Appointment Television

Have you heard of this HBO show Succession? No? Then you probably are not following Kathryn on twitter, where she has been yelling about it for months. Months! Recently Andrew has joined her in this obsession, and we also invited our friend Christina to come jump on the Succession celebration train. Plus: have you heard of Disney+? They are gonna have a lot of stuff on that platform!

If you think an episode that would cause Margaret to assert “I think we’re more Appointment Friendship than Appointment TV” sounds like a good time then BOY is this week's show for you! Covered herein: The struggles of parenting and creating podcasts simultaneously! What this season of The Great British Bake-Off has to do with the sitcom What We Do In The Shadows! What on earth is going on with Apple TV! And could Quibi be... good?? A short silly episode that we hope you all enjoy. 

This week we talk about the delights and dangers of music on TV - the cost of it, the value of it, and how completely disastrous it is if a show uses the wrong music cue and it destroys a scene forever. We're joined by Sophie Brookover and also the glorious return of our beloved and much-missed Andrew!! 

One last push and we, our podcast, will have finally birthed a full set of Deadwood-centric paternity leave episodes. In this final episode of Andrew's paternity leave we discuss episodes 9-12 of Deadwood, S2 but also: Why it was funny when we called Andrew's then unborn child Axl How many times we have to say something in Slack before it becomes funny even if there's little to no humor inherent to it How windows are just God's TV Whether the Widow Garrett knows when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em Irascible matchmaking  And, most importantly, how old your newborn infant has to be before you can show them NBC's Kings Thanks for sticking with through all this and yes, if you're wondering, Margaret is still crying over Andrew's son, and he's even more adorable than we'd hoped. NEXT WEEK: we return to our regularly scheduled programming! 

Our paternity leave episodes have almost ended! This week we're talking about episodes 7-9 of Deadwood season two, next week we'll be discussing the end of the season, and then it's back to regularly scheduled fall programming. This week, we consider: telegraphs, horses, thoroughfares, and Cosmo-style quizzes about whether you're a Farnum or a Swearengen. 

This week on the podcast, we're joined by an extra (hot great) special guest: Tara Ariano, the founder of Television Without Pity (may it rest forever in peace), editor-at-large of Primetimer, podcaster extraordinaire, and personal joint hero of Margaret and Kathryn. We are, in fact, so excited to praise Tara for her many accomplishments that we barely remember to say her name! In addition to schooling us on the parallels between Lodge 49 and Succession, Tara lets us know if the new Batman-spinoff show Pennyworth is worth it. And then the three of us dig into what we're REALLY here to discuss: the new Showtime original series Couples Therapy, with which it's safe to say we are obsessed. Join us to hear about therapist Orna Guralnik's expressive eyebrows, adorable dog, and astute insights-- as well as Margaret's strange connection to the show Married at First Sight, and what all three of us would do if Bebe Neuwirth wanted to drink our blood. If you enjoyed Tara as much as we did, you can find her any of the f

Shift yourselves, wains, it's time to talk about Derry Girls! This week we're joined by culture maven Sophie Brookover to talk about this wee Irish sitcom that we love very much. Topics include: Bono, narrative structure, peace walls, teen girl tropes, why Sister Michael became a nun, and several incredibly persuasive book recommendations. 

And our Paternity Leave Project continues with a discussion of episodes 4, 5, and 6 of Deadwood S2. Learn: Kathryn's favorite Deadwood episode title! Joanie's inability to pick a good business partner! Our delight in the nuance with which Deadwood depicts historical prejudice! And ever so much more! Next week we'll be digging into episodes 7, 8, and 9.   As previously noted, while Andrew's dadhood was still hypothetical when the episode was recorded, it is now definite. We once again apologize for unmooring you in time. 

It's a special edition of TV book club for Andrew's paternity leave! Welcome to Dadwood, our journey through Deadwood season two. This week we're discussing the first three episodes of the season, which Kathryn is aghast to realize means that there is no resolution yet to Al's kidney stones. Hang on to your gleets! 

In a rare Andrew-less episode of Appointment Television, Kate Racculia returns to talk with us about the revival season of Veronica Mars. Guess what! We have some critiques! At some point this also involves discussing Lodge 49 and reading character descriptions from the new HBO Joss Whedon show The Nevers, but really it's mostly about Veronica Mars. Be warned: we will spoil what happens at the end of this season! 

On this week's episode of our every timely podcast, we're discussing season 3 of Stranger Things with special repeat guest Kate Racculia! Whose wit, charm, and Big Barb Energy you might recall from her appearance in our Stranger Things, S1 TV Book Club. Listen to find out what made Margaret want to throw her computer across the room in annoyance, why Andrew thinks capitalism is the strangest thing of all, how many times Kathryn can say the word serial before you absolutely must eat a bowl of serial or die, and the SURPRISE TWIST mention of Little Women you never see coming. If you are as struck with Kate as it is evident we are, follow her on Twitter or Instagram, or-- better still!!-- buy one of her great books: This Must Be the Place Bellweather Rhapsody and Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts (out October 8th!)

On this week's episode we discuss both Pop TV, the channel that's now home to Schitt's Creek and One Day at Time, AND ABC's new #PeakSummer tv: the miniature golf/obstacle course show Holey Moley. Plus we address the all-important question: is listening to "mood music" when you bone down a super weird? 

Look, we accept that the order of this is going to be a little wonky. Paternity leave! Things got a little out of order. But this week we're going to talk about the Deadwood movie, even though we also announce that later this summer, we will be doing Deadwood season 2 as a paternity leave book club. Spoilers for Deadwood, a very old show! Before we get to the Deadwood movie, and Kathryn waxes rhapsodic about all things David Milch, we do a brief mailbag segment where we talk about Blue Bloods! 

In the last episode we've recorded before Andrew departs on paternity leave, we have a nice long talk about all the TV we're looking forward to catching up on. Spoiler: Margaret suggests we assign her stuff and then laughs heartily and the idea she might actually watch any of it.  We also have a brief conversation about the 2019 Emmy nominations, and some thoughts on how far we as a culture have come in the past 10 years. 

This week! We're checking in on Amazon's Wheel of Time series in light of fresh* casting news, answering one particularly novel mailbag question, and then wrapping up our Good Fight book club with a desultory conversation about episodes 7-10. A conversation which includes a lot more information than you'd expect about the classic 1989 family film, The Adventures of Milo & Otis.   *(when we recorded)

This week we are deeply saddened that Andrew is not with us, and immensely joyful to welcome someone else in his absence: his wife Suz! We break down all things Big Little Lies, including but not limited to: why this season exists, who our favorite characters are, the dubious utility of dressing up as Bo Peep when you're giving therapy to a child, and Meryl Streep's teeth. 

For our big 200th episode, we hope you enjoy the backdoor pilot for THE BONES ZONE, our weekly podcast about the show Bones. It’s been a long road, folks, but we’re so glad you support us in our weird art. SHOW NOTES: “Emily Deschanel on Biggest 'Bones' Lessons”: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/emily-deschanel-biggest-bones-lessons-working-david-boreanaz-returning-tv-1215108 WATCH THE SHOW BONES: https://www.hulu.com/series/bones-08cc467f-2057-4331-825a-1f993c79c862

What if CBS All Access ... is good? We're pretty sure it's not but there are enough things about it now that we feel like it's worth discussing. We also chat about episodes 4, 5 and 6 of the first season of The Good Fight.  PLUS, stay tuned for an extremely important announcement about our 200th episode regarding what Zone it will occupy.  

This week's show is all about one of our favorite writers and performers, Phoebe Waller-Bridge. After talking about her current and upcoming projects, we dive deep into the masterwork that is season 2 of Fleabag. SHOW NOTES:  PWB's HBO pilot: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/phoebe-waller-bridge-comedy-run-lands-hbo-pilot-order-1102282 PWB and rehabilitating James Bond: https://deadline.com/2019/05/phoebe-waller-bridge-bond-1202624860/ Kathryn on Fleabag's wall-breaking second season: https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/fleabag-season-2-fourth-wall-ending.html

This week we're starting our latest TV book club, the CBS All Access / briefly CBS series The Good Fight! It's a spin-off of the long-running legal procedural The Good Wife, so we start with a little game where we try to come up with some especially unlikely or improbable spin-offs of our own. But when we turn to The Good Fight, we want to make things very clear: You do not need to have seen the original series to enjoy this show. Plus we will explain the very few Good Fight references you'll find here. We'll also explain the phrase "Chunk Palmer."