Rapid Recaps & TV Web-bits From Last Week (November 1 - 7, 2009)
Abe Fried-Tanzer - November 8, 2009
Each week TV Tango takes you around the dial and across the web so you can read recaps of the hottest programs and catch up on the biggest and best TV-related lists, news stories & fun sites/links from the previous week.
Rapid Recaps From Last Week
Curb Your Enthusiasm – "The Black Swan" (11/1/2009) | |||
Larry discovers a spelling mistake on his mother's headstone and demands it be corrected. He risks losing his golf club membership after his argumentative demeanor leads an elderly golfer to have a fatal heart attack. Larry decides to still go golfing the next day, and he makes things worse by tussling with and shooting the owner's beloved swan. | |||
Dexter – "If I Had A Hammer" (11/1/2009) |
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Dexter assumes a new identity to get closer to the Trinity Killer, and he helps Arthur work on charity projects as they get to know each other. Rita continues to pester Dexter about his apartment, and Batista and LaGuerta must decide which one of them will stay in Homicide if they are to continue their relationship. | |||
Mad Men – "The Grown Ups" (11/1/2009) |
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President Kennedy is assassinated, and his death reverberates through Sterling Cooper. Pete is devastated after losing a promotion to Ken, while Don and Lane disagree over the future of the creative department. Roger tries hard to keep spirits up as his daughter's wedding goes ahead as planned in the wake of the president's death. | |||
Californication – "Glass Houses" (11/1/2009) |
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Karen returns to Los Angeles and becomes the fourth lucky woman in Hank's life. Becca and Chelsea get drunk, causing a major confrontation between the Koons and Moody parents. Charlie becomes jealous as the presence of Rick Springfield gets Marcy a little too excited, and Sue tries to help Charlie move on. | |||
NCIS: Los Angeles – "Keepin' It Real" (11/3/2009) |
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The presumed suicide of a wealthy young marine causes NCIS to investigate his death. Their search leads to the uncovering of a massive currency counterfeiting ring with ties to the military, forcing Kensi and Callen to go undercover. Callen considers breaking his rule of not dating law enforcement when the team works with a female Secret Service agent. | |||
The Good Wife – "Conjugal" (11/3/2009) |
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Alicia's last-minute attempt to appeal a death-row case leads her to take an active interest in the case and consider whether the convicted man is even guilty. Will bolsters Alicia's role in the trial to influence the verdict, much to the disapproval of Diane. Kalinda goes to Peter to ask him for help, but ultimately Alicia decides to spend a night with him on a conjugal visit to glean the necessary information. | |||
Sons of Anarchy – "Fa Guan" (11/3/2009) |
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Zobelle targets Darby's operations in Charming and pressures Hale to take a side in the confrontation. Clay demands that SAMCRO get out of the porn business, but the club doesn't unanimously agree. Jax deliberately disobeys Clay's orders in his efforts to protect Opie, and enlists Bobby's help. Darby's death sends Jax over the edge. | |||
Glee – no episode last week |
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Returns this Wednesday (November 11, 2009) with a new episode. | |||
Modern Family – "En Garde" (11/4/2009) |
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Manny's fencing competition elicits support from his whole family, albeit in different ways. Jay makes T-shirts in support of Manny while Claire and Mitchell rehash their days as a figure-skating duo. Phil tries to find something that Luke is good at, and heis surprised to discover that his son may be able to help him out in his own career in real estate. | |||
FlashForward – "The Gift" (11/5/2009) |
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Mark, Demetri, and Gough, with the assistance of MI6's Fiona Banks, follow the Blue Hands and uncover a group called the Ghosts whose members live life on the edge because they didn't have flash forwards. Gough (pictured) is haunted by his flash forward and tries to change the future by taking his own life. Aaron and Bryce struggle to make sense of their own flash forwards as they learn more information about their futures. | |||
The Office – "Double Date" (11/5/2009) |
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Michael organizes a birthday lunch for Pam's mom in order to convince Pam that she should be okay with the relationship. When he realizes how old she is, he gets cold feet and is no longer interested in her. Pam is furious and concludes that punching Michael will be the only way to get even. Dwight and Andy try to outdo each other in favors so that they won't owe each other anything. | |||
30 Rock – "Audition Day" (11/5/2009) |
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Kenneth discovers that Jack has bed bugs, which leads everyone to ostracize him and forces him to take the subway to work. Pete and Liz find a new cast member they like, and they enlist decoys to make sure Jack thinks it's his choice. Jenna and Tracy are unhappy and try to undermine them by bringing in countless candidates and messing up their system. A delusional, friendless Jack makes a surprising choice that no one expects. |
TV Web-bits From Last Week
- Paste Magazine selects the 20 Best TV Shows of the Decade. TV Guide invites you to submit your own top TV moments of the decade.
- Television Without Pity considers 10 upcoming movies that need TV shows.
- Interesting Pile likes WeirdWorm's list of 10 egocentric TV characters.
- The Hollywood Gossip names their Top 10 Favorite TV Couples.
- Lists Galore! points to this list of 10 television commercials featuring voiceovers by famous actors.
- Zap2it spent the week updating classic shows with their choices for new stars on fake reboots of:
- Expedition Week starts next Sunday (November 15) on National Geographic; so you should get ready by uploading your photo and using the headshrinker or playing the online game.
- The movie, 2012, premieres in theaters this Friday. If you want to know more about the significance of the year 2012, you can watch these three TV specials tonight:
- 2012: Countdown to Armageddon (Nat Geo, 8-9PM);
- 2012 Apocalypse (Discovery, 9-10PM);
- 2012: Startling New Secrets (Syfy, 9-11PM).
- You can watch sneak peeks of Tuesday's Dirty Jobs ("Glass Maker," 9PM) and Ghost Lab ("John Wilkes Booth," 10PM) on Discovery. Take a look at the embedded video at the bottom or just click on the links below to watch clips at YouTube:
- Dirty Jobs: Glass Glory Hole; Bed Gatherer; Dung Beetles to the Rescue; Poo-Gurt.
- Ghost Lab: Haunted Opera House; Abe's Revenge; Provoking an Assassin.
- V is now available on Hulu! Remember, you have to wait five days after each episode airs before you can watch it there.
Abe Fried-Tanzer is a student at New York University majoring in cinema studies and journalism. He makes it his priority each year to see every Oscar-nominated film and watch every new television pilot, and writes reviews and awards predictions on his personal movie and TV blogs.