Hyphen TV: Whistle-Blowing

October 9, 2012

Not sure why Watson and Sherlock are dressed for different seasons here

Just a handful of quick hits this week, but I can't go on a moment longer without mentioning the week's best TV moment: the cold open on The Office. In what might be my favorite of all time, Jim and Pam played a prank on Dwight that involved their actor friend Steve (played by Randall Park) posing as Jim and doing his best to convince Dwight that he's going crazy. "You're not Jim. Jim's not Asian," Dwight said opening the scene, an eye roll in his voice. "You seriously never noticed? Hey, hats off to you for not seeing race," came the casual reply from "Jim." Things escalated from there with "Jim" knowing about his sales from the day before, his voicemail password, and then the pièce de résistance...well, I'll just show you the photo that Jenna Fisher posted on Twitter.

HILARITY

Despite the fact that I've broken the cardinal rule of comedy and explained the joke to you, it's still worth a watch, I promise. Bravo, guys. And great to see Randall Park!

For the reason I just mentioned, I'm always loath to discuss comedies in this space for fear of killing every joke I appreciate. But that's dumb because then I'm not mentioning comedies I like, and I'm so liking The Mindy Project. It's still feeling itself out in terms of finding its perspective and groove, but I like how the main character is getting set up as a capable woman who dates different men and it's no big deal. She loves rom-coms and cute guys, but she's not obsessed with finding Mr. Perfect like so many women on television seem to be (or have done). And, of course, it's hilarious. On taking issues to authority: "Tattling is when a little girl does it. When a hot woman does it, it's called whistle-blowing." I mean, come on. Love it.

Not sure which is cuter, this scene or Mindy's outfit

More good sitcom news: Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy) is back on 30 Rock! We missed you, Jonathan, but don't worry - he still doesn't like Liz.

Jonathan gives Jack the green light. Literally.

On Elementary, we got a little more insight into Watson, who went to dinner with her ex, Ty. He tells her that her parents have contacted him out of concern, and it seems that he's got some Watson concern himself, too. Despite Sherlock's best efforts to spend some time with Ty, we don't get much more time with him, but it's fun to get another intriguing piece of the puzzle that is Watson's past.

Here's a puzzle for you, Watson: Do you like me, y/n?

And finally, stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu performed on Conan and discussed international hecklers, the relationship between religion and Back to the Future, and the world's first feminist dick joke.

It's true, it's really the world's first

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Dianne Choie

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Dianne Choie's TV is in Brooklyn, NY. She has a cat, several reusable shopping bags, and other mildly annoying stereotypes of youngish people who live in Brooklyn.

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