Why do I have a feeling this proposed network would start out with a really interesting/diverse slate of shows: the old Playhouse 90 teleplays, The Carol Burnett Show, The Avengers, Barney Miller; some great miniseries like Roots, Winds of War; and landmark television movies - then devolve into your go-to source for…

Fuck-ton Sinclair, almost the same thing happened to me.  I think I tried to articulate the whole man-being-swallowed-by-a-bouncing-homicidal-bubble thing to my parents, but I quickly gave up.

I think a sit-down with Conrad Bain (Mr. Drummond) discussing not only these completely messed up story lines, but the crazy-insane drama surrounding the kid actors real lives would be fascinating.

You're welcome. As a kid who was completely convinced we were all going to get nuked by the Russians, I try and suppress the idea that all those missiles are still in place, but just rusting/being barely watched over by a crumbing Russian infrastructure - or worse, being sold to rouge nations and/or terrorists.

Kimberly being forced to slowdance with the creepy hitchhiker wins as most disturbing of the "Diff'rent Strokes" episode for me.

I never got used to seeing the redheaded Square One Tv supporting player - Larry Cedar - as the grubby dopefiend on "Deadwood".

Is that the one where they all think Mrs. Garret is some sort of murderer or serial killer?  The early "Facts" episode where Tootie nearly gets forced into a life of prostitution by a pimp when she is stuck at a diner with no money is pretty creepy too.

What about the "Benson" episode where they lock themselves in the basement for a mock-nuclear war drill?

Both the Mime-Rape and Wolf-Boy episodes were pretty dark turns for "Little House".  The 2 parter where Albert becomes a criminal to fuel his morphine addiction, prompting Charles to bring him back to Walnut Grove for some prairie-style tough love & detox is also kind of dark and weird.

I was thinking of that one too - highly disturbing.  I'm sure besides AITF and "Little House" there is a list to be made of creepy/unnecessary/disturbing sexual assaults in America's favorite tv shows - but compiling it might be as creepy/unnecessary/disturbing the scenes themselves.

How is it that NONE of the insanely disturbing "Diff'rent Strokes" episodes made the cut? (Although I guess they do tend to scream VERY SPECIAL EPISODE and thus maybe weren't "unexpectedly" scary.)

Cartoons that suddenly turn scary are way more disturbing than a live action shows pulling a scary swithceroo.  Although not Garfield or Halloween-related, there was a Woody Woodpecker cartoon ("The Under Counter Spy") that scared the bajezzus out of me as a 5 yr old.

Poor Erin's attempt to grab ahold of a the party when she was clearly over her head was more Michael Scott-ish than as anything the show has tried to have a character do since Carrell's departure.

Myles - you're correct about everything The Office is failing at this year, but I think parts of this episode: specifically the actual party with Gabe's Deiter-on-Sprokets-esque film, and the way Spader unspooled his weird tale of horror, and the cast's reaction shots to both were as laugh-at-loud funny as anything…

You may be on to something Battleship Patinkin - Although overall Parks had the better outline for an episode, I found poor Erin's travails to be funnier than Ben Wyatt stuck in a choke hold for 30 mins.

The way the piece is structured makes it sound like he's annoyed more of these shows don't get cancelled - which is probably not the case.  Had Todd started with the 8th paragraph (the one that starts: "Something’s changed in the last five years…") followed by the rundown on how dvd revenue + HBOGo has changed the…

I feel your pain - it's the same w/ Cablevision.  I'm not sure if any of the NYC-Metro area cable companies offer HBOGo.

Todd, the tone of the post is really strange: you sound like a scorned boyfriend who's heart got broken by the old HBO regime that cancelled "Deadwood" and "Rome" who now wants the channel to cancel some other shows so some viewers can feel your pain.  You did a good job at explaining why these shows are sticking…

The mean girl having a friendly chat with Violet about her injuries (after last week wanting to claw her eyes out) was the most improbable part of the episode.

Don't lose any sleep over Lonergan - he's got a gig with HBO as a writer.  Some people just aren't cut out to be directors.