Dust off your theremins, folks! The Simpsons are back for their 19th stab at the “Treehouse of Horror” series—and while much of it had little to do with Halloween, compared to the lackluster entries in recent years, I thought this episode was frightfully good. As always, it features a trio of terror:

• In “Untitled Robot Parody,” Bart unwittingly gives Lisa a sentient transforming robot for Christmas, and before long Springfield is caught in the middle of an extraterrestrial throwdown between warring cyborg factions.
• Homer is approached by unscrupulous ad men who want him to off celebrities so they don’t have to pay to use their likenesses in commercials in “How to Get Ahead in Dead-vertising.”
• Finally, the parody fans have been waiting for (whether they knew it or not): Charles Schulz’s beloved Halloween special gets Simpson-ed in “It’s the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse.”

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So this was Earl’s first Halloween-themed episode, believe it or not. We’ve never actually seen what the denizens of Camden County would wear as costumes until this episode. I’m not sure what was better: Joy’s “Barbie” costume, which consisted of nothing more than her usual trashy gear, except in pink and with her nipples taped down, or Earl’s Magnum P.I. getup, including a sign with the label “Farrarri” for his car. The episode was full of little details like that that provided most of the laughs. It’s too bad, then, that the main storyline didn’t really work. I laughed out loud several times, probably more than I did with last week’s episode. That one, though, worked better as an overall story. This one didn’t, despite some hilarious lines and scenes. However, unlike this season’s other lesser episode, “Sweet Johnny”, it’s easier to pinpoint exactly where this one went off-track. Continue reading →

After a handful of entertaining diversionary episodes, the show shifted back to its overall God versus Lucifer season arc with verve, and tossing in a pretty sweet Halloween episode to boot.

For my money, this season has already outpaced its predecessors and is well on the way to being one of my favorite hour-long seasons of all time. The writers are crackling, especially when they’re dealing with the arc stuff, and “Pumpkin” belongs in the top tier of episodes this season, no sweat.

Spoiler-rama after the jump.

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Life is indeed a highway… Well, well Office writers. Here I thought I was going to be mad at you for splitting up Jim and Pam, and instead I get to be mad at you for splitting up Michael and Holly. For shame.

After learning about Holly’s not-so-secret relationship with Michael, corporate decides to transfer her back to Nashua, New Hampshire—a fine decision for business, but a lousy one for the brand-new couple. Determined to make the long distance thing work, Michael and Holly hop on board a moving truck driven by Darryl and head for her new home, with a mix CD, travel games, and ambitious plans for alternate-weekend visits. But somewhere during the 7-plus hour trip, the reality of the situation sets in—for Holly at least. Meanwhile, Jim and Pam meet his brothers for lunch, Dwight finds new ways to torture his rival, and Creed scares the hell out of me.

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Well, this is a hell of a way to wake up. Talk about bad news on the Doctor Who front. From The Guardian:

David Tennant, one of the most popular time lords ever to step into the Tardis, said last night he would leave the BBC’s Doctor Who series at the end of next year.

Tennant’s decision will bring to an end his four-year tenure as the 10th Doctor, which has seen him win over a new generation of fans and amass an enviable collection of television awards.

Tennant, 37, made his announcement by videolink at last night’s National Television awards, where he won an outstanding drama performance award and Doctor Who also won most popular drama.

The BBC said he would play the Doctor in the four specials due to screen as part of the 2009 series before a new time lord “regenerates” for the 2010 series. Tennant will also star in the Doctor Who Christmas special this year.

Yes, yes, the rumors have been long coming, but still… this is dreadful news. The guy is the most beloved Doctor of all time. His replacement has some awfully big Chucks to fill.

The smart gossip money on Doctor #11 is David Morrissey, who is set to guest star in this year’s Christmas special, enigmatically titled “The Next Doctor”. Nope, nothing suggestive about that title… move along.

(via The Guardian)

After a strange week where Lance Bass took over the leader board on the celeb dance competition, it was announced Cloris Leachman will be the next star given the big sequin covered boot to leave the ballroom. 82 years old, Cloris was a lightning rod for the program thanks to her limited ability to move (let alone execute ballroom or latin dances) and funny as hell eccentric behavior. She was a real spoiler to the show because she often got the most votes, and that meant several “better” dancers went home before her run ended. She was supported by the website VOTE FOR THE WORST, and probably pulled in a legion of sympathy and fan votes all on her own. It was no shock she would be leaving since she got the lowest score last night, but as always there is a conspiracy theory out there floating.
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This week’s episode, “Dancing Lessons,” glosses over last week’s diversion and continues the increasingly vague story line about The Unit trying to stop some sort of terrorist group. My patience with this arc is starting to wear thin, however, as each week new developments move the show sideways rather than forward.
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Ari as a studio head. A match made in heaven? Or just a bad fit.

This is Ari’s dilemma in Episode 5.8, “First Class Jerk.”
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Mac here. I’ve recently declared myself TV Verdict’s unofficial “cartoon guy” by taking a look at the enormous landscape of animation currently on the air.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is currently the most-hyped show on Cartoon Network, so I figured I’d better give it some attention. Regular listeners of DVD Verdict’s Friday Filibuster podcast know that I was very critical of August’s animated Clone Wars movie. As a lifelong Star Wars fan, it was heartbreaking to see this great franchise kicked in the groin like this. I mean, a burping Hutt baby, a tranvestite Southern-accented Hutt, a whiny teenage girl Jedi, punk clonetroopers — are these the things they think Star Wars is all about?

Now, a couple of weeks into the new series, I feel that it’s better than the theatrical movie, but it’s still not quite the SW experience it could (and should) be. Continue reading →

Jumping right to it, next to the jarring premiere, this is the best episode in an already very strong season.

Spoilery tomfoolery after the jump.

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