Alan Sepinwall

Steintorf reminds Tommy that "kids don't vote."

I will say this: The Wire has a lot of utterly despicable characters, but I'm not sure any of them is worse than Carcetti's chief of staff, Michael Steintorf.

Yeah, those last few episodes of s4 hit VERY hard. On to s5. I'm sure nothing bad will happen to anyone we care about in that one, right?

If it makes you feel any better, at some 2010 music awards show, Adam Sandler introduced Dave Matthew Band by saying they'd been out there performing for 20 years. I turned to my wife and said, "Dave Matthews has been around since 1980?"

a man wearing a white shirt and a silver jacket looks at the camera ALT: a man wearing a white shirt and a silver jacket looks at the camera

30th.

SIR Didi.

Review: 'Rooster' and 'Vladimir' are hot for teachers Steve Carell and Rachel Weisz play college professors in two messy comedies with a lot in common

In yet another TV confluence of two shows with near-identical premises, HBO's Rooster and Netflix's Vladimir star, respectively, Steve Carell and Rachel Weisz as sexually frustrated teachers at liberal arts colleges. My review of these two messy comedies:

Yes

Regardless, Matthew Weiner was infamous for his obsession with getting every period detail exactly right. And yet.

Meanwhile, "Picture if you will," which is the other one people do in Serling impressions, is only said once — and only in Serling's preview for next week's episode, not in the context of an episode itself.

The funny thing is, "Submitted for your approval" is kind of a "Play it again, Sam" / "Beam me up, Scotty" situation. People think Serling said it every week, but it's only in 3 eps — all of which aired years after this Mad Men ep took place.

Paul Kinsey does a Serling impression

Me: Well, I guess I've run out of professional excuses to watch Mad Men for a while.

Me finishing up my Rod Serling bio:

a close up of a man wearing glasses with the hashtag #homecoming tv above him Alt: Shea Whigham in Homecoming

The internet tells me she was also in a Scream TV show? And is the daughter of Shea Whigham.

In a waiting room tuned to New York One. They just ran an important expose about how people’s sleep schedules are affected negatively by the clocks changing

The Pitt recap, Season 2, Episode 9: '3:00 P.M.' Mel's bad day gets even more complicated when her sister becomes a patient, and Javadi makes a big mistake

My review of this week's The Pitt, where Mel's bad day got even more complicated by the arrival of her sister:

Ah, man. I kept meaning to mention that — even though, as you say, the similarity was entirely in the titles.

In a previous episode, a male patient tries to flirt with her and she shuts him down by saying something along the lines of "I'm playing on the other team." (I forget the exact phrasing.)

Why do we keep getting two versions of the same show at the same time? 'Vladimir' takes on academia at the same time as 'Rooster,' plus 'The Beauty' finale, the original 'What's Alan Watching?,' and more

In today's free What's Alan Watching? newsletter: inspired by Rooster and Vladimir, I looked back at the weird history of TV shows with identical premises debuting at the same time. Plus, The Beauty, The Pitt, and the What's Alan Watching? TV show. Read! Subscribe! Share! Go to a furry convention!

Me when people won’t watch The Lowdown:

The Pitt recap, Season 2, Episode 9: '3:00 P.M.' Mel's bad day gets even more complicated when her sister becomes a patient, and Javadi makes a big mistake

My review of this week's The Pitt, where Mel's bad day got even more complicated by the arrival of her sister:

Okay, the level of overlap is getting freaky:

Let the guys do a Heaven Can Wait episode, you cowards

Review: 'Rooster' and 'Vladimir' are hot for teachers Steve Carell and Rachel Weisz play college professors in two messy comedies with a lot in common

In yet another TV confluence of two shows with near-identical premises, HBO's Rooster and Netflix's Vladimir star, respectively, Steve Carell and Rachel Weisz as sexually frustrated teachers at liberal arts colleges. My review of these two messy comedies:

Jimmy has fear? A thousand times no!

while also being as creepy as the less socially-pointed eps by the other TZ writers. But they often looked disappointed in me, because it's such a basic pick and they liked championing lesser-known eps. The book's going to have my ranking of the best eps; no spoilers on whether that's still my #1.

When I started talking to TZ fans for the book, they would ask me for my favorite ep. At the time, I said Maple Street, which to me perfectly summed up everything Serling was doing in terms of using sci-fi as parable for modern life,+

Pretty good episode! Might have some thoughts on it in my Rod Serling biography?

Show some respect to Bruce Springsteen, Jersey boy!

Shrinking recap, Season 3, Episode 6: 'Dereks Don't Die' A health scare forces everyone to consider their priorities, as Season Three hits its midpoint

My review of this week's Shrinking, where a health scare forced the gang to reconsider their priorities, as this excellent third season hits its midpoint: