Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

I really should read my own blog.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

He really is that stupid.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

This blog will pay for itself.

T R E 4 5 O N

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / GoT, Vikings, Mad Men, Borgias, Bletchley Circle Open Thread

Reader Interactions

145Comments

  2. 2.

    Comrade Mary

    And all over the Internets, torrents trackers get ready to creak — or explode — under the strain …

  3. 3.

    SFAW

    “GoT”? I think you misspeled teh abbreviation for Get Out Teh Vote. And that was, like, six months ago, right?

    Are you using the Yglesias version of SpelChec?

  5. 5.

    Roger

    Vikings is crap.

    Borgias also crap but at least has great locations and costumes and actors who seem to be enjoying the OTT ridiculousness of it all.

    GoT is not crap (yet – depending on whether the show-runners have the sense to ditch the last two books completely and write their own ending to the epic that George R R Martin now has next to zero motivation to ever finish) because it is an unashamed fantasy.

    Bletchley Circle I’ll have to look out for….

  7. 7.

    Narcissus

    I saw a commercial for Vikings which had some race of bald people with, like, scalp-ridges. It was like that scene from 300 with the Troll.

  8. 8.

    Roger

    As for Mad Men E01-2 were meh and I really don’t think I care about what happens to any of the characters anymore (Hell looks like we’re not even going to be allowed to hate Pete or Betty any more).

  10. 10.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    Who? What? I thought that “bletchley” was how you get when you drink too much cheap booze.

  14. 14.

    dance around in your bones

    @raven:

    raven! I have started watching Call The Midwife and Mr Selfridge on your recommendation, and I could not be more pleased. Thank you for the recs ……Bletchley Circle looks promising, too.

    Whoever called Call the Midwife the weepytime or weepyhour was quite correct. The one tonight with the spina bifida kid was heart-hurting and leaky eye inducing.

    @dewzke: I love Nurse Jackie, but have a friend who can’t watch it because she’s seen too much similar behavior in her own family, addiction-wise.

  15. 15.

    Roger

    Well to anyone from the UK pretty much everything in both Call the Midwife and Mr Selfridge is obvious and anodyne nonsense – Call the Midwife in particular sugar coating every chapter of the somewhat more realistic and grimy book its based on.

  17. 17.

    SFAW

    Wife and daughter watched Call a Midwife, I think they liked it. But, clueless as I am, I had to have Emma Thompson pointed out to me. I’m so ashamed.

  18. 18.

    HinTN

    @Roger: Afraid I gave up on GRRM and the ongoing droning nothingness after book 4. Also too, won’t pay for HBO. Mrs TN says Midwife good.

  19. 19.

    dewzke

    dance around in your bones-

    I watch it because it is good but also have addicts in my family.

  20. 20.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @dance around in your bones:

    Bletchley Circle looks promising, too

    I recommend Bletchley Circle. The plot is a bit contrived, but the acting and period settings make up for it.

    It’s also a belated recognition of a group of women who did more to win the war than most.

  22. 22.

    Bruce S

    WTF is “Bletchley Circle?”

    Reminds me of a joke an acquaintance who worked on “Unbearable Lightness of Being” told me. One of the supporting actors, upon seeing the movie’s title on his script, snarked, “‘Unbearable Lightness of Being?’ The only worse thing you could put on a marquee is ‘Closed for Repairs.'”

  25. 25.

    Gravenstone

    Since I don’t watch any of the programs this thread is putatively about, and I saw no conversation about it last night, any comments or thoughts on last night’s Doctor Who?

    I thought both the conversation during the jaunt across time, and the comment about the Doctor having a “shard of ice” in his heart were quite telling. Suspect there’s going to be a building conflict between Clara and the Doctor as the season wraps up.

  28. 28.

    pat

    Just had our first pit rehearsal (without cast) for Les Mis and I must say, if the plot and singing can’t keep the audience awake, the orchestra certainly will not. Yawn.

    4-1/2 hours just to play through the darn thing once. I’ve never seen the play or the movie, so maybe there is more excitement than in the music itself. Thankfully we have two pairs of flutists so I only have to play 6 peformances.

  30. 30.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Watching Mark Of Cain on Netflix, later Django Unchained. Did anyone see the new Netflix series Hemlock Grove yet?

  31. 31.

    PeakVT

    @Roger: I’m curious why you think Martin has no motivation to finish ASOIAF? I’m pretty sure he could have retired in comfort years ago, so he seems to be motivated to continue working (in general) by something other than bills.

  32. 32.

    dance around in your bones

    @dewzke:

    I have dealt with similar issues in my lifetime, but I love the human quality and essential goodness of Nurse Jackie, even if she does struggle with the pills. Things are complicated, and rarely black or white.

    @Viva BrisVegas: Definitely going to watch Bletchley Circle. I’ve read quite a bit about the code-breaking of WWII at Bletchley Park – no idea if this has any historical accuracy or not, but just the name has me intrigued.

    That is, if the gawd-damned grandkids + friends will shut up long enough for me to actually hear it. Currently they are on the warpath and making LOTS of noise.

  33. 33.

    Schlemizel

    being a bit of a Luddite I have been trying to avoid knowing that I can stream content over the Intertubes. I hope its not too far off topic to ask for opinions about whats out there (free or pay), and what people think is worth while.

    thanks

  36. 36.

    Johnny Coelacanth

    This week, Hodor gets into trouble with some flirts in the steno pool and has to smooth talk his way out. I’m also interested in seeing if Don lands the White Walker account while trying to hold onto his new paramour from the Summer Isles.

  37. 37.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Watching Mark of Cain so far so good, have not seen Django, I wonder if Hemlock will be a downer after seeing their version of House of Cards which was very good

  38. 38.

    SFAW

    @Morzer:
    I was hoping you were joking about Revis.

    Fucking Ryan, and whoever he got Woody to install as GM, I hope they both get fired mid-season.

    They dump the best player on the team, and they keep two guys who, between them, don’t add up to half of a decent QB.

    Fucking jerks. Other ways to deal with the salary cap, you assholes. And don’t give me any bullshit about “a rebuilding year.”

    Fuck.

  39. 39.

    pat

    @efgoldman:

    We have copies where we can mark all the insane key changes (yes I haven’t played many pits) and have yet to rehearse with the cast. This was just the orchestra. But a 4 hour play..? If it starts at 7:30 and has an intermission, no one will be out of there until midnight. And I really found the music uninspiring, but thankfully not difficult.

  41. 41.

    Morzer

    @SFAW:

    Eh, sorry. The smart money around the net seems to blame Tannenbaum for reckless GMing and Woody Johnson for insisting that Revis be dumped because he was sick of relentless attempts to renegotiate contracts, threats to hold out etc etc.

    I suspect that Rex probably had the least influence on events of anyone and Idzik was brought in to do the dirty work and gut the franchise in preparation for the post-Tannenbaum reconstruction. But, I could easily be wrong.

  48. 48.

    raven

    @dance around in your bones: Anna Maxwell Martin was spectacular in Bleak House, much more the lead than what’s her name from the stupid X Files. She also is very good in South Riding, her actual home town. She was in a film called Night Watch that I haven’t been able to get but it looks very good as well.

    eta, I don’t find Call the Midwife to be a weepfest. Sure there is some poignant subject matter but, as you know, it can be quite funny as well. The only thing I think might be a bit off is they don’t really show how nasty the real East End was.

  49. 49.

    SFAW

    @Morzer:

    No, you’re probably right. I don’t follow the upper-level dealings that much, because the local papers don’t care about NY sports (except when the Yanks or Knicks get beaten).

    What puzzles me is that, if Ryan had enough juice or cachet to outlast Tannenbaum, why didn’t he use some of that with the Revis situation?

    But, as I said, you’re probably right. And, given that I’m one of the few people I know who really liked Keyshawn, I’m guessing I’m clueless. Again.

  50. 50.

    pat

    @efgoldman:
    That’s interesting. There certainly are a lot of repetitious motifs. And why does the beginning remind me of Native American music, huh? Am I showing my naivete?
    I’ll keep an open mind when we do the full dress rehearsal.

  52. 52.

    catdevotee

    @Schlemizel: Don’t deny yourself of the pleasure any longer! I almost never watch anything at broadcast time, because I find it a nuisance to pay attention to TV schedules. I also find that most movies don’t benefit from large screen viewing, so watching from home with the ability to pause etc. is appealing.

    We have Netflix and Hulu Plus. Between the two, we can stay up with most shows we’d like to see. There are shows which can’t be streamed because of contractual problems, so for instance, Game of Thrones is only available on DVD unless you have HBO.

    If it were solely up to me, I’d cancel cable entirely. Netflix and Hulu keep me plenty entertained and are well worth the money.

  54. 54.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @PeakVT: Because it’s taking him six years to write each volume (in the last case despite his saying that it was 3/4 done before the clock started ticking) and the writing in each one has seemed progressively more mailed in. The quality of A Song of Ice and Fire has dropped in a big way since Storm of Swords. Martin appears to be having more fun with all of the spin-offs and merchandising than he does with the actual books.

    Frankly, I think it’s unprofessional. If you tell people to plop down their money to buy a part of your project with the promise that you’ll deliver the rest of it, you assume an obligation to actually finish that project. Martin seems to have lost track of that.

  55. 55.

    gogol's wife

    Mr. Selfridge is keeping my interest, despite Jeremy Piven’s bombastic performance. I don’t know if I have the energy to watch Bletchley now, though, on a school night. But I’ll try.

  57. 57.

    Redshirt

    @efgoldman: No cable here in Gondolin. I could get Satellite, but I’ve consciously chosen not to, under the theory that having no TV at all will drastically change the way I think. It’s working – 7 months TV free now! (Cough-cough)

  58. 58.

    Morzer

    @SFAW:

    I’ve heard two theories about Rex:

    1) He’s the designated scapegoat after this year goes bad and has no say in how the roster is reshaped.
    2) Woody Johnson really likes him, so Rex might even hang on next year as well, but doesn’t have much influence over roster decisions any longer.

    I think that the second option is more likely, but again, I honestly don’t know.

  60. 60.

    BethanyAnne

    I got into GoT about a month ago. Read all the books, and caught up to the series. Been a fun ride so far, but it feels like there’s full books that are being skipped in the books. I know he’s not Neal Stephenson, but still – I’d like to hear more of Arya’s and Daenerys’ stories. I’m hoping that it’s 9 or 10 books long, but it sort of feels like there’ll only be 7.

  61. 61.

    BethanyAnne

    @kindness: I was glad to finally see the scene of Daenerys’ beginning with the Unsullied. It reminds me of the “Pug destroys the stadium” scene from Raymond Feist’s Magician books.

  62. 62.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Morzer: Neil Gaiman can bite me. I loved Sandman but haven’t been all that impressed with anything he’s done since. American Gods was to mythology what a three day cruise down the Nile is to archeology.

  63. 63.

    Comrade Mary

    I’m hoping that it’s 9 or 10 books long, but it sort of feels like there’ll only be 7.

    I would love to see things wrap up in six books, but I’ll take seven. Once the storyline is wrapped up, it would be nice if he were to go back and flesh out some stories, but we need the story resolved first. The man is 64 and the first book was written in 1996. One must not tempt fate.

  64. 64.

    dance around in your bones

    @raven:

    eta, I don’t find Call the Midwife to be a weepfest. Sure there is some poignant subject matter but, as you know, it can be quite funny as well. The only thing I think might be a bit off is they don’t really show how nasty the real East End was.

    I don’t know, being a double X chromosome and all, I find most matters surrounding childbirth to be fraught with emotion. I had my child in Amsterdam at a Training School for Midwives, and I was still paranoid that they would take my kid away if I didn’t do everything right (I was 18). I got pretty much the same kind of support they show in the series (home visits from well-meaning nurses and free well-baby clinic visits) – anyway, for me it brings up a lot of feelings that women may have during pregnancy and after giving birth.

    And yes, it is often funny! I like it very much.

  65. 65.

    Morzer

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    I tried reading his latest collection of stories and wondered why anyone would bother. They just seemed to be shapeless little bits of prose that didn’t go anywhere in particular.
    I liked some of the earlier writing, although not enough to think of it as great or lasting or even something I would particularly want to reread.

  69. 69.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Redshirt: Even during the heyday of Sandman I thought Grant Morrison kicked Gaiman’s ass. For a variety of reasons I stopped reading comic books about 15 years ago so I have no idea what the rest of his career has been like, but his runs on Animal Man, Doom Patrol and JLA were all some of the best comic book work I’ve ever seen.

  71. 71.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS): Do you really not see the problem with getting people to pay you money for part of a project and then not delivering the rest of it? If you don’t want to assume any responsibility to deliver, don’t publish until you’re done with your story. If you tell people they’ll get a whole series, don’t be surprised if they object to you losing interest before you’re done.

  74. 74.

    Yutsano

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): He’s really only responsible to one party for the slowness of his writing: his publishers. If they ain’t bitching (which I imagine they’re not since he’s making a mint for them right now) then whatever his fans think is secondary. That’s just how things roll.

  75. 75.

    Keith

    @dewzke: Tywin’s scene this week was probably my favorite. Loved it when he kneecapped Cersei after she pulled the “I’m smarter than my brothers” bit. I’ve always liked Charles Dance’s work, so I’m inclined to credit the actor rather than the character.

  76. 76.

    Morzer

    @Yutsano:

    There is admittedly something rather comical in the way his blog alternates cries of:

    “Pity me for I am writing as fast as I can in my frail old way. Patience, I beg you, devoted fans and admirers!”

    with

    “Children, studly GRRM has just encountered yet another merchandising opportunity. Buy your toy soldiers here!”.

  81. 81.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Yutsano: Legally you are correct: he owes nothing to anyone but his publishers. I just think that there are non-legal obligations created when you tell someone that they are buying something in pieces and then you never deliver the goods.

    I guess a part of it is that I have a rather different conception of fiction than others. When I put something out for other people to read, artistically it is not entirely mine any longer. Fiction is a collaboration between an author and a reader and the idea that it belongs entirely to the author strikes me as sterile. Without the reader, I haven’t really created any art.

    In a situation in which you release something incomplete, and get people to pay you for it, you assume a professional obligation to complete it. It isn’t a legal obligation; no one can force you to follow through on your commitment. But it’s still there.

    I find Balloon Juice an odd place to find the argument that legal obligations are the only ones of importance.

  82. 82.

    Morzer

    @Yutsano:

    Probably not, which is why the hardcore fans have some basis for their less than gruntled status. I used to check his blog, but I just couldn’t take the ongoing infomercials about how the latest action figure for Brienne was perfect and how GRRM was visiting the United Cheesemakers of Picardy that week and the book was coming along, but no hard deadline after five years because….

  83. 83.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Yutsano: Yeah. And when it becomes clear that the reason you aren’t fulfilling that obligation is because you’re busy cashing in on the very project you aren’t finishing I get aggravated.

  84. 84.

    Raenelle

    @BethanyAnne: My sister said that she’d read GRRM planned to limit the story to 7 books, BUT if 7 weren’t enough, he’d do more. Based on the first 5 books, GRRM just doesn’t seem like the kind of writer who knows how to pull things back in. I’m hoping for, and sort of optimistic about, more books.

  85. 85.

    patroclus

    Poor Theon – that Ramsey Bolton is such a little bastard. I don’t think Loras is going to be too interested in Sansa…and he can’t even be a Boy Scout leader either.

  86. 86.

    Morzer

    @Raenelle:

    Undead George RR Martin finally completed volume 17 in the saga of Westeros today, before slumping forward and disintegrating into a pile of dust. His publishers are seeking out a young, healthy fantasy writer to complete the final 8 volumes in the series following the outline limned on GRRM’s three room collection of beer costers and hotel towels.

  87. 87.

    Redshirt

    GRRM will be dead before ASOIAF is finished. He’s obese and old and with some history of illness.

    HBO will finish this series, and do it well.

  88. 88.

    YellowJournalism

    @Roxy: The Dark Belle angle is interesting. Robert Carlyle is so sweet playing a loving Rumple, but he’s south more fun when he’s being bad, although that ending was kind of disturbing.

  89. 89.

    FridayNext

    Well, now that Ted McGinley has shown up on Mad Men, the show won’t last much longer.

    That man is the kiss of death to a TV series.

  90. 90.

    TCG

    @patroclus: LOL! But he wouldn’t mistreat her either.

    Oh, and the final scene with Khaleesi was awesome. Love how she let the Unsullied go Django on the slave owners.

  91. 91.

    NCSteve

    Christamighty, post after post of people demonstrating connoisseurship without enjoyment. It’s like reading the gawddam New Yorker without the cryptic cartoons.

    GoT was fucking awesome and I’m not afraid of being thought a rube for admitting I enjoyed it, dammit.

  92. 92.

    patroclus

    @TCG: Yeah, but she should have said: “That’s Khaleesi, the “H” is silent” (like Jesus H. Christ did on SNL last night).

  93. 93.

    Ruckus

    @dance around in your bones:
    I tried to watch Nurse Jackie but I as well have known too many addicts to enjoy a show about someone trying to make their acceptable life better through chemistry. The show itself is well done and acted, just not my cup of tea.

  94. 94.

    FridayNext

    At the risk of going off topic.

    Anyone who is a fan of David Simon should go back and watch an episode from season three of NYPD Blue called Hollie and the Blowfish. He wrote that episode and as far as I know, the only episode he ever wrote for a television show he did not create. You really see the evolution of his art especially in a wonderful character Ferdinand Hollie portrayed by Giancarlo Espisito. Simon was clearly working on some ideas that led straight to Omar Little. You can really see the evolution of the vision Simon was working on that showed up in The Wire.

    Seriously, this episode is a collaboration of people including David Milch (Deadwood), David Simon (The Wire), and Steven Bochco. (Hill Street Blues).

    It’s a top quality hour of television even if you don’t like NYPD Blue.

  96. 96.

    Redshirt

    @NCSteve: Picture this:

    A crudely drawn man and woman look out a window onto a crudely drawn skyline of low apartment buildings and inferior, outer borough businesses, while off in the far distance you can barely make out the crudely drawn peaks of Manhattan proper. A crudely drawn billboard blazes to the left and several crudely drawn airplanes streak the sky, with a crudely drawn helicopter floating off in the lower right. The caption reads (man speaking to woman):

    “At least it’s better than Philadelphia.”

  100. 100.

    YoohooCthulhu

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    I’ll just add the obligatory George R. R. Martin is Not Your Bitch (courtesy of Neil Gaiman).

    Hey, even phoned in, he’s head and tails above most other fantasy writers out there (even Jordan in his “good” period). If the cost of that is that he takes awhile to finish his books, so be it.

    Besides, I’m sure the HBO series is going to help him motivate to finish–they can’t produce the episodes (and mail him his money) until he gets the book out. They’ll start running out of plot in 2 years or so, so I imagine he’ll need something relatively finished by then.

  101. 101.

    dance around in your bones

    @Ruckus:

    It’s interesting – some people can’t watch it because they have been or known addicts in their lives, and other watch it because they have been or known addicts in their lives.

    Muy complicado.

  102. 102.

    FridayNext

    @Keith:

    Even if I grant you that, he was there for the deaths of Happy Days, Love Boat, Sports Night, Dynasty, and then there are the Ted McGinley look-alikes that showed up to see off Welcome Back Kotter and That 70’s Show.

    I’m not saying it his fault, he could just be a a hat on the bed. All I know is, the man shows up, and shows tend to go away.

  105. 105.

    A Humble Lurker

    @YellowJournalism:
    I can’t get into that show. The concept’s cool, but it’s basically a soap opera with fantasy elements. And the problem with soap operas is that they’re where everyone’s stupid so that problems are never solved so they can stretch a one episode problem for five. At least.

  107. 107.

    Some Guy

    GoT had been interesting. Much more license taken with the story since last year. Yet, the changes are working. I feel like I am getting a different story that intersects the one in the book. Kind of to be expected, the book is way too long, complex, and patient for TV. So the editing to make it work has been interesting.

  109. 109.

    FridayNext

    @Keith:

    Ahhhhh, the arrival of a baby or other cute cast addition. A sweeter, and more certain, kiss of death than even the talented Mr. McGinley.

  112. 112.

    Ruckus

    @dance around in your bones:
    Si.

    For me it’s that I just don’t need to see one more life like this. And as I said I think the acting and writing is great, it’s just the storyline.
    I sure can understand the other side of the coin though. Hoping that someone actually does this OK, that is, comes out the other side without having destroyed many lives. That might be interesting, it’s just not my experience. I’m sure it could happen at least once though.

  116. 116.

    FridayNext

    I am only just getting through Season 2.(No HBO) I was devastated to see Stannis has no daughter on the show. I was looking forward to seeing Patchface. I don’t mind spoilers, do they work him in anyway even without the connection Shireen?

  118. 118.

    FridayNext

    @dewzke:

    I have read all the books, at least twice.

    I realize I didn’t say outright that I had in that comment. I guess I assumed because I knew who Shireen and Patchface were that was implied.

  121. 121.

    FridayNext

    @dewzke:

    I agree with some choices and disagree with others. On balance I like them. But I do like the characters of Shireen and Patchface. I was disappointed that Shireen is not in the show. (Which I learned when Melisandre seduced Stannis. Another choice I did not like.)

    Since Shireen and Patchface are inseparable in the books, I assume there is no Patchface in the show. I was asking if he showed up anyway. After all, there are plenty of clues to suggest he is more important than we think, and I can think of two dozen actors whose interpretation of Patchface I would love to see.

    Under the sea it snows up, and the rain is dry as bone. I know. I know…

    (I have googled this. And all signs point to no. My least favorite character excision since Tom Bombadil)

  122. 122.

    YellowJournalism

    @FridayNext: Married… Broke the curse. The show lasted six years more, only to be dumped unceromoniously by Fox when they had no more use for it without a proper send off. Yeah, I was bitter.

    Now, if Rena Sofer shows up, they’re fucked. Although, that still hasn’t stopped NCIS.

  124. 124.

    Katie

    Benioff & Weiss are annoying me … the Theon torture-porn, rescue/betrayal/return was totally invented, as was Caitlyn’s guilt thinking her failure to treat Jon like a son ticked off the gods enough to bring down all these miseries on House Stark, as was almost everything Margaery has done or said, Sam Tarly did TOO get off ravens, first with messages and then without, which was eloquent enough as it was, and where the HELL was Melisandre going off to in the last episode?

  125. 125.

    Walker

    I do not think Martin is deliberately slacking on ASOIF. I think the story has gotten away from him. He introduced too many point of view characters and he can no longer keep track of the story. He has said at much at times in his blog.

    The same thing happened to Jordan with Wheel of Time. He kept introducing more characters and the books crawled to a stop, covering less and less time. One of the later books covered 8 days. It took a new author (Sanderson) to finish that series.

  126. 126.

    Walker

    @Katie:

    the Theon torture-porn, rescue/betrayal/return was totally invented,

    Bullsh*t. All of that happened in the books. It just happened in flashbacks in the later books.

  128. 128.

    Comrade Mary

    What do you get the Khaleesi who has everything? This.

    I’m finally managing to read just far enough into the third book to be ahead of this week’s episode. Some changes, like Sam being more heroic than shown in the book, are a little jarring — I appreciate the kind-hearted, cowardly guy who is a little tougher than he thinks he is — but I can live with the change.

    Sansa’s storyline is a little different too — I guess they’ll play takey-backsy with Loras next week in some way — but it led to a nice scene with the Dowager — err, you know who — and Varys.

    God help me, this season of Doctor Who is doing nothing for me, but GoT is getting better and better.

  129. 129.

    Splitting Image

    Speaking of Ted McGinley, does anyone else think that Mitt Romney bears a striking resemblence to him? There is one picture of Romney with a bunch of his frat buddies/fellow investors holding dollar bills where I could have sworn it was Ted himself.

    Separated at birth?

    I wasn’t a huge fan of McGinley on Married with Children, but I don’t think he was responsible for the show’s decline. A whole group of writers and creative staff left the show after the end of the fourth season, including the producer Barbara Blachut Cramer, and the later seasons have a very different feel because of it.

    They also had to write off an entire season because they wrote Katey Sagal’s pregnancy into the story and she miscarried.

  130. 130.

    Kris Collins

    @Roger: Totally disagree. The story lines are getting deeper and more interesting, especially with Megan the loving person(not just wife) not getting that her husband is a fucked up monster. And I love the new line with Joan starting to get that she may be a partner, but she will always be both a secretary and the firm whore and none of the mem will ever back her up. I bet Peggy figures that out pretty soon too. BTW if you want to just wantv

  131. 131.

    BethanyAnne

    @Walker: I got *so* frustrated with the Wheel of Time series. That man needed an editor. Maybe an editor with a whip. And his characters needed a therapist. “No, it’s ok, try talking”

  132. 132.

    Kris Collins

    @Kris Collins: Damn don’t know if it’s my phone or the mobile site but it’s incredibly hard to post a comment and editing is impossible. Anyway if you want to just hate on Betty and Pete you are missing the point. On the other hsnd, don’t you think Pete’s sleazy hookup last week gave you some decent Pete -hating fodder?

  133. 133.

    Radio One

    I’m actually pretty hopeful that the tv show Game of Thrones will tie up the asoiaf storyline in a way the novels ever did.

  134. 134.

    SFAW

    @Morzer:

    Thanks for the insight(s). I think.

    The Jets have surely made it hard to remain a fan, these last few years. Even when they were winning, at the start of Rex’s reign, his schtick detracted from things. (Of course, beating the Pats two – or was it three? – years ago was nice, but still …)

    I won’t become a Pats’ fan because of this, but maybe I’ll find more to do on Sundays.

    Thanks again. Good luck to Revis, I certainly hope he recovers completely. It would be a terrible shame to have his career be over.

    ETA: To give you an idea of how clueless I am re: the Jets, I was actually hoping they’d pick up Alex Smith in the off-season. So it goes.

  135. 135.

    sherparick

    @Walker: Yes, and that is why if you can’t self-edit, acknowledge you need a strong editor and listen to them. Tolkein kept the focus of LOTR on Gandalf, Aragorn, and the four hobbits for instance, and he managed to tell seventy years and nine months of back knowledge in the first chapter of “The Fellowship of the Ring.” I probably enjoyed Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons better than most, but frankly, with better editing, they should have been a single book.

    He says he can finish this on two books. I have my doubts.

  137. 137.

    SFAW

    @sherparick:

    He says he can finish this on two books. I have my doubts.

    You’re probably one of those naysayers who whined about the Inheritance/Eragon trilogy, too.

    “Amongst our weaponry …”

  138. 138.

    Morzer

    @sherparick:

    Kinda sorta true, but not the whole story. Tolkien wasn’t the merchandising bunny that Martin is, but he was fully capable of being distracted, going off at a tangent, starting projects and never coming back to them – and the result is the Collected Tolkien Laundry Lists And Musings as bundled up and edited for a grateful public by his much more mercantile son Christopher. I expect Volume XIV “The Toenail Clippings of Glaurung” to emerge any day now.

  139. 139.

    SFAW

    @Morzer:

    I expect Volume XIV “The Toenail Clippings of Glaurung” to emerge any day now.

    Is that the authorized edition, or the unauthorized (“Glaurung? I Knew The Suckah!” by Turin Turambar) version?

  140. 140.

    Lurking Canadian

    @Katie: Maergery’s actions are at least internally consistent. A lot of readers see the Tyrells as inveterate schemers, that her good works and nice personality and so on are just a facade to mask the Machiavellian reality.

    The show has made the decision to remove all ambiguity, that’s all.

  141. 141.

    Herbal Infusion Bagger

    “This week, Hodor gets into trouble with some flirts in the steno pool”

    Hodor’s one smooth talking guy. You can bet he’d never say the wrong answer if Osha asked him “Hodor, does this burlap sack make my ass look big?”

    Osha and Hodor are awesome.

  142. 142.

    Herbal Infusion Bagger

    Yes, and that is why if you can’t self-edit, acknowledge you need a strong editor and listen to them. Tolkein kept the focus of LOTR on Gandalf, Aragorn, and the four hobbits for instance.

    Tolkien’s about the worst example of lack-of-self-editing: c.f. how damn slow the LoTR starts – until Bree it’s a tedious slog with distractions like Bombadil. So much so that the encounter with the Barrow-wight (which is pretty good) gets excised from EVERY FILM OR AUDIO adaption because Bombadil is so misplaced in the book. Which is a shame because Merry helping to kill the Witch-King with the blade forged in Arnor he gets from the barrow is pretty cool. or the tedious songs.

    And let’s not forget “tra-la-la-la-lally, down here in the valley,” in the Hobbit. I like to sing that to Tolkien fundamentalists who get outraged over Jackson’s changes to the source material.

  143. 143.

    DFH no.6

    @Katie:
    Funny, I am not that bothered by the changes you mentioned, but by others (including how little the wolves are portrayed on HBO). Fans of the books will all be somewhat different in this regard, I think.

    For me the most annoying changes have been those in the Jon Snow/Night’s Watch/Wildling/”Others” (called White Walkers on HBO) set of storylines.

    Jon and Ygritte’s relationship so far, for one (having Jon “mooning” around her before he was captured was particularly bad on the show, and took up way too much valuable screen time). In the book I very much enjoyed Jon and Ygritte falling in love as they journeyed for a while alone, even briefly considering just staying together away from the Wildlings and the Night’s Watch and everything else. Not doing at least some version of this on the show was not a good change, for me.

    And the battle at the Fist of the First Men, and subsequent flight to Craster’s. Much more compelling in the book (with the battle not being shown at all in the show).

    Hugely important was Sam’s desperate use of the “dragonglass” weapon against an Other during the flight, and the turning of Sam’s friend Small Paul (who saves Sam in the flight by carrying him, then is killed by the Other before Sam kills it) into a Wight that later attacks Sam, who then kills Wight Small Paul with a charred piece of wood (burns the Wight). The other’s in the Night’s Watch all know he did this, and call him “Sam the Slayer”. This is not shown at all on the show, though no doubt they will find some way to have Sam use the dragonglass on an Other as he flees Caster’s with Gilly and her baby.

    And where the hell is Melisandre going on the show? Well, since they don’t have the Robert Baratheon bastard Edric Storm being held at Dragonstone (who Melisandre wants to sacrifice in the book, with his king’s blood and all) in the show I imagine she’s heading off to find a king’s progeny somewhere (my guess is she’ll be after Gendry eventually).

  144. 144.

    SFAW

    @Herbal Infusion Bagger:

    gets excised from EVERY FILM OR AUDIO

    But thank FSM that Jackson kept in Arwen saving Frodo at the Ford of Bruinen, and also kept in her “I’m a-gonna die unless Stomper Aragorn does something wicked cool” sub-plot.

    Oh Dragonbreth! Gilthorpial!

  145. 145.

    MCA1

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): And if you don’t want to feel disappointed by a potentially unfinished project, you don’t have to start purchasing and reading the books until they’re completed. What’s the investment here on your part? $15 a book? Have you not received that much in enjoyment as you’ve read those that you have? It’s a series of books for the public to either consume or not consume, not a partnership. You can feel disappointed, but just because you purchased a couple books doesn’t mean you have a personal contract with the author, regardless of whether or not he made a few statements that he intended to complete the story at some point.

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