In its short life, the microblogging service Twitter has been the butt of many a joke, from the Twitter Tracker on Conan O'Brien's (short-lived) "Tonight Show" to...well, last night's episode of "The Simpsons." But if even O'Brien himself has come around on Twitter, is it time for the rest of pop culture to catch up? After all, there is evidence that Twitter can actually facilitate positive change in the world. Find out how after the jump.

It's a mixed blessing to get cast as a main character's mom on a sitcom. On the one hand, you can be pretty certain that you're considered famous enough to be a draw for sweeps -- and what's more, you're not being asked to do "Celebrity Rehab." On the other hand, it means that casting directors are starting to think of you as old. But at least they're thinking of you! Which is more than I can say for half of the cast of "Celebrity Rehab"; bassist from Alice in Chains, I'm looking in your direction. Last week's "Cougar Town" continued in the tradition of casting guest star moms when Beverly D'Angelo, from "Vacation" and, most recently, "Entourage," played Laurie's mother; and last night, living legend Lainie Kazan guest-starred on "Ugly Betty," above, as Hilda's possible mother-in-law -- and definite grandmother-to-be to Hilda's unborn child. But who's preceded D'Angelo and Kazan in the Annals of Great TV Mom Stuntcasting? Editors Julie Klausner and Tara Ariano picked their ten favorites after the jump.

Last night, "Greek" aired its Valentine's Day episode -- and only over a week after the actual holiday! But never mind; if we can deal with all those "Simpsons" Halloween specials airing in November, we can hang with this too. And in the spirit of the show's academic setting, I'll be grading some of the episode's key elements, after the jump.

Last night on "Family Guy," Meg fell in love with a convict, Stewie facilitated some love at his "sand retreat," and Peter "fell in love" with a breeding bull. Love was everywhere in the episode, but we don't care about any of that, do we? No, it's all about the non sequiturs, and last night we had some pretty good ones...and one really bad one. Let's explain and grade them, after the jump.

It would take some doing for "Better Off Ted" to top last week's hysterical cursing episode, and "Lust in Translation" comes admirably close. The full recap is after the jump.

This Sunday, "The Simpsons" will air its 250th episode -- and to mark the milestone, "The Late Show" welcomed family patriarch Homer Simpson to deliver a list of the Top Ten things he's learned from his 20 years in television. See it above, and get a look at the rest of last night's late-night highlights after the jump.

You love her on "The Office." You're addicted to her Twitter feed. You treasure her cameo in "The 40 Year Old Virgin." And now the lovely and talented Mindy Kaling is trying out a new line of work: she's co-writing a feature film screenplay. With her "Office" writing colleague, Brent Forrester (one of the minds behind "In Gayle We Trust" and a writer on "The Simpsons" and "The Ben Stiller Show"), Kaling will write "The Low Self-Esteem of Lizzie Gillespie," and though that does sound like the sort of title you'd expect to see in a mass-market paperback covered in pink pumps and martini glasses, if she could bring us the genius that is Subtle Sexuality's "Male Prima Donna" (which she directed), Kaling can probably be relied upon to freshen up a rote romcom idea.

What's that -- you're not familiar with "Male Prima Donna"? SHAME. Start with the clip above, and go after the jump to see how the shoot comes out.

Above, from last year's "Simpsons" "Treehouse of Horror" special, the Grand Pumpkin terrorizes Springfield after learning what humans have done to its kind. It suggests that when pumpkins act like humans, it's always hilarious. But that theory can't be considered proof unless it happens again. That's the way science works.

Thankfully, today Videogum has found concrete evidence that proves that anthropomorphized pumpkins are always funny. It also proves that KXVO, the CW affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska, really likes to party. If I say anything else, it will ruin what will be the best and funniest video you'll watch today. Hit "continue reading" to see it.

It was one thing when Playboy announced that animated American Marge Simpson would be its cover girl for November 2009. Now that some intrepid soul at Oh No They Didn't has posted the shots from the cover story, the strangeness of this entire enterprise is impossible to ignore. (The NSFW scans are here, if you're in the mood to gross yourself out.)

On the other hand, maybe I'm just being a prude. It's not like we haven't seen Springfield residents naked on "The Simpsons" in the past. Above, Marge indulged in a dozy fantasy of the Garden of Eden that's comparatively tame -- but after the jump are some moments of animated nudity.

In the movie business, freedom's just another word for lighting a stick of dynamite and then trying to figure out where to put it -- as Homer effectively illustrates in the above video. Who wasn't excited for "The Simpsons Movie"...and who wasn't also disappointed in how it turned out? Most "Simpsons" fans consider it a long version of a mediocre episode; I think that's being generous. To me, it squarely sits within that dubious realm of entertainment purgatory occupied by highly anticipated movies that don't live up to their promise, but aren't terrible enough to destroy their legacy. Aside from a handful of grumblings, Matt Groening and crew have maintained a fairly honest -- if not upbeat -- outlook on the experience of making the movie. Now comes word (via Variety) that a second movie is off the table:

"It took 18 years to get around to doing the movie," Groening said. "We got very frustrated. We thought it would take two years but it ended up taking four. Some day maybe we'll do another one -- but don't hold your breath."

Sure. But if the first movie were a bigger hit -- if they had pulled it off to greater reception -- you better believe they'd be rolling on the second. Groening is one of the smartest people in the business, and sometimes that's as much about knowing what you're not good at as what you are.