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The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast relocated to Tuesday this week so that Dan and I could discuss – and mostly mock – the Golden Globe nominations. And when that was done – with many, many, many apologies to Mr. Scott Caan – we moved on to list some (but by no means all) of our favorite episodes of TV from the past calendar year, then discussed our feelings about the finale to “Dexter.” The run-down:
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Great! Can’t wait to listen to this later.
Is the 2010’s Best Episodes segment pretty spoiler-free? I’m still catching up on a few series, as I hadn’t really gotten into TV in a big way until a few months ago.
Dante – In the *balance* I think the Episode segment is *fairly* spoiler free, but there definitely are a *few* spoilers. I’m thinking of one “Mad Men” spoiler (though not from the last few episodes) in particular…
-Daniel
LOL Of course Mad Men is one of the series I’m still way behind on. About to start Season 3.
Oh well, I’ll still listen. I’ll just skip ahead a couple minutes when Mad Men comes up.
Thanks for the reply!
Maybe I overthought it, but I took the Lost DVD joke to be specifically about the lack of fulfillment to be had from only watching Season 1.
I usually tend to share Alan’s tastes more than Dan’s(see: my complete disagreement with Dan’s lukewarm reception of this season of Community), but Dan hit two things right on the money for me.
One was the League being incredibly improved this season. My trajectory with the League is similar to yours Dan in that I watched the first few episodes, didn’t really like it, and came back this season largely due to your and Alan’s praising of Vegas Draft and was rewarded with an incredibly strong season of comedy. It may not be the best comedy on TV this fall, but it certainly made me laugh the most. Andre’s horrible music + the Monkey in the car is indeed one of the best scenes of the year for sure, low humor or not.
Secondly, the second you mentioned reality episodes I was saying to myself… “Going Down in Flames”. Parvati’s monologue about how depressing it would be to watch green bananas turn yellow without her debaucherous little villains combined with the insanity of the double idol play was just incredible. Great episode of television that shows reality TV can be pretty damn captivating with interesting people being involved.
The League is a good show, I agree, but I’d say maybe The Anniversary Party was the best episode (not sure if that’s the official title). Taco is usually hard to deal with, but his turn as an evil genius was awesome. I also loved the early Raffi-heavy episodes.
Though 2010 is the first year I watched It’s Always Sunny, I’m surprised not a lot of love for it. I thought Who Got Dee Pregnant? was a great episode, as were several others, and good enough to be part of this conversation.
I’m afraid it was Robert Morse who gave Ida Blankenship’s obituary.
But Roger who delivered the quote I was mangling.
Do you mean the one where Cooper (not me, of course) says she was an astronaut?
I cant remember the line exactly either but I think Alan is referring to Roger’s joke that immediately preceeded Cooper’s more sincere obit. It was something like “She died as she lived, answering other people’s phones.”
“She died as she lived, surrounded by the people she answered phones for.”
Or if you prefer Bert Cooper’s brilliant eulogy: “She was born in 1898 in a barn, She died on the 37th floor of a skyscraper. She’s an astronaut.â€
What a GREAT freakin’ episode…
-Daniel
Great episode but I think you made Scott Caan cry, you guys.
“That’s what the money is for!”
“[What we he going to do? Overpower them both with the fire poker?]”
Vincent and the Doctor, eh? Good episode, I would have chosen The Lodger though.
The Lodger was my favorite episode this season, I think. Even if just for the humor.
It’s a sculpture about modern society. Modern society: isn’t it rubbish?
The Lodger was great, easily one of the best comedy episodes the show has ever done.
But Vincent and the Doctor was a staggering episode. It took a complex, adult issue like depression, and openly discussed it in a show that little kids will watch, yet did it without dumbing the issue down or forgetting that it’s supposed to be an exciting science fiction adventure. Vincent and the Doctor was one of the best episodes of television this year, even if only for the last five minutes (which had me close to tears).
It wasn’t just a “Doctor meets historical person, inspires the thing that person is famous for” story – there was a surprising amount of depth in the episode. The Lodger was a lot of fun, and I loved every minute of it, but Vincent and the Doctor was Great Drama.
I’d have chosen the finale which got out of the corner they’d painted themselves into with finesse, charm and cleverness, putting Lost season 6 to shame by comparison.
The Van Goph episode was fun but by the end it became too shmaltzy.
I love the season overall though, the only season of Dr Who I’ve enjoyed a lot.
I’d definitely have to agree that this season of Doctor Who is “streets ahead” of the previous 4. I loved Tennant, but I love Smith even more. I dunno if that has to do with the improved writing (Moffat is brilliant) or if Smith is just that good. Makes you wonder what it would be like if Tennant had decided to stay on for one final season.
On top of all that, the season was incredibly funny. And bow-ties are cool. So are fezzes.
In defense of Matthew Morrison (who I agree should not have been nominated): I still like him as an actor, and think he is a great singer and can be very charming…when the show decides to let him do his thing. However, I have noticed this year a total lack in both plot and songs for Mr. Schue. Not sure why. So the problem for me is not with Morrison, but with how the Glee people are deciding to handle his character. (Which is to say, not really at all)
Still though, the guy can sing and, when given the opportunity, has some pretty slick dance moves.
I really wish you guys skewered Dexter more for the Quinn thing. “Hey look that wasn’t Robocop’s blood, let’s let him go even though we have a ton of other evidence!” I would trust Paul Blart Mall Cop with a murder investigation more than LaGuerta and Batista.
Okay. I cave. I am an ITunes/Ipod junkie and am getting a NOOK for Christmas, but have never listened to a Podcast. I love blogs and interactive analysis of tv/movies. What is the advantage of ordering a free podcast.
It’s like a pre-recorded radio show. It all depends if you want to hear the people on it or not and judging by your appearance in this thread I’d imagine you do. The appeal of it is you can do other stuff (like say go for a walk or wrap Christmas presents or something) while listening to it and not have to be staring at the screen.
Poor Scott Caan. Where’s the love? :)
Since you brought up the Modern Warfare episode, I thought it appropriate to share this BSG/Community you-tube mashup. I’m not sure how old it is, but it made my day when I found it:
[www.youtube.com]