Appointment Television

Latest Episodes:

Episode 028: How to Get Away with Hatewatch and The Americans S01E01 Mar 10, 2016

Show notes

This week, Margaret lays out in detail JUST how frustrated she is with "the one piece of the Shondaverse [she] still engage[s] with on a weekly basis," which is just as vitriolic and frustrated as you'd expect.

After that, we launch into our next TV Book Club selection, the pilot of FX's The Americans. Spies are more fun than lawyers, at least in this episode.

Episode 027: TV vs TV Sitcom Showdown Mar 03, 2016

Show notes

This week, we start things off by dipping into our mailbag to talk about your excellent Gilmore Girls podcast comments, and we brag about our amazing, personalized line of ATV cocktails. Then we turn to the big event: an epic, TV vs TV sitcom-themed battle, in which we pass around the white powdered judge’s wig to adjudicate some of the most vital sitcom debates of our time. Which is the best sitcom theme song? Who is the worst Kramer? And why does Margaret apologize to the guy from the B-52s?

Episode 026: Hiding TV Pregnancies and Bunheads S01E14-18 Feb 25, 2016

Show notes

We kick things off this week by talking about the three weird tricks that TV shows employ to write pregnant actors into their shows, whether they're working it into the plot, hiding it, or otherwise.

Then we wrap up the Bunheads epoch of our TV Book Club segment. We mourn a show that was cut down in its prime, simultaneously praise and puzzle over its perhaps-fatal quirks, and like ranch chips.

Episode 025: Awards shows, celebrity culture, and whatever happened to Ricky Gervais Feb 18, 2016

Show notes

It’s the height of awards season, and inspired by Ricky Gervais’s performance at the 2016 Golden Globes, we have a discussion about watching awards shows. We consider the distasteful parts of following celebrity culture, and Kathryn and Margaret try to convince Andrew that celebrity gossip isn’t just dumb fluff. We have a wide-ranging discussion about the social usefulness of celebrities, and return to the way awards shows give us a stage to work out Big Issues. Finally, we turn to this year’s Golden Globes to ask, "Ricky Gervais - what happened to you?”

ATV Bulletin: Sutton Foster on Gilmore Girls and Stars Hollow Podcasters Feb 15, 2016

Show notes

We introduce a special new feature, the ATV Bulletin, where we address important news of the day (or, you know, news of the last couple of days). In this short episode, we discuss the recent announcement that Sutton Foster will appear on the Netflix revival series of Gilmore Girls. In addition, Margaret brings us an extremely important question to consider: which citizens of Stars Hollow would have a podcast, and what would that podcast be about?

Episode 024: Preconceived Notions and Bunheads S01E09-13 Feb 11, 2016

Show notes

This week, Kathryn's sister Laura joins the gang to help talk us through life as a teenage ballerina. It turns out Amy Sherman-Palladino's Bunheads gets a lot of the details right, even if the dances are a bit too polished for this age and skill level.

Bunheads really finds its feet in this run of episodes—in between singing its praises, we also talk about how we approach shows that have been recommended to us by others. Do we actually watch them, and how do those recommendations change our viewing experience?

Episode 023: The Super Bowl and Sports as TV Events Feb 04, 2016

Show notes

In honor of the Super Bowl this week, we have a wide-ranging discussion about sports and television, featuring returning guest and Overdue podcast brother Craig Getting. We talk about all the ways that sports fandom can be troubling, and all the things that make sports such compelling televisual entertainment. Highlights include: our personal sports narratives, Margaret’s description of cultural sports fandom, what it’s like to follow athletic careers like soap operas, and eventually we actually let Craig talk about football.

Episode 022: The simple joys of Masterchef Junior and Bunheads S01E04-08 Jan 28, 2016

Show notes

This week, Andrew shares with the group his continuing love of Masterchef Junior, which leads to a mini-celebration of that rare animal, the Non-Cynical Competition Reality Show.

After that it’s back to the TV Book Club mines for episodes 4-8 of the Freeform (nee ABC Family) one-season wonder Bunheads. Does the show get past its rough opening episodes? So all the teenagers start to feel like fully realized characters? Is “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” originally a They Might Be Giants song? We answer all these questions and more!

Episode 021: Talking and watching TV, and what's new about binge-watching Jan 21, 2016

Show notes

Margaret, Kathryn and Andrew answer a listener mailbag question and discuss all the many nuances of when it is and is not okay to talk while watching television. Andrew reveals a rule in his house about what you’re allowed to say while watching Game of Thrones, and Margaret discusses the tricky ins and outs of being a veteran watching with a newbie. They then turn to the main topic: whether streaming television is a new genre and how binge-watching changes our opinions of shows. This topic is spurred on by Alan Sepinwall’s interview with Transparent creator Jill Soloway, James Ponewozik’s piece Steaming TV Isn’t Just A New Way to Watch, It’s a New Genre, and Willa Paskin’s discussion of binge-watching Master of None.

Episode 020: TV Resolutions and Bunheads S01E01-03 Jan 14, 2016

Show notes

To help kick off 2016, we talk about our TV-related resolutions. For Andrew, it's to watch more of the shows Kathryn and Margaret have recommended to him; for Margaret, it's to be more like Andrew.

Then we move on to our TV Book Club discussion of the one-season wonder Bunheads, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino of Gilmore Girls fame. It's a rough start to the series - the setup is awkward and the first few episodes are consumed with making it work. But rest assured, it gets better.

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