This week's TV is catty, nasty, and perhaps a little brilliant. Take for instance Community, where the plucky Abed faces off against a 'mean girl' while showing off his own sass capacities. Will his celebrity-portrayed foe survive? Let's jump into a preview of this week's finest programming.
The Women of SNL [Monday NBC, 9 PM]
SNL revisits the contributions of women in its 35-year history. Tina Fey, Nora Dunn, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, and Kristen Wiig make guest appearances in a Real Housewives reunion parody, and hopefully we see a lot of old clips featuring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jan Hooks, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, and the ne plus ultra of live comics, Gilda Radner.
Dancing with the Stars [Monday ABC, 8 PM]
Fifty former dancers visit for the show's 200th anniversary. Yes, that includes Erin Andrews, our own personal Dancing with the Stars insider. We'll talk to her all about it on Wednesday.
CBS Election Coverage [Tuesday CBS, 10 PM]
Katie Couric covers midterm elections, and you feel gratified and special for having voted. Hint, hint.
Sons of Anarchy [Tuesday FX, 10 PM]
Prepare yourself for a protection run like that you've never seen yet. And as usual, prepare yourself for the ravishing Maggie Siff as Tara Knowles. (Mad Men's Rachel Menken, we will never forget you.)
Kathy Griffin: Whores on Crutches [Tuesday Bravo, 10 PM]
In her bazillionth Bravo special, the D-List comedienne riffs on Bristol Palin, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and the Emmys.
Modern Family [Wednesday ABC, 9 PM]
Phil deals with a smoke detector, Claire and Haley get sick, and Jay receives a rough surprise when Gloria and Manny visit him at work. Cameron tries to get Lily in a commercial too, and I'm sure Mitchell soundly disapproves.
Survivor: Nicaragua [Wednesday CBS, 8 PM]
The La Flor and Espada tribes merge, and a whole new game is afoot. NaOnka, seizing the opportunity to be disliked by even more people, steals food from her castmates. And who knows: Maybe Purple Kelly will get to speak this episode.
Community [Thursday NBC, 8 PM]
Hilary Duff guest-stars in this particularly teen-centric episode; Abed becomes a "mean girl" when his pals encounter a cruel classmate.
30 Rock [Thursday NBC, 8:30 PM]
Liz accommodates her visiting father (Buck Henry), who's going through a crisis. Tracy and Jenna film video obituaries for themselves (just because, all right?) and Jack assuages Avery by putting professional boundaries between himself and Liz.
Nikita [Thursday CW, 9 PM]
Project Runway and Jersey Shore are over, so this is the closest thing I could find to match their camp factor. Nikita tries to assist a woman who finds herself at the target of an assassination plot.
The Good Guys [Friday Fox, 9 PM]
A fainting spell forces Dan to remain at his desk for awhile. I love this damn show -- truly an original, funny, and suspenseful re-imagining of the buddy cop show. You should watch, but only if you like a good time.