Listen: Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 133
Dan and Alan talk 'Saving Hope,' 'True Blood,' 'Buffy' and more
Happy Thursday, Boys & Girls.
Time for the promised bonus installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.
Just under the wire, we discuss Thursday's premiere of NBC's "Saving Hope." We also talk about IFC's "Comedy Bang Bang!" and "Bunk." I complain about HBO's "True Blood," while Sepinwall vows to never watch again unless I force him. We also briefly discuss the TCA Award nominations and then Alan shared some of his preferences in TV for kids.
And, finally, we talk about the "Witch" episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
This is probably our shortest podcast in a while, but combined with the 90+ minutes on Monday, that's still a lot of podcasting.
Today's breakdown:
"Saving Hope" (00:00:50 - 00:10:15)
"Comedy Bang Bang!" and "Bunk" (00:10:20 - 00:19:00)
"True Blood" (00:19:00 - 00:32:00)
TCA Award Nominations (00:32:00 - 00:42:25)
Alan's Kids' TV Roundup (00:42:35 - 00:49:25)
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Rewatch (00:49:30 - 01:03:45)
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.]
And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login Signuprowan729
June 7, 2012 at 5:03PM EST Reply to CommentOh Dan, what a sadist you are for watching this crap you hate. But thank you, for letting me know I was right to give up on True Blood being entertaining in any way other than the nudity. I do like me some Skarsgard, and even Paquin most of the time, but good lord this show went off the rails a while back and I regret wasting my time on it last year at all. I cannot understand how HBO thinks this show elevates their brand in any way whatsoever, or how it keeps getting renewed each year. I guess after this weekend my Sunday nights will be really free until Breaking Bad starts. Sanguinistas? Shoot me.
And yes, I agree with Alan, not knowing ahead of time what mess is on TB this year at Comic-Con would be fabulous. But probably really rude and unprofessional.
Mark Baker It's the most popular show on HBO. That's why it gets renewed.
June 9, 2012 at 1:37AM ESTrowan729 Is it, though? I'm curious if TB's ratings are higher than Game of Thrones these past two years.
June 9, 2012 at 1:06PM ESTIn the case of TB, for every season they've been renewed for the following year by the time the 3rd episode airs. For this year, season five, they did not get renewal until almost the end of last season, which I think is telling, considering HBO's penchant for immediate renewal of a truly successful show. Then, not long after renewal it came out that Ball wouldn't be showrunner after this year, which is another sign, I think, of HBO's waning trust in this show as a quality program.
I'm pretty sure the main reason HBO keeps the show despite all the problems with it is that it attracts attention, people talk about it, although not so much in a good way anymore. It's not necessarily their most popular show or their highest rated, but it does get talked about a lot, so there's that. I think it's sensationalism that keeps the show going now, and that it will die the true death soon if the writing and plots keep getting worse.
In fact, I almost wouldn't even say this show is inspired by the books anymore at all, the only thing TB shares now with the Harris books are the character's names. That's it-nothing else has anything to do with the books anymore at all, it's just Ball and his strange fan fiction producing convoluted storylines that go no where.
June 9, 2012 at 1:27PM EST"True Blood" remains HBO's highest rated show, at least for the moment, and by HBO standards it isn't close, with "True Blood" episodes averaging 5-ish million per episode and "Game of Thrones" averaging 4-ish.
"Game of Thrones" is trending up and "True Blood" was flat last season and may be due for a tiny dip this season, but it probably won't dip enough to fall to No.2.
-Daniel
rowan729 Thanks, Dan, for the ratings info, I was curious about that. As for HBO's TB renewal record, you are right that it is inconsistent. I'm pretty sure it was picked up for year 2 almost immediately, but then it took a month and a half after season 2 started airing for it to get season 3 renewal. However, TB was renewd for year 4 only 8 days after the start of season 3, so HBO has been eager in the past to renew this show quickly. I just took the two month or so wait for renewal last summer for this year as part of a sign that perhaps HBO is realizing they shouldn't necessaruly greenlight this show for another year right away as they have in the past.
June 9, 2012 at 2:16PM ESTI am interested to see what sort of ratings they will have this year-I seem to recall a TB fan site saying last year that there were decreases in viewership as opposed to previous years, but the site was so thrilled because TB still had more viewers than Mad Men, thus making it the better show. Ugh.
Oh, and thanks for the info on Jessica and her skimpy outfits-that is the same question my dad had when I told him the new season was starting and was likely to still suck big time. He was very glad to know that someone out there was able to confirm that she still looks good in and makes appearances in her lingerie!
Liz
June 7, 2012 at 6:08PM EST Reply to CommentPoor Sam Trammell. He deserves so much better than that character and this show. The scenes last season when he had to mimic Marshall Allman's gestures and speech pattern were one of the few times in the history of True Blood that I was actually impressed with someone's acting.
It seems like the last two seasons, he's barely had any interaction with any of the show's main characters. I was kind of hoping that would change this year and he would be better integrated into a main storyline.
Silly me.
Mark
June 7, 2012 at 7:19PM EST Reply to CommentWhen I saw the summary "Alan's Kids' TV roundup," I thought Alan's kids were going to review TV, and I thought that would be an interesting gimmick. Fun anyway.
aransoto Oh please Alan do THIS, that would be awsome.
June 8, 2012 at 4:48PM ESTMeridith
June 7, 2012 at 8:09PM EST Reply to CommentI also adore Doofenschmirtz and I look forward to my daily P&F episodes I watch with my sons. He's easily one of the funniest characters on TV. Also, P&F had some of the best music in children's television. My sons learned about the blues influence on the history of rock music because of P&F. Great stuff!
belinda
June 7, 2012 at 8:55PM EST Reply to Commentdan, you're a masochist! true blood's not even a fun show to hate watch or for the sake of knowing the conversation. it just grates.
luisl
June 8, 2012 at 12:42AM EST Reply to CommentI gave up on True Blood after season 3. There is no point of comparison with TVD.
iris Yes there is. TVD is very watchable. TB is not. I find it funnt when people say TVD is a silly tween vampire show and TB is the real deal. Come on now. The acting on TB might be of a higher caliber, but the material is atrocious.
June 8, 2012 at 1:33PM EST1753
June 8, 2012 at 6:09AM EST Reply to CommentI'd really like to give up on True Blood, but I'm not sure I completely hate it yet, and in an era where everything's available online, that's what it takes. Some combination of boredom and morbid curiosity keeps me coming back to shows I actively dislike just because it's so easy. True Blood is bad, I know it's bad, but I don't hate ALL of the characters. I did get to the point that I hated all of the Entourage characters, so I'm proud to say I dropped that one, but then I stuck with Heroes until the end, so what does that say?
odessasteps
June 8, 2012 at 7:47AM EST Reply to CommentDon't listen to Bang Bang, but I'd like to see the guys during the "slow summer" maybe review some of the Nerdist Channel (or Geek and Sundry) content on youtube.
J
June 8, 2012 at 10:53AM EST Reply to CommentI can explain how Julia Louis-Dreyfuss had enough support for a nomination, but Veep didn't. JLD is an extremely talented performer. Veep is an unfunny p.o.s.
Mia Monroe
June 8, 2012 at 1:30PM EST Reply to CommentOk. def not watching True Blood this season. Last season was painful, no reason to go back if there are no improvements.
I liked the Monday podcast more. I find it more entertaining when you talk in depth about fewer shows that we really care about, instead of 10 minutes for each crappy show nobody's gonna watch. But I always enjoy listening, if not for the content, at least the banter is fun.
Is Dan really Alan's boss? For some reason I thought Alan might be higher or at least equal in Hit Fix hierarchy.
sepinwall Dan is, indeed, my boss. He jumps, I ask, "How high?"
June 8, 2012 at 1:54PM ESTAnd then distract him with a Smash Williams Story joke.
dan Mia - It's true. Alan has the love, the money, the influence and the power. But I've got the title, baby!!!!
June 8, 2012 at 1:59PM ESTAnd this week did kinda end up with the two polar opposite podcasts, one with lots of depth and one that was lots of bits and pieces. Hopefully Monday's podcast will be a good mix.
-Daniel
Mia Monroe LOL Well I like and respect you both equally, it's just that Dan doesn't have that bossy (that's not the word) demeanor, which is a good thing, that's the boss i'd want, one that treats me as an equal, while Alan is a bit more serious ( that's not the word either), maybe because he's a parent, I don't know. But I definitely didn't mean to imply Alan seems superior or something, I was just going off of the vibe I get from you guys... And I realize making these judgements about you is a bit weird and not at all polite so i'm stopping now.
June 8, 2012 at 2:54PM ESTdan Mia - The difference in demeanor is because Alan is much, much, much, much older than I am...
June 8, 2012 at 3:00PM EST-Daniel
sepinwall It's true. An entire presidency separates my birth and Dan's. Of course, it was Gerald Ford's presidency, but still. Huge gap.
June 8, 2012 at 3:18PM EST