The thing I like about this clip of Dwight from The Office is the total chaos and insanity he leaves in his wake as he whips the rest of his co-workers and his boss, Michael (Steve Carrel), into a totally unnecessary frenzy. It’s so over the top and ridiculous and reminds me of the episode where Dwight stages a fire drill by starting an actual fire and locking everyone inside the office. Fear and chaos ensue as the denizens of the work space try to escape. It is probably one of the funniest cold open to a show ever seen on tv.

These short clips also show how well done and tight The Office is. Everyone brings their A-game from the writers, to the actors, to the camera crew. The people who make The Office know what they want and how to do it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Dwight Schrute.

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There’s a lot to love about this episode, but hands down my favorite scene occurred when the warring teams finally set eyes on each other. Parker met her pickpocketing match; Eliot encountered a foreign woman so beguilingly dangerous they couldn’t stop imagining fighting each other long enough to actually fight each other; Nate is irritated by a mastermind a lot more sinister than himself; and a showdown between resident hacker Hardison and guest-star Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: TNG’s Wesley Crusher), the opposing crew’s resident hacker. Hardison’s Star Trek reference later in the show brings it all together beautifully.

Each team member has a counterpart, and those counterparts serve not only to vex our team (and entertain the audience), but also to illustrate the unique function each individual brings to the table.

Also brought into focus is just how good our team really is. The other crew robs from the rich and gives to themselves and don’t seem to be above a little murder between old friends. They work as a unit, but they don’t seem to be a real team – there’s no affection or camaraderie between them, no sense of family.

That’s what the Leverage crew really is, when it comes down to it: a misfit family, not all that different from your own.

That is, if your misfit family likes to spend their Saturday nights breaking into highly secured offices, facilities, and compounds. Check out all the Leverage goodness over at TNT!

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There are a number of reasons why it seemed unlikely I would enjoy Firefly. Firstly, it was described as a space western, and while space is one of my fondest fictional destinations, I’ve always been leery of westerns, as so few have ever captured my interest. I should never have violated the first rule of television – Trust In Joss – because I missed out on Firefly during its initial run. (Apparently, so did a lot of other people.)

That’s why it was fortuitous for me that I caught original episodes of it on the web. It opened up a whole new world for me. If I’d missed a show this great, who knew what else I’d been missing? Starring Nathan Fillion, Summer Glaus, Morena Baccarin, Ron Glass, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Sean Mayer, Jewel Staite, and the criminally underrated Adam Baldwin, nothing on TV has ever been this simultaneously funny, dark, poignant, stunning, and full of promise. If the first (and only) 13 episodes were this good, what might the series have lived to become?

Being a purist, I watched Firefly in the order it was meant to be seen – the 2 hour pilot that was shoved to the middle of its run was viewed first, and I didn’t think it was too long, or that the hero was too dark, or that it took too long to set up – I thought it was brilliant, and I still consider the two hour original ‘Serenity’ to be my favorite of the series entire, outstanding run.

I’ll be discussing Firefly further in depth in future blog posts, but you don’t have to take my word for it – you should head over to Hulu.com and catch up on all the Firefly goodness there is to be had.

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Then, of course, there’s Castle himself, Nathan Fillion. If there’s anything Nathan Fillion can’t play convincingly, I certainly haven’t found it yet. (But I digress into a loving lust for Fillion that gets us far off track.) His latest foray into series television is his most ego-driven character to date, and also, possibly, the smartest.

There’s no question that Castle is the star, not only of the show, but in his own life, as well. Here’s a guy who lives with his mother and teenage daughter and still manages to make it all look cool and glamorous. Then there’s his partner – Kate Beckett is being forced to work with him, and while we should at least try to take her side, it’s more fun to be amused by Castle’s crime solving methods – detective school by way of crime research on dozens of mystery novels.

Part of what makes Castle work so well is that he’s not just a bumbling writer, wrecking all of Beckett’s cases like some crime-solving Gilligan. He’s got an eye for detail – what writer doesn’t? – and was actually paying attention when he did all those research inspired interviews. Plus, a man ballsy enough to kill off the main character in his mystery series is clearly meant for more than his next bestseller.

The show will be returning this fall. The last few episodes of season one spent some time developing an over-arcing mystery concerning the long-ago murder of Beckett’s mother. While Castle is entertaining enough to watch even without a spine, spending next season unraveling a real, honest to goodness mystery will up the stakes considerably.

Haven’t seen Castle yet? Watch the Castle Starter Kit, a 3 minute video that will tell you all about the show and get you up to speed.

Watch episodes of Castle at Hulu.com. You can watch the last five episodes of the show at any given time.

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Right now we’re at the stage where we don’t recognize people by their names yet. Instead, they’re “the magician” and “the dancers with the freakishly strong chick” and “the guy with the David Hasslehoff song.”

Of all the acts vying for attention this year, I’m watching five in particular. And by watching, I of course mean desperately voting for on my cell and home line to the point of making it a clinical illness. They are, in no particular order:

Acrodunk.

If you’ve ever seen anything more fun than this basketball acrobatic act, I’m going to call you a liar.

Grandma Lee.

This fantastic broad puts the rapping grandma to shame. Funny, sassy, and sharper than people 20 years her junior, she gives seniors everywhere a reason to dream.

Mia Boostrom.

Everyone loves a good underdog story. We’re also suckers for a comeback tale. Combine the two and you’ve got last year’s reject, Mia Boostrom. Go Mia!

Tony and Rory.

Technically it’s just Tony, but Rory is the whole act. That dog can FLY. Who wouldn’t want to see a flying dog?

Marcus Terrell

Okay, so yeah, I cried when his backup singers/BFFs asked the judges to take him if they removed their inferior vocal talents from the equation. Now the question is – were his pipes worth it?

I’ll be sad in real life if any of the above 5 get knocked out before the semifinals. I’ve got a bad feeling about Tony and Rory, too. Fly on, Rory; fly on.

Watch full episodes of America’s Got Talent at NBC.com and decide who you want to see make it to the final 10!

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Recently, I caught a repeat of How I Met Your Mother called Little, Minnesota. It made me actually itch for a new episode, and not because I’m dying to see how last season’s story threads are wrapped up – The Mother’s in Ted’s class! Barney + Robin = 4evah? – but because I just really, really miss these guys!

One of HIMYM’s strongest points is its sense of continuity. Considering it’s a show being told in a series of massive, extensive flashbacks, continuity is more important than it is to your average half hour comedy. Slap bets aside, HIMYM does a great job of calling back memorable and not-so memorable moments from show’s past.

Take Little Minnesota for instance – Marshall (the gigantic, hysterical Jason Segel) takes a sad Robin to his favorite bar, which she promptly ruins for him by sheer force of her awesomeness. To apologize, he finds a Canadian bar in New York to cheer the resident Canuck up – but the beauty is, when Marshall gets on stage, and does Karaoke to Robin Sparkles’ biggest hit, “Let’s Go to the Mall,” a video the gang had watched endlessly on loop to torture their one-time Canadian pop star friend.

Little touches like that is exactly what makes HIMYM such a great place to visit every week. You feel like these people really exist in each other’s lives, that their memories and emotions are real because they don’t forget the things you remember so well, like most made up TV characters do. It almost makes you not care who the Mother is. Almost.

Check out Robin Sparkles’ biggest hit, “Let’s Go to the Mall” over at Hulu!

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Owing more tips of the hat to movies like Ocean’s 11 or the Sting than it does any television shows in recent memory, Leverage pulls off the ultimate con: making you forget you’re rooting for a group of criminals.

Take this week’s installment: a television journalist (the always lovely Beth Broderick, doing a fantastically subtle send up of Nancy Grace) sells fear to her viewers, not caring how many “little people” she hurts in her quest for ratings. Her latest victim, an innocent bus driver accused of killing two little girls. After a suicide attempt, his daughter seeks compensation. But she isn’t interested in money. She wants the woman who ruined her father’s reputation to be ruined in return.

The Leverage crew immediately got to work – all quick jokes and earnest intentions – with an unusual twist: tonight, our resident grifter, Sophie, has traded places with our mastermind, Nate. This simple twist allowed the show to poke fun at its own convention by using the other team members to compare the difference in Nate and Sophie’s leadership styles. (Sophie, we learn, is a lot more dramatic during the briefings.) That the team will bring down their foe is a foregone conclusion. It isn’t the result Leverage gets, but the charming journey each episode takes the team on that proves to be the core power of the show.

Leverage is supposed to be a drama, and while it definitely possesses heavy dramatic chops, as well as intriguing action, it’s also funnier than half the so-called comedies on the air.

Watch full episodes of Leverage online at TNT.

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I know I don’t. But there are a few biographical diamonds in the rough—entertaining episodes that you can watch free online. My dad always said it’s a good thing to kill two birds with one stone, so why not be entertained and educated at the same time?

The following Biography episodes represent “infotainment” at its best.

Hunter S. Thompson
The father of gonzo journalism, who famously mixed fact with fiction to create scathing literary concoctions, Thompson lived a life of celebrity, adventure, and total and complete chaos.

John Stewart
John Stewart is the face of “fake news” and a household name, but remember when this guy was an MTV Veejay? Learn more about everyone’s favorite (or most hated if you’re a politician) funnyman in this entertaining episode.

Chuck Norris
When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the earth down. With the recent resurgence in nostalgia for the martial arts expert and Walker Texas Ranger star, Chuck Norris, why not learn a little more about the man and less the myth in this Biography episode. Watch Mr. Norris’ story (that is, if it’s okay with Mr. Norris).

Lindsay Lohan

You may know her from media coverage of her trainwreck lifestyle, but think hard here, have you ever even seen the supposed movie star Lindsay Lohan in a movie? Which one? I can’t think of a single movie she’s in. Learn more about the mystery of Lindsay Lohan’s appeal and fame in this Biography episode. There’s more to Ms. Lohan than just a young woman in desperate need of a role model.

Cat Stevens
From his days as quirky folk singer/songwriter to his religious conversion and subsequent name change after a near death experience, to his days on the FBI flight watch list, Cat Stevens has always been able to make an entertaining headline. Learn more about the man behind the music.

Jesse James and the James Gang
Everyone knows the basic romanticized story of the young, sure-shot criminal perpetuated by several Hollywood films, but here’s the real story. This episode of Biography is at least 3.5 times more entertaining than that clunker Brad Pitt tried to unleash on audiences.

To HipSide TV home.

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Anyways, those of you counting down the days to the release of an Arrested Development movie, can seek solace in the crazy humor of Sit Down, Shut Up, which may be the closest thing we have available. You may recognize some of the voices as well.  

Watch the first few episodes of Sit Down, Shut Up.

Pilot.

Miracles are Real.

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You have to love The Simpson’s.  Don’t you?  Maybe I’m confused and I just love the show because it has been on the air practically since I was born.  Well that’s one reason.  

Another reason I’m a Simpsons fan still after 20 seasons of the show is because it is still funny, irreverent, biting, and culturally relevant.  You always know you are going to get some good social satire when you watch an episode of The Simpsons–even if you have to wade through some boring parts before you get to the good stuff.  

The one stand-out joke or observation–and there always is one–always makes The Simp’s a worthwhile watch.

Check out the latest offering from Homer, et al, at Fancast.  This episode is called Wedding for Disaster and features the return of one of the show’s most memorable characters, Sideshow Bob.

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