TVSquad

(S06E09) There was so much comedic potential in this week's episode, that I ended up coming away from this one unsatisfied. It played out as essentially two mini-episodes, and while the second one was better than the first, neither was particularly funny.

Michael Scott is always funnier when he produces cringe-worthy moments via his cluelessness. Cruelty just doesn't suit him well, and the only time it really works for him is when he's dressing down Dwight. What I was expecting to see during his and Helaine's double date with Pam and Jim was some blissful obliviousness on Michael's part and seething anger on Pam's part. What we got was a Michael that was about as cruel as he's been to anyone in quite some time.

We've got a new e-mail address for the podcast! If you have any questions or suggestions about the 'cast, please e-mail us at tvsquadpodcast [at] google [dot] com.

This week, actress Linda Purl joins me, Jason Hughes and Kona Gallagher to talk about her guest starring stint as Pam's mom on The Office -- she's on tonight's episode, by the way. She also chats about her long acting career (remember her during the waning days of Happy Days?), her work with the California International Theatre Festival and her current success as a touring lounge singer.

After the interview, which is about 30 minutes, Kona, Jason and and I talk about the following:

• What constitutes a spoiler and what doesn't,
• An "Ask TV Squad" segment on PBS,
• Our picks for the week.

Run time is 56:00.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download from here or by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments.

By the way, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick.

• Syfy has a Legend of the Seeker marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new FlashForward, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has new episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8, then a new Fringe.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, followed by new episodes of Supernatural.
• TCM has Fourteen Hours at 9, then High Noon.
• At 9, Comedy Central has a new Jeff Dunham Show.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta at 9, then a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9.
• Also at 9: Food Network has a new Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10.
• There's a new Tosh.0 on Comedy Central at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

The candy manufacturers had better watch out, because as Halloween is approaching, TV shows have been coming up with their own candies, inspired by some of the more colorful, interesting characters. Take a look at this list, and see which are treats and which are tricks. And, listen, tell us what kind of candy your favorite TV characters might inspire!

8. How I Met Your Mother - Robin Scherbatsky's Canadian corn
Oh, Canada. Slutty pumpkins aside, Robin had to convince her American friends that Canada not only celebrates Halloween, but Canadian corn is the best Halloween candy ever. That's right, Canadian corn. It's like candy corn, only it's orange on the top and white on the bottom. It also tastes like pancakes because it isn't made with corn syrup; it's made with maple syrup.

If The Real Housewives of Atlanta can record an upbeat party tune, why not (the beautiful and mysterious) Kelly Kapoor and (the pretty) Erin Hannon from The Office? They may fictional characters on a sitcom, but they are just as real as the Housewives. And their debut song, "Male Prima Donna," is a lot more fun than tardiness in regards to the party.

Kapoor and Hannon are the new singing sensation Subtle Sexuality, and "Male Prima Donna" dropped just after midnight this morning. They already have a Web site, a merchandise page with t-shirts, mugs, and tour posters. es, they list several dates in and around the Scranton, PA area and one in Ithaca. If you happen to be in the Dickson City, PA area tonight, you can catch the tour kickoff at Idle Hour Bowling Karaoke.

Rules are meant to be broken... especially for these ten television characters. For them, the rest of the world has one standard to live by and they have another. It makes them interesting and fun to watch... you just wouldn't necessarily want to be the person having to deal with them because they could drive you to distraction. Here's my ten pack of characters who live in a world of their own, according to no rules except their own. From the not-too-bad to the really bad.

10. Patrick Jane, The Mentalist
You would think that as a consultant to the CBI -- California Bureau of Investigation -- Patrick Jane would be compelled to uphold the rules and regulations of the department. However, Jane is a free spirit when it comes to office protocol. He does his own thing. For instance, bugging the office of a CBI higher-up is definitely not kosher. Jane doesn't care; he did it anyway and will probably get away with it.

Since Fringe comes on at the same time as The Office now, I'm a little behind on my Office viewing. But no worries, because the folks at SlashControl are fantastic about getting new episodes on the site shortly after they air. That means even if you missed last week's episode of The Office, "The Lover," and your DVR / TIVO failed to record it for you, you can watch it at SlashControl.

(S06E07) "You know, I really would have appreciated a heads up that you were into dating mothers. I would have introduced you to mine." - Dwight

Ahh, that's more like it. After last week's garbage episode, "Mafia," The Office seems to be back on track by exploring two of the best plots the show has had in quite some time. Jim and Pam's wedding is obviously still the high-water mark, and it will probably continue to be that way for quite some time, but "The Lover" was certainly a step in the right direction.

• At 7:30, FOX has Baseball Playoffs, the Yankees vs. the Angels.
• At 8, ABC has a new FlashForward, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then a new CSI.
• NBC has new episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and The Jay Leno Show.
• ESPN has College Football at 8, Florida State at North Carolina.
• At 9, Comedy Central has the series premiere of The Jeff Dunham Show.
• MTV has a new Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory at 9, followed by a new Nitro Circus.
• Spike has a new TNA Wrestling at 9.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Also at 9: IFC has a new Monty Python: Almost The Truth (The Lawyer's Cut).
• At 10, FX has a new It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta at 10.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

In this age where there seems to be an awards show every three weeks, is the People's Choice Awards relevant anymore (if it ever was)? More than anything else, it seems like an award based only on popularity, which is why you get some really lame nominations and winners every year.

In the Favorite TV Comedy category, Gary Unmarried is nominated along with shows like 30 Rock, The Office, Chuck, and How I Met Your Mother. In the Favorite TV Comedy Actor category, David Spade is nominated.

It's one of those things that you think would be cool if it happened, and then it actually happens. Joss Whedon is reporting that he'll be directing an upcoming episode of Glee.

We know he has on occasion stepped outside his usual genre of sci-fi and fantasy based on his directorial work on The Office. We know he's into musical theater based on his creation of the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. Now, he's merging all that he's done before. Or at least he would be if the episode of Glee ends up involving evil scientists and vampires.

Despite my own history in musical theater, I haven't been watching Glee. Whedon's involvement in an episode would certainly pique my interest enough to catch it. Perhaps he could get together with his brother Jed and write the music for the episode, as well, turning it into a 42-minute operetta. They've done it before.

(S06E04 / S06E05) The one thing you knew going into this episode was that Pam and Jim were going to be married at the end of it. There wasn't any big mystery; no old lovers were going to come back to interrupt the proceedings; Jim wasn't going to say Karen's name instead of Pam's.

Nope, that's been the beauty of the Jam pairing from the minute they got together; they just continue being a solid couple in the background while the craziness spins around them. Even when one of them gets sucked into the craziness -- Pam defecting to the Michael Scott Paper Company, Jim becoming co-manager -- the pairing is still solid.

That's what made this hour-long wedding episode so enjoyable. It wasn't the fact that Pam and Jim got married, it's that they had a memorable, very PB & J-style wedding despite the presence of the crew from Scranton.

The event that all of us hopeless romantics have been waiting for is almost here. On this Thursday's one-hour episode of The Office, titled "Niagara," Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly will finally tie the knot. Their big plan was to have the wedding at Niagara Falls, so that no one from the office would be able to make it. Unfortunately, Michael gave everyone the time off to go to the wedding. Bad for Pam and Jim. Great for us.

I'm one of those people who's been patiently waiting for this day to happen. In fact, it ranks right up there with Luke and Laura on my list of most anticipated TV weddings. Ever since Jim planted a big smooch on Pam after Casino Night (season two finale), my heart's been all aflutter for these two. Sniff ... I knew they'd be walking down the aisle (or whatever they have at Niagara Falls) one day.

After the jump, check out seven sneak peek clips straight from AOL's awesome video site, SlashControl.

I had a really hard time finding an image to include with this article. I went through every newspaper article that had "The Jay Leno Show" in the body of its text. I did searches on Google Images until Google got sick of me clogging their bandwidth. Even my editor Jane Boursaw couldn't use her super press connection powers to find one stinking shot of Jay blowing his nose in between sets from Friday's show.

Perhaps that's because Friday's late night appetizer on NBC wasn't really all that eventful. Don't take that to mean that it was totally dull, drab or boring, just a typical show for Jay and company.

And given some of the past episodes that sucked out loud, there's nothing wrong with being typical. Compared to the Pee Wee Herman debacle, it's a Devil's Tower sized step up.