TVSquad

(S01E04) First, let's get a mystery out of the way: the Tom Petty centric titles. I shot off a note to Bill Lawrence asking about it, and he Blackberried back to me that it's because a) Tom Petty is from rural Florida and b) he's Bill's favorite singer. So there you have it.

Now, on to this episode. We've all seen Courteney Cox play neurotic; she played neurotic for ten seasons on Friends. But we've also seen her play tough, confident and warm, whether it was on Friends or any of her other roles. Right now, either via the writing or the way she interprets the role, she's playing Jules Cobb as a purely neurotic mess, and a loud one at that. It's not endearing, it doesn't help me connect with Jules' plight, and, most importantly, it's not funny.

Tonight's episode was Jules at her most neurotic, and it made for the least funny episode of the first four. It's a bad trend that's starting to make me worry about the overall health of the show.

(S01E03) Interesting trend with this show: The episode titles have so far been titles of Tom Petty songs. Take a look at the names of the upcoming episodes and the pattern continues for the forseeable future. Wonder how long they can hold on to this convention, especially as linking the episode to a title of Petty song they haven't used before gets harder.

That's the best thing I can say about this episode, to be honest. This one was less funny than last week's episode, which was less funny than the pilot. At least last week's episode had some heartfelt emotion behind it, so the lack of laughs could be excused. But this episode didn't even have that, which made most of what was supposed to be funny fall flat.

When the Super Bowl first began, halftime shows consisted of marching bands and the occasional big name performer for a song or two. Carol Channing actually did two halftimes -- 1970 and 1972! Well, times have changed and so have the expectations.

The 2009 Super Bowl in Tampa reportedly has landed Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to anchor the Super Bowl halftime show. It'll be The Boss's first time performing for the NFL's biggest show.

One thing we can count on with Springsteen, there'll be no wardrobe malfunctions. Even if Little Steven whips off his bandana, the censors won't care. Ever since Justin Timberlake ripped the top off Janet Jackson and got a chunk of bra to go with it, revealing her breast to the ogling TV audience, the networks have been careful to keep the halftime shows purely musical.

Is it just idle rumors, or is "the nice judge" really in talks to join Tom Petty and perform at Super Bowl XLII on February 3? It certainly looks like Paula Abdul may just put on her dancing shoes and try to show Mr. Simon Cowell that she really can sing ... and dance. Adding credence to the rumors are the facts that the Super Bowl is on FOX this year, and that Abdul is supposedly already working on the video for her duet with fellow judge Randy Jackson from his upcoming Music Club Vol. 1 album.

Abdul, 45, hasn't had a major album release since 1995 (Head Over Heels), nor a #1 hit since 1991's "Promise of a New Day." Simon has given her constant ribbing for her lack of a career in the past ten-plus years, challenging her on numerous occasions to shut up and dance (or sing) on American Idol, but she's yet to meet his challenge. Considering that Abdul has kept herself in incredible shape, and more than likely can sing as well as she ever did, she shouldn't have any problem pulling off a good performance (so long as she watches what she puts in her cup). However, if she fails, you can expect the ribbing on the judge's panel to be ruthless from here through the end of Idol's seventh season.

(S11E12) In my other King of the Hill review I mentioned that the secondary characters can be just as fleshed out as the main characters, and I think the same holds true for Lucky, who is still a rather new addition to the King of the Hill universe.

Lucky started out rather one-note, a kind of street-wise redneck whose only means of support stemmed from a cash settlement he received for slipping on a puddle of urine at a local store. This season, however, we've gotten to know Lucky a little better, and while I love his character, I'm pretty sure I would loathe him if he were an actual person.

(S10E15) Since this season ended with Luanne getting pregnant, I assume we'll be seeing a new addition to the cast of King of the Hill come next season.

Other than Luanne's announcement that she's pregnant with Lucky's (played by Tom Petty) child, the rest of the episode was rather low key. Peggy, always a tad naive, believes Luann could realize her true potential and really make something of her life if she just applied herself and didn't keep falling for dumb rednecks like Lucky. Hank isn't especially fond of Lucky at first, either, but eventually he realizes that despite his exterior, Lucky does actually have a sense of right and wrong, even if his morals are wrapped up in an odd "code of honor" which makes him return shaving cream he borrowed from Hank in a baggy. Also, Lucky feels he can't marry Luanne without his GED. Unfortunately, Peggy sabotages his chance by teaching him the wrong stuff.