People who would vote for Trump, they don't exhibit much in the way of mental ability. Quite the opposite. Voluminously.

You think these writers are even half that clever?

Only if we go back and watch the premiere and we see Hilly's bare ass pumping up and down in the background at Buck's party does that qualify as a reference…

Fuhgedabout the Mudd Club and Danceteria, then.

There's a story going around about Castle being renovated for season 9 (Stana Katic completely out, meaning whatever's left is a tear-down). Season 8 has been a pigfuck compared with the first 7. The difference? Terence Winter was in control of showrunning it for season 8, after Andrew Marlowe took his writerly wife…

I don't get why you're cringing at the beer line. He'd totally have done that. Unless you're cringing at how completely telegraphed it was the instant the beers were ordered.

The story was originally about Peter Grant, former pro wrestler and then manager of Led Zeppelin. He subsequently and convincingly denied it happened.

I'll make Avengers 3 and 4, and I'll do it for 20% less than Whedon would have asked.

The murder was the writers trying to get Richie into a jam so he'd drive himself into the pit, and the music would get him out of it. They just didn't communicate that arc properly to all the other writers.

They did zero in the guitar store. All the fixtures were modern, not period appropriate. Like they knew of this little Guitar Center satellite store in the Village and decided to just walk in and ask can we quickly film a scene where two proto-punk dudes play a little Stairway at each other and then run off with the…

It's Scott. I don't know if girlfriend goes away, but if you read the story of Jobriath, his sexual relationship with his manager definitely messed with his attitude and career path. Jobriath only lasted a few months. Xavier can be a short-term hit but it all has to come crashing down the way the Nasty Bits barely…

That's hard to do. I'm willing to bet Neilsen was on the bat-phone to HBO telling them how the numbers were dropping halfway through the premiere.

She has none. Watching this show actually misinforms you about that. You can only get that right if you watch late-night talk shows.

You could film it from both points of view, but it really is important, even if it's bifurcated. Richie is this fulcrum between the mob/murder stuff and the music stuff; only he knows they're involved until late in the series. If it weren't for the involvement of semi-mobbed-up Corso in the deal with Buck Rogers,…

Richie is talking to Kool Herc in Lester's building when Lester makes him write that check. Hip Hop is in da hizzouse. I just forgot to mention it. But since they didn't break it yet, yeah, we get Kool Herc and Xavier plots. And then they can discover the Captain and Tennille.

If they still think punk bands can make money after whatever the Nasty Bits' ROI is, they'll pretty much have to have someone from A&R living in CBGB. Maybe that's Jamie's new job.

Maybe he's gone off to do Boardwalk Empire: The Middle Years?

Yup. See last week's comments regarding the convenience of the choreography. As for the clothes, fans of funk were known to dress somewhat similar.

It might end the murder plotline. But it also might not. Until someone is convicted, whether it's Richie for Buck, or Galasso which triggers a final signature on the deal that Richie gets from the cops, there's still a dead man and nobody doing time for it.

There's nothing from this season that needs to survive to next season. Not even the office decor. Even Richie could get whacked and there'd be a plausible out.