Listen: Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 54
Dan and Alan talk 'Lights Out,' 'Off the Map,' 'Harry's Law' and Press Tour
Happy Monday, Boys & Girls. It's Firewall & Iceberg Podcast time, now with Alan and Dan in the same room!
Alan is in Los Angeles for the Television Critics Association press tour, so that's the first order of business, followed by reviews of "Off the Map," "Lights Out" and "Harry's Law."
Here's the breakdown:
Press Tour - 00:00:00 - 00:21:10
"Off the Map" - 00:25:40 - 00:35:50
"Lights Out" - 00:36:00 - 00:50:05
"Harry's Law" - 0051:20 - 01:01:30
As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed.]
And here's the podcast...
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJason22
January 10, 2011 at 6:53PM EST Reply to CommentDan, I love the podcast, I listen every week, but this one is as listenable as the road trip one. Your mic is either not on at all, or you're not talking into it. Alan I can hear no problem, you sound like you are in a different state.
I even tried listening on itunes in case it was a problem with the site, but nope you are the problem, sorry to say.
sepinwall Jason, you're the second person to mention this, and consider us puzzled. Not only did we record the podcast sitting next to each other with the laptop equi-distant, but I've listened to the podcast on the site, via iTunes, the raw feed, etc., and Dan and I sound like we're the exact same volume.
January 10, 2011 at 7:17PM ESTHonestly not sure what the issue is. If we have time, we'll mess around with Garage Band, but it sounds perfectly fine to me - and certainly in a way that the Car Podcast did not.
Shitegeist Sounds fine to me. Dan is marginally quieter than Alan, but I suspect that's more to do with their respective talking volumes than any kind of recording issue.
January 10, 2011 at 7:33PM ESTVentalation The volume go much lower following the commercial insert after the Press Tour discussion. The first portion was fine, after that not so much.
January 10, 2011 at 8:20PM EST
January 11, 2011 at 2:00PM ESTlylebot It was fine at the beginning, but I had to keep turning up the volume louder and louder to hear Dan.
January 11, 2011 at 4:52PM ESTM
January 10, 2011 at 7:42PM EST Reply to CommentSeriously, is there a bigger hack working today than David E. Kelley? He hasn't done anything fresh or original in over a decade and yet he pops up with a new show full of one-dimenesionally "wacky" characters every couple of years. They are cringe inducing and terrible and always THE SAME. Can't he just stay home and let Michelle Pfeiffer go out and earn the money? She's the one who we don't see enough of!
fred
January 10, 2011 at 7:56PM EST Reply to Comment(At times Dan seems to be/get a little farther away from the mic than Alan, who's always right in front of it (and Dan can get lower as he goes on), but I can hear both of them fine.)
But really, Dan, stay away from Caroline, she's mine! :)
dan
January 10, 2011 at 8:35PM EST Reply to CommentI believe I may have accidentally adjusted volume levels on only one segment of a multi-segment podcast, rather than on the podcast as a whole.
My apologies, folks!
-Dan
Kreso
January 10, 2011 at 11:10PM EST Reply to CommentIt sometimes seems as if Dan was talking to his beard, and you can't hear it well... But otherwise great podcast, as usuall.
Farrah
January 11, 2011 at 2:53AM EST Reply to CommentRe Nate Corddry, according to Wikipedia, he plays Harry's son apparently he's supposed to take the role of some character from the pilot.
sepinwall As always, you only wanna trust Wikipedia so far, Farrah. Corddry is not playing Harry's son.
January 11, 2011 at 10:33AM ESTTausif Khan
January 11, 2011 at 5:04AM EST Reply to CommentAlan this might be something you need to add to your potential FAQ section but is there a specific reason for why you don't watch PBS dramas and won't review them?
Dan are you or Alan going to be doing any video interviews at TCA?
In terms of the sponsorship issue I think it could be positive in that shows that are in danger of cancellation could sponsor the podcast. Terriers might have benefited from this. Alan's column towards the end of the shows run was basically a commercial for the show. So I don't find this partnership completely nefarious. Maybe Fringe would like to sponsor the podcast in the future...
Anyway hope all is well at press tour. Let us know if there are any strange questions like "Your two sons they're both boys?" and can't wait for the next podcast.
sepinwall I review PBS dramas on occasion, Tausif. I did it with "Sherlock," for instance. Mostly, though, it's a matter of both time and interest, and period costume drama usually isn't my bag. I know a lot of critics loved "Downton Abbey," but I'm not a fan of that genre and had 27 other things I needed to watch and write about before press tour, so I did some triage.
January 11, 2011 at 10:34AM EST
January 11, 2011 at 2:05PM ESTTausif Khan @Alan I was wasn't trying to say that you refuse to review PBS dramas. I am a regular reader of your columns and the podcast so I know that PBS dramas' subject matter don't appeal to you. I just wondering if there was a critical reason as to why you don't watch PBS dramas besides the fact that the subject matter does not appeal to you. I can understand that these shows aren't in your DNA (as Maureen Ryan would say) but I know you like to appreciate shows that are well written and well acted (which is a hallmark of PBS dramas).
January 11, 2011 at 3:14PM ESTI read your review for Sherlock and enjoyed it. However, I found Sherlock to be the most unmasterpiece of masterpiece program with quick cuts and an even faster moving plot.
I understand if women in bonnets is not your cup of tea. It isn't for me either. However, those aren't the only types of dramas on masterpiece. Two of my favorite masterpiece programs are 39 Steps and Foyle's War. Which were either action packed or were well written, well acted with great character development. More over they both had war and political intrigue as a back drop. So I was just hoping you would give some of the dramas a chance in the future.
If you don't review them that is fine.
Maybe because Dan lamented that he does not review PBS dramas more we might get some out of him?
@Craig I follow a wide range of blogs as well. I like to see what different critics have to say on the same show in a critical manner. How I Met Your Mother I read Alan's blog, Donna Bowman's column at AV Club and also Myles McNutt's reviews. For The Cape I was intrigued by the fact that two people's opinions who I respect a lot were polar opposites Maureen Ryan loved it while Todd Van Der Werff hated it. I especially like to see reviews of shows a critic normally doesn't cover to find out they love them. Those are the reviews I am looking for. To see how their opinion is shaped by how well executed the show is and how they thinking about shows and opinions about shows evolve over time.
studioplant
January 11, 2011 at 1:39PM EST Reply to CommentGuys, you spent too much time justifying something that most normal people should already understand. If I were in your shoes I would have mocked people worried about advertising.
January 11, 2011 at 2:02PM EST
January 11, 2011 at 2:23PM EST Reply to CommentIs "saying randy things" a polite way of saying "like watching my grandparents talk dirty"?
January 11, 2011 at 3:13PM EST
January 11, 2011 at 3:42PM EST Reply to CommentOh my God, MOVE ON from the Oprah thing. Chances are that people who listen to the podcast also follow the blogs. Which means that we've been hearing rants about it for 4 days now. Yes, she overdid it and I personally have never cared for her, so listening to her go on and on would also grate for me. But is it worth discussing for almost 10 minutes on the podcast? It's like you're filibustering your own discussion of the TCA Press tour with Oprah.
Otherwise, good podcast as always. But if I ever have to hear you two talk about Oprah again, it will be too soon.
January 12, 2011 at 7:19AM ESTAnd for someone like Winfrey - who isn't exactly the new kid on the block - to act like some noob actress doing her first media call? Quite legitimate to ask "WTF?" If I was an investor in OWN, I'd certainly be feeling less than comfortable that the face of the brand basically blew it with a far-from-hostile room at TCA.
rosengje
January 12, 2011 at 2:20AM EST Reply to CommentI just want to add to the chorus of voices requesting some type of review of Downton Abbey, even if it comes midway through the run or at the end as an assessment of it as a whole. I do think there is a certain homogeneity to the types of shows deemed worthy of critical analysis, particularly with hour-long shows. Downton Abbey represents a genre not frequently seen anymore on tv, on an under-covered network. I would also guess that it is more female-skewing, an area of programming I think the site could do a slightly better job with after similarly ignoring Huge and typically just giving recaps rather than reviews to others.
It seems to me that this is exactly the type of show that would benefit from critical attention. I do think critics should regularly push themselves to view programming outside of their viewing comfort zone. After all, critics expect viewer to do the same thing based on their recommendation.