@avclub-18d84eb30b59b5f3cc748bfe9f68b472:disqus, as you well should. As much as I liked Long on "Cheers", I can kind of see why her movie career went nowhere. That said, I do sort of like "Irreconcilable Differences," which was inspired by the actual story of Peter Bodganovich and Polly Platt's marriage and divorce,…

From what I heard, Frasier was initially conceived as a one-off. He was supposed to be in something like four episodes, acting as a catalyst between Sam and Diane. But then it turned out the audience liked Kelsey Grammar, so they decided to make him a cast regular. Now, Shelley Long was against having Frasier become a…

I don't think she was trying to hurt Sam. Maybe she was, but she was also trying to make him understand, in her own way (via the painting), the toll their relationship was taking on her: she was miserable and she both wanted and didn't want out of the relationship. She explains this to the artist: "When he (Sam) sees…

This may be true, but I think you're missing one point, which is that Diane was every bit as much of a loser as the rest of them. I mean, Diane was essentially a windbag with substance. This may seem like an oxymoron, but let me explain. Diane wasn't a total windbag like Cliff, but she was a failed, would-be…

Yeah, I really dislike Carla because of this. I can see why Carla would insult Diane (Carla is threatened by Diane as Diane is the "fish out of water" outsider who disrupts the unity of the group), but I hate that Diane would always be nice to Carla and Carla would treat Diane like crap for no reason. It's not like…

I like the way Sam and Diane play off each other, and I like the ensemble feel of the show, but I mostly love the first five seasons because of Shelley Long. Long could effortlessly switch between comedy and drama in the same scene, but I actually prefer her more dramatic moments. They give her a chance to highlight…

Watch it again and repent.

Yes, it holds up. And yes, you should watch it. I particularly like the Diane years (the first five seasons). Shelley Long pretty much carries the show in the first two seasons or so. Shame they turned the character into an insufferable loon in the fifth season, though. Also, watch out for the episodes with Andy Andy,…

"Mildred Pierce" is a terrible, terrible series. They re-made it into a melodrama, but must the acting be so over-the-top, especially Winslet? It makes the series unwatchable. Not even the "naturalistic" '70s New Hollywood camera shots could save it. I hope it gets zilch.

I'd start with the following songs: "Down at McDonnelzzz", "Improper Dancing" (best line: "Stop… Continue!"), "Infected Girls", "Rock and Roll Evacuation", "I Buy the Drugs", "I'm the Bomb", "Synthesizer", "When I Get to the Green Building", "Body Shot", "Lucifer Airlines", "The Band in Hell" (for the guitar solo…

Electric Six, yes! http://bit.ly/33G7UJ It's amazing how many songs about nothing you can write and still make them good. Lyrically, their songs remind me of Syd Barrett's gibberish songwriting. It's definitely rhythm over message. Image-wise, they're the Dictators of the 2000s. "Bite Me" has to be my favourite song…

Which reminds me of Squeeze, another largely forgotten new wave band that never really took off in its time, although I think it deserves a second (or at least first) listen. Here's a sample: http://bit.ly/p4aRa8 . Very catchy, very melodic.

A similar thing happened when "Moonlighting" was released to DVD. The cast of "Moonlighting" (mostly Willis and Glenn Gordon Caron) did a bunch of episode commentaries for the "Moonlighting" DVDs that were released a couple of years ago. Initially, Cybill Shepherd wasn't featured in the commentaries. Later, they did…

"Remington Steele" and "Moonlighting." Both were intended to be vehicles for their female stars (Stephanie Zimbalist, Cybill Shepherd), but ended up launching the careers of their then-unknown male co-stars (Pierce Brosnan, Bruce Willis); both toy with the boy/girl detective angle, and both shamelessly rip-off of the…

Damn you, Big Blue!

Yes, I know that, but this episode in particular was filmed at the time, or around the time, when Palin made that comment so, at least in my view, it's a bit naive to think it wasn't influenced by the Palin quote, considering the timing, the obvious Tina Fey/Palin connection, and "30 Rock"s political agenda. Still,…

I disagree. Season 5 is basically a list of 23 subpar episodes that have nothing on the greatness of the show's first three and a half seasons. You cannot recapture that. It's almost like they knew their best days were behind them so they just came up with enough filler episodes to make it to syndication. Like the…

Yeah, that was a low point for the show. Actually, season 4 from the middle until the end was a lot point for the show. I didn't like how smug the Khonani thing was, what with the contract made of toilet paper, and the like. I think the metaphor felt forced because, if I remember correctly, the episode aired after all…

It's been a while since I've seen the episode but, if I remember correctly, "Fight Club" has a classic Freudian plot about the doppelganger. The story, as I remember it, is: everyone has a doppelganger somewhere (i.e., everyone has some part of themselves that is evil). The nature of the doppelganger, according to…

In defense of 30 Rock's "Stone Mountain" episode, you have to remember this was at the height of the Palin craze. At the time, I seem to remember Palin making a comment about small town America being the "real" America, which begs the question: What about metropolitan or city areas, are they not part of the "real"…