They had a pretty extensive writers' room refresh between last season and this season, with two new head writers (Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider) and a whole slew of new talent. I think you can feel it - it definitely feels a lot fresher than the preceding few seasons.

I think it's been a steady accumulation of hate since he took over at 11:30. There's been a lot of bitterness towards him, in the comedy community in particular, and his overall brand of overly nice, barely-even-trying-to-be-funny "comedy", but the Trump stuff definitely pushed it over the edge.

I know people like to rag on Perkins for the Trump thing but it DID feel like a pretty defining moment in SNL's political relevancy. In the midst of a season that was already shaping up to be a historically weak one, they invite the most controversial political figure maybe ever to come host. It definitely cast a…

He lead the polls from basically the minute he announced his campaign, and post-Super Tuesday he was pretty much a shoe-in for the role. If anything the "nah, he won't ACTUALLY get it!" narrative is what led to him getting away with so much shit and getting invited to things like SNL and The Tonight Show, which helped…

Colbert was literally making fun of people like Watters with that bit.

I don't know, I like the show's attention on character and mood over plotting. Typically half-hour comedies don't have major plots. Sometime over the past year or two everyone decided that they need to, and while the shows that do have them do it really well I don't think it's a must. I think Atlanta is doing a fine…

I was expecting some kind of jaw dropping revelations when I saw going viral (especially considering Fred Armisen is a piece of shit) but I kind of feel like these are…not that bad? It seems like pretty normal annoyances with allowing a TV show to film in your business, along with some complaints about the show that…

I don't think it's been totally forgotten. It was never a big zeitgeist-y show anyway, it was sort of just a respectable hit that chugged along, and it still mostly feels like that to me.

State of the Network Sitcom

Oops yeah that's what I meant!

I think it's quietly doing some pretty interesting things. I can't remember the last time a sitcom talked about workers' rights as obvertly as this show does.

They reviewed the premiere but announced it would be the last one.

I feel like this show has the biggest disconnect between critical acclaim and audience response that I've ever seen. Every critic I know loves it, but i don't know anyone else who watches it that thinks it's any better than "good but kind of annoying a lot of the time" (which is where I stand on it, personally.)

I'm definitely missing the ABC sitcom reviews (the black-ish reviews were always really thoughtful) and I feel like Superstore should be getting coverage too.

It's kinda weird that they aren't covering it. It seems right up their alley (quirky NBC multi-cam with surprisingly good writing) but I guess it's more important to talk about Burger King or something.

I did Britta, Todd from Bojack Horseman, and Nick Miller. I feel like I'm not quite the sad sack that suggests but hey…Todd's pretty happy!

I really like this concept to the point where I'll be kinda disappointed when/if the show inevitably strays from this direction.

It's too bad Superstore isn't getting regular coverage. It pairs nicely with this show and it's cool to have two worthwhile NBC Thursday sitcoms again.

Not gonna lie, this TV season feels weird with TV Club being such a sad shell of its former self.

Sunday: Insecure Burgers on Earth
Monday: nothing!
Tuesday: Wew Atlanta Brooklyn Middle Girl off the Boat (this one was hard!)
Wednesday: You're the Speechless-ish
Thursday: Better Superstore Place
Friday: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Streaming: Marvel's Transparent