Episode Reviews

(S03E20) "You wanted to see a Blair Waldorf take-down? Well cross me again, and you'll experience one firsthand." - Blair

Greetings, 'Gossip' junkies; it's been a busy week for our scandalous socialites on the Upper East Side, so there's plenty of dirt to discuss.

Is it just me, or did the fallout from last week's Serena/Jenny showdown seem less nuclear Armageddon and more Cold War anticlimax? Temperatures were definitely icy in the van der-Humphrey household, but the only missiles launched were verbal barbs, and that's no fun -- our blondes were too busy being passive aggressive to get down to the real cat fighting, and now it seems that Jenny's set her sights on the other man in Serena's life instead, albeit for a very different reason.

(S02E22) "The eternal struggle between work and play. The trick is, when you grow up, to find work that feels like play." - Castle to Alexis

This episode of 'Castle' really played out like a whodunit mystery novel. I guess they all do, but this one really jumped out at me that way, like a Nikki Heat book sprung to life. Plus, it's pretty cool that Castle is a foodie and a fan of the fictional 'Kitchen Wars.' And I'm not surprised that Beckett had no idea the reality show even existed. She's very busy. Solving crimes and all.

(S02E01) "You're part of the crazy bunch now." - Caroline to Nicholas, Jacqueline's new baby boy

In the season two premiere of 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey,' tensions are still running extremely high after the big table-turn from last season. On the one hand, it seems like Danielle truly is trying to change and move on. But...

When she nearly crashed Caroline's fundraiser, it's clear that Danielle DOES care that she wasn't invited, even if she says she doesn't. What really bugged me about that little car ride was that she had her kids in tow -- and her kids were the ones with the common sense, telling Danielle not to stop by the event. At least she listened to them, so that's something.

(S10E12) It's the dreaded team challenge on 'Dancing with the Stars' and for once, both teams are dancing the same style: the cha-cha. I never understood why the team dances were totally different styles anyway. The images of Susan Lucci trying her best to cha-cha back in Season 7 flashed as Pamela started to struggle to remember her choreography, but both teams coped well with the producers whims.

Tonight judge Carrie Ann Inaba considered Nicole to be the best celebrity dancer she's ever seen. Clearly she's been drinking the tainted water. I haven't seen a female contestant get close to the great dancing skills of Kristi Yamaguchi. Nicole continues to still be hard in dances that need a gentle nature though she made strides this week with her waltz.

(S08E10) Jack hit the streets last night on a bloody mission to expose everyone responsible for his pain. Was Dana was right when she said that Jack wouldn't stop until he's hunted down and killed everyone involved in the conspiracy, 'Kill Bill' style? I'm starting to think the answer is yes.

To echo Jane's review from last week ... I'm really starting to enjoy '24' again. This episode and last week's ep were quite awesome. I didn't like seeing Renee die a few weeks back, but her death seems to have given Jack and the show a much clearer focus and a sharper edge.

I'm loving watching Charles Logan pull the president's strings like a weasely little puppeteer. Can we all just agree that Prez Taylor has completely lost her marbles? I think we all knew she was in for a big fall once she got in bed with Logan. Ethan Kanin had the right idea getting out while the gettin' was good. Torture, lies, terrorism. He doesn't want to be connected to that awful mess.

(S06E19) "Like so many things, you were born that way." - House to Ted, the patient, about his completely treatable condition

There's only two more episodes to go for this season of 'House,' and it seems that his pain is acting up and Gregory House has sublimated his need for meds with liquor. Waking up on rocket ship sheets was a dead give away that something was definitely off with the doctor. More on that and how lactating nipples don't make good coffee creamer.

(S03E20) So now we have our first post-relationship episode between Leonard and Penny and, as anticipated, things are awkward. While it was unquestionable that the relationship would not last and that the duo was simply not meant for each other, there is still the issue of them still living across the hall in the same building.

The episode felt somewhat low-key, particularly after three weeks of no 'BBT.' Obviously, after the break-up in the last episode (which can be subtitled 'Wil Wheaton Is Evil'), there is nowhere to go between Leonard and Penny but up.

(S05E21) By now, it's not much of a stretch to say that most 'How I Met Your Mother' fans have moved on from both the Ted-Robin and the Barney-Robin relationships. They're both over, kaput, donezo. Robin's moved on, and the guys have moved on, and we're all ready to explore how the gang conducts their lives as just friends.

Which is why, despite the fact that this episode had a number of good laughs, I just sat there for the entire 22 minutes thinking, "I don't buy this." I know that a sitcom like this needs romantic tension in order to survive, but what went on this week felt pretty contrived, as if Bays and Thomas couldn't think of another romantic direction for Ted, Robin, and Barney, so they decided to tread on old ground not once, but twice.

One hundred and fifty episodes is an impressive achievement, but it's particularly gratifying for Seth MacFarlane's 'Family Guy.' Once canceled by FOX, and revived due to fan response to DVD sales and airings on cable, MacFarlane is now the king of FOX Sunday nights. So how did he choose to celebrate his perseverance?

'Family Guy' is known for elaborate musical numbers, innumerable cutaway gags, and sheer nonsense sequences like a giant chicken fight that lasts for minutes and minutes. Quite literally, anything was a possibility, so what a surprise that MacFarlane chose to have two of the show's most popular characters have a conversation. And that's it.

The tail end of the hour-long episode was a clip compilation of some of those musical numbers. But the bulk of the episode had Stewie and Brian, locked in a bank vault for two days, just talking to one another. No cutaways, no broad humor, though I won't say there wasn't toilet humor.

(E08) If it seems like forever since 'The Pacific' spent any time with John Basilone, that's because it has been. As Basilone himself said, it's been more than a year since he saw action. Since he couldn't just go back into the heart of the war, he asked for the next best thing: the opportunity to train the next batch of marines who'd be heading out to back up his friends still on the line.

Other than a brief interlude with Sledge, who's back at base camp with a Snafu slipping toward hypochondria, we spent the entire hour with Sgt. Basilone. In doing so, the writers and producers managed to find yet another facet of the war to show us. The emotional struggles of a soldier away from the war, and the conflicting ties that pull him in both directions at once.

(S21E20) From the inspired 'Tik Tok' musical opening sequence to the last gag, 'To Surveil With Love' ranks as one of the best 'Simpsons' episodes in years.

I never expected the rest of the episode to live up to that killer opening, but, unbelievably, it just got better as it went along.

The bit that had me laughing the hardest: After surveillance cameras are installed in every inch of Springfield, Bart marking the town's one blind spot by dropping his pants and drawing a line every time he doesn't hear Ned gasping, "Buttocks!" "Tushie! or "Boy cheeks!" A perfectly funny bit that got even funnier when Homer asks Bart, whose pants are still down around his ankles, what he's doing. "Experimenting with my butt," says Bart. "My little Einstein," Homer says proudly as he pats Bart's head.

(S01E04) Antoine perfectly captures the theme of tonight's 'Treme' episode (and, OK, the entire series so far) when he sings the line "I have roamed this whole wide world over, but New Orleans is still my home" while waiting at the E.R. It's the first post-Katrina Christmastime in New Orleans, and everyone is far from jolly: Albert is denied his insurance claim; Davis's car gets busted into; Creighton gives the entire country a "F--k you"; Ladonna still doesn't know where her brother is; and Janette is screwed by the utility company.

What was most compelling about tonight's story was the three men -- Delmond, Sonny, and Antoine -- who find themselves away from New Orleans for very different reasons. While Delmond lives it up in New York City with his girlfriend Jill (how funny that both he and his father were chatting up ladies in this episode) and has no intention of returning home, Antoine, the native son, and Sonny, the Amsterdam expat, are desperate to make a living in the city they call home but venture to Baton Rouge and Houston, respectively.

(S03E07) How did the cousins become the cold, unfeeling mutants we've perceived them to be? It started with a dunk in the beer bucket. Uncle's lesson may have been about family, but what sunk in to the youthful psychopaths was how to kill someone in one minute. A minute would turn out to be their undoing ...

(S06E21) "I really need to surprise my audience." - Patrick

'Desperate Housewives' writers should have followed the dialog they wrote for Patrick and try to surprise us because 'A little Night Music' was anything but surprising. I expected much better this week since this is, after all, one of the last three episodes of the season.

Even if the episode was a let down, it did push the storylines a bit further and reminded us that you can't run from your past and lies all your life as they will catch you sooner or later.