5 Great TV Shows for Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, there are certain shows that were always great at coming up with hilarious, conflict-driven episodes for the holiday. None can beat that annual Peanuts special of course, but here are four other great episodes worth seeking out this Turkey Day.

1. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

This Peanuts special may not top A Charlie Brown Christmas or It's the Great Pumpkin, but it's often underrated and really just as good as those two. But that may be the case for me because this one features Peppermint Patty as the instigator, who forces poor Charlie Brown to make a Thanksgiving dinner for all his friends. This perennial is always aired on TV Thanksgiving night, so be sure to tune in.

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Season 4, Episode 8 "Pangs"

Am I going to include an episode of Buffy for every one of these holiday specials? Hey, if the occasion warrants it. This happens to be the only Thanksgiving episode the show ever did, and it was one of their funniest and most entertaining, as the ghost of a dead Indian tribe confronts Buffy and her pals on T-Day. It also includes a hilariously tied up Spike, barking snarky one-liners at everyone.

3. The Middle- Season 3, Episode 10 "Thanksgiving III"

A really underrated show that excels at holiday episodes in general (the Halloween and Mother's Day eps could take a run at the Thanksgiving ones), but this particular entry from the third season is easily one of my favorite episodes the show ever did. The Heck family travels to spend the holiday with the grandparents (Marsha Mason and Jerry Van Dyke) and Frankie's passive-aggressive sister Janet (played by the terrific Molly Shannon) shows up to start feuding with everyone. A hilarious episode.

4. Friends- Season 3, Episode 9 "The One With the Football"

This was a show that became famous for its annual Thanksgiving episode, and my choice for their best is probably in the minority, as I know a lot of people love the fourth season one where Chandler spends the day trapped in a box, and the famous eighth season meta-episode where Brad Pitt (then husband of Jennifer Aniston) shows up as the guy who "hated" Rachel in high school. But I really love this earlier one where the gang plays football and it's just the six of them interacting. Ross and Monica are fiercely competitive siblings who haven't yet become total caricatures of themselves (those two suffered the worst from that in the later years) and the chemistry between the cast is at its absolute best.

5. Roseanne- Season 4, Episode 10 "Thanksgiving '91"

Another show that did really good Thanksgiving episodes. This classic from the fourth season is the second episode with Nana Mary (Shelley Winters) where Roseanne and Jackie find out from their mom (Estelle Parsons) that their dad has been having an affair for twenty years. This is also the one where Darlene has started her mopey phase and won't come out of her room. Roseanne in its early years was masterful at treating serious topics in a comedic way and balancing dramatic material with perfectly timed punchlines so it always still felt like comedy (it's also a show that The Middle owes a lot to).

PROMO: "Sherlock" Season 3

A new promo for the third season of Sherlock, premiering on PBS Jan 19th and on New Year's Day on the BBC:

RECAP: Homeland 3x09 "One Last Time"

A really good one tonight, that packed more plot into this hour than many episodes have all season. When Brody's back in action, everything is a little more interesting, and not least because Claire Danes and Damien Lewis have lost none of their electric chemistry together. Their long-awaited reunion did not disappoint.

We start off with Carrie waking up in the hospital after having been treated for the gunshot wound from Quinn. Turns out it was a perfect shot that went clean through, and the doctor also informs Carrie that the baby is fine, which she reacts to in an ambiguous manner (later in this episode, she does something else that leads me to believe she's actively hoping to lose it somehow). Now we cut to Brody, who's being pushed onto a bed by a bunch of guys, in the middle of withdrawal from extensive heroin use. He's freaking out of course (and this is definitely Damien Lewis's emmy submission episode), but Saul and Dar Adal are watching from a monitor. It looks like they've removed him from Caracas and taken him back to Virginia, and Adal expresses skepticism that this guy could ever be ready for what Saul wants to use him for. A soldier comes in the room and tells them how long it takes to go through withdrawal and Saul says he has to go cold turkey or nothing, because he's only got seven days left as acting CIA director.

Back in Carrie's hospital room, Lockhart enters and tries to get her to give up what Saul's up to, but Carrie refuses. Lockhart ends up telling her Saul went to Caracas, which lets Carrie know that he obviously went after Brody, but she still won't turn on him. Adal tells Saul about Lockhart's visit to Carrie, which makes Saul suspicious about how he found out, so he orders sweeps of their houses for surveillance activity. Brody keeps getting worse as he finally figures out the guys taking care of him are actually soldiers, and Adal suggests an illegal drug to fast-track the withdrawal process, which induces violent hallucinations. Saul's all for it, and so now Brody's going to suffer from those as well. I don't know if there's a character on TV that's experienced more physical suffering than Nick Brody. Perhaps Jesse Pinkman, but they're in close competition.

Max and Virgil sweep Saul's house and find the bug on his computer, while Brody undergoes hallucinatory encounters with a dead Tom Walker. He screams and wails at the monitor while Saul watches passively, but then he has to rush into the room when Brody starts stabbing at himself with a piece of wood and flashing back to his time with Nazir. Max and Virgil stake out Mira's boyfriend's house and get pictures of him leaving, while Brody finally sleeps after the hallucinations are over. Saul sits by his bed and faces him as he wakes up, telling him he survived and now he's got to do something for him. Saul doesn't believe Brody bombed the CIA but also doesn't see him as a victim, and still rightly blames him for the attack from the first season and the terrorist video. He tells him he's giving him a chance at redemption and to become a marine again, like he was before his time in captivity, but Brody doesn't want to do it and would rather die instead.

So Saul has the marines take him out on the water in the middle of the night and toss him overboard to see if he tries to save himself (nice, Saul). Brody doesn't and the guys have to go in after him to pull him up. One of the marines tells Saul again that Brody can't be in shape so fast, but Saul insists and Adal tells him they have to get Carrie. Saul goes over to the hospital now to see Carrie, who's of course furious with him for not telling her about Brody and not letting her secure the real bomber. He doesn't care what she thinks though, because it turns out he always knew she was the one who sneaked Brody out of the country after the bombing (so I guess that's how he found him in Caracas, then?) He tells Carrie about the "second phase" of his plan, to have Brody get into Iran as the Langley bomber, secure a meeting with the head of the Revolutionary Guard and take him out, so that Javadi will take his place and ascend to the top three of the Iranian government. Carrie doesn't think Brody will do it and Saul agrees, telling her that's why she has to convince him.

Carrie reluctantly goes to Virginia, where she sits by Brody's bed and they are at long last, reunited. It's a pretty good scene, as it takes a good long while before Brody senses her presence and slowly turns around to face her, but when their eyes finally meet, he turns away again, not particularly thrilled to see her. She says she didn't know he was there until that day, but he won't talk and she leaves the room. Carrie asks Saul when he has to be ready and Saul gives her the time frame, as well as filling her in on his drug addiction and what happened in Caracas.

Carrie and the marines drive Brody to go see Dana (just who I wanted to see), who's now working as a maid in a motel. Brody freaks out when he sees her, screaming at Carrie and trying to get out of the car, but the marines once again hold him down. Meanwhile Saul is given the pictures of Mira's boyfriend (whose name I finally catch- it's Alain), and is told he's an Israeli intelligence officer who happens to be in cahoots with Senator Lockhart. This is very convenient for Saul, who threatens Lockhart with the information, but all he asks for is an extra few weeks before his confirmation hearings. Lockhart is confused as to why Saul won't just destroy him publicly with this but Saul says it's because it would humiliate Mira and make the agency look bad. But it works out because Saul does get the extra time to get Brody ready.

Back in his little cell room, Brody is angry and yelling at Carrie over the Dana thing, wanting to know why she's working as a maid in the middle of nowhere, so Carrie fills him in on what she's been up to since the bombing (leaving out the suicide attempt). Brody wants to see her again but Carrie tells him to stop yelling as she sends the marines out of the room. Now we get Carrie telling Brody to go to Iran and redeem himself for Dana's sake, and for the suicide vest, along with the deaths of the imam and his wife in Caracas (she leaves out the vice-president's murder though- i know he was a bad guy, but that's a big one isn't it?). Brody thinks he's not in shape to do it, but Carrie says they'll get him ready if he's willing.

Time now for Brody's training montage, where he becomes a full-fledged marine again in just 16 days! Seriously, that's a little bit of extra time, but that really seems pushing it to me. He shapes up quick though, with the help of his new marine friends, and just like that he's up to speed. While playing cards with one of his new pals, the guy asks him if there's something going on between him and Carrie. He denies it, but gets annoyed when the guy says he'll make a pass at her, so we know he still likes her. At a briefing of the mission, it's explained that Brody will surrender himself at the border and be flown to Tehran, where he'll be set up for a meeting with the Guard leader, who he will then proceed to take out. After that he'll be pulled out by an extraction team from a safe house in Iran.

Carrie is outside smoking (seriously, she's trying to kill that baby- and she's now four months pregnant, shouldn't she be showing at least a little?), when Brody comes up to her and after some mild flirting he tells her he wants to see Dana again and he won't leave until he does, since there's little chance he comes back from Iran. He also wonders why she's kept her distance and Carrie seems to be considering telling him about the pregnancy but doesn't. She does drive him to see Dana at the hotel, where she finally tells him about the suicide attempt before he goes in to talk to her. When Brody knocks on the door, Dana is shocked to see him and really doesn't want to talk to him, but he tries to apologize anyway, insisting on his innocence and saying he just wanted to see her before he leaves. Dana says she doesn't want to see him though and asks what she has to say so that she never has to see him or Carrie ever again. Well, that was a bust.

Brody and Carrie leave, and while they're in the car Brody promises he will come back from Tehran, and not just for Dana. The two of them exchange meaningful looks and Carrie blows her second chance to tell him about the baby. Back at the base Saul is mad at Carrie for driving Brody away right before he leaves, but Carrie shoots back that they have to start trusting each other again at some point, and the only reason this mission is even happening is because of her, so she deserves some credit for it. The final scene is Brody and the marines shipping out, and Carrie and Brody give each other one last "significant look" before Carrie calls out to him and when he stops, she changes her mind again and just says she'll see him on the other side. Third chance, Carrie. Blew it again. I don't know, I think telling him he's going to have another kid would be a pretty good motivator to come back alive, don't you?

Well, that's it. Next week it's the actual mission, which of course will go perfectly smoothly, right? No chance for missteps? Yeah, I don't think so either. See you on the other side everyone!

RECAP: SNL 11/23 "Josh Hutcherson"

Boy, was that a slog to sit through. By far the worst episode of the season, with not a single sketch that qualifies as "good." It's not poor Josh Hutcherson's fault, but he wasn't exactly as talented as other recent hosts who've managed to elevate some bad material, so the writing was really exposed tonight for what it is. Yikes.

COLD OPEN: A Piers Morgan Live sketch opens the show tonight, with Taran interviewing a bunch of people about George Zimmerman's latest arrest for pointing his gun at his girlfriend. Kate is the girlfriend, Bobby is a Florida cop and Beck Bennett (who's featured a bunch tonight) is George "Zimmer" whose reputation has suffered. It's pretty tame and not a single joke is sharp or pointed.

MONOLOGUE: 21-year-old Josh Hutcherson comes out for a Hunger Games parody, which, even though it's not that funny, is sadly one of the better moments of the night. Josh is fine as a host (he's not January Jones bad), but he doesn't bring anything extra to the stuff tonight and is mostly plugged in as the straight man in sketches.

GIRLFRIENDS TALK SHOW: Nooooooo! Why? When I see this truly awful skit at the top of the show I'm immediately worried about the rest of the night, and that feeling was more than validated in this episode. Ugh, the unfunniness ensues as Cecily and Aidy do what I guess is their "thing," but I'm just going to say it. Aidy Bryant is NOT funny and I'm not getting why she's receiving so much air time recently. Please, make it stop.

MR. PATTERSON'S OFFICE: I spoke too soon. Josh is a guy whose boss is man who acts like a baby and if this is Beck Bennett's moment to shine, his future is in serious doubt. This horrible, painful, excruciating sketch is so bad I think it may be one of the worst the show has ever done. Wow. What on earth were they thinking?

MATCHBOX 3: Kenan, Jay and Josh are subway dancers in a pre-recorded bit that garners not one laugh from me, and yet it's still a relief from that last baby sketch. Forgettable (unfortunate, because Kenan and Jay had been on a roll lately).

WEEKEND UPDATE: Another update with only one guest, as Aidy shows up as the "Worst Lady on an Airplane," and thankfully she's mildly funnier than she was on the Girlfriends Talk Show. But only mildly. It's been a tough night.

80's: A really weird, random sketch where Josh mouths the lyrics of The Outfield's "Your Love" to a girl he likes (Vanessa). Everyone is in the 80's for some reason, which is the joke, I guess? Odd, and again not funny.

BEST BUY: Cecily and Bobby as the rude employees who think they're getting fired and insult everyone. This is never hilarious either, but it's somewhat of a relief from so many horrible skits tonight, so it gets a pass.

DANCE GUY: Unbelievably, this rivals the man-baby thing for worst sketch of the night. And unfortunately for him, it's Beck Bennett again. He and Kyle Mooney are in another pre-recorded skit about a guy who dances, but it's bizarre, surreal, and so, SO BAD. I'm serious, this Bennet guy's not going to last if this is all he's got.

ANIMAL HOSPITAL: Kate, Cecily and Josh are insensitive animal hospital workers who keep telling people their pets are dead. It's too long and it's just one joke. There was a real dearth of creativity this week apparently.

WINSTON SAM BASS: Newbie Mike O'Brien as a news reporter chasing after bugs. Why? I don't know. Funny? Nope. The new people they hired this season are not proving themselves at all, folks.

THANKSGIVING: Why does it take them until the last sketch of the night to do a Thanksgiving one? That's weird, but thankfully this skit is a little better than what came before. Josh is a college kid who brings home his new girlfriend Vanessa, who happens to be a turkey. It's another weird and random thing, but this one is at least kinda funny in a stupid sort of way.

So, yeah, this was pretty painful. I hate to give out F's, and I have actually seen worse (I'm pretty sure January Jones still takes the crown for worst host of all time who ruined everything she was in), so I'll be nice and give it a D-. But man, they better come back on the 7th with something better than this for Paul Rudd, who usually IS a good host. See you then.

RECAP: Homeland 3x08 "A Red Wheelbarrow"

A more eventful episode than last week, as the pieces seem to be falling into place for Brody to come back and the second half of the season to really kick off. Plus, Saul again reveals another major secret that he's been hiding and his role as the Svengali of the season continues in a big way.

In fact, we start off with Saul tonight, making Mira breakfast in bed as they've officially decided to rekindle their marriage. Mira seems pretty happy about it, despite the fact that she just restarted her own affair with the Mumbai guy, and even asks him to stay home, but Saul has a meeting with the White House chief of staff and says he can't do it, so they settle for an early morning quickie instead.

Meanwhile, Carrie and Quinn are researching the Langley bomber with the new info Javadi gave her last week. Quinn is still frustrated with them pursuing this angle, but Carrie's insistent and wonders why Fara is late to join them. Turns out Fara is sitting in the parking lot in her car, presumably still upset about Javadi's release and decides to skip work and go home. Saul's now at the White House, meeting with the Chief of Staff (whose name is Mike, apparently) and Senator Lockhart's there too, waiting to gang up on him. Saul once again explains his plan to have a now turned Javadi as their mole inside the Iranian government, but Mike and Lockhart are both extremely doubtful about this and angry at Saul for letting him go. Saul basically says it's too late now, because he already made the call, and then Lockhart's kicked out of the room so Saul can brief Mike on the mission at hand, since he's got nine days left in his tenure, and the plan's already in motion.

Mira's at a coffee shop to meet up with the Mumbai boyfriend and dump him, telling him she's going to give her marriage another chance. He reacts badly and says he thought they were in love, which upsets Mira and she takes off. I have to admit, the minute I saw that we were getting a scene of Mira and this guy on their own I immediately suspected him of being some kind of undercover agent and I'm delighted when it turns out later, that yes, I'm right!

Saul and Adal meet up with Carrie and Quinn now, where Carrie's mad that Saul didn't tell her what Javadi said to him about Brody and questions his motivation in capturing the real Langley bomber, which frankly, Saul doesn't seem that concerned about. He kinda brushes her off, yet tells her to go ahead with a plan if she has one. Quinn's idea is to have Adal, who's acquainted with Bennett, get in touch with him to plant the idea that the CIA is on to the firm about the bomber's identity, and Adal agrees. Now we get back to Fara, who goes home where we see that she lives with her disabled father, who's under the impression that she works at a bank and wonders why she stayed home from work.

Bennett meets Adal at a restaurant, who tells him that the financial firm is going to be the target of an inquiry very soon, and it's in his best interest to get ahead of the investigation. Bennett acts cocky about it, but we soon see that he's bluffing, because Carrie gets the cryptic text of the episode title and now she's meeting with Bennett's guy, Franklin, in a church. Franklin tells her to look into the inquiry, which she pretends not to know about but feigns obedience, and then she calls Saul to let him know they're panicking. She also asks him for some personal time, which he agrees to and they kind of make up, as Saul tells her he should have told her about the Brody thing earlier. Saul and Mira are making dinner together when he tells her he's going to have to go away for a week, which disappoints Mira, but the trip is apparently a whole mysterious thing that the rest of the team doesn't know about either. When Mira offers to come with him, he turns her down gently.

Carrie's now at the doctor getting a sonogram, and we find out that she's thirteen weeks pregnant (it's definitely Brody's, in case there was any doubt), and doesn't want to know the sex. When she's asked why she came in so late, Carrie admits to being swamped and wanting to know if the baby's all right, considering the fact that she was on lithium for a month and was drinking heavily at the start of her pregnancy, even after she already knew. The doctor says the baby's ok so far, but Carrie will have to modify her behavior from now on if she wants to keep it, which it kinda looks like she does, at least for the moment. I have a question about the lithium thing. Why would the mental hospital not have done a pregnancy test on her right away? That seems incredibly unlikely.

Fara is confronted at her house by an agent who tells her she can't just not go in to work and that Saul has shown an unusual amount of trust in her so far, but that her stop off at the house of Javadi's murders the day before has threatened to reopen the case again. Fara apologizes and the guy leaves, but then her dad realizes she works for the CIA and is upset that she signed up in spite of the fact that this action threatens their family members back in Iran if the CIA finds out who she works for. Fara insists that she's an American and seems defiant, but obviously now we know she has secrets of her own.

The operation to get the bomber is set in motion at Langley, with taps on Franklin and Bennett to follow them and be led to the guy directly. Carrie meets Franklin in the church again and tells him the CIA knows the bomber is still in the country, although they don't know his name or where he is yet. Franklin seems assured they don't have anything, but Carrie warns him to cover himself. Her attitude almost betrays her though, as Franklin looks kinda suspicious about her questioning where the bomber is. When she leaves we listen in on Franklin and Bennett's phone call, where Franklin is ordered to get the guy, who's an American citizen loyal to the regime, out of the country immediately.

Adal's overseeing the operation at Langley and Carrie is assured by Quinn that they're sticking with Franklin to get her the bomber. Now we cut back to Saul's house, and aha! I was right, as the Mumbai boyfriend has broken into the place and tapped Saul's computer (shouldn't the director of the CIA's house be under surveillance?) and sneaks out quietly when Mira comes in. This is the last we see of him tonight though, so his agenda remains unknown.

Now, we're back with the operation as Carrie stakes out the hotel where Franklin drives up to meet the bomber guy. Quinn's positioned on the roof and Adal and his guys are back at headquarters, watching on the monitors. Franklin calls the bomber on the phone and he answers (he's not somebody we've seen before), worried about his life now that's he been made. Franklin reassures him and hangs up, but then Carrie sees him pull out a silencer and she freaks, realizing Franklin's going to take the guy out. Adal doubts it, since they heard him directly ordered to exfiltrate, but says that they can't stop him if he does, since it would blow Carrie and Saul's covers, and thus the whole wider mission. Carrie refuses to let him go, since the bomber is her only chance to prove Brody's innocence and jumps out of the car to intercept him. As she makes her way there Adal orders Quinn to shoot her and he does at the last minute, hitting her in the arm as she goes down. Franklin pauses for a second, but ultimately knocks on the door of the bomber and kills him anyway, getting rid of the body in the hotel bathtub while the agency van picks up Carrie.

Quinn jumps in the van with her and yells at her for what she did, while Carrie cries and realizes something was wrong with the whole mission, asking Quinn where the fuck Saul is anyway. Turns out Saul, once again, has duped everyone, and set the whole thing up to distract Carrie while he makes his way to...of course, Caracas, where Saul is driven to the Tower of Babel and meets up with El Nino. It was him who promised him $10 million for Brody all along, as El Nino and his guys show him to Brody's "room," which is now his little dungeon cell, where he's completely strung out on heroin and has virtually no reaction to Saul kneeling down in front of him. But hey, at least he's back! And here to stay, for the rest of the season at least, as it looks like Carrie and Brody may reunite as soon as the next episode.

Well, I'm certainly happy that he's back, as I do think his presence has been missed this season, and now it looks like things are really ramping up, with several characters, like Fara and Mira's boyfriend, not to mention Javadi, hiding yet to be revealed agendas that will undoubtedly come into play. See you next week!

RECAP: SNL 11/16 "Lady Gaga"

Hey, this was a pretty good one! Lady Gaga is another game host and this time most of the sketches had at least one or two funny bits in them, which is more than I can say for the majority of this season.

COLD OPEN: A solid opening skewering the crack-smoking mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, that also manages to get a dig in at 60 Minutes for being the only news program that will unquestionably believe everything he says. Bobby is a pretty funny Ford, even though a lot of the jokes poke fun at everyone's inherent Canadian mannerisms (if there's anything that story doesn't need, it's extra material to be funny).

MONOLOGUE: Lady Gaga comes out ready to play tonight and gives a great performance monologue, where she sings "Applause" in a kind of jazzy form that segues into a celebratory version of "New York, New York" to kick off the show with style.

PAXIL 2ND TERM STRENGTH: A funny, short commercial for pills President Obama can take to cope with the various problems currently plaguing his second term, and it gets in a shot at John Boehner for dealing with enraged Tea Partiers.

WAKING UP WITH KIMYE: Jay and Nasim's spot-on impressions of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are finally taken advantage of with a talk show that pairs the two of them up to fully expose how conceited Kanye is and how stupid Kim is, but the funniest stuff are mostly their impressions, as some of the jokes are just ok. Gaga gets in a good poke at herself though, when she plays an Apple Store nerd who makes fun of people who use fashion to hide their true selves.

WORST COVER SONGS OF ALL TIME: One of those collection skits where the cast shows off their impressions of famous singers doing horrible cover versions of famous songs. A couple funny ones, but Gaga once again steals it with a dig at herself copying Madonna's "Express Yourself" (she's really being a good sport tonight, huh?)

WEEKEND UPDATE: Starts off lame with some jokes that fall flat and Kenan's only mildly funny as Mr. Senior, a new character who hates Christmas coming earlier and earlier, but then Taran totally rescues Update with a new character of his own. His critic "Jebidiah Atkinson" from 1853 who hated the Gettysburg address and all other famous speeches is hilarious and even when he screws up he quickly saves it and makes his mistake even funnier. Ok, that one will be back, I guarantee it.

NEW YORK CO-OP BOARD: A short skit with eccentric apartment dwellers questioning new tenants and freaking them out with their odd habits, but not a whole lot of genuine laughs here. Gaga's in it, but what's notable is how exact her Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny impersonation is, even though it's only about five seconds.

SPOTLIGHTZ: Eh. The one big dud of the night, and I actually liked it the first time they did it 2-3 years ago. It's kids recreating famous movie scenes again, but no big laughs in this one (Gaga once again takes the sketch by really giving it her all for Sally Field's death scene in Forrest Gump- that was good).

BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO: Three long-time employees of Blockbuster are let go when the chain finally closes all its stores, and they wander through the streets in a daze, looking for like-minded VHS lovers. It's not really laugh out loud funny, but but it is kinda quirky and amusing.

LADY GAGA: I gotta post this one because she does my favorite song off the new album, "Gypsy" and it's great, despite some audio issues.

TALENT PAGEANT: Ok, now this was surprisingly funny! It reminded me of old-school classic SNL as two stage parents freak out and start dancing to their daughter's performance at a talent show. Gaga's the mother and some guy who I did not recognize is the dad and the whole bit is short enough that it works (although seriously, who's the guy? Is he a new cast member?)

OLD LADY GAGA: It's the future and an ancient Lady Gaga tries pathetically to get Kenan the building super to recognize her and remember who she was. It's an ok one that at least gets her to play bits of her famous songs.

ROSE ZONE: A final ad for the best of reality women on TV that makes fun of how so much of it is catfights for entertainment. It's all right.

So, yeah, this was a decent episode and for not having any truly painful skits tonight, it gets a solid B (nothing painful, but nothing especially great either). If you're wondering what I might consider "especially great" for SNL, I'd have to say stuff like the Betty White episode from a few years ago or even the Martin Short Christmas one from last year- where every single sketch was consistently funny and the host was outstanding. Even the Melissa McCarthy one last season I thought was great, because she could literally be an SNL cast member and come out of it a huge star- she made everything funny. But Gaga was surprisingly good tonight and managed to elevate or at least make her own bits work pretty well. Next up it's Josh Hutcherson from The Hunger Games- see you next week!

Jon Oliver Moving to HBO

The Daily Show's Jon Oliver didn't last long at Comedy Central after his much praised hosting stint  in Jon Stewart's place this summer. HBO has scooped him up to host his own weekly comedic talk show which satirically looks at news, politics and current events, and joins the long running Real Time with Bill Maher as the network's current talk show staple. I honestly can't wait for this, as I can't even watch The Daily Show anymore since Stewart returned. Jon Oliver was always my favorite correspondent and him hosting was such a breath of fresh air that I really didn't want him to step down. I used to be a huge Jon Stewart fan, but something's changed in him these last few years- he doesn't seem to have the fire anymore, it's like he's gotten smugger and more tired at the same time, and it's put me off him. But Oliver's sincere and fresh enthusiasm reminds me of Colbert and I can't wait to check him out on HBO. His show will premiere in 2014 and air on Sunday nights.

RECAP: Homeland 3x07 "Gerontion"

So, yeah this was a pretty boring episode. Don't get me wrong, I more than appreciate the lack of Dana now, but this was clearly a placeholder episode for the season, with not a lot actually happening as far as events are concerned.

We pick up at the home of Javadi's murders from last week, with the local police finding out that a neighbor's security camera picked up Quinn as he was entering the house, which now makes him the main suspect. Whoops. Back at the CIA safehouse, Javadi is being told by Fara, with Saul standing by in support that they've got them nailed for embezzling all those funds, but Javadi brushes her off and snarks at Saul for trying to prove he can take him down with two "girls." Fara gets upset and is sent out of the room to go and watch from the monitor with Carrie, while Saul gets a crack at Javadi himself. Javadi surprisingly offers to give them everything he knows in exchange for a protected house in Miami and his money, but Saul won't bite, telling him he's going to send him back to Iran as a mole instead. Javadi is furious and refuses to go back but Saul says he has no choice and he goes as either an asset or a traitor to the Iranian government. Fara is upset about this from the next room, but Carrie is admiring of Saul's tactics.

Quinn is showering all the blood off of him when Dar Adal knocks on his door and spills out his own frustration, angry that Quinn was recruited by Saul and Carrie behind his back, when he's the one who pulled him in originally. Quinn won't give him any info though, so Adal tells him to fuck off and lets him know the local cops are on his case. Quinn brings the news back to Saul and Carrie, and Saul tells them both to reign in the investigation and protect Quinn from being identified. Saul goes back to Javadi, who's still nursing his bloody nose from Saul's knockout punch last week. He throws his wife's murder in Saul's face, who asks him why he did it, and he chalks it up to her being unfaithful, seemingly to get on Saul's nerves. Saul responds by showing him the picture of them from 30 years earlier, which Javadi has no real reaction to.

Carrie shows up at the crime scene to meet her local cop friend, but he won't get her off the hook with the detectives, who want to question her about Quinn. Carrie can't tell them anything, which makes them angry, but in the middle of her grilling she's suddenly attacked by a bout of nausea and has to go vomit in the bathroom (remember, she's pregnant!). Back with Javadi and Saul now, still talking as Saul confronts him with pictures of his other crime scenes. He brings up the CIA bombing Javadi's responsible for and tells him this is his way of changing things after that attack. He says Javadi's placed him in a position of power and tells him he can do the same for him if he goes back to Tehran (these conversations by the way, are long and fairly uninteresting, I'm sorry to say).

Carrie's cop buddy tells her to let them talk to Quinn since he can't help her out with this, and Carrie goes back to the safehouse to be confronted by an angry Fara, who doesn't want to send Javadi back to Iran and thinks they should try him in America instead. Carrie ignores her though, telling Saul and Quinn what the cops want and Quinn agrees to talk to them and admit to the murders himself, since they can't touch him anyway. Saul tells Carrie she has to escort Javadi back to his plane out of the country, which has to happen immediately before Saul has to confess about the operation to Lockhart, who wants an explanation for his absence. Before he sends him out, Saul asks Javadi who was responsible for the Langley bomb, and Javadi tells him it wasn't Brody, but one of Abu Nazir's guys. Saul seems to believe it (I actually forgot he thought it was Brody this whole time), and before he leaves to meet Lockhart he makes a last minute call to Mira. He calls to tell her he does love her and he does care that she had that boyfriend over, but as we see her on the other end, of course she's in bed with the guy and cautiously answers him with unease. Too late, Saul, too late.

Quinn shows up at the murder victim's house now to be questioned by the cops, as Javadi prepares to leave for his plane with Carrie. She gives him his cover story and last minute contact information, as he slowly walks by an upset Fara, who clutches a pair of scissors as he passes. Yeah, that was suspenseful. Saul shows up at Langley to meet an angry Adal, who wants in on his operation and is upset he's been stonewalled. Saul agrees to fill both him and Lockhart in on the details. As Carrie and Javadi drive, he tells her what Saul put her through is crueler than anything he's ever done (really dude, after we saw you kill our wife with a glass bottle?). Carrie calls him out on that, but Javadi reels her in by confirming to her that Brody didn't plant the bomb, that it was somebody else.

Quinn is questioned now by the detective in the most boring scene of the episode (and there's been some heavy competition for that tonight), as the guy pretty much just yells at him and Quinn can't tell him anything. The guy calls the CIA "shit" (twice) and elicits Quinn's "confession" to the murders. Quinn seems affected by his anti-CIA rant though, as the guy asks him if they've ever done anything except make things worse, and he looks doubtful about it himself.

Now we get Saul in his office as he tells Lockhart and Adal the details of everything that we, the audience already knows. Seriously, he essentially recaps the last few episodes and it takes about five minutes of screen time, admitting to the Javadi capture, the undercover op with Carrie, etc. and that he plans to use Javadi as a mole in the Iranian government. Lockhart is very upset and doesn't like being lied to. Back to Carrie and Javadi, still driving in another scene that's taking forever to unfold, as they're apparently still talking about Brody and the bomb, with Javadi teasing her with more information but Carrie witholding from asking the question, not wanting to trust him.

Back again, to Saul and Lockhart, as Saul continues to recap the events we just saw unfold. Lockhart gets more and more upset as he finds out Javadi is still in the country and currently on his way out by plane, and he threatens to call the president to keep Javadi here and fry him publicly. Saul defends his plan, but Lockhart tells him he sounds like he's "fucking high" (ok I admit it, I laughed at that) and tries to call the president from a room where Adal and Saul lock him in and shut off the lights, trapping him. He looks around to himself and wonders out loud "what the fuck," as he's all alone in the dark. My sentiments exactly, Senator.

Javadi and Carrie have finally made it to his plane now, and of course at the last second Carrie gives in and asks him about the bomb. Javadi tells her the guy who made the bomb is still in the country and that his lawyer, Bennett, knows who he is, and then he takes off. I have absolutely no idea why he would tell her any of this, unless he's lying, but I don't think we're supposed to think that- so I guess he's just inexplicably trustworthy about this.

Saul and Adal celebrate locking up the Senator and the plane's successful takeoff with drinks, so it looks like they're friends again, and then Carrie meets up with Quinn as he finishes up with his own phony interrogation. Quinn tells Carrie he's disillusioned about the CIA and all the damage they do, but Carrie just wants him to help her prove Brody's innocence now that Javadi's given her the intel. He sighs but agrees to do it, and the last scene of the night is Saul coming home to Mira and embracing her intimately, as she looks extremely wary about this reconciliation even though she hugs him back.

So that was it tonight and it was pretty darn uneventful, at least for me. I'm excited for Brody to come back in a couple of weeks, because at least he brings the promise of some real action with him (I think). As always, until next time!

Marvel and Netflix to Team Up for Streaming Series

Big news from Marvel today, as they announced a new partnership with Netflix to produce four original live-action series based on their comic book characters, all 13 episodes each, and eventually to culminate in an Avengers-style miniseries combining them together, called The Defenders.  

The four original characters set to each get their own show are Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones. Marvel fans will be familiar with all of them of course, and Daredevil will be the first out of the gate, his series set to premiere in 2015, and hopefully this show will help get rid of the bad taste left in fan's mouths from the Ben Affleck film version.

According to the press release from Marvel and Netflix, this is set to be "an epic that will unfold over multiple years of original programming," and it will "take Netflix members deep into the gritty world of heroes and villains of Hell's Kitchen, NY." Maybe that means these shows will be allowed to have more adult and R-rated content than the PG-13 films that are released every year? Netflix certainly hasn't been shy over content in their original programming so far, as far as that's concerned.

This is a pretty cool idea- it's extremely ambitious for Marvel to take on this kind of project, and it's a good way to get their slightly lesser known characters into the spotlight without having to make a feature film about them. Plus, I think this gives those characters the chance to be much less generic than a lot of the movies are starting to become lately, with the advantage of being able to embrace darker content that comes from being on Netflix. This whole idea has a lot of potential, but it assumes of course that they can gather the right creative talent for it- not just actors, but the writers and directors that would actually have a vision for it and be allowed to develop each beyond the stranglehold of Marvel's corporate control. Whether that can happen remains to be seen.

FIRST LOOK: "Sherlock"

The first image from Sherlock Season 3! It's premiering in the United States on PBS, Jan 19th at 10pm.