Just looking at the reviews, it seems like Bob-Waksberg and the writers are setting this up sort of the same way the final two Harry Potter movies were set up. The reviews so far have been a “good, but not entirely great” summation, some critics citing the lack of a “Stupid Piece of #$#!” or “Free Churro” episode…

I don’t know if it’s the nature of the beast, or the William F. Buckley Jr.-style of “I must always be right,” but one thing that O’Rourke has that so many conservative media figures lack is a self-deprecating sense of humor. 

Another reason why conservative humor continues to be an oxymoron. “Punching down” doesn’t quite work as a comedy style, especially in the political realm. 

I would say Dig Lazarus Dig!!! is far more accessible than Ghosteen. It definitely is The Bad Seeds’ most hook-friendly album. That said, there is so much great stuff going on in Ghosteen, sort of a spiritual sequel to Skeleton Tree.

It’s weird, I feel almost the exact same way with Converge. I totally get why people love them. They are without a doubt talented musicians, but I just cannot get into them to save my life. 

I am a Tool fan. In fact, you could call me an “O.G.T.” fan. And I disagree with your comment. That’s it. I just disagree.

And Slater spouts some ignorant stuff about transgender adolescents.

The good thing about the culture shift since this show is that nowadays, Zach and Slater would likely be the villains in a series. And despite his status as the “geek” in the bunch, Screech was actually kind of an asshole (in the series - IRL, another dimension of asshole entirely). 

That’s what makes me scratch my head at his work with Baroness. So much stuff has been amazing, but both Purple and the latest album have been roundly trashed for their production quality. 

Any show that could take a song that you have heard to death (U2's “With Or Without You”), and make it sound as gut-wrenching as it did the very first time you’ve heard it - has to be doing something right. 

I don’t think you could have stuck to the landing more than The Americans did in its final season. Especially the finale. A close second would have to be The Larry Sanders Show. As humble and likable as Jon Stewart was, there was this pall hanging over the entire season. Stewart wasn’t deliberately gunning to oust Larr…

Going to add another one - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. If only for the way the movie subverted expectations. I was six - and Yoda seemed to be everywhere. This cute little muppet on your juice glass. This cute, green new toy. Then, when Luke tells him “I’m not afraid” - This so-called cute muppet looks at the…

It wasn’t exactly a “scare” - but the autopsy scene in Silence of the Lambs. I was 16 when I saw it. And I was raised on Friday The 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and a lot of generic ‘80s slasher films. The killings in these movies were cartoonish. So, seeing what looked like an all-too-relateable “normal” body get…

I give full credit to Mad Magazine for being the foundation of my sense of humor. At its essence, it told us to view anything in power, be it the occupier of the White House, or the top occupier of the Billboard chart, with a well-honed bullshit detector. 

Conventional wisdom: “There’s no way, even in today’s world that you can piss away 50 years of goodwill, based on one stupid quote.” Barbra Streisand: “Hold my wine.”

I was nine when Pyromania came out. While I liked it, I was definitely more drawn to the Prince/Michael Jackson side of MTV. Hysteria was a damn-near perfect album for my 13-year-old self. At the time, I was drawn into the music as much as the “story” of the band (e.g. Rick Allen’s saga, the studio recording hell, the…

Not a specific work, but the first day that you can roll your windows down, I have the overwhelming urge to break out the Pixies. I sort of link the energy in their albums to the unrestrained energy that comes from stuff blooming and ice rapidly melting. 

Separate tangent, but relevant, given the setting, I’m absolutely enamored with Mount Eerie’s After. I think it’s one of the best live albums to have been released in the past ten years.

Sorry about your loss as well. It definitely is comparable to losing a beloved family member. And yeah, you are so right with the animation comment. It’s one thing to animate animals to give them human characteristics (e.g. snark, skepticism) - but I love how for the most part, the animators just draw the animals…

I was genuinely worried that I had gone to the point where I no longer laughed out loud at Bob’s Burgers. Where, while it may not be in the Simpsons realm of awfulness, I’d just come to the realization that after this many years, I’d settle for a line of solid B- to B - grade episodes. Then, this episode came on, and…