It’s finales and upfronts time, so there’s a whole lot for Jason and Joel to talk about, even as a massive thunderstorm raged outside of Joel’s window, making her network speeds completely inconsistent. But we soldiered through and talked about all the news:

• We started with America’s Got Talent and its new judge, Howard Stern. Howard was just fine, but the first audition shows gave both of us a big ol’ headache,
• We then start talking about some of our favorite season finales. For starters, we talk about how the finale of The Office gives us hope that they’ll clean up the many mistakes the writers made in season eight,
• Then we talk about the finale of Parks and Recreation, and how it’s probably one of the more consistent comedies on TV right now,
• We then have a long discussion about the How I Met Your Mother finale, and how, with maybe two seasons at the most left, Bays and Thomas need to stop with the red herrings and just start telling the conclusion of their story,
• Then talk turns to the 2 Broke Girls finale, a show that declined as the season went on. But maybe they finally gave the side characters some more personality in the hour-long season-ender.
• Finally, we launch into our discussion of the new fall schedules announced by ABC, NBC and FOX (CBS announced theirs this morning). Will Happy Endings and Don’t Trust the B work on their own? Is NBC burning off Community on Fridays? Does Glee need to be propped up by The X Factor? Will all these new comedies work? And where’s all the reality shows?

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 did not watch American Idol like he promised last week, so Jason had every right to call him names. They did, however talk about a certain singing show that ended this week, along with a whole bunch of TV-related stuff:

• We started with The Voice finale, and how it became more about Christina Aguilera vs. Tony Lucca than about singing or who won,
• In the middle of that discussion, we talk about how it seems like the watching experience of a lot of reality shows really suffers when you don’t follow things on Twitter, blogs, and other online sources,
• Then we turn to the endless slog that is America’s Got Talent, and why Joel thinks that Howard Stern will not only not take over the show, but be a pretty good judge,
• Joel then marvels at how Stephen Colbert and the Colbert Bump worked once again, this time for Maurice Sendak, only a few months before the great children’s book author/illustrator passed away,
• We then talk about the prospects of Cougar Town shifting to TBS (which was confirmed today). We speculated whether the cast would have to take pay cuts (which won’t happen) and discuss why this show will be so important to TBS,
• We then have our now-weekly Mad Men talk, where we talk about some of the episode’s obvious symbolism, some ominous foreshadowing that might be a red herring, and why we didn’t buy Alexis “Rory Gilmore” Bledel as a put-upon sixties housewife,
• Finally, we preview a few things we might talk about next week, like why the NBA and NHL playoffs have lost their luster, very serious cartoon reboots, and how websites are back doing the “everyone in the office” model of journalism.

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.

Jason and Joel are joined this week by friend of the ‘cast Will Harris of The AV Club and elsewhere, and we start things by asking him about his favorite Random Roles interviews… mainly because he’s done a lot of them lately. We then go on to talk about the stories of the week:

• We talk about the finalists on The Voice, Christina Aguilera on making the show about herself, and why the American Idol final five are better,
• We then talk about Girls once again, and we try to figure out why everyone else loves it and the three of us only kind of like it,
• Then we have a brief talk about this week’s Mad Men, the BJ scene, and why Kiernan Shipka is breaking out acting-wise this year,
• We talk about two NBC Thursday comedies: the 30 Rock live episode and how the west coast lost the Paul McCartney-Kim K. switch, and Community’s spot-on Law & Order parody episode. Oh, and we lather praise on Jon Hamm,
• We then talk about NBC’s decision to premiere Grimm’s 2nd season and Matthew Perry’s new show directly after the Olympics are over, which gives Will a chance to talk about the time when Matthew Perry ignored him,
• Netflix might revive Jericho. Joel whines that there are too many depressing apocalyptic shows on TV already,
• Will talks about getting immersed in a DVD set of the second season of the original Fantasy Island,
• Finally, we talk about why the life of being a TV critic sometimes resembles high school, especially on Twitter. And the funny thing? It’s mostly geeks shutting out geeks.

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.

Jason and Joel start the festivities by talking about how Jason can watch shows at double speed, the use of the DVR fast forward button as an editor (which Salon discussed this week) and the dilemma of adding cable/satellite boxes around the house, especially when all of your TVs can handle HD programming. Then we get to the matter at hand, which is, of course, the fun TV stories of the week:

• Jason watched last week’s Mad Men in double time so we could talk about it, mainly because it was such an interesting episode. We talk about all the trips taken in the episode, and how we think Roger’s is the best one of all of ‘em. We also give our own memories of eating/staying at Howard Johnson’s,
• We then talk about the premiere of HBO’s Veep, and why the criticism that the show should give Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character a political affiliation is bogus,
• We smoothly segue into talking about President Obama’s appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s show (where he “Slow Jammed the News”). We talk about why Obama is appearing on so many late night talk shows when his predecessors never did (at least while in office) and if this diminishes the presidency a little bit,
• We then talk about Girls — of course. We liked episode 2 better than the pilot. But mostly we talk about the backlash, especially the essays about the show’s racial makeup,
• Finally, we talk about why the remaining singers on The Voice aren’t nearly as compelling as who’s left on Idol and why The Voice’s coaches seem to stumble in the live rounds phase.

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.

Right before we clicked the mics on for this week’s podcast, we learned about the death of TV legend Dick Clark, so we spent the first 20 minutes or so talking about Dick and our memories of American Bandstand. We also discussed his legacy in the business (Pyramid, the AMAs, Bloopers, etc., etc.) and how Ryan Seacrest is already most of the way to becoming the new Dick Clark. We then talked about some other pressing TV matters:

• Neither of us were overly impressed with the premiere of HBO’s Girls, but we seem to be the only ones. We try to figure out whether this is a case of TV critic groupthink or if we’re the idiots and should just keep watching,
• We then talk about the premiere of Veep on HBO this weekend, and why Julia Louis-Dreyfus is so good at taking an unfunny line and making it funny,
• We then discuss the big contestant walk-off on The Biggest Loser and if this might change how reality competition contestants deal with twists in the game,
• We give The Celebrity Apprentice a couple of minutes of our time, mainly because we feel bad for Dayna Mendoza as she gets torn apart week after week by Lisa Lampanelli. We also acknowledge we’re probably the only two people still watching the show.
• Finally, we talk about how The Voice seemed to be winging it with its “instant eliminations” last week, why Christina Aguilera dumped Jesse Campbell, and why we think this year’s crop of singers is not nearly as compelling as last year’s.

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.

Because he dared to challenge us on our “decline of the recap” discussion a couple of weeks ago, we decided to bring old friend Mike Moody of Screenpunk.net and Badass Digest to come on and talk about why he still thinks the recap is a great read… when it’s done right. We also talked about a bunch of TV news:

• Jason and Joel talked about the passing of Mike Wallace and how every local “scams and schemes” reporter has him to thank for their careers,
• Mr. Moody then joins us to talk about the premiere of the surprisingly funny — and oddly named — Don’t Trust the B—- In Apartment 23,
• We then discuss the second episode of The Killing and how watching it over an entire season instead of all at once might have led to the critical backlash. We also discuss whether Mad Men mania is a problem for this show or not,
• Speaking of season-long arcs, we discuss David Simon’s rant against the glut of TV recapping, and if it’s worth reading reviews of individual episodes is doing a show like The Killing a disservice,
• We then talk about Britney Spears probably singing on for The X Factor, and why the coaches continue to be the story on The Voice,
• Joel lets Jason and Mike geek out on Game of Thrones for a few minutes,
• Finally, we talk about FOX re-airing the pilot of Married… With Children and why it was such a revolutionary show.

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 cheated on AFT a bit when he appeared on the TVx3 Podcast, and he was fighting a nasty chest cold, but he and Jason still took on the TV stories of the week with gusto:

• We talked about the season premiere of The Killing and how it basically picked up where season one left off, and maybe not for the better,
• We then talk about how poor January Jones gets depicted on Mad Men, especially after last week’s Fat Betty episode,
• Then we talk about how Mad Men tries to be subtle about the changes in society happening around his characters, which we equate to living during a time when beepers and dumbphones were considered “normal”,
• We then talk about the season premiere of Game of Thrones and how it made everything make sense for Jason,
• Then we turned to the Community battle between Dan Harmon and Chevy Chase and explain why it’s not such a big deal (hint: think of Chevy’s history),
• We talk about this week’s morning show wars, with Sarah Palin and Katie Couric doing battle, and why Couric is such a natural in the mornings (and Ann Curry isn’t),
• Finally, we talk about the possible departures of Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg from SNL and who might step up to fill the void.

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 week had some interesting TV news (and non-TV news, namely the Trayvon Martin case), but for the most part the week has been Mad Men, Mad Men and more Mad Men, and that’s what we lead off with:

• We talk about the Mad Men season 5 premiere and wonder if the critics lathered praise on it because it was really good or because they were just extremely happy to see it back,
• We then discuss the emergence of Jessica Pare as the show’s new “star” and what her character might mean to Don Draper’s story,
• Then we talk about this article in Gawker and discuss why writing, editing and reading recaps has lost a lot of the charm it had when TWoP (and TV Squad!) was doing them in the “dark ages” (i.e. 2005-06),
• We then talk about Alcatraz and why Jason felt that the show failed because it didn’t know what it wanted to be,
• We talk about why Terra Nova got cancelled with the same numbers that got Smash renewed,
• Then talk turns to why Smash is so disappointing and what the show can do to improve in season two,
• Finally, Jason convinces me to give Game of Thrones a try (season two starts this weekend) even though I’m not a big medieval fantasy-liking guy.

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 never think we’re going to talk for an hour and a half, but we end up doing it anyway, mainly because we’re both so damned talkative. Anyway, lots of stuff to talk about this week, so the 90 minutes is justified:

• We talk about CBS’ renewals, and why we don’t talk about procedurals on this show very much (but we have an idea for a new NCIS edition if CBS is listening),
• Why Jason is watching House until its bitter end,
• The Walking Dead ended its bumpy second season last week; we talk about the finale and the exciting setup for the third season,
• We also discuss whether people expect AMC shows to be smarter than others because of Breaking Bad and Mad Men, and how that made people angry about the finale of The Killing, which comes back next week,
• We drop some hints about what year it is in the Mad Men premiere,
• Did HBO really cancel Luck because it was too dangerous? We think it was more about bad buzz — or lack of it — rather than about danger to horses. Oh, and no one cared enough about horse racing to watch in big numbers,
• We talk about the Rosie Show debacle, and if we’re happy to see Oprah Winfrey struggling with OWN,
• We discuss why shows like Rob get audiences that blow shows like Community and Parks and Rec away,
• Are there just too many singing and dancing shows? We discuss why The Voice is outdrawing DWTS with the younger audiences (and we briefly discuss Adam Levine being cast on American Horror Story… yes, you read that right).
• Finally, we talk about Marc Maron’s new IFC sitcom and what our motivations were for starting a podcast.

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.

After Joel had some “issues” last week, we’re back and talking about more fun and games from the world of TV:

• It feels like there’s so much more pilot news than there used to be, right? Or is it more pilots? We wonder why networks (besides CBS) are holding out for their development season to pan out before renewing shows,
• Lindsay Lohan was really bad on SNL, but at this point, it really doesn’t matter, does it? We also talk about how the show is such an institution that it doesn’t make wholesale changes anymore,
• We then go into the (not so surprising) deaths on The Walking Dead and Desperate Housewives, and why they made sense on one but not so much on the other,
• We discuss the Mad Men premiere, because Joel’s already seen it. But we don’t say much about it because of Matt Weiner’s skittish spoiler policy, which we also discuss,
• Then talk turns to why the battle rounds of The Voice are so incredibly awkward, and why the show is really banking on the personalities of the coaches (Cee Lo’s cat, Christina’s head disk and side boob, etc.)
• Finally, we talk about the desperate moves Simon Cowell is making to keep The X Factor relevant while The Voice and Idol reign.

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 geek out at the start of this week’s podcast by talking about our old IT days and what a waste of time and money getting certifications was (how we got on that topic makes for an interesting listen), but then we get on to the business of TV:

• Yes, the Oscars sucked and Billy Crystal’s shtick was moldy, but we take pains to figure out how the broadcast can be improved,
• We also talk about the pretty boring new cast for Dancing With The Stars, and speculate why they didn’t pick up anyone “of the moment” like Chaz Bono,
• FX is debuting Charlie Sheen’s and Russell Brand’s new shows the same night Louie and Wilfred come back, and we discuss if this is a good strategy,
• We talk about Smash and why its ratings are mediocre (but good for NBC). Hint: There’s too much insidery Broadway stuff,
• We then launch into a discussion about The Walking Dead and how incredibly dumb its characters are; Jason then somehow manages to compare TWD to Smash, of all things.
• Finally, we talk about Perez Hilton getting a TV show and why we think that’s so 2007.

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 were sort of feeling our way through a week that was relatively light news-wise, but there were a few topics that held our interest:

• Community’s back, back on Thursday nights. We talk about why that’s a good thing for the show and NBC,
• We also talk about why we stick with comedies, even though they start out sucking hard. We talk about a few comedies that developed into halfway decent shows after starting out being the worst ever,
• We talk about ratings, from Cougar Town’s lousy ones to the fact that The Voice is now outdrawing American Idol,
• Both of us discuss shows we’ve been convinced to pick back up after dropping them from our viewing rotation,
• We also mention why, even in the age of Hulu and the DVR, why viewers still drift in and out of shows like they used to in days past,
• Finally, we discuss the lousy 500th episode of The Simpsons, and why it’s not indicative of how good this season has been.

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 was an interesting week in TV, mostly having to do with things that aren’t TV related. Jason and Joel talk about how TV viewers experienced these events, and other, more mundane TV news:

• We talk about how the coverage of Whitney Houston’s death feels weirdly backwards to us (praiseworthy then questioning instead of the other way around),
• Then we talk about how the Grammys handled the event, and whether more awards shows should follow their performance-heavy format,
• We talk about The Walking Dead’s mid-season premiere, and how it got great ratings opposite the Grammys, which attracted almost 40 million viewers,
• Just the opposite happened with Cougar Town, which only got less than 5 million viewers despite all the promotion, and we discuss why,
• We talk about how Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Men isn’t geeky enough,
• Then we do our own bit on Jeremy Lin’s breakout week, and how the Knicks’ point guard is sort of like deep-voiced Ted Williams, last year’s media-generated phenomenon,
• Finally, we discuss why late night talk show interviews are boring, and why they can’t me more like the Jon Stewart/Ricky Gervais laughfest from earlier this week.

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.

At least one of us was very happy with the result of the Super Bowl (one of us really didn’t care), and most of our conversation revolves around the game broadcast and its repercussions:

• We start by talking about the game and the broadcast, loving the fact that NBC played it fairly straightforward,
• Then we talk about the halftime show, where we both thought Madonna did a decent job (and Joel gives his theory on why M.I.A. gave the finger),
• We move on to the ads — which we liked, which we didn’t, and which were spoiled by previews on the web,
• Then the topic turns to The Voice and its killer ratings in both the post-Super Bowl slot and its regular Monday broadcast. We discuss what makes the show so appealing (a lot of it has to do with the coaches),
• We then talk about the debut of Smash and why it got only 11 or so million viewers despite NBC’s promotional blitz. Perhaps it’s a bit too insidery?
• The River premiered on Tuesday, and we give it a little preview,
• Finally, we talk about why Comedy Central’s Key & Peele is the closest the network has come to replacing Chappelle’s Show.

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’ve already slipped up on our schedule, thanks to Joel’s deadlines and Jason’s sleepiness. But we’re back, just under the wire to talk about one of the biggest TV events of the year… plus the Giants-Patriots game that will wrap around it:

• First, though, we talk a little about the goings on during pilot season, and why you should take all this news about pilot casting with a big grain of salt,
• We talk about the shake-up on The X Factor and why Beyonce might just want to take Simon Cowell’s rumored gigantic offer to be a judge,
• Then we talk about the Super Bowl and the fact that most of the biggest ads have already been circulated on the web. Jason laments on how much that’s ruined the fun,
• We talk about David Letterman’s 30th anniversary in late night and how vanilla his show has gotten,
• We also marvel at how Kathie Lee and Hoda have become late night stars for NBC (they air reruns of at 2 AM),
• We discuss the insanity of hours-long Super Bowl pre-game shows,
• We discuss the very bad idea of a Dwight-centric spin-off of The Office,
• Finally, we talk a little about the passing of Don Cornelius of Soul Train.

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.

Would you look at that? We’re back within a week for the first time in about a month! Jason and Joel talk about all the little goings-on in a slow-ish TV week:

• We discuss the demise of the SOPA and PIPA laws and whether protests against the anti-piracy proposals were spot-on or if they were hype,
• We talk about Paula Deen and her “diabeetus” and Joel talks about why he didn’t help his along during the TCA tour,
• From there we go on to the annoying new trend of self-help daytime talk shows, most notably ABC’s The Chew and The Revolution,
• We discuss the huge ratings the Giants/Niners and Pats/Ravens games got, and why football is getting so big when other sports’ ratings are on the decline,
• We talk about how the Super Bowl’s likely huge ratings will translate to the second season premiere of The Voice,
• Speaking of which, we talk about the decline in ratings of American Idol and if it’s hearing The Voice’s footsteps,
• We talk about the first few episodes of Alcatraz, and whether J.J. Abrams is bullshitting us when he says he’s going to keep it “accessible,”
• Finally, we talk a little about Touch, which is Kiefer Sutherland’s return to TV. Let’s just say he’s not Jack Bauer-esque in this one.

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’s back from the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, and he and Jason talk about his trip and other TV news of the day:

• We talk about the TCAs, with a description of how the tour actually operates,
• Joel goes over the eventful 2 Broke Girls TCA panel, which was one of the more tense ones in years (thank you, Michael Patrick King),
• We talk about why it’s tough to find real breaking news at the TCAs anymore,
• We discuss the return of Cougar Town and the efforts Bill Lawrence and company made to get it back on the air.,
• We talk about Ricky Gervais’ lame hosting of the Golden Globes,
• Then there’s a discussion of the awards themselves, which were crazy as usual,
• We yet again turn to How I Met Your Mother and how the second half of the season will go,
• Joel talks about his TCA encounter with Charlie Sheen,
• Finally, there are some more assorted TCA stories, like how Joel got screwed by Al Gore and his interview with The Walking Dead’s Glen Mazzara and Robert Kirkman.

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 new year off with a potpourri of topics, mainly because the new year is when there isn’t much to do but look back and look forward:

• We talk about what’s coming up for midseason, including a preview of some of the shows Joel has already seesn (Smash: Good. The Firm: not so good),
• We both give our favorite TV moments of 2011,
• We discuss the various New Year’s Eve shows and why New Year’s Day on TV isn’t nearly as fun as it used to be (when was the last time you watched the Rose Parade?),
• We talk about the viral marketing of Cougar Town,
• We talk about how there’s absolutely nothing going on during the week between Christmas and New Year’s ,
• Joel talks a little about the TCA press tour, which he’ll be attending starting this week,
• Finally, we talk about why “stalwart” reality shows like Survivor, SYTYCD, and Idol are slipping and if this format will be around in a few years.

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 took a bit of a break… well, it was more of a case where Joel got busy and lazy at the same time, but we’re back right before Christmas to talk about the big news in TV over the last couple of weeks:

• The Golden Globe nominations and why they should never be taken seriously,
• How we are entering Rollerball days — we discuss the disgusting tenseness of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and the protests against Lowe’s after they pulled their ads from All-American Muslim,
• We talk about Ricky Gervais’ new HBO show, Life’s Too Short, which debuts in January,
• We discuss Howard Stern as an America’s Got Talent judge, but briefly because we know the story will linger forever,
• We talk about Jimmy Fallon hosting SNL,
• We discuss the roll that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are on lately,
• Finally, we quickly go over our favorite holiday specials and episodes.

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 a bit of a slow week, but there was some interesting stuff going on in the world of TV. Here are some of the topics we touched on in a very all-over-the-place podcast:

• The midseason finale of The Walking Dead and why it was so damned slow,
• We discuss how I Hate My Teenage Daughter could have been a good show instead of the awful one that premiered this week,
• Jason tells Joel about why he should start watching American Horror Story again,
• We talk about the possible X Factor judge switch, and why all the groups and over-30 contestants are mostly gone already.
• We discuss some midseason hot issues, among them NBC holding good shows like Smash, Awake and Bent for midseason, and the impact The Voice will have on NBC’s ratings,
• Joel inadvertently creates a new show called “Pardon the Enthusiasm,” starring Tony Kornheiser and Larry David,
• Finally, we talk about TV Land’s “comfort food” sitcoms.

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! Before we left to guzzle down turkey and fixin’s, Jason and Joel talked about all the changes in the TV universe this week, including:

• The ABC midseason schedule, including the cutting of the episode order for Cougar Town,
• NBC picking up Up All Night for 2 more episodes and Grimm for a full season,
• Sarah Silverman getting a new NBC pilot,
• Whether we think the new Muppet movie will do well,
• The surprise pregnancy on How I Met Your Mother and whether it’s a 7th season Hail Mary (we disagree, as we do on whether The Office is limping along this season),
• Arrested Development’s new episodes landing on Netflix, and what that means for the service,
• And finally, we bitch about how complicated it is to manage our DVRs, especially when networks won’t co-operate and put shows online or on demand.

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 now 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.

Lots of news was breaking around the TV landscape this week, some right before Jason and Joel flipped on their podcasting machines. We talk a little about the weird, creepy Jerry Sandusky interview on Rock Center, along with these topics:

• We talk about Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes and why they decided to bring him back,
• NBC’s midseason shakeup, including the shelving of Community,
• Why Anna Kournikova exited The Biggest Loser,
• CBS’s morning shakeup, and why having a “hard news” show might stand out against the cooking segments and fashion shows on the other morning shows,
• South Park getting renewed through its (gulp) 20th season, and more,

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 now 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.

Besides Andy Rooney’s death and Regis’ departure (which we say we’re going to talk about but don’t), it was a slow-ish week in the world of TV. Jason and I manage to find a bunch of stuff to talk about, though, despite the slow week and some technical difficulties:

• We talk about whether we think the new Jason Segel-penned Muppet movie is going to make old Muppet fans like us happy,
• The ratings for the premiere of Hell on Wheels,
• The minuscule ratings for Chuck and if NBC will let the final season play out ,
• The expansion of Sons of Anarchy’s season and the renewal of Spartacus,
• Once Upon A Time and why the time to jump into the show is now,
• Finally, we talk about why we cover shows that are considered “buzzy” and why others (i.e. procedurals, Tim Allen shows) aren’t talked about that often.

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 now 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.

After a bit of a break (Joel went on a mini-vacation… hey, he’s allowed), Joel and Jason come back to talk about the pertinent topics in the thick of the fall season:

• We discuss The Walking Dead after the second episode, wondering if the show is slowing down or doing a good job of telling us about the non-zombie characters,
• Whether the ratings “slide” of Two and a Half men is for real or if they’re just losing the rubberneckers,
• ABC’s “Man Block” and which shows may work in a new version of “TGIF”,
• Why The Middle gets such short shrift from critics,
• More ABC: The success of the season premiere of Once Upon A Time,
• Finally, we have a discussion on the merits of week-to-week show recaps/reviews (let’s just say Joel doesn’t miss doing them and Jason does).

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 now 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.

Because we wanted to geek out over the shocking finale of Breaking Bad, we brought back Will Harris (not Bill Harris from last week, but Will Harris from three weeks ago. There will be a quiz soon). In addition to a spoiler-filled discussion of the BB finale (so fast forward to the 24-minute mark and listen from there if you haven’t seen it yet), the three of us talk about:

• NBC’s quick cancellation of The Playboy Club and Free Agents,
• The demise of H8R (good!) and How To Be A Gentleman (again… good move),
• If FOX’s pushing of new episodes of New Girl is going to affect the show’s momentum,
• The contentious Simpsons negotiations — and two-year renewal, where Joel defends FOX’s stance that the show might be worth more dead than alive,
• Finally, we list our biggest disappointments of the season so far, as well as other odds and ends.

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.

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

It’s week two of the new fall season, and we’ve already seen a few shows get picked up (Whitney, New Girl, Up All Night) and one get canceled (The Playboy Club). This week, a bona fide newspaper TV critic, the very funny Bill Harris of the Toronto Sun, joins Jason and Joel to talk about the goings on in the young TV season:

• We speculate on who will be the first network news anchor to interview Amanda Knox,
• We talk about the latest Arrested Development news and how sick we all are of the unending updates about the show (even though we’d all love to see it come back),
• We try to figure out why “SNL” has been off its game so far this season,
• We talk about what’s worked and what hasn’t in the new season so far, including Bill’s vigorous defense of the now-canceled Playboy Club and the soon-to-air American Horror Story,
• Finally, we talk about why shows like The Office and How I Met Your Mother keep airing beyond the time when what made them special is no longer there (big surprise: money is involved).

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.

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

The Emmys are behind us and the season’s in full swing, so it was a good time to have a comedy expert on the show. To that end, Jason and Joel are joined by Adam Frucci, editor of the fantastic comedy-centric site Splitsider. We talk about the Emmys (which Adam actually attended), along with some of the news coming from the first week of the fall season:

• The first Ashton Kutcher episode of Two and a Half Men and how awkward it was,
• How Emmy champ Modern Family laid waste to The X Factor in the ratings,
• We talk about the continued mythology of How I Met Your Mother and how unnecessary it is,
• And we discuss the hideously sexist ads for Whitney.

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.

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

Jason and Joel are joined by Will Harris of AV Club and Bullz-Eye fame this week to talk about all the new fall shows on the broadcast networks:

• We go through the schedule day by day and discuss each new show,
• We also talk about the prospects of the retooled, Kutcher-fied Two and a Half Men,
• Joel admits to his brain farts from the last podcast,
• Oh, and we mention the Emmys at the very end. Did you know those were this week, too?

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.

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

It’s just Jason and Joel this week, as we recover from Hurricane Irene and the Mike Schur extravaganza and get ourselves ready for the fall season:

• We talk about a bunch of different shows, including Pan Am, The Playboy Club, all the new comedies, and the travesty that is Working It,
• We also talk about The X Factor and if America is ready for the return of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul,
• Joel talks about the fun and games of having his power knocked out due to the hurricane,
• We talk about the premiere of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and how Bravo (didn’t really) deal with the suicide of Russell Armstrong,
• Finally, Joel’s advice to celebrities on how to stay out of the spotlight, Beyoncé-and-Jay-Z style.

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.

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

Mike Schur, executive producer of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, was kind enough to join us on the podcast this week. As Irene bears down on the Northeast, we breezily talked about his show (but not until the 50-minute mark) and… baseball! Yes, you heard me. The man whose Twitter ID is @kentremendous knows a thing or two about the national pastime, and we talk about it here, as well as the following stuff:

• Jason’s encounter with Jack Buck, whether Joe Buck should take the night off, the wonders of Vin Scully, and how silly different announcers are,
• Mike’s thoughts on Nick Offerman’s Emmy snub, and why it’s so tough to come up with a list of nominees these days,
• Some trivia on the SNL skit where Jimmy Fallon “predicted” his 2011 hosting gig (Mike was a writer there at the time),
• Why the east cost earthquake was sort of like Carmegeddon,
• And, like I said, some fun stuff about the new season of Parks and Rec.

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.

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

The other reason was that we’re going to be recording the next podcast early this week, on Thursday. That when we hope we’ll get Mike Schur, executive producer of Parks and Recreation, to sit in with me and Jason and shoot the breeze about TV, sports, and his show.

So, stay tuned. A new podcast should up either Friday or Saturday.

Despite what seems like me screaming into my studio mike and Jason and our guest Kona Gallagher seemingly dropping out at various times, we managed to get a podcast together (Kona did it from her cell phone! Will technology ever fail to amaze us?). We talked about a hodgepodge of stuff, mainly because we’re in the summer doldrums:

• The Breaking Bad renewal, the Walking Dead firing and why AMC is all of a sudden acting like hard-asses with their shows,
• Why MDA thought it was a good idea to unceremoniously dump Jerry Lewis right before the Labor Day telethon,
• A little bit of Emmy talk, though it seemed like no one was really interested just yet,
• Jason prattling on about Eureka’s cancellation and the winner of So You Think You Can Dance,
• And a bunch of stuff that I can’t seem to remember right now (we were all over the map).

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.

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

Mike Moody, a former TV Squad colleague of ours, as well as a sci fi fan extraordinaire, joins us this week to talk about:

• The TCA Awards and how Nick Offerman finally got his due from someone,
• Why the broadcast networks continue to offer audiences awful summer scripted series, like Friends With Benefits,
• The legacy of Lucille Ball, who would have turned 100 last week (without her, there’d be no Star Trek!),
• How the first season of Falling Skies turned out, what Mike and Jason are looking forward to in sci fi fare this year, and if Terra Nova is going to suck or not,
• Which comedies on the air today will stand the test of time,
• And more.

You can listen to the podcast above, download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes.

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

Since we took some gentle swipes at our friend Bob Sassone last week, we figured it was a good time to ask him to come on the podcast. Bob joins us to talk about:

• My appearance on Jay Black’s PodClack last week,
• The start of the TCA press tour, how no news has come out of it so far, and how it may have reached the end of its usefulness,
• About how the fall pilot season isn’t special anymore, and which pilot we think might be the first to be cancelled,
• More on the Glee saga, as we finally find out why Jason has such an affinity for shows about singing and dancing (it’s a fun revelation…),
• Why TNT canceled Men of a Certain Age but renewed Franklin and Bash,
• Who might be the audience for soaps like All My Children if and when they go online,
• And more.

You can listen to the podcast above, download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes.

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

We held off the podcast a bit to talk about all the goings-on at Comic-Con, then we realized that nothing much happened. Anyway, Jay Black joins Jason Hughes and me to talk about:

• Why it seems no news comes out of Comic-Con anymore, and why it seems that even the TCA press tour matters less than it used to,
• As we talk about the Glee news that the kids who are graduating aren’t actually leaving the show, Jay questions us about why any man in his right mind would watch the show,
• We talk about the shocking scene from the season premiere of Breaking Bad,
• After reading an assessment of Conan at the AV Club, we talk about how we think he’s doing,
• And more.

You can listen to the podcast above, download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes.

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

I decided to do away with the whole 101, 102 BS. There are no seasons to this podcast; we’re just counting and that’s it. Why be so pretentious? Anyway, after a week break, Jason and I got together to talk about:

• The Primetime Emmy nominations, which were released on Thursday. We go over most of the major categories (can you tell which ones we accidentally missed?) and talk about surprises (Kathy Bates?), snubs (Where’s Nick Offerman?), and how the academy got most of the nominations right,
• The death of Sherwood Schwartz, the man behind classics like Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Bunch,
• The fact that the some of the Glee kids are actually going to graduate at the end of next season,
• And more.

You can listen to the podcast above, download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes.

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

Yeah, I decided to use the acronym “AFT.” Hopefully it’s not too douchey… Anyway, this week Jason and Joel (that’s me) are joined by Will Harris of Bullz-Eye, Premium Hollywood and The AV Club to talk about:

• The weirdness of ‘Wilfred’ and why so many people tuned in,
• The finale of ‘The Voice,’ including a lot about Christina Aguilera hauling “the girls” into place on camera,
• The rumors that James Spader is going to sign on to be the new boss on ‘The Office’… for a couple of episodes,
• Some fun, unspoilery information about the return of ‘Breaking Bad’
• And more.

You can listen to the podcast above, download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes.

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

It’s the first official Antenna Free TV podcast! Jason and Joel (that’s me) decided to do this one by themselves, but we just won’t be hearing ourselves speak. It would be just too weird. Anyway, this week we talk about:

• All the anger over the first season finale of ‘The Killing,’
• The premiere of ‘Falling Skies,’
• Why ‘The Voice’ has been so compelling to even non-music show fans (and why Christina Aguilera is morphing into Snooki),
• The return of ‘Futurama’ and ‘Louie,’
• And more.

You can listen to the podcast above, download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes.

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

Why are we calling this podcast 0.5? Because it’s beta, and it sounds that way (let’s just say someone’s headset was causing a lot of noise). Jason Hughes and I welcome Danny Gallagher in to talk TV and whatever else comes to mind, including:

• A little (very little) about the demise of TV Squad and how much fun we had doing those old TV Squad podcasts,
• The season that just ended and the trends we saw by the end (e.g. lots of old shows wheezing through half-assed seasons),
• Some observations about the pilots the networks bought during upfront season, even if we’re not 100% sure of what the names of all of them are (but we do know Damon Wayans Jr. is in one of them… even though he’s also in Happy Endings).

You can listen to the podcast below, download it here, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.