Ron P. Jaffe/CBS

There was so much news this week, we think we forgot a lot of stuff:

• We started with this week’s upfronts (except for the CW), talking about the networks’ scheduling decisions, the concepts and trailers for some of the new shows (Will Arnett may have struck out again with The Millers), why certain shows, like Mulaney, didn’t get picked up, and why all of this is pretty much a whole load of BS, especially in 2013 (00:00 – 1:10:00),
• There was a huge reveal on How I Met Your Mother‘s season finale, and we talk about why this feels like two seasons too late and how we think Bays and Thomas are going to let the final season play out, based on what they told reporters (1:10:00 – 1:26:45),
• Then we talk about the well-executed finale of an excellent season of New Girl, why it’s become the best comedy on broadcast TV, and what The Mindy Project can learn from its Tuesday schedule-mate (1:26:45 – 1:43:45),
• Then we talk about Seth Meyers being named host of Late Night, why it feels like a too-safe choice, what his (and other cast members’) departure means for SNL, and what, if anything, differentiates Seth from Jimmy Fallon (1:43:45 – 2:00:00),
• Finally, we talk ever so briefly about the finale of The Americans, mostly because Jason is caught up. We also speculate how long it’ll be before Margo Martindale comes back to the show after the inevitable quick cancellation of The Millers(2:00:00 – 2:02:34).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Sundance Channel

We waited a half hour to record the podcast so we could watch the results show of The Voice, and while we were doing that, a little news broke: FOX announced the first new series pickups of upfront season.

• We talk about the new FOX dramas (more info on the rest of the pickups, renewals and cancellations next week), along with some info on the new CBS comedy produced by Chuck Lorre and the FOX comedy produced by Seth MacFarlane (00:00 – 16:30),
• We then talked about the “voting inconsistencies” on The Voice, and have a long discussion about whether any of the top 12 have the chance to be a star. Also, given the show’s poor track record, Joel wonders if people will stop watching the show if they know none of the contestants have a shot at a real career after the season ends (16:30 – 44:30),
• Then we talk about Simon Cowell’s mandate for chemistry over big stars on next season’s X-Factor judging panel, and why the original Idol panel worked so well, despite being filled with relative nobodies at the time (or in the case of Paula, a reclamation project) (44:30 – 52:15),
• MacFarlane is going to be a guest voice on the 24th season finale of The Simpsons. We talk about how stunt voice casting seems to be the only thing we hear about regarding The Simpsons these days, and how long the show will go (52:15 – 1:01:45),
• We then talk briefly about the super-sized Office finale and how well the show’s been wrapping things up (1:01:45 – 1:05:00),
• Speaking of long-running shows, we talk about how HIMYM seems to be spinning the relationship merry-go-round again, how this feels like a waste of time as we enter the show’s final season, and if this final season is going to be satisfying or frustrating (1:05:00 – 1:09:00),
• Then we talk about the finale of Top of the Lake (albeit a few weeks late), and how a quirky but well-done show like Rectify is so perfect for cable (1:09:00 – 1:19:15),
• Finally, we wrap up with some odds and ends. Jason isn’t caught up on The Americans, so we bail on that, but talk about the cast promotions. We talk about the season finales of Parks and Rec and Happy Endings, correctly speculating that Parks was going to be renewed based on its open ended finale. We talk about how dumb Family Tools is. Finally, Joel grumps about absurd mother/child casting on TV, where every mom seems to be only 15 years (or less!) older than their TV kids (1:19:15 – 1:46:02).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Patrick McElhenney/FOX

We spent the first twenty or so minutes of the podcast addressing a note we got from a listener, telling us about our mistakes. It was a good way to start talking about some of the interesting news of the week:

• During the talk about the mistakes we made, we discussed all the mumbling on Mad Men and how they handled the MLK assassination, why Alexander Skarsgard and Peter Sarsgaard may be the new version of “Bill Pullman or Bill Paxton?”, and why we don’t always know the entire careers of the actors we see (00:00 – 24:50),
• NBC renewed a bunch of shows, including Grimm, Parenthood and Revolution. We talk about these renewals, and if Parks and Rec and Community will be next (24:50 – 40:45),
• Then we talk about other renewals: Dallas, Rectify and Veep, along with the shows renewed by the CW (40:45 – 49:15),
• Arrested Development is about to hit Netflix, and we talk briefly about how the hype machine is gearing up for it (49:15 – 55:00),
• Speaking of Netflix, they eliminated a couple of thousand movies off their streaming site this week, and we talk about why the service is becoming more about watching TV episodes than it is about watching movies (55:00 – 1:05:00),
• Then we discuss the return of All My Children and One Life To Live, speculate if audiences will watch soaps online every day, and talk about why the timing is more than perfect for these soaps to start up again online (1:05:00 – 1:13:45),
• Then we talk for a little while about the music on reality shows, how it makes boring scenes interesting, and how little you pay attention to the music unless it’s not there (Joel equates it to shopping at Target, where they don’t play any background music) (1:13:45 – 1:24:15),
• Finally, we talk about the big hook-up on New Girl and why we think this connection will work better than other TV “will they/won’t they” scenarios, including the vaunted Ross and Rachel. In this discussion, Jason waxes poetic on why the Pam-Jim story on The Office‘s last season isn’t a distraction and is actually handled pretty well (1:24:15 – 1:49:06).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Michael Yarish/AMC

Jason’s house almost got flooded last week, so he didn’t watch any of the Boston manhunt coverage last week; he was too busy moving all of his belongings to his bedroom. We talk about the news coverage and other topics of the week:

• The Boston manhunt coverage was strange because it had a lot of nothing going on, but a very satisfying ending. We talk about who got the coverage right (NBC) and who got it wrong (CNN, of course), and why it was so compelling. We also talk about NBC pulling last week’s Hannibal even though the violence had nothing to do with a bombing, and why it’s getting cut into webisodes (00:00 – 18:15),
• NBC announced that they’re going to be airing an epic game show called Million Second Quiz. We talk about how absurd this show is (even more absurd than Bet On Your Baby), and if this is a desperate ratings grab for NBC or the absolute right thing to do (18:15 – 27:35),
• Then we talk about the reported almost-switch on American Idol, where the producers were going to swap Mariah Carey for Jennifer Lopez in midseason. Part of the discussion is why the ratings or Idol are sinking so much (boring judges, most likely) (27:35 – 40:00),
• We then talk about the supposed “controversial” steal on The Voice and why their coach switch has gone without a hitch while Idol and other shows have problems. Jason’s theory: competition (40:00 – 45:00),
• We then talk about the Amazon comedy pilots, and why MSN might reboot Heroes for XBOX Live (45:10 – 1:11:00),
• Then we discuss the premiere of Eli Roth’s Hemlock Grove on Netflix. Jason says if you’re a horror fan, you’ll like it (1:11:00 – 1:22:00),
• Then we talk in vague terms about two Sundance shows: the finale of Top of the Lake and the premiere of Rectify (Jason hasn’t seen the former, Joel hasn’t seen the latter) (1:22:00 – 1:27:00),
• Finally, riffing off the sentiments of Ken Levine and others, we talk about why the characters from Mad Men have become so unredeemingly nasty, and if the cracks are finally starting to show on “TVs best drama” (1:27:00 – 1:51:00).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Adam Taylor/ABC

We start the podcast with some sad news. Our former TV Squad colleague (and guest of our old podcast) Allison Waldman passed away earlier this week, and we talk about her friendship, her writing, and her devotion to Barbra Streisand. We then go on to the news of the week:

• We start with the coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing, and tried to figure out if the dramatic coverage gives viewers tragedy fatigue, makes them scared of their shadows, or both. How do they strike a balance between reporting the event and going over the top? (16:15 – 33:30),
• We then pay tribute to Pat Summerall, who along with John Madden was the voice of many a football fan’s autumn Sundays for decades. As part of the tribute, we talk about why people who use his sparse play-by-play style do so well and last so long in the business (33:30 – 47:15),
• Then we talk about how The Voice is trying to hide the fact that the battle round rehearsals were more than a couple of days, which launches us into the fertile subject of how well or poorly various reality shows fake things (47:15 – 1:12:30),
• We then talk about a bunch of season finales, from Go On to Archer to Dallas (1:12:30 – 1:24:00),
• With Suburgatory ending and Awkward starting, we compare and contrast the two very similar shows. We figure out that they’re now more different than alike, and we’re not sure we like the direction either is going in (1:24:00 – 1:34:30),
• Then we discuss the premiere of Syfy’s new show Defiance, which takes place in Jason’s neck of the woods in St. Louis. He reveals if they got the locales right, and we talk about how risky it was of Syfy and the show’s producers to release the show and the related role-playing game at the same time (1:34:30 – 1:47:30),
• Then we talk about NBC’s summer schedule, where they inexplicably burn off Anne Heche’s new show Save Me, despite the fact that they have all the time in the world to let it air over the whole summer and find an audience (1:47:30 – 1:53:15),
• Finally, we talk about AMC’s new schedule. Does putting Hell on Wheels on Saturday mean they want to start a new night of drama or do they want to kill the show? Also, do we really need a show called Talking Bad? What’s next? The Talking?(1:53:15 – 2:05:43)

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

It’s the “death by a thousand cuts” edition of the podcast, as we spend two hours largely talking about lots of little stuff in the world of TV. But we kick it off by talking about Joel sitting in on Tom Scharpling’s Best Show on WFMU (he’s doing a story about Scharpling) and the subsequent stupid mishap that destroyed one of his wheels. Then we get into TV:

• We talk about the death of Buckwild star Shain Gandee, why MTV cancelled the show, the producer’s “war” with the network, what “mudding” is, and why this will be forgotten pretty quickly (10:00 – 20:00),
• We then talk about the rumors of Alec Baldwin being considered for NBC’s late night lineup. We talk about what kind of show he’d do (listen to his podcast and you’ll get an idea), why late night needs a format shakeup — even of the “new” formats are really old, why NBC renewed Carson Daly’s show, and why Carson still wants to do it (20:00 – 41:30),
• Then we talk about a cornucopia of topics: Ronnie the Limo Driver from the Howard Stern Show appearing on the Cougar Town finale, the debuts of How to Live With Your Parents and Hannibal, why Bates Motel keeps getting better, Glee doing a school shooting-centric episode, Syfy going more SciFi, IFC picking up 11 comedies, and how confusing it is (or isn’t) seeing Elisabeth Moss in both Mad Men and Top of the Lake (41:30 – 1:03:00),
• We then talk about the possibility of a Breaking Bad spin-off starring Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman (1:03:00 – 1:12:30),
• The Voice completed their teams this week, and we talk about why it’s good that they’re so diverse, but it’s bad that we don’t remember any of the contestants. We also continue to praise new judges Shakira and Usher, and wonder of Christina Aguilera will get the boot in favor of Shakira next season (1:12:30 – 1:18:00),
• Then we give a tribute to Roger Ebert, who died last week. Even though he was a movie critic, he and Gene Siskel had a huge impact on TV with their various shows. We talk about that impact and why their shows made people want to be film fans as well be critics for a living (1:18:00 – 1:30:00),
• Riffing off an article at AllYourScreens.com, we talk about why there’s no “national” TV critic in the Ebert vein. We talk about why critics seem to cover the same shows and why it feels like many of them (including us) are sometimes out of our depth. Yes, it’s the same stuff we bitch about every other week. But it’s entertaining! (1:30:00 – 1:49:00),
• Finally, we follow a discussion about critics covering the same shows by talking about one of those shows: Mad Men. I rattle off questions to Jason about the premiere, and we take what could have been a 45-minute talk and boil it down to less than 20 (1:49:00 – 2:07:37).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

We recorded this podcast before Roger Ebert — who meant as much to TV as he did to the movies — passed away. We’ll talk more about him next week. For now, though, lots of stuff to chat about:

• We start by taking two whole minutes to discuss NBC telling America what it already knows: that Jimmy Fallon will be taking over The Tonight Show next year. We also talk about gruesome basketball injuries and all of the comedian panel-filled talk shows are on the air right now (00:00 – 07:30),
• We then talk about FX moving comedies like Always Sunny and The League to the new FXX, and the revamping of FXM. We discuss whether its wise to move FX’s longest running comedy off the network, how tough it’ll be to get the new channel, which is taking the FOX Soccer space, onto a basic tier, and if this was a smart move or not (07:30 – 22:15),
• The Walking Dead finale got the show’s best ratings yet (barely beating out The Bible), and we talk about the parts of the finale we liked (dead-eyed Carl, for one) and where it went wrong. And with the news of who’s returning next year, we talk about why it’s likely to leave the shadow of the comic book behind for good (22:15 – 46:45),
• We then talk about the return of Game of Thrones, why Joel still won’t watch it, and why Jason thinks the show is finally becoming the fantasy-fest that it looked like it was going to be two seasons ago (46:45 – 1:06:00),
• Doctor Who came back last week, and we talk about the new companion, David Tennant returning for the 50th anniversary show, and why people have been able to jump into this version without watching the stuff from the ’60s – ’80s (1:06:00 – 1:17:15),
• Mad Men comes back for its sixth season on Sunday, and yet again Matt Weiner is swearing critics to secrecy. Joel reads the letter that requested our silence, and we both wonder why all this hush-hush is necessary at this point (let’s just say the sixth season isn’t going to start with Don Draper doing the Hustle, OK?). We also discuss the direction the show may be going in its next-to-last season (1:17:15 – 1:43:45),
• We then talk about why USA Network is thinking of picking up Happy Endings if ABC cancels it (1:43:45 – 1:48:30),
• Finally, Netflix is releasing season one of House of Cards on DVD and Blu-ray in June, and we speculate on why they’re doing it so soon (1:48:30 – 2:02:16).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

This one was an epic: 2 hours and 17 minutes full of talking TV and having a ton of Skype problems. But no fear; if you haven’t watched House of Cards, then the podcast is only 1 hour and 28 minutes long:

• We start by talking about Top of the Lake, the thick accents, the great scenery, and why the show doesn’t have to adhere to American story structure or even episode breaks. We also talk about what happens when you have one actor that’s a little better than the rest in the cast (this is not a Top of the Lake issue, but will come up throughout tonight) (00:00 – 13:20),
• We talked more about Bates Motel and its anachronistic time period (now instead of pre-Psycho era). We talk about how Vera Farmiga elevates the show by not playing Norma as over-the-top, and why the town may become a big character on the show (13:20 – 23:30),
• We then talk about The Walking Dead’s big event last week, why Joel wasn’t overly shocked by it, why the second half of the season has been so disappointing, and why Robert Kirkman doesn’t seem to be having much sway on the show’s direction. We also marvel at how we can’t seem to remember the names of characters we’ve been watching for almost three seasons now. Then we somehow manage to transition from TWD to Smash, which can only happen on the AFT podcast (23:30 – 55:40),
• CBS renewed almost all of its shows this week. We talk about the shows that were not renewed, why they didn’t get renewed (yet), and why CBS seems happy with a large but older audience, when the other networks keep chasing the young’uns (55:40 – 1:06:30),
• We then talk about the strong return of NBC’s biggest shows, Revolution and The Voice. With Revolution, we talk about the show’s modified direction and if we think the show will ever stand on its own. With The Voice, we talk about being pleasantly surprised with new coaches Usher and Shakira, and why we think the show may work without the Cee Lo and Christina circuses, even if we miss them (1:06:30 – 1:28:05),
• Finally, we have our epic House of Cards spoilerfest! We talk about the season, why the season ended the way it did, what could be in store for a second season, what surprised us most about the show, and just what Frank and Claire Underwood’s ultimate plan is. Then we launch into yet another talk about how this model completely ruins TV recapping, how sites have been handling it so far, and why this may be truly the start of the next evolution of how TV is covered (1:28:05 – 2:17:35).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

March Madness started today, and we talked about how the first two days of the NCAA basketball tournament are one of the craziest days of sports on TV. Then we get to the important TV stuff this week:

• We talk the “controversy” over the “Obama look-alike” playing Satan on The Bible, and why we all seem to obsess over BS non-stories like this (05:15 – 12:15),
• Bates Motel debuted on A&E this week, and we talk about why young Norman Bates and his mother are in the present day, and if this is going to be more of a teen show or a scary adult show (12:15 – 22:00),
• We then talk about Top of the Lake, why we want to watch this in HD, how good Elisabeth Moss’ Aussie accent is, why this is good timing for the Sundance Channel, and why it may put the obscure channel on the map (22:00 – 40:00),
• Joel got caught up on The Americans (to episode 7, anyway), and we talk about why the show is so engrossing, why it’s gotten better as it’s gone along, and why the actual spy stuff seems secondary to the more emotional issues the characters are going through (40:00 – 1:03:55),
• We then talk about the annoying finale of Girls, why the show seemed to lose its way over its last four episodes, why Lena Dunham didn’t need to ramp up Hannah’s OCD, and if this show is going to stay the red hot critical fave it is now. We also discuss why we think critical opinion circles around some shows and not others, or why some critics don’t get on board for a show until it’s too late (Enlightened being the latest example) (1:03:55 – 1:32:25),
• We set up the final two episodes of The Walking Dead’s season, anticipating the all-out war between Rick’s crew and the folks in Woodbury (1:32:25 – 1:41:55),
• Finally, we talk about the latest on the late night news front, with Jimmy Fallon more or less being confirmed to take over the Tonight Show in 2014. We talk about why NBC gives Jay Leno no respect, despite his continued ratings lead, why Jay won’t go quietly, and why Fallon’s show will fit right into 11:35 without skipping a beat (1:41:55 – 1:59:07).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

We started the podcast right after Pope Francis was selected, and even though neither of us are Catholic (as far as we know), we still thought reality producers could learn a thing or two from the Vatican:

• We talk about the high drama that surrounded the conclave, and why the news media consistently goes nuts for pope elections the same way they go nuts for British royal weddings (00:00 – 21:15),
• We then talk about NBC’s schedule shuffle, which includes banishing Smash to Saturdays (21:15 – 35:00),
• Cougar Town spent a good amount of its last episode in a Target, and we talk about how blatant product placement is getting, and how tough it is to balance on the line between making it part of the plot and taking a viewer out of the world of the show (41:00 – 53:45),
• Jason tries to convince Joel to watch FX’s The Americans, which is getting great reviews (53:45 – 1:01:15),
• We then talk about our plans to do a big spoilerfest for House of Cards next week (Joel’s done, Jason’s still on ep 2), and how we’re enjoying Arrested Development again as we watch it ahead of the new Netflix season in May (1:01:15 – 1:09:00),
• We then talk about the send-off Dallas threw for Larry Hagman and J.R. Ewing, how TV funerals like that carry real emotions, and how rare it is for a character to get eulogized during a series’ run (1:09:00 – 1:15:45),
• SNL got great ratings this week with Justin Timberlake as host. We talk about how it seems like this year, the quality of an SNL episode depends on the host more than it has in recent years (1:15:45 – 1:27:00),
• Finally, we talk about the remarkable Kickstarter campaign to get a Veronica Mars movie made, what that might mean for other shows with cult followings, why the people who put in money don’t mind losing it, and how this model fits in with all of the new production models we’ve seen recently (1:27:00 – 1:52:55).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

We start the podcast realizing that we haven’t talked about any of the network’s new midseason shows except for The Following. Odd, right?

• We talk about why we didn’t (or at least Joel didn’t) see most of the midseason shows, why Zero Hour got canned so fast, and why The Following seems to be doing well (it got renewed for a second season) (00:00 – 11:15),
• We then talk about the whys and hows of Fox renewing Raising Hope, New Girl and The Mindy Project. We also discuss Greg Garcia leaving Raising Hope (and no one will notice), the show’s recent My Name Is Earl reunion, how New Girl is handling “the big kiss” and Mindy Project’s improvement (11:15 – 28:15),
• Jon Stewart is taking a hiatus on The Daily Show to direct a movie this summer. We talk about the movie, why John Oliver is a good choice as a sub, who else would have been good choices, and why this might be the beginning of the end of Stewart on TDS… and late night in general (28:15 – 41:00),
• Speaking of late night, we talk about the latest rumor that Jimmy Fallon will soon be taking over for Jay Leno. We discuss why Fallon will fit at 11:30 so much easier than Conan did, and why the rumors of Howard Stern taking the 12:30 slot are odd but intriguing (41:00 – 54:00),
• An old friend showed up on last week’s Walking Dead, and we talk about why it seems like the show changes into something better when that old friend shows up. We also speculate where the show will go in its final four episodes this season (54:00 – 1:09:45),
• We then talk about the huge ratings History’s miniseries The Bible got, why it seems people respond to religious programming like this, and why critics seem to talk about the large audience with condescension and backhanded compliments (1:09:45 – 1:21:45),
• The NBC affiliate in Cleveland subbed in a Matlock rerun for the Thursday night lineup last week, and got better ratings. We talk about whether this will empower other affiliates of the fifth (!) place network to do the same, and why NBC should go where the audiences are and program Bible-like shows and telenovelas (1:21:45 – 1:33:30),
• Finally, we discuss Bret Michaels’ silly dismissal on the first episode of The Celebrity Apprentice, and if Donald Trump’s birtherism and other idiocy is hurting the show (1:33:30 – 1:43:30).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Despite being eager to talk about the Oscars (the telecast, not the awards, though… Argo? Really?), we started off on a more pressing TV subject:

• NBC came in fifth place in the just-concluded February sweeps, behind Univision. We talk about how they fell so far, what shows that are doing poorly are going to get another season, and why we’re likely to see Univision and Telemundo in the mix from here on out (00:00 – 19:15),
• We then get into the Oscars. We both liked Seth MacFarlane’s performance as host, and really examine why, for the most part, hosting is a no-win situation. We also discussed why Tina Fey said she’d never do it, why no one pines for Billy Crystal anymore, and who we think might actually make a good Oscar host (“good” meaning “half the audience won’t hate him/her”) (19:15 – 48:15),
• Joel is annoyed at the venom directed towards the first three episodes of Community without Dan Harmon. We’ll talk about why having a showrunner be the face of a show isn’t always a good thing, why it’s hurting how people see the show now, and Joel will talk about how Harmon responded to him when he said all of this on Facebook (subscribe to his feed to see it) (48:15 – 1:14:15),
• We then talk briefly about how Netflix’s CEO said there will not be a 2nd season of Arrested Development on the service, how they backed off that statement, and why it makes so much more sense to come back on Netflix than to do that long-talked-about feature film (1:14:15 – 1:18:35),
• We then talk about Nielsen finally measuring audiences who see shows on streaming devices and sites like Hulu, what this might mean for how networks can monetize online views, and why this was long overdue (1:18:35 – 1:27:50),
• Finally, we talk about History’s new “docu-miniseries” (or whatever you call them) Vikings and The Bible, both of which premiere on March 3. We talk about why those series have been so successful, why the channel started doing them, and if they can be an effective tool in teaching history to people of all ages (1:27:50 – 1:43:26).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Joel literally started things off by e-mailing “I’ve got nothing” to Jason when we tried to think of topics for the week. It was that damned slow. But we managed to think of a few things to talk about:

• We started with a mixed bag of news, TV and otherwise. Asteroids crashing into Russia, the Pope quits, Kim Kardashian is going to “retire” from reality TV, and other fun stuff (00:00 – 07:30),
• We talk about the brewing confrontation on The Walking Dead, and why the producers need to stop killing the show’s equivalent of Star Trek “redshirts” and kill off some more major characters (07:30 – 13:30),
• Downton Abbey’s finale drew over 8 million viewers. We talk a little about the finale (not much), Jason talks about why it’s OK to jump into the show without watching from the beginning, why it seems like people never jump into shows without watching previous seasons first anymore, and why the limited-run dramas on now seem to be appealing to audiences (13:30 – 33:30),
• We then talk about NBC’s precipitous ratings fall since The Voice left, why every new show they’ve put on in the winter has failed miserably, and if a new season of The Voice will get their ratings back up (33:30 – 44:30),
• We then talk about the ratings slides from venerable reality shows like American Idol, The Amazing Race and Survivor, and whether this signals the beginning of the end of reality TV on the networks (44:30 – 57:50),
• Then, we talk about pilot season, not in terms of the casting and the shows that the networks are making into pilots — really, that news becomes meaningless pretty quickly — but we talk about certain actors (Krysten Ritter, Chi McBride, Will Arnett, David Walton) get cast in new pilot no matter how badly their last show tanked. We also talk about actors (Betsey Brandt) whose casting in new shows is a reminder that our favorite shows are ending (57:50 – 1:22:00),
• Finally, we talk about Mindy McCready’s suicide, the fifth death of a Celebrity Rehab participant, and whether we’ve surpassed the bleak future predicted in ’70s movies like Network and Rollerball (1:22:00 – 1:32:43).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

It took two days, with lots of network problems and Joel’s Valentine’s Day tomato sauce interrupting the podcast, but we managed to get it done. We talked about V-Day along with the news of the week:

• We talked about the successful Grammy broadcast, how it seems like Taylor Swift knows every song, why LL Cool J was obsessed with hashtags, and why there seemed to be a lot of “Grammy Moments” (4:40 – 18:45),
• The Walking Dead is back, and it picked up its biggest audience ever. We talk about its strong return, what we think will happen to Tyreese and his crew, and whether viewers are jumping in without watching the previous episodes or if they’re catching up. Also, we talk about the big TWD spoiler that was spilled on last week’s ep of The Big Bang Theory (18:45 – 34:55),
• We then discuss the major unforeseen consequence of Netflix airing House of Cards all at once; no one’s talking about it two weeks after it debuted (34:55 – 41:55),
• Jason took me up on my challenge to watch King of the Nerds on TBS, and we talk about how the show wasn’t what we expected, and how most of the girl nerds are way to friggin’ cute to be realistic (41:55 – 49:45),
• Then, we talk about a bunch of comedies in the news: Up All Night loses Christina Applegate but will still make one ill-advised multicam episode, Happy Endings moves to Fridays but may somehow survive the season, Community returns without Dan Harmon and it’s OK but not quite the same, and The Office finally breaks the fourth wall of the documentary film crew, and does so in one of the lamest ways possible (49:45 – 1:01:40),
• We then talk about the odd episode of Girls from last week that seems to have the internet in a tizzy. Was it a fantasy sequence? Was it part of the show’s reality? Is it realistic that Hannah would hook up with a guy that looked like Patrick Wilson? And, most importantly, was it any good? (1:01:40 – 1:20:00),
• Finally, with the announcement that FOX will be doing hour-long shows with four mini multicamera sitcoms in each episode, we talk about the format. It used to be that the multicam wasn’t a joke-per-second and was more like a televised play, and Joel wonders if today’s rapid fire single cam shows have ruined the multicam. Also, he wonders if someone will write a multicam show that was as good as Roseanne, The Golden Girls, and other classics of the ’70s and ’80s (1:20:00 – 1:51:10).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

The Super Bowl and 30 Rock were somewhat old news by the time we were ready to record the podcast. But we talked about them anyway:

• We discussed how well CBS handled the Super Bowl power outage, how Beyonce killed it at halftime, and why the ads were so boring (and why some were forgotten in the next-day ad coverage blitz) (00:00 – 40:00),
• We then briefly talk about the very satisfying 30 Rock series finale, and why shows like Seinfeld drop the ball during series finales (40:00 – 44:20),
• Community hadn’t premiered yet by the time we recorded the podcast, but Joel saw two of the first three episodes. It a Dan Harmon-less show as good as it was before its creator left? Yes and no (44:20 – 51:00),
• We talked about the likely last time HIMYM will do a Robin Sparkles story, and how the creators say that the final season won’t be like the ones that came before it (gulp) (51:00 – 1:00:00),
• Joel didn’t have the heart to start watching Smash again, but Jason watched the season premiere, and he thinks it’s not deliciously bad anymore… it’s just boring bad. Oh, and if the ratings are any indication, it might not be around long enough to get interesting (1:00:00 – 1:12:10),
• House of Cards premiered on Netflix, and we both watched the first two episodes. We talk about what we liked and didn’t like, why the storytelling improves when all the episodes drop at the same time, and why this programming model is appealing for not only Netflix, but any studio (including broadcast network-owned ones) it does business with (1:12:10 – 1:29:00),
• We then talk about another newish programming model, where the folks at Anger Management are on pace to create 100 episodes in 2 years. We talk about whether their breakneck pace can create a show of decent quality (AM is no Louie, but it’s not any worse than 2 Broke Girls), and whether the success of the show will prompt the Big Four to use it themselves (1:29:00 – 1:52:00),
• Finally, Jason reads the e-mail warning Grammy attendees and performers about exposing themselves. We liberally make fun of the words “buttocks” and “undercurvature” for quite a long time (1:52:00 – 1:58:44).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

The Super Bowl will be the biggest TV event of the week, and we talk about it at the top of the podcast, along with the other TV doings:

• We talked about how we don’t want to see the ads before the game, why it seems the game is an attraction to non-fans, the prospects of a decent halftime show with Beyonce, and why getting that coveted post-game slot isn’t always a guarantee of success (00:00 – 19:40),
• We then discussed the rise in the ratings for The Following, and why FOX seems to be encouraging people to DVR the show (19:40 – 29:20),
• As we go over other news, we drift onto the topic of shows like Talking Dead, which is a show where people talk about The Walking Dead. Jason wonders why shows about shows aren’t better than they are, then we talk about two that are — The Soup and Best Week Ever. On a different topic, I challenge Jason to watch King of the Nerds on TBS (29:20 – 52:20),
• It’s official: How I Met Your Mother will get a ninth and final season. We discuss why this is a good thing, and why the strong finishes of 30 Rock and The Office should be a good sign that HIMYM will end on a high note (52:20 – 1:01:20),
• Then we talk about the end of 30 Rock (not the finale, which we’ll talk about next week), why it got such a big send-off from the press despite its small audience, what phrases from the show will stay in the lexicon, and why it made such a great comeback in its last two seasons (1:01:20 – 1:15:45),
• We then talk about last Sunday’s Girls, where Hannah takes coke just so she can do a navel-gazing writing assignment, and if episodes like this are why people dislike the show (1:15:45 – 1:25:20),
• Finally, we discuss the dustup between Jonathan Coulton and Glee, and how the show completely stole his loving arrangement of “Baby Got Back” (1:25:20 – 1:38:41).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

It’s friggin’ cold outside, and we start the podcast by talking about the standard stories about the cold on the local and national news. Then we get into the events of the week:

• We talked about the coverage of President Obama’s second inauguration, how it seemed to be more extensive than coverage than any other second inauguration we’ve seen, and if all of it was really that necessary (4:05 – 17:25),
• We then discussed the return of American Idol, why it seems that they miss the mark when shows stunt cast judges like Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey, and why the show’s dominance is pretty much over (17:25 – 28:00),
• The Following finally premiered this week, and we discuss the pilot in detail. We also talk about the show’s goriness, why FOX felt they needed to take a big cable-like swing with this show, why all dramas are down (except NCISes), and if this show has the potential to be as deep and challenging as the cable shows it wants to be like (28:00 – 48:10),
• We then talk about the series finale of Fringe, if it gave fans a satisfying ending, and if it was able to tie in what happened during its more “case of the week” first season. We also talk about why marathoning shows like Fringe, which you have to wade through an awkward season or two before you get to the good stuff, is a lot to ask of a person (48:10 – 1:01:45),
• Then we talk about the Private Practice series finale and the Parenthood season finale, where express amazement at how Ray Romano has actually become a good dramatic actor (1:01:45 – 1:10:10),
• ABC pulled Don’t Trust the B in Apt. 23, and FOX pulled Ben & Kate this week. We talk about whether each move was fair, whether ABC killed Apt. 23 by airing it so severely out of order, why FOX felt Ben & Kate had to go but Mindy Project could stay, and if ABC’s move means anything dire for Happy Endings (1:10:10 – 1:33:40),
• Finally, we talk about a couple of interesting topics: How 30 Rock’s finale is getting the media attention usually reserved for much more popular shows, and, with the arrival of House of Cards on Netflix next week, how the all-at-once airing model on the online streaming giant is going to pretty much kill the episode recap/review as we know it. (1:33:40 – 1:51:14).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

The Golden Globes dominated our conversation this week, mainly because the ceremony had so many fun moments and the awards themselves were the usual level of odd:

• We talked about the Golden Globes show, how Fey and Poehler killed it, why they needed to be there more in the second half, Jodie Foster’s insane speech and the very tight timetable (they played off Daniel Day-Lewis!). We also talked about the TV winners, including why Don Cheadle got a Globe, Lena Dunham’s funny speeches, and why there’s already an awards backlash against Homeland (00:00 – 39:30),
• We then continued on a subject we talked about last week; as soon as we pointed out that none of the Big Four networks won a Globe, we talked about how The Following might nudge networks more towards the cable model of doing shows — limited episodes, shown in a row, big star, riskier content. We just wondered how long it’ll take viewers to come around to it (39:30 – 54:50),
• We then talked about yet another “reveal” on How I Met Your Mother, and what CBS’s Nina Tassler said about the storytelling in season 9 (how will they take a full season to show us the mother?) and if the show can go beyond a 9th year (54:50 – 1:03:00),
• We then talk about the start of American Idol (we hadn’t seen the first episode when we recorded the podcast), and if the Nicki Minaj / Mariah Carey feud is real. Then we talk about Britney Spears quitting The X Factor before she was pushed out (1:03:00 – 1:13:00),
• Finally, we talk about the season 2 premiere of Girls, why it seems to be a more confident show now, why Dunham is turning into Tina Fey Jr., and why we think her getting naked all the time (and Allison Williams not getting naked) is the show’s biggest in-joke (1:13:00 – 1:44:02).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

As shows come back from the holiday break, other shows have their season premieres and series premieres… but most of them bow next week. So this week, we get to riff on some interesting topics:

• We talked about the Winter TCA tour, which is going on as we speak in Pasadena. As usual, we talk about how useful it’s been, what news has come out of it, how publications are utilizing it now and whether Joel really misses going or not (he does, but not for the reasons you think) (04:00 – 20:00),
• The tour did bring us more details about the return of Arrested Development on Netflix, and we talk about those new details and how much we’re enjoying the old episodes as we re-watch them in anticipation (20:00 – 37:15),
• One of the overarching topics at the TCAs was violence on network TV, especially the content in FOX’s upcoming thriller The Following. We talk about the strawman arguments people are making about this, why it’s all a bunch of BS, and why broadcast networks like FOX need to start taking chances in a world where The Walking Dead gets 10 million viewers (37:15 – 1:03:00),
• We then talk about Jimmy Kimmel Live moving to 11:35, why ABC made the right move, what he offers that Letterman and Leno don’t these days, and why he’s in a much better position to do this now than he was even five years ago (1:03:00 – 1:20:30),
• Finally, we briefly talk about the week’s returning shows — Bunheads, Cougar Town and Justified — and then talk about how Brent Mussburger got all hot and bothered when he saw a pretty lady at the BCS Championship game (1:20:30 – 1:30:06).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Happy 2013! We recorded the podcast on Jan. 2 because we just couldn’t wait to yap about… well…. Let’s say this was a very esoteric podcast:

• We talked about the the New Year’s Eve shows — no Dick Clark, Kathy Griffin “going down” on Anderson Cooper, etc. — and about what we miss now that the big bowl games are no longer on New Year’s Day (00:00 – 17:15),
• Then we talk briefly about TV’s overhyping of the “fiscal cliff” (17:15 – 23:15),
• We then talk at length about the upcoming season of Arrested Development: how Mitch Hurwitz keeps adding episodes, how there’s no definite air date yet, how people are going to handle the show being dropped in their laps all at once via Netflix, and if we think the show will expect people to remember the old episodes, even though the show left the air seven years ago (23:15 – 47:50),
• Then we talk about the trap websites fall into when they trot out the same dozen critics for their year-end “critics’ polls,” something that seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon (47:50 – 1:07:05),
• Finally, we preview the shows that will be debuting and returning over the next couple of months. We talk about the shows we’re most looking forward to (Community, Girls, etc.), what shows are likely duds (anything on the broadcast networks) and more (1:07:05 – 1:39:41).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

We thought we didn’t have much to talk about, but we end up going for almost two hours because we just can’t shut up:

• We talked about the Doctor Who Christmas special, the new companion, and why the Brits air Xmas specials while we in the States have to put up with repeats on Dec. 25 (03:50 – 13:15),
• Then we talk about The Walking Dead’s fourth season renewal, Glen Mazzara’s departure, and whether AMC just doesn’t want to deal with the “visionary” showrunner anymore (13:15 – 36:30),
• We then talk about How I Met Your Mother getting a ninth (and hopefully final) season (36:30 – 42:30),
• Then we talk about who won The X Factor, why Britney Spears is about to be fired, and why FOX wants to hold on to the show, despite all its problems (42:30 – 53:45),
• Then we talk about ABC airing Happy Endings and Don’t Trust the B— on Sundays and Tuesdays and whether either show has a chance in hell of coming back next season (53:45 – 1:06:00),
• We then talk briefly about the passing of two great actors, Charles Durning and Jack Klugman. We pay special tribute to Klugman, who made both Oscar Madison and Quincy, ME into iconic roles (1:06:00 – 1:14:00),
• Finally, we talk about the fallacy of the year-end “best of” lists, because it’s hard to make a “best of” list when you haven’t seen everything. We did, however, talk about what we thought were the biggest TV-related stories of 2012, from the rise of hate-watching to the shows that ended long runs to the hype of Girls and other stories (1:14:00 – 1:53:37).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

A surprisingly busy week in the world of TV was overshadowed by the shootings in Newtown, CT, and that’s where we turn our attention to first:

• We talk about how, even though the TV news media was relatively restrained in Newtown, they were still very intrusive, especially when they talked to kids. We also talked about why everyone got the details so wrong at first (02:00 – 19:45),
• We then talk about the season 2 finale of Homeland. Jason wasn’t a fan, and Joel was left scratching his head and wondering whether the show is now going to be a merely good espionage show instead of the great character study it was in its first season (19:45 – 42:15),
• Then we talk about the third season finale of The Voice, and why it seemed that the winner seemed to be preordained (not rigged, mind you, but not a surprise). We talk about why that person won, what’s in store for some of the other contestants, and what the show might be like with Shakira and Usher as coaches (42:15 – 1:04:45),
• We then talk briefly about how 2 Broke Girls is finally putting the girls in a cupcake shop, and if this makes the show any more interesting to watch, despite the dumb and nasty jokes. We also have a sidebar about how women on TV shows seem to get bone skinny in their second seasons (1:04:45 – 1:13:00),
• Then we talk about the way How I Met Your Mother handled the Barney/Robin engagement, and how it kinda sucks that they still don’t know whether this is going to be the last season or not (1:13:00 – 1:22:25),
• Finally, we go over the Golden Globe nominations for TV, wonder why The Newsroom is there and Mad Men isn’t, and why Smash is a musical or comedy but Nashville is a drama, among other mysteries (1:22:25 – 1:41:08).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

We recorded this week’s podcast on the “magical” date 12-12-12, while the massive 12-12-12 charity concert was playing all over TV, so we start things there:

• We talk about charity concerts and telethons like 12-12-12, and how annoyed we’d be if we called in a pledge and got Andy Dick on the phone instead of, say, George Clooney (00:00 – 10:00),
• We then preview the finale of The Voice and discuss why Trevin Hunte blew it, why Christina Aguilera has worn out her welcome, why a singer is almost better off losing, and why you don’t need the grand prize record contract to be successful anymore (10:00 – 39:00),
• Then we talk about the best Survivor season in ages, and how well Lisa Welchel is doing… and she’s doing it in an honorable way! (39:00 – 49:00),
• We then talk about the SAG Awards nominees (The Golden Globes nominations came after we recorded; we’ll discuss them next week), why The Office got a nod for best ensemble while Parks and Rec didn’t, and why the nominations feel like they were made by rote (49:00 – 55:15),
• Then we talk about the latest backlash against Lena Dunham of “Girls,” and wonder why people hate her so much. We also talk about hate-watching and professional jealousy, even outing ourselves for having those ugly feelings (55:15 – 1:18:15),
• Finally, we talk about the eventful next-to-last episode of Homeland’s season, and where the heck the show can possibly go from here (we’re not sure, to be honest). We also speculate if the show has fallen from the ranks of “special” shows (1:18:15 – 1:42:54).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Our friend Will Harris joined us (eventually) for our mid-season review, but we had a few things to talk about first (sorry, no timestamps this week):

• We start by talking about Homeland without really talking about it, considering Jason hasn’t caught up and Will doesn’t watch it. So, despite last week’s crazy episode, you’ll have to wait for next week for us to talk more about the show. We did talk to Will about why exactly he doesn’t watch it, and what our pop culture blind spots are,
• At the 11:30 mark, we talk about the midseason finale of The Walking Dead, and why it’s getting good enough to allow us to shut off our brains and not pick out its flaws,
• At the 40:30 mark, Jason and Joel talk about The4 Voice and how Joel has lost faith in the ability of the American public to pick a proper winner. We also think Trevin Hunte is getting complacent and won’t win. There, we said it,
• Then, at the 46:20 mark, we go into the big mid-season review, where we discuss how all the non-cancelled new shows are going — Jason even gives them letter grades! — and we also talk about older shows that we think are either doing well or slipping badly. That takes about an hour, folks, and we reveal a lot of spoilers, so listen wisely.

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Joel installed a new wifi router, which may explain why Jason’s side sounds slow and delayed. But who knows? Anyway, despite the glitches, we managed to talk about some fun stuff during a slow week:

• We start by talking about how Matt Lauer got lambasted during the Macy’s parade, Black Friday and how the insanity around the day could be media-created, and Joel grumped about how soon holiday programming is starting, something we come back to throughout the podcast (00:00 – 18:50),
• We then talk about the passing of Larry Hagman, discuss how versatile he was, how he went from comedy to drama way before Bryan Cranston ever did, and we try to figure out how the new Dallas series is going to survive without him, because JR Ewing was the best part of it (18:50 – 32:40),
• We then talk about Angus T. Jones and his religion-fueled rant against Two and a Half Men, how this feels different than Charlie Sheen’s rants, and what if any affect it has on the show… if it gets another season (32:40 – 54:30),
• We talk about Revolution’s fall finale and how we have real concerns about NBC’s biggest new show leaving the air for four whole months (54:30 – 57:00),
• We then talk about Parenthood, Shark Tank and The Middle, four fourth-season shows that are all of a sudden getting attention from critics and press, which gets us a little pissed off, since we tried to get people to watch those shows all along (57:00 – 1:18:00),
• We go into The Voice getting down to its final six, how strong the remaining singers are compared to previous seasons, and why Christina Aguilera is the show’s worst coach by far (1:18:00 – 1:35:10)
• Finally, we talk about how much improvement Suburgatory has made in its second season (1:35:10 – 1:49:15).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.

Happy Thanksgiving! Joel and Jason sat down the night before turkey day — right after Joel watched Charlie Brown miss the football yet again — and talked about their plans for the big day. We also talked about some news and some other topics:

• We start by talking about our Thanksgiving TV traditions, and Joel talks about why the Macy’s parade would never fly on TV today if it were a new production (00:00 – 20:00),
• Joel just got turned down for an interview by George Takei, of all people — someone he easily got interviews with when he wasn’t the king of Facebook. Jason and Joel talk about George and other TV stars that have become much harder interview “gets” over the last few years (we’re looking at you, Louis C.K.!) Don’t worry; it’s more fun than bitchy (20:00 – 39:00),
• We then talk about the horrible season premiere of Whitney, why the show’s so bad, whether Whitney Cummings is stretching herself thin because of her three shows, and how 2 Broke Girls has gone from saying “vagina” all the time to saying “anal” as a punchline (39:00 – 49:00),
• CBS cancelled Partners, and ABC cancelled 666 Park Avenue and Last Resort. We talk about why Last Resort should have been on cable, and then we talk about whether NBC is making a mistake by giving it’s biggest new show, Revolution, four months off (spoiler alert: we think they are) (49:00 – 1:01:00),
• Chevy Chase finally left Community. We talk about why he left, why his behavior shouldn’t be a surprise, and why a lot of the not-so-nice things he said were actually right on the money (1:01:00 – 1:10:30),
• Finally, we talk about Discovery cancelling the long-running reality hit Dirty Jobs, why Mike Rowe was such a good host, and why shows like that and Pawn Stars — and not Hardcore Pawn — should be the reality model cable channels follow (1:10:30 – 1:32:29).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads.

By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.