TV Geek Out 228: American Horror Story Chat, Part 2

We're back with the second half of our American Horror Story discussion, again with special guest horror geek Stever Neither! This podcast covers episodes 4-8 ("Halloween" 1 & 2, "Piggy, Piggy," "Open House," and "Rubber Man"). Listen in to hear what the TVGO crew thought of the middle section of the AHS season, which included some of the best episodes, the most frightening moments, and the most controversial reveal of the season! Check it all out here.

Also, stay tuned for our upcoming coverage of the end of the season!

TV Geek Out 227: American Horror Story Chat, Part 1

Given Ryan Murphy's track record with Glee and especially Nip/Tuck, it wasn't surprising that American Horror Story pushed boundaries with every episode. Still, even for seasoned viewers, just how hard AHS pushed at TV conventions was something of a shock. Never mind swearing, the series showed male and female masturbation in the pilot -- and that was just the start of American Horror Story's flirtation with controversy. TV Geek Out's Dana and Heather welcomed horror buff and AHS fan Stever Neither to this extensive chat, which covers 2/3 of the show's first season. In the first part of our chat, we get to know the family who currently inhabits "The Murder House": conflicted wife Vivien, self-centered husband Ben, and their angsty daughter, Violet. We also meet some of the house's long-term residents, including brooding Tate and matriarch Nora. A special shout-out must be given to Jessica Lange, whose incomparable Constance seems beamed directly from planet Tennessee Williams. In all, American Horror Story is easily Murphy's most bonkers offering yet, and Dana, Heather and Stever had a ball analyzing it to pieces! Check out the first part of our talk here.

Note: This portion of the discussion covers the show in general and the first 3 episodes ("Pilot," "Home Invasion" and "Murder House") in particular.

TV Geek Out 226: Boardwalk Empire, "A Dangerous Maid"

Nucky sends a lobster flying, a Victrola saves a life, and Van Alden learns what a script is -- "A Dangerous Maid" has all this and more, and it's only the third episode of Boardwalk Empire's second season! Both Eddie Cantor and Al Capone are in A.C., the former to see the cooped-up, pregnant showgirl Lucy, the latter to deliver some bad news to Nucky and to visit "Jimmy Irish." There's plenty of disheartening news to go around, as Nucky learns that Attorney General Daugherty can't help with his election-fraud case, Rothstein forces Lucky and Meyer into a harsh deal with Joe Masseria to keep the peace, and Margaret's roundabout attempt to reach out to her estranged family leaves her in tears. Meanwhile, the Commodore Conspirators Club continues their attack on Nucky, this time foiling his bootlegging business via the Coast Guard, but Nucky has a new secret weapon, badass Irishman Owen Sleater, whose special skill of getting people to stop "whatever it is you don't want them to be doing" is already coming in handy. Listen in as TV geeks Heather, Dana, and Perry discuss all the goings-on here!

TV Geek Out 225: Boardwalk Empire, "Ourselves Alone"

“Ourselves Alone,” episode two of Boardwalk Empire's second season, finds our favorite corrupt New Jersey politician (sorry for the redundancy) getting help from an expected source in unexpected ways, while Chalky White masterminds the beat-down of a prisoner who can’t resist taunting Chalky’s aspirations for respectability. Meanwhile, Eli attempts to end his relationship with his brother in a fatalistic phone call, Jimmy and the Commodore continue to plot against Nucky, and a young Irishman finds himself working for Nucky after a deal is struck to send funds to the IRA. Join TV geeks Perry, Dana, and Heather as they toast another fine episode of Boardwalk Empire. Listen in here!

TV Geek Out 224: Boardwalk Empire, "21"

The second season of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire begins with confrontations of various sorts including Chalky White vs. the KKK, Van Alden vs. his own sense of morality, and Jimmy vs. Nucky -- even though Jimmy doesn’t seem totally sold on turning against his mentor. Join TV Geeks Dana, Perry, and Heather as they analyze the premiere, wonder what the season has in store for these characters, and shed a tear for the LOR (lack of Rothstein) in this episode. Check it all out here!

TV Geek Out 223: Boardwalk Empire, "A Return to Normalcy"

Boardwalk Empire’s freshman season comes to a conclusion with “A Return to Normalcy,” an episode that wraps up all those pesky plot threads that seemed impossible to bring together when they first started to unravel back in the Martin Scorsese-directed pilot. Rothstein and Nucky make peace, the D’Alessios meet their grisly end, and Nucky remains in power in Atlantic City while enjoying a nice walk along the Boardwalk with Margaret. However, the episode also brilliantly sets up a number of new plot elements that promise for an amazing second season, including the possibility that Nucky will have to treat old friends as enemies, Val Alden’s learning about some unintended consequences for his actions, and Angela using her hair to let Jimmy know their relationship is in serious jeopardy. Join the TV Geeks as we rave, rant, and relive the wrap-up to the Emmy-winning show's first season. Check it all out here!

TV Geek Out 222: Emmys 2011 Chat

TV Geek Out discusses this year's recent Emmys broadcast in this brief chat. Listen in to hear what Perry, Dana, and Heather had to say about the festivities, from our favorite wins and most frustrating losses to our thoughts on Jane Lynch's hosting skills and the layout of the show. Check it all out here!

TV Geek Out 221: Boardwalk Empire, "Paris Green"

Murder in various forms hangs over "Paris Green," the penultimate episode of Boardwalk Empire’s first season. Starting with a doozy of a twist regarding the revelation of Jimmy’s father and ending with an even bigger announcement about the true cause of the Commodore’s season-long illness, this episode also features Van Alden performing a decidedly un-Christian act during a baptism ceremony. Listen in as TV geeks Heather, Perry, and Dana unravel one of the most explosive episodes in the show’s history. Check it out here!

TV Geek Out 220: Boardwalk Empire, "The Emerald City"

The Wizard of Oz allusions that have weaved through Boardwalk Empire’s first season grow even more pronounced in its tenth episode, “The Emerald City,” when the deformed Harrow pronounces he’s like the Tin Woodsman. The gangland maneuvers continue as Rothstein gets even angrier than he usually is over the failed hit on Nucky, Al Capone learns to grow up, and the women of America earn the right to vote. Join TV geeks Dana, Perry and Heather as they follow them all down the yellow-brick Boardwalk. Check it out here!

TV Geek Out 219: Boardwalk Empire, "Belle Femme"

TV Geek Out continues our first-season coverage of Boardwalk Empire with this discussion of episode 9, "Belle Femme," in which Margaret learns she has more power with Nucky than she realized when she intercedes on Madame Jeunet's behalf. After some initial friction over the matter with Nucky, he gives in and Margaret ends up with a fancy new dress. Jimmy's return to Atlantic City is the other big development in this episode -- Van Alden gets pissed at Agent Sebso for withholding Jimmy's telegrams announcing his return, Angela's threesome with the Dittrichs is stopped before it even begins when Jimmy arrives with no warning, and Nucky wastes no time in telling Jimmy to "take care" of the D'Alessio brothers now that he's back in town. When Jimmy nabs Luciano from his own mother's bed for questioning (and probably death), he's foiled by Van Alden and arrested, with Lucky living up to his name and going free. But Van Alden's whole case against Jimmy goes up in gunsmoke when Sebso kills the witness while supposedly transferring him to New York City for safety. All that, and the D'Alessios take a shot at Nucky right on the Boardwalk, splattering Margaret's fine new frock with the blood of an innocent bystander and giving Eddie a chance to demonstrate his surprising marksmanship as he saves the day. TV geeks Perry, Heather, and Dana discuss all this, Perry reveals his long-time love of songstress Sophie Tucker, and the Geek Out crew tackles the complex machinations at play as A.C. nears the big election of 1920. Check it all out here!

TV Geek Out 218: Boardwalk Empire, "Hold Me in Paradise"

TV Geek Out is back to finish up our coverage of Boardwalk Empire's first season! Here we discuss the eighth episode, "Hold Me in Paradise," in which Nucky takes a trip to Chicago for the Republican Convention and wheels and deals his way around town, eventually supporting the nomination of Warren Harding for president. Back in Atlantic City, Eli is temporarily in charge, and manages to start a porn fire and get shot in the gut while the casino is being held up. Meanwhile, Margaret has a run-in with Lucy and ends up slapping her, Van Alden's wife wants an expensive procedure to cure her infertility, and Angela hasn't been getting any money, or even a letter, from Jimmy. TV geeks Perry, Heather, and Dana discuss all this and more, including the tensions between Nucky and Jimmy, how Rothstein resembles a ventriloquist's dummy, and what Margaret might do with the incredibly detailed incriminating information she discovers in Nucky's ledger. Listen in here!

TV Geek Out 217: True Blood, "I Wish I Was the Moon"

Named for the devastating Neko Case ballad that closes the episode, "I Wish I Was the Moon" wraps up the first half of True Blood's fourth season with possession, transformation, that old black magic, and a long-awaited love scene. Marnie is finally fully possessed by the spirit of spurned and burned witch Antonia, and her first act is to make the formerly fearsome vamp Luis her slave. Meanwhile, Lafayette and Jesus get more than they bargained for when they reconnect with Jesus' brujo grandfather, and Tommy does more harm than he intended when he shifts into Sam, officially making him a skinwalker. And while Jason isn't going to be a werepanther, his feelings for Jessica are changing under the light of the full moon. We also get another clue as to what's going on with Baby Mikey and the creepy doll, and -- last but definitely not least for fans of the Southern Vampire books -- Sookie and Eric finally consummated their budding relationship. Even a relatively quiet True Blood ep is pretty action-packed, and Dana and Heather discuss it all here!

TV Geek Out 216: True Blood, "Me and the Devil"

TV Geek Out covers the fifth episode True Blood's 4th season, "Me and the Devil," which opens with Tommy killing both of his parents; Sam ends up helping his brother dispose of their bodies in the swamp, but not before they have a close call when they're pulled over by a V-addled Sheriff Andy Bellefleur. Meanwhile, Arlene and Terry have Rev. Daniels and his new wife, Lettie Mae, come to their home to perform an exorcism on the house, but it doesn't seem to work; Lafayette and Jesus set off for Mexico to see his brujo grandfather for some magical help; and Sookie visits Moon Goddess and gets an unusual psychic reading from Marnie. Also, Jason has a sexy dream about Jessica, with a special appearance by Hoyt(!), while Eric has a disturbing dream in which Godric urges him to drink from Sookie, but in the real world he resists, and by the end of the episode, the two are kissing passionately! In other events, Bill imprisons and questions Marnie, Sookie pisses Tara off yet again, and Pam spills the beans about Eric's location. Listen in as TV geeks Dana and Heather discuss all this and more here!

Note: This podcast has been reposted due to an overlapping audio error in the original file. Please download this version even if you already downloaded the original. We're sorry for the technical difficulties!

TV Geek Out 215: True Blood, "I'm Alive and on Fire"

TV Geek Out covers True Blood's fourth episode of season 4, "I'm Alive and on Fire," which opens with Eric totally drunk on faerie blood and very randy. When he runs off, Sookie enlists the help of Alcide to track him down. Meanwhile, Jason is still tied up in Hotshot, being gang-raped for his "ghost daddy" seed, but with a little help, he escapes, and takes out Felton when the werepanther chases after him. Back in Bon Temps, Bill finds out that Portia is a descendant of his and breaks off their romance. Proving they might be the worst parents in Louisiana, Melinda Mickens lures Tommy to meet her and then Joe Lee ambushes him and chains him like a dog. Elsewhere, Sookie grows closer to Eric and tells a big fat lie to Bill when he comes to her house intent on searching it for Eric. Jason rejects Crystal and is in really bad shape until Jessica heals him with her blood. And the episode ends with Marnie shockingly casting a rotting spell on Pam! Listen in as TV geeks Heather and Dana discuss all this and more here!

TV Geek Out 214: True Blood, "If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'?"

The title of season four’s third episode -- “If You Love Me, Why am I Dyin’?” -- could have been screamed by Jason Stackhouse, tied down on a bed in Hotshot by Crystal to be the “ghost daddy” to all of the town’s women of breeding age (who appear to be as young as 12 -- ew). Nothing else is quite as creepy as Jason’s violation, but a childlike Eric, robbed of his memories, is getting to know Sookie all over again. Jessica betrays Hoyt’s trust by glamoring away her confession of feeding on another man, and Tommy aims to swindle Maxine Fortenberry’s natural gas rights from right under her nose. Meanwhile, Lafayette, Tara and Jesus deal with the fallout of Marnie’s memory-stealing spell, Alcide and Debbie are back in the picture, and Andy falls deeper into his V addiction. And what’s with that spooky doll that keeps popping up at Hoyt and Jessica’s?  TV Geek Out’s Dana and Heather try to cover all the bases of this action-packed episode. Listen in here.

TV Geek Out 213: True Blood, "You Smell Like Dinner"

After the faerie fantasia and catch-up with Bon Temp's residents in season four's premiere, True Blood got down to business on "You Smell Like Dinner." And business is good: We got not one but two flashbacks that revealed how Bill became involved with the American Vampire League (featuring Mr. Compton in full London punk regalia) and what happened in his stand-off with the Queen of Louisiana (short answer: Bill ends up wearing some of her). Meanwhile, Sookie catches up with Tara, Jason gets uncomfortably close to the panther people of Hotshot, and Arlene remains convinced that Baby Mikey is a bad seed. However, the most exciting development -- especially for fans of the Southern Vampire book series -- is Eric's amnesia, brought on by a showdown with the surprisingly powerful head witch of the Moon Goddess coven, Marnie. In some ways, this felt more like the start of season four than the premiere did, and TVGO's Dana and Heather cover it all here!

TV Geek Out 212: Boardwalk Empire, "Home"

TV Geek Out is back with more Boardwalk Empire coverage, starting with "Home," the seventh episode of the show's debut season. Thomas Wolfe wrote that you can’t go home again, an axiom Nucky learns during the course of "Home," an episode that gives us a deep look into the dysfunctional Thompson family dynamics. The show also introduces us to disfigured sniper Richard Harrow, whose homecoming from the war has been anything but good, and marks the debut of another real-life mafia figure, Meyer Lansky. Listen in as TV geeks Perry, Dana, and Heather delve into all the details in this Beavis-approved episode of Boardwalk Empire (Fire! Fire!). Check it out here!

TV Geek Out 211: True Blood, "She's Not There"

TV Geek Out begins our coverage of True Blood's 4th season with this discussion of the crazy season premiere, "She's Not There." The episode picks up right where things left off, with Sookie arriving in faerie-land and running into not only Barry the bellboy, but her long-lost grandfather! She quickly sees through the utopic illusion, though, and the scene devolves into a hectic battle as she runs for her life. When she escapes back to Bon Temps, she finds that things are not at all as she left them, as more than a year has passed -- while she feels like it was less than a half hour. The rest of the episode is spent catching up with all the people, and vampires, in her life -- a well as introducing a bunch of new characters. Jason is a cop, Andy's a V addict, Arlene's baby is possibly evil, Tara's a lesbian cage fighter, etc., etc. There's also Jesus' introduction of Lafayette to a witches' coven headed up by a woman named Marnie. However, the BIG developments are that Bill is now the king of Louisiana, and Eric has bought Sookie's house in a bid to make her his! Listen in as TV geeks Heather and Dana chat about all the bat-shit craziness here!

TV Geek Out 210: 2011 Emmy Nominations!

TV Geek Out geeks Heather, Perry, and Dana discuss the recently announced nominations for this year's Emmy awards! Listen in as we chat about the nominees, who was wrongly overlooked, and who we want to win vs. who will win. Check it all out here!

TV Geek Out 209: True Blood, "Evil Is Going On"

TV Geek Out covers the season 3 finale of True Blood, "Evil Is Going On," which brought the season to a close in a very open-ended way and continued the show's tradition of less than satisfying finales. Among the episode's many events, Sookie rescues Eric and Russell from death-by-sunlight, Jason loses Crystal to a V-crazed Felton, Lafayette learns that Jesus is a witch, and Eric and Bill bury Russell in wet cement. Sookie also learns some heartbreaking truths about Bill and leaves with Claudine to the fairy realm -- one of several cliffhangers. Others included Tara leaving town, Bill engaging the queen of Louisiana in a battle to the death, and Sam shooting at Tommy as he tried to run off with his money. Listen in as TV geeks Dana and Heather discuss all this, bitch about Godric visions, wonder why half the characters aren't acting like themselves at all, and more here!

TV Geek Out 208: True Blood, "I Smell a Rat" and "Fresh Blood"

TV Geek Out covers the two episodes of True Blood's third season leading up to the finale, "I Smell a Rat" and "Fresh Blood." In "I Smell a Rat," the season's tenth installment, lots of secrets are being revealed -- Sookie finally learns what she is; Jason tells Tara the truth about Eggs' death and learns an unexpected secret about Crystal; Lafayette and Jesus go on a crazy V trip and uncover their ancestors' connections with witchcraft; and flashbacks reveal some very dark secrets about Sam's past misdeeds. Also, Sookie and Eric finally kiss in real life, but then he throws her in his dungeon! In "Fresh Blood," the 11th episode of the season, Lafayette gets creeped out by some scary V "aftershocks"; a drunken Sam alienates everyone at his bar, including his brother, and sleeps with Tara; and Eric saves himself by telling Russell that he can offer him the sun. Meanwhile, Bill battles Pam, and Sookie and Bill briefly escape before Russell and Eric drag them back to Fangtasia, where the two eventually feed on Sookie and go outside to walk in the daylight, which Eric has revealed to Bill is a trap to kill the vampire king. Listen in as TV geeks Dana and Heather discuss all of this and much more here!

TV Geek Out 207: True Blood, "Everything Is Broken"

TV Geek Out covers the ninth episode of True Blood's third season, "Everything Is Broken," which saw the pinnacle of the season in its final scene of Russell Edgington shockingly killing a newscaster on live TV and delivering a harsh polemic about the superiority of vampires over humanity. Lots of other blood is hitting the fan as well, though. Nan Flanagan and the V-Feds show up at Fangtasia and force Eric to deliver a statement via web-cam to the Authority about the recent events, Jason gets into more trouble with the people of Hotshot, Sam beats the crap out of Crystal's dad, Calvin, and Jason kills Franklin after he reappears and attempts to take Tara's life. Among the less alarming developments, Jesus and Lafayette enjoy the afterglow of their first night together and Bill unintentionally travels to the strange realm that Sookie recently visited and meets Claudine -- who tells him what Sookie is!! TV geeks Heather and Dana discuss all this and much more here!

TV Geek Out 206: True Blood, "Night on the Sun"

TV Geek Out covers the eighth episode of True Blood's third season, "Night on the Sun," in which many characters are either gettin' busy or kicking butt -- or sometimes both. After Sookie ends things with Bill at the hospital, he tries to release Jessica from his control, but she refuses and they bond while he teaches her some fighting skills. Lafayette's mom runs away from the mental hospital and pays him a visit, bringing Jesus back into Lafayette's life when he comes to get her. Crystal shows up at Jason's having left Hotshot and Arlene hires a new waitress, but the big events are the knock-down, drag-out brawl between Sookie and Debbie in the Stackhouse home (as well as Bill's and Jessica's werewolf battles downstairs) and Eric's shocking murder of Talbot! TV geeks Dana and Heather discuss all this -- and Bill and Sookie's seeming inability to ever truly break up -- here!

TV Geek Out 205: True Blood, "Hitting the Ground"

TV Geek Out covers "Hitting the Ground," the seventh episode of season 3, in which both Lorena and the Magister shockingly meet the true death, and Sookie and Tara complete their daring escape from Russell's Mississippi estate. Unfortunately, during the getaway, a famished Bill ends up overpowering and nearly killing Sookie in his thirst for blood; then, while at the hospital, she visits a fantastical-seeming realm and meets a strange woman named Claudine.... Elsewhere, Sam infiltrates a dog-fighting ring and rescues Tommy from his family's clutches, and Eric learns the truth about what Sookie is (but we don't!). Listen in as TV geeks Dana and Heather discuss all this and more here!

TV Geek Out 204: True Blood, "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues"

TV Geek Out covers the sixth episode of True Blood's third season, "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues," in which Sookie and Tara are both being held against their will in Russell Edgington's Mississippi mansion, Lorena is ordered to kill Bill for his attempt to help Sookie, Eric and Russell pay a not-so-pleasant visit to the Queen of Louisiana, and Sam gets some disturbing insight into the hold his parents have on his brother, Tommy. In other words, almost everyone has a reason to sing the blues in this episode, which also sees Jason and Lafayette running into snags in their respective romances. Listen in as TV geeks Heather and Dana discuss all this and more here!

TV Geek Out 203: True Blood, "Trouble"

TV Geek Out covers episode five of season 3 of True Blood, "Trouble," in which there certainly is enough trouble to go around, and then some! Sookie meets Alcide's frightened werewolf packmaster; Eric pays a visit to Russell Edgington in Mississippi, prompting a flashback to his Viking days; Jason has a crappy first day working at the sheriff's office... until he meets Crystal from Hotshot; Lafayette and Jesus get to know each other; and Franklin makes a frightening proposal to Tara. Listen in as TV geeks Heather and Dana discuss all this and more here!

TV Geek Out 202: Game of Thrones, "Winter Is Coming"

TV Geek Out begins our coverage of the hit new HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones with this chat about the premiere episode, "Winter Is Coming"! TV geeks Dana and Heather dig into the show's incredibly complex world and discuss everything from the pilot's horror-tinged opening to its shocking last moments. Listen in here!

TV Geek Out 201: Mildred Pierce

Leave it to HBO to turn over 5 ½ hours of programming to Todd Haynes so the award-winning indie filmmaker could fashion a remake of Mildred Pierce, one of the classic melodramas in Hollywood history. TV geeks Perry, Dana, and Heather have seen it and are here to sing the praises of an amazing cast (Kate Winslet, James LeGros, Mare Winningham, etc. etc. etc.), try to find kind things to say about Evan Rachel Wood, and discuss why you’re more likely to see something like this on TV rather than at your local movie theater. Check it all out here!

TV Geek Out 200: Boardwalk Empire, "Nights in Ballygran" and "Family Limitation"

Boardwalk Empire finds its narrative footing halfway through the first season with "Nights in Ballygran" and "Family Limitation" (eps. 5 & 6), a pair of episodes that not only got the show's narrative drive operating at full steam (including Van Alden wrecking Nucky's annual Celtic Dinner, ward bosses being robbed, and the consummation of Nucky and Margaret's relationship), but also offered a wealth of character development including Eli's political ambitions, Pearl's tragic demise, and the revelation that Van Alden's inner demons force him to commit painful acts of self-flagellation. Join TV geeks Dana, Perry, and Heather as they wade through this dense two hours of television, create a new sound cue for their favorite Fed, and delve into the power dynamic between the show's many fascinating female characters. Check it all out here!

(The discussion of the second episode begins at about the 39:30 mark.)

TV Geek Out 199: 2011 Oscars Chat!

TV Geek Out is back after a few weeks of technical difficulties that were keeping us from posting!

Here we discuss this year's Oscars, from the lack of surprises to the quality of the hosting. Listen in as Perry, Dana, and Heather share our thoughts on the whole affair here!

Testing, testing ...

We're working on getting TV Geek Out back on its feet. Please ignore this post!

TV Geek Out 198: True Blood, "9 Crimes"

TV Geek Out discusses the 4th episode of season 3 of True Blood, "9 Crimes," which opens with Bill coldly dumping Sookie over the phone. Though he's giving in to his baser nature, he tells Lorena he will never love her (and punches her in the face!). Sookie has a good cry, but she still wants to find Bill, so she and Alcide go back to Lou Pine's (with her in bad-girl disguise courtesy of his sister); Russell shows up there and feeds his blood to the werewolves, Debbie is branded into the pack, and Sookie has to make a quick exit when they all start to turn. Back in Bon Temps, Franklin is holding Tara captive on his motel toilet, Bud retires and makes Andy the new sheriff, and Sam hires Jessica as a hostess. Sam also makes the questionable decision to put his trashy family up in one of his rentals, on the condition that they stop drinking and stealing (riiiight). Lafayette gets into trouble in Hotshot when he tries to sell V to the dealers there, but Eric comes to his rescue and closes the deal. Eric's got bigger problems back at Fangtasia, though, when the Magister shows up, finds his V stash, and tortures Pam. Meanwhile, Russell makes Bill procure a stripper for them and Lorena, and they chow down on her as the episode comes to a close. None of that is as fun as Eric's big lovestruck night-dream about Sookie, however, and TVGO's Heather and Dana geek out about that and more here!

TV Geek Out 197: 2011 Oscar Nominations

With just a few days remaining until Hollywood's most important awards are handed out, Heather, Dana, and Perry are here to help answer all of your burning questions: Will The King's Speech get the better of The Social Network? Does anyone have a chance of upsetting Christian Bale? How the heck do I know which live-action short to pick in my office pool? So listen in as the trio gives you all the info you'll need, and more trivia than you might have expected here!

TV Geek Out 196: The Walking Dead, "TS-19"

And so the first season of The Walking Dead ended with a bang and a whimper. In "TS-19," Rick and the rest of the survivors discover that the CDC is far from the haven they'd anticipated, and that Dr. Edwin Jenner isn't as much of a samaritan as they'd thought. Or is he? Jenner offers to share the certain death the CDC's computer is counting down to -- one of the few sure things our crew has encountered, and something that's all the more tempting now that it's clear the whole world has fallen to the zombie outbreak. Sure enough, some of the crew takes him up on the offer (bye, Jacqui! We hardly knew ye!) but the option of taking the easy way out only strenghtens Rick's resolve to survive. The last vestiges of the survivors' hopes that civilization will return anytime soon go up in smoke along with the rest of the CDC, and the search for a safe place begins again. Yet for the season finale, "TS-19" was surprisingly light on zombies, aside from the tantalizing opening glimpse of just how bad things got at the hospital while Rick was sleeping. And besides the drama surrounding how and which of the survivors would escape from the CDC, the episode was so low-key that it bordered on anticlimactic. Despite the show's unevenness, its mini first season made a maximum impression. We talk about the strengths and weaknesses of "TS-19" and the season in general, our hopes for season two and much more here.

TV Geek Out 195: Boardwalk Empire, "Broadway Limited" and "Anastasia"

TVGO's Heather and Dana discuss the 3rd and 4th episodes of Boardwalk Empire. In "Broadway Limited," Van Alden goes medieval on the newfound survivor of the roadside shooting, literally squeezing the name Jimmy out of him before he dies. Word travels fast, and Rothstein orders Luciano to take out Darmody. Perhaps lucky for Jimmy, Nucky's already banished him from town, so he heads to Chicago, but not before becoming suspicious of Angela and picking a fight with her as he leaves. Nucky also deals with the lynching of Chalky's driver and the ever-increasing cut that White wants of the bootlegging profits. As for the ladies, Nucky gets Margaret a job at high-end dress shop Belle Femme, where she later waits on his girlfriend, Lucy, in a tense exchange. In "Anastasia," Margaret is swept up in the news of the mysterious Russian woman claiming to be the missing Romanov princess. Meanwhile, Nucky is planning an elaborate "surprise" birthday party for himself -- and to wine and dine two political bigwigs. When Margaret goes to the party to deliver Lucy's dress, she gets swept up in all the opulence and Nucky is very taken with her. Later, after reading that "Anastasia" was a fraud and seeing Lucy with Nucky, the disillusionment leads Margaret to steal a camisole from the shop. Elsewhere, Eli arrests the leader of the local KKK under suspicion of the recent lynching, and puts White in charge of the interrogation, leading to one of the most memorable scenes of the season. In Chicago, Jimmy joins up with Capone, whose pranks are downright dangerous, and Jimmy takes up with prostitute Pearl, planning to go west with her. It's not to be, as Capone's brutish dealings with local gangsters lead to the slashing of Pearl's beautiful face. It was these two excellent episodes that finally turned Dana and Heather into Boardwalk Empire geeks, so check out why here!

TV Geek Out 194: 2011 Golden Globes Discussion

The TV Geek Out crew celebrated 40,000 downloads (thank you, loyal listeners!) by downing some lip-loosening libations and then dishing on the ridiculous splendor that is the annual party thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press. So lift up a glass and join Perry, Dana, and Heather as they crack wise about January Jones’ anatomy, weigh in on the ongoing Ricky Gervais controversy, and basically treat the Golden Globes with the lack of reverence it so richly deserves. Check it out here!

TV Geek Out 193: 2011 Golden Globe Nominations

The awards season kicks off in earnest with the Golden Globes telecast this Sunday night. So before you sit down to watch alcohol-fueled acceptance speeches and the stinging barbs of host Ricky Gervais, join Heather, Dana, and Perry as they offer their predictions on who'll be taking home the big awards. Listen in here!

TV Geek Out 192: The Walking Dead, "Vatos" and "Wildfire"

TV Geek Out covers two installments of The Walking Dead with this chat about "Vatos" and "Wildfire," the 4th and 5th episodes of the series. In "Vatos," Rick, Glenn, T-Dog, and Daryl react to the discovery of Merle's severed hand in Atlanta, follow his trail of blood, and attempt to retrieve Rick's big bag of guns. Complications quickly arise when they run into another human in the middle of the operation, who calls out for help from his seemingly hostile gang of survivors. Back at camp, sisters Andrea and Amy go fishing and Jim is obsessed with digging holes, but the big event is the gruesome nighttime zombie attack! during the fish fry that night. "Wildfire," deals with the fallout from that horrific attack, in which, among other victims, Amy was killed and Jim was bitten. Andrea is traumatized and won't leave her sister's corpse... until Amy eventually turns into a zombie and Andrea puts her out of her misery. Meanwhile, the group is split over where to go now that their campsite is no longer safe, and how to handle the Jim situation as he slowly deteriorates. And in the last part of the episode, the show takes a leap into the CDC, where a sole scientist is still toiling away trying to develop a cure for the outbreak. Listen in as TV geeks Heather, Perry, and Dana discuss all this and more here!

TV Geek Out 191: True Blood, "It Hurts Me Too"

TV Geek Out covers "It Hurts Me Too," the third episode of True Blood's third season. Eric takes out a werewolf in Sookie's home, but only after she's heard him think "Jackson," which they soon figure out means the city in Mississippi. She's determined to go there in search of Bill, so Eric sends the (good) werewolf Alcide to watch over her and help her in her mission. Elsewhere, Tara has a steamy one-night stand with a mysterious vampire in a seedy motel. She and Sookie later make up when Sook pays for Eggs' funeral service. Sam returns to Bon Temps, but unfortunately for him, his birth family follows him and starts to cause trouble. Meanwhile, in Jackson, Lorena recovers from her burns, and Bill gives in to the king's wishes in order to protect Sookie. In a dream, he flashes back to the last time he saw his human wife, after he'd become a vampire; the experience was so traumatic for her that he had to glamour her into forgetting it. Bill's so forlorn in the present day that he has extreme hate sex with Lorena, leading to perhaps the show's most disturbing moment ever! In other events, Jason wants to become a police officer, Arlene is indeed pregnant, but with Rene's baby(!), Lafayette's got a new Bentley, Sheriff Bud Dearborn quits, and much more. TV geeks Heather and Dana discuss all the crazy goings-on here!