Thursdays are rough, man. Way too much on TV and barely enough time to fit it all in, never mind have time to write about it all at once. I liked the post I did yesterday using this same format, so I thought I’d give it another shot and — who knows? — make it a regular thing.
So, once again, here are the top three shows I dug last night, in order of goodness:
Supernatural — Am I biased? Possibly. But this episode really did have a bit of everything. It had a slew of funny moments, the usual quotable dialog and it moved the season story arc along in a way that only builds more anticipation for the viewer. Plus, it had time travel … or at least some form of seeing and being in the future and able to come back again (only to find out that the future is not likely to change). Come on, who doesn’t love frick’n time travel?!
My only disappointment is the use of a virus to “control” humanity, though I guess that’s just as plausible a device for the Devil as any other doomsday scenario.
FlashForward — Bob had it right in his review. They were able to move the story along to keep the viewer very interested, and give most of the characters more depth, all with the expected seriousness of the situation. Yet, in a way that definitely doesn’t cheapen the show or make it “violin plucky,” they’re able to inject some genuine humor at times. And, what’s more, it was toilet humor, and it worked!
I love it when a show can shine past a strong premiere, and FlashForward has done it so far.
Community — While it’s not a continuous barrel of laughs, the show definitely has its moments and it’s a perfect half-hour, single-camera comedy set in a location that brings back memories of any number of corny college movies like PSU or Van Wilder. I guess I just have a thing for slackers. One great quote from the episode:
Jeff: “Hey man. My name’s Jeff. I’m trying to lock down the rest of my schedule before the deadline. I heard this class was a cakewalk. Are you passing it?”
Student: “…”
Jeff: “Do you like Dane Cook?”
Student: “Yeah he’s awesome.”
Jeff: “So far so good.”
It’s possible, though, that The Office could slip into this slot next week, but for the most part I agree with Aryeh’s review of that episode: it just wasn’t very funny.
Other shows watched that didn’t make the cut: The Office, Vampire Diaries and The Mentalist.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Oct 02, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
I haven’t watched Community, so I can’t comment on that, but I think you have overlooked (or perhaps don’t watch) an excellent episode last night…Private Practice.
The Private Practice premiere was a turning point for the show. It provided a back story for the characters and shows great promise for an excellent season. It was up there with Supernatural and FlashForward last night.
If you gave up on Private Practice, watch the premiere and give it a shot again.
*POST AUTHOR*
Eesh, I dunno if I could stomach Private Practice. Isn’t my LOONG list of TV enough TV as it is??
I wasn’t sure if I would continue to watch this season because of all the shows I watch. The premiere gave me a reason to see what is coming next. Not sure if I will keep it all season or not, but I like what I saw.
But, unfortunately you can’t watch everything :)
Who doesn’t love time travel? About 8 million former Heroes viewers? :D
Haha…I actually thought the same thing :)
Hey now, Brett. Heroes took the idea of time travel and took a massive New Jersey all over it.
I watched Private Practice last night, mostly because my sister raved so much about last season’s finale. Actually, it was kind of interesting, because it was a complete rip off of the season 2 premiere of The West Wing.
Seriously, a character is seriously hurt and while everyone is sitting around the waiting room there are all these flashbacks to how they all met/came together.
Since when did Aaron Sorkin start slumming at Private Practice?
…only The West Wing did it better!
Omg, I’m glad I’m not the only one that noticed too many shows are on Thursdays. What is that all about? Flashforward had been really good so far. I hope it doesn’t pull a LOST on me though. I couldn’t get with that show after season one. Supernatural continues to be a favorite of mine (even though Sam and Dean are acting up way more than usual). Also, my sis has me watching Vampire Diaries. Yeh.