AFT #158: ‘Walking Dead’, ‘The Voice’, Black Friday Madness, ‘Better Call Saul’ and More

Antenna Free TV » Antenna Free TV Podcast

Ursula Coyote/AMC

http://antennafree.tv/podcasts/Antenna_Free_TV_Podcast_158.mp3

It was a bit of a low-key podcast this week, and it was mostly Joel’s fault (he apologizes in advance for making you all listen to him eating… but he was hungry). Here’s what we shot the breeze about:

• We start by talking about The Voice as it rolls towards its semifinals. Jason isn’t watching, so Joel clued him in on the all-boys dynamic, how great Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams are as coaches, the gimmicks producers are using to stave off boredom, and how much he’s not looking forward to Christina Aguilera’s spring return (00:00 – 16:00),
• We then talk about HBO’s Sunday comedies: how it doesn’t matter if The Comeback gets low ratings and how good/depressing Getting On is (16:00 – 21:20),
• Then we talk about the one-minute promo AMC aired for Better Call Saul, how glad we’re seeing Jonathan Banks be the same ol’ Mike, and the risks Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould are taking with this spin-off (21:20 – 35:30),
• Then we talk about the hack of Sony’s servers, the all-but-cancelled status of Red Band Society, and Mulaney’s craptastic new timeslot (35:30 – 44:37),
• Then we talk about the premiere dates set for the final seasons of Parks and Rec and Glee and wonder if in both cases they’re getting burned off (though NBC calls the Parks double-airings an “event”). We also talk about the premiere date for House of Cards and the seemingly new trend of stuffing December and January with complete runs of shows in between half-seasons of other shows (44:37 – 54:00),
• We then discuss the Black Friday craziness, and wonder who in the world is still willing to stand on line on Thanksgiving to get a cheap flat-screen TV, at least based on the stats (54:00 – 1:02:15),
• Then we discuss Stephen Colbert and Craig Ferguson wrapping up their current shows. We also discuss all the guest hosts that will be on The Late Late Show before James Corden starts and wonder why the transition period is so long (1:02:15 – 1:09:30),
• Finally, we talk about the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead, including the shocking-but-not-shocking death at the end, how good we think Christine Woods is, why it seems that the show is hampering itself by needing to have an “event” before the holiday break, and why Scott Gimple is the right man to work with Robert Kirkman (1:09:30 – 1:46:35).

You can listen to the podcast above (if you don’t hear anything, fiddle with the volume slider), download it via this link, subscribe to our RSS feed, or subscribe via iTunes. You can also find us on the Stitcher radio app for smartphones and iPads. By the way, the bumper music is “Trevor Trailer Trash” from the late, great band Cropduster.