Keeping Up With the Boneses

The holiday hiatus is over, and how! I spent the weekend catching up on shows as far back as last Wednesday’s ABC lineup, so I thought a little grab bag of comments would be appropriate.

Modern Family – I love how this show has set up various stereotypes, then proceeds to break them down little by little. The Claire vs. the remote storyline was very funny, but it was Jay who truly came out ahead this week.

Cougar Town – The whole Laurie & Grayson thing is kind of grossing me out. If Grayson and Jules are each other’s “someday” people, it’s kind of ick that Laurie’s already been there. Ellie’s very sweet confession of love for Andy added some dimension to her character; Andy’s assumption that sex would follow yanked us back on track.

Ugly Betty – Is it wrong that I’m a little relieved Hilda isn’t going to have a baby? It’s sad for the characters, and Ana Ortiz played Hilda’s grief perfectly, but with everything else going on this season a pregnancy felt like too much. Even on this show.

The New Adventures of Old Christine – Has Christine actually found a long-term guy in Max? At first I thought their quirkiness could work together, and any excuse for Blair Underwood’s Mr. Harris to return is OK by me, but Max’s speech at the end was less funny than verging on emotionally abusive. The rest of the gang’s antics, swooning over Mr. Harris, were hilarious.

Bones – Very clever, Bones writers. Give us a whole episode surrounding the assassination of JFK, then leave us in doubt when Brennan “proves” that the bones couldn’t be his. Was that really JFK’s bone sinking into the pudding, or did she pull a switcharoo for Booth? Also, Angela’s pregnancy scare would have held a little more weight if I hadn’t watched Ugly Betty first, but, again, I’m glad she’s not preggers.

The Vampire Diaries – What is it with the bad boys?!?! Damon is a bad, bad, bad guy. Killing, manipulating, generally living in a state of selfishness. But at the first hint of humor and tenderness toward Elayna, I was all, KISS HIM! Maybe I’m the shallow one here.

The Mentalist – Seriously? Lisbon didn’t know about Riggs & Van Pelt? Can’t see the forest for the trees, I guess. Speaking of…I didn’t see the tie-in with the news reporter coming. Nice sleight of hand there.

The Office – Huh. It was a clip show. I guess it’s earned the right to one of those by now. Bets on whether that guy recommends his company buy Dunder-Mifflin now?

30 Rock – I’ve only been to Boston a couple of times (going again in March!), but I got a kick out of all the inside jokes thrown at us in the evening’s “road trip” episode. I’m really starting to wonder if Liz and Jack are destined for each other, though.

What Not To Wear – No, I’m not kidding. I DVR WNTW so I can fast forward through the boring stuff (do they really need to both preview AND recap before/after each commercial break?) and get to the transformative stuff. This week’s tomboy jazz singer was a fun transformation to watch. Bless her heart.

That’s it in a nutshell. I still need to watch Dollhouse from a week ago. If I don’t watch it, then the series isn’t ending, right?