Channel Surfing: GLEE, MODERN FAMILY, HANK & COUGAR TOWN

Oops GLEE did it again, and by that I mean, continued to cost me money on iTunes by delivering not one, or two, but rather four show-stopping numbers (See: Maybe This Time, Last Name,  Alone and Somebody to Love) Seriously, last night’s episode was so good that this TV Addict didn’t even blink when our spectacular (or as some have called it, Emmy-worthy performance) as “Audience Member #24” was left on the cutting room floor to make room for some chick named Kristin Chenosomethingorother!

That noise you just heard? This TV Addict breathing a deep sigh of relief over MODERN FAMILY’s phenomenal second outing. That other noise? Me furiously banging my head on my desk as I try to decide which story-line was my favorite. In fact — between Ty Burrell’s Phil teaching his son Luke a valuable (and hilarious) lesson about responsibility by inadvertently transforming himself into the neighbourhood bike thief, Cameron and Mitchell’s attempt to seamlessly blend into their straight-laced ‘Mommy & Me’ play-group, and Jay’s (Ed O’Neill) half-hearted effort to connect with his stepson Manny that had me both laughing (“The only way Manny’s Dad is anything like Superman is that they both landed in this country illegally.”) and tearing up (“Ninety percent of being a dad is just showing up.”) — the only thing I’m sure of is that creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd best be making room on their shelf for an Emmy (or two!) this time next year.

Just as I was beginning to question my commitment to moving into COUGAR TOWN, along comes Beyonce’s Single Ladies and an unforgettable slideshow of an increasingly inebriated Courteney Cox. Proof that as long as our favorite ex-FRIEND continues to do anything for a laugh, I’ll be there for her.

And finally, here’s our problem with HANK in a nutshell: It’s one thing to continue to play the same variation of a character your entire career, but another thing entirely to subject audiences to a storyline they’ve already rejected. As eleven highly rated season of FRASIER clearly proved, audiences can’t get enough of Kelsey Grammer’s pompous blowhard of a TV alter-ego. Unfortunately, what they can get enough of — as FRASIER’s disappointing sixth season clearly indicated — is a downtrodden and unemployed pompous blowhard. Which naturally begs the question: Just whose bright idea was it to base an entire series around what was Grammer’s least successful story-arc ever? Well, we’re listening.