The CW's "Aliens in America" (8:30 tonight, WPCW) has grown into a dependably amusing comedy series about culture clashes and American hypocrisy. That's particularly true of tonight's Christmas-themed episode that finds the Tolchuck family returning to church after Pakistani foreign exchange student Raja (Adhir Kalyan) suggests their Sunday morning shopping trips are a lot like going to church: "You go together, it lifts your spirits and you do leave behind roughly 10 percent of your income." Zing!

Prime-time television rarely deals with the role of religion in the lives of the characters it depicts. "The Simpsons" may be the only TV comedy family that routinely attends church. In dramas, "Friday Night Lights" acknowledges the importance of religion in the lives of many Americans, but it's one of the few hour-long shows that does.

I doubt "Aliens" will revisit the topic, but it does make for an amusing episode tonight as it pokes some fun at mega-churches but mostly shows how self-absorbed, shallow characters miss the point of prayer while a high-strung mother reconnects with her faith.

Like the best "Aliens" episodes, this one balances the tart and the sweet. It also shows how the series has developed into not so much the story of a foreign exchange student, but the story of that mom (Amy Pietz, who steals the show weekly) and her reactions to those around her.