Have you noticed your favorite TV shows have turned it up a notch lately? Well, just look at your calendar. Right about the time we turn our clocks back, TV springs forward with gimmicks (hello, 'Skating with the Stars'!) and guest stars galore to win that all-important ratings period called November sweeps. Advertisers will be crunching the numbers while you clog your DVR with some of the most hotly anticipated episodes of the season.

Synergy comes to McKinley High on November 16 when Gwyneth Paltrow (pictured with Matthew Morrison) plays a singing sub for Mr. Schue on 'Glee'. The guest shot coincides with the buzz building for 'Country Strong', the Christmastime Screen Gems release in which Paltrow also displays impressive vocals. And leave it to the writers who brought you the "Peanut Allergy" Halloween costume to make Coach Sue's mother a "Nazi-hunter" when Carol Burnett drops in as Mama Sylvester on Nov. 23.

(S05E09) "I have a bad feeling about this one. A very bad feeling." - Melinda about the ghost in the closet

Melinda's bad feeling was, pardon the pun, dead on. Very bad things happened in this November Sweeps episode: Aiden was put in danger, the dead girl from the closet was front and center, the Shadows came back full force and in a way we hadn't see yet, Bedford gave more warnings to Eli, as a hurting Carl the Watcher gave warnings to Melinda.

(S05E08) "How did you find this one?" - Det. Sam Blair to Melinda and Eli

Eli and Melinda quickly came up with a fake story as to why they often discover bodies or are around crime scenes. Detective Blair bought it this time but it wouldn't surprising if she decides to dig a little deeper to get real answers. After years of being around deceased, one would expect that the Grandview police would start investigating why Melinda, and now Eli, are involved in a lot of their cases, no?

While we wait for Det. Blair to start to investigate Melinda and Eli, we are treated to one of the wackiest and lightest episode of the season thanks to Greg Germann and Perrey Reeves guesting on the episode.

(S05E07) "The answers are there, but you have to know when to look." - Carl the Watcher

Starting this week, TV Squad now offers regular reviews of CBS' Ghost Whisperer. What an episode to start reviews with! The first episode of November Sweeps offered us more backstory and mythology about the shadows, some of their powers, the book ... and Jennifer Love Hewitt in lingerie doing some pole dancing!

We were also treated to a case of the week that kept us guessing as to who was to blame for the death of now-ghost Tina and what secret Dr. Morgan and President Bedford were hiding.

If it's almost ratings sweeps month, it's time for stunt sex on TV. On the heels of news that the Oct. 12 episode of 'Heroes' will contain a same-sex smooch comes a report from Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files that 'Gossip Girl' is planning to go even further, with a full-fledged ménage à trois. The thrashing threesome will frolic during the Nov. 9 episode.

In a concession to convention, the 'Gossip Girl' threesome will take place in a bed (ho-hum), but otherwise, the steamy triple play could be just the thing to heat up the show's numbers during November sweeps, when networks and advertisers pay special attention to ratings. It could also help 'GG' maintain its carefully cultivated reputation as the show your parents and pastors don't want you to watch.

1. I really enjoy Suze Orman's show (it's a major part of my Saturday night, which tells you a lot about my social life), especially the "Can I Afford It?" segment, where viewers call in to get her OK to buy something like a sports car or a Lear jet or a coffee maker. But I was wondering, what if someone called in and asked, "Suze, I don't have a job and I have student loans to pay off, but I'm thinking about buying 100,000 copies of your latest book, can I afford it?" What would she say then?

2. Two different TV shows in the past week, one a news program that had an analysis of the election and one a design show, used the phrase "do the math." I don't want to do the math. That's why I got into writing.

After the season finale of How I Met Your Mother last May, Joel asked readers if they believed that Ted would marry Stella. Nearly 61% of you responded to that poll in the negative. Six out of ten answered: "Nah. I just don't think she's the mother."

So, then, what do we make of the fact that there is definitely going to be a wedding for Ted and Stella in an October episode. That proposal from Ted to Stella in that last episode receives a yes, and he and Stella would seem to be heading down the aisle.

I say seem because if television has taught us anything it's that just because he's in a tuxedo and she's in a wedding gown, that doesn't guarantee that both will say "I do."

Even if they do go through with the wedding, though, does that mean that Stella is actually "mother"? Is it possible that Ted and Stella get married and break up before Ted hooks up with the character who is destined to be the mother that he's talking to the kids about in the openings.

One thing about Mother co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, they keep us viewers on our toes.

There's been some scuttlebutt stirred up to suggest that next season's two-hour 24 prequel TV movie will be considered part of the 24 hours in Day 7, therefore leading some to think that there'll only be 22 episodes. But how could there only be 22 hours in a day, right? Well, TV being what it is, I'm sure they'd find a way to do two hours in one -- other shows do! -- but that won't be the case. There will be 24 hours, 24 episodes in the 2009 season of 24.

Part of the reason for all this confusion is an interview that actor Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) gave to Premiere.com. Carlyle, who will be playing someone who'd been a mentor to Jack, said that the 24 TV movie, which is meant to cover what's happened since the end of Day 6 with the new Day 7, would apply to the Fox episode commitment. He told Premiere.com, "This is two hours in real time, and there'll then be 22 episodes."