Kate and Noel have recent DVD Shelf flashbacks this week, as LaToya Ferguson of The A.V. Club and The Televoid joins us on the podcast to dive in with McG’s Miami Vice for the aughts, Fastlane. Beforehand, though, we go through another full week of TV. First up are the comedies, including a preview of Archer season seven and the finales of The Venture Bros. and Younger. Then we move on to the genre entries, including a spoiler-tastic look at Daredevil season two and an Olicity-fueled Arrow, and we round out the week with the dramas, including Tyler Perry’s The Passion: New Orleans and the premiere of The Catch. Then it’s over to the DVD Shelf with LaToya to talk fast cars, pretty ‘splosions, and objectification galore on FOX’s one-season undercover cop series, Fastlane.
DVD Shelf: Fastlane with LaToya Ferguson (2:11:18)
Our Week in Comedy
Preview Archer Season 7 (9:03)
The Venture Bros. finale (15:09)
Younger finale (19:45)
Broad City (28:50)
The Carmichael Show (31:39)
Jane the Virgin (41:11)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (48:16)
Our Week in Genre
Daredevil Season 2 (55:04)
The Walking Dead (1:11:15)
Agents of SHIELD (1:19:13)
Arrow (1:26:40)
Our Week in Drama
The Passion: New Orleans (1:37:41)
The Catch premiere (1:47:16)
Limitless (1:53:33)
American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson (2:01:21)
Articles Referenced: Autostraddle’s Ultimate Infographic Guide to Dead Lesbian Characters on TV; LaToya’s article about Fastlane for The A.V. Club
Music Featured: “Dream Ghost” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind & Fire; “Mad World” by Seal; Fastlane Theme song
After responding to the outpouring of feedback from last week’s The 100 segment, Noel and Kate dig in for another full week of TV. First up are reality and comedy, including the Top Chef: California finale, a trio of premieres, and somewhat controversial episodes of The Carmichael Show and Broad City. Then it’s over to genre and drama, including a (mostly) spoiler-free look at the beginning of Daredevil season two, Supergirl’s Red Kryptonite episode, and another entertaining American Crime Story. Afterward, Jason Griffin of TVx3 and TheTVaholic returns to the DVD Shelf to whisk Kate off to the picturesque town of Cicely, Alaska to talk Northern Exposure.
DVD Shelf: Northern Exposure with Jason Griffin (1:34:58)
Our Week in Reality and Comedy
Top Chef: California finale (10:23)
Party Over Here premiere (18:16)
Crowded premiere (22:23)
Schitt’s Creek premiere (27:09)
The Carmichael Show (29:53)
Broad City (37:59)
Our Week in Genre and Drama
Daredevil Season 2 (44:42)
Adventure Time (53:11)
The Walking Dead (55:55)
Supergirl (1:06:03)
The Americans premiere (1:15:13)
American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson (1:16:02)
Underground (1:21:23)
Limitless (1:27:25)
Music Featured: “Trophy” by Photay; “My Name Is Jake” from Adventure Time; Northern Exposure Theme song
In lieu of the DVD Shelf this week, Noel and Kate wanted to talk about last week’s controversial episode of The 100, “Thirteen”, during which a beloved character was killed in a problematic—to put it mildly—manner. Joining us to break down this specific character death, how it relates to The 100 as a series, and how it compares to other memorable and traumatic TV character deaths is Maureen Ryan, Chief TV Critic for Variety and cohost of Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan.
Articles referenced in this segment: Mo’s piece about “Thirteen” for Variety; Ryan McGee’s post on “Thirteen” and follow-up at his Tumblr; Dr. Elizabeth Bridges’ piece about “Thirteen” at The Uncanny Valley. Also, here’s a handy list of 90 lesbian and bisexual TV characters and how they died, from Riese at Autostraddle.
Music featured: A big thank you to Revy Dutch for allowing us to use clips from "The Clexa Song", an original song by Revy which opens the episode. "The Clexa Song" is available as a charity single at Bandcamp, with all proceeds going to Leskru’s fundraiser for The Trevor Project, a suicide hotline for gay and questioning youth.
It’s our lengthiest, most in-depth podcast yet, as Noel and Kate take deep dives on many of the week’s most interesting episodes. We had to talk The 100 and “Thirteen”—and we went so long on it, with friend of the show Maureen Ryan of Variety and Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan, that it’s posted separately—but we kick things off with the comedies, talking The Carmichael Show’s premiere, the finales of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Man Seeking Woman, and a standout Jane the Virgin, among others. Afterward, we check in on The Amazing Race and part one of the Top Chef finale, before diving in with the genre entries, including the midseason premiere of Agents of SHIELD and a philosophical Adventure Time. Last up are the dramas, starting with a slew of premieres and previews: The Americans, And Then There Were None, Underground, Bates Motel, and Of Kings and Prophets. Then we round out the segment with a few more episodes, including the much-anticipated Marcia-centric American Crime Story and the season finale of American Crime.
What do Noel and Kate think of the rise of issues-based comedy? Should characters change over time? Can The 100 win us back, and what exactly happened on Adventure Time? Why isn’t God a character on Of Kings and Prophets, and why do we still belittle women for their hair? Did American Crime stick the landing and does it really matter either way? All of this and much more on this week’s supersized The Televerse.
Our Week in Comedy
The Carmichael Show premiere (5:30)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia finale (14:20)
Man Seeking Woman finale (16:32)
Girls (21:00)
Jane the Virgin (25:09)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (30:21)
Our Week in Reality and Genre
The Amazing Race (36:25)
Top Chef (46:00)
Agents of SHIELD (50:07)
The Walking Dead (57:21)
The 100 (1:08:06)
Adventure Time (1:16:55)
Our Week in Drama
Preview The Americans Season 4 (1:26:20)
Preview And Then There Were None (1:33:57)
Underground premiere (1:37:53)
Bates Motel premiere (1:48:41)
Of Kings and Prophets premiere (1:52:23)
American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson (1:57:39)
Limitless (2:05:36)
Elementary (2:13:15)
American Crime finale (2:18:32)
Music featured: A big thank you to Taylah Coxx for allowing us to a clip from her original song, "Take Care", for this episode! Taylah’s “Take Care”, which closes out this portion of this week’s podcast, is a song from the point of view of Lexa during The 100’s “Thirteen” and can be heard in full at her SoundCloud page.
Also featured this week: “Gettin Bi’” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; “Weeds Or Wildflowers” by Parsonsfield; “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal
The transition from winter to spring TV begins this week, as several series head into their finales and new ones debut, giving Noel and Kate plenty to discuss on the podcast. We kick things off with the comedies, including a check-in with Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and a look at the finale of The Muppets. Next up are the genre and drama offerings, including finale talk for Agent Carter and The Shannara Chronicles, a difference of opinion on SundanceTV’s new series Hap and Leonard, and yet more American Crime Story and American Crime discussion. Then we wrap things up by welcoming Kayti Burt of Den of Geek and Collider, among others, to the DVD Shelf to break down the short-lived and underseen zombie drama In The Flesh.
DVD Shelf: In The Flesh with Kayti Burt (1:32:54)
Our Week in Comedy
2016 Academy Awards (9:37)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (16:11)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (23:44)
The Real O’Neals (25:26)
Fuller House (30:08)
The Muppets finale (32:15)
Broad City (35:03)
Jane the Virgin (38:39)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (42:42)
Our Week in Genre and Drama
Agent Carter finale (49:18)
The Shannara Chronicles finale (56:35)
The Walking Dead (59:20)
The Family (1:04:53)
Hap and Leonard premiere (1:09:23)
American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson (1:15:38)
American Crime (1:22:17)
Music Featured: “JAP Battle” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; “Joyful, Joyful” from Broad City; In The Flesh Theme song