This Last Week in TBG TV: October 12 – October 16, 2009

ESPN: 30 for 30 - "The Band That Wouldn't Die"

The story of the Baltimore Colts Marching Band was endearing enough, but had two fatal flaws: (1) I simply could not wrap my head around the premise that a marching band was anything more than a bit player in the city's pro football narrative. (2) The fact that Baltimore regained an NFL franchise in 1996 through even more reprehensible means than the chicanery that cost them the Colts in the first place was comically glossed over. Grade: C-

Green Lantern: First Flight

I've got a burgeoning DVR backlog this week, so it's time to shamelessly pad this feature with some superfluous filler. This one's part of comic book company DC's direct-to-DVD animation arm. Christopher Meloni ("Law & Order: SVU", "Oz", "The Fanelli Boys"(!)) is the voice of Green Lantern Hal Jordan. Oddly enough, he's something of a second banana to the villain. Boring punchy/explode-y stuff for the first half, before an influx of awesome over the last 20 minutes. Dead Lanterns rings raining from the sky? Sweet. Grade: B

Community - "Advanced Criminal Law"

This show's settled into a predictable pattern: a primary story that I like, with each week's secondary and tertiary tales receiving a lot less love. How hard would it have been to give us 30 minutes of "trial by (the) swimming pool"? And, for the first time all season, I enjoyed the involvement of Ken Jeong, John Oliver and Jim Rash. Sue me. Grade: B

The Office - "Mafia"

I'm calling you out, Office apologists. You know who you are. Many of you congregate outside my own office every Friday morning. I want you sycophants to defend last week's episode. More Michael Scott comedic misunderstandings with a side story that kicked off with Kevin's farts? You didn't like this, did you? Did you?! Grade: D

Cougar Town - "Don't Do Me Like That"

Dammit. It sure seems like the writers are building towards a mid-season roll in the sheets between Jules and Grayson. They'll immediately regret it – most likely because they were drunk or something – and spend the rest of the series denying their true feelings. Don't go down that road, Cougar Town. Oh, yeah…I liked this episode. Y'know with the "sex" cards and stuff. Grade: B+

Modern Family - "The Incident"

With just one more appearance, Shelley Long will launch herself right into the recurring character Hall of Fame. That's how great she was last week in her series debut as Jay's ex-wife. I cringed just as the wedding toast began, but even an aging Long is still adorable enough to soften the most awkward and insulting dialogue. One HUGE beef: they really should've paid off with Gloria slugging Jay's ex at the end, instead of the other way around. Grade: B+

Still on the DVR: FlashFoward (3), Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order, Accidentally on Purpose