Inside: This week in TV

We tuned in for the series premiere of Private Practice, the Grey's Anatomy spin-off (Wednesdays on ABC). We won't be making that mistake again. (Though I do hope that ABC continues to cast Taye Diggs until he gets a winner. We watched all last year's Daybreak, even when it was canceled and we had to watch the remaining episodes online.)

However, we're pleased as punch about the new seasons of My Name is Earl and The Office (Thursdays on NBC). Both shows have somewhat narrow premises, unlike the plots of their "Must See TV" forebearers Seinfeld and Friends, which could include almost anything as long as the same characters showed up in each episode. In MNIE, the titular Earl has a list of people he has wronged; in each episode, he pursues a different person on the list in order to right the wrong. In The Office, each episode is a mockumentary; the film crew's presence is both a vital part of each episode (employees provide video "confessionals" in each episode) yet somehow invisible.

Reliance on these plot devices could have resulted in both shows stagnating after a single season. Neither has. Both season premieres (the third for MNIE and fourth for The Office) included enough changes to make them feel fresh (Earl is in jail! Pam and Jim are hooking up!), yet continue to employ all the elements that make them funny in the first place. (One example: The Office's always creepy and sporadically-used Creed matter-of-factly explaning that he's been in several cults, both as a leader and a follower, "You have more fun as a follower. But you make more money as a leader").

In other TV news, the Rock of Love season finale is tomorrow -- squee! (Okay, I know it's bad, like really, inexcusably, uber-bad, but at least we're not the only ones who are enjoying this "ridiculous but highly addictive" guilty pleasure.)

Out: September Snow

I was out with some friends last night when one of them mentioned that she could smell snow in the air. Another argued that you can't smell snow in the air, and a bit of a debate ensued. Turns out, the first friend was right--this was the view from our living room this morning. And this is already the second snow of the season. We could use a significant snow season this year, but I need a little fall first. The leaves haven't even had a chance to turn yet. More pics from this morning below, including some raccoon prints .

Out: Superer Dog

Otis at Nevada Beach today. To preemptively answer your question, yes we have a life beyond getting our dog to jump off of piers. Just not much of one, obviously.

Out: Superdog!

Even though Otis is forced to spend most of his life as a land-bound quadruped, once a day, on average, he gets to throw off his Bark Kent alias and show the world his superpowers.

I’ve often considered getting him a Superman cape for the explicit purpose of forcing him to wear it during a photo shoot much like this one. The only reason why this hasn’t happened is because whenever we dress Otis up at all, even if we just put a hat on his head, he gets an exaggerated look of despondency on his face as if he knows that this time, for certain, we are no longer laughing with him, but indeed at him.

However, he really deserves the superhero moniker, if not the cape, this week. We took these photos the day after Otis accompanied Anthony on an eight-mile mountain bike ride (i.e., eight miles of Otis running at 100% after spending the summer mostly swimming, hiking and running only in short bursts). As expected, he was overheated and panting like a gazillion times a minute after the run, so we immediately took him to the lake so he could cool off. When we got home, he curled up and passed out.

In retrospect, taking your dog for an intense run, dumping him in cold water, then letting him stay in the same position for a few hours seems incredibly stupid, but we didn’t even think twice about it. Not until Otis tried to get off the couch that evening and cried like we had stepped on his ear on our way to go give all of his food to a pack of coyotes.

Seriously, Otis didn’t even cry like this during the three-month broken paw debacle this past spring. It was intense enough that I almost started crying—we’re talking nonstop, high-pitched yelps with each move. When we finally got him off the couch, he immediately sank down on the floor and refused to move again.

Eventually, we figured out that he had a muscle cramp in his right hind leg (not a difficult diagnosis, since it felt approximately like a chunk of granite). We massaged it, rubbed in some muscle cream and put a heating pad on it for a couple of hours, with a few small walks in between so it wouldn’t tighten up again. By bedtime, he was still crying with each step, but the intensity had gone down a few notches.

Nonetheless, we were expecting the cramp to worsen overnight. We had already established that his earlier nap had allowed the muscle to tighten up in the first place. And Otis’s sleep is, like most dogs’, fraught with spasms, twitching and kicking, so we doubted that the muscle would have much of a chance to really relax and loosen up.

The next morning, he was a little stiff but, to my surprise, not whimpering at all. By mid-morning, he seemed normal, and by early afternoon, he was whining—for exercise. So we took him to the beach, where he proceeded to jump around like a complete idiot, running up and down the beach and launching off the pier, all muscle cramps long forgotten.

Superdog indeed.

Inside: WEEDS and CALIFORNICATION

We started watching Californication just as Showtime's programming execs intended; because it was the follow-up to the already successful and always enjoyable Weeds, making for a nice little Monday-night dramedy hour. Although my initial impression was tepid, I've warmed up to the show a bit.

Dislike: The initial problems still exist: David Duchovney's Hank still has a Peter Pan complex. And he gets way too much play for a guy like Hank. Maybe it's his cologne? Possibly, but between his unkempt appearance and constant over-drinking, he seems more like someone who smells like he's sweating out yesterday's whiskey.

And I have two new dislikes: First, Californication has The. Lamest. Intro. Ever. At least in premium-TV channel land, where intros are generally little works of art. And second, what the hell is up with Karen (Hank's ex/baby mama)? She's seemingly more together than Hank, but yet she can't help grinning like a schoolgirl whenever he's around. Maybe she still carries a torch for Hank -- I can go with that. Maybe she's not as in love with her fiance as she would like to be -- fine. But frankly, I'd think that being significant others with a guy for a decade, having a child with him, and then having a painful break up would officially get someone over the blushing/grinning phase of their relationship.

Like: Although Hank can't get his act together in most of his life, he does seem to have it together for his daughter; his scenes with Becca always seems to come across as refreshing compared with his interaction with the rest of the world. There's been a little of the "child raising the parents" theme, but not much.

And even though I find Hank's sex life unrealistic, it does allow for several entertaining scenes and lots of fun lines -- I imagine that's how the creators originally pitched the show. My favorite Hank line from last night: "I love all women. I'll make a run for you too, crusty." This week's scenes between Charlie (Hank's agent/friend) and his wife also gave a few genuine laughs ("Maybe we should have a safe word."/"Okay, the safe word is DON'T PEE ON ME.")

Overall, Californication, like its characters, is flawed but entertaining.

I can't quite say the same for Weeds, which appears as flawless as ever in its plot -- everything happening this year seems to be a natural escalation of events from the first two seasons -- but yet seems less entertaining than usual. Perhaps it's to be expected; things are serious this year. Still, Nancy's scenes with U-Turn seemed just shy of enjoyable; all the potentially comedic elements of U-Turn's burly gangsta trying to train Nancy in the ways of thugdom were overshadowed by the constant threat of him causing her serious physical harm. Realistic, yes (as far as this show goes, anyway). But less fun. Also, Doug, Heylia, Celia, Andy and Conrad are all underused so far this year. Even Matthew Modine's new character seems full of potential, but lacking in meat. And this is a show that knows how to give its side characters meat.

Out: Female Merganser

Inside: We saw SUPERBAD

Being huge fans of The 40 Year Old Virgin, A and I rushed out to see Knocked Up in early June, and Superbad this past week (both movies have several actor/producer/creator connections with 40YOV). I enjoyed both, but my first impression was that neither is quite the masterpiece that 40YOV is.

But then again, I usually can't separate a genius comedy from a merely entertaining one until I've seen it at least a couple of times. You can watch those genius comedies--40YOV, Office Space, Harold and Kumar, Airplane! are a few of mine--over and over again without getting tired of them. In fact, they seem even funnier each time you see them. On first viewing, you inevitably miss some of the comedic elements that are more subtle (and far more rewarding) while you're laughing at the more obvious ones.

I have a feeling that Superbad in particular will grow on me with repeat viewings. For example is Seth, played by Jonah Hill, seems overly abrasive (i.e., more bitter than funny) at the beginning of the movie. When I see it again, he'll likely seem funnier from the get-go, since I've now seen the whole movie and know where that abrasiveness is coming from and where it's going. There are also a few slow parts that I imagine will seem funnier the second or third time around.

Like: I loved the penis drawings. As someone who inherited a number of textbooks with penis art in them, this bit rang completely true and hilarious. The number, variety and...skill of the drawings alone is soda-through-the-nose worthy. Also, Christopher Mintz-Plasse was wonderful as Fogell/McLovin. The blood on the leg bit has the distinct honor of being totally gross and quite original (not an easy accomplishment in the world of toilet humor). And the ending was pitch-perfect.

Dislike: Okay, we all love movie geeks and we all root for them to get the girl in the end. But it would be so much more believable (and enjoyable) if they didn't end up with the hottest girls in school. Actually, Evan's crush Becca's comes across as more cute than hot, but the disparity between Seth and Jules is pretty damn big. I'm not saying that they should have cast exact visual counterparts for Seth and Evan, but it would have been delightful if at least one of the girl characters was just a little more geeky herself. Alright, I know the movie is by guys for guys, but c'mon, throw the girl viewers a bone here. We cannot live on penis drawings alone.