Your 21st Century Digital Boy has had quite a weekend: ham, potato salad, green bean casserole and plenty o’ gleaning and gossip on the boobtube front. In lieu of a lengthy dissertation, this week’s episode is meant to keep you (and me) from a food coma. Sound bites of soundbytes, if you will:

A House Shocker: Kal Penn’s character (Dr. Lawrence Kutner) offs himself, leaving the rest of Dr. House and staff to deal with the ramifications for the remainder of the season. Of course, the thrice “Kumar Patel”—he of White Castle, Guantanamo Bay and Amsterdam fame—is going to work for President Barack Obama in real life. Three words: Yes he can. To paraphrase Kumar’s own words: “I can’t believe you’re gonna ditch for the Joy Luck Club, dude. You know what their parties are like.”

It’s not Unusual: Beneath the eccentric, black humor and innuendo, the new ABC NYPD series The Unusuals offers clever, metered banter and quick, intelligent pacing. In short, everything you’d expect of a hot cable show. It seems like a complete thrill to this reviewer… which, of course, can only mean one thing: expect The Unusuals to depart quickly. Similarly-framed shows like Sports Night, Love Monkey, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Trust Me stiffed. One can only assume this one will, too. Bigtime.

In Plod Me Trust: Speaking of Trust Me, TNT just canceled its freshman drama featuring Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh starring as advertising agency execs. One word: dammit! This is the kind of show that is supposed to succeed on cable and, frankly, the show was just getting interesting. This duo had chemistry, man. And yet, despite an interesting cast (OK, we agree that Monica Potter’s socially inept Sarah Krajeck-Hunter was dreadful) the show shouldn’t have ended its 13-episode run faster than you could say “Aaron Sorkin follow-up.” What does a sharp-tongued dialogue mastah like Cavanagh have to do to land a true hit? Even though I liked it, Ed doesn’t count… and Love Monkey never had a chance because of its unfortunate name.

Reality Bites: So here’s your WTF moment of the month: there’s a new reality show headed to Fox, from the people who brought you Big Brother (Endemol). Viewers get to watch the recession come to life in Someone’s Gotta Go—a reality TV series where small business employees lose their jobs on live television. Do we really need this at a time when our economy is looking so Depression Era? When businesses are boarding up left and right? When over 13 million children in the United States—that’s 18% of all children for you U.S. census honks—live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level? Horrible idea, Fox. Maybe even your worst since bringing Bill O’Reilly on board. Where’d ya learn your trade? (more…)