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Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 34: 'Sons of Anarchy,' 'Terriers,' 'Hellcats,' 'Nikita' & 'Mad Men'

Dan's away, so special guest host Mo Ryan helps Alan out this week

By Alan Sepinwall Tuesday, Sep 7, 2010 6:31 PM

The

Happy Tuesday, boys and girls, and this week's Firewall & Iceberg Podcast is an unusual one, in that Iceberg wasn't available. Dan's out of the country on special assignment (I'm posting this to both blogs because the podcast's RSS feed is tied to Dan's blog), and because this is a relatively busy week (four notable premieres), I didn't want to miss a show. So I recruited Mo Ryan, who recently left the Chicago Tribune to be the senior TV critic for AOL (you can find her new blog here), to fill in for the episode, which features the following segments:

Alan welcomes special guest co-host Maureen Ryan from AOL to fill in for Dan (0:00-3:07)

"Sons of Anarchy" season 3 (3:07-15:30)

"Terriers" (15:30-25:59)

Mo yells at Alan about "Supernatural" (25:59-27:22)

"Hellcats" (27:22-31:10)

"Nikita" (31:10-37:28)

Mo's fall favorites (37:28-39:44)

"Mad Men" (39:44-1:01:01)

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, download the MP3 file or stream it on Dan's blog.

Related Searches: Firewall & Iceberg

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  • I have to comment on the deteriating sound quality. The hissing on alan's track is awful, and the other track sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom. Every cut between them is really jarring and this is pretty much unlistenable. That's it for me and this podcast, love the blog though.

    September 7, 2010 at 8:15PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Midnight_run_mca255950_talkback_profile

      sepinwall This was an unusual circumstance, Paul. Dan and I have actually worked out most of the technical bugs when we record with each other, but this week's show involved a different person on the other end of the Skype call, and it involved me playing producer and splicing pieces together, when Dan usually does that and is much better at it.

      Under the current set-up, it's never going to sound as smooth as if we had a dedicated producer and more expensive equipment, but if you listen to, say, the Mike Schur podcast, the sound quality was pretty non-problematic throughout:

      http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/the-fien-print/posts/listen-firewall-iceberg-podcast-no-31

      September 7, 2010 at 8:29PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Who's Alan Screwing?

    All through his childhood, Alan Sepinwall's relatives told his parents, "All that boy does is play with himself! How's he going to make a living doing that?" His career as a porn star has been 14 years and counting of his attempt to answer their concerns. "Who's Alan Screwing?" is a blog whose title is self-explanatory: Alan screws porn stars, then writes about what it felt like.

    September 7, 2010 at 9:09PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Midnight_run_mca255950_talkback_profile

      sepinwall A man can but dream.

      September 7, 2010 at 10:10PM EST
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    Al C

    Love Mo, so I'm really glad you had her an a guest to fill in for Dan.

    September 8, 2010 at 2:46AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Dale Cooper

    Why was the extended trailer for Nikita so lame? It reached new heights of lame trailers in my opinion.
    This is what I'm talking about:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTz17GWxjs

    September 8, 2010 at 6:32AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Madmen_icon_talkback_profile

    LJA

    I really enjoyed Mo's take on Mad Men. I hope you have her as a guest again.

    September 8, 2010 at 11:51AM EST Reply to Comment
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      grandma I think her weekly podcast with Ryan McGee covers Mad Men - every ep.

      September 9, 2010 at 3:56AM EST
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    Jeff W

    Dammit, I'm not going to be able to watch Terriers without beer bottles on my fingers, am I?

    September 8, 2010 at 11:59AM EST Reply to Comment
    • Midnight_run_mca255950_talkback_profile

      sepinwall Once Dan ruined the title for me, I had to ruin it for everyone else. Sorry.

      September 8, 2010 at 12:12PM EST
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      dougs I missed this reference in the podcast...what is it?

      September 9, 2010 at 2:41PM EST
    • Midnight_run_mca255950_talkback_profile

      sepinwall Dougs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u05Qot_yh9c

      September 9, 2010 at 2:46PM EST
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      dougs Thanks...I hadn't realized this was the reference, and feel amazingly stupid now.

      September 9, 2010 at 2:51PM EST
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    Jill

    Fantastic podcast. You and Mo have a wonderful, natural rhythm and great chemistry together. I appreciate that you have differences of opinion on the shows you discuss and that you articulate those differences in a way that helps me get a better idea of the show itself.

    I am with Mo that you need to watch Supernatural- my dream podcast might be Sepinwall and Ryan Talk Supernatural. Perhaps 5 or 6 podcasts per season, where you two discuss a chunk of episodes in one go.....

    I know. It's unlikely. Sigh. But a girl can dream....

    September 8, 2010 at 2:31PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Tausif Khan

    Maureen Ryan on the Podcast! Yay!

    You mean Juliana Margulies kicking ass like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJG-Zj3B0fA

    September 8, 2010 at 10:28PM EST Reply to Comment
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    adriene

    Yay! I love Mo, and am so glad you introduced me to her reviews. I love your blog Alan, but unfortunately I've had to give up on your podcast as I just can't get past Dan's constant off topics tangents and attempts to be funny. Just not to my taste. So this was sort of my dream podcast.

    September 8, 2010 at 11:06PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Safe062_talkback_profile

    skittledog

    I'm in a slightly different camp from many of the commenters above, since I've got used to the usual give and take between you and Dan now, and it's a main part of why I listen regularly even to segments where you discuss shows I don't watch. I like Mo Ryan a lot, and enjoyed getting her take on things this once, but... I missed my usual podcast, I guess. In particular, I like the balance between you and Dan because you usually have to work quite hard to tease his opinions out, advancing several possible ones to see which he bites on, and that means we get more of a feel for your take on things. (I wouldn't call you reticent, but in spoken form you're quite straightforward and to-the-point, so context can sometimes get a little lost.) With Mo, especially on the Mad Men segment, she knew exactly what she wanted to say and you ended up in almost more of an interview role. So now I know what she thought of the episode, but not so much what you did (er... apart from the fact I already read your blog, but let's ignore the obvious logical flaws here please). Which is fine on occasion, and of course in this case I'd rather have a different podcast than no podcast at all... but I'm looking forward to normal service resuming next week, too.

    September 9, 2010 at 7:26AM EST Reply to Comment
  • 040_talkback_profile

    Carrie

    Love Mo as a guest, especially because she yelled at you for not watching Supernatural. I am pretty disillusioned with the show right now (and very wary of what is to come in the upcoming story arc), but in its past seasons they did some very fine genre work.

    September 9, 2010 at 1:27PM EST Reply to Comment
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    dougs

    Write a comment...

    September 10, 2010 at 10:50AM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      dougs God am I botching the comments today...Anyway, saw this Sons of Anarchy and Terriers ratings news just now, and since the podcast discusses it I'd thought it would be interesting to share:

      Sons of Anarchy Returns on a Solid Note:
      Season three of should-have-been Emmy nominated FX drama Sons of Anarchy opened with 4.13 million viewers and 2.81 million adults 18-49, according to the fast affiliate results, on Monday, September 6. Comparably, this ranks as the third most-watched episode of Sons of the biker-themed drama ever and the most-watched basic cable scripted series in the demo this year to-date. Versus the season two average, Sons of Anarchy built by 13 percent in total viewers (3.67 to 4.13 million) and 10 percent among adults 18-49 (2.56 to 2.81 million).

      Also on FX:
      The series-premiere of dramedy Terrier was nothing spectacular, with 1.6 million viewers and 659,000 adults 18-49 in the 10-11:13 p.m. block on Wednesday, Sept. 8. An encore telecast of the pilot will air next Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET out of Sons of Anarchy.

      September 10, 2010 at 10:52AM EST
    • Facebk-czz2imag0185-1_talkback_profile

      Angela Hey Doug, Thanks for posting that about SOA. I will sleep with a bit more hope for human kind tonight.
      I'm showing my ignorance but what does: "and the most-watched basic cable scripted series in the demo this year to-date." mean?

      Sorry to hear about "Terriers" though. But I think it's an excellent show for the demographic group that the TV gods (or advertisers) care about. Hopefully the repeat will help.

      Though paired with "SOA" is a bad choice IMHO. It should be after a show like "Parenthood" if there was such a thing like it on FX.






      September 11, 2010 at 12:53AM EST

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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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