Could we take a minute to talk about what a good actor Mark Harmon is?

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"American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" have been addressed in previous posts. Notes on these other shows after the jump. …

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I posted before about the "Two and a Half Men" episode written by folks from "CSI." I've now caught up to the "CSI" written by the big guys from "Two and a Half Men," and the "CSI" came out better.

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(It took me a few minutes to realize that's Jamie Rose of "Falcon Crest" fame with Charlie Sheen. She's looking well.)

I expected a better episode (with spoilers) …

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Notes on "HIMYM" and on Miley Cyrus, after the jump.

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Had some family business last night so I didn't get to all the viewing had hoped. Played catch-up this morning. A few notes on various topics after the jump.

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I should also mention "New Amsterdam," but I'm something like three episodes behind in watching it. But I did catch up with all of the above last night and this morning. Notes after the jump …

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A toast to your return, gentlemen!

I don't know if it was to make room for that "Tropic Thunder" trailer or what, but CBS and my DVR were not in sync last night …

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You're in Cleveland. Where's Kid Leo?

Before I talk about the comedies, a brief note about Chuck Lorre's title card at the end of "Men." Usually full of tiny type, this one simply said "United We Stand." Good move, great way to remind viewers (well, at least the detail-obsessed ones) that these shows come from writers, and their issue hasn't gone away.

And so to the laughs …

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Monday is beginning to look more and more like a night to catch up on reading …

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I've been in the office most of the day, and last night's viewing is stuffed into a DVR at home. But while trying to find the top of my desk, I hit a USA Network episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." And I did see Monday's "How I Met Your Mother" and "Two and a Half Men" from my recordings, so I have a few thoughts there.

I also have a LOT of thoughts about the next two episodes of "Mad Men" — tomorrow night's and then the season finale — and am trying to decide what to say now and what to save until after you see the telecasts. That's a separate post, in any case, save for yet another recommendation that you tune in.

And so to the jump. …

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Besides watching the (not available for preview) "Cavemen" premiere last night, as well as recent doses of "Carpoolers," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Aliens in America," "30 Rock," "The Office," "My Name Is Earl," "How I Met Your Mother," "Two and a Half Men," "Girlfriends" and the overall picture is, well, mixed. …

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List is here I expect to have more to say later, including about "Friday Night Lights" getting shafted … and what may be my happiest nomination of the day — for the Andy Samberg/Justin Timberlake "box" song on "Saturday Night Live," in the "outstanding original music and lyrics" category… Tell you what: Since I've been posting more notes in the comments below, comment on what you like/dislike in the nominations and I'll try to respond … if I ever get over the "FNL" oversights that is. CONNIE BRITTON! CONNIE BRITTON!

From a press release about the Oct. 23 episode of "Two and a Half Men":

If there's still any misconception that just because there's a kid on the show, it's a "family" show, this episode should easily clear that up.

After watching television most of my life, I like to think that it's hard to shock me. But every now and then that kid who was watching TV in the '50s gets an eyeful or an earful of something that shocks. The "anal" joke on "How I Met Your Mother" on Monday night was one of those. And considering that it was in a show that airs at 8:30 p.m. (7:30 in some parts of the country), I was even more stunned.

I know, I know, "How I Met Your Mother" is not remotely a show aimed at kids. All the characters are adults, and their concerns are very adult. Before we had gotten to that joke, we had endured numerous riffs about prostitutes. (The plot involved Barney setting up Ted with a hooker.) Still, I was thinking, this is what they can get away with before 9 at night?

There was also a shock factor in "Two and a Half Men," only partly of the show's making.  A major part of the episode involved Charlie dating the mother of Alan's ex-girlfriend. Well, dating doesn't exactly cover it. Charle and Mandi (the mom) spent most of the episode in bed, with considerable conversation about what they were doing there.

In another week, I might have just considered this another funny "Men" episode, pushing the laughs while pushing the envelope on describing characters' behavioral extremes. But on this particular Monday, I had been reading the declaration by Denise Richards in her ongoing divorce battle with Charlie Sheen. (You can find a copy, with raw language and descriptions, here.)

Sheen fired back, calling the charges "baseless" in an "Entertainment Tonight" interview; you can find a report here. But Richards has already done her damage, especially to Sheen as a TV personality. If you read her comments, then look at the character he is playing on TV, it's tough to think the small-screen behavior is funny; it's easy to wonder if art is presenting a toned-down version of reality.

I don't know that, of course. And Charlie is not playing Charlie Sheen on TV. But he is playing a character with echoes of his old bad-boy image, one that is more believable because of the accounts of Sheen's behavior over the years. And what I've been reading lately sure mutes the expected laughs.