Rapid Recaps & TV Web-bits From Last Week (Nov. 15 - 21, 2009)
Abe Fried-Tanzer - November 22, 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 Table Read" (11/15/2009) | |||
The Seinfeld cast sits down for a read through and prepares to film the reunion show. Larry becomes annoyed with a producer's nine-year-old daughter who won't stop texting him. Michael worries about having Groats disease, and Larry mistakenly directs him to a friend who succumbed to the disease and died. To cover up his folly, Larry enlists Leon to pose as the dead man and allay Michael's fears. | |||
Dexter – "Road Kill" (11/15/2009) |
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Dexter grapples with his guilt over killing an innocent man, and he decides to express his misdeed to Arthur through a story about hitting what he thought was an animal with his car. Dexter joins Arthur on a trip to Tampa, and Arthur begins to slip as he returns to his childhood home. Deb makes a startling discovery that points to someone other than the Trinity Killer as Lundy's murderer. | |||
Californication – "The Apartment" (11/15/2009) |
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Hank has a busy morning when his home is visited by Jackie and her stripper friends, Charlie and Rick Springfield, Jill, Felicia, and Dean. He struggles to keep them all from finding out about each other, but his efforts are in vain when Chelsea and Becca arrive and everyone realizes just how many lives Hank has been leading. Becca steps in to defend her father's honor. | |||
NCIS: Los Angeles – "Ambush" (11/17/2009) |
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Hetty is called away to D.C. by Director Vance to deal with Senate business, but she still keeps a close eye on her team's actions. The death of a marine who was also a confidential informant for Special Agent Mike Renko leads back to a dangerous militia. Callen poses as a fellow prisoner to tail a suspect back to the militia, and the whole team helps to establish his cover identity by posing as guards and an extraction team. | |||
The Good Wife – "Unprepared" (11/17/2009) |
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Will and Diane press the firm to better prepare witnesses for testimony after being caught off guard in court. Alicia finds herself being called to testify in Peter's bail hearing to establish the nature of their relationship, while her children continue to investigate the validity of the footage that condemned Peter. The case for Peter encounters a stumbling block when he is accused of trying to bribe the judge. | |||
Sons of Anarchy – "Service" (11/17/2009) |
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Clay and Jax tell the club about what happened to Gemma but caution everyone against violent retribution, opting instead to use the same tactics the white supremacists have been using to undermine them. Gemma is distraught by the thought that Clay will no longer want to touch her, and Tara tells Jax that she's been put on leave. Tig tells Opie that he killed Donna, and Opie goes after Agent Stahl to get revenge. | |||
Glee – "Ballad" (11/18/2009) |
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Will introduces the glee club to ballads, and his pairing with Rachel opens her eyes to him in a whole new light. Kurt works with Finn and tries to help him in his situation with Quinn. Finn and Quinn's parents have different reactions when they find out about Quinn's pregnancy. Mercedes learns that Puck is really the father, but she keeps the secret quiet and helps Kurt plan a show of support for the expectant couple. | |||
Modern Family – "Great Expectations" (11/18/2009) |
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Phil and Claire celebrate their anniversary, but Claire has trouble finding the right gift for Phil and enlists a musician to come to their home. Jay plans a family movie night that Haley actively tries to skip so she can attend a party with Dylan and her friends. Cameron and Mitchell go out and see their wild friend Sal (Elizabeth Banks) but worry that she wants to kill their baby. | |||
FlashForward – "Believe" (11/19/2009) |
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Bryce's reason for trying to kill himself is revealed, and his life-affirming flash forward inspires him to seek out the woman he saw in it. Demetri learns that the woman who called him to tell him he was going to die was trying to mask her identity. Mark finds Olivia's text and confronts both Aaron and Stan, while Aaron deals with his daughter's alcoholism. | |||
The Office – "Shareholders Meeting" (11/19/2009) |
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Michael is invited to go to New York to join higher-ups at Dunder-Mifflin as the manager of their most successful branch. His desire to be celebrated leads him to mistakenly proclaim that the company will be implementing a recovery plan. Jim struggles to be taken seriously as co-manager when he finds that Ryan is undermining him, and he devises a way to convince everyone at the office that he wields power. | |||
30 Rock – "Sun Tea" (11/19/2009) |
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Jack tells Kenneth that NBC is going green so TGS has to follow suit, and Kenneth goes around the building trying to conserve energy. Liz moves in with her upstairs neighbor to get his apartment, and she tries to subtly encourage him to move out so she can have it all to herself. Jack and Tracy consider getting vasectomies to prevent the detrimental influence of children on their lives, but change their minds once they realize the value of kids. |
TV Web-bits From Last Week
- Television Without Pity fathoms what life with be like for the Glee club in 20 years.
- Associated Content dishes out Glee mash-up song suggestions.
- The Hollywood Gossip diagnoses their Top 10 Favorite TV Doctors.
- Zap2it commends the most improved characters of the season.
- TVGuide.com challenges you to name that TV living room!
- Paste Magazine selects the best TV theme music.
- Interesting Pile likes Mania's 8 Annoying TV Characters.
- Television Without Pity picks the best and worst looks on Project Runway 6.
- Stay close to Grey's Anatomy while the show is on hiatus with webisode series Seattle Grace: On Call.
- Get pumped for the awesome return of Chuck on January 10th with this extended preview.
- In honor of the Hallmark Hall of Fame world premiere of A Dog Named Christmas, you can get your dog on a Hallmark card and win other prizes. Enter before December 15, 2009.
- Weeds' Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk) will teach 11 more how-to courses in the second semester of The University of Andy. Classes started last week with a special "The Perfect Thanksgiving" course; so enroll now.
- The final two specials of Doctor Who begin on December 26 on BBC America. Get ready by watching a clip of The End of Time (Part 1).
- 1000 Ways to Die and MANswers return for new seasons with back-to-back episodes, immediately after the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 10 on Saturday, December 5. Learn more about these programs at Spike TV's website: 1000 Ways to Die; MANswers.
- On Wednesday, November 25 at 9PM, Mythbusters goes dumpster diving and takes on deep-sea-diving myths. This episode is the last one Kari Byron filmed before going on maternity leave, and she's conducting a LIVE Twitter chat that night.
- Outer Space Astronauts premieres on Syfy on Tuesday, December 8th at 9:30PM. Just scroll down to watch the premiere episode, "Diplomatic Hat."
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.