The TV Addict 

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:
UGLY BETTY (8PM ABC, CityTV in Canada)
It’s a good news/bad news situation for Betty tonight. On the plus side, she finally gets a makeover from her co-workers. But seeing as the folks who give her that makeover are Mark and Amanda, we can’t help but worry. Speaking of makeovers, Daniel and Wilhelmina decide to give Mode one as well in an effort to boost circulation.

THE OFFICE (9PM NBC, GlobalTV in Canada)
Ugh. A Michael-centric office. here’s hoping the new vice-president who comes on board tonight can balance that out, because this show is in serious danger of having its lead character drag the whole thing down.

GREY’S ANATOMY (9PM ABC, CTV in Canada)
Is it just me, or are Christina, Bailey and Mark pretty much the only characters on this show who aren’t annoying? I suppose we could throw George into the mix, too, if only because he’s not on screen enough to actually annoy us. Anyway, tonight, Izzie tries to keep her disease under wraps, Christina finally gets a solo surgery and Mark tries to do a face transplant.

SUPERNATURAL (9PM CW)
Castiel and Uriel have been kinda nasty to Sam and Dean in the past, but you know how angels are: The minute they need a favor, they come knockin’ on bended wing. Which is what happens when someone begins killing angels with Lucifer’s sword. Of course, the real question is this: Who was stupid enough to give the devil a sword in the first place?

30 ROCK (9:30PM CW, CityTV in Canada)
Liz finds out that pretty people — like her boyfriend — get special treatment. Meanwhile, Jenna’s latest bid for attention from the public could result in the worst hair day ever.

PRIVATE PRACTICE (10PM ABC, “A” in Canada)
Addison has to repress her feelings for someone who’s not as single as she’d like. Unfortunately, Addison has never really been all that great at repressing anything…

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Is THE WIRE’s Idris Elba change Michael Scott can believe in? Find out for yourself by checking out theTVaddict.com’s exclusive sneak peak at tonight’s brand new episode of THE OFFICE, appropriately titled, “New Boss.”

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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:
UGLY BETTY (8PM ABC, City in Canada)
Wilhelmina headed for the poor house? Who wouldn’t tune in to see that! As an added bonus, Christine Baranski guests as Matt’s mom, and Hilda goes on a date with Ralph Macchio. It’s almost TOO much goodness!

SMALLVILLE (8PM CW)
Remember when Tori Spelling was nice-girl Donna? Well not any more! As reporter Linda Lake, she’s blackmailing Clark in an attempt to regain her journalistic mojo. “Frak that!” says Clark, who instead outs himself to Lois!

GREY’S ANATOMY (9PM ABC, CTV in Canada)
After finally realizing that a whole hell of a lot of his patients wind up biting the dust, Derek decides to quit. Frankly, that makes sense to us. I mean, once they stop calling you McDreamy and start calling you Doctor Death, it’s all over but the singing.

THE OFFICE (9PM NBC, Global in Canada)
Michael’s latest scheme involves placing “Golden Tickets” — ala Willy Wonka — inside paper packages. Anyone else suspect this won’t end well? Meanwhile, Kevin’s out to woo a woman, so his co-workers offer him some advice. Um… anyone else suspect this won’t end well, either?

SUPERNATURAL (9PM CW)
Baby, don’t fear the reaper. Especially now that all the reapers have gone missing, allowing people to literally cheat death! Sam and Dean journey to the netherworld (insert spooky sounds here) to find out what the heck’s going on.

30 ROCK (9:30PM NBC, City in Canada)
Liz has jury duty, which means the staff of TGS has no babysitter. Wacky chaos ensues.

PRIVATE PRACTICE (10PM ABC)
Pete and Sheldon want Violet to take a paternity test. And who can blame them? Meanwhile, Sam commits the ultimate boyfriend sin when he calls his current girlfriend by his ex-wife’s name… while in bed. Yeah, that’s bad.

ER (10PM ABC, E! in Canada)
Thanks to a cavalcade of original series stars including Eriq La Salle, Julianne Marguilies and he-who-shall-not-be-named returning to Country General tonight, we officially give-in! Seriously NBC, you win. We’re back on the ER bandwagon.

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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:
UGLY BETTY (8PM ABC, CityTV in Canada)
As if lifted directly from that very special episode of SCRUBS with Clay AIken, Ignacio signs up for a cook-off with a TV chef when the Suarez family try to scrape together enough money to buy their home after the landlord decides to put it on the market.

THE OFFICE (9PM NBC, Global in Canada)
In a poorly timed Valentine’s Day episode, Michael meets an enigmatic lady at a blood drive while Pam and Jim share an uncomfortable lunch with Phyllis and Bon Vance.

30 ROCK (9:30PM NBC, CityTV in Canada)
Jenna pushes for more attention as her birthday approaches, which we’re going to go out on a limb and say involves a whole lotta singing.

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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:
UGLY BETTY (8PM ABC, CityTV in Canada)
Daniel’s got a new lady. Wilhelmina’s got a new guy. But both are going to face big problems tonight. Meanwhile, Betty’s attempt to put together a fitting tribute for Claire’s 60th birthday party might wind up putting someone else in the spotlight!

GREY’S ANATOMY (9PM ABC, CTV in Canada)
In case you’ve been living under a rock (or busy kevetching about that woman who had eight babies and is now asking people to send her money so she can support them!), there’s a big crossover event tonight revolving around Addison’s brother, Archer (played by guest star Grant Show). We suspect the best part of this will be the chance to watch Meredith bristle as McDreamy works closely with his trampy ex-wife.

GREY’S ANATOMY/PRIVATE PRACTICE (9PM ABC, CTV in Canada)
In case you’ve been living under a rock (or busy kevetching about that woman who had eight babies and is now asking people to send her money so she can support them!), there’s a big crossover event tonight revolving around Addison’s brother, Archer (played by guest star Grant Show). We suspect the best part of this will be the chance to watch Meredith bristle as McDreamy works closely with his trampy ex-wife.

THE OFFICE (9PM NBC)
Michael’s road trip continues. But since he’s become so wildly annoying as to be unfunny, let’s focus on what else is going on. Apparently, Angela’s new cat causes a bit of an uproar, while Dwight and Jim’s attempt at party planning is… well, do we need to even finish that sentence?

30 ROCK (9:30PM NBC, CityTV in Canada)
Oh, Liz Lemon. Will you never learn? The poor girl has decided her first date with Drew (aka Jon Hamm of MAD MEN) should be on Valentine’s Day! Yeah, no pressure there!

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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:
UGLY BETTY (8PM ABC, CityTV in Canada)
Daniel’s got something to hide, and Betty is caught up in family matters. In other words, just another day in her world. On the plus side, that cute neighbor of Betty’s seems to be taking a renewed interested in her, so maybe things are looking up.

THE OFFICE (9PM NBC, Global in Canada)
Ugh. Michael goes on yet another road trip. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Pam is along for the ride this time instead of Dwight. But I’m not 100% convinced even she can make Michael more palatable at this point.

SUPERNATURAL (9PM CW)
A sexy siren (is there any other kind?) lures three men to their doom. And when the Winchester boys investigate, it’s brother-vs-brother thanks to the evil temptress!

GREY’S ANATOMY (9PM ABC, CTV in Canada)
Having apparently not learned a thing from every other doctor or intern at Seattle Grace, Lexie demands that she and Mark make their relationship public. Meanwhile, having not learned a thing from his girlfriend’s nearly psychotic narcissistic whining, Derek tries figuring out just the right way to propose. (Dude, trust us: No matter what you do, she’ll kevetch about it later.)

30 ROCK (9:30PM NBC, CityTV in Canada)
Can the unlucky-in-love Liz Lemon finally get her act together and impress her sexy new neighbor (special guest Jon Hamm)? Yeah, wouldn’t bet on it.

PRIVATE PRACTICE (10PM NBC, “A” in Canada)
Crossover alert! When Addison’s brother has a seizure, she calls in ex-hubby Derek (of GREY’S ANATOMY) for a consult. Translation: This show is in trouble, and they need to lure in viewers any way they can. Ha! You can’t fool us, sly ABC executives!

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At what point does a spoiler stop becoming a spoiler? I was talking to someone recently about NIP/TUCK and why I was disappointed in the big season three reveal concerning the identity of The Carver. The person I was chatting with suddenly got so upset, I could only assume I had been wildly gesticulating — you know, to better illustrate my point — and somehow severed one of their primary arteries. “I haven’t seen that yet! I just got season one from Netflix!” they said, as if I should somehow have been aware that they were drinking from a water cooler nobody had been chatting around in five years. Another friend of mine was taken to task for having “revealed” the identity of a major character who dies in the Harry Potter series. (I’m not being vague out of fear that I might spoil a surprise for you, gentle readers, but because, um, it’s been SO long since I read the book in question or saw the movie it spawned that I can’t remember!) Sure, it’s one thing if you taped, TiVo’s, DVR’d or are planning to watch something on-line that aired a few days ago. But after a week or two, doesn’t a spoiler become, well, literally yesterday’s news? Is the world supposed to speak of the adventures of P. Sawyer and B. Davis in hushed tones because I’m only now watching season two of ONE TREE HILL?

I’d like to get excited about the fact that ONE TREE HILL creator Mark Schwahn is in negotiations to head up the new incarnation of MELROSE PLACE… but let’s not forget that it wasn’t all that long ago that VERONICA MARS mastermind Rob Thomas was being talked about as the man who would update 90210. Wonder if that show would be better if he’d actually stuck around that zip code? In any case, I’m of two minds where the Schwahn/MP talk is concerned. On the one hand, TREE HILL is one of my favorite guilty pleasures, which is pretty much all I want out of a new versionof MELROSE PLACE. On the other hand, um, doesn’t the fact that TREE HILL is so great kind of negate the need for MELROSE? Especially since Schwahn would, like Thomas, only have him penning the initial script before handing the whole thing over to someone else. And by “someone else” we mean people far less talented. Like those writing 90210 now.

So AMERICAN IDOL is pulling the plug on IDOL GIVES BACK because the economy is in the toilet? Isn’t that rather like not feeding a bulimic because they’ll just vomit it up anyway? Oh, and don’t worry about those pesky rumors that the judges will be nicer this season. Executive producer Ken Warwick tells USA TODAY the comments of the judges (read: Simon) won’t be softened. “If they’re mean, they’re mean.” When the producer says he will “do his best to offset” the drop in ratings, why do I hear, “Simon will be meaner, we’ll feature more folks who can’t sing and don’t be surprised if we do a special tribute to Paula’s dead stalker!”

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THE GOOD: Following a funny, albeit somewhat predictable cameo by Oprah, the never-ending hilarity that was the Tracey versus Jenna Freaky-Friday feud and the overall brilliance (or lack-there-of) of Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy (Love how his own over-medicated in-flight hallucination was responsible for confusing his assistant Jonathan with M. Night Shyamalan!), this TV Addict is ready to call it. 30 ROCK, thanks to its penchant for cramming a ridiculous amount of jokes into twenty-two minutes with a special shout out to Tina Fey’s Princess Leah impersonation to escape jury duty and Tracey Jordan’s Claw Hand (Trust me, you have to see the episode!) — is officially ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT’s heir apparent.

MORE GOOD: While this TV Addict could focus on the brilliant manner in which the writers of THE OFFICE have managed to keep Jim and Pam’s relationship afloat while at the same time giving Pam an opportunity to spread her wings in New York City. I’d like to award the fake Gold Medal concocted by 30 ROCK’s Jack Donaghy (Once again, if you missed that reference, you have to watch last night’s episode of 30 ROCK) to Mindy Kaling. Who continues to be the only woman outside of Sarah Silverman who can illicit huge laughs from a highly inappropriate yet perfectly timed rape joke.

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Got a [spoiler free!] take on last night’s installments of UGLY BETTY, THE OFFICE, SUPERNATURAL, SMALLVILLE, GREY’S ANATOMY and LIFE ON MARS? Post away so this TV Addict knows how to go about filling up his weekend.

Is anyone else still scratching their head over NBC’s decision to offer up a FREE iTunes download of 30 ROCK’s season premiere a week early when you purchase the October 27th issue of TV Guide Magazine? I mean don’t get me wrong, this TV Addict is all for free iTunes downloads, after-all, who doesn’t love free stuff [see today's previous post.] I’m just not so sure that TV Guide was the right strategic partner considering that the once mighty guide now finds itself in such dire financial straits that it was recently sold for $1 [no really, one dollar!] That and, I’d hazard to guess that the people who still use TV Guide as a “Guide to What’s On” include some of the few remaining folks who are old enough to remember when 30 Rockefeller Center was built. Not exactly NBC’s desired demographic. Paging Entertainment Weekly… anyone?

With the one caveat being Michael wanting a “Golden Shower” of his very own, was I the only TV Addict who found last night’s episode of THE OFFICE quite possibly the least funny of the entire series?

Now that 90210 has dropped Jessica Walter as a series regular and with her, the impetus for the Mills family move to West Beverly — this TV Addict can’t help but wonder how long until showrunners Gabe Sachs, Jeff Judah and newcomer Rebecca Kirshner decide to take the next logical step, send the rest of the Mills family back to Kansas and refocus the show on the only family anybody cares about — The Taylors [Jackie, Kelly and Silver].

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