A few people wrote in to say I...

A few people wrote in to say I missed the funniest joke last week, the way the new attorney's name sounds out loud: "Bob Loblaw." I was saving that for tonight, when we really get to meet Scott Baio's all-business lawyer, but  that's already been outdone by this week's pun: Tobias has combined the disciplines of analysis and therapy, making him an "analrapist." As much as I enjoyed the way Chachi frowned and charged Lindsay for every minute she flirted with him, and the way Charlize Theron is playing naive blonde spy Rita, the Bluths are totally one-upping their guest stars. For some reason they've all banded together to help each other, and that's always when things go south. Tobias takes a step toward reclaiming his pre-acting career by trying to help Buster stand up to Lucille. George Sr. gets to insult his kids and ignore his wife via a hired surrogate. They're so willing to "support" each other (albeit with selfish motives) that they throw a party for Buster and then rapidly turn it into a surprise party/girlfriend kidnapping for Michael instead and this happens to be the day he decides to pretend they don't exist. Incidentally, I can't get enough of this show's obsession with party banners, from the pilot's yacht party to tonight's "You're killing me, Buster" and "Family Love Michael." Rita's a sweet enough character, but I like it best tonight when she's passed out and Gob gives her his special magician's "Forget me now" pill which is kind of like how "clowns carry a handkerchief with ether." Buster had a pretty good blink-and-you-miss-it line, too, when he gets called to duty: "I can't go back there; I've never been!" Even the Maeby-George-Michael-Steve Holt story line, which usually leans more toward awkward, squirmy humor than wit, gave us a peek at the script Maeby greenlit, Judd Apatow's "14-year-old Virgin." And that's all we've got until baseball season's over. Man, do I hope the ratings improve after that!