Listen: Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 42 with special guest Shawn Ryan
Dan and Alan chat with the 'Terriers' producer and discuss 'Mad Men' and 'Rubicon' finales
Comments: 7
Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James of 'Terriers'
Credit: FX
Happy Monday and welcome to a very special installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.
Why is it very special? Well, it goes without saying that we go in-depth on Sunday's "Rubicon" and "Mad Men" finales, but the podcast also welcomed a guest this week.
Shawn Ryan stopped by to discuss "Terriers," "Ride-Along" and whether he still has stories to tell in the "Shield" universe.
Because Shawn was so generous with his time -- Thanks! -- this is easily the longest podcast in Firewall & Iceberg history, approaching 90 minutes. It's worth it.
On a technical note, please ignore the roughness of my introduction and then don't worry about the 10 seconds where Sepinwall vanishes in the middle. Everything worked out in the end.
Here's the breakdown:
Shawn Ryan talks "Terriers" and "Ride-Along" -- 00:00 - 47:45
"Rubicon" finale -- 47:50 - 01:00:45
"Mad Men" finale -- 01:00:50 - 01:27:00
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.]
And here's the podcast...
Thoughts on being a 'Fringe' extra
The Fien Print reflects on being a bearded Massive Dynamic scientist
Daniel Fienberg and Lauren from BuzzSugar of 'Fringe'
Credit: FOX
If you watched Thursday (Oct. 14) night's "Fringe," you may have noticed a cameo by a certain bearded, well-dressed HitFix editor/blogger.
It's also completely possible that you may not have noticed me. The following conditions would have explained my failure to come to your addition.
1) You don't know who I am or what I look like.
2) You know who I am, but you watched on a small TV or on Hulu and you don't recognize me well enough to identify the back of my head on a tiny screen.
3) You were watching John Noble, who happened to be giving an excellent performance, bouncing monologue bombshells off of my receptive presence as if he were Steven McQueen, his words were a baseball and I were the concrete wall in a German POW camp.
4) You're a friend or relative to guest star Sebastian Roche (creepy baddy Thomas Jerome Newton), whose name came on screen at precisely the perfect moment to upstage the closest thing I got to a close-up.
5) You sneezed.
I have a FOX publicity still and several screencaps that prove my presence, though its unclear if this is what I was dreaming about back in high school when I had convinced myself that an ability to read a script with proper nuance and cadence was the same as being able to act and I naively thought I might make a career of it.
Still, I was relieved to appear at all, because it almost never happened.
Click through for a few memories from my "Fringe" extra experience...
HitFix Interview: Ruth Wilson talks BBC America's 'Luther'
How did the procedural star come to empathize with her murderous character?
Ruth Wilson of 'Luther'
Credit: BBC America
In the summer of 2009, on a work trip to London, I queued up at the Donmar Warehouse starting at 6 a.m. to get same-day tickets for a well-regarded production of "Streetcar Named Desire."
As Blanche, Rachel Weisz was the big draw, but it was the production's Stella who I walked out raving about. I raved about Ruth Wilson again in AMC's "The Prisoner."
Although she was a Golden Globe nominee for her performance in the title role in 2006's "Jane Eyre," Wilson makes her biggest impression yet in "Luther," which premieres on BBC America on Sunday.
"Luther" is a police procedural built around Idris Elba, but what sets the first season apart is Wilson's Alice Morgan, a brilliant physicist and a conscience-free sociopath. The game of cat-and-mouse between Luther and Alice is what will bring viewers back to "Luther."
Over Cokes and bar nuts, I had a long and far-reaching conversation with Wilson at TCA press tour in August. The interview is lengthy, but it's one of the more in-depth conversations I've had about the acting craft, so I left it intact.
It's long, but there's great stuff here.
Click through for the full interview...
HitFix Interview: Tyrone Davis talks 'Survivor: Nicaragua'
Latest 'Survivor' bootee discusses leadership, chicken etiquette and more
Tyrone Davis of 'Survivor: Nicaragua'
Credit: CBS
Want to know how quick things can change in the game of "Survivor"? Ask Tyrone Davis.
As Wednesday (Oct. 13) night's episode began, Tyrone wasn't in a position of power, but with a loose alliance with Marty and Jill, it seemed certain that he would be able to withstand at least three Espada Tribal Councils without breaking a sweat.
Instead, the two tribes were reshuffled and Jill and Marty went off to join the La Flor camp and a quartet of young contestants came to Espada and didn't appreciate Tyrone's brand of assertive leadership. They also didn't appreciate his chicken consumption.
That's how, over the course of one "Survivor" episode, Tyrone went from relaxed to having his torch snuffed.
HitFix chatted with Tyrone on the morning after his elimination. The full interview is after the break...
HitFix Interview: John Noble talks 'Fringe'
FOX star talks Walternate, insanity and drug addiction
John Noble of 'Fringe'
Credit: FOX
When I caught up with Noble on the "Fringe" set in Vancouver in August, we'd just spent a couple hours filming together, or rather he'd spent a couple hours delivering and redelivering a lengthy speech and I'd spent a couple hours trying to avoid being a distraction in the background of the same scene.
That episode will air on Thursday (Oct. 14) night and I'm relatively confident that Noble achieved his scene goals. The jury is still out on me.
In any case, this interview elides the part where the Emmy-worthy actor reassures me that he'd had worse acting partners and picks up with our discussion of the third season of "Fringe."
Click through for the full interview...
HitFix Interview: Jasika Nicole talks 'Fringe'
What makes Alt-Astrid different from Our Astrid?
Jasika Nicole of 'Fringe'
Credit: FOX
As viewers realized in last season's "Brown Betty," we've only begun to see the tip of Jasika Nicole's potential on FOX's "Fringe."
Sure, her Astrid Farnsworth has been an effective foil for Walter Bishop, particularly at Walter's most eccentric and unpredictable, but in the midst of drug-fueled madness, Nicole got to show Astrid's dramatic side and she got to sing. She may not be asked to do that again, but it's nice have that information in the background in case the writers decide that it's time for an Astrid-centric episode.
For now, Nicole is enjoying the opportunities presented by this season's dual-universe structure, as the differences between Alternate Astrid and Our Astrid are legion.
While visiting the "Fringe" set in August, I had a lengthy chat with Nicole, a conversation that went into rather intriguing depth on the background to Alt-Astrid that we have yet to see.
Click through for the full interview...
Listen: Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 41
Alan and Dan talk 'Rubicon,' 'Mad Men' and review BBC America's 'Luther'
Idris Elba of 'Luther'
Credit: BBC America
Happy Wednesday, Boys and Girls. Welcome to this week's finally completed installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.
We tried recording on Monday. We tried recording on Tuesday. We succeeded at recording today. HUZZAH!
In this week's modified podcast, we reviewed BBC America's "Luther," talked about this Thursday's stunt episodes of "30 Rock" and "Community," answered a tiny bit of reader mail and then delved into the penultimate episodes of "Rubicon" and "Mad Men."
Here's the breakdown:
"Luther" -- 02:00 - 05:45
"30 Rock"/"Community" -- 05:50 - 15:25
Reader Mail -- 15:30 - 20:55
"Rubicon" -- 22:50 - 32:00
"Mad Men" -- 32:00 - 52:00
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.]
And here's the podcast...
HitFix Interview: Lance Reddick talks 'Fringe'
The 'Wire' veteran chats Broyles, sci-fi and why he hasn't seen the 'Lost' finale
Lance Reddick of 'Fringe'
Credit: FOX
"I've had a really charmed career."
That's how Lance Reddick ended our interview on the Vancouver set of "Fringe" last month.
It's hard to argue.
Tall, wiry and intense, but so friendly you forget how intimidating you've found his on-screen presence in the past, Reddick has assembled a resume of memorable characters including John Basil from "Oz," Matthew Abaddon from "Lost" and, mostly impressively, Cedric Daniels from "The Wire."
On "Fringe," Reddick plays Phillip Broyles, one of several characters on the FOX sci-fi drama who we can safely assume have kept some motivations and secrets concealed over the past three seasons.
HitFix caught up with Reddick in August to chat about the season to come...
Click through (no real spoilers for anything in the future)...
HitFix Interview: Blair Brown talks 'Fringe'
What's coming up for Nina Sharp and Massive Dynamic?
Blair Brown of 'Fringe'
Credit: FOX
Back in August, I was on the "Fringe" set in Vancouver.
During that long afternoon, I appeared as an extra in a scene from the episode titled "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?" That episode, the season's fourth, will air this Thursday (Oct. 14).
I'll be telling you more about my scene and my experience acting with John Noble -- I'm gonna keep spoilers to a general minimum, but still... -- later in the week, but I also got the chance to chatter with several of the show's stars.
As I listened back over the interviews, a couple of them were a little too spoiler-y to be posted earlier, but if you've watched as far as the episode two weeks ago, the one which ended with Walter realizing that William Bell's will had left Massive Dynamic to him, I don't think there's anything that should be untoward.
Up first was my chat with Blair Brown, five-time Emmy nominee for "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" and star of the most excellent "Altered States," the 1980 cult classic that supplied "Fringe" with much of its early DNA.
On "Fringe," of course, Brown plays the enigmatic Massive Dynamic bigwig Nina Sharp, a character whose motivations are probably among the show's most mysterious.
What details does Brown know and what details could she spill?
Click through for my full interview...
HitFix Interview: James 'Jimmy T' Tarantino talks 'Survivor: Nicaragua'
The latest 'Survivor' castoff discusses his lack of opportunities
Jimmy T of 'Survivor: Nicaragua'
Credit: CBS
Jimmy Tarantino never had a chance.
If you ask Unquestioned Tribal Leader Marty and his Espada Alliance, Jimmy T was voted out during Wednesday (Oct. 6) night's episode of "Survivor: Nicaragua" because he had a negative effect on tribe chemistry, with his persistent requests to be put in a leadership role and his persistent complaints at being improperly utilized.
If you ask Jimmy T, he was voted out on Wednesday for daring to question why a struggling tribe was refusing to mix up the status quo and let other people -- mostly Jimmy T -- show what they could do.
HitFix spoke with Jimmy T on Thursday and tried to get to the bottom of his rivalry with Jimmy Johnson, plus his sense of being under-appreciated by his "Survivor" peers.
Click through for the full interview...
