The Office 706 Review- Only One Season Left MacGruber

Creed: Best Edward James Olmos costume I've ever seen...like freaky good.

I thought last night's The Office, "Costume Contest", had a lot of good laughs, but some long story lines that felt tiresome. You can check out my review of the episode over at TV Fanatic. There were definitely more Halloween themed episodes this year than last, but for the majority they were good. If anything, it's a great way to get costume ideas for this Sunday.

My best options...

Man-Spider- Always Sunny
Glenda or Miss Piggy- Community
Scranton Strangler- Office
Pierre Thomas- The League

The Office 706 - "Costume Contest"
Review
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Survivor Week 7- La Florian Voting Patterns

Spoiler alert...Below are a few thoughts on last night's episode of Survivor: Nicaragua. So watch the ep, pee in an already dirty pool, then read what I have to say.

Marty- "I gotta give the idol to somebody, so I'm either giving it to Jeff tonight or I'm giving it to Sash."

Ummm, excuse me? I was all prepared to write about how dumb Brenda and Sash were thinking that asking Marty for his idol was even remotely close to being a plan, but then Marty actually fell for it! And then to top it all off, it didn't end up getting him sent home?!?

I mean come on! How about we ask him for idol? How is that a plan? Who on earth would hand over their idol with no real strategy as to why. I mean when J.T. did it on Heroes vs. Villains, it was dumb, but at least if he was correct in his thinking, it could have been a good move. This move by Marty was just one of desperation and stupidity.

Let's think about this for a second. You can give the young kids your idol, knowing that you are one of two people currently on the outs, and hope that it buys you their loyalty and gets you through this week. He is lucky that these kids don't understand that he is the much bigger threat and failed to vote him out this week, but now it is those same kids that now have the idol and the numbers. Or, you can use the idol to protect yourself this week, and have an even playing field with the kids. You may win a couple of more challenges and make it to the merge. Just a completely ridiculous move by Marty.

But then once they get the idol from Marty, the La Florians don't vote him out. Whuck?!? What is the point of keeping him over Jill? With the five non Jill/Marty's of La Flor splitting their votes 3 and 2 between Jill and Marty, I can only assume that just had absolutely no plan going into tribal. This season by far, has had the most unexplainable voting patterns I have ever seen.

In fantasy related news, next year I am going to have to modify the idol scoring system. Currently it is if you find an idol you get 10 points. If you use it correctly you get 10 and if you use it incorrectly you get minus 10. Next year I will add that if you steal or are given one from someone else it is 10, and if you give one away to somebody else it is minus 10. No excuse for this action.

Meanwhile I am still killing it and well on my way to the Fantasy Survivor Championship. Get some Jaydon.

Fantasy Scores

Brigade Grenades

Sash- W7 (22)= 22
Chase- W7 (22), Reward 4, Im (8)= 34
Dan- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Jill- Votes (-12)= -12
Jane- W7 (22), Votes (-8)= 14
Week 7= 92 Total= 387

The Full Schilling

Jimmy J
Benry- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Kelly B
Alina- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Holly- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Week 7= 102 Total= 289

Studio Flow CEO

Shannon
Fabio- W7 (22)= 22
Kelly P- W7 (22)= 22
Jimmy T
NaOnka- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Week 7= 78 Total= 231

Power Bottoms

Brenda- W7 (22)= 22
Marty- W7 (22), Votes (-8)= 14
Tyrone
Yve
Wendy
Week 7= 36 Total= 121

Sons of Anarchy 308 Review- When You're Bleak, You're Bleak

Jax: Holy s**t! What was that?

Irish Dude: Welcome to Ireland.

So this week Sons of Anarchy needed an hour and a half to disappoint me. To understand all that disappointed me in this week's episode, "Lochan Mor", head over to TV Fanatic to read my review. I tweeted a couple hours ago that I enjoy it when my review and Alan Sepinwall's review have similar sentiments. After mine went live, I went over to HitFix to see with the Godfather of television criticism had to say, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was also disappointed.

He also mentioned, like Jaydon commented on my review last week, that creator Kurt Sutter has been claiming that only chicks can understand the greatness of this third season. First of all, there's no way that is true. Secondly, if you have ever read this blog, you know that I hope on everything good in this world that he's not happy about that. Why on Earth would he want his show to only be gotten by chicks? This isn't America's Next Top Model. This is Sons of Anarchy. Dudes can understand clever and deep, understated plot lines. What your run of the mill awesome dude can't take is boring, dragging your feet in the mud plots that don't get anywhere by episode eight.

Having said all that, I still am a big fan of the show, and when this months power rankings come out, it might actually move up, but this season has definitely been worse than the previous two. And like Sepinwall said, "that has nothing to do with my gender."

Sons of Anarchy 308 - "Lochan Mor"
Review
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The Event 106- Age Is Just A Number

Spoiler alert...Below are a few thoughts on last night's episode and the start of The Event's first season. So watch the eps, bring me a sunflower 50 years too late, then read what I have to say.

I really want to do a better job of talking about some of the shows that I don't get to write about over at TV Fanatic. I could wait until the first of the month, and the November Power Rankings, to give my thoughts on the start of The Event, but last night's episode intrigued me enough to give it its own post.

Most of my readers (like 5 out of 6 total) enjoyed Flash Forward more than I did, but I still found much of it interesting. I find Flash and The Event so easy to compare because they have both come out as saying they are like Lost and critics immediately slammed both of them for being nothing like the recently retired great.

Both shows were and are of the serialized format, and both series had and have science fiction elements in them. The one area that I felt Flash fell short, and contrarily have seen some promise for in The Event, is getting the audience to care about the characters.

Throughout the season, I have enjoyed Jason Ritter and Sara Roemer story, and have been pleased with the tale of Simon the undercover alien. This week we got to know Simon in much greater detail as they kept flashing back to his life in the 1950s and early 2000s. In what was a great technique for Lost back in the day, I thought the flashbacks worked perfectly to get me more involved in Simon's story.

The only negative that came from this is that I think he died underneath that building. I'm not ruling out that he is still alive though, since he may have some super human alien strength. Let's hope so because last night he became my favorite character on the show, and it would be a shame if they got rid of him just like Flash Forward did to Al Gough.

Again, the flashbacks are a great technique to get the audience deeper in the minds of the characters. I think once we figure out what went down in President Martinez's past, he could become a more interesting guy, but for now he's one that I could care less about.

Keep the crazy stuff coming, but don't forget to make us care about the people that this crazy stuff is happening to.

Chuck 406 Review- Squirrel Baby's Brother

Morgan: I knew Mrs. B wasn't a bad guy. You know why? Bad guys don't make such delicious lemon bars.

You can check out my review of last night's Chuck, "Chuck vs. the Aisle of Terror", over at TV Fanatic right now. I thought it was another great ep and explained why in my review. If you're just in it for the yucks, check out all of the great quotes, or this week's Round Table over at the site.

Chuck 406 - "Chuck vs. the Aisle of Terror"
Review
Round Table
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Quotes

The Office 705 Review- Justifying the Sale

Dwight: People can't keep their true natures hidden for long and this guy is smoldering like a tire fire.

Michael: Testify.

My review of last night's The Office, "The Sting", is up over at TV Fanatic, but I'm going to take another few paragraphs to piggy back off of what I was complaining about in my 30 Rock post. If you are, or ever have been, a fan of The Office, I dare you to listen to Talking TV With Ryan and Ryan's State of The Sitcom and not pull your hair out.

Critics' ability to take something as silly as The Office and critique it like it has characters from Mad Men, is absolutely absurd. Yes Michael Scott is many things, and many of those things are hilarious! Who cares if something he does this week doesn't exactly coincide with what he had been three years ago? It's a silly comedy that is supposed to make you laugh. Now sure, sometimes it fails at that, like last week's episode for example. But don't criticize it for its characters not seeming real. Criticize it for using unfunny situations with Jan, or Ed Helms's inability to make us laugh when ranting about the dangers of sex.

This week I laughed a lot. I thought Dwight and Jim were both used quite well, some of the smaller characters were infused much better, and Michael was Michael (which is good for me in almost any circumstance). I know there are Michael haters out there, and I respect that, but personally I find him hilarious. This week, that did not change.

The Office 705 - "The Sting"
Review
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30 Rock 505 Review- Ice Cream Caper

Tracy: Shirt on or off, Sean?!?

After listening to Mo Ryan and Ryan McGee's podcast on the State of the Sitcom, I realized that good comedy is much more subjective, and opinion based, than good drama. Listening to them wax on about how great The Big Bang Theory is, and continue to trash on Community, made me think that not only do normal people have amazingly erratic thoughts about sitcoms, but so do critics.

I guess one of the main problems I have with critics' feelings about comedies, is that they always give off this feeling that the show needs to be realistic and make sense. No, it doesn't. After complaining about the lack of realism in some comedies, Ryan and Ryan went on to talk about how they liked 30 Rock because it had a niche.

Yeah, that niche is being funny. A sitcom, unlike a drama, shouldn't have to feel realistic. A certain type of comedy can, but it's not inherent to be good. 30 Rock is completely ridiculous and because of that is funnier than most shows.

My review of last night's 30 Rock, "Reaganing", is up over at TV Fanatic. I didn't find it as funny as last week's "Live Show", mainly because there weren't as many good jokes. Just because the live show was a bit off putting in terms of look and feel, that doesn't mean it wasn't funnier than almost all the episodes from last season.

30 Rock 505 - "Reaganing"
Review
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Survivor Week 6- Grand Master Marty

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the sixth episode of Survivor: Nicaragua. So watch the ep, eat some kebabs in front of me, then read what I had to say.

Well somehow my entire post got deleted so I'm not going to try and re-think of everything I had to say the first time around. Never-the-less this week's tribal council was very interesting and deserves at least a few thoughts on it.

How do you have a plan of getting Marty out and/or flushing out the idol and end up doing neither? Even if you wanted Kelly B out because of the sympathy vote down the road, that's not enough to vote her out now on a tie breaker. Marty now has revenge on his mind AND the hidden immunity idol in his back pocket. Plus he has an extra chip in that Brenda made a terrible move at tribal. Really, what was she thinking calling out Marty on wanting to get Jane out? That can't do anything but make more enemies in my opinion. She should definitely watch her back at this point.

For the first time this season, I'll comment on how I am crushing everyone in fantasy. Man does my team look poised to finally take the championship. Jaydon, on the other hand, scrub city.

Fantasy Scores

Brigade Grenades

Sash- W6 (16)= 16
Chase- W6 (16)= 16
Dan- W6 (16), Votes (-4)= 12
Jill- W6 (16), Ind. Im (20), Ind. Reward (10)= 46
Jane- W6 (16)= 16
Week 6= 106 Total= 295

The Full Schilling

Jimmy J
Benry- W6 (16)= 16
Kelly B- Votes (-12)= -12
Alina- W6 (16)= 16
Holly- W6 (16), Ind. Im (20)= 36
Week 6= 56 Total= 187

Studio Flow CEO

Shannon
Fabio- W6 (16)= 16
Kelly S- W6 (16)= 16
Jimmy T
NaOnka- W6 (16)= 16
Week 6= 48 Total= 153

Power Bottoms

Brenda- W6 (16), Votes (-8)= 8
Marty- W6 (16), Votes (-12)= 4
Tyrone
Yve- Votes (-24)= -12
Wendy
Week 6= -12 Total= 85

Sons of Anarchy 307 Review- Ice Cold Ruse

Clay: Anything happens to this bird, Gemma will stuff you in this cage, make you wear a beak, and s**t on newspapers.

Prospect: That sounds fair.

My review of last night's Sons of Anarchy is live over at TV Fanatic. It was another great episode. Since Sepinwall didn't review "Widening Gyre", my take on the episode should be your definitive choice for SAMCRO knowledge, so head on over to see what this kid had to say.

Sons of Anarchy 307 - "Widening Gyre"
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One Tree Hill 806 Review- A Halloween Medley

Random dude: I bet you'd give anything to be playing tonight.

Nathan: Actually, not really. Happy Halloween.

My review for last night's pleasantly enjoyable One Tree Hill is up over at TV Fanatic. "Not Afraid" didn't slam me over the head with a bunch of drama, and there were actually a couple humorous moments in the mix, so I was pleased with it overall.

Near the end of the episode, Nathan watches a clip of his days playing basketball at Maryland. It didn't take a lot of effort for me to realize he couldn't have played in the game they were showing. The one second of #22 for the Terrapins gave it all away. My thoughts from the review are below.

Not that you could really expect them to get every little detail correct, but Nathan wouldn't have been playing in the game they showed of Maryland vs. Duke. In the quick clip they showed, I saw Nik Caner-Medley on the Maryland squad. Since I played with and against him in high school, I know that he went to Maryland from 02-06. The OTH chronology can be weird because it did two seasons per school year, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt. The show started in 2003, so these guys graduated in the spring of '05. Nathan went to that rinky dink college with Lucas and Whitey for his first year, which would have been 05-06 and wouldn't have been to Maryland until 06-07. He never would have bee in a game with Medley. I rest my case.

One Tree Hill 806 - "Not Afraid"
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Chuck 405 Review- Casey's Eugoogly

Morgan: Don't you worry about a thing. I am gonna eulogize the hell out of you buddy.

My review of last night's Chuck, "Chuck vs. the Couch Lock", is live over at TV Fanatic. It was a fantastic episode, I mean I don't give out Five Star Reviews for nothing.  Some of what I wrote had to be edited out because it was too focused on my anger towards Ryan McGee's comments on this season during one of his Talking TV With Ryan and Ryan Podcasts. Some of my feelings on the subject are below...

One of my favorite fellow reviewers of Chuck is Ryan McGee. On his podcast with Mo Ryan last week, McGee explained that he was disappointed with the start to this season of Chuck. While I disagreed with almost all of his reasons for why it wasn't up to snuff, I could agree that it wasn't quite reaching the standards set by the past couple of seasons. This week's "Chuck vs. the Couch Lock" was sure to change any doubters mind.

One of McGee's main problems with the show was that it "doesn't do spy nearly as well as it thinks it does." He references a couple of weeks ago when Chuck and Sarah saved the day with a Dr. Phil-esque intervention, and states that "that's not what the show has been." As much as I respect his opinion, I have to counter with THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS SHOW IS ABOUT.

One of the great things about Chuck has always been its ability to take some of the most serious spy situations, and turn them into complete jokes. Doing spy well doesn't necessarily mean it's by the book, or completely serious. Chuck is somewhat of a farce. Sure it has plenty of moments of true sincerity, but at it's core this is a comedy. And it uses it's action sequences as comedic moments as well.

Chuck 405 - "Chuck vs. the Couch Lock"
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Mad Men 413 Review- Don's Going to Disneyland!

Sally: Who's Dick?

Don: Well... that's me. That's my nickname sometimes.

Unlike when when this past season of Hung ended, I am actually sad that i won't be reviewing Mad Men anymore in the near future. My review of last night's season four finale, "Tomorrowland", is live over at TV Fanatic. It's a 1200 word piece in which I lament about how the finale was a good fit for what this season was really about.

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the fourth season finale of Mad Men, "Tomorrowland". So watch the ep, think about the number of things that had to happen to get you to this blog, then read what I had to say.

Don: Miss Calvet and I are getting married.

Roger: Who the hell's that?

Even though my review was on the longer side for my style, there was plenty that I left out. For starters, I can't believe Megan mentioned how her teeth were big. The boys on the Firewall and Iceberg Podcast went on for ages about how Sepinwall's readers were so concerned about the actresses huge teeth. The fact that Weiner expected this to be something people would notice, and worked it into the script well in advance, was awesome to witness.

So Bert Cooper was not in this episode. Is he gone for good? When we come back next season, I would be really surprised to see him there, but I won't count it out.

What a choice for an ending song. I Got You Babe? The only thing that pops into my head upon hearing that tune is....Groundhog Day! So will Don's year start all over come season five until he gets things right and stops acting like a jerk? That would be a great twist and an interesting story telling technique.

Well those were just some of the small points I didn't get a chance to touch on in my review. It was a great season of Mad Men, and if you're not watching this show, you're missing out. It might take you a while to get into, as it did with me, but you'll be happy you got through the beginning.

Mad Men 413 - "Tomorrowland"
Review
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30 Rock 504 Review- We'll Do It Live!

Tracy- "Oh no! My Oprah wig is falling off. This is an exciting mishap. This is live!"

I'm really proud of this one. It's rare when you can really review a comedy critically, but this week's live episode of 30 Rock allowed just that. My review of "Live Show" is up over at TV Fanatic and I recommend you head over there and let me know if you agree with my stance on what was good and what was bad about the idea and the execution of this episode.

So what are the chances that they do this again? The gimmick worked in boosting 30 Rock's ratings by a million or so viewers, but will it be worth it to do again? The only other review I've read so far, Alan Sepinwall's, was not nearly as nice as mine. Will a poor critical opinion of it, stop them from trying this experiment again? I wouldn't be surprised if we get another live episode come sweeps week.

30 Rock 504 - "Live Show"
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The Office 704 Review- Herpes Complex

Holly- "Michael, you cried at that tag line for a movie you made up."

Michael- "He had no arms or legs. He couldn't see, hear or speak. This is how he led a nation."

I didn't have much to say about last night's episode of The Office, "Sex Ed", but my review is still up over at TV Fanatic. Michael was funny, as always, but the story line with Andy was a big whiff.

How can you claim you're brining back all of Michael's past girlfriends and only have Holly on the phone. Sure their conversation was hilarious, but I need my female version of Michael to be in person in order to get the full effect.

The Office 704 - "Sex Ed"
Review
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Survivor Week 5- Big Man at Tribal

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the fifth episode of Survivor: Nicaragua. So watch the ep, keep it 100, then read what I had to say.

Marty- "It would take something extraordinary, off the charts, completely whacked out to disturb my plans."

Well I wouldn't say that this was whacked out, but a complete overall of tribes is definitely enough to disturb Marty's plans. Put it this way, now that he is in the land of La Flor, Marty is lucky his team won immunity this week. The guys has gone from confidently smart, to arrogantly stupid over the past few weeks. Like Brenda noted, he comes into a new tribe and acts like the BMOC immediately? Not Cool. Work your way in slowly guy.

Now about the new tribes, they definitely seem more even, and each one winning a challenge this week is evidence of that. Brenda chose Marty, Jill and Jane to join them on La Flor. I'm interested in what the thought process was there. No Tyrone? I wanna hear why she chose to go with two ladies. I can think of plenty of good reasons, but I would have enjoyed a testimonial on it. Holly chose Chase, Benry, Alina and NaOnka to join Espada. An even two and two split makes sense, but she obviously had no idea what NaOnka was about, or she never would have chosen that disaster.

It really is crazy how quickly people can change on this show. Before this week Tyrone was just chillin' with Espada, letting others take most of the heat, not wanting to be the leader. And then this week he is taking charge, ordering the new tribe members around like little kids, and pouting in the corner when they killed the chickens. I was absolutely not surprised that his name came up for tribal, and that he eventually was the one who left tonight. I mean why would any of them vote out NaOnka at this point? When someone is on the verge of quitting at any point, why force them out. Just wait for them to take themselves out of the game. It may happen right before you are on the chopping block, and you get saved by her foolishness.

And finally, am I the only one who notices that Holly was obviously the person doing the voice for the mom on Bobby's World?

Fantasy Scores

Brigade Grenades

Sash- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Chase- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Dan- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Jill- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Jane- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Week 5= 87 Total= 189

The Full Schilling

Jimmy J
Benry- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Kelly B- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Alina- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Holly- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Week 5= 64 Total= 131

Studio Flow CEO

Shannon
Fabio- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Kelly S- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Jimmy T
NaOnka- W5 (11), Reward (4), Votes (-8)= 7
Week 5= 45 Total= 105

Power Bottoms

Brenda- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Marty- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Tyrone- Reward (4), Votes (-24)= -20
Yve- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Wendy
Week 5= 33 Total= 97

Sons of Anarchy 306 Review- Sell the Script

Clay- "We've been doing this too long Marcus. Nobody ever wins."

My review of last night's Sons of Anarchy is live over at TV Fanatic. For those that were curious, I'm looking at you Larry, I did get more advanced screeners. It was a disc of episodes five, six and seven, so next week's review should be up right after the episode finishes at 11:00 Eastern.

Sons continues to be one of my favorite shows, but I do think that watching the first two seasons in a month or so exaggerated how good it was. When my new power rankings come at the start of November I fully expect it to remain in the top three, but I once thought it could take the top spot and be comfortably ahead of the rest.

Sons of Anarchy 306 - "The Push"
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One Tree Hill 805 Review- We Gotta Call Back!

Julian- "You make sad look beautiful, Brooke Davis."

One of my favorite aspects of a series going on for seasons and seasons, is that the call back to early season action is that much better. One Tree Hill, now in its eighth season, is no longer a show I really enjoy. But when it makes call backs to the activities of yesteryear, like it did many times last night, I am reminded of the good times, and most is forgiven.

My review of last night's episode, "Nobody Taught Us To Quit", is live over at TV Fanatic. I continue to enjoy writing about this show. I find it much easier to do this job when she has such major problems week in and week out. It's tougher to come up with things to say about a show like Chuck that I just enjoy every time.

One Tree Hill 805 - "Nobody Taught Us To Quit"
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Chuck 404 Review- Coop Day Tot

Juan Pablo: Actually Costa Gravas is very stable. We have peace now...and subway sandwich franchises.

Sometimes I'm amazed at how many words I can get out of a generic episode of Chuck, like last night's episode. That's not to say that they are a lot of good words, but words none-the-less. My review of last night's "Chuck Versus The Coup D'Etat" is live over at TV Fanatic. Check out that plus this week's Chuck Round Table over at the site.

Chuck 404 - "Chuck Versus The Coup D'Etat"
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Mad Men 412 Review- Sad Men

Roger- "It's good not to be the reason this place went down anymore."

It's much more difficult reviewing a show that Jackie Boy thinks is mind numbingly boring, while he's in the room making snide remarks every once in a while. Given those treacherous conditions, I still managed to bang out a review of last night's penultimate episode of Mad Men's fourth season. It went live over at TV Fanatic this morning.

Mad Men 412 - "Blowing Smoke"
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The Office 703 Review- No Filter

Plumber- "You're the guy who boo'd me."

Michael- "Mmm. No. There were a lot of people booing you, I wasn't one of them."

Plumber- "Uhh, I saw you. And you were the only one."

Michael- "Get your eyes checked chuckle head."

Creed- "Be cool Michael, I saw this guy kill a bunch of people."

Last night's The Office was fantastic and I said so in my review of "Andy's Play" over at TV Fanatic. Thursday night comedy is really pretty fantastic now that I'm watching It's Always Sunny live. The big three from NBC followed by the two FX comedies? Great stuff. Michael, Andy, Erin and Creed made sure The Office earned the top spot for the week. It's Always Sunny, Community, 30 Rock and The League round out my order of comedy night done right.

The Office 703 - "Andy's Play"
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30 Rock 503 Review- Table Segregation

Jonathan [to Jack]- "What if we have to stay over night, and there aren't enough rooms, and we have to share a room, and I forgot to bring a shirt to sleep in, and the stores are all closed..."

30 Rock came back down to Earth last night with this week's "Let's Stay Together". My review of the episode is up over at TV Fanatic. Head over there to read my thoughts or check out some of the best quotes of the night. The show continues to be back on the right track, but this week was on the routine side of things.

30 Rock 503 - "Let's Stay Together"
Review
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Survivor Week 4- T-ing Off

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the fourth episode of Survivor: Nicaragua. So watch the ep, give Jimmy T a little bit of rope, then read what I had to say.

Marty- "Jimmy T trying to tell me that I'm not a team player and calling me out in front of the whole tribe, that's the equivalent of putting a gun to your mouth, pulling the trigger and blowing your brains out."

Marty had a lot of great comments last night, but he really was pushing for the elimination of Jimmy T a bit too hard. It's only a matter of time before Tyrone takes control of things and gets rid of Marty.

NaOnka was once again the most ridiculously awful thing on television. A couple of thoughts from others.

Tippy: note to cbs....no more contestants from south central LA.
Mags: I actually FastFwd whenever she speaks. Intolerable.

We talk about NaOnka, Marty and more in this week's Survivor Round Table at TV Fanatic. Check it out here: Survivor Week Four Round Table.

Fantasy Scores

Brigade Grenades

Sash- W4 (7), Im (8)= 15
Chase- W4 (7), Im (8)= 15
Dan- W4 (7), Votes (-12)= -5
Jill- W4 (7)= 7
Jane- W4 (7)= 7
Week 4= 39 Total= 102

The Full Schilling

Jimmy J
Benry- W4 (7), Im (8)= 15
Kelly B- W4 (7)= 7
Alina- W4 (7), Im (8)= 15
Holly- W4 (7)= 7
Week 4= 44 Total= 67

Power Bottoms

Brenda- W4 (7), Im (8)= 15
Marty- W4 (7)= 7
Tyrone- W4 (7)= 7
Yve- W4 (7)= 7
Wendy
Week 4= 36 Total= 64

Studio Flow CEO

Shannon
Fabio- W4 (7), Im (8)= 15
Kelly S- W4 (7)= 7
Jimmy T- Votes (-20)= -20
NaOnka- W4 (7), Im (8), Idol (10)= 25
Week 4= 27 Total= 60

Sons of Anarchy 305 Review- Deal Maker

Maureen- "I piss you off, I get smacked around. I piss off the army, I end up with my head squeezed off by a razor wire."

Here's the point when I start to question whether I overestimated how good Sons was because I watched seasons one and two so quickly. Is this a bias because I now have to wait a week in between eps, or id this season just not going as well as the first two?

My review of last night's episode is up over at TV Fanatic and I didn't have much to praise about on the episode. That is, other than the fact that Jax is just a complete stud and is obviously marking his territory for the Poolies this summer.

Sons of Anarchy 305 - "Turning and Turning"
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One Tree Hill 804 Review- Incarcerated Mom

Victoria- "Many captains of industry have done their best work while incarcerated. There's no shame in it."

Check out my review of last night's One Tree Hill over at TV Fanatic. Of all the shows I write about, OTH has the best readers and commenters. This week people are posting comments as long as my review.

Last night's episode was an improvement, but still left a lot to be desired. Lets hope things continue to improve so this will be fairly watchable in the near future.

One Tree Hill 804 - "We All Fall Down"
Review
Recap
Quotes

Chuck 403 Review- Stone Cubic Stunner

Heather- "Thanks for that, movie dork. I bet you have like a Tron poster in your room."

Last night's episode of Chuck, "Chuck Versus The Cubic Z", was good but not great. It didn't hit me with the comedy highlights I'm used to from this show, and with the return of a few big guest stars, it could have been better. My full review of the episode is up over at TV Fanatic, so head over there if you care to relive the best and worst moments from last night's ep.

The Chuck Round Table that I participate in weekly at TV Fanatic should be up later today. I'll be back to update this post once it is live. *Update: Round Table is live.*

Chuck 403 - "Chuck Versus The Cubic Z"
Review
Round Table
Recap
Quotes

Mad Men 411 Review- One Over On The Day

Bert (to Roger)- "Lee Garner Jr. never took you seriously because you never took yourself seriously."

My review of last night's Mad Men episode, "Chinese Wall", is up over at TV Fanatic. The more closely you watch this show, the better it gets. When I zoomed through the first season on DVD, I didn't enjoy it all that much. Was I paying attention to other things while watching? Of course. It was pretty boring. But putting forth the effort to go through Mad Men with a fine toothed comb, pays dividends on the entertainment side of things.

Mad Men 411 - "Chinese Wall"
Review
Recap
Quotes

SNL- What Up With Cranston?

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's episode of Saturday Night Live. So watch the ep, send a bottle of sparkling apple juice to my house, then read what I had to say.

There are two ways to look at last night's second episode of Saturday Night Live. Firstly, it was much better than the season premiere. On the other hand, it could have been a lot better with such a great host. As Jackie Boy tweeted me this morning: "they wasted brian cranstons' talents more than jimmy T's last night." Of course, if you don't watch Survivor you don't get the joke, but the point is that Cranston can be hilarious and he did not show that much of it last night.

Having said that, there were a couple of great sketches that made it a big improvement over Amy Poehler's show from last week. Knowing me the way you do, you're not at all surprised to hear that What Up With That? was absolutely fantastic. I don't care how many times it comes on, when that snare drum starts up in the background and Kenan's eyes bug out like crazy, I crack up without hesitation. To go along with the fantastic Floydster doing his red jump suit dancing, and Lindsey Buckingham getting bumped once again, we had the great Morgan Freeman and Ernest Borgnine as the other guests. I'm not sure if Borgnine had never seen the sketch before, or if he just loves it as much as I do, but you could not wipe the ear to ear grin off of his face during that sketch if you tried.
Grade: A

Can they do the Miley Cyrus Show without Cranston as Billy Ray? I hope so, because this could be one of my favorite recurring sketches. As a Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana fan, this sketch was great because this new castmember's impression was spot on. It wasn't really making fun of her though. It was basically just exaggerating all of the things that make her so funny in the first place.
Grade: B+

Looking back at my notes, I realize there wasn't much else that was that great. My next favorite was probably Cranston's monologue. I guess anything mixing comedy with singing and dancing will put you in my good graces.
Grade: B-

The Rescue Dogs 3D Digital Short was pretty good. The dude texting back "Haven't heard from you in years. Rescue Dogs 3D? Are you serious?" was pretty good. As was the pizza guy showing up and getting shot immediately. But the entire premise of the iphone not being a good way to get help just wasn't a funny idea.
Grade: C+

I'll always laugh at kids getting punched in the face, but this sketch (Basement Karate) was another waste of Cranston's talents. He could have done more with this, but instead they gave all the material to this chick playing a boy. Not great.
Grade: C

Black Noise Machine. Short and sweet. Racial stereotypes are funny.
Grade: C

The Sparkling Apple Juice song was good but nothing to really talk about here.
Grade: C

Another political cold open. Sepinwall, and I'm sure many others, are complaining that Armisen is still doing O'Bama now that they have this Pharoah guy that is really good at it. The problem is that Armisen is like their head player. You can't just rip that away from him. And I don't think he's that bad at it, but that's just me. Anyway, this sketch was boring and not funny.
Grade: D+

Pepto Ice Commercial. Mehh.
Grade: D

Kid Smartz. Cranston was good here as the game show host that is inappropriately affectionate with his kid contestants, but the problem was that it wasn't as funny as the actual show it was making fun of. If you have seen this video of the show, Just Like Mom, you know exactly what I am talking about.
Grade: D-

Shanna. This will never be funny to me. It's gross and uninteresting. Stop making this come back. Please.
Grade: F

Just a couple quick notes on Kanye before I go here. Of course I fast forwarded through all but the first 30 seconds of each song, but seriously? What was he doing in that second song with that little machine with the noises? Pushing buttons to make voices come out? Definitely something I could have done. If you're going to be an artist, be an artist. Don't do something any joker off the street could do.

Finally, last year I mentioned how they were picking such terrible hosts. This year's first three; Amy Poehler, Bryan Cranston, and Jane Lynch are exactly the type of host I said they should be getting. They're famous, yet they're all comedy actors. Keep hosts like this, and no more Taylor Swifts or Taylor Lautners, and this season will be much, much better than the last.

Fall Poolies Watch- Action

I have grown accustomed to reviewing television here at the Quiet Pool Perspective as of late, but my first love in regards to tv has always been ranking, voting and listing. So as we get closer to the Third Annual Quiet Pool Television Awards, we will continue to take a look at how things are shaping up. With some of our favorites gone, and plenty of new competition, the 2010 Poolies should once again be quite the event. As always, I'm looking for input from both Poolie voters and non-voters in order to make the nomination process of a more democratic nature. Sound off in the comments, email me at d4cella@gmail.com or hit me on twitter @quietpool.

Now to the action. We begin with The Sopranos Award for Best Action Series.

The Definites

Chuck
Sons of Anarchy

In For Now
Justified
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Mentalist
True Blood
Terriers
The Event
Persons Unknown

Outside Looking In
No Ordinary Family
Undercovers
Hawaii Five-0
Covert Affairs
Nikita
Rubicon
The Good Guys

Here are your character awards. The Frank Pembleton Award for Best Lead Character in an Action Series.

The Definites

Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens

Jackson Teller- Sons of Anarchy
Raylan Givens- Justified
Morgan Grimes- Chuck

In For Now
Chuck Bartowski- Chuck
Patrick Jane- The Mentalist
Eric Northman- True Blood
Danny Williams- Hawaii Five-0
Hank Dolworth- Terriers
Nucky Thompson- Boardwalk Empire
Dexter Morgan- Dexter

Outside Looking In
Joe Tucker- Persons Unknown
Dan Stark- The Good Guys
Jim Powell- No Ordinary Family
Steven Bloom- Undercovers
Britt Pollack- Terriers
Sean Walker- The Event
Will Travers- Rubicon
Steve McGarrett- Hawaii Five-0

And your supporting players. The Desmond Hume Award for Best Supporting Character in an Action Series.

The Definites

Adam Baldwin as John Casey

John Casey- Chuck

In For Now
Boyd Crowder- Justified
Auggie Anderson- Covert Affairs
Devon Woodcomb- Chuck
Opie Winston- Sons of Anarchy
Kimbal Cho- The Mentalist
Billy Blackham- Persons Unknown
Joey Quinn- Dexter
Russell Edgington- True Blood
Bobby Munson- Sons of Anarchy

Outside Looking In
Andy Bellefleur- True Blood
George St. Cloud- No Ordinary Family
Chin Ho Kelly- Hawaii Five-0
Al Capone- Boardwalk Empire
Bill Hoyt- Undercovers
Wayne Rigsby- The Mentalist
Chibs Telford- Sons of Anarchy
Vince Masuka- Dexter

Oh the ladies. The Samantha Marquez Award for Best Female Character in an Action Series.

The Definites

Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker

Sarah Walker- Chuck

In For Now
Ava Crowder- Justified
Deb Morgan- Dexter
Annie Walker- Covert Affairs
Tara Knowles- Sons of Anarchy
Teresa Lisbon- The Mentalist
Winona Hawkins- Justified
Jessica Hamby- True Blood
Ellie Bartowski- Chuck
Sookie Stackhouse- True Blood

Outside Looking In
Leila Buchanan- The Event
Gemma Teller- Sons of Anarchy
Samantha Bloom- The Undercovers
Kona Kalkua- Hawaii Five-0
Grace Van Pelt- The Mentalist
Stephanie Powell- No Ordinary Family
Alex- Nikita

Hate 'em. The Teri Bauer Award for the Character You Love to Hate in an Action Series.

The Definites

Rutina Wesley as Tara Thornton

Tara Thornton- True Blood
Moira- Persons Unknown

In For Now
Franklin Mott- True Blood
Jesus Velasquez- True Blood
Angel Batista- Dexter
Miles Fiedler- Rubicon
Liam Ulrich- Persons Unknown
Clay Morrow- Sons of Anarchy
Talbot- True Blood
Jack Bailey- The Good Guys

Outside Looking In
Bill Compton- True Blood
Maria Laguerta- Dexter
Kale Ingram- Rubicon
Jai Wilcox- Covert Affairs
Hoyt Fortenberry- True Blood
Grant Test- Rubicon

Which episodes have you enjoyed thus far? The "Through the Looking Glass" Award for best episode in an Action Series.

Breaking Bad- "Full Measure" - 313
Justified- "Bulletville" - 113
Sons of Anarchy- "So" - 301
Persons Unknown- "And Then There Was One" - 112
The Event- "Pilot" - 101

What and who do you like fellow Poolies?

Fall Poolies Watch- Comedy

I have grown accustomed to reviewing television here at the Quiet Pool Perspective as of late, but my first love in regards to tv has always been ranking, voting and listing. So as we get closer to the Third Annual Quiet Pool Television Awards, we will continue to take a look at how things are shaping up. With some of our favorites gone, and plenty of new competition, the 2010 Poolies should once again be quite the event. As always, I'm looking for input from both Poolie voters and non-voters in order to make the nomination process of a more democratic nature. Sound off in the comments, email me at d4cella@gmail.com or hit me on twitter @quietpool.

In second day action we will take a look at the comedy categories. First up is the Seinfeld Award for Best Comedy Series.

The Definites

Community
The Office
It's Always Sunny
Modern Family
30 Rock

In For Now
Eastbound and Down
Bored to Death
Sonny with a Chance
Big Lake
Party Down

Outside Looking In
Rules of Engagement
Family Guy
Hannah Montana
The League
Wizards of Waverly Place
Cougar Town
Louie

On to the characters. The Cory Matthews Award for Best Lead Character in a Comedy Series.

The Definites

Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy

Phil Dunphy- Modern Family
Michael Scott- The Office
Jeff Winger- Community
Charlie Kelly- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

In For Now
Chris Henkel- Big Lake
Cameron Tucker- Modern Family
Dwight Schrute- The Office
Dennis Reynolds- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Jack Donaghy- 30 Rock
Kenny Powers- Eastbound and Down

Outside Looking In
Andre Nowsik- The League
Jonathan Ames- Bored to Death
Henry Pollard- Party Down
Justin Russo- Wizards of Waverly Place
Jay Pritchett- Modern Family
Chad Dylan Cooper- Sonny with a Chance
Russell Dunbar- Rules of Engagement

Next up is the Arthur Spooner Award for Best Supporting Character in a Comedy Series

The Definites

Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds

Frank Reynolds- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Tracy Jordan- 30 Rock

In For Now
Pierce Hawthorne- Community
Luke Dunphy- Modern Family
Abed Nadir- Community
Robby Ray Stewart- Hannah Montana
Troy Barnes- Community
Manny Delgado- Modern Family
George Christopher- Bored to Death
Adam Rhodes- Rules of Engagement

Outside Looking In
Kyle Bradway- Party Down
Kevin Malone- The Office
Senor Chang- Community
Kenneth Parcel- 30 Rock
Max Russo- Wizards of Waverly Place
Ron Donald- Party Down
Andy Bernard- The Office
Taco McArthur- The League

And on to the ladies. The Phoebe Buffay Award for Best Female Character in a Comedy Series.

The Definites

Emily Osment as Lilly Truscott and Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart

Sonny Munroe- Sonny with a Chance
Alex Russo- Wizards of Waverly Place
Miley Stewart- Hannah Montana

In For Now
Dee Reynolds- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Casey Klein- Party Down
Lilly Truscott- Hannah Montana
Gloria Delgado Pritchett- Modern Family
Erin Hannon- The Office
Annie Edison- Community
Claire Dunphy- Modern Family

Outside Looking In
Jenna Maroney- 30 Rock
Liz Lemon- 30 Rock
Pam Halpert- The Office
Shirley Bennett- Community
Amy Duncan- Good Luck Charlie
Audrey Bingham- Rules of Engagement

Bring on the hate. The Lily Finnerty Award for the Character You Love to Hate in a Comedy Series.

The Definites

Megan Mullally as Lydia Dunfree

Lydia Dunfree- Party Down
Nico Harris- Sonny with a Chance
Josh Franklin- Big Lake

In For Now
Zeke Beakerman- Wizards of Waverly Place
Timmy- Rules of Engagement
PJ Duncan- Good Luck Charlie
Toby Flenderson- The Office
Gabe Lewis- The Office
Meredith Palmer- The Office
Zora Lancaster- Sonny with a Chance

Outside Looking In
Ivy- Good Luck Charlie
Glen Quagmire- Family Guy
Mitchell Pritchett- Modern Family
Britta Perry- Community
Roman DeBeers- Party Down
Louie CK- Louie

Which episodes have you liked so far? The "The Dealership" Award for Best Episode in a Comedy Series.

Sonny with a Chance- "Falling For the Falls" - 210-211
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia- "Mac Fights Gay Marriage" - 601
Community- "Anthropology 101" - 201
30 Rock- "When It Rains, It Pours" - 502
Party Down- "Company Picnic" - 207

What and who do you like fellow Poolies?