Featured Blogs:

 

Cannes Film Festival 2013

Listen: Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 99

Dan and Alan review 'Boss,' 'Once Upon a Time,' 'Man Up' and more

By Daniel Fienberg Monday, Oct 17, 2011 5:46 PM

The

Happy Monday, Boys & Girls!
 
Time for Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 99.
 
We have no "Breaking Bad" to discuss this week. So sad.
 
We do, however, have reviews for a slew of new shows, including Starz' "Boss" and ABC's "Man Up" and "Once Upon a Time." We also answer mail and some of that mail touches on... "Breaking Bad." Whew.
 
Here's the breakdown:
"Man Up" -- 02:15 - 13:15
"Pearl Jam Twenty" -- 13:15 - 21:35
"Boss" -- 21:40 - 32:45
"Once Upon a Time" -- 32:45 - 42:40
Listener Mail: Showrunners winging it -- 42:50 - 48:30
Listener Mail: Unintended meaning -- 48:40 - 52:45
Listener Mail: Critic aggregator sites -- 52:50 - 57:15
Listener Mail: Baseball's impact on FOX -- 57:20 - 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 99

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, Boss, Once Upon a Time, Man Up, Pearl Jam Twenty

Comments

  • Option 1

    Comment instantly as a guest Guest

  • Option 2

    Connect

  • Option 3

    Login or create a HitFix account Login Signup
  • Default-avatar

    KingofPunjab

    Alan (Batman & Dan (Robin)

    I love the sponsor.
    Its not the usual audible and other podcasts award.
    Your podcasts has high-class appeal

    October 17, 2011 at 6:06PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Teproc

    Hey, just wondering if you'll do week-by-week coverage on another show in the next weeks, like you did with Breaking Bad ? I thought you might do this with Homeland or Boardwalk Empire.

    October 17, 2011 at 6:43PM EST Reply to Comment

    • Teproc - No *current* plans to do a regular week-by-week thing... I'm just not sure that's that "right" show, currently.

      -Daniel

      October 17, 2011 at 7:02PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    alex

    i heard that giancarlo esposito is in the cast of once upon of time is he not in the eps you saw or is his performance just not noteworthy

    October 17, 2011 at 7:08PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Midnight_run_mca255950_talkback_profile

      sepinwall He's not in the ones we've seen.

      October 17, 2011 at 7:19PM EST

    • Alex - We'd totally have talked about Gus if he'd been in the episodes we've seen! No, he's not in the first or third episodes. I know it's a recurring role he has, but I dunno when the recurrence begins...

      -Daniel

      October 17, 2011 at 7:20PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    JanieJones

    Hey Dan,
    An Alice In Chains documentary would be very interesting if the correct approach was taken with brutal honesty.

    October 17, 2011 at 7:35PM EST Reply to Comment

    • Janie - But the Alice in Chains doc, even with brutal honesty, would still end up with a very conventional narrative arc, culminating in rampant drug abuse and death. You could then decide to acknowledge the 2009 comeback... or not. I'm not saying it wouldn't be interesting. It would just be familiar...

      -Daniel

      October 17, 2011 at 7:46PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    JanieJones

    The Phillies should be in the World Series, not the Cards. I am not excited about this series in the least. It's background noise now.

    October 17, 2011 at 8:08PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      Tausif Khan That The Phillies lost in the NLDS was an utter utter shame.

      October 18, 2011 at 2:37AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Tausif Khan

    Is "Pearl Jam Twenty" a part of PBS' American Masters series?

    Speaking of PBS I was hoping that some one would be covering "Case Histories", at least one of the recappers? With Jason Isaacs playing a detective pre-Awake I thought it would be a good way to get a critical take on how well he does in television as a detective at the very least.

    October 18, 2011 at 2:36AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Tausif Khan

    I tuned into Last Man Standing because I was a Home Improvement fan. I wanted to see how Kaitlyn Dever did in the show. I actually think that Tim Allen is a good actor.

    There were parts of the episodes I saw that I liked. The advice Mike gives to his second daughter about self-reliance and being able to fix your own tire and then makes her do it was great. More people should be self-reliant. He gave the same advice he gave to his daughter than Tim Taylor would give to Brad, Randy or Mark.

    The advice Mike gives to Dever's character was great. Again it as about respecting yourself enough to play your best in any game you play to his daughter. I like that piece of advice.

    Every time he says something terrible he is either ignored or challenged by the women in his family.

    Although the whole idea of letting his co-worker date is daughter is so old world it is almost medieval (at least the 1950s).

    That might have been the problem for me in the reviews in this show is that they didn't talk enough about the women on the show and how they act, what they have to say and their relationship to the last man standing.

    Because Mike will be challenged I have hope for this show that he will have an interesting arc in this show. Although Nancy Travis needs to be a character in her own right.

    October 18, 2011 at 2:48AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Tausif Khan

    In terms of Kelsey Grammar's believability on Boss I never had any trouble believing that he could play the role because of his early work on "Frasier" (I am not old enough to have seen him on "Cheers"). "Frasier" in the beginning was essentially like live action theater.

    I also did not have any trouble believing Grammar as this new character because "Frasier" was an elite character with a lot of means. He isn't playing a janitor. I was more impressed by Grammar's turn in 30 Rock when he joined Jenna and Kenneth's ice cream cake heist scheme.

    October 18, 2011 at 2:54AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Frederik

    I think a big part of why it works so great when Breaking Bad is 'winging it' is in the title and in it's themes. In chemistry, when something 'breaks bad' it means that it doesn't turn out as planned. And part of what I've always liked about the show was how Walter White the chemist stumbled when the real world wasn't as predictable as his chemical reactions. So I think the series works best when it has this chaotic, unpredictable element to it. Of course, there is also the other side of the title, where it's a question of good and bad, and everything is about karma and morality and stuff like that. I'm much less interested in that part of the show, but Vince Gilligan apparantly thinks that that is the most important part.

    October 18, 2011 at 6:45AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Phil

    Ha, am I the only one entertained at how annoyed Alan is getting every week with Dan's obligatory LOST-outrigger comment? Never change Dan...

    October 18, 2011 at 6:25PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    nestle

    I'm really enjoying Dan's appearances on WGN radio. I like the fact that the format allows some less talked about shows (among critics) to get mentioned. And Dan is ever so slightly less snarky on that show. I'm not sure I'm conveying why that segment is working (maybe also to due with the hosts) but it is to me quite enjoyable (even though I get more info from the regular F&I).

    October 19, 2011 at 7:27AM EST Reply to Comment

    • Nestle - I definitely try taking a different approach on those WGN appearances, so hopefully they end up being complimentary to what we do here, rather than overlapping or usurping... Of course, when the topic turns to those less-talked-about shows on the WGN segments, I'm more prone to feeling like I'm talking about of my butt... But glad you're enjoying and I'll be back this Sunday!

      -Daniel

      October 19, 2011 at 11:19AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Sareeta

    Dan, how come my comments keep getting deleted? They'll show up right after posting but disappear the next day. I don't think there was anything questionable in what I posted...just mentioned something about Pearl Jam Twenty...

    October 19, 2011 at 10:08AM EST Reply to Comment

    • Sareeta - Hmmm... I don't think I've even deleted one of your comments due to content or anything else... I can only think it relates to the frequent weirdness of our commenting system... Is this a rampant problem or an occasional problem or a rare and infrequent problem?

      -Daniel

      October 19, 2011 at 11:21AM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Sareeta It seems to happen pretty often on your blog and Sepinwall's, too. The fact that it shows up right after posting it, but then disappears the next day is kind of weird. If it didn't show up at all after hitting the reply button I would attribute it to an internet issue.

      October 19, 2011 at 6:16PM EST

    • Sareeta - Strange mystery. I feel like I often (semi-often?) respond to your post/comments, which means some are surviving/making it through? Check in if/when it happens, because Alan doesn't feel like he's been deleting your comments, so it's probably something we should be aware of...

      -Daniel

      October 19, 2011 at 6:24PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    eddieisannoy

    It would be helpful if you guys mentioned how many episodes of a series you have seen when you discuss it. For example, in "Boss", Alan references the subsequent directors kept up Van Sant's style so I assume he's seen a few.

    October 19, 2011 at 1:46PM EST Reply to Comment

    • EddieIsAnnoy - I feel like USUALLY we do, but maybe Alan was trying not to gloat here? Regardless, he's seen four "Boss" episodes and I've only seen two...

      -Daniel

      October 19, 2011 at 6:21PM EST

News From Our Partners

Get Instant Alerts on Breaking News

Latest Posts
More Posts
Recent Activity on Facebook
Most Popular on Facebook
Top Stories From Around the Web
About HitFix

HitFix delivers the Movie, Music, TV and Awards and general entertainment news that fans care about most, without the gossip or celebrity scandal. Our nationally-recognized, tastemaker journalists provide the latest breaking news, analysis, reviews, recaps, interviews and exclusives 24 hours a day while our proprietary localized Event Calendar and mobile apps allow consumers to stay up to the minute while managing their entertainment lives. Find out What’s Next In Entertainment with HitFix.

Advertise on HitFix
Subscribe to HitFix

Get the latest headlines & updates in your inbox

Popular Topics

© Copyright HitFix.com. All rights reserved. Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy