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Listen: Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 57

Dan and Alan review 'The Chicago Code' and answer a pile of reader mail

By Daniel Fienberg Monday, Jan 31, 2011 3:15 PM

The

 

We're back, Boys & Girls!
 
Time for the triumphant (or semi-triumphant) return of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.
 
After a one-week hiatus while I was standing in line in the snow at the Sundance Film Festival, the podcast is back, albeit with a somewhat odd podcast this week. With no new premieres, we pushed "The Chicago Code" up a week and reviewed that. It's stuck in a sandwich made up of things we missed last week and a solid 30 minutes of listener mail.
 
Next week? LOTS of premieres, plus the "Friday Night Lights" series finale to discuss.
 
But for this week?

The breakdown:
Two-week catchup (including Sundance, Charlie Sheen and recent awards shows) - 00:01:20 - 00:20:00
"Chicago Code" - 00:20:00 - 00:29:00
Listener Mail (with spoilers), including:
Shows that hit peaks in later seasons - 00:31:00 - 00:36:25
Shows that damaged themselves with unresolved finales - 00:36:30 - 00:44:45
Importance of International Value - 00:45:00 - 00:47:40
Character Deaths - 00:47:40 - 00:55:55
Will Ferrell coming to "The Office" - 00:56:00 - 01:04:00
 

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...

 

Firewall & Iceberg - Podcast 57

Dan-feinberg-sm
Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor
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.
Related Searches: Firewall & Iceberg, Podcast, daniel fienberg, Alan Sepinwall, The Chicago Code

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  • Default-avatar

    Bunny Colvin

    First! ... and Last?

    January 31, 2011 at 5:01PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Chew_talkback_profile

      Shitegeist "If you ain't first, you're last". Will Ferrell reference!

      January 31, 2011 at 5:27PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Guest

    I know you guys aren't a big fan of questions like this, but which shows will get spoiled for me if I listen to the reader mail segments?

    January 31, 2011 at 5:33PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Midnight_run_mca255950_talkback_profile

      sepinwall Many. Too many to list.

      January 31, 2011 at 5:42PM EST
  • Chew_talkback_profile

    Shitegeist

    SPOILER ALERT

    For me the character death that affected me the most was Charlie on Lost. The strangest thing about it is that I'd almost stopped caring about Charlie, who had become annoying and repetitive, but his final episode was so moving that it made me remember why I loved the character in the first place and his death really saddened me.

    January 31, 2011 at 6:31PM EST Reply to Comment



  • I'm assuming we can mention spoilers for old shows on this post, yes? Just in case, SPOILER to follow:

    Ellsworth getting murdered on Deadwood wrecks me every time I re-watch. It was late in the run, but he was one of the rare pure good guys on the show, and that final season was just mean to him, up to and including him taking a bullet merely because Hearst knew it would rattle everyone.

    January 31, 2011 at 8:31PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Madmen_icon_talkback_profile

    LJA

    Apparently, Charlie's not actually *in* rehab. He's home with an "addiction specialist" living with him. So what this means for Two and a Half Hernias is still unknown, but I'm with you guys, he's someone who just doesn't care. About anything.

    January 31, 2011 at 8:43PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    sandra

    24 and Angel spoilers ahead….
    24 is a show that killed of WAY too many characters. I remember when season 5 started I actually enjoyed it and was genuine surprised by the deaths, and as the season when on and they killed more and more people it got just a bit ridicules. And once season 6 started and Jack killed Curtis, I was so annoyed that the killed yet another person, I never watched another episode.
    As for shows with non-endings., I remember being very angry with how Angel ended, to the point where I could not even watch any of the earlier episodes I was so mad. But now, having a bit more perspective on it, I actually kind of really like the ending and realize it was perfect for the show, I’m still not a fan of the last season, but then I’m one of the weirdoes who liked season 4.

    January 31, 2011 at 10:50PM EST Reply to Comment
    • 102883_talkback_profile

      PHILPHIL Haven't seen the more recent seasons but I remember Jack's murder of Chappelle was suprisingly affective (for how removed of a show 24 tends to be). The way Chappelle played it, understanding its necessity but then still genuinely begging for his life those last few seconds, was just great acting.

      February 1, 2011 at 3:55AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    rosengje

    Lots of thoughts on this week's podcast. Regarding shows that improved as they went along or had great seasons late in their run, I would put forth Lost, The Office, and Angel. Lost really got its mojo back once Darlton had a firm end date in place. Despite a disheartening run since the start of Season 6, I maintain that Season 5 of The Office is probably its best season. That season contains both the introduction and farewell of Holly as well as the much-lauded Michael Scott Paper Company arc. Plus, it had a perfect season finale.

    I LOVED the Veronica Mars season finale. It actually reminded me a ton of the Angel finale, which was similarly divisive. As Alan says, it returned the show to its noir roots and most importantly showed Veronica facing the consequences of her frequently reckless actions.

    In fact, I also loved "The Bitch is Back" for the way it handled the Veronica-Logan relationship. You two seem to suggest that those who supported LoVe were just shameless shippers, but I loved their relationship because it showed Veronica's own self-destructive tendencies. Logan frequently took the brunt of viewer blame for his actions, but Veronica did a lot of extremely questionable things over the course of the series (as early as stealing Duncan's medical records). I liked that the show let Veronica indulge some of her darker tendencies with him, as was fitting with the show's atmosphere. The finale features that great scene in which Veronica is harassed by that Russian mob kid, tells Logan that he's connected, and turns around to find Logan beating him up anyway. As Piz watches, Veronica and Logan share a look and you just realize that she recognizes, identifies with, and is attracted to that recklessness that Logan displays.

    February 1, 2011 at 1:34AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Tausif Khan

    Discussing who has slept with hotter porn stars does not a children's podcast make.

    February 1, 2011 at 3:06AM EST Reply to Comment
    • Midnight_run_mca255950_talkback_profile

      sepinwall Yeah, Dan!

      February 1, 2011 at 8:00AM EST
    • A_talkback_profile

      belinda But...so much fun to listen to.

      February 1, 2011 at 9:47AM EST

    • No it doesn't - but it's like watching Isaiah Washington commit career suicide. What was going on behind the scenes of 'Grey's Anatomy' was a damn sight more interesting than anything on screen.

      February 1, 2011 at 4:32PM EST
  • 102883_talkback_profile

    PHILPHIL

    To me the last few seasons of The Shield had the biggest effect on me in terms of deaths. Lem's murder was horrific enough in it's own right, but then we had to sit and watch Shane's inevitable spiral towards suicide for two seasons. Hard to watch. Jane's "overdose" on Breaking Bad left a mark as well, especially considering all the things that have followed. As for Wire deaths, Wallace is definitely up there, same with Randy's Stepmom (for the Hospital scene), but for my money nothing comes close to Cherade's "hotshot" ("What did you do?!!").

    February 1, 2011 at 3:29AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Jake

    I would agree that, while there are quite a few shows that stumbled a bit out of the gate and then hit their stride in season 2 (Fringe and Parks & Rec are two current examples), it's hard to think of one that lingered until seasons 4 or 5 before making a creative leap.

    One that sort of fits the bill is the original Law & Order. While I liked the first few seasons, the show did not peak creatively until after the additions of Briscoe, McCoy and Kincaid in seasons 3-5. The show's storytelling improved and it developed a degree of poignancy and insight that it did not have earlier in its run. I think it won its only Emmy for Best Drama in its 7th or 8th season. Not a perfect example, but the best one I could find.

    February 1, 2011 at 10:49AM EST Reply to Comment



  • Here's the question I have about Charlie Sheen-gate: Did Chuck Lorre and CBS learn NOTHING about enabling coming back to bite you in the butt from Robert Downey Jr. and Allie McBeal?

    February 1, 2011 at 4:38PM EST Reply to Comment

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