We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about shows including How I Met Your Mother, Sons of Anarchy, Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy!
1 | Why did Doctor Who spend most of an episode effectively setting up the Ponds’ inevitable exit, only to pull them back in, quite abruptly (and a bit clumsily), in the final scene?
2 | As much as we think Saturday Night Live‘s Nasim Pedrad is an underused gem, why is her Kelly Ripa impression still falling way short? And will Kate McKinnon’s absurdist turn as Ann Romney go down in SNL history as the moment when she broke out from anonymous background player to potential star?
3 | Could the fact that Amy Poehler was pretty much the funniest part of both the 2011 and 2012 Emmy telecasts be a signal to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences that she’s ready to host the whole shebang in 2013 (airing, natch, on NBC)? And in the wake of all the blogoshphere bitterness over Modern Family‘s 2012 Emmy cleanup, who’s ready to start a backlash to the backlash?
4 | Dear L.A. Complex: Why does Will Arnett’s sketch show shoot in New Orleans of all places? That quibble aside, this show is getting renewed, right?!
5 | Are you as proud of Brennan’s pop culture reference to Wile E. Coyote as Bones’ Angela was? It’s no Game of Thrones shout-out — that happened on this week’s New Girl — but it’s a step in the right direction.
6 | Show of hands: Who got goosebumps when the woman with the yellow umbrella appeared at the train station in the final seconds of How I Met Your Mother‘s season premiere? But should the show have bitten the bullet and shown us the mom’s face? That would have been a truly shocking “Wow” moment.
7 | Does it disorient you that Revolution‘s Charlie and Danny are now teenagers, but their parents look like they haven’t aged a day since the blackout 15 years ago?
8 | Why does every pilot have to turn historical figures into crime solvers? Why can’t Thomas Edison just be an inventor?
9 | Who can’t unsee the resemblance between Matthew Perry and Rachel Maddow after Tuesday’s Go On?
10 | Ladies, who’s up for making “boob jail” — coined by New Girl‘s Jess — the new slang for “bra”? And his Creed-loving aside, David Walton was pretty perfect as Jess/Kate’s new bed buddy, right?
11 | Having now seen most of the new season’s offerings — several of which feature young kids — can we all agree that Ben and Kate nabbed the most adorable and comedically blessed of the bunch?
12 | Was NCIS‘ Harper Dearing wrong to bring a gun to a knife fight?
14 | How much do we love that Sons of Anarchy‘s Tara spotted Gemma’s fingerprints all over Wendy’s impromptu visit? And how priceless was the look on Gemma’s face when Tara floated the idea to her stepmom that, push come to shove, Jax would kill her?
15 | In the wake of widespread outrage over the Voice coaches not selecting the exquisite but clearly over-40 Yolanda Barber during Tuesday’s Blind Auditions, wouldn’t it be great PR for The X Factor to give her an automatic pass to Boot Camp for Season 3 in 2013?
16 | Did we hear a different version of “Without You” than the one Tara Simon sang for the X Factor judges? Because that was terrible, especially compared to The Voice contestant Avery Wilson’s far superior take. And yet Tara got four yeses.
17 | How nifty was Modern Family‘s time-passage trick? (And how awful was Phil’s last stab at facial hair?) Do you suspect Gloria will carry very, very small, driving Claire bonkers? Also, how much prop wrangling went into making sure the giant stuffed animals atop Cam and Mitchell’s car would look as naughty as possible during the kitten-adoption scene?
18 | Is there any single Weird Alien Trick or Wacky E.T. Tic that The Neighbors did not bust out in its very first episode? Were they worried there would be no Week 2? (Are you worried there will be a Week 2?)
19 | Whose idea was it to have Gabriel Mann narrate the Revenge recap special as Nolan? Because we want to say, “Thank you!”
20 | Did Glee‘s Brody only endear you with that Ace of Base confession? (Their music totally holds up!) But does the blind vitriol of Finchel “stans” ever sap the joy out of reading about and/or watching the show?
21 | Doesn’t Jessy Schram look like Scott Speedman’s little sister, not his wife, on Last Resort? Speedman, though…. The hottest thing to happen to a submarine since [insert name in comments]? (Our pick: Denzel Washington in Crimson Tide.) And what’s sexier about Autumn Reeser’s character — her ability to rattle off two minutes’ worth of submarine tech or… you know, that other stuff?
22 | We “get” that Cristina is Meredith’s person on Grey’s Anatomy, but how could Mer leave Derek — without even saying goodbye! — while he was grieving Mark? Speaking of objectionable behavior, anyone else having trouble buying this new sex-crazed Bailey? Mark is hours away from death and she’s humping Ben in every corner of the hospital?
23 | If Scandal‘s Huck looked all fine and dandy, employed and shaven, during the Lindsay Dwyer/Quinn flashback, what the hell later happened that, come Fitz’s White House run, he was homeless and bedraggled? Also: Do you think the Argo movie runs ads during Scandal simply because they share shredded-paper logos?
24 | Is it safe to assume Parks and Recreation‘s Ann has given up her career as a nurse to hang around the Parks department and assist Leslie full time?
25 | How refreshing is it to see a show like CBS’ Elementary not play the will-they-or-won’t-they card?
26 | While understanding that Heidi Klum needs to promote her Babies “R” Us clothing line, wasn’t it a little ridiculous to see a Project Runway designer go home this week for failure to make a chic toddler outfit (while taking care of crying baby doll!)? And did Dmitry’s outfit make his baby look more like a cult member or a garden gnome?
Hit the comments with your answers — and any other questions you care to throw out there!