I believe AD was filmed for widescreen.  That was right around when a lot of shows were starting to make the transition.  White bars being used to compensate would've been a choice by the producers—i.e. "for whatever reason, this thing we're showing you was originally 4:3."

The tumblr page is drawing from international versions of Netflix too, which have different options.

the episode was directed by Timothy Busfield who went on to direct a significant chunk of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip(and loads of other non-Sorkin television

And Todd didn't mention it, but The Middleman was also ABC Family, albeit under a very different regime (the one that had the decency to still air Early Edition reruns, if I recall correctly).

Nothing has ever given me a sinking feeling quite as bad as when Sorkin said "This season, Maggie's going to lose everything."  NOTHING.  And a weapons factory once exploded near my house.

I think it's fair to complain about realism in a show like this, which from the beginning is going for a sort of veracity that Justified isn't trying for.

So, WTF did Michael Muhney do to Rob Thomas/Kristen Bell's dog/sloth?

I live just a few minutes from here, and had a feeling it was in the area.  Nice to see that confirmed.

Yep, pretty much agree with everything above. And was also hoping we'd get a little more analysis from these reviews, which may have been a reflection of Sims' own feelings about the season.

This is about as TV-snob an opinion you could have, but frankly I prefer how Canadian TV shows look these days over most network shows. I just miss having any sort of depth of field, is all.

Probably not Tim Minear, as he's under contract with 20th I think for another couple of years.

b-b-but I heard it on teevee!!

FIRST TIMERS' THREAD

First-timers' thread!

YES.  I still haven't totally put my finger on why GG works better for me than Bunheads, but I think this is part of it.  For all the goofy dialogue and small-town quirk, this episode really makes that relationship feel weighty, moreso than I've found Bunheads to be at any point.

My roommate and best friend raves about Teen Wolf.  Part of that, I think, is that it's a show he discovered on his own (you know that feeling?  How if you find a show without the help of friends, you can get more attached, like it's 'yours'?), but I also imagine it's a pretty good piece of TV.  It's coming up soon on…

@avclub-2b1488ea4f41f775d267fd910480d14a:disqus Todd said elsewhere that they'll be putting up a review of the whole series sometime in the next… week, maybe?  I forget the timeframe.  But soonish.

I did watch the first version of the pilot, actually, and thought it was a really sweet, low-key show.  Never bothered with the series though, so I guess it wasn't a knockout.

I didn't have a problem with the review going up early until, like you said, the show aired and I realized I had to get to page 7 to approach anything like commentary on the episode itself.  Even the threads created on those first seven pages mostly stayed away from discussing the show, even after it aired.

Disqus seems like the most annoying possible format to have that kind of community in.  I guess these people must really care!