And everything else

I was going to be lazy and skip it, but Community started strong, so I just had to talk about it.

Abed went incredibly meta and shattered the fourth wall, which has always been the way to my heart...just ask Garry Shandling. This week, the show finds a great balance with its characters, mostly by not having Abed in the episode. Nothing against the guy, but he overshadows some of the subtleties that this show tries to accomplish. Everybody else had great moments, and they hit a lot of high marks on the characters. The Jeff/Britta love thing was mostly non-existent, which helped a lot, and they got back to some of the things that make the show strong: Joel McHale talking a lot, and bouncing back and forth around multiple storylines. The more episodes that are like this, the better I like the future of the show. And then Abed can come back for the tag during the credits. Everybody wins.

The Office: After a misfire last week, Jim and Pam come back to usher in a new era of comedy. And Michael is banging Pam's mom. Pam's outrage was one of the highlights of this episode, and a huge departure from quiet and reserved Pam from Season 1. Dwight steps up his efforts to overthrow Jim, planting a decoy inside of a decoy, and going from "buffoon Dwight" to "crafty Dwight" by the end of the episode, making for a much more interesting dynamic between the two of them in upcoming episodes. Also, did Ryan steal Kevin's fedora?

30 Rock: This episode flailed a little, as it could really use an assist from the supporting cast to help shore up some of the story. Will Arnett was great as always, but even he couldn't salvage it on his own. Don't get me wrong, "Dealbreakers" is good stuff, and the Liz Lemon porn was a funny resolution, as was Jenna's Icelandic werewolf movie. It's just not congealing into a cohesive half hour of comedy yet. Hopefully it's just the yips, and they settle down for sweeps. It's still a funny show, it's just starting to show the pressure from all the press it gets.

Top Chef: I wasn't into Restaurant Wars this season, and I can't really put my finger on it. Not decorating their own restaurants was probably part of it, and it was odd to see any team with Kevin involved fumble the ball like that. The combined power of the Voltaggio's was enough to drag Robin over the finish line though, so it's PYKAG for Laurine, who got overwhelmed in the front of the house. Jennifer seems to be faltering a little as we get closer to the finish line though, and Eli might just vault over her next week.