Earl & 30 Rock: KAT COU SUC

Spoilers for, in order, "My Name Is Earl" & "30 Rock" coming right up...

Well, I suppose "My Name Is Earl" has to go back to the formula every now and then, if only to make episodes like the last few feel more special. As generic "Earl" goes, this was pretty good, particularly the weird touches like the building super's blase expertise on Murphy bed deaths and pretty much any scene with John Waters.

(And having Waters guest star on your show is usually -- usually -- a sign you're doing something special, as his other TV guest spots were on "The Simpsons," "Homicide" twice, and... "21 Jump Street.")

One thing that interested me (aside from the TWoP shout-out, which I'm sure made the folks there happy) was Randy's comment about not liking legal massages. Admittedly, I haven't seen every episode, but this was the first time I remember Randy being written with anything higher than a 12-year-old's attitude and experience towards sex. Michael Scott's having sex, Randy is at least no stranger to happy endings -- is NBC's new Thursday quickly becoming a virgin-free zone?

"30 Rock," meanwhile, feels like a show that's already made The Leap midway through season one. I don't know if their joke-per-minute rate is approaching "Arrested Development," but there's a real confidence to the writing (dare I say that it has the boldness of a much younger woman?) such that even if one subplot is largely a dud (Tracy's autobiography was meh), the other two will be so funny that it won't much matter. Highlights: Liz and Jenna's freak-out seeing Jack in the page uniform, the entire Brian Williams bit (highlighted, of course, by the half-cleaned graffiti), Liz trying to talk geek TV with The Hair's pretty friends, both Jack and Kenneth rattling off TV show ideas, and the callback to the hot dog gag from the pilot as the reason why Liz fell for The Hair. (Also, subtle foreshadowing in that scene when The Hair says, "Hey, all of us have uncles who are cops.") Just splendid.

What did everybody else think?

Grey's Anatomy: Break like the wind

I won't have a chance to watch 30 Rock and The O.C. until later today at the earliest, if not some time this weekend. In the meantime, spoilers for "Grey's Anatomy" coming right up...

Cue Silvio Dante: Everytime I think I'm out, they pull me back in! It's not even that "Six Days" (parts 1 & 2) was a magnificent effort on the level of "Into You Like a Train" or the Super Bowl bomb two-parter, but it managed to minimize most of the annoying tics that had me on the verge of bailing, allowing me to focus on the things that Shonda and company do so well.

Take the fart scene. Lovely little moment, and the sort of tension-breaker that anyone facing the death of a loved one has probably experienced. (For me and my sisters, there was a stupid, funny out of all proportion "Talk to the hand" joke as our father was in his final hours.)

Or the subtler little moments, like George's nod to Callie to come into the room, or the way that Bailey didn't feel compelled to admit to Izzy (and blatantly spell out for the audience) that she's just as capable of becoming too involved in her patients' lives, or Meredith finally connecting with her dad over something so minor as the snoring.

(Not that you couldn't see that one coming, or Izzy paying for Egg Veal's back surgery. I'm glad that they at least didn't try to play that one like a huge shock, since I think everyone who watched last week knew where that story was going.)

The one annoying spot: Alex and Addison. Meh. When relationship shows start playing mix-and-match with whatever characters happen to be single at the time, I grow weary. Plus, I think it's a more interesting character arc for Alex the sexist porker if he develops a strong interest in a "woman's specialty" and respect for a strong female boss without it coming down to him getting in her pants.

Still, pretty good, and a reminder of why I put up with so much of the badness. What did everybody else think?

The Weak Ender

Has America turned on Tom Brady? It seems more and more analysts and casual fans don't want Brady to win on Sunday. Chargers fans sure don't want. And it is just absolutely baffling.

Obviously there is some jealousy for Brady seeing that he always seems to win; he traded in Bridget Moynihan for Gisele Bundchen; and the Patriots are two wins away from another Super Bowl title. Jealousy is understandable. What is not understandable is all of the people who seem to be rooting for Peyton Manning to win this weekend. The $1M question in the THN inbox seems to be, "why so much hate for Manning?" Which is actually a dumb question.

Manning is like that guy in your office who has the highest salary, biggest office and is somewhat charming. He is your spokesman and on the cover of your corporate newsletter every month. The guy is great during the slow times of the year and when the pressure is off.

But the moment things get a little frenzied and you need your top producer to come through, he disappears. Disappears in horrific fashion. And what�s worse, he blames his you and your co-workers when things go wrong and starts to point fingers.

And this is the guy you want to win on Sunday. The question should not be why so much hate for Manning, but why so much love?

• Everybody pilled on Marty Schottenheimer before last week�s game saying, "Same old Marty, he is going to choke again." And you were right. Marty lived up to his history. But what is with the absolute about-face on Manning this week? Instead of, "Same old Peyton, he is going to choke gain," people have already put his name on the Lombardi Trophy. Yeah, that makes sense. Calvin Cowherd and other ESPN talking heads have been defending Manning saying that you shouldn�t judge him on his playoff loses. Yet, many of those same people wanted to fire Marty because he lost in the playoffs again. Yep, that makes sense, too.

• Andy Schefter on NFL.com has labeled the Colts and Patriots a classic rivalry. Shouldn't the Colts win one of these games to make it a rivalry?

• Please stop comparing the Colts to this year's St. Louis Cardinals team. A better comparison would be the 1979 Los Angeles Rams who had, for years and years and years and years, lost to the Vikings and Cowboys in the playoffs. But the Rams reached the Super Bowl with probably their worst team of the decade, led by the brain-dead Vince Ferragamo. He was like Terri Shiavo with a better arm. Hey, could you imagine if the Colts finally broke through to the Super Bowl with Jim Sorgi at quarterback?

• Maybe Manning should lose in the Super Bowl, just to make those comparisons to Dan Marino seem more apt. But Manning's current rotation of commercials are much better than Marino's old Isotoner spots.

THE NFC

The NFL decided late on Thursday night that it was still going to play the NFC Championship Game, though most people agree that the winner of Colts/Patriots is going to win the whole thing. Bears and Saints players took a vote early Thursday to decide if they even wanted to bother with the formality. Playing the games passed by the slimmest of margins. Good choice guys.

The NFC does seem to have a pretty good chance to win the Super Bowl this year. Why, the NFC is always in the game against the Patriots. All three of the Patriots Super Bowl victories have been by three points. (For that reason alone, gamblers should be rooting for the Patriots.) And if (God forbid) the Colts reach the Super Bowl, you know, Manning will do enough to lose the game.

• How can the Bears allow a punter to wear No. 9? Sacrilege.

• In honor of Dr. Doug, THN officially picks the Saints to win the game.

• Reggie Bush might not have won the Rookie of the Year, but he is playing in the NFC Championship Game. The Saints probably wouldn�t be playing in this game without Bush. Drew Brees and Marques Colston have been great, but Bush takes the offense from good to scary. Just seriously Reggie, if you get in the open field against the Bears, don�t look to pitch the thing. Hopefully you have learned that lesson.

AND FINALLY

The Raiders are apparently on the verge of signing Steve Sarkisian to be the team's next coach. Sark will likely bring Lane Kiffin in to be his offensive coordinator. How much are the USC boosters paying to make this happen? What a great turn-of-events this would be for the Trojans. Then they could bring in an experienced OC like Dirk Koetter to run the offense.

And the Raiders, of course, would continue to suck.