Cougar Town (ABC) — If you’ve never seen the show because of its lame title, or if you checked out after the first few episodes before the show found its legs, I cannot emphasize enough what an incredibly funny show you’re missing. If you love “Community,” or if you loved the first five seasons of “Scrubs,” there’s every reason in the world you’d love “Cougar Town.” It’s nestled in a terrible time slot after “Last Man Standing” (whose audience will hate “Cougar Town”), but I honestly encourage you to give the show a shot. There’s not much separating it from cancellation, so we could use all the new viewers we can get. The show is Howard-Stern approved, if that means anything to you. Plus, it’s the drunkest show on TV.
Glee (FOX) — Think about it, this is your alternative to “Cougar Town” in the time slot: A Valentine’s Day episode of “Glee.” Tell me you don’t hate yourself that much. (NOTE: In a weird bit of timing, tonight’s episode features a character singing Whitney Houston’s signature song, “I Will Always Love You.”)
The River (ABC) — I checked out the premiere last week. The acting is atrocious; I haven’t seen that much wood since (insert Ron Jeremy joke). But, the concept was interesting and relatively novel for television (I mean, other than the 1,000 echoes of “Lost”), so I’m sticking with it until it actively pisses me off.
Southland (TNT) — Watch. Set ALL your DVRs.
Parenthood (NBC) — My favorite television writer right now is Jason Katims (other than Jon Worley, OBVS), responsible for this, “Friday Night Lights,” and a new medical drama he’s developing for NBC next fall starring Jason Ritter and Michael B. Jordan (if you’re watching “Parenthood,” you can probably guess what this means for Sarah’s character). It nearly killed me to learn that Katims also had a hand in the script for The Vow, a terrible movie that honest-to-God featured a scene in which hot-boxing was used as a romantic gesture.
Justified (FX) — It goes without saying. Check back tomorrow for Danger’s discussion post. FUN FACT: Tonight’s episode was co-written by our pal Jon Worley.
LATE NIGHT GUESTS — It’s Valentine’s Day, y’all. You should be getting booty around this time, but if you’re all bootied out, Letterman has Viola Davis, Leno has Tyler Perry, Kimmel has John Goodman, Fallon has Donald Trump (why?) but also Idris Elba (awesome), and Jon Stewart has Ricky Gervais.
