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IT’S A NETWORK SWEEP!  For the first time in the history of the 21 hour challenge a network has pulled off the sweep!  3 straight hours I will be watching (ok, fine, DVRing) the fine folks at the National Broadcasting System.  I wouldn’t miss Michael Scott’s last season at Dunder Miflin, and even though Tina Fey and the gang lost a step last season it’s still stellar stuff.  Add to that the funniest show on TV, Community (didn’t even add a qualifier there, did ya’ notice?), as well as what looks to be another solid launch with Outsourced and the NBC Thursday night comedy block has never looked stronger (and that’s without the wonderful Parks and Rec on the schedule).  But the genius move was selecting a bona fide old school edition of The Apprentice to cap off the night.  I’ve never understood the need to combine celebrity with reality, and I think people have forgotten just how much fun this show was when actual unknown human entities battled it out in the boardroom as if it actually mattered.

Then there’s Fringe.  A funny thing happened on the way to ripping off the X-Files, turns out you can make a pretty amazing show by copying the formula of a former pretty amazing show.  Fringe hit it’s stride in the last 3 or 4 episodes of the season in a way that has me absolutely pumped to see where they will head with it next.

The Mentalist is still a lot of fun, but fading on me just slightly, and I’ll check out Stuff My Shatner Said to see if it somehow manages to be worthwhile.

Big Bang Theory is probably the show I hear the most positive stuff about that I currently don’t watch.  But as silly as it might sound, I just can’t do laugh tracks.  I’ve gone over it many times so I won’t rehash it hear, just consider me a vegan and laugh tracks a quarter pound of ground chuck.

I should also note that I had originally planned to give a gentle blue to Grey’s and Private Practice, as I know they are popular shows, but a long time fan of them talked me into going code red, indicating that they have descended into an unwatchable mess and she has given up.  Can I get a confirmation?  I’ve never watched the  Private Anatomy block, so I’m completely clueless.

TWO HOURS OF MUST:  Community, The Office, & Fringe

Blue = Not for me, but feel free. 
Red = Move along, nothing to see here.

ABC – My Generation

CBS – Big Bang Theory

CW – Vampire DiariesFox – Bones

NBC – Community

8:30PM

NBC – 30 Rock

ABC – Grey’s Anatomy

CBS – CSI

CW – NikitaFox – Fringe

NBC – The Office

NBC – Outsourced

10PM

ABC – Private Practice

CBS – The Mentalist

NBC – The Apprentice

Thursday’s Total: Two 1 hour dramas, Five half hour comedies, one 1 hour reality, 5.5 hours