The Week in TV

From a spine-eating mutant on Fringe to American Idol's Rat Pack throwback to a prime-time presidential press conference, here's what you missed—and shouldn't have —this week in television.

Will Queen B Take the B Train?

Gossip Girl's reigning Upper East Side socialite-in-training Blair Waldorf faced a true horror this week—using public transportation. Don’t worry, B, we hear Dior’s coming out with a new line of designer face masks to keep the swine flu at bay.

Someone Watched Over Allison Iraheta

Allison Iraheta’s sizzling rendition of the Gershwin standard “Someone to Watch Over Me” for American Idol’s Rat Pack week was enough to keep the spunky chanteuse alive for one more week.

The Medieval Plague That Threatened New York

For New York’s true political junkies, there is no better fix than the “Wise Guys” segment on the program The Road to City Hall. Every Tuesday night, former Mayor Ed Koch, former Senator Al D’Amato and a third guest have a raucous, laughter-filled, borderline-violent (cf. Al D’Amato’s exchanges with Mark Green) discussion of current events. Here’s Ed Koch sharing an anecdote from his days as mayor, when he thought a medieval plague threatened the city.

From the Department of Things We Didn’t Need to See

The Office’s supporting cast took advantage of a snoozer plotline for the main characters by shining in a subplot centered around the implementation of “casual Fridays,” with office lush Meredith walking that fine line between casual and, well, naked.

Who Needs Pivot’s Questionnaire?

Jeff Zeleny's four-part question for President Obama briefly turned a presidential press conference into an episode of Inside the Actors Studio. Source: Fox News

It’s Like a Hallmark Commercial. In Hell.

Fringe’s creep-of-the-week was a spine-munching lady hopped up on some form of super-syphilis, but that was all a convenient excuse to let mad scientist Walter Bishop and his estranged son Peter do what they do best: engage in disturbing, disturbing banter.

Gordon Ramsey Meets His Foul-Mouthed Match

On Hell’s Kitchen, Ramsey told Andrea to step it up when it was her turn to play head chef. She complied, riding Chef Scott “like a donkey,” but it wasn’t enough to keep her from getting the boot.

Lost on the Plot? God, Yes.

Lost's labyrinthine mythology got a little more twisted this week, making the show even harder to follow than usual, but this moment reminded us why we started watching in the first place—to see how someone like Sawyer would deal with a nasty blackmailer.

Remember: This Man Has More Money Than You Ever Will

Charlie Rose had Bill Gates and his father on his show, where Bill Sr. revealed that, in his youth, his computer whiz son used his indisputably enormous brainpower to fill his class schedules with pretty girls.

Ripped From Which Headlines, Exactly?

Law & Order Special Victims Unit presented an episode that was packed (maybe even overloaded) with au courant references—Caylee Anthony, the vaccine controversy, Bernie Madoff—and had Hilary Duff guest starring. But what really caught our attention was the tonally odd insertion of a wacky new supporting character. Because when you think Law & Order: SVU, you think “wacky,” right?

Jay Walking, Joking Again

After his brief hospitalization last week, Jay Leno was back in fighting form on Monday, armed with sharp barbs to sling at his network cohorts.

No, Biden Won’t Take the A Train

In a discussion about swine flu, Joe Biden, in some contrast to the calming words of his boss, told Today’s Matt Lauer: “I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now.” We were joking about those Dior face masks earlier, but now we kind of wish we weren’t.

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