Yeah, odd choice of words here. Superman, Batman and I Am Legend all came from the same studio, and the two franchises had both recently been rebooted. A crossover movie was likely well in the planning stages by then. This wasn't some strange coincidence.

He'd be better suited to sidekick and comic relief characters, but his leading man looks prevent him from getting the roles he'd be good in. Opposite problem of what many other actors have.

She was fantastic in Sideways; too bad she couldn't really capitalize on the comeback momentum she got from that. There was the Altman film, but sadly little beyond that, and her career is basically where it was before now (undistinguished TV work, B-movies). Someone give her another great role.

Well, that's not as negative as I expected. What am I gonna do with the "You sure RIPD this a new one, Dowd!" post I've been preparing all week?

Writers here really tend to be damned if they do, damned if they don't. They are called out when the writeups are too much recapping instead of analyzing, but if there's analyzing the inevitable "I laughed. That's enough for me." posts crop up.

Yeah, I mean, he didn't object when Jay Sherman reappeared for a cameo in Hurricane Neddy.

It's obvious he doesn't give a shit anymore. I can imagine how these interviews go.

Marge: "This is even worse than the time Quagmire raped me and killed my entire family."

Well, as I understand it Groening's problems with The Critic crossover were

Boo.

Tragic story.

You are right. It really was meant to be only a running gag that became more because David Hyde Pierce played it so great that viewers started to root for the pairing. But even considering that it was still very drawn out after they decided to turn it into a serious arc.

Frasier basically suspects it from the beginning and confronts Niles about it in the season 1 finale. From then it's established that Frasier and Martin know about it. Roz finds out in season 6's "Decoys", Daphne in season 7's "Back Talk".

Yeah, but when they weren't so over the top they were cute together. I'm thinking of the episode where Ross teaches Phoebe to ride a bike in particular.

This was brought up last week, but Ross and Rachel's initial relationship actually happens pretty quickly - they're together by middle of season two. It's not as drawn out as Frasier, for example.

What's your favorite inter-Friends relationship? I always liked it when Ross and Phoebe were paired together in a story.

"That just makes me want to see it more!"

I hope this doc argues that sea creatures are best left in their natural whirlwind habitat.

Life Pursuit is actually my favorite album of theirs, and probably my favorite ever. Not ranked:
 
Judy and the Dream of Horses
I'm A Cuckoo
The Boy With The Arab Strap
The Blues Are Still Blue
Lazy Line Painter Jane
We Are The Sleepyheads
She's Losing It
I Want The World To Stop
Another Sunny Day
Write About Love

What? No "from the director of Breaking Dawn"?