In case you hadn't heard, Neil Patrick Harris made it official.

Awesome. 

Joining the likes of ER in the category of "What? You still watch that?" is Desperate Housewives.  It's not the greatest, I know, but it's caught me in another "I can't help myself situation."  Plus, there's nothing else on on Sundays, aside from Dexter.

The show's been consistently "eh" for a while now, but last night's episode was actually quite good.  The premise was that a deranged woman takes hostages at the grocery including Lynette, Julie (Teri Hatcher's daughter), Edie Britt and her totally not hot even though he's supposed to be smokin' nephew.  She's gone nuts because her husband cheated on her.

So here's a list of the things they did right, in a faux-authoritative list. 

1. Knowing when to say when – A little backstory.  Lynette's (Felicity Huffman) husband knocked up some shrill, potty-mouthed woman, Nora, before they were married and now the woman and child are back in their lives.  Lynette and Nora have been in this Mexican cock fight since last season and it comes to a head this episode when Lynette and Tom sue for custody of the child.  Well, looks like that plot isn't going to go anywhere, because Nora done got blown away last night.  I'm glad to see her go, because her character really had nowhere to go and was beginning to get repetitive.  I think it was a good decision, although it sort of artificially removes a lot of conflict from Lynette's storyline.

2. Good use of Felicity Huffman – I love Felicity Huffman.  So much it hurts. I love her onscreen in DH and TransAmerica and I love her offscreen when she rains on Lesley Stahls BS parade.  Last night she got to really go wild, especially at the end when she starts screaming at the gunwoman.  Even though the episode's bookending dream sequences had the tone of a breast cancer awareness commercial (according to my roommate), she still put in a really good performance.

3. Funny ha ha, not funny campy – Desperate Housewives has always had a gay man's sensibility when it comes to camp.  Whether it's Eva Longoria mowing the lawn in an evening gown (at night, in the rain) or Marcia Cross mixing Martha Stewart-esque home and garden tips with razor-edged comments, you can see Marc Cherry's rainbow-colored fingerprints all over the place.  It's fine, but it's not always as amusing as it thinks is.  Last night, however, there were some legitimately funny moments, such as Lynette's response when Tom says he's surprised that she'd be willing to adopt another child. "I didn't want the first four, but they're starting to grow on me." 

You'd had to be there.  The delivery was really great.

4. Fun use of deja vu – The gunwoman, Laurie Metcalf (now and forever known as Jackie from Roseanne), has been guest starring lately as Marcia Cross' confidant/nemesis.  Last night, they introduced the new neighbor, Art, played by Matt Roth.  You might know him better as Fisher, Jackie's abusive boyfriend on the third season (or so) of Roseanne.  He even got to throw a can of veggies at her head this episode, so it was just like old times.

5. Get Eva Longoria to stop being a pain in the ass – For this entire season, Eva and her TV husband have been getting a divorce.  And it's been this whole War of the Roses thing, where they use sex, guilt and chainsaws to try to get back at each other.  It's been really tiring and Longoria's character has lost all likability.  Last night, though, the two seemed to call a truce and, according to the previews, they seem to be moving on to plots other than trying to screw each other over.

I finally got around to watching last week's Grey's Anatomy yesterday. Lots has been said about this show's general suckiness/addictiveness, but I think I've finally figured out exactly what bugs me the most about the show.

No, it's not the voice overs, which I just tune out.

No, it's not Meredith's whining and indecisiveness, which has never really bothered me, because I kind of like angst. 

No, it's not the circular monologues: "You freak me out. I think about us, and… it's scary. You. Me. We've never been able to make it work, and I wonder why. Is it me? Seriously? But I learned today that is me. Just not in the way you think. You know? You. Freak. Me. Out." Those I just find funny, now.

I'll tell you what it is: it's that the characters are absolutely incapable of talking about anyone other than themselves. Even when they're saving people's lives, everything they say out loud to their patients is actually about their own situation.

Izzy counseling the girl with the burns to get help; "you're not crazy": she's talking about herself. Christina comforting the patient's wife about her sacrifices: talking about herself. Etc. Etc. And that's only from last week.

It's not even the idea that they all have cases that mirror their own lives — I'm fine with that; that's the whole premise of the show. It's just that every single conversation any of them has is so full of dramatic irony, it's like they're not even talking to the people in front of them. They're in their own little worlds, learning life lessons.

Learn your life lessons on your own time, people. Or at least quietly. Not in front of the poor sick people.