While watching the two family sitcoms on ABC last night, 'The Middle' and 'Modern Family,' it seemed to me that they were funnier than usual because the writers took the effort to incorporate topical, timely elements into the scripts. On 'The Middle,' it was all about basketball and the NCAA Final Four. On 'Modern Family,' it was the highly anticipated release of the Apple iPad.

Now, while Joel thought the latter was an overdone commercial that may have been penned by Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself, my reaction was completely the opposite. And some critics agreed with me, too.

The idea that Phil would be obsessing about the latest technology was in keeping with the character. Phil's been established as a techie guy, a geekster of the first order. Why wouldn't he be an early adopter of the iPad considering that it is being touted as the next big thing?

If I were to pick my top ten favorite things in the history of late night television, the appearances by David Letterman's mom Dorothy would be on that list. She seems like a nice lady, and they always manage to find something funny for her to do on the show. Last week she turned 88, and via satellite from Indiana she gave the "Top Ten Ways Dave's Mom Is Celebrating Her Birthday."

(S01E02) Overall, a very good episode from Mary and Marshall as In Plain Sight settles into the kind of show it's going to be. Far less frantic than the pilot -- which in retrospect looks like a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth -- this show dealt with one main issue and it was a touching one at that. The story starts 18 months earlier when Mary's assigned to place an 8-year-old boy who's seen drug dealers kill his mother in Witness Protection, which is virtually impossible unless she can find a family in the system who are willing to take on that responsibility.

I was stunned that she pulled it off, and when we were back in the present and we see little Lonny -- now Leo -- enjoying a perfect life with the Billups, I was skeptical. The adoption seemed too good to be true. Leo fit right in, taking care of the baby. Were the Billups for real? I thought there had to be something wrong, but it wasn't. I was just suspicious. It turns out there was a reason to show Lonny/Leo in such a happy family.
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CBS dumped Armed & Famous this week after airing four episodes, but now it's going where it belongs: VH1. The 'reality' series stars has-been and pseudo-celebrities like Jack Osbourne, Wee Man, La Toya Jackson, Erik Estrada and Trish Stratus. They all become cadets and go out on the road with real cops in Muncie, Indiana (which commenters tell me isn't that small of a town after all).

VH1 will air a marathon of Armed & Famous on Saturday, topped off with a new episode (#5) at 9 pm. VH1 says it doesn't actually have episodes 6 & 7 but it will air them if the producers get them finished. And the cable network is not ruling out a second season of the series.

Some b-list celebrities are working hard in Indiana right now on a celeb-reality show for CBS. Erik Estrada, Jack Osbourne, Wee Man, Trish Stratus, and La Toya Jackson are training to be reserve police officers in Muncie, Indiana. The celebrities will be trained like other police officers, which also means book-learnin' about the constitution and laws. Oh, and they'll be carrying guns when they respond to emergency calls from the public (with another, real officer).

That sounds safe. I'm sure nothing will go wrong. La Toya Jackson seems like the stable kind of person you want carrying a badge and a loaded weapon. No word yet on when the reality series will air, but it sure does sound like summer content.

"Terrour Plot": Senior Carryonologist John Oliver elaborated on the foiled terrorist plot over in England, live from Heathrow Airport. He contemplated the degree of seriousness in the airport security's new "no liquids" rule. Is yogurt a liquid? What about custard? And 75% of the human body?! John Oliver's fitting in pretty well. I wonder if he's going to do filmed reports any time soon. It'd be interesting to see what those are like.

If you are a big fan of America's Favorite Survivor, otherwise known as Rupert Boneham, you'll be happy to know that he is doing really, really well. When Rupert didn't Outwit, Outplay or Outlast the Survivor: All Stars, his fans voted him their all-time favorite Survivor, and he won $1 million anyway. What's he doing with that money? A lot. First, he launched RFB (Rupert Frederick Boneham) Enterprises to handle his personal appearances and speeches. He gave 200 speeches last year at $10,000 a pop. He created Tournament Towers, a production company contracted out for camera work for live sports events. His crew is currently building walkways and floors for vendors at the Super Bowl in Detroit. He also is dabbling in real estate, buying office spaces in his homestate of Indiana and renting them to businesses. His latest project is to create tie-dye milk cartons with his photo on it because, he says, he wants to "make milk cool."

And yes. He still wears the tie-dye.

[Via Pop Candy]

A television station in Indiana is refusing to air the new NBC series, The Book of Daniel, which features an Episcopalian priest who regularly talks to Jesus. The general manager of WTWO in Terre Haute posted a statement about his decision on his station's website. It doesn't give an explanation about why he's opting out of programming, except to say, "If my action causes people in our community to pay more attention to what they watch on television, I have accomplished my mission." In the statement, he also criticizes the cable industry for being "the worst offenders of indecency on television..." and calls for FCC oversight. Not sure if this guy has even seen the show or if he's just jumping on the bandwagon.

This, quite frankly, pisses me off. Who is this guy to decide what shows are right for the town of Terre Haute? Don't his viewers have the right not to watch? Can't they make that decision for themselves? If he wants to protect his town from crap, he should take Joey off the air.