There are scores of TV shows out there, with dozens of new episodes each week, not to mention everything you can find on Hulu Plus, Netflix streaming, and HBO Go. How’s a viewer to keep up? To help you sort through all that television has to offer, Flavorwire is compiling the five best moments on TV each week. This time, TV shows do the rom-com thing with varying degrees of success.
John Oliver’s Successful Last-Ditch Ploy
Because apparently, when you want a country to stick around, eating haggis, drinking whiskey, and pulling a Love, Actually accompanied by bagpipes is the way to go. Oliver’s routine this week concerned the then-upcoming vote for Scottish independence, and after rounding up David Cameron’s pathetic attempts at sucking up, the host showed England how it’s done. Judging by the results of yesterday’s referendum, the Scots are as enamored of him as we are.
You’re the Worst: Not the Worst!
One of TV’s strongest new comedies wrapped up its freshman season this week. TV editor Pilot Viruet has a victory-lap interview with showrunner (and frequent Jenji Kohan collaborator) Stephen Falk up elsewhere on the site, but if you like romantic comedies and have been searching for a TV show that’s doing it better than New Girl or The Mindy Project, you’ve found your next binge watch.
Not-So-New New Girl Debuts New Season
Speaking of New Girl, Zooey and Friends came back for Season 4! And its big-name guest star is one Jessica Biel, a brainy beauty trying to take home the same guy as Jess — the one and only Dan from Veep — after a wedding. Her big claim to fame? Losing her virginity to Malcolm Gladwell. Also, Deschanel and Jake Johnson continue to put their chemistry on display during an adorable scene in which they share a bathroom stall.
Mindy Project Says, “Hi, Haters!”
Or “We’re a Couple Now, Haters!,” to be precise. Mindy Kaling’s uneven sorta-rom-com, sorta-workplace-comedy returned with its leads in a full-on relationship! Their first major obstacle is Mindy’s inability to keep her mouth shut, and their first major obstacle’s resolution is Danny’s revelation that he used to be a stripper named Diamond Dan. Danny is adorable, and this performance is almost enough to make me forget that Chris Messina is also on The Newsroom. Almost.
The Series Premiere of Mysteries of Laura
…or, CopMom MomCop. The show may be terrible, but the laughs critics had at its expense are not! Part of this TV season’s noxious “working moms? Wait, huh?” trend, Mysteries of Laura is the story of a woman who works in a predominantly male field and has kids, which has never been done before by any woman on television ever.