For some reason, the Abed as Nic Cage thing never really worked for me. And it comes close to spoiling the episode. His impression is great and hilarious, but we know what Abed losing control or losing himself in a character looks like. And it doesn't look like that. It never happens for reasons like "Watched too…

Isn't it a little suspicious that SAM's best friend is a magical cat none of us have ever seen?

This guy is cool, I remember him being a total asshole almost 100% of the time, so he must be OK.

That ending tho.

Your seal of cinematographic approval convinced me to see a different Woody Allen movie (in which someone utters the phrase 'an irrational man'): Magic In The Moonlight. As promised, every goddamn shot was fucking beautiful. Good job Daz.

I would also give it a B+. I'm thinking about writing something about it later, but in brief: It was a ton of fun, stylistically perfect, light on its feet, but also light on stakes and character. Goddamn Hammer & Cavil are charming though. I am convinced Armie Hammer could be a HUGE star if he stopped picking…

What I Learned Watching 16 Years of Television for TIME
James Poniewozik - http://time.com/3994832/pon…

Yeah exactly. I get that they wanted to use Barney more, because people love NPH and his schtick was funny, but by turning him into a hero, they went completely against what the show was about, without realizing it.

I really liked the show, but they made some baffling choices towards the end there. The finale was just the icing on the Weird Decision Cake.

Well, everything makes sense now. What a stupid thing to have done!

It kind of feels like they planned that ending right at the beginning, but never saw themselves getting 9 seasons, so they just kept going, with that ending in their back pocket. Then when they came to the actual end, they tacked it on without any thought of what those extra seasons actually did to the characters.

Which part? The part where they threw away nearly a decade of character growth for half of the leads? Or the part where they destroyed a relationship they'd been building offscreen for the sake of shippers?

Yeah it was! It's not like HBO making kids shows, or even working with Henson properties is unprecedented. What's unprecedented is Sesame Street not airing first on PBS, and HBO buying an already existing series. First for both.

Well this is kinda nuts: http://www.nytimes.com/2015…

I never really get complaints about length. Did it tell the story it wanted to in a satisfying way that doesn't feel bloated or rushed? Then it's the right length.

I'm not sure if she was "awful and unlikable", but she was definitely flawed and believable, which made her much more compelling than your typical romcom protagonist (or Apatow protagonist for that matter). I like that the breakup and fights felt real, and that the dance at the end wasn't "everything's gonna be…

I don't know if length was really an issue for me here. Yeah it was long, but there was hardly anything I would cut given the chance, it never felt bloated, it moved along a quite a pleasant clip. All in all, I think the length was fine.

UNNNNAAAAACCCCEPPPTTABLLLLE!

Did you study that stuff formally, or teach yourself? Are there any good resources you'd recommend?

Thanks, I don't watch any of these apart from Rick & Morty, but I will definitely check them out, watching for the things you're talking about. I tend to prioritize a show's writing over visual elements or even acting, so I'm trying to deliberately focus on other things.