Mad Men: The Desolation of Smaug

No, Mom will be the breakout hit of the fall season. Never bet against Chuck Lorre, middle America's mediocre bard.

That might be one of the worst TV episodes I've seen all year (along with the pilots of Do No Harm and Low Winter Sun and the series finale of Secret Life of the American Teenager). Amazingly awful stuff.

Under the Dome was better than The Following prior to this episode, but I have no problem calling this finale worse than The Following's. I realize that's a bold claim but I stand by it.

That wasn't a great episode. Too scattershot and too dedicated to setup. But this isn't the first time a Boardwalk season has had episodes like that in the early going, and they've usually led to much better episodes down the line, so no worries yet. Jeffrey Wright chewing the scenery is also awesome.

They sure didn't!

I'm curious to see if this show will do any season-spanning (or at least multi-episode spanning) mysteries akin to how Parks and Rec had the Harvest Festival, Leslie's election campaign, etc. Could be interesting to see combined with the sitcom format. It'd be something I don't think I've seen before.

Regardless of how goofily entertaining this may or may not be, it has the smell to me of a show that is going to have the shit canceled out of it in a hurry, especially on Fox. I'll check it out though.

Say whaaaat? Is Captain America 2 done shooting?

I read this news at Gravedigger's Biscuits. Perfect timing!

The No Country guy struck me as a guy whose relatives are probably Texans going back many generations.

Well, not really. Breaking Bad did it better, but it did not invent ending a show in the middle of an action scene tonight. Off the top of my head, about, oh, 160-170 of 24's 192 episodes ended the same way.

Even in its darkest and most intense episode, it's one of the funnier hourlong shows on television. It's part of what makes it great.

I'd actually be ok with #4

I love the Homeland episodes (the pilot and the two season finales, I think) with the 5-second intro where the title briefly fades up over a silent black screen then immediately kicks into the show. Because their intro is the worst piece of shit ever.

I was totally amped to see Jeffrey Wright on the show so I was kind of disappointed in this episode initially. But, getting past that, it was a pretty cool season kickoff.

I love Boardwalk Empire, but it's a pretty strong contender for my least favorite opening title sequence of any show I watch after Homeland. It takes forever, it's not interesting, it doesn't amp me up, the music is mediocre.

I think this is pretty much in line with West Wing or Sports Night though. Studio 60, the one about comedy, was, ironically, the one that felt so fucking overserious that watching it was a chore, which is why it's Sorkin's nadir. I'm glad Newsroom injects more levity than Studio 60 did.

"Anything new to report?"
"…No, not really."
"Thiiis is some good television."

The cast of Low Winter Sun looks like they're looking at a TV playing Low Winter Sun in that image.