Comedy

Jason Winer was directing Julie Bowen on first episode of "Modern Family" when inspiration struck. "In the initial draft, Julie's character was described as mildly controlling and neurotic," Winer says of the suburban sitcom mom. "But what she didn't have in that draft was this idea that she was formerly a bad girl who had kind of reformed herself. " Winer thought the extra history could add an important dimension to Bowen's Claire Dunphy — and make a difference to the story featuring her teenage daughter, Haley, who just starting dating.

While Greendale updates its outdated commercial, Tom and Jerry upgrade the Parks Department's brochure. Andy takes Dundler-Mifflin on a field trip and Whitney gets a handicapped dog. "Community": The Board of Trustees grants the Dean $2,000 to film a new commercial, seeing that the old commercial featured parachute pants and Blossom-style hats. He lets the commercial spiral out of control and leads himself to the brink of insanity while Abed captures it all in his own documentary.

Golden West Cafe has a handful of good shows this week, but the highlight is easily Joe Lally and Zomes on Saturday. While Fugazi has been on an indefinite hiatus for over eight years now, Lally, the band's founding bassist, has released three solo albums; the latest, "Why Should I Get Used to It," was released in April. Elsewhere this week: Wham City Comedy, Height with Friends, and the Smokers Club tour, starring Method Man and Curren$y.  On Monday , Manchester Orchestra, an indie rock five-piece, perform at the 9:30 club, 815 V St. N.W., Washington.

Annie moves in with Troy and Abed; Leslie and Ben cause a world war; there's a new hot temp at Dundler-Mifflin; Whitney and Alex decide they need to spend more time together.  "Community": #AnniesMove is trending in Greendale this week as Annie moves out of the ghetto and into Troy and Abed's fantasy world complete with "Dreamatorium" and room-sized blanket fort. During the move Britta and Shirley pick up a hitchhiking, pothead Jesus, who offends both of them enough to get himself kicked out of the car within minutes.

While Pawnee and Scranton deal with the impending apocalypse, the study group at Greendale deals with their daddy issues and Whitney and friends try to mend a severed bromance. "Community": Pierce's latest entrepreneurial endeavor is “Pride Wipes” and to promote these wipes, he has a “Gay Bash-” yup you read that right, a “Gay Bash.” This “Gay Bash” is promptly cancelled upon the arrival of his racist, homophobic, animal hating, Colonel Sanders look-a-like father who wears a creepy plastic wig. As it turns out, another member of the study group has daddy (or according to Brita “edible”)

"Anonymous" is not shy about naming names. It contends that the 37 plays attributed to William Shakespeare, who died in 1616, actually were written by the Earl of Oxford, who died in 1604. As this story has it, the barely literate commoner Shakespeare fronted for the highly literate and politically well-connected nobleman Oxford. Consequently, such late Shakespeare plays as "The Tempest" reputedly would have been written many years earlier, stockpiled, and then eventually released under Shakespeare's name.

It's Halloween week on NBC so prepare yourself for ghost stories, parties, costume contests and secret web cams.  "Community": After Brita grades the study group's personality tests, she is convinced that one of them has an extreme (“like a Dorito” Thanks, Jeff) personality disorder and the only way to figure it out who is the always reliable “Tell a Ghost Story to Figure Out Who's the Psycho” game. Abed tells a cliché 50's horror movie plot and him and Annie kiss… awkward… Annie lets out a little bit of her inner freak in a forbidden love saga between Vampire Jeff and the Werewolf Annie.

Baltimore celebrities will take their best shot at comedy, all in the name of giving back. The first Chimes Charity Chuckle seeks to raise funds for the Chimes, a Baltimore-based nonprofit group that provides services for the disabled, on Oct. 29 at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. "We're looking to provide the town with a good night out," said Marty Lampner, president and CEO of Chimes. "I think we'll have a very good time and it will be a lot of fun. " When Lampner took over as president and CEO last year, organizers decided to put a fresh face on the annual Chimes fundraising event that for the past 20 years consisted mostly of concerts or dinner-dance receptions.

Dignity Players caps its 2011 season with Del Shores' 1996 comedy "Sordid Lives," about a dysfunctional Texas family that could compete in sleaze and shock with most reality TV show stars — and beat them all in laughs. In his program statement, Dignity's artistic director, Mickey Lund, reminds us that the company's message of tolerance, love and acceptance is evident here, although "its delivery is much more light-hearted and fun than you may be accustomed to at Dignity Players.