Is it just a conspiracy to keep so many of TV’s best shows on Thursday nights? What makes Thursday night special from all other nights? I sound like I’m asking one of the Four Questions…

Scrubs - My Waste of Time

This episode picks up after the departure of Dr. Kelso last week, with Dr. Cox replacing him as the interim Chief of Medicine. Despite the fact that the job is more work than he realized, it seems like a role that Cox was born to fill. The Janitor gives Ted advice to not allow the new chief of medicine to push him around like Kelso did, but the advice backfires on him when Ted revolts against the Janitor’s leadership in their new Brain Trust. Meanwhile, Carla announces to Turk that she wants another baby, and J.D. and Elliot are forced to again examine the nature of their relationship. If that sounds like a lot happened in one episode, that’s because it was a very dense episode. The only storyline that suffered was the one between J.D. and Elliot, which could have been fleshed out a bit more. The interactions between the Janitor, Ted, The Todd, and Doug are very funny, and it’s nice that these background characters are given some time to shine, but it would have been nice to get a little bit more of the main characters. Elliot was hurt by J.D.’s wishing that she was Turk, and she had a point. Even though she and J.D don’t have the same dynamic as J.D. and Turk, that was a pretty cold thing to say, and J.D. ends up coming across as sort of a jerk to Elliot throughout this episode. She is concerned about following up on an old patient because she is genuinely worried that she may have hurt or killed him with a medication she prescribed - what’s so bad about that?

The episode did still deliver plenty of good yuks, from the long fantasy sequence about Turk’s prosthetic testicle shopping at Ball-Mart, Ted’s attempting to pick up a woman with the line, “I want to make you pregnant,” and, of course, the prank J.D. and Elliot played at the drive-thru. The show showed how clever it could be when all of the characters came together to vent about their problems in one room at one time, and J.D. announced, in so many words, that he likes to take a slice of wisdom from someone else’s life, and that he does it almost every week. Explaining so matter-of-factly one of the main themes of this series could have seemed hokey, but the delivery made it work. And the way that Sam stared off in to space, just like his dad did, was a great sight gag.

Best joke of the episode: “Legal Custodian” - get it? - coming this fall to NBC.

The Office - Did I Stutter?

Though The Office has plenty of absurd elements, it does on occasion inject itself with a shot of reality that can be quite jarring. “Did I Stutter?” pulled off that feat twice in a single episode; namely in Stanley’s outburst at Michael, and Ryan’s warning to Jim. Michael is full of bad ideas, and his meetings tend to be gigantic wastes of time. But, for the most part, his staff tends to go along with it, rolling their eyes, and just accepting that this is the way things are. But this week, Stanley was pushed just a little too far, and he snapped at Michael. Michael was genuinely hurt by the outburst, and would have much preferred an apology from Stanley as opposed to disciplining his “friend.” His plan of a “fake firing” was destined to head south, but the way that Michael and Stanley talked out their differences in the end was a great way to resolve their conflict, and it goes to show that as annoying as it might be to have Michael Scott as your boss, it’s better than having someone vindictive and nasty.

Like, for example, Ryan, who gives Jim a good-naturing ribbing about the Eagles, only to blind-side him with a negative performance review because of the time he wastes on pranks and Pam. While there is some truth to this claim, you are forced to wonder what brought it on. Ryan isn’t around to see Jim goofing off, so is Jim right in his guess that this goes back to what he said to Dave Wallace? Or is it from a jealous Toby? Either way, this warning completely took both Jim and the audience by surprise, and the big question is what will come next for the lovable goofball? Is he going to start to buckle down and do more work, or will he be seen as competition by Ryan and dealt with accordingly?

So much drama in a comedy! Though this week’s episode might not have been quite as hysterical as the few that preceded it, it still delivered plenty of laughs. The opening gag of Michael putting his face in the cement was pure brilliance. As someone who normally wears contacts, I could totally relate to Pam’s experience wearing her back-up glasses, though I never had to deal with someone with a librarian fetish like Kevin’s. Watching Dwight work his high-pressure sales technique on Andy and attempt to do it to Michael was hysterical. Is that how the guy sells paper?

Best joke of the episode: Daryl’s talk to Michael about his life as a gang member in the Crips, Blood, Latin Kings, and the Newsies.

30 Rock - Sandwich Day

Tina Fey cleans up nice, don’t she? In interviews, she always down plays her sexuality and nerd appeal, but then she gets herself all dolled up in 30 Rock and drives us all crazy again. Of course she wasn’t trying to impress bloggers, but Liz was trying to make Floyd jealous of all that he left behind when he moved to Cleveland, namely her. Despite all of the great things that Cleveland has, there is one thing they are missing: an Ikea. Floyd wants to be around Liz, but he can’t handle talking about his love life now that they have broken up. This episode takes the concept of an old flame coming to town and really has a field day with it, refusing to rely on clichés. Even when Liz rushes to meet Floyd at the airport, she refuses to give up her sandwich at the security checkpoint.

The Sandwich Day jokes are all great, but the best is Liz’s over-reactions to when her food is taken. The Union guys refuse to give up the location of their secret sandwich shop unless they are bested in a drinking contest. Even though it looks like a lock for them to keep their secret, their luck changes suddenly and without warning. Jack’s story continued from last week with him losing his assistant (who serenaded him with Sarah McLachlan’s I Will Remember You), being forced to relocate to an office on the (shudder) 12th floor, and seemingly getting messages from the hospital janitor that he needs to leave G.E. That and he discovered that catching a snowflake on your tongue in Chelsea is apparently some sort of signal. The episode ended with him apparently joining the Department of Homeland Security, but it seems like a safe bet that we’ll be hearing more from him next week.

Best joke of the episode: Floyd’s use of the name Peter Venkman for evil.