I'm a nerd. Most of my friends are nerds. We do not behave like these people. This show has always read to me as an addled Hollywood fantasy of "how nerds are," not a portrait of people in the world. You didn't change my mind.

A Pollack?

A dentist in the Bay Area. McTeague!

What about the Motorized Patriots from Bioshock Infinite?

At least three contestants on any given season of Hell's Kitchen are worse than Krissi. She's child's play.

So did you all decided to drop MBMBAM from coverage, or was it because the ep came out a bit late (and was a live recording) this week?

This movie is literally unwatchable. Couldn't make it through more than 20 minutes or so.

Also, how is a poached egg and some potato hash really super-refined? I'm sure you can get a poached egg in Boston.

I never liked my mom's. She was trying her best, but she was the first to admit she hated cooking. And I hated food, so it was both our faults (more mine, I'm sure).

Did anyone else notice that Howard seemed white while his whole family seemed black? Or is it just me?

Her former professor Martin Heidegger, arguably the most influential philosopher of the twentieth century and a Nazi? Way to bury the interesting bits.

TLDNF

I've heard rumors that they leased the Caramoan Islands for something ridiculous like the next 30 years. So it could be Caramoan.

IIRC he initially intended to keep it secret but then his arrogance prompted him to reveal it near the end. One of the many factors that caused him not to win, but probably a minor one.

VanDerWerff thinks the show is out of ideas. Whatever will they do!?

Ugh. Michelle is the worst. Terrible person and gimmicky clothes.

Caravaggio was a Baroque painter.

Man, I love Jack in the Box. Third-tier my ass!

I'm an academic. I can tell you, the academics who work on pop culture and who organize conferences like this one (or the other derided pop-culture conferences on things like Buffy, The Wire, whatever) are not sneering. They are sincere fans who have found a way to merge their hobbies with their professional lives.

Way to take a bold stand for taking music seriously! No one has ever dared to suggest that before.