I didn't know until listening to this SO show that Marketa Irglova of The Swell Season and the movie Once was singing with Iron and Wine. So Sam Beam may be "unabashedly whitebread" but he scored a coup there.

Thanks for mentioning Jellyfish - Spilt Milk is one of my all time favorite recordings, and while I never got to see them live, YouTube has provided some impressive clips.

It could have something to do with the fact that XTC stopped touring in 1982. Terrific studio band though - I'm grateful to the college and community radio stations that played them. Also enjoyed their Dukes of Stratosphere recordings. 

Radiolab did a segment awhile ago on professional laughers for sitcoms. According to them, it started with the Nanny because Fran Drescher had been a rape victim and was being stalked - so the entire audience was filled with extras that were paid to laugh. Other sitcoms started to follow suit after this. Here's a link…

This is MY United States of Whatever.

Well, I think that's one of the points that the article makes - MTV came along in '81 and they quickly were relegated to "Where are they now?" status within a few years. I always liked "Roll With the Changes" for the organ part:
http://youtu.be/b-nsLFSqu2c

Good call - this sketch is a classic. It worked so well because of WB's squeaky clean image. The part where a spotlight appears out of nowhere and he starts singing "Say a Little Prayer" - then snaps the cop's neck gets me every time.
Not sure it helped his career though - seems like networks were never quite sure…

Yes, as well as Mena Suvari from American Beauty and the American Pie movies. Also weird, but nice. Interesting to see the actors/friends react to his stories.

…just wanted to add that the movie is a nice gateway to the podcast. I look forward to every episode like no other.

Stephen Tobolowky's Birthday Party
The movie can now be viewed on Hulu (doesn't need to be Hulu Plus).

@Opie Clam - I will not be throwing any hell at you. The obscenities in Deadwood initially threw me as well, but as my appreciation of the show grew over time, the "c***suckers" just started to blend in to the rest of the language to my ear. The only thing I would argue with you about is the intent of the language. I…

I was thrilled to see Jim Beaver in this cold opening, and listening to the style of dialogue, I assumed it was an intentional shout-out to Deadwood. Admittedly I am a bit of a Deadwood freak and loved the character of Ellsworth, so I wondered if others thought the same - it makes sense that it brought to mind several…

Since viewing the episode, I felt ambivalent about Gus' motivations for killing Victor, and the comments have helped point out a few ideas I hadn't really thought of. From a pragmatic standpoint it does make sense that Victor screwed up, overstepped his role, and most importantly allowed himself to be viewed at the…

Not sure what's more impressive - that line, or the fact that he kept watching a "barely watchable" show hosted by someone he considers insufferable.

this is a real movie?
I thought this was a fake Sandler movie, like 'Merman' or "Redo" from Funny People. Come to think of it, why didn't he just make those into real movies? Is this really a better concept?

Here's the heartbreaking Radolab story about the chimp Lucy: http://www.radiolab.org/201…

Trill - agree with you on the Mike DeStefano episode, it's one of the best podcasts I've ever heard, and made all the more poignant by his sudden death months later. It reminded me of some of the most moving episodes from the Tobolowsky Files.

Antoine telling the kids to "Play for that money" was also a mirror of ep1 season 1 when we first meet him playing with the brass band for a second line… though to the adults he added "play for that mother f***in' money."

Netflix streaming had season 1 up until about a week ago - now it says "streaming coming soon" whatever that means. May have something to do with the Starz/Sony standoff… or not.

I don't think Technotronic started out their song with "Pump Up the Jams, Motherf****s!!!" - sorry, I should have kept your mother out if it.