Thursday Night TV Round Up

You know it's a weird night when The Office was my favorite. Let's dive in.

30 Rock had Liz grappling with another surely doomed Valentine's Day as she traveled to Ikea with Criss. Jack received a visit from Avery's mother and had to fight off his sexual frustration because, not unlike Alec Baldwin, Mary Steenburgen is pushing 60 and still insanely beautiful. Meanwhile Kenneth trained new page Hazel, Jenna and Pete prepared for the former's performance on America's Kidz Got Singing!, and Tracy and Frank skeeze it up as they try to find Lutz a valentine.

The super-sized episode had a pretty funny send-up of Ikea and I love Dr. Spaceman as much as the next guy, but everything else was weirdly slow and mean-spirited. The Tracy/Frank/Lutz plot was awful and show's usually tight editing was off; I don't think 30 Rock benefits from being given room to breathe. Kristen Shaal was underserved as Hazel, a creepy stalker in the mold of Shaal's Flight of the Conchords character, but without any of the underlying sweetness. I liked the resolution to Liz and Criss' storyline, and there were a few more funny bits, but it wasn't enough to salvage this disappointing outing. More Dr. Spaceman! "It's funny, if those teeth were in your vagina you'd be considered a monster!"

Since 30 Rock was a full hour, Parks & Recreation had the week off. Well just have to watch last weeks excellent episode again.

The Office continued last week's upswing with an episode that wasn;t singularly funny but set up some stuff that I'm really excited about. Dwight has been tasked with taking a group down to Sabre headquarters in Tallahassee to work on a special project. The episode was centered on assembling the teamand while the set-up dragged a little, the momentum and raised stakes are exactly what The Office needs. Erin has decided she's not coming back from the trip and I love it; great progress from a character that has been reduced to "female Kevin" too many times. Kathy, previously a black hole of personality, is being set up as a home wrecker villain for Jim and Pam, which should be a good test for PB&J's annoyingly comfortable marriage. Even the Darryl/Val storyline was kind of interesting. I know I'm usually not kind to The Office, but I don't want it to be bad. Here's hoping that the first half of season eight was just a false start. I'm very excited about what's being set up here, and The Office was the unlikely MVP of the night. Also I love Florida Stanley.

Finally, Up All Night remained steady as ever with their Valentine's episode. Chris and Reagan are feeling boring in their marriage like always. They envy Ava and Kevin, whose passionate young relationship is tested by a romantic evening gone awry. The story was pretty trite, but in the hands of a brilliant cast (and hilarious peripheral characters, like Julian and his vodka-filled water beds) it had me laughing more than any other show last night. "Missy had to douche my whole face." Hahaha. Up All Night doesn't have the high-concept zaniness of Community or 30 Rock, nor the large cast and mythology of The Office or Parks & Rec, but I think Up All Night sets itself apart by not aiming as high as these established shows. It just does what it knows how to do very well, and that's okay.

One last thing: NPR's Linda Holmes blasted 30 Rock yesterday for devolving Liz and Jack's relationship into something desperate and paternal. A&E's own Griffin Fillipich defended the show, arguing that Liz and Jack have simply grown more cartoony as the show has, and that it's foolish to wish cancellation on aging sitcoms because they'll be replaced by dreck like Whitney. I'm more inclined to agree with Griffin; Liz and Jack (and Tracy, and Kenneth, and Pete….) have changed wildly since season one, but I think Holmes has misread the dynamic between them this season. That said I'm not sure if I agree with Griffin about ending series like the Office or 30 Rock as they lose quality. It's usually better for shows to end too soon rather than too late, in my opinion. Exception: Community. Six seasons and a movie!

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments!