Warning: Better Call Saul spoilers ahead For five episodes, AMC's Better Call Saulwas a good show. At episode six, it became a great show. While there have been some really solid moments and certainly quite a bit of promise since the series pilot, the show has ironically ...read more
There's a very special column on Salon right now by Heather Digby Parton that tries to massage all the sore spots that whitewashers of the Quran's more ignoble passages have endured over the past several weeks. It's the type of specious apologia to which we've become accustomed, ...read more
It's the most wonderful time of the year for a White House reporter, when the rich, powerful, and celebrated express their deep appreciation for the work we do. Who knew Jessica Simpson was a White House briefing junkie? The 2014 White House Correspondents' Dinner (aka ...read more
Happy Wednesday. Here's a picture of Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams, and here's what's happening on the interweb: 1. Ukraine Protests: Dozens Killed, Hundreds Injured As Police And Demonstrators Clash In Kiev The ministry of health says that 25 people have died and over ...read more
It's Friday and you're probably ready to get out the door as quickly as possible and start your weekend, but here are a few headlines and internet tidbits to kill time until you can make your escape. 1. Black and White and Red All Over While Dylan Farrow is crying during her ...read more
SPOILER ALERT: Breaking Bad, The Godfather, Taken 2, and Silence of the Lambs virgins should read no further. A Texan woman named Shannon Richardson recently pled guilty to sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Most fans of ...read more
It's back to the wheel with you, gerbils, where you'll run and run and keep on running until you can maybe afford to retire and die in peace. Here's some reading material to take your mind off all of that. 1. Swept Away Here's the headline of the morning: a massive storm ...read more
In the week before the final episode of Breaking Bad, AMC ran a pretty stellar commercial that brought together images from the past five seasons and summed up not only Walter White's pitch-black journey but those of the characters whose lives he'd destroyed along the way. ...read more
'Breaking Bad' wasn't just great television - it was historic television - the type of epic story telling that will be studied for hundreds of years to come. The nail biting drama and tense action were done as well as any Hollywood block buster, but the astonishing acting and ...read more
A week and a half ago saw the end of one highly acclaimed cable drama and the return of another. It all happened on the same night: Breaking Bad bowed after five near-flawless seasons then, right after, Homeland premiered its third season amid fears from fans that the show ...read more
*** Spoilers Ahead *** Last week we had a minor debate here at the Banter over Breaking Bad and the question of its place in the pantheon of great TV shows. As in, was it the greatest, the best of all time? My take on it was that while the show was and is a staggering ...read more
First off: Rest assured, I'm not going to spoil the damn finale for you if you haven't yet watched “Breaking Bad.” I just want to alert whomever missed the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” that Aaron Paul, who plays Jesse Pinkman on “Breaking Bad,” graces the lurching ...read more
Another Monday morning is here and while you're all still applauding the oh-so-satisfying finale of Breaking Bad and at the same time dreading the impending shutdown of the U.S. government you may as well kill some time with a little reading: 1. White Out I'll have more on ...read more
If you're one of those people who's spent week after week over the last five years with your head in your hands muttering, "No, no, not again -- ah, poor Jesse," then this is for you. It's hilarious. It's disturbing. It's sad. Compliments of Slate it's every terrible and ...read more
I'm banging this out as a kind of instant response to Banter Overlord Ben Cohen's earlier post today asking readers to debate whether AMC's Breaking Bad, which ends its five-season run next week, is the best television show ever. First of all, it's interesting that he brings ...read more
Very serious topic folks. As our own Chez Pazienza wrote last week, episode 14 of Season 5's 'Breaking Bad' was 'A perfectly formed, flawlessly executed hour of television'. Just when you thought it couldn't get any more intense, episode 15, 'Granite State' aired Sunday night ...read more
Another Monday is here and it's back to the wheel with you, gerbils. Here are a few things you can read this morning to hopefully deaden the pain. 1. Gold Rush Here's a wrap-up of the big winners and losers at last night's Emmys, as Matt Zoller Seitz live-blogged the whole ...read more
*** Breaking Bad Spoilers Ahead *** If you caught Sunday's episode of Breaking Bad you know how great it was. If you didn't, you've probably been regaled online with paeans to its greatness. Basically, all the seemingly hyperbolic praise that's been heaped upon it isn't ...read more
