A lot of shows are ending their seasons or getting new leases on life right now, so writing about the transition of the Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan podcast feels appropriate right now. Speaking of evolutions, in this post, I'll also share a few thoughts about the season finales of "Grimm" and "Person of Interest," which are also discussed in the podcast, but more on those shows in a bit. Back to Talking TV: My co-host Ryan McGee and I have a snazzy new site for our podcast, which has been going strong for three years now. This new version lets you to stream the podcast on the site, it allows you to download or embed the weekly chat, and it also has links ... Continue reading →

Mo Ryan and Ryan McGee are back, with a new flow...well, on the internet, at least. We've moved our hosting for a variety of reasons, all in order to bring you the best content in the most efficient manner. And our first show? Huge. Tons of TV content for you. Be sure to subscribe to the new feed for the podcast here if you like to listen on iTunes. You'll see plenty of ways in each post to stream or download MP3s if you hate iTunes with the same passion that a Lannister hates not paying his/her debts. Today's show schedule... Introducing The New Show: 0:00 - 5:23 Looking Back at "Lost": 5:23 - 24:10 "How I Met Your Mother": 24:10 - 30:17 "30 Rock": ... Continue reading →

"The Sopranos" How do you end six seasons of mob antics, whackings, intense therapy sessions and major family drama? With some sweet Journey tunes, onion rings, lots of suspicious looks around a diner, some horrible parallel parking and one very controversial fade to black. The Sopranos live on forever ... or do they? "Friday Night Lights" Quiet, nuanced, realistic, sob-inducing: This is what "FNL" always was at its best, and the terrific finale embodied all the show's finest attributes. There were lovely sendoffs for all our favorite Dillon residents: We got to see where they were and where they were headed next. The finale showed that the show's creators team and cast loved the world of "FNL" as much as we did. Texas forever! "Friends" ... Continue reading →

"The Sopranos" How do you end six seasons of mob antics, whackings, intense therapy sessions and major family drama? With some sweet Journey tunes, onion rings, lots of suspicious looks around a diner, some horrible parallel parking and one very controversial fade to black. The Sopranos live on forever ... or do they? "Friday Night Lights" Quiet, nuanced, realistic, sob-inducing: This is what "FNL" always was at its best, and the terrific finale embodied all the show's finest attributes. There were lovely sendoffs for all our favorite Dillon residents: We got to see where they were and where they were headed next. The finale showed that the show's creators team and cast loved the world of "FNL" as much as we did. Texas forever! "Friends" ... Continue reading →

Leo (Emory Cohen), "Smash" "Smash" is getting rid of a lot of baggage for Season 2 ... but why stop there? Julia's son Leo (he of the pot-smoking, arrest and bemoaning his lack of an adopted little sister) has got to go. Betty Draper Francis (January Jones), "Mad Men" We're not buying that Betty brings us a critique of the restrictions placed on mid-century housewives or a compelling commentary on the changing nature of gender roles. Don't get us wrong, those are interesting topics, but her unchanging narcissism and her selfish petulance simply bore us to tears. Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies), "The Walking Dead" A brief recap of Lori's two seasons of "The Walking Dead": "Keep an eye on Carl. Have you seen Carl? ... Continue reading →

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Mo Ryan and Ryan McGee are back, with a new flow...well, on the internet, at least. We've moved our hosting for a variety of reasons, all in order to bring you the best content in the most efficient manner. And our first show? Huge. Tons of TV content for you. Be sure to subscribe to the new feed for the podcast here if you like to listen on iTunes. You'll see plenty of ways in each post to stream or download MP3s if you hate iTunes with the same passion that a Lannister hates not paying his/her debts. Today's show schedule... Introducing The New Show: 0:00 - 5:23 Looking Back at "Lost": 5:23 - 24:10 "How I Met Your Mother": 24:10 - 30:17 "30 Rock": ... Continue reading →

Mon., May 21: "House" "House" (8 p.m. ET on Fox) series finale The special two-hour series finale event kicks off with a one-hour retrospective special that will look back at the series and feature interviews with the stars and producers, special original content and other surprises. Then, in the series finale, directed by series creator and executive producer David Shore, treating a drug addict patient (guest star James LeGros) results in House examining his life, his future and his own personal demons. Mon., May 21: "Lost Girl" "House" (8 p.m. ET on Fox) series finale The special two-hour series finale event kicks off with a one-hour retrospective special that will look back at the series and feature interviews with the stars and producers, special original ... Continue reading →

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Jim Parsons in his dressing room. He stars in the play “Harvey,” which opens on June 14. AFTER seeing the “The Normal Heart” on Broadway last June, three teenagers from Minnesota were in a frenzy explaining why they had chosen the play. “Sheldon!” they all shouted, naming the socially clueless lead character on the CBS hit comedy “The Big Bang Theory” played by Jim Parsons, who had a small role in the play. Here was celebrity casting in action, yet it had unintended consequences: the teenagers hadn’t known that the show was about gay men dying of AIDS, and they left disappointed that Mr. Parsons wasn’t acting as outrageously pompous as Sheldon, a role that earned him Emmy Awards in ... Continue reading →

(Lev Grossman writes about books here on Wednesdays. Subscribe to his RSS feed.) This post is by way of a reply to Arthur Krystal’s “Easy Writers,” a thoroughly thought-provoking piece about the relationship between genre fiction and literary fiction that ran in the New Yorker this week. I was happy to see the New Yorker weighing in on this, because I think it’s an important part of what’s going on in fiction right now. I think about it a lot. So naturally if anybody says anything about it anywhere, the world urgently requires my response. [I want to be clear, by the way, that this is a response in the sense of a (probably one-sided) critical conversation. There’s been some umbrage in the genre world ... Continue reading →