Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 44: 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Chuck,' 'Modern Family,' '30 for 30' and more
Alan and Dan check in on some of their favorite shows, as well as one current series that's falling out of favor for them
It's check-in time on this Firewall & Iceberg Podcast. With no new series to review, Dan and I instead offer mid-season opinions on shows we love ("Boardwalk Empire") and shows we're finding a bit more problematic ("Modern Family"). The rundown:
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November 1, 2010 at 5:19PM EST Reply to CommentNeither Party Down or The Wire qualify as intellectual shows. If you want an intellectual show, check out Ingmar Bergman's 1973 Scenes from a Marriage or Kieslowski's Dekalog.
sepinwall But... but... what of Berlin Alexanderplatz? What of it?!!?!?!?
November 1, 2010 at 5:27PM ESTEuroWatcher Why do you insist on bringing up shows you haven't seen?
November 1, 2010 at 5:54PM ESTJack
November 1, 2010 at 5:36PM EST Reply to CommentYour podcast is not at the iTunes store yet.
sepinwall The iTunes store can be slow to update, but the feed has been published, and I already downloaded it into iTunes. So it's out there.
November 1, 2010 at 5:38PM ESTJasonTN
November 1, 2010 at 5:50PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, how current do you get on Boardwalk Empire? Can I listen to the segment if I haven't seen this Sunday's episode?
sepinwall We get specific on Sunday's episode, and are very vague about the next two. So wait until after you've seen the latest.
November 1, 2010 at 6:03PM ESTJimmy
November 1, 2010 at 6:58PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, please do a recap of Boardwalk Empire every week on the Firewall podcast.
LJA
November 1, 2010 at 9:25PM EST Reply to CommentThe barrier to Party Down was Starz. I don't have it, and I honestly don't know anyone who does. I watched the episodes that were available on Netflix, but I already get HBO and SHO, and didn't want to add one more premium channel. If PD had been on either HBO or SHO, I think it would still be on the air. Alas.
Why don't more people watch Mad Men? I always recommend to people who are interested in trying it that they go back and start watching from season one. That's a barrier for a lot of potential viewers. They weren't willing to go back and watch 39 episodes as a primer to season four. The people I know who tried to jump in didn't really appreciate it.
In short, Mad Men doesn't reward the casual viewer. I think it is a show that will do well in long-term DVD sales/rentals.
Caroline
November 1, 2010 at 9:46PM EST Reply to CommentThanks again for the podcast.....a few comments...
1) Sorry you are being harrassed about Modern Family. Really uncalled for.
2) I'm a HUGE Mad Men fan as are most of the people I know, and we are definitely more "middle America" than "cultural elite", so your readers comment about who watches Mad Men is not necessarily the true..( and maybe a little pretentious :))
3) I dont know whether it was you or Dan who seemed disconcerted that even with all the press Mad Men gets, more people dont watch it. I DO watch Mad Men,Chuck, will watch FNL when it comes to NBC, was a huge fan of Lost and BSG but other than that dont watch much TV. Big reason??I CAN NOT commit to 10-20 hours a week of TV. I just can't. Between 40+ hours at my job, family, keeping up with house/yard work, friends, other obligations, I just dont have time to watch a ton of TV, and I am probably not alone in that.(yes I know at this moment I am listening to podcasts and commenting on blogs, but still.... :)) Also AMC is a rather obsure cable channel plus as with alot of long-arc TV shows, people may wonder if it's too late.
November 2, 2010 at 8:22PM ESTI dont think i would call AMC an obscure cable channel. It has been around since the dawn of modern cable era (mid 1980s). I still remember when it was one of few places on cable "for free" to watch uncut movies.
Ican only speak for my personal sample size, but the "johnny lunchpail" people i know don't watch sbows like mad men or rubicon. They do watch the wire, but i'm in maryland, so there's a local draw. The people that do watch them are folks with degrees who also go to art pictures. I dont know if thats pretentious or just people cnforming to generalizations and stereotypes.
Aftwr 5 minutes after i sent the emIl i rwalized "doh, the wire fits my criteria," but, as mentioned above, my geographic proximity to balti ore probably skeqs the numbers of viewers for it.
Mahala
November 2, 2010 at 5:16AM EST Reply to CommentAlan Sepinwall is the Armond White of TV critiquing.
sepinwall This is my favorite comment in the history of either blog.
November 2, 2010 at 7:19AM ESTIdes of November If that were true, wouldn't he HATE The Wire and Mad Men?
November 2, 2010 at 7:29AM ESTKaryn
November 2, 2010 at 10:35AM EST Reply to CommentSince I recognize that we the readers are getting the content for free (sans ads), this is not a criticism, merely a suggestion. It would be nice if in your podcasts you discussed shows that you don't already write about. We know your opinions and thoughts of Chuck, Modern Family, and Boardwalk Empire - why spend a valuable half an hour rehashing them?
I know that it's a chore to write (especially regularly) about shows you don't really care for, so use the less arduous podcast time to talk about things that aren't already in play for you. The Good Wife, Fringe, Glee, The Mentalist, The Event, The Big Bang theory, etc etc. There are so many shows that are barely covered or not covered at all.
The only reason I don't come to this site more is that the content is so tunneled. The writing is superb, the analysis insightful - it's just only spent on a small fraction of the shows people watch.
And just so you don't think I'm being self-serving, I only watch two of the shows I listed above. :)
I hope you can take at least some of this under advisement, and not as an indictment as I really do enjoy the way you write.
sepinwall Point taken, Karyn. But I would counter with two thoughts:
November 2, 2010 at 1:10PM EST1)Every podcast I listen to from a writer I also read has a fair bit of overlap between discussion and writing. In part that's because those subjects are what interests those people, in part because the assumption is that some people listen but don't read, and vice versa. What makes the podcast interesting for people who do both, I would hope, is the interplay between me and Dan, particularly since Dan writes much less frequently on these shows than I do.
2)I barely have time as it is right now to keep up with all the shows I write about, much less adding new ones to my schedule just for the sake of podcasting. Plus, many of the shows that aren't blogged anymore (like, say Big Bang Theory) aren't because I have very little to say about them in writing; talking about it with Dan likely wouldn't improve that.
Karyn Those are both good points, Alan, and believe me I did not expect that you would suddenly drop talking about all the shows you write about (nor would I want that). And I agree that the interplay with Dan and hearing his thoughts can add a new layer to the opinions already posted on the site.
November 2, 2010 at 2:27PM ESTMy hope was that my comment would simply plant an idea somewhere that the podcast COULD be used to spotlight a show each week that either of you have seen but not necessarily written about, to provide more variety. But regardless, I appreciate the consideration and the reply!
November 2, 2010 at 8:24PM ESTandythesaint
November 2, 2010 at 9:26PM EST Reply to CommentI've made the comparison of PARTY DOWN that it's the modern TV equivalent of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO in that only a few thousand people watched it, but every one of those people wrote about it on the internet.