And yet, that new channel will eventually figure out it can't draw viewers even as part of that bundle and will eventually mutate into something that looks very much like everything else. What have you watched lately on Arts & Entertainment, or The Learning Channel?

That means it could be a little Kenny Powers under one of those hoods. Might explain his predilection for the Scream mask.

But also, such mild sinning ensures that any conversion can be a simple, nearly consequence-free proposition. "God forgives all my sin and everything can be peachy." If there was real sin, that might mess up the narrative of having a change of heart and suddenly being blessed beyond measure.

My children are named Joel and Ruth Ann.  No lie.

Seems like a great idea for a series, but . . .
I hate the way all channels, no matter what their niche, always eventually move toward showing the same things everybody else does. IFC and Sundance barely show movies in primetime anymore. Bravo has no arts programming. FitTV went from exercise shows to nonstop Dr. G…

Ice Skating
While I'm all warmed up, the ice skating, especially with the dry ice smoke at there feet, really drove home the season 1-3 opening credits. Now have we past that dispensation and are living the season 4-5 credits, where most of the family seems to be reaching out, and failing to clasp hands? And I say…

Yeah, I got to thinking about that snow at the end of the episode. Todd wanted to say at the end of "Winter" that the snow is purifying, and sure, it makes everything pretty and white. But in reality, it just covers everything, then melts. You're left with the same mess you had before, only soggy.

This week's great "Bill's a dick" moment: "Hey there, skipper, you can pick your bunk here in shelter at Christmas!"

I would be here with bells on. Make it so.

Lines that sum up the series
Todd mentions the "Spring snow" line as indicating the autumnal mood of the Soprano's. How about Tony's line as food poisoning first takes hold as the show's moral outlook and sense of how helpful therapy has been for Tony: "It's not my head, it's my stomach!"

Interestingly, Newhart was shot on video during its first season or two, then went to film for the majority of the run.

Yeah, I'd argue that it's only in the post-Civil War consolidation (political with the rise of the machines, economic in terms of corporatism/industrialism) that we really shift from being united states to America.

Loves me some Tift Merritt
I'm a little more of a fan of the alt-country sound of Bramble Rose, while the wife prefers the soul stuff on Tamborine. Another Country never really made it into heavy rotation around our house, though. Which album does this sound more like?

Goodbye, Earl
Doesn't lifting the entire plot, including Sapphic overtones, from Fried Green Tomatoes make this a little less revolutionary?

Wanna play a fun game? Is the implied hearer of "The Boys are Back in Town" male or female? How does your answer change the characterization of the narrator?

And again I'm going to bang the drum for their double live album, Across A Wire. Especially the first, acoustic disc. They really are a live band, not a studio band.

'e's got a mouthful o' cookies!

http://www.theonion.com/con…

I'm not so sure the women come off any better for being more independent; they actually are all becoming mini-Bills. Take Barb at the casino. She's a tone-deaf leader up there, as demonstrated by her diversity training. I found it amusing that she has a Boss Lady coffee mug at the casino. She's embraced what…

Opening sequence
My new theory on the new opening sequence is that it is not to demonstrate how the family is fracturing and falling apart, but to signal that we the audience can no longer sympathetically connect with these characters. They are falling away from us.