Is it still the case that if you speak fewer than five words in an episode or film you can be paid less? I think it must be, because the number of three to four word lines that turn out to be the only line a character has in an episode or film is out of all proportion to how many there ought to be.

Friday Night Lights is at least as good as VM. THAT"S how good Friday Night Lights is.

Nothing is tenable in the long term.

There's nothing "cheesy" about honest emotion straightforwardly embodied and depicted. It's the opposite of cheese, in fact.

Yup. Not dismal, or particularly close; it just has a few soft spots, and of course the unfortunate murder business.

“Eric’s refusal to even contemplate life without his family is irritating, because it seems like he’s steamrolling over his wife’s wishes.”

They were eight, they were fantastically annoying, and you didn't have the wherewithal to tell them nicely to shut the fuck up? Your life must be rather less than it could be.

"but it’s also really fucking soapy, and it feels more like a guilty pleasure than anything else I watch."

I commend your theater. This cannot be other than a complete waste of time. Paul Rudd's face should be appearing on generic cans of food any day now.

"Parody, in its purest form, is an act of both mockery and appreciation."

Agree for the most part, though I would have loved to have seen what Darabont would have done with four seasons over which to tell stories.

Has anyone solved the problem wherein the last 20% of a Catan game turns into a popularity contest?

Wait—didn't all the Republicans who resented racial slurs become Democrats or Independents?

I sure can't. It was dross.

Now that I know he admires Krauthammer I just feel bad for Oldman.

…and the Pope (“Oh, fuck the Pope!”)

"…of a young, brilliant comedian."

Look, I'm 32. And HIV infections are rising again, because people are not informed and don't WANT to be informed.

Watching Game Change from the safety of McCain's loss was a pleasure, but also in one sense terrifying. The US nearly voted Palin into the vice-presidency. How fucked must a system and a people be for that to happen?

How would we know? Every single episode is nearly identical to the next.