Thanks for the heads up on Upstairs Downstairs on Netflix. There goes the next month of my life. I do wonder about the decision to pick up two years later; maybe Fellowes figured 4.5 years of uninterrupted war would be too much of a bummer?

Sorry! All hail @avclub-6dac3e26c4f8349dd4d90a2cbd1e7646:disqus !!!

In this case, being "that guy" is very helpful. Thanks. I will alert the authorities.

True, but the farmer/blind soldier storylines were both crammed into episode 2.

Yes, the series has always balanced between the episodic storylines and the serial ones, but for some reason the pacing seems way more out of whack this season. I'm not sure why, exactly, but it's something to think about.

Oh, good catch! I totally missed that.

Oh that was a good one, too..

Whoops, thanks.

You are 100% right about the pacing. The thing is that some of the storylines move so quickly that they're borderline incoherent (i.e. Edith and the farmer, Thomas and the blind soldier), while other ones drag on for years and years (i.e. Mary and Matthew). Some of them, like Bates and Anna, do both, which is enough…

Thanks, I'll correct. Damn silent "L"!

Ha, well put, WildBeggar.

Hmmm, this is interesting. Though I still like to think he's a moron. I mean, his voting strategy basically ensured his own destruction, didn't it?

Friends was maybe one-third a restaurant sitcom.

Woah, woah, this is amazing. Another confession: I was also really into the Monkees. My first cassette was the Monkees Greatest Hits. I used to watch the re-runs which I think were on MTV, or maybe Nick at Nite. But I think I must have missed the Monkees Chrismas by about a year. Damn my stingy parents.

I just need to step in here and point out an egregious inaccuracy in this grossly partisan article: Sarah Palin did not wear platform heels during her speech at the 2008 Republican Convention, she wore peep-toed pumps. Obviously, the liberal media doesn't care about the truth.

Which I am dying to read (obviously).

Maybe it's not non-denominational, but it's generic "holiday cheer." No Jesus, no mangers, no talk of anything remotely spiritual. I consider that pretty secular, just as I do not consider "The Santa Clause" to be a Christian film. Just sayin'.

What Todd said.

I love you, Jeff Tweedy.

I think this is the third or fourth time she has said it. She is obsessed.