Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall
Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 171: Mid-season check-ins, reality round-up & more
Dan and Alan catch up on 'The Americans,' 'Enlightened,' 'The Mindy Project,' and more
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It's at once a slow and busy week for the Firewall & Iceberg Podcast. There aren't any premieres of note, and a lot of network shows are in repeats during the post-sweeps lull (which we explain in the podcast's opening minutes), so we decided to take the opportunity to check back in on a bunch of series we haven't discussed in a while, and also to answer some mail, and also to do one of our periodic Dan's Reality Round-Up segments. So a dead week wound up leading to one of our longest podcasts ever. The lineup:
Slow Week (00:00:30 - 00:08:00)
"The Americans" (00:08:05 - 00:17:05)
"Shameless" (00:17:05 - 00:28:35)
"The Mindy Project" (00:28:40 - 00:37:50)
Midseason Struggles (00:37:55 - 00:47:25)
Listener Mail - Uneven Shows like "Suburgatory" (00:47:30 - 00:56:45)
Listener Mail - "Top Chef," leading into Dan's Reality Roundup - (01:02:10 - 01:22:25)
"Enlightened" finale - (01:22:50 - 01:36:50)
"Bunheads" finale - (01:36:50 - 01:47:40)
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.
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
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March 5, 2013 at 1:58AM EST Reply to CommentSorry guys, but the idea of The Following having nine episodes without Kevin Bacon would be colossally stupid.
I'm glad Fox only renewed it for 15.
J
March 5, 2013 at 2:13AM EST Reply to CommentAlan, did you opine about 'Red Widow' somewhere in passing? I don't remember you doing so, and neither Google nor the Hitfix tag system -- which seems really wonky (for instance, like 'Red Widow,' for 'Bunheads' "THERE ARE NO REVIEWS OF THIS SHOW AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME") -- brings up anything by you.
I'm assuming you're passing, and I guess the ratings means it'll be disappearing anyway, but given the barrage of promos I thought I'd see it at least acknowledged and dismissed, here.
sepinwall We talked about it on last week's podcast. I ultimately didn't have time (or a strong enough opinion) to write something.
March 5, 2013 at 7:29AM ESTRU Serious
March 5, 2013 at 9:57AM EST Reply to CommentI'm not sure what else you could be looking for from The Americans, Dan mentions that he feels like it should be doing more or something along those lines. For me it's the strongest show to premiere since Game of Thrones' first five episodes. I think the performances by Russell and ESPECIALLY Rhys have been tremendous, totally nuanced and multilayered. On the subject of the FBI agent across the street, I know what you're saying, but I kind of hope the Americans NEVER pits the two against each other in direct conflict. The TV convention demands they do so, when I think there are far more interesting ways to use that character (I'm not a big fan of that actor at all in this role) to examine opposite perspectives on the cold war. Excellent show, too bad the Emmys don't know FX exists.
chrispepper Completely agree. it's started out really strongly, and has a lot more potential to improve over a show like say... Homeland, which it is being compared to.
March 8, 2013 at 5:53PM ESTDonGately
March 5, 2013 at 2:29PM EST Reply to CommentThe average TV viewer has no idea who Radha Mitchell is.
Joe E Tata
March 5, 2013 at 7:59PM EST Reply to CommentI'm alright
laughnow_crylater
March 5, 2013 at 8:04PM EST Reply to CommentWhy is NBC still clinging on tightly to Deception? It's not a particularly interesting show, it's basically a clone of the garbage primetime soaps that Fox would have produced in the 90s. It's also the corniest Drama show I've seen on the big four in a while. Why are people finding this show so compelling? The villain is uneven, the show's relationship was predictable from the get go, the stupid blonde shrew needs to go and the main character is an idiot.
Call Me Carlos the Dwarf
March 6, 2013 at 3:43AM EST Reply to CommentDid you stop covering Cougar Town? I haven't seen any recaps in a few weeks.