Oh, I remembered something about Home Improvement!

Patricia Richardson, William Russ…Senator Vinick had a tremendous staff, if you were a fan of ABC in the 1990s.

For that kind of joke to work, for me, there has to be more to it. Kenny's snowsuit leads to comedy because it muffles his voice and then he can say inappropriate stuff that the other kids can understand but that the audience can't. That's funny. Maris on "Frasier" being this unrealistically frail person who could…

Oh, yeah, Newhart was a solid show. I just hate that every episode grinds to a halt while the annoying guy introduces himself and his brothers to a roomful of people who already know them. The irritation is a mix of not liking the gimmick - BOB NEWHART KNOWS WHO YOU AND YOUR BROTHERS ARE, JACKASS - and just not…

In the long and storied history of "supporting sitcom characters who have an annoying gimmick", surely one of the most annoying gimmicks is Earl Hindman's Mystery Chin. If I recall correctly, they made a gradual progression from "you hear Wilson's voice through the fence, but never see him" to "you see his eyes" to…

"Why has time forsaken Home Improvement?" On account of it's terrible. You're welcome.

I liked this more than I should have. If there's a cliche, sports-movie or otherwise, it's probably in here; I don't know if there's enough story here to sustain more than a few more episodes; and the one story beat that I did not predict (dead father) was really the most obvious one of all. Yet somehow, there's…

Agreed. I like Modern Family, but even I don't think there's much to say about it at this point—-it's predictable sitcom comfort food. Kyle hasn't seemed to care for it for quite a while, and the reviews draw very few comments except for people complaining about how mediocre the show is. I'm not sure there's much…

I would LOVE to talk to your parents.
"Sure, Mr. and Mrs. Perkins. I'll get the hell out of your house. But first, let me tell another story about how your son is my favourite writer in the universe. One Monday morning, I was feeling low, and I pulled up the AVClub's latest Simpsons review, and who wrote it? Why, you…

I think the points system is a criticism of the arbitrary rules of organized religion. It's not, "none of them belong there because none of them are good people as you or I might define that"; it's "they all belong there because the points system is wacky". I bet the ending will reveal that, while Eleanor might not…

I'm with you on the "professional TV critic" thing, but you lost me on the "Dennis" thing.

The specific limitations of Michael's powers are right in my comedic wheelhouse. Can he read everything ever written, instantaneously? No - he can read everything ever written in "about an hour". I hope they don't overdo Michael-as-bumbling-screwup, because Michael-as-hilariously-not-quite-perfect is a much funnier…

So Janet is just getting you Kevin James and a hot chick?

I love the subtle, hilarious recurring gag of Eleanor calling everyone "man" all the time - its just-slight-informality contrasts perfectly with everyone else's just-slight-overformality. Then tonight, toward the end, Michael picked up the "man" - I'm choosing to read that as another symptom of Eleanor ruining The…

I thought this was only okay, and was debating whether to keep watching it, but then I saw who's reviewing it for the AVClub. I will follow Dennis Perkins anywhere. I mean, subject to the terms of the restraining order.

I know whoever plays George Washington in it will never live up to Ralph Wiggum's interpretation of the role, so no.

I mean, in fairness, releasing tax returns is just kind of an expected part of running for president nowadays, so it's never really received the kind of attention it's receiving right now. It's like if a mime ran for president—-we'd probably see lots of articles about, "Hey, this guy doesn't talk!", and then people…

I'm just reading Michael D'Antonio's new-ish biography of Trump. Apparently, when he and his first wife Ivana were negotiating their prenup (and he was already claiming to be a billionaire), he couldn't scrounge up $150,000. And a huge amount of his alleged "net worth" is based on his "personal brand". That is, let's…

Also, hey, PHOTO? A few years ago, I met a crazy-hot, kinky woman on Fetlife. I knew she was interested in some of the same kink stuff I was interested in, because she said so in her profile - I didn't just intuit from her existing in the world that she must want to have sex with whoever. I talked to her like she was…

Hey, you seem reasonable!