So much joy in Mudville tonight. FNL returned. Pushing Daisies returned. I’ve only got one more day at my job. All in all, a pretty good day.

And you know what? My first day at my new/old job on Monday won’t be nearly as bad as Tami’s.

For those without DirecTV (and those who are out for the next week because some nimrod screwed up,) don’t read the rest. For those who got to see the episode legally or otherwise, more below the fold.

There’s not much to say about last season that hasn’t already been said, but I will toss this out there: of all the inanity, tomfoolery, and general stupidity the writers threw up on the screen last year, the one thing that I thought worked was putting Landry and Tyra together. Not the way they put them together; that was frak’d up. But the smart, goofy looking nerd and the smarter-than-she-appears hot girl who’s done with Dillon and done with dumb jocks actually worked as a couple.

I thought Landry’s puppy-dogging of Tyra in the first season was charming, and I was sure she’d finally relent. He’s exactly the kind of guy she’d want when she was older and I thought she was written as the one most looking to the rosy future instead of hanging on to high school in some sort of pre-nostalgia. A girl like that, with one eye on the horizon and the other looking on with mild disdain to her surroundings, would see in Landry a future Oak.

Alright. That’s enough whinging about the writers killing a dude just to justify in their minds that coupling only to end it off-screen.

Otherwise a solid outing for the show, but certainly not approaching the dizzying heights of that magical first season. Highlights for me:

• Connie Britton and Brad Leland have such fantastic chemistry together, putting Tami in the Principal’s chair was the right move to make. It may be illogical from a real-world assessment of her resume, but it’s the best possible outcome on the show. More scenes with Tami and Buddy means more comedy gold.
• Lyla Garrity has always been a cipher to me. She’s a snippy little bitch – and that’s all in the writing, so it’s not like Minka Kelly is misplaying her – but these boys just worship the water she walks on. It’s like they want to be with a woman they’ll eventually divorce or strangle.
• I was a fan of CBS’s short-lived Clubhouse and really liked Jeremy Sumpter as the lead. I’m looking forward to J.D. McCoy.
• And as usual, some fantastic Coach and Mrs. Coach bickering with Julie throwing in a much-missed eye roll. Good stuff.

What did everyone else think?

R.A. Porter is an aspiring television writer who currently toils away in the software mines. He can be found at his personal blog and stalked on Twitter.