It introduces this whole new fairly large set of cast members and storylines in season 2 which definitely threw me initially. It's all about making it to season 4.

Character building. Made Charles consistently tearing Jim down that much better.

I had Stoner on my to-read list for a while with no hurry to actually read it, until I saw your recommendation. And holy balls was that a good book to end the year on, so thanks for that one.

I mean, yeah? If near 30-year-olds can't get some of this sweet nostalgia pie, what's this life been about?

I like Harry Potter; it holds lots of nostalgia, has a really fun world built within it, and is still enjoyable enough to read today. But I don't understand how it's so huge and how it's inspired so much from so many people. Again, I like the books and they meant a lot to me when I was younger so this isn't me ragging…

I don't 100% remember, but I think I just stumbled upon him while looking for a new book to read. The whole nobel prize thing probably didn't hurt.

Easily one of my favorite books, but they're all good. Definitely check out the rest, his prose is absolutely beautiful.

War & Peace, there's probably nothing I can say about it that someone hasn't already said, so, it was a good book, obviously. Every Fall/Winter I read a book by Halldór Laxness, this year was The Fish Can Sing, and it just reaffirmed why he's one of my favorite fiction authors.

That hug between Gene and Louise is bar none the sweetest moment of tv I've seen this year. Really, that whole episode, including being able to uncomfortably relate to Tina as a 26 year old guy, was just lovely. Such a strong episode for such a pretty long running show. And they missed a real solid "Spudding image"…

Agreed, if there's a show that can pull it off well, it's this one.

I think it's very much this. I know a fair amount of people who use the phrase "atheist Muslim" when referring to Obama, which makes no sense, right? But, it's just slinging words to sling 'em.

I still fall under the belief that those first few episode were intentionally that way. Made Edgar's PTSD arch that much better.

I sometimes get a little worried that the show will do this kind of cliche-type scene, like the baby being born that'll make everything, I don't know, manageable or something. Then it fucking slings it over to Gretchen and Jimmy and just totally reaffirms that it would never do that because it's a great show, and I'm…

I think of it just as the idea that further splitting the country is counterproductive for the long-term. That's not me saying go along and sit idly by while a certain population's rights gets removed or denied, but more so take appropriate action without making the other side feel more attacked and pushing them…

I imagine it's because I can identify and agree with so many of the things considered "bad," but it the way the show captures sort of these subtle nuances (e.g., food falling out of Adam Scott's mouth at dinner) is edging on perfect. This show's Goddamn hilarious.

I love Mike Schur and will endorse just about anything he creates/produces, but this will be like his 3rd or 4th show currently on? That certainly seems like quite a bit.

Mostly poor sarcasm on my part. I figure he's pretty widely revered around these parts.

The second I heard what his name was, I just thought "Perfect."

I agree with just about everything you said, but I also wouldn't be surprised if that was part of some grand plan from Michael Schur, especially with Chidi's outburst at the end getting Michael (the character) to reconsider. It'll be interesting to find out.

He was always pretty charming on his U2 podcast, but definitely wasn't always a peach.