Appointment Television

Making It, the new reality TV show starring Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler, is exactly what we needed this summer, and we talk about it, its small growing pains, and how America finally figured out how to do a decent Great British Bake-Off rip-off. Then we yell, quite a bit, about how dumb it is to make a television show based on the song “Hey There, Delilah,” before pitching our own TV shows based on songs. Every single one we pitch would make a better TV show than “Hey There, Delilah.”

This week we talk about the EXTREMELY EXCITING NEWS that Patrick Stewart is returning to TV as Jean-Luc Picard in a new Star Trek series, then we wrap up the last three episodes of our TV Book Club on Pamela Adlon's Better Things.  SHOW NOTES The new Trek announcement: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/05/635809156/patrick-stewart-is-reprising-his-role-as-captain-picard-in-new-star-trek-series Better Things: https://www.hulu.com/series/better-things-70d330d1-cb23-403f-b3b6-f8f392c4ce5e  

Kathryn brings some new Patreon recommendations in this episode, this time for someone in search of some queer leaning scifi/fantasy shows. Then we talk about the extremely strange NBC sitcom Trial & Error, a true crime parody romp that made us laugh a lot. 

This week, we take another trip to Kathryn's deep deep well of TV recommendations. Then, we continue our journey through episodes 5, 6, and 7 of Better Things. SHOW NOTES: Recommendations! Dear White People: https://www.netflix.com/title/80095698 GLOW: https://www.netflix.com/title/80114988 Playing House: http://www.usanetwork.com/playinghouse Black-ish: https://abc.go.com/shows/blackish/news/updates/stream-blackish-all-seasons-on-hulu Better Things: https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/better-things  

Because Kathryn couldn't convince Andrew or Margaret to immediately drop all of their responsibilities and watch all of Superstore, and because Margaret felt that neither Andrew nor Kathryn could do justice to a discussion of Sex and the City, we have a guest who can help with both of those things!    As is sadly inevitable for podcast guesting, we had some issues with Kamille's audio later in the episode, so there's a bit less of her than we'd like. Obviously you need more Kamille than this in your life, so please make sure to listen to an episode of the podcast she co-hosts, The Unfriendly Black Hotties, to get the proper Kamille dosage. 

This week we climb into a figurative car and discuss the deal with Jerry Seinfeld's brand of comedy in 2018, and then we hit the next three episodes of Pamela Adlon's Better Things. SHOW NOTES Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee may not be made for these times: http://www.vulture.com/2018/07/comedians-in-cars-getting-coffee-season-10-netflix-review.html Better Things: https://www.hulu.com/better-things

It was a frustrating and strange week in television news, so we cover the two topics that drove us the most bonkers: HBO's alarming town hall and the brief not-quite existence of a branded set of Handmaid's Tale wines. Please note that in spite of what Margaret suggests in this episode, we are no longer subjecting Andrew to copious alcohol consumption beyond whatever he chooses to consume for himself. 

This week, we dust off our ol' inbox to respond to a lot of comments-not-questions, and then we dive into our new TV Book Club segment on Pamela Adlon's Better Things. SHOW NOTES: Raising Hope: https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/fox-cancels-raising-hope-after-4-seasons-1201128773/ The Rundown with Robin Thede: https://www.bet.com/shows/the-rundown-with-robin-thede.html Better Things: https://www.hulu.com/better-things

On this summer holiday week, we have a short grab bag episode of chat about what we're currently watching. Andrew mentions black-ish and Quantum Leap, Margaret's watching a very strange French satire show that Kathryn has a hard time being persuaded by, and Kathryn's been watching a documentary about the New York Times. Plus, we announce our next book club - the first season of FX's Better Things. 

We're live from the Philadelphia Podcast Festival this week, talking about travel on TV and then our own super pander-y visions for Philadelphia-based TV shows.  SHOW NOTES: What The Hell Is The Process: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2729018-the-definitive-history-of-trust-the-process The Philadelphia Podcast Festival: http://www.phillypodfest.com/

This week, Kathryn gives us her report on what went down at the ATX TV festival in Austin. Then, spurred by a recent Mo Ryan tweet thread, we talk about why TV chooses to kill so many of its all-too-rare women and PoC characters in the current “anyone can die” twist-and-shocker-heavy world of TV dramas. SHOW NOTES: ATX interviews via the TV Campfire podcast: http://ew.com/tv/2018/05/23/atx-television-festival-podcast-the-tv-campfire/ Kathryn’s interview on American Vandal Season 2: http://www.vulture.com/2018/06/american-vandal-atx-festival-interview.html An Oral History of Nana’s Party: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/06/anatomy-of-a-scene-american-vandal-netflix-nanas-party-making-of-oral-history Mo Ryan on women and PoC characters dying on TV: https://twitter.com/moryan/status/1006203919939325952 Apparently, not *anyone* can die: https://variety.com/2016/tv/opinion/tv-deaths-walking-dead-the-100-arrow-1201751968/ Character TV deaths in 2015-16, tracked: https://www.vox.com/a/tv-deaths-lgbt-dive

After a week's delay due to Kathryn sounding like a monster from a children’s movie, we return with full voices to discuss the final installment of our ER book club. Margaret swears she will never trust David Krumholtz again. First, though, we talk about some Netflix news and yell about the weird phenomenon of half seasons.

This week, we talk briefly about Roseanne's terrible behavior bringing down her successful rebooted sitcom, delivering an unexpected (but not unappreciated) ATV Kiss of Death to yet another program. Then, we spend some time looking forward to this summer's TV; there's a surprising amount that you should add to your schedule. SHOW NOTES: Roseanne canceled because Roseanne Barr is racist: http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/29/media/roseanne-twitter-chelsea-clinton/index.html Set It Up on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80184100 Marvel's Cloak & Dagger on Freeform: https://freeform.go.com/shows/marvels-cloak-and-dagger Pose on Netflix: http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/pose Sharp Objects on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/sharp-objects Queer Eye on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80160037 Kimmy Schmidt Season 4 on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80025384 GLOW on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80114988 The Bold Type on Freeform: https://freeform.go.com/shows/the-bold-type Younger on TV Land: htt

We begin our conversation by welcoming back guest host Christina Tucker, who joins us to talk about the wild ride of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's cancellation and swift resurrection. We also talk about the tricky, complicated dynamics of storytelling designed to humanize cops. Afterward, it's the return of TV vs TV! Thanks to a patreon supporter, we spend some time considering the vitally important question of best SVU guest star. As per usual, Margaret comes slightly underprepared and Andrew brings jokes. 

This week ATV welcomes back Christina Tucker to talk about the next installment in our ER book club, and it's a good thing we do because someone needed to make sure we fully appreciate Julianna Margulies. Before we get to ER, though, it sudden occurs to us that many of the shows we talk about on ATV... get cancelled?  

This week we chat a bit about the recut S4 and forthcoming S5 of Arrested Development, a show we thought we'd seen the last of. Then, we talk about the different ways in which TV communicates intelligence. SHOW NOTES: The Arrested Development announcement: https://twitter.com/MitchHurwitz/status/991373460986249216 "I make a lot of graphs": https://media.giphy.com/media/l2JdSDAAwdtVa4bzW/giphy.gif The quintessential GIF: https://media.giphy.com/media/yJu2jIQZgPubm/giphy.gif

First: in some places during this episode, Margaret sounds like she's being played on an old dusty record player. We are sorry about that! We chat briefly about how there should be more women in late night, which is both obvious and yet still a weirdly, unconscionably lopsided thing about TV culture. Happily, Busy Philips is going to have a talk show on E! Then we turn to the next in our ER book club, which includes a discussion of "Blizzard," "Love's Labor Lost" and "Everything Old Is New Again." If discussions of bad medical outcomes during labor and delivery is going to be upsetting for you... maybe skip some of this!  

This week, we finally finish up our 2018 TV overview by talking about the oft-delayed Zach Braff project Alex, Inc., which in the Margaret’s words was a show we could “barely hate.” We also talk about when America fell out of love with Zach Braff, and what non-Roseanne working-class TV looks like right now. SHOW NOTES, such as they are: Alex Inc. http://abc.go.com/shows/alex-inc

After The Simpsons' truly terrible response to criticism of its character Apu, we talk about what The Simpsons has done wrong, and how weird it is for a show to absolutely refuse to change over time. Then we talk about the pilot episode of ER for our latest book club, and Margaret and Andrew are very patient while Kathryn goes a little bonkers over tracking shots. 

This week, Kathryn gives another round of TV recommendations to a listener who’s looking for a show she only has to mostly pay attention to. Then, we spend an hour with the magical ABC crime procedural Deception, and we detail both the kinds of magic we would like to see in future cases and the far-fetched occupations we’d like to see teamed up with the FBI. SHOW NOTES: Sports Night: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165961/ Justified: http://www.fxtv.com.au/justified Elementary: https://www.cbs.com/shows/elementary/ Pitch: https://www.fox.com/pitch/ Timeless: https://www.nbc.com/timeless?nbc=1 New Girl: https://www.fox.com/new-girl/ Terriers: https://tv.avclub.com/terriers-perfect-one-season-run-defied-description-ma-1798246162 Deception: http://abc.go.com/shows/deception