"I'm a prankster God!"

I wouldn't sat there's been a definitive one, but that one from the 60s with the strange dream-pacing and Peter Sellers as the King of Hearts has a lot going for it.

Any character that has a role to play farther down the line has plot armor. The problem isn't so much that characters have this armor, it's that we can tell they do because the writers haven't succeeded in hiding the overarching plot strings adequately.

What would it mean to truly employ that rule, though? An author always knows at least some of the characters who will live longer, otherwise it would be impossible to plan the narrative more than one step ahead. It's always a question of how successfully they are able to make use believe that the characters are in…

Those photos Aaron was looking at were from his own Alexandria recruitment pack, not the result of surveillance by the wolves. He showed them to Rick and Glenn when they first encountered him. At least part of his grief on finding them seems to come from the realization that his recruitment efforts may have…

Except that there is an ongoing line of evolution in popular music, and the amount of influence a band has over artists that come after them sometimes differs from the objective quality of the music or its initial popularity. Sometimes it differs for interesting reasons. Your defensive reaction, as though some snobs…

The press dismissing his ability to win has a major effect on his ability to win.

I don't have much of a response to that question. 20 years covers your 90s standbys like Seinfeld, Newsradio etc. and I'd certainly say they were worth their salt. But I haven't watched a ton of sitcoms since then.

I've heard it trotted out as a threat many times. You don't suck their dick in just the way they expected (or, as often as not, just refuse to give them stuff for free) and out comes the phone "Well I believe I'll just let Yelp know about this little incident." I love the looks on their faces when I don't give a shit.…

I agree that it's getting a bit archaic now, but my point is that you can't just excise the laugh track without changing the timing and style of the comedy. There's a lot more to it than just not pausing for laughter.

He's the inspiration for Carceti on the Wire, right? It was weird seeing him in this context after watching several seasons of a fictionalized version of him. He definitely managed to break away from the bottom two.

That's actually a quite heroic story. But when he said it, it sounded like he was bragging about what a badass killer he is. A horrendously misjudged comment.

I agree. The "robotic" thing isn't a problem because of some inane personality requirement, but because I don't believe the promises she makes, particularly when they involve taking on corporate interests. It was clear that Sanders was saying what he really thought, and I believe him when he says he'll take on special…

I used to feel this way, but then I watched one of these shows with the laugh track removed. Awful. Every joke felt like someone tried to be funny in a conversation and no one laughed. This style of comedy comes from a live tradition and its pacing, timing etc. are all based on a situation where there is some audience…

Hey, I like this band.
1, 2, fuck you!
Classic.

To be fair, that "ethnics" thing was a Freudian slip. He was reaching for some other word.

It seemed like he made a wrong turn on the way to the Republican debate. Did he really think that quip would go over well in that room? And then he tripped over his tongue getting it out. Hilariously cringe-making.

That could theoretically be overcome with sufficient turnout. If there was 100% voter turnout no Republican would ever be elected to any national office. And Sanders is generating a lot of enthusiasm from people who often don't vote. I do get, however, that this he is unlikely to be able to pull sufficient numbers to…

I watched it streaming live on CNN.com. It was awesome. When they broke for commercials I just got a silent screen that said: "Commercial break in progress."

Won't they? Am I overestimating how much porn has been de-stigmatized? Seems to me that Playboy's classy style would differentiate pretty well from Hustler's ultra-raunch even if they're both going hardcore.