Must-see - or, You-could-do-worse - TV

Once again, NBC valiantly attempts to resurrect its Must-See Thursday-night comedy bloc, with "supersized" episodes tonight of its best – hell, who are we kidding? its only – sitcoms (“20 Good Years� having been dispatched to the happy hunting grounds known as “hiatus;� “Scrubs� rejoins the network next week).

The big news, of course, is that Jim and Pam, those wacky, unrequited lovers, reunite tonight on “The Office.� When his new branch is shut down and he’s sent back to Scranton, Pam is elated; less so when she discovers he’s since met someone else, a co-worker also dispatched to Scranton. OK, kudos, “Office� workers: You’ve figured out yet another way to temporarily keep Jim and Pam apart and frustrate your fans.

You know, whoever figures out how to make an ongoing happy, functional romantic relationship genuinely funny – rather than the final act of a movie or TV series – probably deserves not just an Emmy but a Nobel Peace Prize.

The episode itself is given over to Michael’s trademark inept efforts to merge his charges with his new employees (“People hate people who are different from them – it’s only natural,� Michael philosophizes with his typical logic), and the efforts of Andy (“The Daily Show’s� Ed Helms), an unctuous new employee, to seize power. Rainn Wilson’s Dwight – who might just be an improvement on his British counterpart Gareth in Ricky Gervais’s otherwise unbeatable original version – doesn’t have terribly much to do here aside from feel threatened by Andy, but he does have a priceless, very-Gareth-like moment in which he compares firing newcomers to Japanese guards in World War II camps choosing which new prisoner to kill: “I would’ve been good at choosing the person,� he says, that smile-not-wanting-to-be-a-smile curling on his lips.

The evening kicks off, of course, with “My Name is Earl,� which occasionally (tonight included) has trouble differentiating between inspired absurdity and just plain silly, between gentle philosophical nudges and vague preachiness. Still: decent laughs.

Tonight, Earl decides to make amends with a former stoner (Christian Slater, the celebrity guest-star du jour), whom he robbed blind (in a funny sequence) while exploiting his blinkered state. When Earl tries to make amends, he discovers his foil has become part of an eco-friendly commune, which prods Earl to become a smoggy-minded environmental champion, an Al Gore with a Powerless-(equally)-Pointless presentation. Call it “An Inept Truth.�

Tonight’s gimmick is that Randy, after consuming a salve of “herbs and roots,� begins hallucinating that everyone around him are Claymation figures. It’s not a particularly funny conceit, until Randy comes into contact with Earl’s ex Joy, whereupon he fixates upon her undulating Claymation boobs. Which is probably the most fun Claymation animators have ever had.

Lastly, there’s “30 Rock,� which hasn’t had much success in a fairly benign timeslot – 8 p.m. Wednesdays – so who wants to take odds on it surviving opposite “Grey’s Anatomy� and “CSI?� Too bad: It’s a funny show, thanks to Alec Baldwin’s crankily comic turn as a boldly fatuous NBC executive. (NBC once aired a sitcom, “Good Morning Miami,� based vaguely on network overlord Jeff Zucker’s biography; Baldwin’s character appears even more Zuckerlike, though no one involved would ever admit it.)

Tonight’s episode offers a thoroughgoing goof on product placement. Baldwin’s Jack issues an initiative suggesting all NBC series incorporate GE (NBC’s corporate owner) products; “30 Rock,� instead, mockingly and extravagantly touts Snapple.

Liz (Tina Fey) writes a sketch for Jack to star in, despite his thespian ineptitude. (Ineptitude: the cornerstone of TV sitcom conceits; again – huge props to someone who can find a way to make competence riotously funny.) Still, Jack insists he’s up to the challenge, given the horrors he has survived in the past: “I’ve summitted Kilimanjaro,� he declares; “I’ve showered with Greta Van Susteren!� Jack’s a better (or worse - who can tell the difference these days?) man than I.

“My Name is Earl:� 8 tonight on NBC (Channel 4 locally).
-- “The Office:� 8:40 tonight on NBC.
-- “30 Rock:� 9:20 tonight on NBC.