotional scenes. The mother/daughter reunion was everything.

I've decided for this new season that instead of doing daily or even weekly updates on every show I watch (which would be ridiculous since I watch EVERYTHING), I'm just going to update when I have actual things to say and comment on. Or at least that's what I'll be trying to do!

TV Report: Week of 3/25

Before I talk about a few of the TV shows I saw this past week, just wanted to remind everyone about the season premieres of both Game of Thrones and The Killing tonight as well as the season finale of Shameless. As always, there's just way too many things on tonight.


Mad Men Finally Returns

They're back! Don, Peggy, Joan, Pete, Lane, and the whole gang! Even Cooper is back without an explanation after he stormed off last season. One main character that didn't make an appearance though was Betty which probably had more to do with Jones' pregnancy than anything. With that said, the two-hour premiere really was great giving us updates on what all of them have been up to while moving the needle ever forward. Don is now married to Megan, Pete lives in Connecticut with Trudy, Joan is a new mother, and Peggy is still with her beatnik journalist boyfriend. With actors as good as these, the plot is almost immaterial and yet we get that great party at the Drapers where Megan single-handedly put the song "Zou Bisou Bisou" in the cultural awareness as well as that hilarious and smartly structured scene with Joan bringing her baby into the office. The episode began and ended with a hint of the civil rights movement making its way into SCDP. Can't wait to see what this season has in store for all of them!

The Good Wife Takes Center Stage

Didn't it feel like this episode was tailor-made to be Julianna Margulies Emmy episode? Alicia took center stage starting and putting out fires one after another. She was tasked by Diane to represent her in a prestigious Blue Ribbon Panel head up by Mike Kresteva played by the deliciously scheming Matthew Perry while also helping Kalinda with her IRS and FBI problem. Oh yeah and she's trying to figure out how to buy her old house back (cue the flashbacks) as well as deal with the surprise twist regarding Jackie. And fight!

Once Upon A Time Goes Mad

I have to say I've been impressed with this show the past few weeks MOSTLY because I've enjoyed the focus of the supporting fairy tale characters like Grumpy, Red Riding Hood, and last week's Mad Hatter. Sebastian Stan as the Hatter was great casting and the fact that his character is one of the few who "knows" about the Curse adds another layer. Hope we see more of him soon. With all of this said, I'm still generally ambivalent over the whole Mary Margaret-David-Regina case even with the "shocking" discovery that Mr. Gold is playing both sides.

It's All Lies for Happy Endings

The fact that last week's episode was the penultimate one this season made me sad a little since it just means I only have one more week to enjoy these people's company until possibly next fall! Unlike last week's episode which largely fell flat for me, I absolutely loved this week's lie-a-thon. How the lies kept building and building until the predictably horrifying and hilarious end was pretty damn good TV. Plus Alex as Ellen DeGeneres impression just confirms why she's this season most improved character... in all of TV. Boom, I said it.

Freaky Fringe Gives All the Feelings

I'm glad that even though we got a touching scene between Broyles and Olivia at the end with Broyles reinstating Olivia to the Fringe team, we still got a whole episode showing the consequences to Olivia's decision last episode regarding the memory replacement she's experiencing. It's also good we're seeing both sides of the emotional divide over this. While Peter and Walter are obviously ecstatic, not ignoring Lincoln and Nina's feelings makes it all the more real. Revisiting an old case was nice for those of us who has stuck with the show this long and I'm happy we're inching ever closer to the endgame of Jones. All of mutant monsters in the end gave me nightmares.

Miscellaneous Thoughts on Other TV

The less said about this week's episode of Smash the better because other than 1-2 scenes it truly was horrible... The will-they-won't-they in Castle is heating up but my patience is honestly getting thinner every week... Don't remember much about this week's New Girl except for Wilson singing songs from Wicked... There's something completely annoying me about Touch but I'm not at all sure how to articulate it... I didn't really LOVE this past week's Awake episode (still really liked it) but that ending blew my mind moreso than I expected and gave me chills... I don't know how to feel over this war between Troy and Abed on Community but everyone has to keep watching... Leonard Nimoy's Big Bang Theory cameo wasn't really worth all the hype... And finally Being Human ended its controversial 4th season in the UK last week. I'll try to form coherent thoughts on it once it airs all of its episode in the US.

TV Report: Week of 2/19

Happy Oscar Day everyone! But before we all get caught up on who's wearing who and which silent French films are winning what, just a few thoughts on some of the TV I saw this past week.

For the Love of New York City

Both The Good Wife and Smash are shot in New York City though the first show uses NYC as a stand-in for Chicago. In any case, both clearly love to take advantage of this. With Smash it's all about featuring locale haunts such as Cloister Cafe or just walking near Broadway's famed Shubert Alley. With The Good Wife, it's the casting. Just this week alone the guest stars included Jonathan Groff, John Benjamin Hickey, Rita Wilson, Parker Posey, Edward Hermann, Denis O'Hare, Teal Wicks, and Amy Sedaris. Whew! You'd think all of those guest stars would suffocate an episode, but not The Good Wife where the bulk of the story dealt with Will's last case before his forced six-month suspension. I'm intrigued what this means for Will now.

As for Smash, it had its weakest episode yet perhaps due to unremarkable songs (though I think I liked the original "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" duet in the end) or perhaps due to some tired plot developments. The episode started well enough with Jaffrey and Davenport having a bit of macho Brit-off and Huston throwing drinks at her ex-husband's face never got tired, but then we got into Iowa and I fell asleep only to be awakened by Kat McPhee doing cringe-worthy country. More sleepy developments... Julia of course had a thing with the new DiMaggio (who is dreamy I give her that) and Ellis is channeling his inner All About Eve. Which brings me back to The Good Wife. Is Caitlin also up to no good? Team Ivy! Team Alicia!

A Very, Very, Very, Special Episode of Glee

Teen suicide. Check. Teen marriage. Check. Texting and driving. Check. Since Regionals was apparently not big enough to devote an entire episode to, Glee's writers decided to just throw the kitchen sink of PSAs into this episode. Spoiler Alert: It didn't turn out well. I have nothing but praise for Max Adler's heartbreaking portrayal of a depressed teen forced into committing suicide, but Glee's inconsistency (see their handling of Santana's coming out for example) and inappropriate reactions (Kurt's reaction toward Quinn) made it all frustrating. The Rachel/Finn marriage is something I never cared about and that ridiculous cliffhanger with Quinn getting hit by a truck was sensationalistic at its worst. Most of the songs were damn forgettable with the exception of the Troubletones fantastic rendition of Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger." Oh and Sue's pregnant. Sigh.

Sitcom Lightning Round...

Most of the sitcoms this week ranged from good to great with my least favorite episode coming from a show that's almost always my favorite. How I Met Your Mother handled the Robin/Ted (and Barney) thing quite nicely, though I was worried that Marshall and Lily were cast in a bit of a negative light here with their long-term bets. Cougar Town was pretty great if only for the sad zipline and staged murders, but I just continue to love the relationship between every character. New Girl, which is now a much better show than it was early in the season, delivers another good one with Jess becoming tougher (as a teacher) and Schmidt/Cece blooming slowly (while Nick/Julia wilts).

Suburgatory showcased two of my favorite supporting players this TV season, Allie Grant and Carly Chaikin, with the latter making me LOL at her detailed plan for revenge against Tessa. Modern Family was a bit mixed since the Cam and Mitch/Jay stuff didn't really work for me, but everything else was great especially Manny and Luke "driving" and the whole doll/virgin metaphor. Not the best episode of Happy Endings even though Elisha Cuthbert continues to surprise me at how funny she is and Max's bear stunt was inexplicably hilarious to me. 30 Rock had a great concept (Leap Year Holiday) and some fantastic acting throughout and yet something still didn't click for me. Parks and Rec probably had it's weakest episode in years as the Tom/Ann relationship is pretty dull, Jerry's party kind of blew, and Leslie realizing she needs to take a break was a bit shrug-worthy.

Fringe Giveth and Taketh Away

This was a huge episode for Fringe (which to be honest is in the brink of cancellation based on its ratings). Not only did we get A LOT of information regarding the Observers, but because things seem to be reaching a climax in terms of realizing the absolute tragedy that Peter's erasure and comeback to the timeline has done. All of them are dealing with their lives being rewritten, erased, etc. and that is wreaking havoc on all of them emotionally. Joshua Jackson again is doing his best work on the show right now and his final scene with Anna Torv was one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the series. Torv for her part was fantastic here as well as in all of her scenes with alternate!Nina. Of course we still don't know Jones' endgame and EXACTLY what is going on re: Peter and the "normal" timeline, but I still got chills during the scene with Peter and September in that room. Poor Henry. Poor Peter. Poor Olivia. Poor us!

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Really great capper for the two-part episode of Castle since I kept being shocked at all of the twists and turns it took... Anyone else starting to think Prince Charming in Once Upon A Time is kind of a goober for being so damn cowardly... It was fantastic seeing Misha Collins in Ringer in an episode where we finally find out what drove the sisters apart... The Amazing Race had its season premiere, but I didn't have much to say other than being happy it's back... And finally congratulations to The Simpsons for a solid episode last week which also happened to be their milestone 500th episode.

TV Report Catching Up

Internet troubles and other reasons conspired in me skipping my usual TV Report last week which means I now have 14 days of TV to try and talk about. And knowing my TV habits, that's a lot aka 30+ TV episodes. So in a effort to just catch up, just a few quick thoughts in alphabetical order:

2 Broke Girls - I'm still not sure what I think about Jennifer Coolidge's Sophie added into the ensemble, but any character not diner-related is potentially great. Last recent episode with Earl going to the hospital was good to show Max's softer side.


30 Rock - Jane Krakowski is dependably best in show, but Tina Fey has been stepping up her game. Her old lady Joker in the latest episode (to complement Jack's Dark Knight) was inspired. The one-hour episode the week before though dragged. Would've made a better half hour installment methinks.

Big Bang Theory - There are seven main characters on this show. So why does only one, the newest addition, Amy brings the laughs? Oh sure Sheldon and others will get a joke here and there, but the writers are doing most of them a disservice with dull plots such as Bernadette and Howard's prenup or the lame contest between Sheldon and Kripke.

Castle - This show brought out the big guns. First having an episode enabling the characters dressed up in 40s outfit in a flashback then having the first part of their February sweeps thriller event that involves the CIA. Both were very strong episodes and I can't wait to see the second part.

Cougar Town - It's finally back and still called Cougar Town! And I loved it. From the cold open showing us these people are still the alcoholics we know and love to that heart-clutchingly beautiful proposal in the end, it was a great premiere. The latter scene was made even more effective by showing us momentarily Bobby's heartfelt and sincere mixed reaction to the proposal. Didn't even mention the other gags like Evil Stan, the green screen, and Jules predictability.

Fringe - The ratings are super depressing, even more so since these last two episodes have been this season's best (and right up there in terms of the whole series). It helped that we're finally getting closer and closer to the resolution of the Amberverse as Olivia's memories are starting to come back. I constantly praise Anna Torv, right so, but Joshua Jackson reacting to this has been a wonder these past couple of episodes. It also helped that the Cases of the Week were strong on their own.

Glee - The less said about the Ricky Martin episode the better (though Martin was completely fine and predictably charming and Naya Rivera killed in all of her scenes). I actually found myself liking the Valentine's Day episode. The Karofksy twist was pretty unexpected, Mercedes' glorious "I Will Always Loved You" hit all the right notes, and Rachel's dad were fabulous.

Happy Endings - Two words: James Wolk. I think other things, potentially gut-bustingly hilarious things, happened in these past couple of episodes, but really JAMES WOLK. His Valentine's Day kiss with Max then his subsequent shirtless scene the episode after... yes, please.

How I Met Your Mother - A bit of a mixed review for this show. The housewarming party episode was great in terms of concept, but the content was uninteresting. This week's episode was better in no small part to Cobie Smulders' heartbreaking performance YET AGAIN. The end with her and Ted is a curious development. Finally, I've been on the "drunk train" once. Completely accurate.

Modern Family - I actually think the past couple of episodes were above average with some really fun storylines. Cam and Gloria competing, Phil's obliviousness to Claire getting hit on, and the whole fuckery that was the Aunt Mommy deal. Good stuff.

New Girl - Can this show be hitting its stride? I think so since I've unironically liked more episodes lately than not. The Lanlord episode was HIGHlarious especially when Jess and Nick got this close to getting into a threesome with their landlord. The Valentine's Day episode was a bit of a hit-and-miss but Ryan Kwanten is pretty and we finally get the Schmidt-Cece pairing that was pretty inevitable.

Once Upon A Time - My friends have a problem with the show taking its methodical time actually progressing the plot, but I'm sort of okay with that as long as they keep telling interesting retelling of fairy tale stories which I thought they did with Beauty & the Beast. Emilie de Ravin and Robert Carlyle really made it all work.

Parks and Recreation - I thought they handled the most anticipated reunion of Leslie and Dave well especially coupled with Ben's uneasiness with cops. It gave both Louis C.K. and Adam Scott an opportunity to really go crazy in this episode playing off their feelings towards Leslie. Andy writing Leslie's campaign song was also good though mostly for Ron's Duke Silver reappearance. After this episode, I'm undecided about Tom/Ann.


Revenge - I could and SHOULD probably write a whole separate entry on this show, because since Daniel and Emily got engaged it's been nothing but an insane ride for everyone. We are introduced to the truly harsh Grandfather Grayson making Conrad/Victoria's divorce a bit trickier. Jack gets super frustrated and crashes a dinner party whereby Charlotte finds out about her real father. Tyler (!!!) comes back and makes Emily's life that much worst. We go back to the first scenes of the pilot and finally find out that... Tyler gets shot and Daniel may be the one to have done it. And I'm not even conveying all of the other twists and turns and the unspoken acting showcase Stowe and VanCamp engage in whenever they have a scene together. Love this show.

Ringer - Like Revenge, these past two weeks brought a lot of plot developments to a head mostly thanks to Siobhan finally being in New York and interacting with others. Her letting Henry find out about Bridgette was something the show probably needed to do sooner, but glad it's happened. I appreciate the twist on the whole Julia/teacher/rape thing, but I still think that storyline is too much.

Smash - Thankfully I managed to put my thoughts on the pilot down already so I don't have to do it. As far as the second episode goes, I'm still pretty much in like with the show. Megan Hilty is so great and so it's actually making it difficult to connect with Kat McPhee's character since I'm rooting for Ivy so much more. Like the pilot, the adoption story is shrugworthy for me even more so after those cringe-inducing scenes in this second episode. The singing/dancing performances were aces and I still find Jack Davenport (and Anjelica Huston) so much fun to watch.

Suburgatory - The latest episode "The Body" was okay, but not one of my favorites. It at least gave the Shay siblings interesting storylines which is welcome. I much preferred the week's prior episode dealing with sex. Tessa navigating her tricky relationship with Scott Strauss and George finally getting some were great, but really Cheryl Hines dancing to Kelly Clarkson's Stronger was my scene of the week.

Whew! Now on to a new week of television. The Good Wife returns! Season premiere of The Amazing Race! 500th episode of The Simpsons! Downton Abbey season finale Christmas special!

People's Horrible Choices

Tonight is the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, but I had prematurely wrote two days ago that this was the "first televised awards ceremony of the awards season." I had neglected to count the People's Choice Awards that took place last night. Granted these awards don't really matter especially as their tastes have slowly, but surely matched those with the Teen Choice Awards. I mean Katy Perry won FIVE awards last night and one of them was for guest starring on a TV show. Adam Sandler, who apparently is still relevant, won Favorite Comedic Movie Actor, Water for Elephants was their pick for Favorite Drama Movie, and Kim Kardashian won the non-ironic Favorite Celebreality Star. So yeah, this award = horrible. Speaking of Horrible...

Former Dr. Horrible arch-rivals win!

The Dr. Horrible pair of Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion grabbed Favorite TV Comedy and Drama actor respectively to go along with both of their current shows winning Favorite Network TV Comedy and Crime shows respectively. In fact it was a particular Whedon-y night as David Boreanaz and a lovely and pregnant Alyson Hannigan (with husband Alexis Denisof in tow) presented awards (albeit not together). Other pleasant results of the evening include Emma Stone being a double winner in the movie category capturing Favorite Movie Actress (The Help) and Comedic Movie Actress (Crazy Stupid Love). Awards magnet Bridesmaids took home Favorite Comedy Movie while the final Harry Potter flick took home four awards including Favorite Movie and Favorite Ensemble. Hilariously, Chloe Grace Moretz won Favorite Movie Star Under 25 over the four Harry Potter actors she was up against.

The ceremony itself started out well with an extended, but funny Big Bang Theory sketch featuring host Kaley Cuoco. She then had a great back-and-forth with Neil Patrick Harris about his desire to host. Emma Stone then won her awards and it was then fast forwarding through about 70% of the ceremony for me. Cuoco was personable enough, but there were more than a few moments where you can tell she wasn't completely at ease. It didn't help that some of her jokes fell a bit flat with the audience. I also really enjoyed the random, but welcomed Parks and Recreation sketch in the middle of the show. For a complete list of winners, click here.

End-Of-Year: Favorite 2011 TV Shows, Part 1

Certainly took me long enough, but I'm finally posting my Favorite 2011 TV Shows. I did a rough count today and figured out that I have seen more than 870 television episodes last year. I knew I watched a lot of TV, but I was still shocked to see that kind of number. With that big of a sample size, it was tough for me to narrow it down to my Top 30 TV shows, but I tried below. I'm saving my Top 10 for tomorrow, but here are the other shows on my list...

30. Ringer - There were many new shows fighting for this last spot, but I eventually went with a show headlined by my childhood hero Sarah Michelle Gellar aka Buffy Summers. The show itself has lots of potential especially if they take themselves a lot less seriously. In retrospect, I probably should've included Suburgatory instead of this or another show on my list.

29. Once Upon A Time - Upon further reflection, it's odd this show made it in my list, but not Grimm whose initial episodes and tone appealed to me more. Some of it has been my laziness to catch up on the latter show, but I am also starting to get caught into this show's spell. Some of the acting is still pretty cartoonish, but I think the show has its heart in the right place.

28. Greek - I was sad to see this group of college buddies say goodbye, but I definitely enjoyed the journey they took me on. The final episode was a great highlight featuring every character and various relationships of the show. RIP KT House.

27. United States of Tara - The highlights this season were Toni Collette really going off the deep end and Eddie Izzard's brief supporting role. Other characters had solid emotional beats to play and for the most part they were all left in a good place during the series finale, though a bit bruised and battered.

26. So You Think You Can Dance - A pretty entertaining season capped with an all-girl final between two amazing dancers not to mention the final two boys being Asian! Love that Melanie ended up winning, but I would've been happy with any of the top 4.


25. The Walking Dead - Did we really need to spend most of the season looking for Sofia or being stuck in that farm? Probably not, but it certainly made that last scene all the more spine-chilling. Plus I'm okay with the slower paced episodes, but I wished more (believable) character development happened other than Darryl.

24. Amazing Race - Not the best two installments of the show, but they were still better than most anything on TV. Race-wise I enjoyed the earlier All-Stars season with Kisha/Jen winning versus the later season with Ernie/Cindy winning.

23. True Blood - I was pleasantly surprised this season perhaps because I actually liked most of the storylines plus or minus Jason's werepanther adventures or Sookie and Eric's sexy times. A lot of the actors stepped up this season and the witch vs. vampire big arc was really interesting.

22. The Hour - Many people call this the British Mad Men and I'm pretty sure it's meant to be complimentary. I really ended up liking this even though some of the stories were a bit too twisty for me to unknot. I was most impressed by Whishaw and Garai and their relationship.

21. Wilfred - Caught up on this show over the long Labor Day weekend and highly enjoyed it mostly due to the fun chemistry between its two lead characters. Props to Gann for really getting the essence of being a man in a dog suit acting like a dog. Kudos to Wood for acting along side him!

20. Modern Family - This has plummeted in my list, less because of its quality which is still top-notch along with its amazing ensemble, and more because there are just more sitcoms I've found I love more than this one.

19. Misfits - Did I miss Nathan? Maybe a little bit, but Kelly kicking ass and her relationship with cutie Seth more than made up for his absence. Their new powers were pretty unexciting, true, but solid episodes throughout. The finale was especially engrossing especially that tragic end for a couple of characters.

18. Big Bang Theory - The girls are why I tune in now, which is not to say that Parsons and the rest of the guys aren't good. It's just that I consistently enjoy the girls more and most of that is the chemistry between Penny and Amy.

17. Castle - I never know why I always end up ranking this show relatively low compared to my feelings regarding its awesome cast and fantastic episodes. Perhaps it's the procedural aspect of the show which screams "BEEN THERE DONE THAT!" That said, I have much love for this show and hope they can keep it up.

16. Friday Night Lights - This is probably as high as it is, because I actually saw every episode of this series this year though of course only a handful of episodes actually aired this year. Even so, it was a pretty good ending for a series that could've ended far sooner. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.


15. Cougar Town - It has felt like more than a year since we got a new episode of this great show, but alas its low ratings and awkward title has done its damage. But no matter since this cul de sac crew has wormed its way into my heart and forever they will remain.

14. How I Met Your Mother - This is such a complicated show to rank since it's one of the shows I look forward to each week and while they more often than not do great episodes, there have been more than a few clunkers. In the end, it's all about how excited I am every week for it and in spite of itself sometimes, I'm always excited!

13. Shameless - I was pretty much ready to write this show off as another useless American remake of a British show, but then I caught it and immediately fell in love with the Gallagher clan. I was most impressed with Emmy Rossum caustic portrayal as the head of the chaotic household. Can't wait to see them back on TV.

12. Revenge - This show was probably the biggest surprise for me this fall season. I expected this to crash and burn, but not only did it deliver one of the strongest pilots of the new season, but it somehow kept its juicy mixture of trashy guilty pleasures with strong characterizations and acting.

11. Happy Endings - I once described this show as a piñata filled with candy and crack and it's so very apt. It's continuously weird and endlessly funny. The characters are a big part of it as there's no weak link (yes, even Alex and Dave).

Any shows here that surprised you? Anything shocks you at being missing? Perhaps they'll show up tomorrow when I post my top 10 list. Or perhaps they just missed the cut.

TV Report: Weekly Drama Rankings

As you will be able to tell once you read my thoughts on this week's drama shows, I have a lot of feelings and I just needed to get them out.

1. Loyalty (Revenge) - Is it just me or are you also starting to feel sorry for a bunch of people on this show? You know who I feel sorry for the most? Fake!Amanda. She's the epitome of a pawn and while Real!Amanda (now Emily) met her in jail, deep down all she really wants is something to love her and at the moment she has found that in Jack. Granted their relationship is all based on lies, but I'm oddly finding myself pulling for those two if only because they are hopelessly caught in this war that Emily is currently engaging. Another person I'm starting to feel sorry for? Victoria. I actually look to the day when she and Emily team up against Conrad, but that's probably way into the future, but right now she's in an empty house forced to ally herself with Ashley of all people. Then there's poor lovesick Nolan. The fact that he was actually starting to feel things for Tyler is a little bit ridiculous (which is one reason I love this show), but my heart goes out to him. Finally, poor oblivious Daniel. Sorry you can't speak Japanese so you can tell your girlfriend is totally carrying on a completely different conversation over dinner with some other guy! Whew, that was longer than I expected but I felt the need to get my feelings out. And who saw the teaser for next new episode? Brilliant or BRILLIANT?

2. The Shepherd (Once Upon A Time) - Don't ask me when I've gotten excited about watching new episodes for this show. It just happened. I think most of it has to do with my crazy crush on Josh Dallas aka Prince Charming. If you've seen him, you'd understand. For some reason people are already tired of the will they/won't they plot this show is taking Snow and James, but people forget it's only been five episodes. I love the chemistry between Dallas and Goodwin and they may be my favorite part of the show at the moment. I also quite enjoyed seeing James' background aka being the twin who grew up as a shepherd and had to replace his dragon-slaying brother to save the kingdom. It felt familiarly fairy-tale-ish and epic at the same time.

3. Parenting Made Easy (The Good Wife) - How great were those ten or so minutes when we thought something awful happened to Grace? Yes, she's not one of my favorite characters on the show, but I was hoping for something crazy tragic to happen just to see how it'd affect the rest of the character especially on Alicia. We got a glimpse of it (Alicia regretting her sexual dalliance with Will, Peter stepping up, Kalinda always being a friend to Alicia), but of course when we find out she's just off getting baptized, I was duly disappointed. That said, I knew they would never have done something as radical as what I had wanted, so que sera. I always enjoy when Michael J. Fox guest stars as his verbal spars with Julianna Margulies are very entertaining. It was great seeing him once again seem like a good guy (helping Alicia when she found out about Grace) only to go back to being the cutthroat lawyer he's known for. It was also great seeing Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter play against type as the uptight conservative as well as bringing back the scorned Megan who Alicia failed to hire earlier this season. All in all a solid episode with Will's investigation, Kalinda's relationship with Dana, and Eli's role in the organization simmering on the surface, but never really going anywhere yet.

4. Cuffed (Castle) - I'm actually not a hardcore Castle/Beckett shipper even if I think Fillion and Katic have chemistry to spare, but I bet those who are were absolutely giddy at the prospect of having both of these characters handcuffed to each other all episode. For their part, the actors really did do well to keep the audience interested and invested in their plight as the layers slowly peeled away to reveal the real story. For me though, as soon as we got to the tiger reveal, my attention started waning. I think what cost this episode was my expectation. I was truly expecting something a bit more tense and visceral, but it actually turned out to be a pretty light, banter-ful episode. I'm usually the first to praise the show for its deft ability to balance humor and drama, but I think with the stakes that have been raised in this season in particular, I expected something with a bit more heft than what we ended up getting with this episode.

5. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Pan Am) - I'm decidedly mixed on this episode. As usual I love anything and everything to do with Collette and this episode in particular gave her much to work with from her flirty and exciting trip with Dean to that awkward and tense scene with Dean's parents to that bow chicka bow wow hay scene in the end. This show is bound to be canceled, but PLEASE someone, anyone find Karine Vanasse a headliner. I also, for probably the first time, found Laura and Ted's relationship/characters interesting. I don't have a pulse as to why exactly, but I definitely paid more attention to their scenes than I usually did. But the show faltered when it came to Kate and Maggie's storylines. Kate's drama with the agency is getting mighty tiresome even if I was a BIG fan of it earlier on. The ending, with her shooting someone, was exciting and that might make me feel love for this part of the story again, but for most of the episode I couldn't wait for it to be over. I also liked where Maggie's story ended, with the Senator wanting to see her again. But her struggling to coincide her beatnik side with her mainstream side rang hollow to me and setting the bathroom on fire was the height of slapstick.

6. Hold On to Sixteen (Glee) - They say when you have nothing nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. [crickets]. Okay, this episode wasn't that bad. It was at least much better than last week's travesty. I've already forgotten to care about the whole Santana/Finn dynamics at play though of course Santana is back to being her grade-A bitch self when Sam comes back. Speaking of, I'm oddly happy that Chord Overstreet and his abs are back if only so we can pretend that this first half of S3 never happened and in hopes that Mercedes will have an interesting love interest. His return was a bit forced and not at all believable, but that's hardly a misdemeanor in Glee-world. The Finn/Blaine faux drama was exciting for about a second when sweaty Darren Criss was pounding the punching bag (I don't mean Finn). Most of the episode revolved around Sectionals. I actually loved all of the numbers performed during it and while I still prefer the Troubletones (they make me think gross heterosexual thoughts) over New Directions, I don't think the former team was incredulously robbed. I wished they had prepped us more on the Michael Jackson medley, but springing that up on the audience is the Glee way. In the end, the writers seem to want a big re-do. The group is back together, Shelley is leaving, they are going to Nationals, and all is right with the world. Notice I didn't mention anything having to do with Quinn's character. Please refer back to my first sentence.

TV Report: Weekly Rankings

Many TV shows took the week off either because they were pre-empted by live shows or because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Still a few shows got in there with some new episodes with many getting close to go on their usual winter hiatus.


Last week I commented about how the dramas let me down a bit, but this week, the four that had new episodes stepped up to deliver good solid episodes.

1. Suspicion (Revenge) - This crazy show somehow got even crazier this week and I seriously loved it. The biggest surprise of the episode was finding out that Emily is really The Bride from Kill Bill or perhaps Bruce Wayne complete with a Japanese mentor to teach her in the art of revenge. I wanted to laugh and applaud at that little development there. The other big thing that happened, which I suspected would happen as soon as we met her, was that the REAL Emily Thorne now Kara Wilkins had decided to attach herself to Jack making him believe she's Amanda Clarke, his childhood sweetheart. The look of anger, hurt, confusion Emily had when she discovered this was pitch perfect. Tyler, always the schemer, uses Nolan and Ashley to get one up against Daniel while Ashley finally grew a backbone against a Victoria who is finding herself in need of allies at the moment. Game on, everyone!

2. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (The Good Wife) - Like Revenge, it felt like this episode was all about confrontations. Alicia had to confront Jackie over her overly snooping ways, Diane had to confront Will about his relationship with Alicia, the States Attorney office confronted Diane to get to Will, Eli had to go up against an old ally, and finally the Dana/Kalinda/Cary triangle kept heating up. All of this was foregrounded with a tricky military case of a woman being scapegoated after inadvertently killing a dozen civilians with an errant missile. In any case, at the moment I'm looking for a way for the show to bring it all together. Last week's episode was great, but it's clear it's all building up to something explosive.

3. Kill Shot (Castle) - This was a clear Emmy-submission episode for Stana Katic who impressed as Beckett still not over her shooting from last season's finale. Trying to catch a serial sniper, her issues came to the forefront and she expectantly faltered only to bring herself out from it. The scene with her and Esposito inside the evidence room was particularly affecting as were all the times Castle just let her be to deal with her issues in her own time. My one complaint was that it perhaps crossed the melodramatic line in a few spots and I think they would've been better served pulling it back just a tad.

4. Vs. (Terra Nova) - I have to say that this was a particularly solid episode especially since most of it felt like exposition to the show's bigger mythological questions. We learned about some of the backstory with Taylor and his son, but I wished we had gotten this information a bit more organically. It seemed a little too convenient that Boylan was the one person in Terra Nova to know about the dead body underneath the Pilgrim Tree and the way Taylor just gave all the information to Jim was a bit coming from out of nowhere since it seemed that was more a priority than finding out who the mole was. My theory that didn't pan out (yet) was that Reynolds is the mole.


And now for the comedies...

1. The Rebound Girl (How I Met Your Mother) - I see many people praising the episode for most everything until the very last moment. Before we get to that, the episode overall was pretty great. Ted and Barney's decision to bro-parent was silly, but still believable especially in the situation where they currently find themselves in. I very much enjoyed Robin's freak out about Marshall/Lily's possible move to Long Island and the latter's misconception that their NYC apartment is now too small for them in comparison. Basically, an all-around solid episode with the talented cast. The surprise ending reveal of Robin's pregnancy IS shocking and while many are already complaining about how it's too similar to Friends and how this plot point is completely ruining the Barney/Robin storyline, I'm going to give the show the benefit of the doubt and just savor the shock of it all.

2. Thanksgiving (Suburgatory) - Lots of things to like about this episode, such as Tessa/Dallas working together and bonding, George's resolve to treat Tessa less of an equal, Dalia's vendetta against Yakult, and Lisa's brilliant take-down of her mom's overbearing ways. The latter's conversation with her himbo brother about Eternal Sunshine was also a highlight. What I appreciated also was the continued world building the show did with giving us brief glimpses of previously off-screen family members like Sheila's husband, Noah's wife and kid, etc.

3. Week Off (Up All Night) - This show is really growing on me especially now that Ava seems closer to a real person that earlier on (which was also fine, but it created a schizo tone that the show couldn't handle). Chris' temptation to go back to working worked well with Reagan trying to find ways to occupy her time with a week off from work. I loved that in the end Chris realized that he loved staying at home with Amy, but that Reagan needed to know that he needed to feel in charge there. For her part, her type A personality came out and hilarity ensued.

4. Punkin Chunkin (Modern Family) - I enjoyed this episode, but there was something missing for me. Maybe it was because I expected the show to do more with guest star Josh Gad. The episode revolved around differentiating the realists with the dreamers with the former group containing most obviously all of the adult Pritchetts (and Alex) and I appreciated consistency of the characters in this regard, but it's also nothing new. The end was heartwarming, but they've done better.

5. And the Very Christmas Thanksgiving (2 Broke Girls) - This had the misfortune of coming right after I was still processing the shock ending in HIMYM so I promptly blanked out on the first ten or so minutes. It was an okay episode, mostly because we were back to the two girls with their thing and less about Johnny/Max. I also appreciated Kate Denning's one liners and Beth Behrs acting hopped up on energy drinks. The dual holiday tribute of the episode is a bit annoying because we can't be talking about Christmas already, except everyone totally is so there's that.

6. Full Court Dress (Happy Endings) - A weird episode mostly because you expected a Thanksgiving-centric episode and instead we get one that was pretty scattered by itself. Was it funny? Of course it was since these characters are a damn hoot, but the fact the the story lines didn't really come together made this episode a bit unforgettable. In fact the whole psycho mailman B-plot was actually pretty bad until the very end with the group inadvertently scattering his ashes.

I'm thinking ranking episodes between now and until after the holidays will be tricky with shows going in and out of hiatus so I may discontinue talking about TV this way starting next week. Stay tuned.

TV Report: Weekly Drama Rankings

Posting this way later than expected, but Sunday got way busier than usual. In any case, it was an interesting week of TV with a couple of shows I usually love delivering weak episodes while shows I haven't showed much love to in recent weeks stepping up.

1. Executive Order 13224 (The Good Wife) - Who knew a critically-acclaimed drama can be so damn funny? And yet last week's episode did just that. It's even more incredible since the Case of the Week was pretty serious as it involved torture and terrorism. But of course the show was able to mine comedy from all the loopholes and red tape and secrecy that Homeland Security inflicts when it's such a case like this. My favorite were the re-enactments of the blacked-out documents with the people getting bleeped out for every blacked-out word. Also liked Diane and Will arguing whilst Alicia was in the room about what they will or won't do with Alicia in the room. Guest star Carrie Preston also brought the funny representing Alicia against the government. "I. Am. Swamped. Look. At. All. This. Paper." Oh, I laughed so hard. I didn't even mention the hilarious scene with Diane and Kalinda overhearing Alicia's ringtone when they were talking to Will who was supposedly at lunch. Uh-oh. The sexual harassment video to end the episode was the perfect capper.

2. And Those We Left Behind (Fringe) - Another masterful episode slowly unraveling the mystery of Peter's disappearance (and now re-appearance) with a purely cool sci-fi concept of time bubbles and time loops. It's a bit heartbreaking seeing Peter try to deal with a version of Olivia and Walter that doesn't know him and more importantly doesn't trust him and the three actors are impressive in conveying all the emotions that are inherent in this situation. As far the the time bubble storyline, that too was it's own brand of heartbreak as real-life couple Romy Rosemont and Stephen Root played a couple separated by mental illness.

3. Truth or Dare (Pan Am) - This episode had a few moments that reminded me of the show I fell in like week those first few weeks of the fall season. First, Collette was back and actually had more than one line of dialogue which is always a plus. Her face when flying the plane was exquisite. Dean also becomes a somewhat interesting character when she's in proximity. The respective romantic story lines of the two sisters were just a tad melodramatic, but I think all of the actors involved handled themselves well. It was especially great seeing Friday Night Light's Gaius Charles back on my TV screen again.

4. The First Time (Glee) - This was the show's best episode of the season which isn't really saying much, but it IS something. Even with the deliberate focus on the episode on Kurt and Rachel losing their virginities, the show was still able to give plenty of time for the other characters more notably Beiste quest for love (made me cry), Mike's continued disagreements with his dad, and Karofsky's evolution. The latter especially was nice as it gave Chris Colfer and Max Adler a really beautiful scene to re-connect a bit. They even introduced a new character, gay Warbler Sebastian, without making it as forced as last week's. You know what else this episode had going for it? Barely any Shuester and not even a token appearance by Sue. Naya Rivera as per usual musically stole the episode.

5. Snow Falls (Once Upon A Time) - Wasn't a huge fan of the pilot and was only okay with the second episode, but this episode I really, really liked. Maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me, but seeing Snow and James' first meeting in fairy land and seeing them apart in the real world tugged my heart. In essence, this episode finally gave me a reason to care and that's important for any show. Also glad to see David Anders on my TV again. He didn't do much, but I'm hoping for more in future episodes.

6. Nightfall (Terra Nova) - Last week I said I'd give this show one more episode before I fully gave up on it. Well damn, because last week's episode didn't suck. It mostly helped that the show's weakest link, Hunter, was mostly in the background. But by doing so it enabled Skye to be developed as a character in her own right. The Maddie-Mark stuff was just a bit too saccharine, but I also liked that they're developing Maddie a bit. The whole black out stuff had potential and wished they were in more danger than what actually transpired, but it was still one of the more exciting story lines the show has offered in awhile. We finally do meet Taylor's wayward son in the end and I'm hoping we'll get to the Big Picture stuff in the next few episodes.

7. Maybe We Can Get a Dog Instead (Ringer) - Some good developments happened in this episode, but my favorite is the long-time-coming reunion between Malcolm and Bridget. It's also nice that slowly but surely everything is working out for her with Andrew accepting Malcolm, Machado getting tricked yet again, and everyone believing she lost the baby. She's also making Siobhan's life a bit difficult with Tyler thinking Siobhan was lying to him (which she was doing anyways). The student-teacher plot line is worrying and cliche. Make it stop.

8. Balcoin (The Secret Circle) - This show is not afraid to go dark especially with what they are doing with Jane. Yes, it makes Charles look more evil, but he did burn down a house with Cassie's mom in it in the pilot. The questionable loyalties of Jake is less interesting since I've seen it done in many fantasy shows before and the actor is not a good enough actor to convey this ambiguity. The introduction of Holden and learning more about Cassie's dark magick background was good. No new episode until 2012!

9. Beeware (Grimm) - Despite its relatively low ranking this week, it was still a generally solid episode. I just thought it's a bit suspect that they are already branching out with non-Grimm monsters which kind of makes this show indistinguishable from Supernatural. With that said, I did like that we got a brief glimpse of possibly something bigger happening the background. Nick's scenes with Adelaide were particularly riveting.

10. Heartbreak Hotel (Castle) - I love this show, but this episode was a complete filler. Sure Nathan Fillion , Jon Huertas and Seamus Dever looked amazingly hilarious in their Elvis getup but I'd be hard-pressed to remember any other detail about the episode. Oh right, Alexis threw a party while her dad was away while Beckett and Gates sort of bonded. Shrugs.

11. Season Seven, Time for a Wedding! (Supernatural) - I didn't like this episode. I wasn't a fan of super-fan Becky when she was first introduced and I still don't like it. And the whole situation of her essentially almost-raping Sam, even if it never happened, was still too skeevy for me to enjoy the episode. The one great thing about the episode was the all-too-brief return of Crowley. Nice seeing him explain the lack of demons attacking the boys as he wants them to focus on taking out the Leviathan.

TV Report: Weekly Drama Rankings

While the comedies went to guest actors for November sweeps, the dramas decided to throw in some game-changing plot developments as you will note below.

1. Cops & Robbers (Castle) - The thing about this show is that it leans toward the light side of drama. But when they do get their mind on doing a serious, pulse-pounding type of an episode, it fully delivers. This last episode was one such episode where Castle and Martha found themselves as hostages in a supposed bank robbery. Beckett and co. had to assist from the outside and while there was no doubt that Castle would live, the fear of Martha dying made the episode nerve-wracking. In the end though, despite the bomb explosions and teary Alexis, it was Beckett and Castle laying their eyes on each other that became the highlight. "We're partners." SIGH.

2. Charade (Revenge) - I have long considered this my favorite new show of the season, but last week's thrilling episode just solidified it. The best part was the reveal that Nolan was "3 on the Kinsey scale" and used some insider info on skeezy Tyler to get some action. And that was just one of the big plot developments in the episode. Frank's quest to uncover Emily's secrets took a big chunk of the episode and provided us a glimpse of the bigger picture Amanda has weaved. We saw that Emily has a Warden that is helping her. We also met the "real" Emily Thorne who ended up killing poor Frank but not before Frank was able to leave Victoria one last seed of doubt regarding Emily. This two-week wait for the new episode is a killer.

3. Novation (Fringe) - Fringe is back! Peter is back! I've missed them both so much. All of the Peter stuff was amazing especially his interactions with Walter (broke my heart every time). I really wanted more of that and possibly answers though of course I knew we wouldn't be getting them right away. But it did make me resent the B-plot despite it being quite solid by itself since I just wanted to go back to Peter and whatever it was he was going through. Still the version 2.0 shapeshifsters are back and it looks like they'll be the big bad (or their boss) for the remaining season. Going back to Peter, Joshua Jackson has been missed, and he seems to be relishing tapping into S1 Peter aka being smart, manipulative, and a wildcard. Loving it!

4. Affairs of State (The Good Wife) - Sometimes I wish that Cary was still working with Lockhart & Gardner, but last week's episode showed that probably won't happen anytime soon. In fact, his patience and skills displayed throughout the episode led him to a promotion and a rare win. There's also some movement on the Will front... meeting Alicia's son awkwardly and becoming new associate Caitlin's crush. With Alicia not wanting Will to meet her kids formally and Caitlin's non-subtle interest, things are about to get interesting. Finally, we meet Eli's wife and she is played by Parker Posey and not only does she get tons of scenes with him full of witty banter that you'd expect, but she gets a nice scene with Kalinda as well. More please!

Those four on top have been leaps and bound better than the shows below for one reason or another this season. Not saying all the shows below are bad, not at all, but the top four have just been really consistent.

5. Oh Gawd, There's Two of Them? (Ringer) - I feel like in spite of itself, I'm still quite enjoying the show, but the twists and turns in this episode really showed promise. First, I'm just glad that Malcolm is finally free from his kidnappers. I couldn't stomach seeing him beat up and drugged up one more time. Second, the shot of Andrew and Henry in the beginning confessing to knowing Bridget was a WHOA moment and thumbs up to the writers for that. Finally, finding out that Bridget's new sponsor not only works for Siobhan but is the one to kidnap Gemma was at once both cool and so utterly frustrating in its contrivance. Oh well.

6. The Genuine Article (Pan Am) - I was hoping that a Maggie-centric episode would make Christina Ricci's character a bit more interesting to me, and in some aspects it did. Learning that she lied her way to become a Pan Am stewardess makes sense for her character, but in spite of this I still think Ricci seems to be playing her a bit too broadly. Perhaps it's just because the writers aren't exactly sure what to do with her yet, but she has the talent. They just need to tap into it. The Dean/Ginny B-plot doesn't really interest me though it looks like Maggie has used it to her advantage. Kate is on precarious grounds with the government and Niko and I'm looking forward to seeing where this will lead.

7. The Thing You Love Most (Once Upon A Time) - This was much better than the pilot especially since most of the "real world" stuff felt a bit more grounded. I especially enjoyed Emma connecting more with Henry and Mary Margaret (they all like cinnamon!) and firming up her reasons to stay in town. I'm still not sold on Regina's intentions and I do hope her character's evilness is explained a bit more, but this episode had two things for it, Giancarlo Esposito and Kristin Bauer, as the Mirror on the Wall and Maleficent respectively. Hope to see more of them in episodes to come.

8. Bears Will Be Bears (Grimm) - Even though I ranked this just a hair below its ABC counterpart this week, I thought it was still a solid outing for a show that I'm finding myself preferring over that other show. My favorite part is actually Kate Burton's performance as Aunt Marie, so her death disappoints me a bit. With this kind of show though, death is never the end. I also liked the re-telling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

9. Beneath (The Secret Circle) - This certainly brought Dawn and Charles back into the fold after being conspicuously absent last week, but other than that most of the episode dealt with more of the hormonal drama the leads are going through. I mean Truth or Dare? Seriously? I DO like that they seem to be giving Cassie some edge and Faye some non-mean dimensions.

10. The Mentalists (Supernatural) - There's just something about this episode that didn't sit right with me. I guess most of it had to do with me being angrier at Dean about Amy than Sam ultimately ended up being. I mean I knew that they had to make up and be all brotherly love again, but I thought it was all just a bit too quick of a resolution. The case itself wasn't particularly noteworthy unless a possible girl for Dean interests you.

11. Pot O' Gold (Glee)* - Apart from Burt confirming he's the perfect man by single-handily saving Sue's ridiculous plot arc of running for office by running against her, I didn't like this episode at all. As adorable as Damian McGinty is, I think introducing yet another character is not what this show needs despite the fact that this HAD to happen by virtue of him winning The Glee Project over the summer. They can still salvage it, but with the bulk of the episode dedicated to introducing him, the rest suffered.

N/A. A Gifted Man - Not sure why they felt compelled to air this episode a week later than they had planned since it gave Margo Martindale lots to do. Unfortunately, I'm dropping this show since it's 100% certain to be canceled in the next few weeks. I'll keep watching though until it happens, but I will no longer include it in my weekly rankings.

N/A. Terra Nova - Last week's episode bored the crap out of me. I'm thinking of dropping it permanently, but will give it one more episode.

*I guess technically Glee should be in the comedy rankings, but at the moment I'm more comfortable putting it here. I'll probably change it next week... or not.

TV Report: Weekly Drama Rankings

Baseball wreaked havoc to the schedule this past week for a few drama shows mostly FOX shows, but like the comedies, it should be a full slate of shows next week for November sweeps.

1. Marthas and Caitlins (The Good Wife) - Color me shocked to see this on top of the list, but here it is. Sure there wasn't nearly enough Kalinda, but guest star Dylan Baker was back and really put Alicia through the ringer. Though she had nice backup from Celeste who just keeps getting better and better as a character. It was a bit refreshing for Eli to be workin on a political matter, trying to convince the Democrats (Donna Brazile!) to have Peter speak as keynote during their convention. He's getting closer to finding out about the whole Alicia/Peter/Kalinda drama and I can't wait for that. Finally, we get Alicia interviewing two candidates for a first-year associate job. It enabled us to glean more of the inter-office politics at play (and Alicia's standing) as well as get us a nice Alicia/Will moment in the end.

2. Intrigue (Revenge) - Remember those halcyon days where every episode was Emily outmaneuvering everyone to carry out her weekly revenge plots? They've wisely mixed it up the past couple of episodes focusing instead of the characters. This week we get the fallout of Lydia's fall last week (she's in a coma!) with Nolan/Emily using their recording to wedge the relationship between the Grayson and their trusted head of security. The end with him stalking Emily was quite chilling and hints that not everything will go as swimmingly for Emily as it has been early on. Finally, this whole thing with Tyler is heating up. Still not 100% sure of his intentions, but it's getting clearer that most of it has to do with Daniel. Does he resent his friend's life? Does he secretly love him? Both? Neither? Whichever it is, it's certainly bad news for everyone involved.

3. Slash Fiction (Supernatural) - I seriously thought that after the second episode when Castiel died, I would quickly lose interest in the show, but they've certainly proved me wrong as the whole Leviathan storyline as well as Dean's insurmountable guilt about killing Amy have kept me engaged. Both of those storylines were a huge part of this week's episode. For the latter, they finally figured out how to injure them (cleaning products) and for the former, Sam finally found out the truth. The ending was a bit melodramatic, but I guess it had to happen that way.

4. Demons (Castle) - Don't have much to say about this past week's episode except to say that it was another fun episode albeit with a supernatural twist as they investigate a possibly murder by ghost. All the the ghost stuff enabled Beckett and Castle to really freak out and make fun each other which kept the episode from being too bogged down from the scary. Though looking forward to the next episode, it looks like things are about to get particularly suspenseful and heartbreaking. Not sure I'm ready for that.

5. Masked (The Secret Circle) - I was a bit hesitant when it came to the whole "witch hunter" angle they introduced last week, but they spent a great deal of this week's episode explaining it and I think it could work. If anything, this will give the group a common foe to face perhaps lessening the inter-group drama inherent in teen dramas such as these. Of course Cassie has a dark side in her and is more powerful than the rest, but par for the course!

6. One Coin in a Fountain (Pan Am) - Doesn't feel like this show's momentum has stalled a bit? I think part of it is their insistence these last couple of episodes to sideline Karine Vanisse, frankly their best asset. I still like the show especially when it comes to the whole spy subplot, but I need more than just the spy stuff and Karine to keep me interested.