Did anyone catch what Santa Claus's pseudo-German species name was supposed to be? I heard it as 'gefahren geber', which would be something like 'gift driver' (as in transporter). Other ideas?

Really? The joke that pizza places make poor salads was 'observant' and 'spot-on'? Well, if that's all it takes…

Yeah, if I were Zach Braff, I'd fake calls from NBC about the necessary hotness of my female guest stars too.

The problem with your analogy is that it's not half "your shit." You're paying to fund the society that

"i obviously enjoy the original run, but i'd say the show's zeitgeist was four through six."

I always assumed the Master burned through his regenerations by being such a flighty villain. It gets worse in the Late Ainsley period, but even in the early Delgado appearances he's an incredibly vague villain - not focused at all. Never met a dumb, convoluted plan that he wouldn't abandon for a dumber, even more…

Though it's a lot to ask of a single episode, I'm struck by the line in 'The Doctor's Wife' when Idris tells the Doctor "I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and ran away."

I think they underscored the point in 'Turn Left', where things like the Judoon hospital theft and the Sontaran invasion *were* stopped, but often at a high cost (deaths of Sarah Jane and Torchwood, respectively). So bad shit is sorta always happening, yeah. But when the Doctor's around, his greatest priority remains…

I think Eleven mentioned something to that effect in the SJA episode 'Death of the Doctor,' where he says that Ten, while dying, popped in on every on of his former companions.

"Robert was somehow both an authority figure and a coward."

Anyone else wonder if the reason California didn't want his wife to work in the office is that he's schtupping Pam's hot replacement?

Have they already cast a spiteful Mormon homophobe? Because if not, there's this guy named Orson Scott Card who'd be perfect…

Probably because she's Vietnamese, but yes, she's one of a long line of 'TV babies that disappear inexplicably for half-a-season' (see the entry under 'Holly White' for more')

This episode made me realize something that's always bothered me about this show, and it's this: there's nothing at stake.

"How is knowing a vampire’s fictional birthplace any different than knowing Superman’s real name…"

Agreed. You're asking the show to give you grist for the critical mill, with the whole "the
show shutting down its recent attempts at emotional continuity, or in
fact a way to re-establish its original form of continuity: the weekly
death of Kenny McCormick."

"Cameron was actually well used and believable in this episode…"

I'd still like to know how Brian managed to stop four separate planes from being hijacked.

I'm not buying a prospective heart surgeon who is any use as a general practitioner, considering surgeons and GPs have completely different residencies and training.

When I saw the crashed Cybership, my first thought was "Oh, an Adric callback!" It would have been thematically perfect to have the Doctor come across some trace of one of the few companions who just outright died while traveling with him, given how down on himself he is these days.