THE GOOD WIFE
Despite what some of our television viewing habits might suggest, we are in fact not a 13 year old girl. And as a result of having almost no familiarity with the Nickelodeon smash hit iCARLY, we honestly didn’t know what to expect from Tuesday’s episode featuring special guest star Miranda Cosgrove. So you can imagine our surprise when Cosgrove, stepping into the shoes of Sloane — a teenage starlet accused of injuring a woman with her car while under the influence — amounted to one of the most entertaining episodes of an already stellar sophomore season. Adding to our enjoyment of the ripped-from-the-headlines story was the not-so-subtle shot from the CBS/Viacom owned GOOD WIFE at rival Disney that had Sloane blaming her bad behaviour on trying to “climb out of the Disney Ghetto thing,” her gratuitous use of twitter that had the actress channel her inner “Lohan” by tweeting from the trial, as well the show’s now trademark penchant for incorporating such real-life technology du jour as the infamous Taiwanese news animations into the show. That, and we seriously cannot get enough of Alan Cumming’s slithering Eli Gold who has quietly usurped Kalinda as our favorite non-Florrick character on the show.
LIFE UNEXPECTED
Well, the good news is that despite LIFE UNEXPECTED’s failure to receive a full second season order from the CW, the cast and creative team clearly aren’t resting on their laurels. Unfortunately, the bad news is that Tuesday’s episode —which saw Lux confront her former foster parents with horrifying results, Cate and Ryan reach a positive turning point in their relationship and the introduction of yet another bad boy (DEGRASSI alum Landon Liboiron) to complicate Lux’s not so simple life — means that the CW looks even worse for effectively cancelling this little watched gem of a series. Note to Dawn Ostroff, we never forget (see: EVERWOOD, JACK & BOBBY, VERONICA MARS).
COMMUNITY
Just when we thought we couldn’t love COMMUNITY any more following last week’s pen-tastic episode came Thursday’s homage to classic conspiracy thrillers. Suffice to say, “Conspiracy Theories and Soft Defenses” had us in stitches thanks to an endless barrage of double and triple-crosses as a result of Jeff trying to teach Annie about friendship and Annie attempting to teach Jeff about cheating. With serious bonus points for whichever writer came up with the nickname “Professor Professorson.” No really, not even Troy and Abed’s hilariously zany subplot involving a pillow fort gone terribly, terribly out of control could top the awesomeness of that alliteration.
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
Full disclosure: MODERN FAMILY probably should get the fourth spot here for what was quite possibly their funniest episode since the pilot. Unfortunately for the hit ABC series, two beavers are not only better than one, they’re better than none! Which is why, in the interest of supporting our Canadian homeland, we decided to make an executive decision and award the fourth spot on this week’s list to HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER’s culmination of the Robin Sparkles’ trilogy. Call us what you will, be it juvenile and/or immature, but we for one have yet to stop laughing over Robin Sparkles, Jessica Glitter and Alan Thicke’s double-entendre filled performance on Space Teens, the most inappropriate children’s television show in the history of the medium.
WEEDS
While Nancy Botwin may not quite be in the running for mother of the year, one has to admire her devotion to her family. Getting Shane, Silas and Andy safely on board a flight only to escape what would surely have been the deadly clutches of a vengeful Esteban and sidekick Guillermo by turning herself into the FBI and confessing to Pilar’s murder had us on the edge of our seat. Also something we have to admire, creator Jenji Kohan’s ability to take a page from LOSTerminds Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse by ending each and every season off on a moment that has us — in the parlance of the show — jonsin’ for more.
Note: Shows that are still waiting on my PVR/DVR to be watched include GOSSIP GIRL, CASTLE, BONES, FRINGE, THE BIG BANG THEORY, BOARDWALK EMPIRE and four weeks of GREY’S ANATOMY and PRIVATE PRACTICE