Favorite TV Town: Move over Stars Hollow, because Thursday’s hilarious and surprisingly poignant instalment of PARKS AND RECREATION that saw dozens of Pawnee denizens spend the better part of twenty-two minutes arguing over whether or not the Twilight series “encapsulated” their fare town not had us not only wishing we could visit, but that our government officials had even a smidgen of the dedication of one Leslie Knope.

Sudsiest Moment: THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS put the opera in soap opera by having a gorgeous aria play over a sequence of events which culminated in the shooting of Cane on the church steps as a wedding took place inside. 

Least Eagerly Anticipated Return: NBC announced that THE EVENT comes back on March 7, leaving most with only one question: Why? 

Best Argument Against Big Media Mergers: Mere days after Comcast officially became NBCUniversal’s parent company, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (now a division of Comcast) featured a Weekend Update sketch that shone a spotlight on cable competitor Time Warner’s shoddy service. Suspicious much?!

Biggest Bandwagon Alert: If our twitter stream was any indication following Monday’s fantastic episode in which Jeffster! provided for the soundtrack to Ellie’s birth, CHUCK just solidified a stop atop our summer must-catch-up list.

Best Use Of Awkward Pauses: The REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS reunion proved that Bravo’s Andy Cohen has clearly learned that if you don’t rush to fill the silence, someone will speak… and usually say way more than they wanted to. 

From the department of all of this has happened before and all of this will happen again: If the new 90210 is seriously concerned with solidifying an identity separate from that of the original series — Monday’s episode that featured an all-girls road trip, a cousin from Kansas who is up to no good, and what appears to be the beginnings of a storyline involving Naomi handing over a large portion of her trust fund to people who may-or-may-not exactly be whom they appear to be — is not the way to go about it.

And The Award For Fakest News Outside Of Fox Goes To: IFC’s THE ONION NEWS NETWORK. From “friendly decoy Muslims” to host Brooke Alvarez telling a publicity-hungry killer to step-up his game (“You want a serial killer nick-name? Earn it. Impress me!”), this is bust-a-gut funny. 

Most Annoying News Of The Week: Seriously? COUGAR TOWN is off the air until April. 

When Good Intentions Go Bad: Look, we’re pretty sure SKINS may be one of the worst pieces of trash to ever air on MTV, and that’s really saying something. But the Parents TV Council’s demand that every state’s attorney general investigate allegations that the show is kiddie porn is beyond ridiculous. Not only does it only bring the show still more attention (as brilliantly satirized in yesterday’s “Laugh Break.”), but we’re pretty sure those guys have better things to do.

Least Deserving Of Any More Chances: Charlie Sheen. Nothing more need be said. 

Most Correct In His Assessment Of The World: To give reluctant credit where it is do, Sheen is right in saying that there are way more important things going on in the world than his hedonistic self-destruction. 

New Rule: The next time V opens an episode with Erica imagining Tyler dead, please let it be for real.

Biggest Head scratcher: With apologies to Dan Harmon and Co. who we usually applaud for thinking outside the box, the only thing more confusing than the actual game of Dungeons & Dragons was what exactly was supposed to be funny about Thursday D&D inspired episode of COMMUNITY.

Most Awesomest News Ever: As of this week, THE DAILY SHOW and THE COLBERT REPORT are once again available on Hulu.com.

THE GOOD: After last week’s virtually unwatchable edition of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE hosted by Scarlett Johansson, this TV Addict is sure as heck thankful for Anne Hathaway, whose infectious energy and willingness to do anything for a laugh helped contribute to one of the most delightful episodes of the season. Highlights of which included Hathaway’s spot on send-up of Katie Holmes during The Miley Cyrus Show, her defense of The Princess Diaries playing Kate Middleton in a sketch that saw Prince Hairpiece William break the news of their engagement to the King and Queen, not to mention her flawless channeling of Judy Garland during a “TCM Essentials” bit that revealed a bunch of deleted scenes from The Wizard of Oz featuring (groan!) Fred Armisen. Also adding to last night’s hilarity was Jay ‘Can do no wrong’ Pharoeh who brought his bag of bang-on impersonations (Jay-Z, Drake and Biggie Smalls) to Seth Meyers’ always first-rate Weekend Update and SNL’s hilarious take on the recent TSA screening controversy and the upcoming Black Friday sales.

THE BAD: You mean aside from the fact that we really want to try this Four Loko energy drink? Well, with the notable exception of Kristen Wiig’s consistently unfunny ‘Penelope’ character, and Abby Elliott’s Rachel Maddow impersonation which was the weakest link in a surprisingly stellar cold open, last night’s episode was pleasantly short on low points. Which brings us to…

THE UGLY: Scarlett Johansson. Yes, we realize she wasn’t on the show last night, and obviously, there is very little ‘ugly’ about Scarlett Johanssan. That said, when two of Hollywood’s most popular young actresses just so happen to host SNL one after the other, it’s hard not to make comparisons. And unfortunately for Johanssan, it was Hathaway who came out looking like a star.

The Parents Television Council (PTC)
In response to an upcoming issue of GQ which features a very revealing spread of GLEE stars Dianna Agron and Lea Michele in various states of undress, the PTC released a statement chastising the magazine for what they’re characterizing as “a disturbing spread… bordering on pedophilia.” Why they’re not smarter than a 5th grader: Because in the grand tradition of primetime television shows that take place in high school (see: Gabrielle Carteris, Ian Ziering and Luke Perry to name a few), the kids from GLEE aren’t actually teenagers! Memo to the PTC: It’s called acting! And in the same way in which Kevin McHale’s Artie isn’t really confined to a wheelchair and Cory Monteith sounds like a rock star with a little help from his friend called auto-tune, 24 year-olds Dianna Agron and Lea Michele are only pretending to play high school students.

Conan O’Brien
Earlier today, Conan O’Brien announced the first week of guests for his upcoming TBS late night series CONAN. Among them are Seth Rogen John Hamm, Michael Cera, and Tom Hanks. Why Conan’s not smarter than a 5th grader: Well, if the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, we find ourselves asking the slightly awkward albeit obvious question: Why is Team CoCo risking the return Tom Hanks — who let’s face it — didn’t exactly help launch Conan’s previous late night endeavour on the right foot. We’re just sayin’

Larry Klayman
According to the NY Daily News, Larry Klayman says he may sue NBC for allegedly stealing his pitch for a series about an anti-establishment layer and turning it into OUTLAW. Why he’s not smarter than a 5th grader: He saw OUTLAW, right?

The American Viewing Public
If Tuesday’s ratings are any indication, America has officially turned their back on NBC’s PARENTHOOD. Why the average American is not smarter than a 5th grader: Well, there’s a lot of reasons really, but in the case of PARENTHOOD we can’t help but scratch our head over why America as a whole has summarily decided to reject this fantastic series. No really. If this were a science fiction show, a comedy that isn’t produced by Chuck Lorre, or one that is produced by Joss Whedon, we’d completely get it! But at least on paper — thanks to in no small part to a phenomenally likeable cast, relatable family situations and writing that consistently tugs at one’s heartstrings — we can’t fathom how PARENTHOOD hasn’t caught on. Can you?

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
As is tradition on the Thursday before showtime, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE has just released a slew of promos hyping this weekends instalment hosted by Easy A star and current “It” girl Emma Stone. Why SNL is not smarter than a 5th grader: For the simple reason that they don’t seem to grasp the purpose of a promo — which is, to get potential viewers excited for the show — not leave them questioning whether they should bother tuning it all thanks to SNL’s uncanny ability to de-funny event the funniest of America’s sweethearts.

… And we think we speak for everyone in saying, let’s hope to God that these promos aren’t indicitive of the laughs (or lack their-of) we can expect from Saturday’s highly-anticipated Jane Lynch hosted instalment of the iconic late night franchise. We’re just sayin’

THE GOOD: Despite the fact that the host subsituting his or her monologue for a song-and-dance is one of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s most overused devices, Bryan Cranston’s little ditty that cleverly played on the fact that outside of New York and Los Angeles he is one of the least known actors in recent memory to have been given the opportunity to host the iconic late night series was quite funny. Also funny, the evening’s two faux commercials (“Pepto-Bismol Malt Liquor,” and “iSleep Pro”) and newcomer Vanessa Bayer. The latter of which absolutely stole the show with her eerily spot-on Miley Cyrus sketch (Video above). Not so funny…

THE BAD: Aside that is from the incredibly lacklustre cold open which combined three of our least favourite cast members together (Andy Samberg, Bobby Moynihan and Fred Armisen) in a send up of Rahm Emmanuel’s White House farewell press conference, was the complete misuse of Cranston as host. Seriously. If seven seasons of MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE illustrated anything, it’s that the three time Emmy Winner’s energy and willingness to do anything for a laugh deserved much more than generic characters (like “game show host” or “boss”) that could have been played by virtually anyone.

THE UGLY: Try as he might, Kanye West’s spectacular staging, scantily clad extras and excessive use of gold chains that let’s face it, probably could have been put to much better use feeding a small third world country, couldn’t hide the fact that underneath it all, the emperor has no clothes. That, or we really don’t get his music.

THE GOOD: Thanks to an unusually stellar mix of sketches including timely nods to Christine O’Donnell, Katy Perry’s boobs, and the controversy surrounding the Mosque at Ground Zero, last night’s 36th SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE season premiere opened on an undeniable high note. The highlight of which — aside of course from host Amy Poehler reuniting with Seth Meyers on the Weekend Update Desk — was the much-needed addition of African American actor Jay Pharaoh, who delivered both hilarious and dead-on impersonations of both Will Smith and Chris Tucker. Also falling under the category of “good” was the show’s less-is-more approach that featured a bevy of sketches that actually left us wanting more, including “The Unwatchables,” Actor II Actor” and “Ground Zero Mosque.”

THE BAD: Despite cameos by Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and Justin Timberlake, Poehler’s real-life husband Will Arnett — whose new FOX show RUNNING WILDE could certainly have used the exposure — was mysteriously M.I.A. Worse still, we find ourselves forced to contemplate flip-flopping on our well-established anti-Armisen agenda, who generated big laughs as both Governor David Paterson and the slightly less-than-helpful advice expert in “Maternity Matters.”

THE UGLY: As expected, the always adorable Amy Poehler did a bang-up job in her first (of what will surely be many) outings as SNL host. Too bad her NBC show PARKS AND RECREATION — which has yet to be given a premiere date — won’t be benefiting from the added exposure. #CorporateSynergyFail

Good News: Amy Poehler will host the September 25th season premiere of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Bad News: Still without a premiere date following a phenomenal second season is Poehler’s actual day job, PARKS AND RECREATION, which according to a commitment phobic NBC is still only slated to premiere sometime “later this year.” [Source]

Good News: DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES creator Marc Cherry promises that he’s not doing another gimmicky natural disaster this year. Bad News: What he is doing, is another gimmicky character death! Revealing to TVGuide that, “My big cliffhanger right before we take our Christmas break will have to do with Paul Young. He has a plan for destroying the neighborhood. There will a shocking cliffhanger that effects everyone’s lives, and then right before February sweeps, we’re going to kill off one of our characters.” [Source]

Good News: Everybody’s favorite not-so-dynamic duo of Jeff and Lester are getting their very own CHUCK spinoff! Bad News: It’s web-only. Worse News: CHUCK PRESENTS – BUY HARD: THE JEFF AND LESTER STORY will only be available to US viewers on theWb.com. [Source]

This just in: The massively overhyped television event that was last night’s Betty White hosted instalment of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE actually bucked the trend and… wait for it… lived up to the hype! Which is why, rather than nitpick about the little things — like the show’s astoundingly unimaginative writing that relied far too heavily on age-related humor and juvenile sexual innuendo upon discovering that having an eighty-eight-and-a-half year old woman says “balls” and “lesbian” on TV is, well pretty darn funny, or the fact that Cheri Oteri was M.I.A. among SNL’s fabulous funny female alumni that included Tina Fey, Maya Rudloph, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch — we’d rather focus on the positive and commend White for bringing with her the type of infectious energy and talent that resulted in one of the funniest episodes of the season.

With apologies to January Jones and Taylor Lautner fans, we’ve always seen SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE as somewhat of a litmus test for genuine talent and career longevity. And not that she needed to prove anything courtesy of a career that has spanned seventy (70!) years, White‚ with her very funny monologue knocking the very mechanism that got the ball rolling (“Facebook is a huge waste of time”), a digital short that is sure to go viral, and her work as “Vivian Caruso” in SNL’s send-up of CSI: SARASOTA (Because poking fun at the network for old people (CBS) is never not funny) — only further cemented her status as a true television icon.

Agree? Disagree? Post away.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (11:30PM NBC, Global in Canada)
If the above preview is any indication — tonight’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE hosted by Gabourey Sidibe, breakout star of last year’s Oscar darling Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire — might actually be worth staying up for. And not just because there is something oddly entertaining about repeating the phrase Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire over and over again.

YOU DON’T KNOW JACK (9PM HBO, HBO Canada)
Which is just one of the reasons you’ll want to check out tonight’s very well-received HBO biopic of Jack Kevorkian. The other reason: So you won’t be scratching your head come Emmy and Golden Globe night as to why Al Pacino is walking away with all of that hardware.

PARENTHOOD (8PM NBC)
Have yet to jump on the PARENTHOOD bandwagon for fear that some clueless NBC executive will pull another “Leno” and replace it with the surely in-development BIGGER BIGGEST LOSER? Good news! PARENTHOOD has been off being given the go-ahead for a second season this week which means it’s now safe to return to the Peacock Network. And you can start with a repeat of Tuesday’s fantastic episode of what is quickly becoming our favorite non-singing ensemble drama of the season.

DOCTOR WHO (9PM BBC America, Space in Canada)
With one whole episode of DOCTOR WHO under our belt, we’re the first to admit that we’re probably not the ones to be accusing the iconic British series of running out of ideas. That said, does anyone else find something frakkin’ familiar about tonight’s instalment that has Amy and the good doctor visiting the distant future where they find the British people living on a battlestar starship in space searching for a new planet to call home. Anyone?

MOTHMAN (9PM Syfy)
It’s Mothman meets I Know What You Did Last Summer when a tragic prank and subsequent cover-up come back to haunt childhood friends that reunite in their hometown. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!