TBG TV: FOX's Animation Domination – 11/15/2009

Sunday's Rankings (5-3-2-1 scoring)

(1) Family Guy ("Quagmire's Baby") - The Quagmire character is a one-note d**k joke ("Giggedy!") that's worn thin in recent seasons, so it was cool to see the writers do something with him other than…well, d**k jokes. OK, OK…fewer d**k jokes. Despite the clichéd "bachelor meets baby" premise, all the little things worked – especially, the strip club sequence where every dancer's actions reminded Quagmire of his daughter and the through-the-window adoption scene. Wasn't feeling the "Bitch Stewie/Brian" secondary story.

(2) American Dad! ("Shallow Vows") - Would've won the night with me if not for two things: (1) the unfunny "we left blind Stan behind" running gag and (2) the cop-out ending with both Stan and Francine agreeing to settle and remain shallow. The rest was mostly gold, though. Francine tabling her beauty regimen for two weeks to teach Stan a lesson is totally something Mrs. Bootleg would do. And, like Stan, I'd run out on her if she did so. And, hey, the Steve, Hayley and Klaus side stories didn't p*ss me off. Progress!

(3) The Cleveland Show ("Ladies' Night") - Probably not a good sign when this episode's recurring "Moon River!" gag was lifted from an episode of Family Guy which lifted it from Fletch. The assortment of sexist potshots – and the one jab at Grey's Anatomy – scored only lightly scattered laughter between me and Mrs. Bootleg. Ditto for the entire Rallo/Cleveland, Jr. student body president subplot. Was it wrong for me to laugh at the "Jew/nerd" bit? Yeah, I prolly shouldn't have brought it up.

(4) The Simpsons ("The Devil Wears Nada") - Instantly forgettable. Not an awful episode, just…forgettable. This was also one of those episodes where almost every scene and storyline has been done before in Simpsons years past. Homer's overworked and sleep-deprived? Just like the time he worked at the Kwik-E-Mart. Homer's working for a taskmaster boss NOT named Mr. Burns for one episode? Just like the time he worked for a taskmaster boss named Mr. Burns for 440-some episodes. Marge almost cheats on Homer, but doesn't? Yeah, you get the point.

MVP: I can't imagine I'll have too many more opportunities to hand out the night's honors to Glen Quagmire. Who knew that ass-jawed rapist actually had a heart?

Quote of the Night: "Tonight, we're doin' facials!" – Quagmire (Family Guy)


Current Standings

American Dad! – 17
The Simpsons – 16
The Cleveland Show – 16
Family Guy – 16