Cannes Film Festival 2013

Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 118: 'Breaking In,' 'Bob's Burgers,' 'Game Change' & more

Dan and Alan also check in on 'Raising Hope' and 'New Girl' and answer your mail

Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 118: 'Breaking In,' 'Bob's Burgers,' 'Game Change' & more

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It's Monday, which means you get a brand-new, hour-plus edition of the Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, with a lot of time spent on FOX comedies, plus HBO's McCain/Palin movie "Game Change"(*), some mail, and even a bit on the Grantland "Wire" March Madness bracket.

(*) Traditionally, my blog has had a pretty staunch No Politics rule, which I implemented after everyone on the old blog melted down and couldn't behave during the run-up to the presidential election that "Game Change" depicts. There's obviously no way to discuss "Game Change" (which I'll also have a written review of later in the week) without politics entering into it on some level, so I'm going to trust you all and hope that everyone manages to be more civil this time around. And, if not, I'll simply shut down comments on this post (and/or the written review, depending on where the bad behavior is). You can disagree with each other without attacking each other — or, for that matter, politicians with whom you don't agree — and if you can't do that, discussion shuts down. Period. 

The line-up: 

"Breaking In" (00:00:45 - 00:10:35)
"Raising Hope" (00:10:35 - 00:17:40)
"New Girl" (00:17:45 - 00:27:35)
"Game Change" (00:27:40 - 00:40:00)
"Bob's Burgers" (00:40:00 - 00:45:00)
Grantland's "Wire" Bracket (00:45:00 - 00:49:15)
Listener Mail: Skippable Seasons (00:49:40 - 00:56:30)
Listener Mail: Unlikable Characters (00:56:30 - 01:01:10)
Listener Mail: The State of "Modern Family" (01:01:20 - 01:11:10)
 
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 questions for the podcast.

'The Good Wife' - 'After the Fall': Sister, sister

Will's family pays a visit, Eli scrambles and Caitlin proves useful

<p>Mamie Gummer, Julianna Margulies and Anna Camp in "The Good Wife."</p>

Mamie Gummer, Julianna Margulies and Anna Camp in "The Good Wife."

Credit: CBS

A quick review of last night's "The Good Wifecoming up just as soon as I make a reservation for 4...

'GCB' - 'Pilot': Booby Licious or just plain ugly?

What did everybody think of ABC's new soap opera?

<p>Leslie Bibb in "GCB."</p>

Leslie Bibb in "GCB."

Credit: ABC

I posted my review of ABC's "GCB" on Friday. Now it's your turn. What did everybody think of Leslie Bibb, Kristin Chenoweth and company in the new Texas soap opera with the weird, watered-down name? Funny or icky? Comparable to at least the current state of "Desperate Housewives," if not that show's original level? And are you going to watch again?

Have at it.

'The Walking Dead' - 'Judge, Jury, Executioner': Over hill, over Dale

Dale argues for a man's life, while Carl goes exploring

<p>Jeffrey DeMunn as Dale in "The Walking Dead."</p>

Jeffrey DeMunn as Dale in "The Walking Dead."

Credit: AMC

A review of tonight's "The Walking Dead" coming up just as soon as I make some new arrows

'Luck' - 'Episode 6': A peck of pickled peppers

Joey hits rock bottom, Rosie makes a tactical mistake and Ace's plan moves forward

<p>Richard Kind in "Luck."</p>

Richard Kind in "Luck."

Credit: HBO

A review of tonight's "Luck" coming up just as soon as I flag you for bad breath...

'Community' comes to PaleyFest confident in renewal chances

Cast and producers also talk Jim Rash's Oscar, and what would happen in a movie

<p>The "Community" panelists from PaleyFest (plus your moderator hanging in the back row).</p>

The "Community" panelists from PaleyFest (plus your moderator hanging in the back row).

Credit: Kevin Parry / The Paley Center for Media

"Community" — which finally returns to its old NBC time slot on Thursday, March 15 at 8 p.m. — became the first show in the history of PaleyFest to be invited three years in a row, and it was easy to see why at Saturday night's panel, which I had the pleasure of moderating. The cast (minus Chevy Chase and Donald Glover), creator Dan Harmon and producers Neil Goldman, Garrett Donovan and Russ Krasnoff were smart and funny and overflowing with affection for each other and for the very loud, enthusiastic group of fans who came to the Saban Theatre for the event.

If you couldn't go to LA, or to the simulcast at the New York Paley Center (where I'm told fans came in costume and even built a blanket fort), or watch the live stream from your computers, the panel will be archived on Hulu starting March 15, and I have to assume it'll eventually turn up in the Paley Center's own online archives. Because I was moderating, I couldn't take notes on the event, but I can give you the highlights — including some fairly mild spoilers (in terms of the premises of a few upcoming episodes) — coming up just as soon as I Britta the whole thing...

'Community' gets animated in new webisodes

'Abed's Master Key' helps bridge gap until March 15 return

<p>A glimpse of the "Community" animated webisode "Abed's Master Key."</p>

A glimpse of the "Community" animated webisode "Abed's Master Key."

Credit: NBC

As mentioned a few times in the last week, I'm in California for the "Community" panel at PaleyFest. As this is being posted, the live audience is watching the first episode that will air when the show comes back on March 15, the funny, Shirley-centric "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts" — the live stream of the event should begin right after the screening ends — and Dan Harmon has just announced that on this Wednesday, March 2, Hulu and NBC.com are going to launch a three-episode webisode series called "Abed's Master Key" to provide hungry fans with some "Community"-related content before the show returns to TV.

I'm writing this up in advance of the panel (since I'm otherwise detained at the moment), but the press release explains that "In the three-part sequence of 'Abed’s Master Key,' Dean Pelton hires Abed as his temporary assistant. Entrusted with a Greendale Master Key; Abed abuses his power to help his friends, and after Britta confronts Abed, she heads down the same dark path." The series was co-written by Dave Seger and Tom Kaufman, who created the series "Sex Teenagers" for Harmon's Channel 101 project.

For those who won't get to attend or watch the stream tonight, I'll try to write up some highlights of the panel tomorrow morning. (If you want to wait, Hulu will have an archive of the video in a couple of weeks.) Hopefully, a fun time is being had by all as you read this.

Here's a teaser to the animated webisodes.

Review: ABC's 'GCB' a shrill, unfunny soap opera

A 'Desperate Housewives' wannabe set deep in the heart of Texas

  • Critic's Rating D
  • Readers' Rating C
<p>Leslie Bibb confronts her rivals (Kristin Chenoweth, Miriam Shor, Marisol Nichols and Jennifer Aspen) in "GCB."</p>

Leslie Bibb confronts her rivals (Kristin Chenoweth, Miriam Shor, Marisol Nichols and Jennifer Aspen) in "GCB."

Credit: ABC
There are shows you watched once upon a time and still think back on fondly, there are shows you spent years watching and now wonder what on earth you were thinking, and then there are shows where you can't always be sure whether they were good or you just convinced yourself they were.
 
"Desperate Housewives" falls into the latter category for me. It debuted in the fall of the 2004-5 TV season, an all-time great year in network TV that also gave us "Lost," "House," "The Office," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Veronica Mars," among others. And it was an enormous hit right out of the gate, and I was swept up in both the hype and its place in this great freshman class, even though I generally have little use for soap operas. But I also think that, at least in that first season, "Desperate Housewives" aspired to be more than that, and often succeeded. It was commenting on and satirizing the various soap clichés even as it was cheerfully racing through all of them, and at times it managed to invest its suburban satire with real humanity.
 
Or maybe I'm just remembering it more fondly because "Desperate Housewives" is coming to the end of its final season — and, more importantly, because ABC is using these final "Housewives" episodes to launch "GCB" (Sunday at 10 p.m.), a new soap that wants so badly be this decade's "Desperate Housewives," but that plays more like a bad parody of it.

'Awake' - 'Pilot': Seeing red and seeing green

What did everybody think of NBC's new cop drama?

<p>A rare glimpse of red in the green world of "Awake."</p>

A rare glimpse of red in the green world of "Awake."

Credit: NBC

reviewed NBC's "Awake" yesterday, and since the pilot has been available online and On Demand for a couple of weeks, many of you have already offered your thoughts on it. But since I figure at least some of you still watch TV on TV, and on a more traditional schedule, here's one last opportunity to discuss the first episode. Did you find the shifts between worlds easy to follow? Did you prefer one world (or partner, shrink or family member) to the other? Given the subject matter, did it feel too depressing? And do you plan to watch more?

'Parks and Recreation' - 'Campaign Shake-Up': The woman behind the curtain

Kathryn Hahn and Carl Reiner guest star, and Pawnee has a health crisis

<p>Amy Poehler, Kathryn Hahn and Carl Reiner in "Parks and Recreation."</p>

Amy Poehler, Kathryn Hahn and Carl Reiner in "Parks and Recreation."

Credit: NBC

A review of tonight's "Parks and Recreation" coming up just as soon as I eat egg salad with Colin Powell...

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