TV Tues. - Swarley and the Crazy Eyes

**Tues Oct. 31**

Help Me Help You (ABC 8:30): A nice comeback from last week's less than stellar outing; the whole episode was worth it to see Ted Danson skipping down the street with Inger's life coach. Plus, I got to add several new words to my vocabulary, like "conversate," "hostilizing," and "intuitine."

Boston Legal (ABC 9:00): Wow, really, David E. Kelley? Two possible incest stories in as many weeks? For shame. And what exactly is up with his penchant for writing characters with uncontrollable physical and vocal tics? I kept having Biscuit flashbacks during the Jerry scenes and, while entertaining, Jerry is no Biscuit, I assure you. Still, the show has started to grow on me, and I am now feeling compelled to rent the previous seasons so I can figure out just what all of the character relationships are.

**Wed Nov. 1**

30 Rock (NBC 7:00): Another week with neither hide nor hair seen of Krakowski or Dratch; I might be more put out by that if I actually cared about their characters. But right now, as long as I get a lot of Alec Baldwin and Kenneth the Page, the rest of the cast can go jump in the lake for all I care.

Jericho (CBS 7:00): At the beginning of the episode, The Anti-Cap'n wondered out loud how long before Dale figured out Gracie wasn't all that nice; guess he's a little bit psychic, huh?

Lost (ABC 8:00): There are apparently two types of people in this world: those who liked the smoke monster sequences in this episode, and those who didn't. You can count me among the former. I do hate that tomorrow night's episode will be the last new one until February, partly because I want more Lost now, but mostly because I just know it's going to end on one mother of a cliffhanger.

The Nine (ABC 9:00): VAST improvement over the previous week's installment, even if it didn't move the flashback sequence forward a huge amount. At least it didn't suck my will to live. The show has earned itself yet another reprieve.

**Thur Nov. 2**

My Name is Earl (NBC 7:00): While it's a close toss up between Randy and Joy for my favorite character on the show, there are certain episodes where Crabman steals the show; his concern for Mr. Turtle this time was one of those occasions.

The Office (NBC 7:30): Poor Michael; poor stupid, stupid Michael.

Ugly Betty (ABC 7:00): Not much to say about this episode in particular, other than America Ferrera deserves an Emmy nomination next year; she makes the show.

The O.C. (Fox 8:00): Hate the fact they felt the need to darken Ryan's character again; it's like they took three years of character development and flushed it down the drain. But while the Ryan storyline is groan worthy, the antics of Taylor, Summer, Seth, and the twins, plus the addition of Chris "Bright from Everwood" Pratt as a dirty tree-hugging hippie, help the show rise above its soapy roots yet again. To be honest, the removal of Marissa from the show's equation can't help but make it more watchable.

Supernatural (CW 8:00): While not quite as creepy as the promos made it out to be, the H.H. Holmes story was still plenty creepy.

ER (NBC 9:00): It's so odd seeing Busy Phillips play a character who's not a rebellious and/or promiscuous troublemaker, let alone a devout Christian who prays before even the most minor procedure; almost didn't recognize her without a bottle of booze in her hand. Morris continues to grow on me, while Pratt continues to bore me.

**Fri Nov 3**

Battlestar Galactica (SciFi 8:00): I'm intrigued by the Cylon projecting business, and just what Baltar's connection to it is; I hope they don't drag out that mystery for too much longer.

**Sat Nov 4**

Legion of Super Heroes (CW 10:00 AM): The Phantom Zone ep had its moments, but doesn't quite live up to the promise of the first couple of eps. I find myself constantly shaking my head at the need to jazz up the characters' powers (Imra's a teke, Tinya's stealing moves from Kitty Pryde, and Brainy's a transformer), but I can forgive all of that for one reason if nothing else: an upcoming ep will feature not only Legion tryouts, but The Legion of Substitute Heroes. The freaking Subs, I tell you! Somewhere out there, Bubblegum Tate (and possibly Steve) is nodding in understanding, while all the rest of you blog monkeys are scratching your heads.

**Sun Nov 5**

The Simpsons (Fox 7:00): As usual, the Treehouse of Horror ep is about a zillion times better than the rest of the season, although the first segment felt really rushed.

**Mon Nov. 6**

How I Met Your Mother (CBS 7:00): Few things have made me laugh as hard recently as the Swarely running gag; the "Norm!" punch at the end just sealed this as one of my favorite episodes of the series.

The Class (CBS 7:30): A so-so ep, but the ending gives me hope that at least one of the adultery storylines will come to a head soon.

Heroes (NBC 8:00): One of the things that I'm enjoying about the show is the shades of grey they've introduced to several of the characters; after all, just because someone's wound up with powers, doesn't automatically make them a hero. Trying to figure out whether Nathan and Nikki are on their own versions of heroes' journeys or merely heading down the road to super-villaindom has me hooked, as does the mystery of just what Claire's dad's agenda is and just how much does he really know.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC 9:00): Mark McKinney’s name kind of jumped out at me in the credits; does the hiring of a veteran of Kids in the Hall and SNL mean that the show-within-the-show will actually become funny? Let's hope so. At the same time, Sorkin's hand is pretty evident in the ep, if for no other reason than the following line: "Why the viola, not the violin? I'm asking your daughter why the viola and not the violin." I swear, for a second I thought Ed Asner had been possessed by the spirit of Jed Bartlett; the cadence of that line just screams West Wing to me. All that aside, how did I rate the episode? By far the best ep since the first two. Yeah, there were a few things that bothered me (Simon's dogged insistence that it was his joint was incredibly artificial and forced), but I felt this episode made better use of the ensemble as a whole than the last several had.