Catch up with Thursday night TV.
After-all, if last night’s disappointing ratings for FRINGE, COMMUNITY and PARKS AND RECREATION are any indication, many of you were otherwise occupied. Seriously, what is up with that?

Watch UGLY BETTY.
A show which not only has enjoyed a creative resurgence this season thanks to some interesting story-lines for the always awesome Ana Ortiz, Michael Urie and Vanessa Williams. But thanks to the time-slot that viewers forgot, now finds itself on the verge of cancellation. [Update] Thanks to frequent contributor John who responded, “I WOULD watch UGLY BETTY, but it’s preempted tonight for Shrek the Third. Instead, how about MONK, WHITE COLLAR, SMALLVILLE, LAW AND ORDER and MEDIUM.”

Pick up a book.
You know, those paper things that gave Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner a career.

Enjoy the company of actual real-life people.
Remember them? They’re just like the people you see in movies and television — except smaller, uglier and more often than not, less interesting.

Or if you must go see a movie…
At the very least, go see one that wasn’t based on a medicore book you’ve probably already read, the adaptation of which will no doubt be inferior.

MAD MEN
For us every-day TV Addicts who let’s face it, don’t always pick up on the subtle subtleties of every look, nuance and intricate line of dialogue that are packed into each and every hour of the Matthew Weiner masterpiece, Sunday’s game-changer of a finale that had Don leading Roger and Bertram (Sterling and Cooper respectively) in a coup d’état in an effort to take control of their own destiny by secretly starting their own agency was plain and simple mad mad fun. Now, if only we had some assurances that we haven’t seen the last of Ken, Paul and Sal!

90210
After almost a season and a half, this week’s installment of 90210 finally delivered that missing piece of the puzzle. The spark of genuine friendship between our leading players upon Liam finally revealing to Dixon, Teddy and surfer chick Ivy the reason why he looks like he’s ready to ‘Hulk smash’ at a moments notice. Seriously. All that was missing from this next gen gang’s vow to help Liam take Naomi’s duplicitous sister Jen down was an iconic Brandon/Steve/Dylan fist-bump.

GLEE
Just how good was this week’s highly anticipated return of GLEE? So good that the defying-gravity-diva-off between Rachel and Kurt that we’ve been counting down the hours for wasn’t even the episode’s highlight. Don’t get us wrong, our current iTunes play count on Defying Gravity is at a solid 66 plays and counting in less than a week. But when an episode manages to humanize Sue Sylvester, provide Artie with a much-deserved moment in the spotlight and allow for Tina — who quite frankly we were starting to worry was quietly becoming the GLEE equivalent of FRINGE’s Astrid — to deliver not only what was easily her largest amount of dialogue to date, but a shocking reveal to-boot, there’s a good reason why we have yet to stop believin’ (or talkin’ about) this show.

DEXTER
Oh No Dexter Didn’t! Oh wait, he did. Break Harry’s code that is. And now that he’s killed what we presume is his first innocent man — the big, scary, question that remains is will we as fans ever be able to look at what was once America’s favorite serial killer the same way again? Stay tuned.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Predictable, cheesy, call it what you will. But Buddy “Clear eyes, full hearts can’t lose” Garrity’s denouncement of the Dillon Panther Boosters was one of those rare TV moments that PVR’s were made for.

It’s all about the little things.
Be it the running gag that highlighted Jay’s penchant for making t-shirts to celebrate special occasions (see above), Dunphey daughter Alex’s hilarious habit of making her siblings look stupid (Note to self: Cell phone battery cannot be charged via static electricity) or Cameron ending the episode off, no doubt much to Mitchell’s chagrin, in a bright yellow t-shirt, MODERN FAMILY is the only series we’ve started watching twice for fear of missing the little things.

Zorro Reincarnate
There’s a reason we’ve already put in our order for one of Jay’s “Who Da Manny?” t-shirts (or would have, had somebody on cafepress got their act together!) His pint-sized portrayer Rico Rodriguez can do no wrong. From his momentary retirement from fencing, “defeating a woman will be a mark on my honour” to his championship defeat of a poor girl who unbeknownst to him turned out to be a diabetic orphan whose cheering section included her nurse and a gaggle of patients in wheelchairs, Rodriguez, with apologizes to THE MIDDLE’s Atticus Shaffer continues to raise the bar for child actors on the small screen.

Phil
From his opening reaction of approval to wife Claire and Gloria’s exceedingly excited celebration during Manny’s fencing competition, to his somewhat futile effort to turn son Luke (”I saw a Ghost!”) into a real estate tycoon, Ty Burrell deserves a serious pat-on-the-back (Although not from Jay, because clearly that hurts) for not just teaching us the literal ABC’s of real estate (”Always be closing don’t ever forget great home ideas just keep lurking mostly near by often people question realtors sincerity take umbrage violators will be….”), but for managing to keep us rooting for a somewhat cartoonish character that on almost any other show we’d have already tired of.

Cameron
Filmmaking abilities aside, (”Any monkey can shoot a home movie, I pride myself on shooting films.”) Cameron gets a shout-out for his uncanny ability to deliver a one-liner. Case in point, upon Mitchell’s explanation as to hwo his figure skating career was cut short after Claire quit the team (”My Sister and I were called Fire and Nice, I was fire for the red hair and Claire was nice because it was ironic, and she wasn’t.”) just before the 13-and-under regional championships (Or, as Mitchell explains it, “Just, the Emerald City at the end of my Yellow Brick Road.”) Cameron remarked, “WOW you did it. You made figure skating sound even gayer.”

Jay’s Voiceovers
Since Jay’s voiceovers as of late seem to have become a bone of contention with numerous TV critics who enjoy nitpicking over the little things, this TV Addict thought we’d take the opportunity to come out in defence of them. Over-sentimental, perhaps! Predictable, possibly! But say what you will, there’s no denying one thing: Having each episode wrapped up with a nice little lesson reminiscent of FULL HOUSE makes a large segment of the audience (including us) happy. And you know what, anything that ends this gem of a show on a positive note, particularly one that keeps audiences coming back for more, we’re all for.

On this morning’s edition of THE EARLY SHOW, MURPHY BROWN star Candice Bergen revealed that Heather Locklear was in fact the network’s first choice to play the show’s titular character.

This Thursday, WILL & GRACE alum Megan Mullally will drop by PARKS AND RECREATION to play the ex-wife of Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), who according to the Pawnee politico himself may-or-may-note-have been “programmed by someone from the future to destroy all happiness.” More surprising still, Mullally is Offerman’s wife in real life.

Now pay attention, because this one’s a doozy: Teri Hatcher’s fictional small-screen son MJ played by Mason Vale Cotton on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES is the real-life brother of Rachel Griffiths fictional TV son Cooper Whedon played by Maxwell Perry Cotton on BROTHERS & SISTERS. Got that?

Why did Jennifer Grey have the time of her life guest starring on the upcoming November 18th episode of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE? It probably had something to do with getting paid to spend the week with her off-screen better half Clark Gregg.

Regardless of whether FLASHFORWARD’s special agent Demetri Noh really ends up dead by April 29th, 2010, of this we know for sure. We’d kill for John Cho’s genes, who if his imdb profile is to believed, is actually 37!

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE PLAN.
After sitting through the Edward James Olmos direct-to-DVD movie released this week, this TV Addict thinks he’s discovered what NBC/Universal’s ultimate plan was: To FRAK us fans by milking as much money as they can from the franchise with a glorified clip show. Not cool.

The CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM controversy.
InsideCatholic.com’s Dean Hudson is entitled to his opinion. Which is why, if he really found Larry David’s ridiculous antics on Sunday’s CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM — that had David’s potent stream of urine inadvertently splash-back on a painting of Jesus Christ — offensive, rather than the absurdist and ridiculous humour that it was, so be it. But what really grinds our gears is Mr. Hudson’s statement to (surprise!) FOX News, in which he blasts the show by arguing that, “If the same thing was done to a symbol of any other religions — Jewish or Muslim — there’d be a huge outcry. It’s simply not a level playing field.” Which begs the question, has Mr. Hudson ever watched CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM? Surely, if he had, he’d have recognized that not only is no subject safe from Larry David (Who earlier this season spent an entire episode strategizing ways in which to dump his Cancer stricken-girlfriend), but the show itself isn’t exactly a glowing advertisement for us Jews.

Media outlets prognosticating show’s fates, TOO SOON!
Yes, we get it. Not every show will survive to the fall (RIP: TRAUMA). But you know what certainly doesn’t help? Media outlets such as TVGuide, The Hollywood Reporter among others taking it upon themselves to cancel shows less than two months into the Fall season! Frankly, articles like this morning’s TVGuide piece which asks “Is Your Favorite Show on the Bubble” or The Live Feed’s “Survival Report” do nothing yet hurt the industry as a whole by continuing to perpetuate the already far too accepted stereotype that Network TV as we know it is doomed. Sure shows like THE FORGOTTEN, DOLLHOUSE and FRINGE aren’t exactly doing great, but by continuing to hammer that fact home, media outlets are really doing nothing but hurt shows further. After-all, who really wants to tune into EASTWICK after TVGuide has all but cancelled it on their website. Or to put it in terms the media industry might appreciate a little more, does The Hollywood Reporter really want to play the ‘which print magazine won’t be around this time next year’ game? Didn’t think so.

THE JAY LENO SHOW.
‘Nuff Said.

Sara Rue.
Sure, at first I was annoyed that she isn’t one of the leads, but as second-banana/gal pal Penny, her bubbly personality shines far more than it probably would as one of the witchy women.

Magic is sexy.
Paul Gross. Matt Dallas. Jon Bernthal. Johann Urb. Jack Huston. Hello, Hunkapalooza. And of course, the ladies are well-represented thanks to Jaime Ray Newman, Lindsay Price, Rebecca Romijn, Ashley Benson and the aforementioned Rue.

It’s everything you love.
Take the humour of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, the former set of GILMORE GIRLS, a dash of mystery, a touch of mythology and the romantic entanglements of GREY’S ANATOMY, and you have one tasty concoction… in a bubbling cauldron.

They keep it simple.
Although there is a continuing story bubbling just beneath the surface, this ain’t rocket science. Jumping in late won’t be a problem for most viewers. (And those who have story questions can send them our way, we’ll gladly answer. Anything for the cause!)

To defeat Leno
Do you really want scripted television to vanish from the airwaves? At this point, NBC has given up 1/3 of its primetime sked to Leno’s show — and that’s not even including the hours handed off to reality fare such as THE BIGGEST LOSER. And anyone who takes the “Well, there’s always cable” view hasn’t been paying attention to Bravo, aka home of the “real” HOUSEWIVES.

Apparently we’re not the only ones who are obsessed with THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. Turns out, when she’s not busy acting, singing and promoting her hit show GLEE, star Lea Michele is hooked. “Getting ready to pick Mr Groff up from the airport! Let the week of fun begin!!! But first Vampire Diaries. Why is this show SO good!” Now all that’s left is for @msleamichele to publicly proclaim her loyalty: Team Damon or Team Stefan?

Did actress Leven Rambin (TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES) just spill the beans on yet another GREY’S ANATOMY/PRIVATE PRACTICE crossover? Maybe, maybe not, but one thing’s for sure: According to this tweet, the actress, who is on the set of GREY’S ANATOMY as we tweet speak is poised to be hitting up both shows in the not-to-distant-future, “The Lord answered all your prayers! Thank you all so much! I’m going to be on Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice this season, y’all!” Hmmmm, perhaps @shondarhimes would care to shed a little light on this?

We have a feeling that life just got a little less UneXpected for the the CW’s new heroine-to-be Lux. Who, according to LIFE UNEXPECTED showrunner Liz Tigelaar will soon be joined by what we are going to go ahead and irresponsibly speculate is a love interest. Tweeted Tigelaar, “some of the cast to portland. one new member of the cast soon on his way to the couve. welcome, austin butler. our jones.”

This week’s awkward tweet of the week goes to VAMPIRE DIARIES star Nina Dobrev who tweeted her addiction to time-slot competitor FLASHFORWARD, “@kevwilliamson LOVE FLASHFORWARD. I’m addicted. We shouldn’t be though…lol conflict of interest, don’t you agree?”

And finally, while this doesn’t exactly come as a surprise considering his Canadian pedigree, BONES showrunner Hart Hanson has a sense of humour pertaining to what some (certainly not us!) might call eerily similarities between his show and that other procedural. Tweeted @HartHanson, “@geekiskhan I don’t have to watch “Castle”. I see “Bones” so I can watch the original. Oh, snap! That’s right.I said it! I do like Fillion.” Snap indeed.

DOLLHOUSE
What is with those Whedon’s and their ability to always leave us wanting more. Fresh of the heels of this week’s DOLLHOUSE debacle that has FOX benching the ratings anemic series for November sweeps, comes a harrowing Sierra-centric episode that recounts the terrifying circumstances in which the Aussie beauty found her way to the Rossum Corporation. Both gripping and gut-wrenching, the episode was not only right up their as one of the series’ bests, but showed the few who bothered to watch, just how much potential this show has if given the chance.

MODERN FAMILY
Erik Estrada eat your heart out. For what FAMILY’s two “E’s” (Ed O’Neil and Eric Stonestreet) lack in the matinee idol looks department, they more than make up for by delivering the laughs. Yes, five episodes into the freshman series, O’Neill and Stonestreet, alongside the rest of the ridiculously talented cast, continue to raise the bar when it comes to L.P.M. (Laughs per minute). So much so that we’ll forgive showrunners Lloyd and Levitan (Christopher and Steven respectively) for leaving out the obvious ‘Four touchdowns in a single game’ shout-out many MARRIED WITH CHILDREN fans (okay, this TV Addict) was waiting for.

GREY’S ANATOMY
Thursday’s story-telling departure which had the good doctors of Seattle Grace (both new and old) recount the unfortunate circumstances that resulted in the unexpected death of a patient and the firing of a one of their own (Can someone please give Sarah Drew a regular series gig, and STAT!) was not only the best episode of the season, but continued to prove that the merger between Seattle Grace and Mercy West has been the best thing to happen to GREY’S ANATOMY since JOURNEYMAN’s cancellation and Dr. Owen Hunt’s arrival on the scene.

COMMUNITY
After a rocky start, the gang from Greendale Community College finally seems to have found their rhythm. Thursday’s episode — that had Britta learning about ‘bathroom girl-talk-etiquette’ from Shirley, Annie learning about selflessness from of all people Jeff, and Abed learning that less is more — gave virtually every COMMUNITY member a moment to shine. Plus bonus points for Moby Dean Pelton, who’s quickly becoming our favorite Principal since Mr. Belding.

THE BIG BANG THEORY
WHEEEAATONNNN!

If Paul Ballard spent all of last season attempting to bring down the Dollhouse, how does he justify working for them this season?
Tahmoh Penikett: Obviously he still wants to bring down the Dollhouse, but when we left him at the end of last season, he made an agreement to work for them. Why? Not only did he ensure November/Mellie’s release which gives Paul some peace of mind, he now gets to do some good. Which is where we found him at the beginning of the season. In “Vows,” he used Dollhouse technology to bring down a nemesis of his, Martin Klar (Jamie Bamber). What’s interesting though is what exactly is Paul’s hidden agenda? He has now made a deal with the devil (The Rossum Corporation) and continues to put Echo in harm’s way. And the questions of course are: When is he going to stop and when, or will his conscience get in the way?

What was it like reuniting with your BATTLESTAR GALACTICA co-star Jamie Bamber for the DOLLHOUSE season premiere?
It was awesome. When Joss [Whedon] told me that he had hired Jamie for the job, I didn’t believe him. For ten minutes I sat there going, ‘No you did not!’ and Joss would say, ‘Yeah, I did!’ Having worked with Jamie for five years, he is like family and I loved having him on the show, on my set, playing a completely different character. Obviously we have a lot of BSG fans amongst both the cast and crew and you’d be surprised how many people were like, ‘I can’t believe that’s his real accent.’ His British accent worked so well for an evil gunrunner, I thought he was perfect.

With BATTLESTAR GALACTICA having ended, is there a sense of relief not having to carry around so many secrets.
That’s an interesting question. But the truth is, stuff like that never really weighed on me. I just enjoyed being part of an amazing series. I never give out spoilers, but it was always fun giving out fake spoilers or misleading fans. I just got a kick out of how popular the show was and how big of a cult following it had. I miss it though. I do. But it’s still there, fresh and getting lots of critical acclaim and I’m still very close with the cast so it’s all good.

What has it been like joining the Whedoneverse?
People kept asking me, “Are you ready for this?” But having already come from a huge sci-fi show myself that has a massive following in its own right, it really hasn’t been that different. Yes, Joss has the cult following which is great to be a part of since his fans are so loyal and committed, but at the same time, people love Ronald D. Moore as well.

Although I’m fairly certain I’m not going to get a straight answer after hearing your anti-spoiler policy, I feel as though I have to ask. Is there any chance Paul is the one secretly feeding Senator Daniel Perrin (Alexis Denisof) information about the Dollhouse?
You’d think that he would and we’ll see. But that would be the obvious sort of thing and maybe just a little too obvious.

Hey, we love Sarah Drew as much as the next EVERWOOD Addict, but after casting her in PRIVATE PRACTICE, INSIDE THE BOX (which for those not in the know was Rhimes ABC pilot that wasn’t picked up this season) and now GREY’S ANATOMY, we can’t help but wonder, where your infatuation stems from?

Do you think it was fair to loyal fans of GREY’S ANATOMY that you dropped a fairly large bombshell about Bailey’s personal life during last week’s crossover episode of PRIVATE PRACTICE?! With a difference of around four million viewers, that’s a whole lot of GREY’S ANATOMY fans who just missed out on the fact that Bailey’s husband Tucker was ‘emotionally’ cheating on her.

Where is Del?

Whose not-so-bright idea was it to name Seattle Grace’s merging hospital after NBC’s freshman medical drama MERCY?

And speaking of mergers (a story-line which by the way we’re loving!) (a) Does it disappoint you as much as it does us that all the suspense was removed from which doctor was getting the axe thanks to the the public way in which Katherine Heigl likes to deal with her off-screen issues. And (b) If Heigl is so enamoured with leaving the show that put her on the map for a shot at big screen stardom, would you ever consider not bringing her back and replacing her with one of the hundreds of Seattle Grace Docs who are so desperately trying to keep their job (both on screen and off!)