I.A.,  Dec 14, 2007 30 Rock is now generally regarded as the best sitcom on television by everyone except the public. If the WGA strike prompts bored viewers to check out shows they haven't yet sampled and more people discover this ratings-challenged gem, it will not have been a total disaster.

On last night's episode, everyone in the office got ready for the annual Ludachristmas party. Liz prepared to welcome her parents and brother for a holiday visit, while Jack was surprised by his mother (Elaine Stritch), who he had thought was trapped in Florida by a hurricane. Liza explained her brother (Andy Richter) had a disorder that trapped him mentally in 1985 when he had a skiing accident, and her parents (Anita Gillette and Buck Henry -- this show is really landing big time guest stars these days) were the epitome of Midwestern perkiness.

Tracy's trip to court to sign community service papers was derailed by a stop for breakfast: "So it's my fault diners can serve alcohol in New York state?" Tracy had an alcohol monitoring ankle bracelet attached as a result, and Kenneth was tasked with keeping him away from the party. Jack found himself charmed by the Lemons, to the chagrin of his mother. Kenneth trapped the staff to give them a lecture on the true meaning of Christmas. Jack's mother accompanied Jack, Liz, and the Lemons to dinner.

Jack's mother said she wanted to prove the Lemons were as neurotic as she was, and provoked a fight that led to the revelation that Liz's parents had been embarrassed by her football playing in high school, and with Liz telling her brother he was really 40 years old. Tracy's monitoring bracelet went off before he could lead the staff to chop down the 30 Rock tree (as a way to protest the commercialism of Christmas), but the monitoring center ignored it because they were well into their own holiday party debauchery. [TV Short and Sweet)

Survivor:China:
The final five met for a reward challenge, which required them to fire arrows at a wall containing tiles with their names on it. The players had to distribute their arrows among the other players, making it yet another opportunity for them to see where they are on the totem pole. Peih-Gee, without any allies, had only one arrow to shoot, while Courtney had 12. Todd was on fire, while Courtney kept hitting other people's names and actually inadvertently gave Denise the win. Denise picked Courtney and Todd to join her at the Great Wall of China for dinner and a campout; Peih-Gee complained about having taken Denise on a reward two weeks ago, and not having the gesture reciprocated in consecutive weeks.

As the only person in her alliance not invited along, Amanda was left to stew back at camp. She asked Peih-Gee why she didn't like her, which led to actual bonding. At the Wall, the three on reward discuss what to do if Peih-Gee were to win immunity again, and whether they should just target Amanda. With everyone back at camp, Amanda was irritated by Todd's and Courtney's failure to bring back any food.

The immunity challenge was a compilation of previous challenges, with each round eliminating a player. Todd, Denise, Courtney, and Peih-Gee were eliminated in turn, giving Amanda and her magical blurred bikini bottom immunity. Amanda considered using Peih-Gee as a means of getting rid of Todd, her ally from the early moments of the game. Despite some of that famous Survivor misdirection, Peih-Gee was voted out. Now it's down to the Sunday finale. [Musings From a Nobody]

Supernatural:
A "Santa" scattered gifts around a Christmas tree and heard a commotion outside; he then was yanked up the chimney by an unseen force, leaving only a bloody piece of his uniform behind. A year later, the same sort of crime ocurred twice in Michigan. Sam suggested the culprit was an "evil Santa," a motif found in some cultures. Dean found that both victims had been to see a particular local Santa; the brothers staked out the trailer where Santa lived and discovered him in advanced inebriation. A little boy surprised a shadowy figure coming down a chimney; the creature went upstairs and dragged a man out in a sack, pausing to eat the cookies left for him.

Sam and Dean found a wreath in the house of the latest victim that was made from a plant familiar in pagan lore, leading to the hypothesis that the abductor was a pagan god. The retailer of the wreaths said a local woman made them and gave them to him for free. Dean told his brother that his impending death made him more pro-Christmas than in the past, leading to a flashback where the brothers as boys talked about the "monsters" their father was fighting.

The woman who made the wreaths came to the area from Seattle, where the earlier incidents had happened. Upon visiting them the woman seemed sweet enough, but when Sam and Dean snuck in and found bloody evidence in her cellar, she and her "husband" subdued them easily. The couple were the pagan gods who had assimilated into society as a normal suburban couple in 1955. The gods drew blood from Dean and yanked off Sam's fingernail (ick), but a neighbor dropped by as they were preparing to yank out teeth for the ritual, giving the brothers a chance to escape. Sam and Dave barricaded themselves in the living room and when the gods entered, they were impaled with tree branches. All the carnage put Sam in the mood to celebrate Christmas after all, and he and Dean shared an eggnog and a modest gift exchange. [Flaming Quill]

CSI:
Warrick underwent a skeptical questioning regarding the dead stripper found in his car at the club. Nick and Greg found a woman's body in an illegal dump, along with some dead dogs. Robbins recognized the dead woman as someone who was in attendance at a fundraiser he and his band had played at the previous night, and remembered her husband left separately from her. The husband was exonerated easily enough. Warrick was cleared by Internal Affairs, but his request to be put back on the case got a big thumbs down from Grissom.

Analysis of the bite wounds on the dead woman found a match in the canine database: a pit bull connected to a local gang member who claimed his dog had been gone for months. But a search of the gang member's home showed signs he was actively keeping dogs. The dead woman was discovered to have been given the same drugs used to euthanize animals. Tracing the drugs led to a rescue kennel bankrolled by the dead woman; a search of the kennel found what looked to be the woman's hair on what looked like a torture device. The man who co-owned the kennel said he was innocent and had cleaned up the crime scene; he also said the gang had targeted the woman because she was the leading dog fighter in Las Vegas and the gang wanted to take over. The police raided a dog fight and shots rang out; the gang member was arrested.

Prints found on Warrick's car came from a homeless man who lived in an alley behind the strip club. The CSI crew discovered that the dead woman also had a key to the drug cabinet, and a print off that key led to the receptionist at the kennel, an ex-gang member who was now working as a confidential informant. The receptionist was so sickened by the brutality he saw he decided to euthanize her and feed her to the dogs. The woman's husband had been alerted by the receptionist and did not step in to stop his wife's murder. The homeless man admitted to robbing the stripper but was upset when told about the murder. When Warrick began ranting about a conspiracy to frame him, Grissom suspended him. An unseen figure called the strip club owner to tell him about the suspension. As brutal as this show often gets, the dogfighting took it to a new level.

Without a Trace:
A mall Santa, a baby-faced college kid named Glen, received a message at work and was next seen loading a revolver at home and getting a knock on the door... before turning up missing. The cops found out he bought his gun two days before, and the message said, "I know what you did. You're a dead man."

Glen's boss said everyone loved him, but she recalled an altercation he had with a woman a few days earlier. Glen was discovered to have deposited a lot of money in the bank recently; his mother was stunned to hear he was working as a Santa. His mom had been angry at him for quitting school and ruining his potential to be a world class math researcher. Martin and Vivian found pictures of Santa getting naughty with the mysterious woman, who told a story of Glen getting attacked by another Santa. Glen's professor said Glen had showed signs of burnout and was upset by the end of a relationship. He was worried Glen might be swayed by people who might want to use his brains for shady purposes, but said a confidentiality agreement prevented him from saying more.

Security cameras found Glen in a vehicle with the "Santa" who had tackled him in the store. The man, who had the Santa mall job before Glen, said Glen came to him asking to be his partner in a card counting scam he had worked out. Three nights before, goons at an underground club had nailed the Santa for winning too much and he had told them Glen was an accomplice. Glen's ex-girlfriend said he had done work for a multinational company that would result in economic efficiencies that would cost a lot of people their jobs.

The club goon was questioned and said he had taken Glen in in an effort to get his money back and had even threatened to kill him, but Glen had talked his way out of it by offering to give up his card counting system. The goon said he had dropped Glen back off at home and another man was waiting to see him: the professor. Called in for questioning, the prof said he hadn't hurt Glen and asked him to come back to school; he also said he had fixed the code Glen had damaged.

The feds got a call about a disturbance at a hotel where the company Glen and the professor had worked for was having a presentation. Glen, accompanied by his ex-girlfriend, had tried to present a new plan to an executive and when the man tried to blow him off, Glen pulled a gun on him. Glen called the FBI and said he wanted to turn himself in. He had withdrawn his money from the bank, and used it to buy presents for kids. The company liked Glen's new plan after all and would not be pressing charges. Malone agreed to wear a Santa suit, but the credits rolled before we were treated to the sight.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent:
The episode opened with a montage of children playing in a small park through the years, and ended up in the present day with three teenagers home from college for Thanksgiving being stopped on the street by punks who proceeded to shoot them one by one. One kid in the shooter's group was obviously upset by the violence. The girl barely survived while her brother and their friend died instantly. None of the three had any criminal record or gang affiliation. The police handed out cards at the memorial service for the dead boys; one of the kids from the shooter's group was there surreptitiously.

The barely conscious shooting victim got off the ventilator in the hospital and was able to talk to Logan and Falacci, describing what might have been a gang tattoo and saying that the shooter was called Felix by the others. Logan and Falacci chased someone with gang affiliations who proceeded to get hit by a car; he told the cops that the shootings were likely by gang wannabes. A ring stolen off one of the dead boys was taken to a pawn shop and was traced to a woman who claimed her boyfriend gave it to her.

The police headed to the boyfriend's apartment and found the murder weapon in the container of his father's ashes, which sent his mom into a screaming fit. The mother said the main suspect, Hector, dropped out of school after his father died so he could take care of his little brother Paco and she could go back to work. Logan and Falacci chased down Paco in a video arcade. He refused to say anything about his brother or Felix, and confessed to the crimes. Logan found Hector emerging from a confessional and recognized him as someone he gave a card to at the memorial service. Hector was initially uncooperative. The cops ran a scam, pretending Felix had been arrested and was talking. This ruse got Hector talking, calling Felix a psycho, but also making sure he wouldn't know he had given him up.

Felix was picked up for shoplifting, but jumped out a window before Logan and Falacci could get there. The guy whose green card Felix stole was unwilling to talk at first, then finally admitted Felix was a sadistic nut. Felix was traced to a park and jumped Falacci, holding a knife to her throat, but he was subdued. In the interrogation room, Felix was still defiant, but Logan provoked him to the point he started bragging about the crime. The third shooting victim had a setback and died, and Logan had to admit the case was worse than usual.