HopsGuy

"Happy Days" was sort of a spin-off of "Love American Style". "Laverne & Shirley", "Mork & Mindy" and "Joanie Loves Chachi" are the ones I can think of. Seems like there might have been more.

Agreed. Alan Sepinwall was talking this episode up on Twitter during the day. It was really great. Tim & Bob really stole the show. My only problem - I never really bought Yolo as a heavy. Too young/plain. The other Tollen guy that was all over Boyd didn't strike me as all that tough, either. Casting needs to find some Danny Trejo types.

"All in the Family" spun off "Maude" which spun off "Good Times". That's probably the most notable 2nd generation spin-off. "All in the Family" also spun off "The Jeffersons". Marla Gibbs (Florence the maid) had her own show spun off ("Checking In") but that was cancelled after 4 episodes and she returned to the show.

Here's to a long life And a merry one A quick death And an easy one A pretty girl And an honest one A cold pint And another one Hope you had some Jameson's today.

When I lived in South Florida, I was called for jury duty to that same place. Twice. The first time, my number was called but before someone came to take us to the courtroom, the case was settled. We all went back into the pool. I was never called and left around 3:30. I read Nassim Taleb's "The Black Swan", a book about how rare events happen all the time. I was called again 3 years later. My number came up early and I spent all day in Voir Dire. When asked if he could be fair and impartial, the guy sitting next to me said, "Man, I done time for something' I ain't done. I don't trust the justice system." He was dismissed at the break. Wish I had thoug of that. I was excused at the end but the had this 82 year old lady that had been a maid her whole life ended up on the jury. I told her I was sorry on the way out. She seemed fine with it. I would have bugged Marino all day.

Adam went pretty dark there. Natalia didn't deserve to be the brunt whatever is going on in his head. She didn't make him drink. And Hannah's OCD came from what? Anxiety? So Jessa is gone, Shoshanna slept with a doorman. Marnie is showing her true colors. Hannah is a mess. Who am I supposed to like here? These people are awful. At least on Seinfeld they were funny. Well, just two more weeks and we get dragons. Dragons!

My first summer at home after spending my freshman year in Philly, I had converted to "soda". We were in a grocery store (remember Quality Markets?) getting a couple of 2-liters of pop to mix with whatever rotgot whiskey we had gotten our mitts on. One of my buddies showed up at the checkout line and said, "Hopper, we got some pop for us and this for you." He was proudly displaying a box of Arm & Hammer baking soda. Touché.

In '09 I was in the Atlanta airport for a layover and I got some breakfast. In the restaurant, a soldier (SFC Transportation) returning from Iraq was sitting near me. He was heading back to Ft. Stewart. We chatted about Savannah and how Stewart is one of the nicer posts (I did my Officer Basic in Augusta at Ft. Gordon). I finished my breakfast and on the way out I handed the waitress an extra $100 and told her to take care of his bill, $20 for her and to apply the rest to whomever comes through in uniform. She said, "We do this all the time and I'm only taking $5 for me. Have a great day, sir."

Agree on the scene where Shane sees the tall walker in a suit lumbering through the field with great music playing. That was a very poignant moment for the show. I was thinking the same thing about this being a "bottle episode" while watching... "There are only 4 'actors' here. The make-up/scenery is expensive but they're saving money on SAG lines.'" Carl wanting that photo from the diner just for his little sister drove home how he's grown so fast. That's not how a normal 13 year-old thinks. Getting some closure with Morgan was nice (Lennie James is such a superior actor, I was worried he'd destroy Andrew Lincoln but it worked out). The story about Duane & his 'Mom' was heart-breaking but just about right. This episode made me think TWD is on the right path going forward.

Co-sign. I assume you're saying you like to see them play out Michonne's story from the one in Playboy, right? If you haven't seen it, google "Michonne's story". Totally worth it. Flashbacks would really help add depth to the characters remaining & maybe even bring back folks like Dale, Shane & T-Dog for a bit.

Co-sign. It got a bit preachy but was still a solid comedy that delivered laughs and a message that was needed at the time. Frasier was similar in a different day.

I saw Dick Van Dyke on some show a few months ago. He was at a Whole Foods in LA. It must be near his house and he was just randomly there when they were reporting about whatever. He's 87 and seems 25 years younger. He was kidding with the employees because he knew them all. He had such a vitality about him you couldn't help but smile. What a talent. I bet he could go on stage at any comedy club and do 20 minutes just pulling stories from his life. IMHO, Timberlake is the closest we have like that today (singing, acting, dancing, comedy, etc).

See ya, Arlo. "Jesus, I hope I got this right."

To support my thought on Barney Miller (I think this would work without the laugh-track): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGv_7VgFgeg

"Freaks & Geeks" might have been the closest thing to a perfect television show but it wasn't a comedy. It was a tragedy. Every. Single. Episode. Agree on WKRP. Also: "Barney Miller" (Steve Landesburg's wit was drier than any desert) & "Family Ties" ('There was a kangaroo in my living room'). Special nod to "Mork & Mindy" just for Exidor. Old school: "Newhart", "Dick Van Dyke", "The Jeffersons", oh, it just goes on...

What, no Bob Loblaw? Remember Loblaw's?

What lured me to this show in the beginning was the zombies. I was never a zombie guy and I don't read graphic novels. But this seemed different for me and I saw the reason why a dystopian setting could provide an interesting character study. Couple that with great make-up and special effects and we had a recipe for some awesome TV. The problem is that the novelty of the zombies had worn off. When I first watched the premiere, I couldn't sleep that night. I actually had my first nightmare since I was a kid after watching the webisodes about the "Bicycle Girl". But now, that doesn't get me anymore. This show is supposed to be about the survivors. Kirkman pointed this out on "Talking Dead" by saying something like, "The poster for the first season reads 'The Walking Dead' but we only show the living." It wasn't subtle. The problem is that what we have left are some pretty flat characters. There's no real depth and this is especially apparent in Michonne & The Governor, two characters that should be way more interesting than they are. I hope we get some better character development in the next 5 episodes. Good singing from Beth, though.

Tomorrow night's episode's description on DirecTV: "Rick and the group must make a decision." Thank you, DirecTV description writer. You're doing God's work.

The girl in question is now Levy's wife and she wasn't blonde - just a petite brunette that was just minding her own business. Every now and then I text my buddy and remind him about that. He laughs because though he's a big dude, he's no fighter. "Good thing you stepped in Hopper, 'cause that guy would have hurt me bad. Her, too." Ruff's win total in his first HC job is the record but Trotz will likely pass him. It's a sad day all-the-way-around.

Funny story (to me anyway): About 5 years ago, my friends & I made a Vegas trip. At the Palms pool, I was wearing a Sabres t-shirt and a guy nearby yelled, "Hey Sabres guy!" I looked and he was wearing a Sabres hat. We chatted a bit and he mentioned that he had run into Steve Levy earlier and because he was wearing the hat, they talked NHL for a few minutes. The next day at the same pool we had a cabana. Next to us was Levy and his group. Not wanting to be "that guy", I left him alone. But my buddy had decided he didn't want to sleep on this trip and was about 40 hours into his binge and feeling good. So good, in fact, he felt it would be a good idea to hit on the pretty girl in the bikini in the pool, talking to Steve Levy. In his stupor he didn't see the ring or simply didn't care and was all "Hey, how YOU doin'?" Levy says to him (they're both about 6'2"), "What the f*&k are you doing?" My friend replies, "What the f*&k does it look like I'm doing?" I call time out and send him to his room. I later told Levy that I gave my friend "A game misconduct". He laughed at that. We never talked Sabres.

ESPN doesn't broadcast NHL, so they don't cover it. Why should they pimp out for NBC? Now we get a lots of stuff about European soccer because, well... I think it was probably just time for a change but I can't help feeling like something good died today. Those were some great rides.

The problem here is there seems to be an assumption that all cats are the same. That's not my experience. Some cats just might be crazy. My friend's Golden Retriever is nothing like someone else's Rottweiler. Let me put it this way: OJ Simpson & I are both homo sapiens. That's about where our similarities end.

When I did my advanced camp (final exam for ROTC) at Fort Bragg 20+ years ago, we had 5 females in our platoon. 2 were worthless but the other 3 were complete bad-asses. Those ladies completely embodied what military leadership means. I had a good friend in my Officer Basic Course get kicked out of the Army because she is gay. She was a great officer and it's our loss. We're making progress. On average, men are better suited for combat but there are a lot of women out there that can do it better than your average dude.

When I originally wrote my post I wrote "critics/fans" then changed fans to "viewers". I don't know why I did that. Anyway, I understood how Dunham was trying to take control of her body image by being naked and having horrible/conspicuous ink on display. She probably reacted like a 25 year-old girl would. After all, the show is called "Girls", not "Young Female Adults". Like you, my favorite character was Adam. Also, I really like Zosia Mamet's 'Shoshanna'. Her character is so entirely difficult from 'Joyce' on "Mad Men". She's a terrific actress. The episode where she took Ecstasy (?) and Ray had to chase her around the party was my favorite. I'm going to try "Episodes" based on the comments here. It sounds good.

Selina: Sue, did the President call? Sue: No. Every time Gary (Tony Hale) is on screen, I can't help but say "Heeeyyyy, brother."