Aziz Ansari is apparently a huge fan of The Americans, and that's why he wanted to cast Emmerich. And he said in an interview that he didn't even realize until later that his wife on this show is named Nina. Heh.

My Betsy Ross theory: her anachronistic mannerisms and speech ("Just go with it") are because she's a woman from 2015 who was somehow sent back to the 1770s.

Does Fred got brewer's droop? Oh, dear.

From the tone of Andy's very occasional tweets, it sounds like The Bugle is pretty much done. That's what I (and many others) predicted when John's HBO contract was first announced. I'm thrilled to have Last Week Tonight, of course, but also sad that it came at the expense of The Bugle.

It's also kind of amazing that out of five people in the opening credits, four are women. When was the last time we saw a ratio like that?

It's been years since I read the series, but I remember it being incredibly dark and brutal (like the part with the leg cuff). Definitely not your typical Doctor Who fare, though I think Patrick Ness could create a very interesting and complex series provided that the BBC lets him add a bit of that darkness.

He has also been officially diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was taking pills for it last season, and in the first or second episode Rhonda said he needed to make an appointment to recalibrate his meds. (Does the rest of his family know about his condition?) While of course bipolar people are capable of being…

Cookie's costume was the most WTF moment for me. Why on earth would they choose a gorilla suit, given the horribly racist historic symbolism? If they want to make a point about prison and cages, at least choose a different animal. Hell, put Cookie in a goddamn LION suit.

Maureen Ryan from Huff Post has also pointed out the melodramatic interstitial music cues that are straight out of an '80s prime time soap.

Not gonna lie: while I appreciate that he was emotional and dignified after finally winning, I wish his speech had been less Don Draper and more Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne.

In some weird way, I'm kind of glad. Mad Men is in my all-time top three, and I gave up on GoT several seasons ago. But I'm also a big proponent of "spread the wealth and withdraw your name from the nominations after you've won three or four times." So I gotta be fair and apply that to Mad Men along with Modern…

Either Jason is getting the villain/jackass edit, or this is the second case of people not realizing how they're coming across.

I was just rewatching the episode, so I checked for the woman on the stairs. She's there! It's a quick shot right before it cuts to the next scene. I can't imagine why that second subway ride would be a flashback, since we're meant to assume it follows directly after Times Square. So… either they filmed scenes for…

And I just checked — it's available via Downcast.

Teen boys loving classic rock is eternal. I teach high school out in the exurbs, and I often see boys with shaggy hair (unironically) wearing Zeppelin and AC/DC shirts and asking if I'd ever heard of Rush.

I know nothing about baseball, so I thought Joe Dale Jr. was a real person. I kinda liked it better that way.

There's an old saying in my state. "Georgia: where it takes you four hours to go from Climax to Cumming."

I love puns — the cornier the better. But as a knitter, I'm downright ashamed by how yarn stores seem to have a competition going for the most cringeworthy names possible. Here in Atlanta, for example, we have The Whole Nine Yarns, Only Ewe and Cotton Too, Ewe Knit and Crochet, and (the worst) Yarning for Ewe. I've…

I don't mind all of those comments, since that's what Podmass is for. But I do wish more people like you came around for a good discussion of those serious podcasts. Do you know of any other sites with widespread podcast chatter (instead of having to go to each individual podcast's site or Facebook page)?

I recently went to a dear friend's wedding. She's in her early 30s, has a thriving career, bought her own house, and is kinda crunchy-granola. Same with her new husband, who seems like a modern kind of guy. They're both devout Christians. I'm a flaming liberal who usually avoids that sort of thing, but she's one of…