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Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 91: 'Wilfred,' 'Louie,' 'Entourage' & more

Dan and Alan also answer your letters and discuss the last two 'Breaking Bad's

By Alan Sepinwall Wednesday, Sep 7, 2011 3:50 PM

The

After a week off and then a technical glitch yesterday, the Firewall & Iceberg Podcast returns with Dan and I looking ahead to the finales of "Wilfred," "Louie" and "Entourage," answering a whole lot of listener mail and then breaking down two "Breaking Bad" episodes. The rundown:

"Wilfred" and "Louie" -- 2:30 - 22:45
Listener Mail: "Entourage" -- 23:00 - 33:15
Listener Mail: First Series canceled -- 32:20 - 37:50
Listener Mail: Premise Pilots -- 38:00 - 45:30
Listener Mail: More on Pilots -- 45:35 - 50:05
Listener Mail: Talking TV at Parties -- 50:15 - 53:40
"Breaking Bad" -- 53:45 - 01:13:45
 
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.
 
And as always, feel free to e-mail us at sepinwall@hitfix.com and/or dan@hitfix.com if you have questions you want answered on the show. Please put the word "podcast" in your subject line to make it easy to track them down amid the hundreds of random press releases we get every day.
Alan-sepinwall-sm
Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching
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
Related Searches: Firewall & Iceberg, Alan Sepinwall, Breaking Bad, Entourage, Wilfred, Louie

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  • Broccoli_talkback_profile

    floretbroccoli

    I'm listening to The Podcast. Did you really just follow a reference to Hung with a letter from someone named Johnson? Or did I imagine that?

    September 7, 2011 at 7:46PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Tyr_talkback_profile

    Torgee

    I am sorry that this is somewhat unrelated, but, does it bother anyone else that the Firewall & Iceberg Podcast image hangs over the edge of the design? It really bothers me, so I took the liberty of rescaling it for you: http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/3729/firewalliceberg.gif

    September 7, 2011 at 10:12PM EST Reply to Comment

    • Torgee - Excellent. My plan worked. Thank you, sir. I'll try to remember to shift to the resized image next week!

      -Daniel

      September 7, 2011 at 11:09PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    JanieJones

    Alan/Dan,
    Wouldn't you say that House in another show that is limping along? Granted, it's a completely different entity than Entourage but I feel the same vehement dislike from people as those who despise Entourage.

    Entourage is an ensemble cast and Hugh Laurie is what makes House but I feel House should finish. Don't get me wrong I love Laurie and RSL but I fazed out the show quite awhile ago.

    Talking tv at parties completely surprises me at times. I hear professionals profess their love in particular of reality shows and I'm like Breaking Bad, SOA, MM, anyone? However, television viewing is a preference and it's personal but I will comment about how much I enjoy a certain show.

    September 7, 2011 at 11:42PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Madmen_icon_talkback_profile

      LJA House is limping along. *heh*

      September 8, 2011 at 12:11AM EST

    • JanieJones - Absolutely. I guess the small distinction I'd make is that no matter how awful "House" sometimes can be, Hugh Laurie is never less than top-notch, so even in the show's worst moments, he's a respectable anchor that "Entourage" hasn't really had...

      -Daniel

      September 8, 2011 at 12:34AM EST
    • Default-avatar

      M Personally, I think HIMYM is running on fumes. Though, like with Entourage, I would say that was a show that was really never all that funny to begin with.

      I agree that the second and third seasons of Entourage were when the show was at its best. It was the one time where Vince's actions actually did have consequences (like losing out on the Aquaman sequel) and that offered a real behind the scenes of how Hollywood works. Since then it's all been dumb wish fulfillment and plots that go nowhere. Perfect example: Turtle and his sneaker business, Turtle and his limo business, Turtle and his tequila business, etc. That's a character that has had no point whatsoever other than to serve as a surrogate for fans who wish they could latch onto someone rich and famous and have everything handed to them without actually having to do any work of their own. If the show were written with even an ounce of realism Vince would have defriended Turtle a long time ago for being a leech. But, instead, the show treats him as someone to admire for having it all without actually doing anything to deserve it. Also, the E and Sloane relationship has become laughable. In the last episode Eric shows up at the Farmer's Market in order to berate her for being out with someone else after they've broken up. I'm not really sure what the writers were going for with that, but it did not make Eric a sympathetic character and it certainly didn't make me want to see Sloane get back together with him. And don't even get me started on the lame twist of her being pregnant.

      September 8, 2011 at 1:53PM EST
  • Madmenmac_talkback_profile

    WeebeysPlasticFish

    Is Giancarlo Esposito eligible for a guest appearance Emmy since he hasn't been in several of the episodes? Or does being in more than one season automatically disqualify someone for that category?

    September 8, 2011 at 1:22AM EST Reply to Comment

    • WeebeysPlasticFish - It's mostly about how you're submitted (either by the network/studio or by your own people). But Giancarlo Esposito is a cast regular and was submitted as Supporting last year. I'd assume he'd be submitted as Supporting next year as well.

      -Daniel

      September 8, 2011 at 2:15AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Muz

    Slight tangent on the pilots thing: I can't stand twist pilots that set up what appears like the ongoing conflict and then smash it in sensational ways by the end of the ep, as if to say "Ha Ha trope trackers! You won't know what to expect now!".

    Alias did this and so did The Shield, to name two. For Alias I just thought it was faintly ridiculous, but so was the show so it wasn't that big a deal. The Shield on the other hand had somewhat higher ideals somewhere in there and it took a long time for the show to recover, in my mind. I really seemed like it wanted to be a different show from its sensationalist beginnings.

    I would be interesting to list examples of such pilots. They seem like meta-plotting for TV fans who think they know what to expect and that alone distracts me. But perhaps I'm being unfair.

    September 8, 2011 at 10:33AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    DonBoy

    If this is the technical issues thread...the elapsed time of the podcast is routinely some garbage value, on both the main iTunes page, and on iTunes as accessed on my iPhone. Once it's downloaded everything is fine.

    September 8, 2011 at 10:47AM EST Reply to Comment

    • DonBoy - I'm not really sure how to deal with that. When I upload the podcast, I include the running time. What happens between our upload and iTunes is a wee bit of a mystery to me, though...

      -Daniel

      September 8, 2011 at 12:12PM EST

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