The Walking Dead (AMC; Sunday, 9 p.m.) – Half-season premiere. In a revealing interview with New York, showrunner Glenn Mazarra said he feels that the series “has been a little insular, a little incestuous, that it’s been a very small cast of characters on just a farm that appears to be very safe. I want to widen it. All of a sudden the outside world starts encroaching on our farm.” THANK GOD. It sounds like something is finally going to happen in the next six episodes, which I never thought I’d have to worry about in a zombie TV show. (Banner via)

Grimm (NBC; Friday, 9 p.m.) – It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so “Nick and Hank track a deadly heartbreaker.” I guarantee someone’s heart will literally break. Then we’ll rewind to see the exact second it happens.

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC; Friday, 10:30 p.m.) – Series finale. Have you ever liked a comedy but rarely laughed while watching it? That’s how I feel about “Increasingly Poor Decisions”; it’s just fun seeing how convoluted the plot can be (in a good way), and I have no idea how David Cross plans to wrap up every loose end in only 30 minutes.

SNL (NBC; Saturday, 11:30 p.m.) – Some people think it’ll be:

While others think it’ll be:

Either way, people will have OPINIONS come Monday. More Preview below.

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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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There are few pop culture figures more polarizing than Zooey Deschanel. Some call her overly quirky, obnoxiously precious, and annoying as sh*t. Others, like myself, then mention that Zooey’s got impressive comedic timing, range (singer/actor, and pretty good at both), and she’s adorable as sh*t. People have strong opinions about her either way, even if it’s as simply stated as Zooey > Emily.

In other words, she’s a perfect “SNL” host, which is what she’ll be doing on February 11. (Sadly, Death Cab for Cutie, featuring her sappy schmuck of an ex-husband, Ben Gibbard, will NOT be the musical guest; that honor goes to “acoustic hip-hop duo” Karmin. Why yes, they are white. How did you know?) Those who hate Zooey will want to see her crash and burn, while those who love her will continue to love her even after the inevitable Valentine’s Day skit featuring the ukulele.

“SNL” also announced the host for their February 4 episode: 21 Magic Jump the Streets: 2 star Channing Tatum (with Bon Iver). I love him, you love him, and Film Drunk REALLY loves him. (They’ve got 15 PAGES of C-Tates over there, dating back to 2007.) You know the first line of Iggy and the Stooges’ “Search and Destroy”: “I’m a street walkin’ cheetah with a heart full of napalm.” Replace “street walking” with “step upping,” “cheetah” with “C-Tates,” and “heart full of napalm” with “THIS IS DA ILLEST JAM, $ON” – you’ve got his life story.

Most shows were new last week, so we’ve got plenty of GIF fodder for this week’s post, including: crying judges, incest, Louis C.K. miming sex with an animal, Zooey dancing in her underwear, and Fat Mac’s real name. Plus, for the last time for a few months, “Community.” (The only GIF I wanted to locate but couldn’t was of Beavis getting his ass stuck in copy machine – if you know where to find it, include a link in the comments section.) Please remember to email me any favorites you see throughout the week at Joshua.Kurp@gmail.com.

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New Girl (Fox) — The hit comedy returns after its World Series/”X Factor”-induced hiatus. I’ve enjoyed it so far, but I’m afraid I might develop some Zooey fatigue soon. Also, the guy who plays the douchebag friend is almost intolerable.

NCIS (CBS) — Melinda McGraw, recipient of the most famous televised fingerbang in history, guest stars as the ex-wife of both Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Fornell (Joe Spano).

Last Man Standing/Man Up! (ABC) — These still exist. The only TV show with an exclamation point worth watching is “Jeopardy!”

Sons of Anarchy (FX) — So yeah, Clay’s finally become the villain. I gotta say, Piney wasn’t very smart about delivering that ultimatum last week.

Glee (Fox) — “Glee Project” winner Damian McGinty joins the show as an Irish exchange student. Singing ensues.

Covert Affairs (USA) — Fall premiere. Welcome back, Piper Perabo. (Never gets old.)

LATE NIGHT GUESTS: Ben Stiller and Whitney Cummings on Letterman; Eddie Murphy on Leno; Adam Sandler and the Bangles (?) on Kimmel; Dennie Miller on Ferguson; Tracy Morgan and Mario Batali on Fallon; Condoleeza Rice on “The Daily Show”; Yo-Yo Ma on Colbert; Hugh Jackman on Conan.