Grey's Anatomy - Perfect Little Accident, 6.16

Grey's Anatomy is a really cute show. This episode was nothing big or special, but I loved it anyway for its character interactions and developments.

• Meredith telling Jackson he should accept his grandfather! Telling Lexie that Alex is her three years ago! She has grown so much.
• I love the Derek/Mark/Owen bromance. Shooting hoops in the Chief's office? Being generally pathetic and adorable together? So cute.
• Also loving the girls' night out. Baseball at night will always remind me of TXF The Unnatural and fill me with good feelings. Another cute scene. Cristina telling Mer how much she loves Teddy.
• Speaking of which, this episode made me like Teddy. Now that she's becoming a rounded character in her own right, not just an annoying attachment to Owen, she is more interesting and more likable.
• Not sure what to think of the Alex/Lexie doomed-to-fail relationship yet. They made very explicit their reason for being with each other, but we all know how that will end up. Especially with Mark currently unattached.

The Office - The Delivery Pts. 1+2, 6.17 & 6.18

I'll be bullet-ing these episodes as I watch on Hulu!

• Andy was previously Walter Jr.? Do any of the writers watch Breaking Bad? I was hoping he'd say he changed his name to Flynn.
• When was Ed Helms added to the opening credits?
• This harried getting ready for the hospital sequence is the first time I've smiled watching the Office in months!
• Oh, and now a laugh! Dwight throwing weapons out his window as the cops call him by name. Priceless.
• Very funny Part 1! Yay! Is the Office back?
• This episode is really cute. Very sweet. No new mean bosses or crabby Pam (well, some crabby Pam) or unfunny Jim. Reminds me of the old Office.
• ANDY! AND ERIN! Faxing her a date fax! Erin crying! I love them so much! PB&J v. 2.0 is really what the show needs right now, so this is perfect.
• The rekindling of Dwangela. Epic.

Parks and Recreation - Woman of the Year, 1.17

Solid episode with fun Ron/Leslie interaction. I wasn't as impressed as I was by the last episode (Galentines Day), but it had its funny moments. I was happy with the April and Andy developments.

• "I've always wanted a doorman named Ernie. Or Kip. I'm pretty flexible about that." - Andy Dwyer
• No Ann this episode, and only a little Mark. I'm okay with the absence of straight men characters.
• Good scene: Tom pitching club partnership in a darkened conference room, and ignoring Jerry's epileptic tendencies. Jon Gosselin jokes aren't old yet.
• Loved Leslie and Ron re-awarding each other on stage.

Community - Physical Education, 1.17

I had the awesome opportunity of attending one of the nights of PaleyFest 2010 - I went March 3 to the Community panel with my friend Alyssa! It was a blast! Here are things that happened:

• Arrived. Waited for cast and crew to arrive. Wondered if Alison Brie and/or Danny Pudi would be there, and if we could catch a ride back home with them... Read the program. Very upset I wouldn't be in town for Breaking Bad! I could die happy if I ever met Vince Gilligan.
• Thursday's episode is screened, and it's incredible. One of the most ridiculous, and most funny.
• Moderator, cast, and crew arrive! Find out Gillian is pronounced with a hard 'G.' What? Who does that? She's very cute though, and as much as I dislike Britta, Gillian is gorgeous, sweet, and smart. Chevy Chase does one of his famous falls. He and Ken Jeong are buddies. Cute. Donald and Joel looking good. Excited to see Dan Harmon, who is hilarious and extremely smart.
• For the record, Abed may or may not have Asperger's.

So, about the episode. I think bullet points are most appropriate, because although the episode had an emotional center (as usual) it wasn't as prominent. I think this episode was primarily made to be sillier than usual.

• White Abed (Joey) is the best character to be introduced since the Human Being. So ridiculous! Danny Pudi was perfect this episode, from playing the caucasian version of himself, to affecting Don Draper, to inexplicably becoming a vampire-Abed.
• I loved Annie's peeks at Jeff playing pool. Naked.
• Jeff playing pool. Naked. was preposterous, obviously, but made for huge laughs. What universe is Greendale Community College really in?
• Part of why I love Community so much is its ample meta humor. I definitely appreciated Abed's Don Draper seducing Annie (or Trudy?).
• The dialogue seemed extra sharp this episode. "We won't be 'Love Don't Cost A Thing'-ing or 'Can't Buy Me Love'-ing anyone" to "You magnificent son of a bitch."

Modern Family - Fears, 1.16

I really enjoyed this episode. I don't think there's been an episode yet where I haven't teared up at least a little bit. The voiceovers, corny as they may be, are killer...

• I wonder, though, if the last-two-minutes-voiceover is a crutch they couldn't abstain from for a few episodes. I can definitely see it getting old quickly. I'm sure some people already are tired of it (I'm not, I'm a sucker for comedies with an overly sappy emotional side. See: Scrubs).
• The opening sequence was wonderful, with Manny of course being very mature and telling the camera (oh, MF documentary format. You can be so problematic.) that his greatest fear is dying alone. So adorable.
• As cute as Manny was, I think my favorite storylines centered around the Dunphy family. The boys were too cute, and I really liked Alex this episode. Claire dancing was adorable too.
• The giant panda in the room was also hilarious. Loved seeing Mitchell and Cam freaking out in different ways about Lily's first word.

Chuck - Chuck Versus the Fake Name, 3.8

I'm so glad Chuck exists. It's simply the perfect forty-two minute package of impeccable comedy, deeply emotional drama, hardcore action sequences, torrid romance. There's really nothing more to ask for.

Before I start, I hope you'll forgive the abundance of parentheses. I think about many things at once when I watch Chuck, and it's hard to write that way so I try my best!

On the spectrum of lying (work with me here), Chuck proved himself one of the best, right up there with Sarah. He is becoming a terrific spy (more on the romantic implications of this transformation in a bit) by his own geeky merit. His Rafe Gruber impersonation was fantastic, much better than anyone on Team Bartowski imagined. (Chuck's Rafe affectation reminded me of Adrian Monk's similar mobster undercover op. Both unexpectedly did great alias work. Monk was so good at it because... he has OCD? Well okay).

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Captain Awesome, who can't even tell his wife he likes Chuck's chicken (Ellie's insistent repetition of "Chuck's chicken" was hilarious). The burden is becoming too much for him, so it will be interesting to see if he accidentally divulges anything to Ellie or Morgan in the future. Chuck, on the other hand, is disappointed when Devon tells him he can't take any more lies. Thus begins the realization of the life a spy leads...

Which brings us (rather sloppily) to the relationship aspect of this episode. As Chuck becomes more and more a spy, Sarah realizes her penchant for sweet, nerdy Chuck, who may all but disappear if he continues down the path he's taking. Brandon Routh as Shaw is too noble, too much an all-American hero, and his affection for her makes Sarah see even more clearly the feelings she has for Chuck. Unfortunately, there's Hannah, who is certainly not a spy (however, this is Chuck...) and has genuine feelings for him, too. In a funny Buy More moment, Big Mike, Lester, and Jeff comment on Chuck's past girlfriends and how his eyes "shine brightly" only when he is with Sarah (...err, it's the onions!).

I loathe the dissension going on amongst fans (girls, likely) about this new love quadrangle. As a device, it's been used (see: Lou, Jill, Cole). However, this particular geometric shape isn't a shape for the sake of being a shape, it's being used intelligently to change Chuck and Sarah, for better or worse. And when the Hannah and Shaw relationships inevitably end, Chuck and Sarah will be in a different place - and that is why the quadrangle exists. Their relationship was never stagnant, but admittedly there was a point last season where it was evident that facet of their relationship had been studied before. With both changed by their new spy-ship, and/or new relationship, Chuck and Sarah can look at their relationship with new eyes. That will keep them interesting. UST can be frustrating to viewers, but for the sake of story and Chuck/Sarah-actualization, please! Let the writers do work. They know what they're doing.

I'm glad I got that rant down. So, some more stuff:

• Casey is so badass. So much love for the character, and I love Adam Baldwin.
• As I watched the scene where Chuck breaks up with Hannah, I realized the show wouldn't work nearly as well or be nearly as successful if Zachary Levi weren't such a tremendous comedic AND dramatic actor. He's wonderful.
• Great song choice as usual, Living A Lie by Daniel Zott.
• I love love love lying as this season's theme. Love.
• And of course, at the end of the episode, to parallel Hannah's toast, Chuck and Sarah are once again not "lining up." The timing is wrong, again.
• Oh, and Shaw telling Sarah he likes the last name basis? Mulder and Scully reference anyone?

Hulu's Best In Show 2010

Hulu, in partnership with Entertainment Weekly, is hosting a "Best In Show" bracket tournament to determine the best show on currently on television. The two wings of the bracket are broken into smaller categories such as "Workplace Comedy" and "Noted Newcomer." As soon as you vote, you are shown the results.

Well. I knew I had to write about this because of course I'm going to be voting every Monday, and of course I'll be upset about the inevitable shoo-in victors.

There are some tough match-ups - 30 Rock vs. Parks and Recreation, for instance. Naturally I voted for Parks & Rec, and naturally, I added to the mere 22% of the vote it got. I was also in the minority when I voted for Dollhouse over Chuck (31% vs. 69%). Concerning Community vs. Glee, I chose Community (alliteration. Also, I feel like I'm writing about Supreme Court cases, or a lot of Chuck episode titles) which is currently in the lead with 57% of the vote. Some hard decisions, and some not so hard:

1. The Office vs. Better Off Ted

When I saw this pair I knew I had to write and vent about it. Of course The Office will be victorious; it averages ten times the number of viewers that Better Off Ted ever did. It has millions of fans, tie-in merchandise, A- and B-list actors, and some five seasons under its belt. BOT has none of this, but it is the better, funnier show. Yadda yadda, woe is me, shouldn't have been canceled, etc...

2. Fringe vs. V

Surprisingly, Fringe boasts only 63% of the vote. V has only had four episodes!

3. LOST vs. FlashForward

The victor is obvious, so I voted for FF because I felt sorry for it.

4. The Deep End vs. Caprica

TDE has 45%, a good chunk of the vote. In related news, it's also canceled. Though I haven't been watching Caprica, it had a stunning pilot. I watched it after I saw TDE's droll, utterly boring one. Should be an easy win for Caprica, but it isn't showing so far. Neither has had time to build a fanbase (did BSG fans flock, no questions asked, to Caprica? It has a drastically different feel, from what I've seen).

My prediction for final "Best In Show":

I'm pretty confident the final match-up will be The Office vs. LOST (or possibly an upset in the penultimate match by House), with The Office victorious. Zzzzz...