Info

Appointment Television

Appointment Television is a podcast about the TV you want to make time for. Every Thursday Margaret, Kathryn, and Andrew will revisit old shows, discover new ones, and debate everything from highbrow dramas to episodes of The Bachelor.
RSS Feed
Appointment Television
2024
October
September
April


2023
December
August
July
May
April


2022
October
September
May


2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2015
December
November
October
September
August
July


All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: May, 2016
May 26, 2016

CBS is suggesting that the only way to access its new Star Trek series will be through its streaming service, and we talk about why that seems like a terrible idea. At some point, we'll no longer be willing to sign up for new streaming services whenever they debut, and CBS All Access might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back. 

We then turn to the main task of the day - another TV vs TV lightning round, this time on the topic of procedurals. We pass around the judge's wig to consider such questions as: which is the best procedural premise? Who's the best side character? Do will-they-won't-theys make procedurals better or worse? And thanks to Andrew and Kathryn's deep knowledge of a particular series, TV v TV becomes a Bones-a-palooza. 

May 19, 2016

The gang kicks this week's show off by talking about their favorite reality show tropes—when the shows start making your root for or against certain characters, when people are or aren't there to make friends, and when you know in your bones that someone is about to be sent home.

They then move over to the first episode of the only (easily, legally available in the US) season of The Great British Bake-Off, listed on Netflix as "The Great British Baking Show" even though we refuse to refer to it by its legally mandated name. Needless to say, we are completely done in by its charm, even if some of the contestants give us the weirds.

May 12, 2016

After an impressively great second season, we talk about what makes CW's zombie procedural mystery iZombie so much fun. Shows that meld procedural beats with long arc stories over the course of a season are so hard to pull off well, so we talk about what makes iZombie work, and how strong its season finale was. 

We jump from there to a discussion of the delightful food prep montages on iZombie, and then broaden our consideration of how TV depicts food. Margaret brings up Hannibal, Andrew talks about Bob's Burgers, and Kathryn raises her fists in fury at yet another dumb House of Cards food scene. In an attempt to find a baseline for what we consider to be "good" and "bad" food, Andrew asks us to name our worst meals. Kathryn's is pretty troubling. 

May 5, 2016

This week we dive into the real-world Sorting Hat that is the Myers-Briggs personality test, where we find out what personality traits we share and which we don't (spoilers: Margaret and Kathryn are polar opposites).

Then we dive into the second season of Tiny Fey and Robert Carlock's The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, a sophomore season that starts weak but picks up steam as it chugs along. Tina Fey isn't always the best at taking criticism, but damn can she deliver a funny one-liner.

1