Looks like Simon Cowell isn't the master judge he thought he was.

The fact that Community has gotten a third season at all is baffling. Yeah, it's an amazing series, a multi-Tubey winner and one of our favorite comedies in recent history, but the ratings have been so miniscule, we've been shocked for two years running that TPTB continue to let it bloom. More shocked then us is the Joel McHale himself, who -- along with new cast member John Goodman, who plays Vice Dean Laybourne, dean of the highly regarded Air Conditioning Repair Annex at Greendale -- took a media call to tell us about the hopes vs. realities of life at Greendale Community. Below are the highlights.

While I'd argue that Modern Family could easily get better from last season -- stop reusing the same plotlines, don't feel so obligated to stick to a three story-arc per episode format, give Claire a redeeming personality -- such improvements were absent from the first two episodes of Season 3. Last night, in "Dude Ranch" we saw those elements we complained about a few months back to the nth degree. Thankfully, in "When Good Kids Go Bad," things were cleaned up a bit and we were back on track as far as tone and laughs were concerned. And whether or not you agree with all of the show's recent Emmy wins, I think it's safe to say that discerning viewers have reason to believe that this show may not hold up in quality if some serious changes don't start getting made... and if Cam and Mitchell's new baby isn't seriously effing cute.

Looks like 10.1 million people have "It's Jess!" stuck in their heads, too.

Have you heard of The X Factor? It's kinda supposed to be like the old American Idol, but better and with more Pepsi commercials in the middle of each episode? In the off-chance the media blitz hasn't found you in your cave, judge Simon Cowell took a press call to answer the burning questions that we lowly Americans have about his new series (debuting tonight on Fox) and even took the time to trash a few of his competitors.

We understand that New Girl is not going to be everyone's cup of twee. There are legions of people out there who hate Zooey Deschanel's quirky style and personality. Those people should not watch this show -- there's absolutely no way that they will ever be able to look beyond Zooey's dorky-girl-next-door character to see that this sitcom is actually fast-paced, clever and entertaining. Since we weren't predisposed to despise her, we found ourselves utterly drawn under her spell. That said, this show isn't all about her -- there are plenty of other oddball elements that make this series our favorite comedy of the fall (we'd say the season, but ABC's upcoming Apartment 23 might win that battle). Here's what we adored about the pilot:

If there's one thing Unforgettable successfully taught us in its pilot episode, it's that having hyperthymesia -- the condition its protagonist Carrie Wells (Poppy Montgomery) has which gives her a photographic memory -- is not all fun and games. Sure, you can count cards, but you'll quickly get caught and have to turn all of the corrupt casino goons against each other. You can solve crimes, but that includes the one where your kid sister was violently murdered. You can impress a few old folks at the retirement home, but that comes with the unfortunate burden of remembering every single second to all of the Everybody Loves Raymond episodes you've seen. There are drawbacks.

This singing competition has been quietly airing during December for the last two years, spotlighting a capella groups and airing only a handful of episodes. But while The Sing-Off doesn't get as much attention as American Idol or America's Got Talent or the forthcoming X Factor, it really is one of the best vocal-adrenaline-filled shows on television. If you haven't been watching, this season is already off to a great start -- and here's why it's worth checking out:

The Charlie Sheen-free Two and a Half Men is still winning, apparently.

Castle ended last season with some pretty awesome twists: the beloved Captain who always seemed like a straight arrow was involved in a major corruption ring and then sacrificed himself in order to save Kate's life. But at his funeral, a sniper shot Kate and Castle tried to get her out the way, but was too late. So he professed his love instead. For a show that usually consists of light-hearted banter with some grisly cases, this was pretty heavy stuff. So I had high expectations of the premiere... and they weren't exactly met.