Comedy Corner for week of Oct. 11: Brobdingnagian Laughs; Lilliputian Comments

MONDAY, OCT 11

How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7:00): My favorite episode of the season so far; the crazy race through New York hit just the right level of wackiness for me.

TUESDAY, OCT 12

Glee (Fox, 7:00):  It's amazing:  the first episode of the season with absolutely zero Sue Sylvester scenes also happens to be the first episode of the season that I actually enjoyed.  There are several factors which contributed to the quantum leap forward in my enjoyment.  First of all there's the fact that none of the characters were written as wholly unlikable . . . well, except maybe Santana, but at least she's always been intended to be horrible, as opposed to Rachel, whose narcissism reached toxic levels in the first few episodes. Along those lines, I loved watching Rachel's scheming be for a more positive goal, while still fitting with her personality.  And, most of all, I loved seeing Kurt finally getting called out for his culpability in Finn's breakdown last season.

Raising Hope (Fox, 8:00):  This show consistently makes me laugh out loud more than any other show I watch. 

Running Wilde (Fox, 8:30): Best part of the episode by far was Fa'ad doing the "tough guy" voice taught to him by Alan Alda. Outside of that, the two misunderstanding-fueled plot lines were surprisingly squirm-free for me for some reason -- I suppose the cartoonish world the show inhabits makes such things more bearable.  

WEDNESDAY, OCT 13

The Middle (ABC, 7:00):  Brick's foray into magic was the highlight this week, although the contentious school meeting was a close second.

Better With You (ABC, 7:30): I removed several shows from my DVR this week since I had neither the time nor the inclination to watch them, and yet somehow, this show still survives; think it may officially qualify as a "guilty pleasure" at this point.  That being said, it's probably just one bad episode away from getting cut, but for now, I'm still hanging in there.

Modern Family (ABC, 8:00): Favorite moment of the episode had to be Claire's laughing without her eyes, but Cameron's "troga" was a pretty close second. And was I the only one disappointed when the Strangers on a Train plot didn't result in someone saying "Crisscross, crisscross!" repeatedly?

Cougar Town (ABC, 8:30): Pros:  Jules turning her decision into a Reality TV ceremony, all of Ellie's harsh truth moments, the chocolate manatee.  Cons:  the actual plot points and their resolutions; hated seeing Travis cave in to Kylie, and hated seeing Smith dump Laurie.  Plus, the "swallow the sword" phrase came off feeling forced.

THURSDAY, OCT 14

The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 7:00): Thank you, Big Bang Theory, for giving me an excuse to use "Brobdingnagian" several times in conversation this week.

Community (NBC, 7:00): And the award for "Best Product Placement" goes to Community's KFC space simulator. 

30 Rock (NBC, 7:30): I watched both versions of the live episode, and have to say I preferred the West Coast version just a bit more, although the best part in either version was Jon Hamm's hand-replacement ad, followed closely by the first whip-pan flashback. 

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX, 9:00): The Charlie/Mac storyline was streets ahead compared to the Dee/Dennis storyline for the most part, although the highlight of the episode for me was the pool attendant tackling Dennis during his mad rush for the water.

The League (FX, 9:30): As is often the case, the Andre storyline was borderline annoying, but it was more than made up for by Jenny and Kevin's faceoff and the Taco and Ruxin notary storylines, especially Taco's commercial.