(S05E15) As much as I don't want to compare Julia Louis-Dreyfus' new show to her old one, I can't help but notice some similarities with this week's installment. Much of what made 'Seinfeld' work was in the way people outside of that core four reacted to just how deplorable those people really were. When we were in that inner circle with them, it all sort of worked and we didn't really realize how bad they were.

Now, Christine Cambpell is far more obviously a terrible person than Elaine Benes, but as with 'Seinfeld,' we often don't realize just how horrible she is. Even moreso, when put in the context of Christine, Richard and Matthew, Barb often comes across as the only sane and rational one. And yet, when you put these people out and on display in front of so-called normal people, they simply look awful.

(S05E10) When a bully is revealed at the school Little Ritchie attends, Christine is clearly worried that her son is being victimized. But while Old Christine followed the traditional sitcom formula for a bit at the beginning, by the time we reached the end of the episode, it had gone somewhere only Christine Campbell can take it.

Even better we got a surprise return, though it's something I've kind of been waiting for all season, and a hilarious guest appearance by Amy Sedaris. I can't understand why Sedaris hasn't blown up even bigger than she has. If Michael Strahan can get a big network comedy built around him, why they hell can't Amy Sedaris?

She took what could have been a pretty ordinary guest appearance, and turned it into a powerhouse performance all on its own through sheer force of will and talent.

(S05E08) Ah, Dave Foley. His sad sack Tom has been good for a laugh more than a few times, and he was used to good comic effect again this week. In the double blind-date scenario with Christine and Richard, his counterpart was the lovely Jennifer Grey, real-life wife to Clark Gregg.

The New Adventures of Old Christine is a rare comedy in that it can work in guest stars like this without it detracting from either the ongoing character moments, or taking the spotlight away from the main cast. Too often when a show gets deeper into its run, like Will & Grace in its final years, it becomes a cavalcade of celebrity guest-stars, as if the writers have run out of ways to keep things fresh with their own core group.

Christine has mixed things up just this season by breaking up Richard and New Christine and having Matthew move in with Richard in a swinging bachelor pad. And they shook it up again this week.

(S05E07) I guess the fate of Marion Ross was handled off-screen, because Matthew and Richard are settling into her old digs, and she was nowhere to be seen this episode. Now that I think about it, though, she could be shacking up in Matthew's old digs out in the backyard. It would make for a pretty funny callback to have her character pop back up. Maybe even act as if Christine didn't even know she'd moved in back there.

I wasn't as impressed with the forced obligatory "we're different but now we're roommates" storyline for Matthew and Richard. Hopefully, now that it's out of the way, the writers have some ideas of some fun things they can do with the mismatched pair. In five seasons, we've not seen a great deal of interaction between them, but their differences could make for some good comedy.