Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 80: 'Suits,' 'Wilfred,' 'Louie,' 'Burn Notice' & 'True Blood'
Alan and Dan go for two podcasts in one busy week
Time for the second of this week's two episodes of Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, in which Dan and I review all the things we didn't have time for because I was so damn angry about "The Killing." The run-down:
"Suits" -- 02:35 - 15:10
"Wilfred" -- 15:15 - 26:45
"Louie" -- 26:50 - 36:30
"Burn Notice" -- 36:40 - 42:30
"True Blood" -- 42:30 - 50:00
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, download the MP3 file or stream it on Dan's blog.
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJamesTown
June 23, 2011 at 12:31PM EST Reply to CommentAppreciate the 2nd podcast. Thanks.
Kevin
June 23, 2011 at 1:17PM EST Reply to CommentThanks for the bonus podcast. A suggestion for next week even though I know this series isn't particularly your cup of tea: could you discuss Law and Order: CI ending its run on Sunday?
Neeek
June 23, 2011 at 2:21PM EST Reply to CommentThought on The Killing: Sud's comment that she doesn't want to be "kinda liked" is hilarious when you consider "The Killing" is pretty much either hated or kinda liked. It's not a show people loved in the first place.
galxe
June 23, 2011 at 2:49PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, have you read the Hollywood Reporter interview with Sud where she compares the Killing finale and viewer reactions to the Sopranos series finale? How out of touch with reality could this woman possibly be?
sepinwall Yes, I read it. And my hatred has now turned into love, because Sud has now fully crossed into the realm of brilliant unintentional comedy. The more she compares her mediocre-on-a-good-day police procedural to the greatest, most adventurous dramas of all time, the funnier she gets.
June 23, 2011 at 3:03PM ESTHatfield Do you think your opinion has retroactively soured just a bit? As much as you complained about the show over the course of the season, your appreciation of the early episodes seemed to be at a higher-than-mediocre level.
June 23, 2011 at 3:33PM ESTsepinwall Maybe. But I also think I was guilty of some grade inflation at the start, just based on AMC's track record. As I believe I said in my first or second post, I really only liked the pilot in the last 5 minutes (Stan/Linden/Mitch), and certainly early things seemed interesting mainly because they were offering hints of something much deeper than Sud and company were ultimately capable of showing us.
June 23, 2011 at 3:59PM ESTTR
June 23, 2011 at 3:00PM EST Reply to CommentOut of curiosity, why don't both blogs have the streaming podcast? (sorry if this has been asked before a million times)
sepinwall Short version (as it's been asked) is that the streaming version is what goes out to the RSS feed, iTunes, etc., and if we had it on both blogs, it would majorly confuse the system. It started on Dan's because the podcast began before I joined HitFix, and HitFix was better able to host the podcast at that time than I was.
June 23, 2011 at 3:04PM ESTed w
June 23, 2011 at 3:30PM EST Reply to CommentIt sounds like you guys got a lot of reader mail about The Killing. If you feel up to it, a special Killing-centric podcast addressing all that might be fun - maybe next week given Dan is travelling. Then those who don't want to hear more about it (like oh say, Veena Sud) can avoid that one.
Personally I'd forgive everything if she'd open season 2 with Linden arresting Landry.
Hatfield
June 23, 2011 at 3:36PM EST Reply to CommentDan has made me into a major "Begging the question" watchdog. It's like finding out that the lead singer of Muse breathes in loudly on ever track: it can't be un-noticed, and it will always bother. Thanks a lot, Dan!
sepinwall I still blame Dan for telling me to look for Tracheotomy Boy's scar on American Idol season 4. Also couldn't be unnoticed.
June 23, 2011 at 6:05PM ESTDan Fienberg: ruining things for people since at least 2005!
RU Serious Including the Fierwall and Iceberg podcast! ZING.
June 24, 2011 at 9:53AM ESTKen Raining
June 23, 2011 at 4:21PM EST Reply to CommentMan, Alan, you summed up my feelings on "Psych" exactly, and hilariously. I also got a big kick out of hearing you guys grudgingly talk about "True Blood". While I found the first two seasons compelling enough, season three went far enough off the rails that I can't see much reason to even give the new season a try. That had better be some impressive nudity....
MatthewL
June 23, 2011 at 8:39PM EST Reply to CommentCan I just say, "Alan Shows Inappropriate Films To His Daughter" needs to become a regular feature, because I was laughing out loud at that both times it came up.
It was a good episode, and other than the obvious cut between the Wilfred and Louie discussions (which I assume was where the between-day cut took place, and to be honest I was listening for a cut) it all was edited together pretty seamlessly.
Ken Raining Yes, I have to say that you guys did a really good job with both the podcasts this week, despite the difficulties you faced. If you hadn't taken us behind the curtain, as Dan would say, I'd never had known what was going on.
June 23, 2011 at 11:23PM ESTCraig Ranapia
June 23, 2011 at 8:58PM EST Reply to CommentYou were both short on the utter incoherence of True Blood's storytelling, but there's a much simpler answer. Alan Ball -- like Ryan Murphy -- has no talent for, or interest in, maintaining structural coherence in the narrative or characterisation. I call it ADHD TV, and while it drives me insane obviously the folks who love (and watch) 'True Blood' and 'Glee' don't care about the violent mood swings.
June 23, 2011 at 8:59PM ESTbelinda
June 24, 2011 at 9:28AM EST Reply to CommentJudy Blume being the source of Dan's knowledge on blubber and flensing.
+1 for Dan.
I want to know what Alan's One Tree Hill and/or master's degree is.
Erik
June 24, 2011 at 5:52PM EST Reply to CommentFor the record, that 8 minute True Blood preview is not taken from the books. My girlfriend hated it mostly because it derailed wildly from and directly contradicted things in the book.
Bill
June 28, 2011 at 3:15PM EST Reply to CommentTo answer your question about Louis CK's financial situation - if he paid himself Union minimum for this series as an actor, director and a writer that would come out to $23,072 an episode - and that's before whatever additional compensation he gets as an editor and other duties.
In a 13-episode season that equals out to just about $300,000/year. So he makes that before DVD residuals, FX rerun residuals, residuals from the films he's written and however many standup dates he plays a year where he sells out 3,000 seat theaters at 50 bucks a pop.
So I highly doubt his financial situation is anywhere close to the character on Louie. I'd be very surprised if he made less than $1 million a year in real life.