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I'm in Pasadena for the TCA press tour, and it's been one of the most news-packed tours in years. This week, Jason Hughes and Danny Gallagher join me to talk about what's going on in the TV world:
The Late Night Wars, 2010 edition, as we talk about Leno being pulled from 10:00, Conan's "hell no, I won't go to 12:05" letter, and more.
We discuss Simon Cowell's departure from American Idol and what that means for the show and his new show, The X Factor.
We talk about being at the TCAs, and some of the fun (and not so fun) things I've been doing here, and other news that has come out of the press tour.
Merry Christmas! In this pre-holiday podcast, Brad Trechak and Jason Hughes join me to talk about our favorite holiday episodes (think Festivus, folks), as well as the following:
Brittany Murphy's death and how it caused NBC to pull a SNL Weekend Update bit from a few weeks ago,
It's David Tennant's last days as Doctor Who, and we talk about his popular run and what's in store for his successor, Matt Smith,
What TV-related items you can buy with the handful of gift cards you received during the holidays,
How we might be watching TV during the next decade. Will the 30th season of The Simpsons be available telekinetically?
Ask TV Squad, Comment of the Week, our picks of the week, and more!
As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick. Note that we recorded the podcast on Monday, and my pick of the week -- Jay Thomas on Letterman -- has already aired. Huh. I figured they'd wait until at least Christmas Eve for that one.
We talk about what we usually watch this time of year, whether it's holiday specials or just catching up on shows via DVD,
The Golden Globes nominations came out last week, and we talk about how they got things (mostly) right,
Something Danny has some experience with: When should you make like it's the 1990s and actually watch a show in real time to ensure you don't get spoiled (like the Dexter finale)?
Ask TV Squad, Comment of the Week, our picks of the week, and more!
As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick. Note that we recorded the podcast last week, so my pick of the week -- Cowboys vs. Saints -- has already happened.
As a holiday bonus, we have a super-sized podcast this week. The reason? Rich Sommer of Mad Men called in and gave us a solid half-hour of talk about the season just past, what he thinks is in store for his character of Harry Crane, how people used to yell at him for almost breaking up Pam and Jim on The Office, and how he loves doing commercials.
Rich's interview starts around the 37-minute mark. Besides the interview, Jason Hughes, Bob Sassone and I talk about the following:
The insane TV coverage of the Tiger Woods story,
A discussion of shows that are returning in January (24, Idol, Lost) as well as those that are taking a break until spring (Glee, V, FlashForward),
Our Comment of the Week! This is where listeners find out that we do not represent everyone in the TV industry,
As an early Christmas present to loyal TV Squad Podcast listeners, we will be having Rich Sommer on to talk about the fantastic third season of Mad Men. Sommer plays media analyst Harry Crane, and at the end of season three, he somehow managed to get his character in a very good place.
But you never know what's in Matthew Weiner's head for season four: Will we advance in time? Will everyone be working where they did at the end of season three? Who's coming back? Who isn't?
We'll have some fun with Rich as we make our guesses about it (he likely doesn't know any more than we do), and we'll talk to him about some of his other roles (like when he almost broke up Pam and Jim on The Office a couple of years ago).
Have questions for Rich, about Mad Men or anything else? Leave them in the comments and we'll relay them to Sommer during the podcast. We'll even give you credit for any question we use. So, ask away below. Any question we get in before we record the podcast on Tuesday at around 2 PM ET will be eligible.
We talk about the shows that have surprised us so far this season, including The Middle and White Collar,
It's the end of the '00s as we know it, and we feel fine: we talk about the inevitable end-of-decade lists that will drip out this month (including ours!) and what we expect to see on them,
A new feature: Our Commenter of the Week! Knowing our commenters, you can be pretty sure we didn't pick one that said how much they loved us.
Our picks for the week -- including the last episode of Monk -- and much more.
As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick. Though I had so much fun adding the George Takei ID to the mix, I added another small surprise at the top of this 'cast, a call-back to an interview I did a few years ago. Hope you enjoy it.
Happy pre-Thanksgiving! Before you dive into the feast and football, dig in for some Chuck talk first. Vik Sahay, who plays Lester Patel on the NBC geek hit, joins me, Jason Hughes and Kona Gallagher to talk about the show's new season, which starts on January 10. Here's a hint about the season: Jeffster is mentioned a few times during the interview.
Before and after the interview, the three of us talk about:
Why Mondays, especially at 8, is such a brutal timeslot,
Oprah's "retirement" and if she'll ever have that same kind of platform again,
On Tuesday, we're going to be recording our weekly podcast. In honor of the return of NBC's Chuck on January 10, we're going to have Vik Sahay, who plays Buy More cog Lester Patel, on board to talk about the show's return and what fans can expect.
Last season ended with a bang, as most fans already know. Not to spoil anything, but the finale ended with Chuck saying the famous line from The Matrix, "I know kung fu." And, boy, does he ever. Sahay will be able to give us some insight into what's in store for the Buy More crew now that Chuck is going in a new and even more adventurous direction.
Have questions about for Vik about Chuck or anything else? Leave them in the comments and we'll relay them to Sahay during the podcast. We'll even give you credit for any question we use. So, ask away below. Any question we get in before we record the podcast tomorrow (time TBD right now) will be eligible.
If you haven't seen The Prisoner yet, you may want to skip the first fifteen or so minutes of this podcast, because we talk about the whole damn thing this week. Jason Hughes and Allison Waldman join me to talk about the AMC remake of the British cult classic, as well as these topics:
Another dip into our Ask TV Squad mailbag, where we discuss the use of laugh tracks and why multi-camera shows are written differently than single-camera shows,
As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick. Though I decided to add a small surprise at the beginning, a call-back to an interview I did a few years ago. Hope you enjoy it.
It was an eventful week in TV, especially for fans of Mad Men. This week, Jason Hughes and Bob Sassone join me to talk about the show's finale and what may be in store for next season. We also talk about:
Why November sweeps don't mean as much as they used to,
Another dip into our Ask TV Squad mailbag, where we discuss why we promote SlashControl and other AOL-related ventures,
We've got a new e-mail address for the podcast! If you have any questions or suggestions about the 'cast, please e-mail us at tvsquadpodcast [at] google [dot] com.
This week, actress Linda Purl joins me, Jason Hughes and Kona Gallagher to talk about her guest starring stint as Pam's mom on The Office -- she's on tonight's episode, by the way. She also chats about her long acting career (remember her during the waning days of Happy Days?), her work with the California International Theatre Festival and her current success as a touring lounge singer.
After the interview, which is about 30 minutes, Kona, Jason and and I talk about the following:
Today I made an executive decision and gave the podcast an oh-so-creative name: "The TV Squad Podcast." This was after we recorded it on Tuesday, so I still refer to it by its old APB name. If you have any suggestions, let me know at tvsquad [at] gmail [dot] com.
In this episode, Late Show writer Bill Scheft joins me, Danny Gallagher and Kona Gallagher to talk about his new book Everything Hurts. Of course, there's lots of good behind-the-scenes info about what it was like to work at The Late Show, especially on how the events of the past month affected the staff and the show's writing, including the monologue.
He also tells some funny stories about being canned from Sports Illustrated (and spawns a new catchphrase), feeding lines to the guy who played Mike Singletary and more. It's 45 minutes of fun.
After the interview, Kona, Danny and I give our picks of the week. Run time is 1:03:02.
Week two of the revival of TV Squad's APB podcast has arrived! In this episode, Bob Sassone and Danny Gallagher join me to talk about TV's doings this week:
The cancellation of Southland and the role of The Jay Leno Show in that cancellation,
I'm in Pasadena for the TCA press tour, and it's been one of the most news-packed tours in years. This week, Jason Hughes and Danny Gallagher join me to talk about what's going on in the TV world:
As a holiday bonus, we have a super-sized podcast this week. The reason? Rich Sommer of 
Happy pre-Thanksgiving! Before you dive into the feast and football, dig in for some 
We've got a new e-mail address for the podcast! If you have any questions or suggestions about the 'cast, please e-mail us at tvsquadpodcast [at] google [dot] com.
Nick Offerman on Being Ron "F@%&in'" Swanson
TV 101: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love 'Jersey Shore'
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on 'Faces of America' and the Beer Summit
