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The Week in Superlatives: Best Diss, Biggest Groan and The Moment that Made Us Scream
Here's what was poppin' most on TV this week
This week was packed with TV surprises, and some developments were definitely better than others. In case you might have missed anything, we've put together a run-down of the most superlative-worthy moments of the week. From the cameos that made us gasp with glee to the departures that made us so sad, here are the most standout moments from this week's small screen slate.
The biggest letdown: TheOutlander Season 4 finale was an unusual miss. Like the previous seasons' last episodes, there was a cliffhanger. But unlike the rest, this year's was kind of a dud. Bummer.
The spoiled surprise: The fact that Rent: Live had to compensate for Brennin Hunt's ankle injury by airing pre-taped footage (pun!) of the show and then have him seated during the final act was all a bit awkward. But when the original cast of the musical came in to join the new guard in the show's final moments, it was another standing (pun again!) O moment. The surprise was kinda spoiled ahead of time tweeters at the rehearsals, but it was still a nice touch for the show all the same.
The "welp" moment: Ryan Lochte might've been a fan-favorite on Celebrity Big Brother, but the Olympian was ousted this week after almost everyone voted for him to skedaddle from the house. Between his and Jonathan Bennett's early evictions, we don't even know who to root for at this point.
Biggest groan: This Is Us got delayed, not once but twice as a result of the State of the Union address debacle. That better be some speech to cost us two weeks of time with the Pearsons.
This Is Us
NBCThe moment that made us scream: Serena Williams crashing Lip Sync Battle to shake it to Beyonce's "Sorry" was the happy dance surprise we all needed this week, honestly.
Most infuriating montage: Corporate's side-by-side morning ritual shot of Matt (Matt Ingebretsen) snoozing through multiple alarms while Kate (Anne Dudek) spends three hours exercising and grooming, only to have an elevator pundit compliment him and say she looks tired was just way too real. Grrrr.
Most anticlimactic death: Poor Magnus. Even Vikingscreator Michael Hirst didn't really know what to do with him, so the guy got one brief moment of bravado, chanting, "I am Ragnar's son! Odin is with me, and you cannot kill me!" on the battlefield for Kattegat before, yeah, a single arrow through the chest showed him that he could indeed be killed.
Most GIFable moment: On Modern Family this week, Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) tried his hand -- and bottom -- at inventing something called a "wear chair." It doesn't sound like too bad of an idea until he puts it on backward and sends the spring-loaded leg in the wrong direction. Whoops. What's even funnier is that he doesn't skip stride in talking up the value of invention because if Phil Dunphy will Phil Dunphy, even with a chair leg breaking his bum.
Modern Family
Shortest amnesia storyline: Well, that was a whole buncha nothing on The Magicians, then, wasn't it? The gang all got their memories back this week after two whole episodes, and it was about as exciting as it sounds.
Best diss: We can pretty much always count on Karen (Megan Mullally) for some savagery onWill and Grace, and this week was no exception. In fact, it may have been one of her iciest insults to date, as she suddenly screamed in Grace's face and then explained, "I just saw what you're wearing." She eventually tried to correct it by stammering "it's pretty," but the damage was done.
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Suckiest goodbye: Let's all pour one out for Gina (Chelsea Peretti) as she appeared in her last episode on Brooklyn 99this week. This one hurts. A lot.
Best binge: Russian Doll has arrived on Netflix, and yes, you should believe the hype. The show stars Natasha Lyonne as a woman who keep dying and being revived to the same exact moment over and over again, and if that sounds it's like your basic Groundhog Day ripoff, trust us when we say, it's not. With Lyonne and co-creators Leslye Hedland and Amy Poehler behind the lens, the show is a raucous good time. Its episodes are also short, so even though it's got some pretty heavy material, it still a rather breezy little binge.
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