That’s a question I’ve wrestled with since “The New Girl” debuted on Fox last fall. Until “The New Girl” came along, there was no question: She’s great in (500) Days of Summer, I loved her in Elf, she had a nice turn in “Weeds,” and she was great in the little seen All the Real Girls. But I like quirk and whimsy in the right doses, and I love manic-pixie dream girls (SUE ME).

But there’s a huge difference between two hours of quirk and whimsy and an entire series built around it. I don’t think Jess is a character; I think Jess is Zooey Deschanel, and the relentless optimism, the overbearing quirk, and the ALWAYS ON whimsy is starting to wear on my gag reflex. At first, it was kind of cute. Now it’s kind of … dumb. Not in the, “Oh, that’s so stupid” kind of way, but in the “I think Zooey Deschanel” may actually be dumb” kind of way.

Deschanel is hosting “SNL” this weekend (promo below), and I’m seriously curious about whether we’ll see another side of Deschanel, if in fact there’s another side to see. Could she in fact be functionally whimsical? Is there anything going on inside of that head of hers besides blue birds?

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In an interview with E! earlier this week, “Parks and Recreation” executive producer Michael Schur confirmed what everyone who saw last’s week “Operation Ann” episode already assumed: “It’s real. Tom and Ann are dating and will have a relationship for some amount of time.”

So, it’s definitely happening, but is it a good thing? I’m onboard with Tann? Aom? PerkFord? because, as Schur said, “We have a lot of soul-matey relationships…and we just wanted to do a comedy relationship.” Yay comedy, boo love. It also gives both of them something to do (which has occasionally been a problem, especially with Ann) in the post-Entertainment 720/dating Chris Traeger-era of the show.

But just because seemingly every “Parks” character has hooked up with every other “Parks” character at some point (I can’t wait for the inevitable Ron/Donna fling to happen), that doesn’t mean every show should just start pairing characters all willy-nilly like. Here are 10 romantic relationships on other shows that should never by no means ever happen. Happy Valentine’s Day, no one!

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Last night’s “Justified,” titled “The Devil You Know,” was yet another very strong episode. It was mostly centered around the hunt for Mags’ money, and the continued evolution of Boyd Crowder’s new gang of rapscallions. I’ll get to the highlights in a moment, but first allow me to make one observation: so far, the third season has done a great job of juggling a number of flaming knives. There is a lot going on in the show, and A LOT of characters to cover. For example, we’ve barely seen Tim, Art, Ava, or Winona in the past few weeks, and I barely even noticed because of how strong the Boyd/Raylan/Limehouse/Quarles storylines are shaping up. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Tim pop another dude in the apricot as soon as reasonably possible, but it’s a credit to the show that I can go a couple weeks without seeing characters I like and still come away delighted.

The highlights:

• Prison escapes featuring stone cold dudes with ponytails
• Dewey Crowe freaking the freak out — hilariously, I might add — while inside a bodybag
• HEADSHOTS
• Limehouse making threats and barbecue
• A discussion of which colleges have the prettiest girls
• “GIMME A GODDAMN AMEN!”
• Raylan neutralizing the criminal element using the front and rear bumpers of his car
• “You can pretty much live without a spleen.”
• “Goddamn if I don’t have to save Dickie Bennett.”
• Boyd Crowder proving yet again that he is the smartest criminal on television.
• Putting the Devil way down in a hole

Click through to the next page for Chet Manley’s awesome GIFs, and as always, feel free to engage in a spoiler-laden discussion in the comments. Writer Jon Worley said he’d swing by later this afternoon for the discussion (screen name: jubbs), so feel free to leave questions in the comments, then check back later in the day to see if they’ve been answered.

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Yesterday, in discussing ABC’s decision to release a spoiler-heavy 10-minute preview of the upcoming third season of “Cougar Town,” television critic Ryan McGee asked showrunner, Bill Lawrence, directly what the idea behind the strategy was. Here’s his response:

It’s not a “new standard” as far as clips go. We have a different burden – getting people back after nine months, convincing folks to try a show with a polarizing title. But: why not put every episode out? You’re not trying to get all those people to watch it on TV, you’re trying to get word of mouth, and buzz to spread to the 25,000 NIELSEN households (that’s it – has anyone met one?) that determine the fate of your show. That is our flawed system: 25,000 households representing entire TV viewing country. You just have to hope that if a Nielsen family watches pilot/clips early, they are still compelled to watch again because they liked it and want to keep show alive. Ruining it for the masses or encouraging them to watch on their computer doesn’t matter until the system changes.

I knew the Nielsen sample was small, but that number is striking: 25,000 households, out of approximately 115 million households in America. I’m not very good at math, but by my calculator’s calculations, that means that .0217 percentage of American households determine not only the amount a network can charge its advertisers, but what shows in effect are canceled or renewed. .0217. That’s astounding. That means that, essentially, a very popular show (say, a show like “Mike & Molly” that receives 10 million household viewers) has to only be seen by the right 2,100 households out of 115 million to be considered a successful show.

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I was watching some inane “40 Greatest TRL Moments” special on VH1 last night, and one of the highest ranking “great moments” was when the video for Tom Green’s “The Bum Bum Song” hit #1 on the show. It was retired after only five days, which meant a lot to me in 1999 for some reason. It…does not hold up well.

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Southland (TNT) — I know we’re all about “Justified” here on WarmingGlow, and for good reason, but I thought we’d give some header love to “Southland,” which is probably the best television drama you’re not watching. It’s a slice-of-life cop drama, the anti-procedural, and it’s brilliant and dark and Regina King is television’s most unsung actress. Start from the beginning or jump in tonight. Whatever you do, find it. It’s outstanding.

Justified (FX) — Tonight’s episode is more episodic than serial in nature, as Raylan tracks down two prisoners on the run while Boyd turns on someone in the inner circle. Check back tomorrow for Danger’s discussion post, and maybe Jon Worley will drop by again and tell you how all your hunches are wrong.

Parenthood (NBC) — Another fantastic, underappreciated drama, this one from Jason Katims, who also brought us “Friday Nights” (which explains why a lot of the actors who have appeared in both). Peter Krause directed tonight’s episode, so it will probably be double heart-warming. Bring tissues, fellas.

The River (ABC) — Two-hour series premiere. This is a thriller about a trip to the Amazon river to find a missing adventurer. It was either pushed back to mid-season because it’s not very good, or because it’s great and doesn’t appeal to a large audience. I personally hope it’s the former because my Tuesday doesn’t need another hour-long drama. Reviews so far, however, have been positive.

The New Girl (FOX) — I think we should all start mis-using the term “Adorkable,” applying it only to decidedly masculine things. Hopefully, by May we can mangle it so badly that it’s eradicated from our cultural lexicon.

LATE NIGHT GUESTS: Letterman has Denzel and The Fray, which was a band manufactured by trailer editors to create music for sappy films. Leno has Chelsea Handler (two reasons not to watch!), Damon Wayans, Jr. and Michelle Williams are on Kimmel, Ferguson has Kenneth Branaugh, and Fallon has on The Cranberries. I heard their new song on the radio the other day and I thought I fell into a wormhole that took me back to 1992.