Comedy/Drama TV Recaps: 14 Can't-Miss Moments from the Week Ending Oct. 22, 2010

Desperate Housewives recap: It's a Small World
All right, so no actual little people were oppressed in the making of last night's episode (as far as we know!), but Bree did employ one such height-challenged person — a friend she'd met at church, of all places — to help make Renee look crazy during a date with Keith. Although we didn't exactly get the full story, apparently Renee is terrified of little people because of a childhood incident at the circus. So when Bree's pint-sized helper showed up unannounced at Renee and Keith's dinner, Wisteria Lane's newest housewife went nuts, clawing to get away from the man and acting a complete fool in front of Keith in the process. —Tanner Stransky

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Mad Men finale recap: Tomorrow Comes Too Soon
I was so struck dumb by that rapid unfolding of events that for a minute I kept wondering aloud to my husband if we were watching a dream sequence when Don and Megan woke up in his New York apartment. Nope! I think Don fell in his version of love when she assured him that she had all the necessary information on the man before her. ''I know who you are now.'' Music to Don Draper's masked soul! None of this pushing to confront his demons. ''I feel like myself with I'm with you,'' he gushed, ''but the way I always wanted to feel.'' (Oh for the love of...) I think he decided to propose when he saw that she didn't hiss at the kids for spilling shake on her dress. He still gets to be Don Draper, Sally loves her, Bobby likes a pretty face, Gene squirms and pukes now and then but he's cute and fun. Everybody wins! Let's go house hunting in Chappaqua and barbecue some t-bone. —Karen Valby

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The Vampire Diaries recap: A Kiss Before Dying
Damon told Mason he saw himself in him, ''a less dashing, less intelligent version.'' He knows Mason loves Katherine, and he knows that Katherine will only rip Mason's heart out. ''Let me do it for her,'' Damon said. AND THEN HE DID IT. Just like that, Mason was gone. Presumably, we'll never see those eyes nor those sleeveless running shirts again. I'm sorry to see him go, but his death had to set things in motion for next week's Operation Kill Kat. —Mandi Bierly

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Dexter recap: 'There were others'
At this point, Dexter hauled the woman into the car and drove her to the one place he thought he could prove himself to her: Boyd's dumping ground for his victims' bodies. This was Dexter leveling with Lumen in the last way he knew how, and it turned out to be the most effective. Popping open one of the barrels, he told her point-blank ''This could have been you...I saved your life.'' —Sandra Gonzalez

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Grey's Anatomy recap: A Million Dollars, Baby
We, along with the eager doctors, were led to believe that one department would get this supposed million dollars. This meant the attendings would be spending their day proposing grand plans to the Chief, and the residents would be the attendings. In other words, it was not exactly the day you wanted to check into Seattle Grace. Here's something you don't want to hear from the Chief of the hospital you are checking into: ''Pray, people. We want God in the building today.'' You also don't want to come in with massive headaches due to a build-up of fluid in your skull that will require a shunt, only to be told by Dr. Derek Shepherd that you shouldn't sweat the residents doing your surgery because, hey, ''At some point we have to let them operate. That's how we make new surgeons.'' —Jennifer Armstrong

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Big Bang Theory recap: The Joy of Dating
After a desperate attempt to meet women by posing as a Genius at the Apple Store's Genius Bar — I'd have loved to see this instead of hear about it, even if it would've been just a massive Apple ad — Leonard finally invoked the girlfriend pact he'd made with Howard, the very same pact that brought the bowl-headed engineer and his hoochie pants together with the adorably daffy Bernadette last season. Alas, Bernadette's pick for Leonard — her self-defense classmate Joy (Charlotte Newhouse) — did not spark similar romantic magic. Joy was, indeed, quite the opposite: A belching, boundary-free vulgarian so obnoxious, she qualified as Leonard's worst date ever. —Adam B. Vary

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Supernatural recap: Everybody Loves Bobby
Yes, aside from helping the Winchesters (and an entire network of hunters) via phone, Bobby was also busy helping Rufus and saving people. It all started when Rufus (who we last saw in ''Good God, Y'all'') came into town with the body of a Japanese Okami in tow. He and Bobby buried it, believing it to be dead, but it wasn't. (Always stab a few extra times, just to be sure. And you can catalogue that advice under ''Things that should only be repeated in Supernatual context.'') —Sandra Gonzalez

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Brothers & Sisters recap: Lips Serviced
The Runaway Holly scampered up to Nora's front door and begged for help. She hid in the bathroom for a few minutes as Nora freaked out — what if she killed herself? This was Holly's cue to open the door and suggest that in her current state of uncertainty, she could have killed someone else on her way to the house! Conclusion: ''I think you need to take me to the hospital.'' —Annie Barrett

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Cougar Town recap: Penny Which Way You Can
Andy and Grayson watched Laurie fall into the dreaded ''Dump 'n' Bump'' phase with Smith and provided a safety cushion for her inevitable crash with a genius Good Will Hunting setup. ''It's not your fault,'' Andy kept repeating in a botched Boston accent until Poor Laurie, who used to have to trade kisses for milk money, finally broke down. —Annie Barrett

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30 Rock recap: Sex Bomb
Jenna — the Dina Lohan of Studio 6H — got a coveted ''free ice cream for life'' black card at Carvel and enlisted Kenneth to help her with the ''short grift'' of exchanging misspelled cakes for cash. But Jenna grew restless and came up a long con. Enter Kelsey Grammer, who was obviously hanging around and up for anything. ''Long grift, huh? Now. Who are ya and what are we doing?'' He was great. I wouldn't mind watching a spinoff about Jenna and Kelsey opening a medical supply store in Florida, then getting some Social Security numbers, ''through seduction.'' —Annie Barrett

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars recap: Mandalore Rots From the Head Down
I, for one, was hoping that Duchess Satine might be the corrupt official in question, especially after she was a little standoffish to the younglings when they brought her the evidence of corruption within her government. (Okay, I realize that absolutely nothing about her character suggested she would go in for this, especially after her crackdown on the black market last week. But if it had been her, that would be the greatest character reveal TV has given us since we found out Nina was the mole on 24 eight years ago.) But it didn't take too much flexing of the old gray matter to realize that it was Prime Minister Almec. —Christian Blauvelt

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The Office recap: Oh Danny Boy!
Andy was desperate to best one of his classmates, so he naturally turned to his new BFF Darryl. This two are my new favorite duo. And their band with Kevin might top Scrantonicity. That frog tune at the end was pretty good, but the closing line of ''I find you absolutely riveting!'' pushed it into insta-classic status. —Margaret Lyons

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Modern Family recap: 'My White-Man Name Is Tucker'
Gloria and Manny were being kept up by a neighbor's relentlessly barking pooch. ''I don't get how one dog keeps you awake when you grew up sleeping through cockfights and revolutions,'' cracked Jay and his ''old-man hearing.'' I saw those previews for the episode where the grouchy dog owner compared Gloria to a screeching parrot (''Jay!'' ''JAY!'' ''JAAYYY!''), but when her voice activated that car alarm, I guffawed all over again. —Michael Slezak

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The Event recap: Standoff and Deliver
All the back-and-forth brinksmanship ended in a stalemate. Metaphorically speaking, no babies were shot here. Still, I liked how Thomas and Martinez' compromise sent Sophia into the world. Personally, I'm just happy to see Sophia out of her prison cell, and I'm hoping that her reunion with Thomas will add to our understanding of the Watchamacallums. —Darren Franich

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