They also fail to mention that a lot of the good stuff he did was pretty much progressive, or at least moderate. Raised taxes a few times, raised the debt ceiling, granted amnesty to illegal immigrants, broke bread with the Soviet Union…hell, even his vaunted tax cuts were sold as Keynesian economic stimulus.

I'm sure this has been discussed- how intentional was that? Because that aspect of Cheers was so natural, you hardly notice it on the first watch. I imagine it was even less noticeable week to week (especially since no one watched that first season, anyway!).

They're not really incompatible ideas; "lowbrow" humor often is very cruel. The Simpsons noted this sometimes; Homer would laugh at people's bad luck without realizing he was in the exact same boat.

I'm completely sympatico with your thoughts on the series, Arex. Stuff like Downloaded was interesting as a one-off, and the ultimate resolution of the Human-Cylon conflict feels about right, but the longer we spent with Cylon society- which is to say, the longer we watched the same 5 people argue- the more bored I…

I would agree, and even say that BSG worked best when the the Cylons were more of an external catalyst, and the real conflict was between the various human factions.

The thing is, dark/gritty/brooding/realistic/overserious/whatever you want to call it works pretty well for Batman. I would actually argue it's an essential element for Batman solo stories (and team-up stories get mileage out of dropping him into crazy shit). So it's not like playing a Batman movie that way insults…

I mean, if you didn't laugh, you didn't laugh, but the Jack-in-the-box pantomime wasn't The Joke. The censorship itself was the joke (with Pratt's reaction a second joke). Not sure the punchline can telegraph itself.

I can accept that as POTUS engaging in hyperbole. But yes, I really doubt what was released would cause such tremendous public outcry.

It seemed like Frank's schemes were a lot less interesting this season. Last time, he taunted a union boss into punching him and killed a Congressman. This time, there was the stunt with the Capitol police, but otherwise he…feuded with a businessman and convinced the President to go to marital counseling.

Actually, in the West Wing, most of the victories are moral ones- "we didn't get the bill we wanted, but hey, we played the game THE RIGHT WAY."

But Tusk really wasn't that close to beating Frank. Almost as soon as Frank decided to wreck Tusk's relationship with POTUS, it was so. And while Tusk could've probably undid Frank with one word (I'm not really sure how the plot is supposed to work in the last three episodes), Frank has a plan the whole time to make…

Also- Spacey is no slouch at all, but man, Ian Richardson just owns every TV set and computer screen that show plays on.

Man, completely disagree on the US/UK comparison. Sure, 2010s US production values are higher than 1990s at the Beeb, but Urquhart is a much richer character, his schemes are much more entertaining (how many times did Underwood wear a fake mustache? Less than one? Yeah, point to the UK, then), the young reporter…

Right, but wasn't he one of the (many, as this Yank understands it) people in Thatcher's government who quickly learned that they would relish the day they could dance on her grave?

The bills Frank pushes are just Macguffins. Yeah, it drives me nuts because I actually pay a lot (too much?) attention to politics, but its not the story the show is trying to tell. It's best to not get hung up on them.

You can fan-wank a pretty good case for Frank being a Dem. Let's see, Majority Whip in the 2010s? Probably got elected to Congress in the 80s or so, then, when Centrist southern Dems were still a thing.

I'm not sure the show is going to go that way; at the end of the season, it looks like he's already "solved" the China issue.

Is that where we're headed, though? While the show has certainly left the means of Frank's downfall available (sorta), it's never really shown him having real setbacks. And I kinda feel like the creators would scoff at the idea that someone as corrupt and power mad as Frank has an inevitable comeuppance. And of…

The fact that the President's party wouldn't lock fucking arms right behind him at the slightest mention of impeachment being a strong #2 seed.

I think that, as hard as creating fully realized characters is (and it's NOT something HoC has nailed), turning around to figure out the 2-D image that the people who HATE your characters have concocted is even harder. Especially to then distill it into a 30 second attack ad.