Richard's tears
Seeing Richard start to cry when he realized he won was such a lovely, honest moment. It contrasted well with how calculated he usually is in the talking head moments. Honestly, I kind of teared up myself. Reality TV at its finest. I doubt Bravo will ever Top it.

Couple things
1. Effy does speak in season 1, in the episode you mentioned where Tony is looking for her all night ("Effy"?). It's only one line, but it's there.
2. I totally agree that the song in the British finale is kind of thrilling. It's just so sudden and out of nowhere. My friends and I disagree on it, they all…

And I think a monkey would be a kickass pet.
But only a weirdo would make a monkey wear a diaper.

He doesn't have to soundproof his windows. But I think he's overstating the extent to which he's being injured. I doubt the noise is so extreme he needs to sue anyone. I also assume he could spend less money soundproofing than he's going to spend on attorneys. And given how rich he is I doubt he'd be put out by the…

I've owned macaws.
Macaws are extremely well behaved animals. The only thing that makes them a bother is the noise they make. And yeah, they do shriek quite often, and at random intervals. And it can be pretty damn loud and annoying. But that's if you're right next to them. The calls are tolerably quiet even a room…

Yes. I mentioned it last week, but part of what I love about the episode is how pitch perfect its depiction of rolling is. And I love how subtly the realization of what they're showing creeps up on you.

She's praying to be that actress girl who never ages from the cartoon.

Dale, Angelo and Carla. Two wins apiece, no?

I was just about to post that comment myself.

A good thing?
I guess the actor…
*removes glasses*
…broke a leg?

I don't think Smashed is nearly as bad as the episodes that follow it. It has the benefit of introducing or getting the ball rolling on plots that could have worked in theory but turn out awful as they're developed.

I've always been a sucker for how melancholy "Where do we go from here?" is. I like how ballsy it was to end such an important episode on such a down note.

A list of observations.
1. This will clearly be the most awesome season ever.
2. Season 6 was clearly the strongest season and I've never heard anyone claim any different.
Favorites: Jen, Angelo, Blaise, Casey, Tre
Missing: Stephan and Kevin the Gnome
Shouldn't have been invited: Season 1
Anthony Bourdain as a PermaJudge:…

I'm glad to hear that.

Eh…
The fan-fic trailer with Nathan Fillion looked better.

Improv
More than any episode so far, this one felt like a really well produced long-form improv show.

Go for the gold…
And cast Cuba Gooding Jr.

No, I'm pretty sure Real Zoe and her friends drop that phrase in the pilot.

@Janet: Don't get me wrong, I don't really care about Dave Matthews. I just thought it was pointlessly mean-spirited. Which sort of captures the spirit of the entire show he played… But I have heard he does occasionally put some effort into making it fun for people. Just not during my show.

I also saw Dylan live, and it was hands down the worst concert going experience of my entire life. It turned me off of his music forever, since now it's always associated with listening to bad music from an asshole.
The only time he seemed at all interested in being there was when he took a moment to insult Dave…