Andrew Rannells, Ellen Barkin and NeNe Leakes in "The New Normal."

Credit: NBC

I reviewed NBC's "The New Normal" over the weekend. Now it's your turn. For those of you who watched the premiere tonight, what did you think? Was it funny? Offensive? Both? Neither? Did you like the Andrew Rannells character, or did you feel the two baby-as-accessory jokes sold him out? Do you want to watch Ellen Barkin spew racist and/or homophobic slurs 22 times a season for seasons on end? Did the celebrity cameo delight you or just remind you of various "Glee" moments? 

Most importantly, are you going to watch again? Unlike most premieres this fall, that choice comes upon you almost immediately, as the next episode will be airing tomorrow night at 9:30.

Have at it.

Mandy Patinkin in the "Homeland" season 2 premiere.

Credit: Showtime

"Homeland" doesn't return to television until Sunday, September 30 at 10 p.m., but Showtime made the first 20 minutes of the season 2 premiere available online and On Demand, both to whet the appetites of subscribers and to convince other people to sign up before the month is over.

The preview is supposed to be available on Demand on over 40 cable and satellite providers, including Comcast, Cox, DirectTV, Dish, Time Warner Cable and Verizon, and it's also online right now, as you can see below. Enjoy, and we'll be back to discuss the full thing on the 30th.

Karen Gillan, Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill in "Doctor Who."

Credit: BBC

A review of tonight's "Doctor Who" coming up just as soon as I have balls in my trousers...

Philip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton in "Strike Back."

Credit: Cinemax

As I said a couple of weeks ago, "Strike Back" is one of those shows I deeply enjoy but don't usually have a ton to say about. But I thought the just-concluded two-parter with Stonebridge and Scott defending their shabby little fort against overwhelming odds was pretty splendid. And tonight's episode begins a new two-parter that puts the machinations of Tywin Lannister (or whatever name Charles Dance is going by in this series) more into focus while also advancing the character arcs for the revenge-fueled Stonebridge and for Scott.

I've got an exclusive clip of tonight's episode, with the guys trying to escape an ambush, but I also thought I'd use this post as an opportunity for the handful of "Strike Back" fans we have around here to discuss the season so far. Have at it.

It's a late-week Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, thanks to Dan's international travels (which we discuss briefly at the start), in which we start looking ahead to next week's premieres of "The New Normal," "Parenthood" and "Sons of Anarchy" while also looking back to the "Breaking Bad" finale and to pilots that recast performers — not always for the better. As we warn you near the end, the next podcast may also not be on Monday, but we'll get to "Boardwalk Empire" and friends eventually.

(Also, for those wondering, here's this week's theme song, which is damn catchy.) 

The line-up: 

"The New Normal" (00:03:40 - 00:22:10)

"Parenthood" (00:22:15 - 00:34:30)

"Sons of Anarchy" (00:34:30 - 45:50)

Listener Mail on pilot changes (00:45:55 - 00:56:25)

"Breaking Bad" (00:57:15 - 01:22:45)

 

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.

Anna Gunn and Bryan Cranston in a scene from the "Breaking Bad" mid-season finale.

Credit: AMC

There have been times when Vince Gilligan has known from the start of a "Breaking Bad" season exactly how it was going to end (the plane crash of season 2), and other times where he and his fellow writers have had to improvise (they realized midway through season 3 that the Cousins were too dangerous to plausibly hang around forever, and as a result killed them off and made Gus into the new big bad).

As Gilligan and his writing staff have begun work  on the final 8 episodes of the AMC drama, they're taking an approach that's a little from Column A and a little from Column B, where they have an idea of what's going to be happen but are open to changing that idea if something better comes along.

I spoke with Gilligan about planning the ending of the series, and also about several of the key developments of the first half of this final season, up through the final images of Sunday's mid-season finale.