That DOES seem pretty ridiculous….but then again, so does the idea of shipping ice cream cross country. If you live too far West it's $300. That's like 100 bricks of supermarket neapolitan.

I think that's literally all it takes, a letter reading "I've got other shit to do". All you're left with is a weird cross-section of dipshits, unemployed, unhinged folks starved for human contact, and patriots with "civic duty" hard-ons. I'm not confident in which group to put myself.

A few bouts with jury duty managed to cure me of any kind of faith in our justice system. I particularly remember being given pads to take notes, and at one point I glanced over to my neighbor and realized he had spent the entire day sketching dozens of little airplanes in his notepad.

Just taking a shower in a ponytail, wearing sunglasses and a towel, like people do.

Burn down for what?

I think Trading Spaces is one of the best examples of how small stakes and less scripting actually make for more compelling reality TV, despite the fact that everybody that is producing reality TV keeps going in the other direction. It's much more interesting (to me, at least, since obviously Neilsen ratings would…

That generic city song was horrible….but I think y'all are willfully blocking out Cee-Lo Green bastardizing the Ramones in a bedazzled jersey.

Mei's cabbage blew my mind. Most of this stuff just plain looks amazing, and is described and/or presented so favorably that I can at least pretend that I know what it tastes like. Mei's cabbage on the other hand, looked like someone had fished a single leaf of cabbage out of a bus tub, the description didn't help…

Chuck on Lingo was the best, because you could guarantee at least once per show he was going to say "reach in there and grab a couple balls"

She look like a man.

Wait, this show is a comedy? Someone should tell the folks in marketing, because the ads did very little to get that across.

I find Blais totally boring, and suffers most from just trying to hard. He's like the anti-Hugh in that they seem to have similar energy, but all of Hugh's attempts at repartee come off kind of goofy and genuine, whereas most of Blais'es comments fall flat and feel forced.

The Bourdain reference gives me just enough of an excuse to mention that I found his visit to Iran on this week's show to be truly fascinating. That show seems to be reaching it's zenith, and manages to hit from lots of unexpected angles (the editing, cinematography and music are all top notch), even as I get the…

Believe it or not, Ed O'Neill (Al Bundy) has been training in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu for like 20-some years, and has a black belt (from one of the Gracies, even).

I'm guessing they probably aren't forced to sleep in bunks with eachother either, which has to make them infinitely less stabby.

There are currently 3 girls at Ridgemont who have cultivated the Pat Benetar look.

You've got a lot of guts to nominate that one, Warren!

Papa John kinda freaks me out…I think it all goes back to a commercial where he was like "yeah, you like those vine-ripened tomatoes, don't you?". Is this a roofie pizza?

I also adore Dead Man's Shoes, Meadows, Graham, and Considine. Spoiler for TiE '86:
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It has a couple truly nasty rape scenes that make it very hard for me to recommend.

I ended up kind of disappointed with these last two episodes, if only because there was nothing even remotely resembling surprise or tension. The Tommy twist had been pretty regularly discussed in these (and other) forums as soon as he was introduced, and though we finally got to see the actual act of Nucky betraying…