Andy Barker, P.I.

Yesterday was Thursday, or as I like to call it, the night of too much good TV. Now that the Amazing Adventures of Atwood and Cohen are over it's slightly less jam-packed with goodnessitude, but there are still plenty of things to watch. Ironic then that I watch neither "CSI" nor "Grey's Anatomy," despite the fact that EVVVVERRYBODY watches them. Just never got into the whole "CSI" thing and I'm waiting until "Greymania" (I just made that up, let's see if it catches on) dies down until I decide to sit down and give it a watch. Honestly, if I here anyone described as being McAnything ever again, I'm going to go off on them Dr. Cox style, which brings me to one of MY Thursday favorites, the always brilliant "Scrubs." In its sixth season it's as sharp as its ever been. J.D.'s caveman fantasy within a fantasy last night (complete with cavespeak narration) will certainly enrage the stars of Geico commercials but it made me laugh hysterically.
Then there was the premiere of Andy Richter's new series, "Andy Barker, P.I.," about a bored C.P.A. who unwittingly gets dragged into becoming a gumshoe. Nobody does lovable schlub like Richter so he's perfect for this. What really made this show for me though was Tony Hale (Buster on "Arrested Development") as his sidekick, Simon. Simon manages the video store downstairs from Andy's office and he's an endless font of movie trivia. On a stakeout Simon explains to Andy that his knowledge of gangster movies makes him essential to solving the case because he knows what's gonna go down. For being a comedy series, there were quite a few action sequences. Not sure if that's going to be a mainstay or if it was just for the pilot. In any event it certainly sets it apart from the average sitcom. What I really enjoyed about "Andy" was that it was very funny and also worked pretty well as a P.I. show. He's no Veronica Mars, but Andy's gonna be a lot of fun to watch.
Then there was last night's "Smallville." I'm still in complete shock. What an amazing episode. I'm not gonna spoil it for you if you haven't watched it yet but let me just say,...WHOA! That was insane. There were more big events in that episode than most shows do in an entire season, and it wasn't even a season finale.
Add "Earl" and "The Office" (rerun tonight) to the mix and Thursday is absolute crazinocity. And no, I don't watch "Ugly Betty." Not now, not ever.