Right you are. It's actually the thing I like least about his postings, because the grand theory is, at best, tangentially related to his (usually very insightful) observations.

This is a great idea for a feature (though the premise is pretty close to MYOF), but I found the execution incredibly condescending. The diagnosis seems to be that geeks don't like the second two movies 'cause there aren't enough cool 'splosions.

Every single write-up of this show has Todd spouting some grand theory about what makes comedy work. Need we spill so much ink over this mediocrity?

So I haven't seen the film, but one thing's for sure: the director has entirely too many j's in his name, all popping up where god-fearing men would never put a j.

This is one of the most potently, poignantly funny half-hours I've ever spent with a television show.

I cannot say enough good things about Beaton's work. She has a wonderful combination of warmth, perspective and a sense of history. I wish Hark, a Vagrant came out much more often than it does, but if weekly is what it takes for that kind of quality, then I cannot complain.

When you're right, you're right: there are definitely commercials that seem to flirt both with art and commerce. This has been going on for a while, too. I suppose the ad industry figured out that art was a good way to sell.

It bothers us because those sayings (and the purportedly divine authority behind it) have a way of becoming the basis for objectionable policy recommendations and other forms of oppression.

@Michael Clayton Esq: Whoops, Disqus told me your comment was a reply to mine, but the thread shape is telling me otherwise. Kindly disregard.

I think you misunderstood me. My point was that there is plenty of evidence that there are no witches, just as there is plenty of evidence that there is no God (at least the entity spoken of in the Abrahamic tradition).

That would be cool…but I'm not sure that's the standard model for sports, either. Lots of people seem to take it pretty seriously (though the death toll attributable to sports fans qua sports fans is probably lower).

I believe that I'm sitting at a computer, and (excluding a radical skeptical scenario) I have not the slightest doubt that I'm not. So it seems that beliefs don't include an "I don't really know" rider by definition.

I don't reject religion (Christianity in particular) because people "select their own message." I reject it because its claims about the causal and physical structure of the world are false.

The second to last paragraph gets it just right, I think. Commercials other forms of media have made a habit of borrowing the aesthetic of beautiful films, so it might not always be easy to tell, from a single shot, whether it's a work of art or a piece of commerce. But there's more to film, and not more to…

Bemoaning something is not the same as moaning it. "Bemoan" is not a verb of saying. That sentence literally says that the singer is lamenting or expressing his regret for some artistic work called "Do you believe in love?"

Yeah, it's telling that both his examples come from pre-fragmentation network television. I don't know, though—I'm glad Community and Parks & Rec are still getting made, even though ratings-wise they're basically the kid in the back of the class eating paste.

I remember a Simpson's DVD commentary where Matt Groening bemoans the growing tendency for networks to cancel shows that aren't immediate hits. His argument differed from Steve's: he emphasized that shows need to "find their audience," though that statement is vague enough to perhaps encapsulate a lot of these issues.

What do you think of the 3rd season? I think it becomes nothing but shallow farce (and it was pretty shallow to begin with).

@avclub-eac75edc18b8546c46893fe4b75ab995:disqus : Good observation. 30 Rock is an intensely writerly show. If it dies on the page, it probably will die on the air.

Also: Hoarders.