I don't know. We brought on nine freelancers and are trying to get them all something by the end of May. But who knows if that will happen with as little TV as we have and that many new writers.

NBC's comedy development came in stronger than expected.

NBC doesn't really benefit from the show getting to 100 that much, with the Hulu and Comedy Central deals in place. So that was part of it. But my guess is that they're finally ready to blow up Thursday at some point next season.

Probably. I am very intrigued to see what they pair it with.

It's a peculiar puzzle we're trying to figure out right now. Not every show deserves weekly coverage, but there are many that deserve occasional drop-ins. But when the readers can't predict when an article will appear, the readership drops precipitously. So, basically, Nashville was already a show that had very low…

Until about a week ago, there was no reason to doubt. I mean, it wasn't just me. It was EVERYBODY who pays attention to this stuff, even TV By The Numbers.

Everything I've heard about Mulaney has been crazy promising since it went over to Fox. (Alternately, I've heard the NBC pilot really wasn't that good, and they were right to pass.)

Dunno. I'm writing about SHIELD for the TV Reviews section, which is why I'm catching up on it now.

I will be very surprised if we don't hear of at least one serious suitor for Community before the actors' contracts expire later in the summer. That said, I don't know if anyone will be able to work out a deal for the show.

I haven't gotten to the post-Winter Soldier episodes, when the general consensus on the show improved quite a bit. But I think it's a show where its terribleness was weirdly overrated, while it was still a deeply mediocre show. I'm in the stretch of episodes from Jan/Feb/March, and most of them have plenty of fine…

I am Todd VanDerWerff. I am now and forever, without end. Ask me anything.

He does well enough that he has no real need to go back to TV. He just did Last Man because I think he likes the live studio audience of it all, and he saw a chance to do a show that would allow him to talk about some of his pet political issues (though it's an awful mouthpiece for them). But he still wanted to get…

Basically, money. The show is successful, especially for the wasteland of Fridays, but Tim Allen comes with a six-figure per episode salary. ABC wants to reduce the level of commitment it has to the show, but Fox wants help paying Allen, especially in a market where syndication is not the slam dunk it once was.

The best thing about marathoning this season of Agents Of SHIELD is when in one episode, the little thing in the corner says, "KILLER WOMEN, premieres tonight," and then three or four episodes later, it says, "MIND GAMES, premieres tonight."

Oh my God, wait until you see next week's episode. It is like Bryan Fuller pushing the positive end of one magnet toward the negative end of another and cackling madly, "NOW KISS!"

Yeah, they're screwing themselves out of a potentially huge syndication deal there. I don't know what's going on.

It is kinda weird that all of the outstanding new shows that are in conflicts with networks are from 20th.

It is kinda weird that all of the outstanding new shows that are in conflicts with networks are from 20th.

My guess: CBS wants a bigger share of it, because HIMYM has been a huge hit in syndication. 20th Century is hardballing them. The deal will fall apart, ultimately, over money.

Well, NBC almost certainly could have paid for another season of it. And the theory behind renewal was that it would probably do OK enough against football that NBC could leave well enough alone by having it and Parks take up that first hour in the fall, then switch to a new strategy come midseason. But it's not hard…