NBC's Thursday night line-up is finally good again, in a way it hasn't been since it was called "Must See TV." And while last night was no exception for laughs, a few too many blows were thrown at women throughout the evening. Let me preface this by saying that there's an angry feminist deep within me (usually I'm just a happy feminist) and tonight NBC gave her an invitation to come out.

It started with My Name is Earl, a show I'm usually quite fond of. Tonight's guest star Ernie Grunwald, playing a Frenchman named Pierre who Earl strangled back in grade school. Pierre hates America with a passion, except for one thing --- its easy women. And then there's Randy and Catalina. He admits he loves her and Joy convinces Catalina to have sex with him --- specifically, really bad sex --- to get rid of him. And she does! Only to be shocked by how good in bed he is. And while it was understandable why she wasn't attracted to an unhygienic, obese man with an IQ of about 30, we now are to believe that all it takes to win over a woman is good sex. Oh yeah, and that all women are whores.

Then previews of The Office promised strippers and I thought, "Uh-oh." Steve Carell is timid about the suggestion to get strippers (in the office) for a bachelor party because it could be considered sexual harassment until the proposal is made to get a stripper for the women, too. "Separate, but equal," recurring guest star David Koechner says, to which Carell replies, "Oh, is that what that means?"

Scrubs took on a strangely political subject (for a decidedly apolitical show): the war in Iraq. Had I not already been angered I probably wouldn't have even noticed Dr. Kelso's remark to one of the female interns: "If you want people to notice you, either get more aggressive or get more attractive." And 30 Rock had Jenna flashing her boobs to get into a party and romancing a hideously deformed Prince (played brilliantly by Paul Reubens) because, "I'm not going to be gorgeous forever --- I need someone to take care of me."
And when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the shows ended and on came a commercial for Deal or No Deal, NBC's hit "commodification of women" game show that should carry the tagline "Let's put dollar signs next to scantily clad women who will shriek with excitement the cheaper they are," and I thought to myself, "Hey, it could be a lot worse."