Boob Tube Round-Up, Week of January 15 - January 21

It's the week of celebrity cameos, and while some raise the bar (Paul Rudd!) and others disappoint (Lizzy Caplan, who deserves better), others are just cringe inducing (burning Miss Piggy as a guest judge from my memory after this round-up is done).





Sunday

Downton Abbey: I thought that this show was going to deal more with the war than it has. It is present to be sure, but aside from a number of physical changes and a greater number of bodies in the house, it seems as though the priorities and principles driving everyone at the Abbey haven’t really changed. At least Edith is finally getting to break out of her Jan Brady syndrome of last season.

The Golden Globe Awards: Given all the hype about Ricky Gervais’s return, the ceremony was a rather staid affair. Ricky threw in a few funny barbs (I loved that he got Johnny Depp to admit he hadn’t seen The Tourist), but otherwise he wasn’t all that remarkable. 

The Good Wife: The tension seems to be slowly deflating from this series. The Mr. BitCoin case was intriguing at first, but it ended up becoming a boring traditional case of he-said-she-said with Kalinda as the omniscient observer. At least we got a glimpse of Jackie tonight, if only for a few minutes. The dynamic between her and Alicia is fantastic, and I wish we could see them duke it out more often.

Monday

Padam Padam: What a lovely episode. Little movement forward was made, but it provided some fantastic moments for almost all of our characters. Ji Na has finally won me back over, finally showing the spine I was hoping she had and standing up for her man. Kook Soo looked past his need to become an angel and actually made a selfless gesture towards Hyo Sook. What I loved most, though, was seeing Kang Chil’s mom and his son Im Jung admit to wanting to protect their little makeshift family.  

Tuesday

New Girl: I don’t care about what the show says about Schmidt. I love him. Even when he is being a tool, Max Greenfield still manages to make him earnest and endearing. On the other hand, Nick’s increasing stockpile of insecurities is growing tiresome. Also: what a way to waste Lizzy Caplan. You hire one of the best comic actresses around (see Party Down) and give her Bill Cosby impressions and anger management issues? LAME!

Padam Padam: Gah! All foreplay and no action. Again, we got some more cute moments between our characters, but this episode felt much more like it was spinning its wheels in anticipation of the major showdowns coming over the next three weeks. But no matter what, this series certainly knows how to build up the tension. I’m going through withdrawal pains waiting for the next episode, especially to see what is going to happen between Kang Chil and Ji Na’s father.

Parenthood: Oh Amber. I am absolutely terrified where this show is going with her and the politician. It seems like their relationship is moving way past him encouraging her to think better of herself and her skills and into the icky scandal territory. Time to shut that down. I’m so glad that we finally get to see Jasmine jealous of Crosby, since she played that scorned woman card for way too long. And I’ll admit that I cried as Zeek and Camille talked about their future together.

Thursday

Parks and Recreation: Now THIS is how to do a cameo. Paul Rudd as Bobby Newport was fantastic in this episode. His character fit well within the world of this show and is the perfect foil to Leslie’s city council hopes as the lazy other son of the distinguished Newport family of Pawnee. And Leslie’s campaign ad was so perfectly detailed, including her support of such things as “Plow for Charity” and “Challenging the norm.”

Project Runway All-Stars: This had to be one of the most painfully awkward hours of television I’ve sat through in a while. The ‘flamboyant cocktail dresses’ or however they were described were generally pretty lame, if not heinous (I’m looking at you, Austin). What was worse was how guest judge and client Miss Piggy was used. Either go all out and make the challenge and the commentary balls-to-the-wall ridiculous, or don’t invite Miss Piggy to the show.

30 Rock: Another merely ‘meh’ episode. I love Jack as Liz’s relationship-ghost, but all I got from watching Criss and Liz was the overwhelming desire to have Dean Winter’s Dennis Duffy back. Tracy as usual had some pretty great lines, but the protest itself wasn’t very interesting. Likewise with Jenna and Kenneth almost killing Pete.