AFT #144: ‘Masters of Sex’, The Big Summer Show Dump, ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Spoilerfest

Jason and Joel talk about Masters of Sex, TCA non-news and have their big OITNB spoilerfest.

Michael Desmond/Showtime
http://antennafree.tv/podcasts/Antenna_Free_TV_Podcast_144.mp3

Yes, we took another two weeks to get another new podcast up. Joel was sick, Jason was driving halfway across the country, new jobs were started… it was a big old cluster-you-know-what. But we’re back this week with plenty to talk about :

We start by talking about a few items of interest: the conclusion of the 24 limited series and how it dealt with the time constraints, the real reason behind the Parks and Rec time jump, and the premiere of The Strain (00:00 – 08:45),
Talking about The Strain led us into a talk about why FX is not going to cite overnight ratings anymore and why Live + 3 and Live + 7 are more accurate, anyway (08:45 – 17:55),
Then we talked about the shrinking audience on Under the Dome, and why it doesn’t matter much to CBS (17:55 – 19:25),
We then discuss the premieres two Showtime shows, Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex, and why one continues to be stupid and the other continues to be really good (you figure out which is which ) (19:25 – 27:45),
We then talk about what Joel’s calling the Big Summer Show Dump, as it seems like people are reaching the saturation point with “event” dramas, and are dumping the mediocre ones in droves (Tyrant, Extant, etc.). In that talk, we mention comedies, too, which is when we bring up the cliches and a-holes in FX’s Married and You’re the Worst (27:45 – 49:00),
Then we talk about Weird Al Yankovic having a #1 album for the first time ever, and why his brand overcomes some of the limitations of the album format (mainly timeliness) in the YouTube era (49:00 – 59:15),
Then we talk about how it seems that the only news that comes out of TCA these days is when a producer or actor gets annoyed when a critic criticizes his show or a reporter (gasp!) asks a tough question (59:15 – 1:12:45),
Finally, we do our “big” Orange is the New Black spoilerfest, though it’s shorter than we expected. The upshot? Loved the season, thought Vee was a distraction, and Piper’s not as annoying as she used to be (1:12:45 – 1:33:42).

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.