Thursday Top Five: The Office is BACK, and we're celebrating

Tonight at 9 p.m. on NBC, our long national nightmare will come to an end. That's right, "The Office" is back after a long, LONG four-month hiatus. In fact, all of NBC's Thursday night comedies are new tonight, so after I suffer through an hour of American Idol results, I can cleanse my soul with "30 Rock," "The Office," and the soon-not-to-be an NBC comedy "Scrubs."

To celebrate the return of Jim and Pam (and all of our other favorite Dunder-Mifflinites), today's top five will celebrate relationships, the successful, the adorable, and the frustrating. In reverse order:

Honorable Mention: The "Most complicated but oh-so-intriguing" relationship: Starbuck & Apollo (Katee Sackhoff & Jamie Bamber, "Battlestar Galactica")

Will BSG creator Ron Moore put these two star-crossed lovers (?) together at the end of this, the final season? It's been foreshadowed all the way since "I thought you were dead," in the miniseries. These two have had to endure a dead brother & fiance, marriages to other people (one of whom is a cylon), their own emotional shortcomings, and now the fact that Starbuck is back from the dead and no one knows why. Is the "Starpollo" 'ship doomed to sink? We've only got 19 more episodes to find out, but I still believe, especially after seeing the "Unfinished Business" extended cut on the Season 3 DVD set. They're destined.

5) The "Who in the hell kept them apart for so long?" relationship: Luke & Lorelai (Scott Patterson & Lauren Graham, "The Gilmore Girls")

I absolutely love the final episodes of Season 4, starting with "Luke Can See Her Face." It's the culmination of four seasons of romantic tension, and when they finally kiss on Lorelai's front porch, I challenge anyone not to at least cheer a little. Luke may be the only one that can handle Lorelai's neuroses, but the producers only gave us, like, one season total of the two of them being happy, before Luke inexplicably becomes an asshole in season 6 and then Lorelai inexplicably gets married to Christopher in season 7. Thankfully, she divorces Christopher and sings "I Will Always Love You" to Luke near the end of the final season, and they live happily ever after. Alas, it is in a world in which Lauren Graham does not have an Emmy and William Shatner does.

4) The "So gay it's not gay" relationship: Turk & J.D. (Donald Faison & Zach Braff, "Scrubs")

What can I say? YouTube "Guy Love Scrubs" and you will witness the hands-down best male friendship on primetime TV. College roommates who grew up to work at the same hospital, Turk and J.D. redefine man-crush into man-love. Besides "Guy Love," the best moment in their relationship is when Turk comes home from his honeymoon with Carla, only to have a joyful reunion with J.D. at the hospital.

3) The "For God's sake, just DO IT already" relationship: Mulder & Scully (David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson, "The X-Files")

Ah, the days of X-Files and years of Mulder and Scully not kissing. First there was the forehead kiss in "Momento Mori" that should have been so much more. (She had CANCER, dammit, just kiss already!) Then there was the kiss-that-wasn't in "Fight the Future." Stupid alien-vaccine bee had to go and interrupt the almost kiss. Oh, and let's not forget "Triangle," where Mulder was trapped in the Bermuda Triangle in 1942 and kissed the Scully look-alike, only to wake up on a raft and discover that it wasn't the real Scully. FINALLY, we had "Millennium," where the real Scully and the real Mulder kissed each other on the lips at the stroke of midnight. Then there was "All Things," the did-they-or-didn't-they sleep together episode. It all culminated with "Existence," when Mulder (returned from his abuction experience) and Scully kissed over their weird alien baby. And then Duchovny left the show.

2) The "Wow, married life doesn't look so bad" relationship: Coach & Tami Taylor (Kyle Chandler & Connie Britton, "Friday Night Lights")

On FNL, the adult relationship between Eric & Tami is the heart of all things awesome. They bicker and they tease, but they love each other, and it is beautiful.

1) The "Oh, my God, could they BE any cuter?" relationship: Jim & Pam (John Krasinski & Jenna Fischer, "The Office")

Of course, it had to be them. And I apologize ahead of time for the cheesiness and poor production value of the video I'm about to embed, but no amount of gushing on my part can accurately describe the cuteness that is Jim & Pam. It has to be witnessed. And it's back on my TV tonight!!

I think the 'Lights' are staying on!

The rumors are making their way around the Internet as I type, but it sounds like NBC has renewed 'Friday Night Lights' for a third year. I read it here first.

It seems as if they struck some kind of deal with DirecTV, which probably means those of us without a dish won't see the episodes on their first-run night. Honestly, it doesn't matter, as long as Riggins, Coach, Saracen, and Landry are back on my screen next year.

Save Friday Night Lights!

As we all (or at least those reading this blog) know by now: Friday Night Lights is in trouble. The big guys at NBC (and I mean you, Ben Silverman) don't have much faith in the show, and it's on the chopping block for next season. 

It's time for us fans to band together to save this gem. The louder and more obnoxious we get, the bigger chance our message will penetrate the thick skulls of ratings-hungry execs who haven't grasped how amazing FNL is. 

The "Save FNL" campaign has already begun.  Check out Save Friday Night Lights and Keep The Lights On to see how you can do your part - one light bulb and mini-football at a time. 

And for some inspiration, here's a list of great campaigns to save TV shows:

1) "Jericho" fans successfully saved their show by sending thousands of pounds of nuts to CBS. 

2) "Roswell" fans resurrected their alien drama twice by mailing in thousands of bottles of 

Tabasco sauce, an alien fave. 

3) "Everwood" fans commemorated their prematurely canceled show by erecting a Ferris Wheel in Burbank. Now that's dedication! 

4) "Veronica Mars" groupies hired a plane to fly over Los Angeles toting the message "Renew Veronica Mars! CW 2006!" 

5) "Angel" devotees fought for their show by raising money and hype long after star David Boreanaz turned in his fangs. 

Superlinks for Super Tuesday

Here's a round-up of stories that caught my eye over the past week:

First and foremost, as Allie posted earlier: The strike is almost over. Thank deity of choice. Awesome news for those of us who write television blogs and need material to write about, beyond "American Gladiators" and "Moment of Truth."

They're making a movie about G.I. Joe. This would be totally unremarkable, except that Channing Tatum has been cast in the movie. And Channing is beautiful.

In other movie news, Guillermo Del Toro is supposedly set to direct the two 'Hobbit' prequels. And if we can't have PJ back, Del Toro is a pretty good second choce. I could write a whole post about how I excited I am for thee movies, but I'm withholding judgement until I see whether or not Sir Ian signs on.

Variety is reporting that they're set to make a 'Cloverfield' sequel. Of course. It couldn't make that much money and not get one. Still, it's disappointing -- I think the story has been told, and it left the perfect amount of mystery.

David Simon wrote a feature story for this month's Baltimore magazine.

Bad news for us FNL fans: it's not looking good for renewal, according to NBC's head of programming.

This is a cute feature from New York magazine: writers from one show take a stab at writing another. Ever wondered what 'The Office' would look like if the writers behind 'The Simpsons' got a hold of it?

An 'Arrested Development' movie? Yes, please!

The Super Bowl yesterday was the second-most watched program in American TV history. And in case Pats fans start to recover, this shirt from BustedTees should shove them right back down to earth. I don't know if I'll ever get sick of seeing the replay of Eli's Escape and Tyree's Catch.

Finally, and most importantly, if you live in the 21 states holding primaries today, don't forget to vote! I personally am endorsing Barack Obama, but this is America, yo. Exercise your right.

"Lights" Highlights

Season 2, Episode 13, “Humble Pie”

My highlights from last night’s episode:

Jason the car salesman: Who would’ve thought Jason peddling Chevy’s – and with such blatant product placement – would be so satisfying? I certainly didn’t, but I knew I would like this storyline from the very beginning of the episode when Buddy – in his smarmy, self-serving way – asked, “Jason, did you ever think about selling cars?” Buddy and Jason have such an interesting dynamic, and it was nice to see them interacting without Lyla in the middle of it. The highlight of the episode for me was Jason inspiring/browbeating indecisive customer Gerald into buying a car he’s been pining after. “Gerald, life is too short, man,” Jason advises. “Things change in an instant. Take it from me, OK. Take control of your life. Be a man. Buy this car.” Scott Porter really brings it, and every episode he’s been in this season has been a favorite for me. Plus: Jason and Herc’s domestic life together = hilarious.

Tyra the volleyball-playing badass: Tami recruits Tyra to play on the volleyball team after realizing how tall she is. 5’11! I knew she was tall, but 5’11! That’s almost a whole foot taller than me. Remind me never to stand directly next to Adrianne Palicki. Anyway, Tyra’s got the height, but she doesn’t have the passion to destroy until Tami tells her to think of something that makes her really angry. And there stands Tim Riggins. Fueled with her Riggins rage, Tyra becomes the all-star of the volleyball team and they finally win a game. Tyra might also have been imagining Landry’s new dreaded lady friend as she spiked that ball. If things keep pissing Tyra off, the volleyball team might have a better shot of making it to states than the football team. Speaking of…

Smash the criminal: Smash is arrested for the incident at the movie theater where he beat up a racist jerk who was harassing his younger sister. Smash swallowed his pride and apologized only to take it back (in a big, angry, public way) on TV when the jerk bad-mouthed him and his sister. Smash was suspended for the last three games of the regular season, leaving the team’s prospects of making states pretty bleak. This storyline showcased Smash balancing his ego with his love for his family and his team. His scenes with his sister in particular were very touching.

Riggins the human punching bag: Again, Riggins really can’t catch a break. He confesses his love for Lyla only to be shot down icily in favor of her new boyfriend, The Good Christian (so nice to have you back on my TV screen, Matt Czuchry). And Tim made chicken and everything! But maybe Tim should be worrying less about Lyla and more about drug dealing Ferret Guy, who beats him up for the $3,000 he stole. Although Lyla rejected Riggins, she gives him a consolation prize of $3,000 to pay back Ferret Guy. Tim and Billy pay him pack, and all would be good except Billy’s big mouth leads to Ferret Guy pulling out his big gun. Just a guess, but I’m thinking we haven’t seen the last of Mr. Ferret.