Well, without Nina, it'd be a very quiet talk show. Existential, almost. Just a limp puppet, sitting there, lifeless, at a desk.

Effing torn between renaming my fantasy football team this fall after Monkey or Tetsu from the movie 'Tokyo Drifter.' My guffaw count varied from episode to episode, but Conti was brilliant throughout.

Silent-movie cowboys, conspiracy theorists, homophobes who aren't really homophobes at all, haggling over a monkey puppet at Venice Beach, and the perfectly ambiguous ending. A line that made me think (Begley's 'hearse' toast), and 10-12 others that made me spit up my drink out of laughter. 'Family Tree's' finale…

And Hawkgirl as Valkyrie or Hellcat. God, that was a genius slight-of-hand, wasn't it? I'd give my left nipple for a Defenders animated series. Come on, Titmouse. Make it happen.

Seconded. Or thirded. Or sixthed. Or whatever. I recall cringing at the synopsis before it aired, only to find it to be almost the perfect balance of fun and gravitas. And probably the best episode of a pretty mixed final season.

Numbers are black and white, but context is grey. Basically, from 1979 on, Classic 'Who' was heading down one long death spiral that JNT either unconsciously or willingly exacerbated. When you think about the classic series, in the long view, the lasting appeal of a particular Doctor or epoch is down to the…

Clara: Resolved. "Doctor Who": Ruined. Season 7 (A and B) was Steven Moffat's Pyrrhic victory lap, and he saved the absolute worst for last. First viewing: Confused and mildly disappointed. Second viewing: Utterly incensed.
 

And she will sing. A lot. She will sing until you BLEED.

Fingers crossed, especially as it's common knowledge JLC comes out of the other side of this, one way or another. That said, I'll stand by my premise: I haven't cared this LITTLE about a NuWho companion since Mickey, and that's awfully curious coming from a writer/show-runner of Moffat's ilk. Like River Song, it was a…

Damn. Well, 'Nightmare' would've made a wonderful novel/novella, especially coming from the mind of this novelist in particular. But as it aired (at least in the BBC America edit), it came off as a massive cram job, with noticeable narrative gaps that were either ignored or glossed over for time. I'd trade a…

Tough crowd. On first view, found this a MUCH better offering than 'Journey,' on a couple levels. For one, it's the rare case of a 'NuWho' narrative told with the story already running, with a crucial flashback sequence that gets us up to speed — in a stylized sepia, to boot — without also being…

I freaking adored the concept/premise of River Song at its inception (that is, to say, its presumed final chapter in The Library). But I've liked the character less and less with each reappearance; it's as if Moffat keeps painting himself deeper and deeper into this tiny little corner of the room. The half-Time-Lady…

"Q and the P" has been doing a number of rounds on TCM in recent years, although I'm stumped as to why we can't get a proper DVD release (re-release?) here in the States. Andrew Keir somehow made a tweed jacket seem kind of badass. I didn't think any lass could rival my paranormal/horror nerdbabe crush on circa-1967…

Re: Tennant as an actor … I've seen Tennant in other things. I've seen Smith in other things. Matt Smith effing runs circles — mad, Usain Bolt-esque circles — around David Tennant as an actor. (And I'd wholeheartedly invite fanboys/girls to Google that clip from 10's aborted "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer" pilot — what the…

Seconded on most of the above, save for one thing — Simpson's score on 'The Seeds Of Death' absolutely misfires at times, especially the tinkly piano bits that sound like a silent-film score gone completely wrong; that aforementioned tinkle just compounds an already campy scene between Troughton and the idiot Ice…

Amen, amen, amen. Because David Whitaker may have been utter batshit, but he wrote INTERESTING utter batshit. I only recently discovered Sandifer's many essays on the subject, and I am in (almost) complete and total lockstep agreement. I have a new 'Classic Who' rule of thumb: If Troughton's in it, or if Holmes or…

Not a Pertwee man. Fine comic, but his Doctor is too one-dimensionally condescending for my tastes (IMHO, the role has to be a balanced with some buffoonery, something Troughton/T. Baker/Eccleston/Tennant/Smith got absolutely right); I never have, and never will, get the appeal of Jo Grant (I'm sure Katy Manning is a…

Which I why I never understand some of the loudest voices of 'Who' fandom, the ones who can't get enough of crossovers/'event' episodes. Look, 'The Three Doctors' is largely crap, Troughton notwithstanding. 'The Five Doctors' is larger and crappier, Troughton notwithstanding. 'The Two Doctors' is … well, I'm in the…

In Who, 'Nu' or Classic, smaller is better. It's why "Dalek" works. It's why "Midnight" works, brilliantly, and is one of the most criminally underrated offerings of the RTD Era. I'd even go so far as to say it's why "Gridlock" (mostly) works — massive in scale, yes (thanks, CGI Macra!), but essentially a series of…

Watch the trailer again. Strong indications that the Ice Warriors (or some reboot of the Ice Warriors) are coming in the spring, and that they're going to raise some kind of holy Ice-Warrior hell on a submarine. That said, as a Troughton fanatic who's discovered his work retroactively, I've always preferred the Yeti…