Yeah, he kind of came out of nowhere locally as well. One minute he was a guy who was around, the next minute he had an HBO special. Not saying he's bad or anything, just that the industry is unpredictable.

He kind of specializes in roles that color everything else you see him in.

Isn't that cognitive dissonance for you?

Both No. 1 hits in the alternate universe where popular music developed from the blueprint of the first two minutes of "Bitchin' Camaro."

Not by some people. On the record, I wouldn't trade "When I Was Cruel" for any non-"Almost Blue," pre-1983 Costello album, but honestly you might catch me dealing it for "Trust" or "My Aim Is True."

George Harrison took multiple passes at "Isn't It a Pity"… and still got trumped by Galaxie 500.

Well, it's a great justification for not hiring any extras. Which is why the Miami thing seems to defeat the purpose.

Is that a reference to something? I just assumed it was a thing people started saying for no good reason.

It's crazy to think that that's a Season 10 reference.

Song doesn't do much for me either, but sure, it's a little different. Still seems pretty produced to me, but yeah, sure, in a quasi-dream-pop way rather than a mid-tempo-'90s-radio-pop-rock way. (Not that there wasn't stuff like that on the radio in the '90s… Mazzy Star comes to mind. But this is more repetitive,…

Mid-tempo strumming is mid-tempo strumming. I'm not talking about genealogy.

I mean, it's the same scrupulously tasteful, overproduced guitar sound, sanded off so it doeswn't get in the way of the vocals. And of course the vocals also sound very similar. But what really drives it home is the lyrics. The faux-stream-of-consciousness, the enjambment, the very concerted attempt to be like "oh,…

I mean, except for music, lyrics and production, but okay.

So… in what way, exactly, is Courtney Barnett not Sheryl Crow?

All right, we can agree to disagree here.

Eh, it was disappointing given the talent involved, they probably could've cut some supporting characters and retooled it into something good… it was like Lucky Louie, except instead of a show that could've been okay if it wasn't so desperately trying to be All in the Family, it was a show that could've been okay if…

Um, to recap, this is a prime-time variety show.

On Community, at least, the stand-ins spent a lot of time hanging out with the recurring characters. Some of my best friends on that set were stand-ins.

Deadwood?

Yeah, Isaac has been EXPLICABLY cast in stuff.