That play-like aspect is what keeps it from being capital-G Great in my estimation. Sometimes it works, but sometimes the tendency towards monologue seems a bit like 'My First Screenplay.' Don't get me wrong, I love the movie. But I think it's a sentimental love rather than a film critic love.

You're probably right. I don't know that it actually occurs during the holidays, but it -feels- like it does. It always reminds me of coming home between university semesters. You & your friends don't have much of anything to do but drink and there's drama with old high-school enemies and girlfriends. Also seeing it…

I've always enjoyed Beautiful Girls as a holiday movie as well. It's not a great movie, but it has great moments and it captures a lot of the 'coming back to your hometown for the snowy holiday' vibe.

It's going to be scary when Millennial optimism eventually curdles into disappointed cynicism. Generation X is gonna be all like "We told you so, guys. Some things suck, and change is an illusion. Let's watch some nostalgic TV."

Personal taste, and dependent on mood; Mike is funnier but Joel is warmer.
Shaggier jokes + genuine affection for B movies = Joel.
Sharper jokes + more disdain for the films = Mike.

COPY/PASTED FROM A LATER COMMENT:
Lauren Lapkus or Claudia O'Doherty would be amazing hosts. Also Jon
Gabrus, Matt Gourley, or Reggie Watts. If it were a couple years ago,
Patton Oswalt would be a no-brainer.

Lauren Lapkus or Claudia O'Doherty would be amazing hosts. Also Jon Gabrus, Matt Gourley, or Reggie Watts. If it were a couple years ago, Patton Oswalt would be a no-brainer.

No Daffy Duck? Thath dethpicable!

The AV Club turned into the BuzzCrackington Post so quickly that we all noticed.

I don't understand. This is The A.V. Club, right? This is an interview with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross talking about Mr. Show, right? This interview has been posted throughout an entire workday, and there's only … 93 comments? Has some sort of demographic catastrophe happened today?

I was going to argue the opposite: in not doing topical jokes or relying on contemporary references, Mr. Show ensured a kind of re-watchability that other sketch comedies lack. But the 90s-ness of the show has become more and more apparent over time, in that the sense-of-humour—smug, satirical Gen X jadedness—is out…

Think of England, James.

It's true. Bond is an amalgam of such toxic hyper hetero masculinity that a female or gay version of the character would be a completely different character. Wait, there's an idea! How about Hollywood comes up with new characters, in new stories!? But now I'm just talking crazy-talk.

Great answers. I wanted to say Otis Redding, or Tom Stoppard, or Vonnegut, or even Stephen Colbert. But I also wouldn't want to screw over seemingly decent people. I'd be perfectly content knowing that I bogarted Frank or Walt, though. Maybe Picasso?

A different version of this question: Let's say from 1900 on, which person's talent would you steal if you could pass it off as your own instead? Catch: by doing so you're also dooming that person to anonymity and irrelevance.

If you're not on scholarship or don't intend to go to grad school, your grades do not matter.

So Falcon Crest, but in the South?

Whenever I walk in on a conversation in mid-progress, or whenever I
accidentally eavesdrop and want to contribute, my brain immediately goes to
"I couldn't help but overhear what that ghost had to say."

I know he's an embarrassment as a human being, but if the WWE can try to
erase the existence of Hulk Hogan, then the Internet is getting well and
truly Orwell'd.

Another story broken wide open by the Under-Secretary for the Water Conservation Council for the San Joaquin River Basin!