If it's snowing like crazy where you are, the best thing for you to do is sit back and listen to us talk about TV. This week, Jason Hughes and Bob Sassone join me to talk about what's going on in the TV world:

• More on the Winter Olympics and how bad NBC is messing them up,
• The latest way the network morning shows are scaring parents (it has to do with the site Chatroulette),
• The crazy first week of March on TV this year,
• How most of the pilot casting news you're hearing about right now isn't going to matter in a couple of months,
• How quickly the Andrew Koenig story spread from Twitter and Facebook to 'Larry King' and other national coverage (we taped this before Koenig's body was found yesterday),
• Picks of the week, and more.

Run time is 1:17:05.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download from here or by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments or drop us a line at tvsquadpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick.



My apologies for the hinky sound coming from Bob and Jason. It was a recording error that will get fixed for next week's show.

As a holiday bonus, we have a super-sized podcast this week. The reason? Rich Sommer of Mad Men called in and gave us a solid half-hour of talk about the season just past, what he thinks is in store for his character of Harry Crane, how people used to yell at him for almost breaking up Pam and Jim on The Office, and how he loves doing commercials.

Rich's interview starts around the 37-minute mark. Besides the interview, Jason Hughes, Bob Sassone and I talk about the following:

• The insane TV coverage of the Tiger Woods story,
• A discussion of shows that are returning in January (24, Idol, Lost) as well as those that are taking a break until spring (Glee, V, FlashForward),
• Our Comment of the Week! This is where listeners find out that we do not represent everyone in the TV industry,
• Our picks for the week, and much more.

Run time is 1:31:26.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download from here or by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments or drop us a line at tvsquadpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick.

Week two of the revival of TV Squad's APB podcast has arrived! In this episode, Bob Sassone and Danny Gallagher join me to talk about TV's doings this week:

• The cancellation of Southland and the role of The Jay Leno Show in that cancellation,
• A quick discussion about my interview with Mad Men's Matt Weiner last week,
• Another dip into our Ask TV Squad mailbag,
• Our picks for the week, and much more.

Run time is 40:10.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download it by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments.

By the way, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Trevor Trailer Trash" by the late great New Brunswick, NJ band Cropduster.

Loyal TV Squad readers will recall that Bob wrote a post yesterday that criticized the ever-annoying Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford for the lame "dirty secrets" they gave during the lighter-than-air fourth hour of Today that morning (they originally talked about "bad habits," which turned into a talk about "dirty secrets"). For those who care: Hoda doesn't wash her hair that often and Kathie Lee doesn't floss as much as she should. I know: scandalous, right?

Anyway, at the beginning of their first segment this morning, the hosts called Bob and TV Squad out on his post -- initially they said he "wrote in," as if Bob's sitting at his computer writing angry e-mails to the Today show staff -- and invited him to e-mail them his dirty secret:

For those of you who have asked us whether Bob has busted into the TV Squad offices and taken over the blog by force, I'm here to say that nothing of the sort has happened. First of all, we have no offices. And second of all, the short posts Bob has done this week are something new that we're trying out (as I've mentioned in the comment sections of many of his posts this week).

Why are we doing this? Well, why not? There are plenty of occasions when a video or picture -- or even a show we don't cover -- deserves a post, but doesn't need a lot of commentary attached. So, what I've asked Bob to do (actually, it was his idea, and I just said "sure") is to post these things with a few sentences of comment, and then open it up to the readers. Some of the posts have gotten some nice discussion going, which is what we were going for.

But this does not mean that we're substituting these shorties for our normal posts. These are supposed to fill in the spaces between the normal posts we do. More info after the jump.

Welcome to TV Squad Lists, a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

Last year, at about this time, I presented you with five relevant reasons not to turn off your televisions during TV Turnoff Week. Well, as Bob mentioned, that week is upon us once again . . . whether we like it or not. So, as I'm short on fresh ideas, let me rehash last year's concept with five more reasons why you shouldn't be turning off the idiot box.

Sanjaya's gone from American Idol: Do you hear that roaring noise? That's the sound of all the Idol purists celebrating that Sanjaya is now gone from their show. This means that they can now get back down to business in choosing who will be the next winner of an exclusive recording contract. Of course, while that finalist will record and receive a good deal of money he or she will probably fade into the background. In the meanwhile, Sanjaya will probably win the Nobel Peace Prize sometime in the near future. I wonder what hairstyle he'll wear during the award presentation?

As much as I've complained, bitched, moaned, and complained (yes, I said "complained" twice... that's how much I did it) about Studio 60, I never stopped watching the show.

The reasons why I did so changed over time. For a while, I thought I was "rubbernecking;" I just couldn't resist seeing what train wreck Aaron Sorkin wrote for himself each week, and then couldn't wait to get on to TV Squad and other sites to see the critics and the commenters ravage the episode. Then, for a while, I thought I was watching the show out of the hope that such a talented group of writers and actors could get their act together long enough to run off a streak of quality episodes. Finally, I thought I was watching merely for the fact that there was nothing else to watch on Mondays at 10, and I figured I could just watch it while I wrote my review for How I Met Your Mother.

Turns out it was all three reasons. And, now that The Black Donnellys is taking S60's place starting next week, I'm going to miss the show a little bit.

Last year, Bob Sassone asked if the Internet would one day replace television. One of the points he made was why BitTorrent software wasn't being used by the networks to allow viewers to download an episode of their favorite show to watch at their convenience.

Well, BitTorrent is now being used by a number of users in an, um, illegal fashion. OK, the networks are pretty much calling it piracy. In a recent development, HBO has sent letters out to a number of cable companies asking their subscribers to stop BitTorrenting episodes of such shows as The Sopranos. What's happening here is that HBO is watching the BitTorrent sessions come through a particular IP address and then they are tracking the address back to its source.  Once they find out it's a cable company they send a letter out that, subsequently, goes out to the subscribers.

At this point it doesn't seem like the networks or cable companies will change their minds any time soon to exclusively use BitTorrent. However, with the recent influx of downloadable shows going to places such as iTunes and the increase of DVR machines this could change.

[via Digg]

MediaPost pretty effectively goes through some of the reasons why the airline industry should do whatever it can to keep The Loop on the air. The show is all about the airline industry, and features a lead character that is enthusiastic about the job, even if he doesn't do it too often. More than that, it features great opportunities for product placement by airline companies looking to pull their reputation out of the gutter. The constant chatter about the industry leaves plenty of room for casual name-dropping of competitors to the fictional airline the show's characters work for.

Of course Bob might have some problems with the show sticking around based on his last review. Then again I think we should devote ourselves to encouraging that which irritates Bob Sassone. Sounds like a mission statment if I ever heard one.

Hello! For those of you wondering where the heck I've been lately (you have missed me, right? Right??), I just moved to another city and my web access has been spotty at best. There's been a delay hooking up the DSL at my new apartment (not sure why), so I've been surfing from various Borders locations. I like having the option of taking my laptop and logging on from outside the home, but I'll be a very happy camper once I can get online from the comfort of my couch.

In the meantime, I'm going to still post when I can. The world is my office right now. I just wish these places provided TVs as well as wireless.