The Thursday Shonda Rhimes-a-thon: Putting aside any “angry black woman” controversies (c.f. Alessandra Stanley in the NY Times, who really put her foot in it), I’m a rapidly-becoming-former Scandal addict who’s liking How to Got Away with Murder a lot better. Maybe because Kerry Washington’s intensity is getting to be so one-note, while Viola Davis is, like, impossible to take your eyes off she’s so good. And because Scandal’s D.C. plotlines are getting increasingly unbelievable even by Scandal standards — and Murder, while almost as outlandish (are there really law professors out there who hire their first-years as legal staff?) is as yet still intricate enough to hold your interest.

But here’s something I’m not complaining about that’s going on in both shows (and I imagine this applies to Grey’s Anatomy, the third part of the Rhimes trifecta, though I haven’t watched it in a looong while) : boys, boys, boys! I’d say Shonda is, ahem, aware that she might have a gay audience because there is a whole helluva lot of boy-on-boy shirt-and-pants-doffing, heavy-snogging, smashmouth-kissing in both shows — plus, refreshingly, the fact that the stock role of slut who makes out by making out is, in Murder, a gay guy, not a straight woman. I guess that’s progress of a sort.
—David Warner

Nick Offerman of Parks and Recreation made Conan O’Brien squirm by pronouncing “Manscaping an Abomination,” going “Full Bush” and offering other observations on the righteousness of a "glistening, shining pubic thicket."

Battle of The “The”: Daytime shows The View on ABC vs. The Talk on CBS have been competing for the female audience, with The Talk edging out The View on simply being edgier. It's got a fresher and funnier irreverence thanks to its sassy, comedic and intelligent co-hosts, Sharon Osborne and Sara Gilbert et al. As far as The View goes, I am still on the fence about its new line-up. It's still got Whoopi, who's great, of course. Newly aboard this season are the Rosies — Rosie O'Donnell and Rosie Perez — who are talented on their own, but not winning me over in a group setting. Their energy feels flat. They don't seem to be gelling. If I had to choose which "The" show rules my daytime, I'd pick T he Chew, starring Mario Batali and his celebrity chef crew, who offer good chitchat while showing us how to make tasty noms. —Julie Garisto