Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 108: Best TV of 2011, plus 'Homeland'
Dan and Alan offer their picks for the best shows of the year and discuss the 'Homeland' finale
It's time for the Firewall & Iceberg Podcast to count down our favorite shows of 2011. You already know what my top picks were, but now I can discuss them with Dan, here where his choices and/or rankings differ from mine, and listen to Dan's absolute dismay as I express my disinterest in his favorite character on a show on his list. Plus, at the end we break down our thoughts on the "Homeland" season finale.
The line-up:
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Brandi Glanville Claims She Hooked Up With Gerard Butler
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Gateways To Geekery: There’s more to Russ Meyer’s films than breasts, though those are pretty important
Interview: Men In Black 3 director Barry Sonnenfeld on creating character and managing 3-D
The Walkthrough: 30 Rock showrunner Robert Carlock walks us through some recent series highlights
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Critics Consensus: Men in Black III Is Solid Fun
Five Favorite Films with Director-Producer Oren Peli
Cannes 2012: Critics Scorecard
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'Dark Knight Rises' TV Spots: A Lighter Side Of Batman
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One Direction Hit 'MIB 3' Premiere Armed With Toy Guns
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The Telefile - Today's TWoP News: Thursday, May 24, 2012
The Telefile - Modern Family: Best Lines of the Season 3 Finale
The Telefile - Today's TWoP News: Wednesday, May 23, 2012
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'Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2': Edward, Bella And Jacob Character Posters (PHOTOS)
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About This Blog
All through his childhood, Alan Sepinwall's relatives told his parents, "All that boy does is watch television! How's he going to make a living doing that?" His career as a TV critic has been 15 years and counting of his attempt to answer their concerns. "What's Alan Watching" is a blog whose title is self-explanatory: Alan watches TV shows, then writes about what he watched. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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December 20, 2011 at 7:25PM EST Reply to CommentThe link provided in this post for Dan's blog leads to a "This page has disappeared or is lost." Any idiot can find Dan's blog of course, just thought I'd point it out in case that would be the same link in future posts.
sepinwall Thanks. Coding error has been fixed.
December 20, 2011 at 7:28PM ESTaj0125
December 20, 2011 at 7:56PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, did you ever get around to watching the finale of Dexter? I would be curious to see what you thought of the end of this train-wreck season and if you will be watching next season.
December 20, 2011 at 8:36PM ESTisvida
December 20, 2011 at 8:20PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, this comes from someone who has Breaking Bad, Homeland and Parks & Rec in his yearly top 3, take the time and go back to The Vampire Diaries. It is really worth your time and although i'm constantly justifying it to everybody else in my circle of friends, it is indeed a fantastic show. there, i said it.
December 20, 2011 at 8:39PM ESTGina
December 20, 2011 at 10:45PM EST Reply to CommentAlan can you please do an advance review of this weeks Chuck. I saw your Ryan McGee's tweets and would like to know what may or may not interest you in this weeks Chuck.
tag8833
December 21, 2011 at 1:18AM EST Reply to CommentAlan and Dan,
On the Homeland finale; did you guys like Brody more or less after he decided to not go through with the suicide bombing?
December 21, 2011 at 9:10PM ESTTJ
December 21, 2011 at 12:35PM EST Reply to CommentAs Leslie Knope would say, "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."
Hurray for one .5 second moment of TV encapsulating exactly why each of your #1 shows are so great.
chuchundra
December 21, 2011 at 2:00PM EST Reply to CommentI think you're being more than a little unfair to the people who didn't like the Boardwalk Empire finale. It's not that they got rid of a character that I (and a lot of people) liked the best, it's that that character's arc was the most interesting and compelling thing about season 2 and a season 3 without that character is going to be starting from a pretty deep hole.
I'm going to watch season 3 for sure, but immediately after the credits for the finale started to roll, my wife said, "Well, I don't know that I'm interested in watching this show anymore".
Mike But how exactly is that relevant to the quality of the finale itself as an episode? Obviously, there is a major chance that the show falls off a cliff in season 3 without Jimmy, who in just 2 seasons had already, to my mind, become an iconic television character, but I don't see how you can judge that episode based on it's potential to effect season 3 in a negative way.
December 21, 2011 at 4:18PM ESTSometimes the best episodes of television involve a beloved character dying that could potentially hurt people's interest going forward... like, I don't know, that Stringer Bell guy comes to mind. And yet, I'd argue that "Middle Ground" is the best episode of television in the history of the medium.
I'm not disagreeing that this could hurt Boardwalk in the long term, but I think it's more prudent to cross that bridge when we get to it, and judge the episode and the season on the basis of itself, not what it could mean going forward.
kronicfatigue That's interesting, b/c there was recently a season finale that I absolutely hated, that tainted my opinion on the entire season, and probably the show, and one of the bigger defenses was "it had to go in this direction, or else there wouldn't be a season two". That wasn't the only defense, but that was a big one. And that just killed me. I may be naive, but I want shows to tell the best story that they can, and if it takes them to a place where there's no more story to tell, so be it. End the show after one season, if need be.
December 24, 2011 at 9:58AM ESTPersonally, I think it's a self fulfilling prophecy. "We need X to happen, or else there can't be a season Y+1". Except, if X doesn't happen, you can still have a show, just an entirely different one than Y. Is that such a bad thing? Season two of the wire took place on the docks, and it was my second favorite season!
Jill
December 21, 2011 at 3:52PM EST Reply to CommentI am one of your readers in the minority who absolutely loved the season finale of "Homeland." There was so much more in character development and emotional connection in the story with the characters than plot if Brody were to blow him and the room of the vice president and other high ranking govt. officials up. I'm very excited to see where Carrie and Brody are next season, and what the stakes are, and when and how they'll interact with each other and the others on television.
chuchundra
December 22, 2011 at 1:57AM EST Reply to CommentCan I venture a question about Parks and Rec?
I've never watched the show so I got the first season DVD out of the library. I got midway through the second episode and...I don't know...it's kinda painful to watch.
It reminds me of The Office, which I also didn't enjoy. I don't like humor that comes primarily from feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable for the people in the show.
But this is a show that everyone seems to love and I want to give it a fair shot. Should I try to plow through it because it gets much better later on?
Martin It truly does get better. Season one really tries to be too much like The Office and fails. Season 2 is significantly better and Season 3 is near TV comedy perfection.
December 22, 2011 at 2:11AM ESTLJA It VASTLY improves. Season two, Leslie Knope has been retooled and is no longer a female version of Michael Scott. Honestly, I think I'd just skip season one altogether and start with season two.
December 22, 2011 at 2:59AM ESTTJ You definitely need to push through. Or even skip to Season 2 (or episode 6, which I remember being good).
December 22, 2011 at 9:22AM ESTI was like you--I watched the first two episodes when they first aired and wasn't interested. I have a hard time with embarrassment humor sometimes. Around the time everyone was raving about season 3, I started watching Season 2 on Netflix. And wow--does it turn it around in a hurry.
Not only does it get loads better, it completely changes.
andythesaint Season one of PARKS is best to be viewed as a three hour pilot, one that the series reworked to find what works. I always think people should watch shows from the beginning to end, except in this case, where I would never recommend anyone start by watching the first season. It is irrelevant.
December 28, 2011 at 1:07PM EST