House The good thing about a House...

House
The good thing about a House repeat is getting a second chance to savor the one-liners. The show is full of them, and Hugh Laurie's delivery is dead-on. Though you wouldn't be able to tell that from his surly staff. If House were a documentary rather than a drama, there's no way I'd believe that doctors Chase, Foreman and Cameron wouldn't at least smirk occasionally at some of the stuff that comes out of House's mouth. Instead they all give him that disapproving I-need-a-laxative look. Even his dry-erase marker is a source of amusement. When House isn't admonishing Cameron about touching his pen, he's writing something snarky with it on his board, like "dead man dying" regarding his death-row-inmate patient. There's a certain macabre humor that I could see Chase appreciating if no one else, yet everybody's so grumpy on this show that you forget that House is the curmudgeon. House aside, tonight's repeat of the season opener treated us once again to LL Cool J's guest appearance. That MRI scene is just as disturbing the second time around, but I have since learned that ink extraction via MRI is largely a myth, so I'm feeling a little better about the whole thing. I was also reminded of Cuddy's male secretary, who mysteriously went missing after this episode. Odds are his disappearance from the canvas will not lead to some gimmicky Murphy Brown-esque secretarial rotation subplot for Cuddy, but all the same, I'd like to know where he went. Maybe Dr. House can figure that out for us and in the meantime tickle my ribs again with another quip about Rutgers' secretarial school.  Rhoda Charles

The Office
"I'm an early bird and a night owl. So I'm wise and I have worms." How can Steve Carell get these lines out without cracking up on each take? Must be a fun set to work on, which is such a sharp contrast to the dull office environment that is depicted on the show. Is there any cubical dweller out there who couldn't at least relate a little when Pam said, "Every so often Jim dies of boredom," and then they flash to Jim looking comatose at his desk? I have to say, I was intrigued by some of the games they played. I used to play paper triangles way back in middle school, but dubbed Hate Ball, it just sounds like so much more fun. Because no matter how nice a person you are, everyone has one coworker whom they secretly want to annoy, just for fun. Maybe I shouldn't have said that  now people will wonder if I'm trying to annoy them.... So let's change the subject, shall we? Does anyone else think that Kevin is a little like Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants? When Jim lit the Olympic torch with all the pomp and ceremonial blah-blah-blah, Kev's "It smells like cookie" comment had me envisioning the little pink starfish uttering a nonsensical "I love being purple." Also, is it wrong that I just want to hug Jim most of the time? His adorable unrequited crush on Pam and his enthusiasm for all things nonwork-related just makes him so endearing. Oh, and the random commercial of Steve Carell break dancing to promote their big move to Thursday night totally brilliant. I, for one, can't wait! Angel Cohn