It does from time to time, but the cartoon logic, weekly reset button, and eternal youth of the characters makes it hard to say the plot really addresses or deals with any of it. If the weekly caper requires Marge to take a job or Homer to take a second job, then the episode will usually start with some catastrophe…

I always say that people arguing about C-pluses and B-minuses is my least favorite part of my (real) job. Seeing grade-grubbing on the AV Club is extra annoying.

I was just thinking of it as The Blacklist: New Orleans.

I think they date for the last few episodes of the season, then break up messily, then for some reason Josh moves to New York, and Rebecca moves back to New York, and Greg moves to New York to follow her and the show changes its title to "Crazy Ex-Boyfriend" and we get a Greg song every episode.

That's like saying your favorite kind of cereal is "breakfast cereal."

I don't think the outrage machine pays any attention to the ratings and renewals. They're just looking for anecdotes that will raise moral panic about things. It doesn't change their stance to say that something was short-lived, that something wasn't really popular. They're just outraged at its existence.

Of course it's a cartoon, but the characterization and plot is why we enjoy it, or don't enjoy it. I don't enjoy Family Guy because, among other reasons, the characters are mean-spirited. I don't agree with the read on Linda, but it makes sense that, to at least one viewer, her actions might put a damper on the…

I'd thought much the same thing—what kind of question led to this?

The presentation of that result seemed strange to me. It implied, "Many of them thought the Father of the Constitution was Thomas Jefferson when, like, everybody knows that Jefferson couldn't have been the Father of the Constitution because obviously he was traveling in Europe during the Constitutional Convention. I…

I'm not sure if that disappointment fits with the show. Has there ever been plot consistency from episode to episode in this show, particularly when related to the absurd elements? I guess there are call-backs to the actual plots—the Maggie plot, the Liz and Graham plot—but the craziest plot elements are sincere for…

I don't know if I'd say "love," but I like it as it is.

I don't think this is the same as an Aloha case, where a character's concept was tied to an ethnicity, and the actor chosen was not at all. It was more like an Armin Tanzarian situation, where a character was conceived as one type, then writers decided to get clever and give them a shockingly out-of-character origin…

Swap in Heroes Reborn
Midseason add: My Diet Is Better Than Yours, Cooper Barrett, Shades of Blue

I'm going to drop The Grinder from my roster. I'll pick up Angel From Hell and Lucifer, for thematic consistency. (Is there a list of eligible midseason pickups?)

"Arab" as I understand it is most defined by the Arabic language. Most Egyptians speak Arabic and are therefore considered Arabic. Farsi-speaking Iranians, Pashto-speaking Afghans and Urdu-speaking Pakistanis are not. The Egyptians I've known are not averse to being called Arabs or Arabic. ("Arabian" would be…

I remember my grade-school music class, the last school day of the year devoted to Christmas music, when one of my classmates requested this song and some other kids seconded the request. I was a discerning kid even then, and I was probably pretty vocal about my desire to stick to "real" Christmas music, but the crowd…

I guess the word "ideally" sticks out in this. Ideally our stories would all have perfect narrative structure, but we live in a non-ideal world. Ideally our relationships would all remain strong for life. Ideally our presidents would bring peace to the entire world and prosperity to the country. But sometimes—well,…

"What'll It Be" is far and away my #1 pick. Because if Greg had not been my tvbf from the first moment he was on the screen he would be by that song.

It's like there's an alternate timeline where this show turned out interesting.

It's interesting that this season we have two shows based on Philip K. Dick writings that have a similar problem. (The other is Minority Report.) The world-building we're invited to do in PKD's visions is compelling and memorable and a good selling point for the show. But once we're in the world, both shows have…