TVSquad

It's Thanksgiving morning as I'm writing this. I've got five pounds of potatoes boiling for our mashed potatoes, the turkey is in the oven, and the butternut squash is cut up for the risotto I'm making. My baby is playing ball with his dad, and the dog is on the couch trying to sleep and just remaining thankful that said baby isn't trying to pet her eyeball right now. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, but as others have said before, me, this is a TV blog, so let's talk about television-related things I'm thankful for.

As we're getting close to the mid-season point, I feel more and more that this is an exceptionally strong season of television-- even with the whole Leno debacle. There are several new shows that I'm quickly falling in love with, and some returning shows that are better than ever. In no particular order, here are things that I am thankful for.

Is there anything that Jane Lynch can't do? The comic actress -- who some people are already declaring is a shoo-in for the Primetime Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama series for Glee -- has veered into a new venue.

In addition to her television characters, Jane's brilliant performance as Sue Sylvester, her semi-regular shrink role, Dr. Freeman, on Two and a Half Men, Constance on Party Down, she's now doing commercials.

Yes, the latest triumph for La Lynch is a set of XBox 360 commercials that are all about fun.

(S01E10) "What does a heart attack feel like?" - Finn, in a panicky call to Kurt after facing Quinn's parents at dinner

The subject of this episode of Glee was ballads. It was learned that the club must perform a ballad at sectionals in a few weeks, and the writers managed to weave the soulful songs into every storyline. The first was "Endless Love," sung by Will and Rachel. It set the tone for one of the storylines -- her crush on the teacher. In fact, the episode was filled with odd-couple pairings, thanks to a hat-draw for ballad partners.

So, tell me why you're watching Glee. Entertainment Weekly put the Fox musical/drama/comedy on it's cover this week, calling it "TV's Happiest Hour." With around 8 million people tuning in each week and iTunes sales of songs featured on the show going through the roof, there's no denying that Glee has turned into a barely contained phenomenon.

EW says it's "snarky, theatrical and totally addictive." All very true, but I watch for one reason: this show makes me happy. Nothing I've seen on TV in the past few years, much less this season, puts a grin on my face like these high school kids earnestly singing and dancing. I mean, come on. Did you see Puck's rendition of "Sweet Caroline"?

(S01E07) "I don't trust a man with curly hair..." - Sue

I'll just say right off the bat -- I was a little bored by this episode. I think because it centered on the bickering and manipulations of Sue and Will. It was annoying and sort of made me want to turn the channel.

But I stuck with it because, of course, I had this review to write, but also because of the musical numbers scattered throughout the show. It clarified for me what I love about Glee:

• Musical numbers.
• Kurt. Much more Kurt is needed.
• Any storylines with Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), particularly those involving Matthew Morrison (Will).

After the jump, more about this episode and what I don't love about Glee.

(S01E05) "Oh, Bambi, I cried so hard when they shot your mom." - A drunken Kurt to Emma

Ok, after hitting it out of the park since the debut (for me anyway), this episode sort of flatlined for me. At least, it didn't grab me as much as, say, last week's episode with the Beyonce song and the football team dancing on the field. I couldn't wait to get on here and right about that episode, but this week? Not so much. Maybe it's because there was not enough Kurt in this episode. Need.More.Kurt. Need more of Kurt saying lines like, "Glee Club has just been rocked with its first scandal..."

(S01E03) "I'm gay." - Kurt to Mercedes

We're three episodes into Glee, and we continue to learn more about the characters' angst, drama, dreams and passion. Kurt told Mercedes he'd never said those words out loud, but -- like the rest of us (excluding Mercedes) -- he must have realized he was gay. I mean, come on, the kid is clearly gay.

There were a lot of great lines in this episode, but Kurt had some of the best, including this one about his car: "My dad got it for me for my 16th birthday if I swore to stop wearing form-fitting sweaters that stop at the knee. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." (He's wearing a red form-fitting sweater that stops at the knee.)

(S01E02) After the terrific premiere episode of Glee last May, it was probably inevitable that the second episode would have a hard time recapturing that euphoria. For the first few minutes, however, Glee had succeeded. As Will made his entrance into McKinley High, high on the joy that the New Directions had brought back to his life and seeing it reflected in the lives of the students in the club, I related to the euphoria. I love that euphoria.

As the music to Dean Martin's "Ain't That A Kick in the Head" played (sans vocal) in the background, it seemed that Glee was sailing. More on the rest of the show after the jump.

Now this is some casting news I can get behind. After the disastrous In the Motherhood, Megan Mullally is returning to television-- on a show that's actually funny! Mullally is set to join the cast of the amazing Party Down, a Starz original from Veronica Mars creator, Rob Thomas.

Mullally is replacing Jane Lynch, whose role as Sue Sylvester on Glee has been bumped up from recurring character to series regular. She plays "Lydia Dunfree, who leaves her small town and her failed marriage to help her 13-year-old daughter Escapade achieve her dream of becoming an actress. In addition to working as a cater-waiter for Party Down, Lydia is looking for Mr. Right."

In this day and age of shrinking network budgets, the days of the elaborate, swag-filled press kit are pretty much over. As far as some of the broadcast networks are concerned (coughABCcough), even sending out DVD screeners is too much of a burden on their budget; they figure we'll be content to squint at their online screeners, praying that the player doesn't skip or buffer in the middle of a crucial scene.

But FOX, bless its heart, still sees fit to blanket critics with goodies. Take the press kit I just got that contained episodes two and three of Glee, which restarts on September 9. With the DVD came this warm-up jacket, with the FOX logo and "National Cheerleading Champs 2009" on the front, and "Sylvester" on the back ("Sylvester" is the last name of Jane Lynch's character on the show).

I was told by those in the know (namely, my fiancee), that the warmup was "very soft." So, I guess she'll be wearing this around the house if she gets cold. More pics are after the jump.

If you heard about Fox's new musical drama/comedy Glee and thought it's probably going to be something like Disney's High School Musical, you're wrong. Gleefully wrong. Glee is one of the best entertainments I've seen on television in a long, long time.

Writer/producer/director Ryan Murphy describes the show as a hybrid, and he's right. It is. For me, I saw elements of the movie Election, plus Fame and Friday Night Lights, with a bit of The Wonder Years thrown in, only it's not nostalgia. Glee is all the best parts of all the above, plus music and dancing and great characters and really witty material.

(S03E06) "I'm nobody's pawn, Shawn. I'm a queen." -- Gus Guster

Since the third season of Psych began there has been an underlying theme of family. During the season premiere the focus was on Shawn and his parents. Then, a few weeks ago, we got a chance to see the relationship between Shawn and his shifty uncle. With this week's episode we move away from the Spencer family and focus on a member of the Santa Barbara Police Department, Chief Karen Vick, and her older sibling.

Siblings are rare in the Psych universe. We know Shawn is an only child (unless they introduce a half-brother or sister in later seasons) and Henry has a younger brother, and Gus may have mentioned some brothers or sisters in the past, but that's about it. So, when we are introduced to a character's brother or sister it helps to not only expand the character, but it also shows another side to them that viewers may have never seen before. Such is the case of Chief Vick, who showed a mean and petty side to her that we have never encountered in previous episodes.

(S03E14) "I bet you wish you had more than one God now, eh?" - Ravi Kapoor as Earl's doctor

Boy, that Jeff Zucker is one hell of an actor, isn't he?

Generally, I love it when a high-paid executive is willing to make fun of himself for his company. Case in point; when Les Moonves talks to Dave Letterman on the phone I think it's hilarious. The key, however is that the executive in question has to be able to effectively deliver a joke. I think My Name is Earl missed an opportunity for some real nice comedy. Too bad Jerry Seinfeld didn't have another movie to promote.

Harland Williams was the only funny thing about Monday night's episode of Thank God You're Here. And he was so damn funny that my abs got a workout as I laughed my way through his entire improved scene. Unlike the other players, who waited to see what the stage actors had planned for them, Harland walked into the scene and took control.

Harland got a little dirty near the end (improv ain't funny 'less it's dirty, folks) and NBC censored him several times. In fact, the very end of his scene had a joke completely edited out because the censors apparently couldn't make it fly by just bleeping him. Did anyone else find it interesting that the censors left in references to drugs, but edited out the sexual references?

The edited portion of his scene is in this video. And the uncensored version of another part of his scene is here. Both videos are also after the jump.

It looks like the charming Illeanarama is coming to a close. The fifth and final installment of the online series, starring actress Illeana Douglas, will be posted on YouTube late this week. There is, however, word that a "special feature" edition with guest stars Sarah Silverman and Daryl Hannah will run the week after the final episode hits the internets. If you haven't caught Illeanarama yet, it's one of the best-produced and well-written little gems hiding in the YouTube morass.