Phyllis reminds me of a lady I used to work with, let's call her "Deidre".  (It was her name)  She'd been in a relatively low level position for twenty-odd years but was part of the core institutional memory of the organisation, and was actively sought out for advice by just about everyone.  She wasn't as shy as…

Jim's ambitions have always been wildly inconsistent.  In season six, he actively pursues the manager's position and gets angry at Michael when Michael doesn't support him, telling Michael "I've asked you to put me up for a branch manager position again and again".  But when DeAngelo's brain dies he turns one down…

"Oooo, check it out… hired guy"

One of Pratchett's problems is that he falls in love with his iconic characters and has difficulty putting obstacles in their path that are credible.  (See what I said above about Carpe Jugulum, probably the worst case of this)  It's always been a bigger problem with Granny than Vimes, but it happened to Vimes quite a…

I dunno man, seems like I'm the only one here hating on Thud.  Most others seem to think it was comparatively good.  And really, to me, there's not much more to Thud than clunking social commentary.

One interesting thing about this show was that it made me realise for the first time that, while Furlong may be ugly and cruel and power-hungry, he's actually pretty sharp, much sharper than the main cast.  He picked up that something was off with Selena pretty much instantly.

That'd be cool, actually.  The problem is, a new Veep wouldn't inherit any of the old Veep's staff, because that's not how the Executive Office works.

"Thud" was just too much of 'I'm Terry Pratchett, and I have Something To Say about contemporary British race relations'*

I think his late-period nadir was probably 'Thud'.  Carpe Jugulm might be his all-time worst, though.

The question is, presuming it keeps being renewed, how will they make it work?  Will it get a name change to 'POTUS'?

Why is Furlong so certain he can get elected as Senator, given that he failed to become Governor?

So can we conclusively say that Pete is Billy's sidekick?  I'm sure Pete doesn't see it that way, but as viewers, I think we have to agree that there's really no argument.

I think Chung is a subtle parody of the way American political culture, and culture as a whole, lionises veterans.

I would give my left nut to see an adaptation of Red Son, but yeah, it'll never happen.

Wow, a superhero film that's conceptualised chiefly as an origin story?

I don't like the way Kevin was a moderately competent adult.

I always thought the "no women no kids" thing was more a personal rule of Hunter's than OSI's own rule.  Then again, Hunter's in charge now so I guess it doesn't make much of a difference.

My head hair is dark brown, but my beard is light brown with flecks of blonde.  It happens.

So what, if it was an inborn trait, it'd be his fault?

Sounds likely.  I mean I know nothing about Chevy Chase but Cherokee is definitely the most popular ethnicity to be '25% of, or something'