Just when I think I’m out, they suck me back in. Time and again, I vow that I’m over GREY’S ANATOMY thanks to it’s ridiculous plot twists and self-indulgent characters. And then, there’s a shocking moment. Not one of those “stunty” things like Meredith’s near-death or a bomb-squad member being reduced to pink mist, but an emotional sucker-punch like the one at the end of last night’s episode. I didn’t give a crap about Lexie dumping McWhicheverheis and sleeping with Alec, or even Meredith telling Derek that their boss is a drunk. What got me was Christina begging Dr. Altman to stay, her rarely-displayed heart on her sleeve. “Tell me what you want,” she begged. And when Altman said, “I want Owen,” Christina responded, without even a thought, “Then take him.” It was completely in keeping with what we know about Christina and her near-obsession with becoming a surgeon, and yet it was still a stunning moment. And that’s why, despite myself, I’ll tune in again this week.

What keeps me tuning in to DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES? Sheer habit and nothing more. I will say that the Lynette/Tom stuff has been very emotional and powerful over the past few weeks, but nothing else is working. And after a promising start to the season, the series has once again gone back to lazy writing with no cliffhangers (the gals all forgiving Katherine is not a reason to tune in next week) and a “mystery” that goes whole episodes without being developed. Worse, the show makes the worst mistake any serialized offering can make: It doesn’t let its characters grown from week to week. After the plane crash, Gabrielle had a vision about her daughter’s future and we were left with the impression that Juanita’s mom had learned a valuable lesson. Yet this week, there she was again, fretting over whether her child was advanced or not. It’s also a real shame that the show keeps playing Bob and Lee as secondary characters. Anyone who has ever seen Tuc Watkins’ work as ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s David knows he is an actor with an incredible sense of comic timing and the ability to play drama as well, and he’s perfectly matched against Kevin Rahm’s Lee.

While I wouldn’t necessarily miss BROTHERS & SISTERS if I stopped watching it, I continue to tune in for one reason: the Walker clan is wildly entertaining. Not their actual storylines, which are cliched and predictible to the point of being boring, but rather the actual dialogue and scenes which play them as a family unit. Get those characters together in a room, throw in a few drinks (their alcoholic tendencies is one of the best running gags on primetime) and the inevitable fireworks are a blast. B&S is a stellar example of a show with an amazing cast and great script writers that is in desperate need of someone to come in with an overall vision that goes beyond generic plot points. If this show actually started telling well-crafted story arcs with a few twists and a hint of originality, it could finally live up to its promise.

At some point over the past few years, THE DAILY SHOW morphed from a comedic look at today’s news to a biting commentary on how media outlets actually cover the day’s big stories. Of course, when you have Fox News personalities crying on a nightly basis, Rush Limbaugh accusing President Obama of “exploiting” the disaster in Haiti,  and MSNBC’s blasting a politician as “an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, tea-bagging supporter of violence against women”, it’s not like Jon Stewart and company have to look hard for good material! (And still SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE thinks bad imitations of a blind governor is great schtick.)

LISTEN: In what we guarantee will be the funniest forty-seven minutes of your day, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT creator Mitchell Hurwitz and Will Arnett drop by Tim Goodman’s TV Talk Machine to talk about their new animated series SIT DOWN, SHUT UP (premiering on FOX this April), the current status of the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT movie and Will Arnett’s top-secret new series secretly being developed for Hurwitz for FOX. [Click here to listen]

PLAY: Combining two of this TV Addict’s favorite things, toucharcade.com offers up a first look at the upcoming DEXTER game for the iPhone. [Source]

LEARN: Did you know that according to just-released Live+7 DVR data, FOX’s action packed one-two combo of DOLLHOUSE and TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES increased viewers by 30% and 36% respectively? [Source]

LAUGH: And theTVaddict.com’s award for favorite one-liner from the flurry of reviews lambasting Jimmy Fallon’s shaky LATE NIGHT start last night goes to EW.com’s Ken Tucker who said,” He did an ultra-ordinary monologue — one liners about President Obama and the deficit that sounded like material Jay Leno’s writers had faxed over from L.A.” Ouch! [Source]

WATCH: Jon Stewart lambast TV news for finally discovering Twitter. Or as we put it, welcome to 2007. [Click here for video]

As he often does, Jon Stewart ended off THE DAILY SHOW by checking in with his Comedy Central co-hort Stephen Colbert. Sporting a lengthy strike beard that would put Letterman’s to shame, Colbert remarked, “I’m very alarmed by how prepared you seemed.”

Needless to say, Colbert isn’t the only one.

As much as I was thrilled for the return of my traditional nightcap of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, this TV Addict couldn’t help but notice how ‘normal’ both shows seemed. Sure tweaks to both shows were evident, with Colbert interviewing 2 guests rather than his usual 1 and Stewart taking some not-so-subtle shots at the WGA leadership team for their side deal with LETTERMAN. The worrisome factor kicks in when one realizes that both THE DAILY SHOW and THE COLBERT REPORT still managed, emphasis on without writers, to combine for television’s funniest hour of political commentary.

Whether Stewart and Colbert can keep this up night after night is another issue entirely. Yet one can’t help but ponder the question that should be on everyone’s mind. Is their successful return not another nail in the WGA’s coffin?

Can’t wait until Monday for your nightly fix of THE DAILY SHOW? Neither can we!

That’s why this TV Addict is thrilled to offer up a first look at Jon Stewart’s upcoming guest stint on THE SIMPSONS. Airing this Sunday January 6th at 8PM on FOX. (Global TV in Canada).

To check out the only scripted dialogue Jon Stewart will be uttering in the foreseeable future, click the link below.

Today, Comedy Central unveiled a new web site for THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART that’s designed to satisy our insatiable appetite for hilarious DAILY SHOW clips. Or is it our desperate attempt to make the work day pass faster?

Either way, thedailyshow.com offers over 13,000 video clips representing every minute of the show since its 1995 inception.

Best of all there’s a phenomenal search feature, allowing users to quickly and easily find clips by your favorite DAILY SHOW correspondents. Need a reminder of Steve Carell’s pre-OFFICE brilliance? click here. Missed Stephen Colbert’s big announcement? You can catch it on the site’s front page. Love Samantha Bee, Rob Corddry, Lewis Black and Mo Rocca. All of your favorites are now online and ridiculously easy to find.

Congratulations goes out to Viacom [Comedy Central's] parent company for actually getting something right for once. Here’s hoping some of our favorite shows and networks soon follow suit.

Just imagine, all of your favorite shows online for free, supported by quick and unintrusive little advertisements. Got a favorite scene? Moment? Guest star? Simply search and watch. Welcome to the future of television folks. Stay Tuned…