THE LEGEND OF SIR WALTER DIBS: Certainly, as usual, the Marshall-Lily plot on HIMYM was far more of a laugh magnet than the Ted plot, and, personally, I found the whole episode a little laughter-light, and, yes, Ted's final line was an overly on the nose callback, but that was a pretty promising premiere, with the right amount of heart-tugging and question-answering (Marshall's relationship with his father and Rachel Bilson's character's turn, which I'd called during her monologue to Ted) with swerving to raise new questions. Alan's got some thoughts, and I'm sure y'all do too.

HER COSTAR IN THIS ONE MAY BE LESS HAIRY THAN HER FIANCEE: Katy Perry visits Sesame Street to teach about opposites.

IN THE TOWN OF COEUR D'COEURS: You know what improves any day? A montage of people from Pushing Daisies (mostly, let's be honest, Chi McBride) saying "Oh, hell no!"

YOU'LL SEE THAT LIFE IS A BALL AGAIN, LAUGHTER IS CALLING FOR YOU: Tonight begins the Fall TV Season in full, so it's worth asking: what new shows are you planning to sample? What returning shows are you excited for, and which had better turn it around quickly before they're relegated to "only if someone else says it's a good episode" status, and Mosby, I'm looking at you ...

[Speaking of which: there's a billboard on I-95 South promoting the HIMYM syndication run. Of note: NPH is front-and-center, and Josh Radnor's mostly hidden in the background. It's safe to say the show got Fonz'd.]

COME FOR THE STUHLBARG; STAY FOR THE MIDGET BOXING: I'm certainly interested enough in Boardwalk Empire to stick with it for awhile; Sepinwall, MZS and Noel Murray will help explain what you just saw (as will pretty much every other tv critic of note), though I can at least add a little context for the premature baby incubators on the Boardwalk.

[Also, I did get a bit of an Roman-Moronie-from-Johnny-Dangerously vibe from Big Jim Colosimo, but we'll see if that's much of a problem going forward. Also, only once during in the episode did I look at Buscemi and say to the screen shut the f-ck up, Donny.]

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE CHA CHA CHAS? In the important category of "update journalism," TAR winner Nick Spangler is apparently now playing the role of Patrick (the Patrick Fugit role) in the musical version of Saved! in Kansas City.

WHAT'S A PIRATE'S FAVORITE RESPONSE TO THE FINANCIAL CRISIS? TAAAAARRRRP! Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day, mateys.