Episode 29: Nicole and Harold talk about TV on the road. Nicole recounts a recent trip to NYC via Virgin America, which offers ample television options for the harried traveler. There's also talk of the Musuem of Television and Broadcasting (now the Paley Center for Media) and watching archival TV footage on demand. Finally, we give our spin on the Dr. Horrible phenomenon.

Episode 28: Nicole and Harold talk about recent TV tech, including DVR software updates that arrive via satellite, new plug-and-play devices for Netflix users, and the digital converter boxes that you'll need to get broadcast TV next year. There's also some talk about ESPN's new streaming video offering: ESPN360.

Episode 27: Harold and guest host Jon Brooks discuss Seinfeld -- watching it on DVD, their favorite episodes and story arcs, as well as a detailed analysis of the show's cultural themes and subtexts. Fun!

Episode 26: Harold and guest host Kyle Minor discuss this year's Emmy nominations, including Mad Men, Damages, various bad miniseries, and A&E's Intervention. Plus a quick shout-out to Doctor Horrible.

Episode 25: Nicole, Harold, and special guest, Jenny, consider the career of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator, Joss Whedon.

Episode 24: Nicole and Harold take a look at the Wikipedia to relive the magic of the 1992-93 television season. Join them, if you dare...

Episode 23: Harold and Nicole talk about TV dads through the years, from Ward Cleaver to Cliff Huxtable to Bill Adama and beyond. They also discuss the ins and outs of downloading and streaming the shows they are planning to catch up with this summer -- on Hulu, Amazon, iTunes, and elsewhere.

Episode 22: Harold and Nicole discuss the work of Judd Apatow, who produced the legendary Freaks and Geeks and had a major hand in both The Ben Stiller Show and The Larry Sanders Show. His follow-up to Freaks and Geeks, the half-hour comedy Undeclared, is a little-known gem that is well worth picking up on DVD.

Episode 21: Harold and Nicole share their summer watching lists. Each has a handful of shows that they're curious about and plan to check out. They offer insights on what they've heard and how they're going to go about watching these shows -- whether it's on the air, online, or on DVD. What are you watching this summer?

Episode 20: Harold and Nicole discuss the Fall television schedules, which were announced by most of the networks last week. They also dissect trailers for J.J. Abrams Fringe and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, which are airing on Fox next season. What shows are you looking forward to?

Episode 19: Harold and guests Molly and Jon discuss the successful science-fiction series, Battlestar Galactica, which is in its final season. (Warning: If you're not caught up through the end of season three, there are definitely spoilers in the podcast.) They talk about the nature of this series, compared to the original and compared to other popular sci-fi franchises. They muse about the mysteries of the Cylon society and each name their favorite BSG character. Who's yours?

Episode 18: Nicole and Harold talk about the current season winding down along with their enthusiasm for post-strike television. They also catch up on the big changes coming for reality TV juggernaut, Project Runway. What are your thoughts on the season finales you've seen so far?

Episode 17: Harold and special guest Kyle Minor discuss their earliest favorites and whether they hold up over time. They also wonder if Hulu and other streaming sites will extinguish millions of hazy, yet fond memories. Shows discussed include Three's Company, Fame, Real People, Buck Rogers, the old Battlestar Galactica, and a bunch more. What were your favorite shows as a kid?

Episode 16: Harold and Nicole exchange heated opinions about The Sopranos and their experiences watching it. Was it meaningful or just a mish-mash of Mafia clichés? Could you stomach the violence or were the characters too unsympathetic to care about through the excruciatingly long season breaks? Where do you stand on The Sopranos?

Episode 15: Harold, Nicole, and their special guest, Kyle Minor, talk about ABC's juggernaut. Lost -- how they started watching it, how (and if) they've kept watching it, and what they're looking forward to as the show's conclusion looms on the distant, yet ever elusive horizon.

Episode 14: Harold and Nicole talk about NBC's newly announced 52-week schedule, which leads to a meditation on spinoffs -- which were good, which were great, which don't even count as spinoffs, but were just shows launched with gimmicky crossover episodes? What are your favorite spinoffs?

Episode 13: Harold and Nicole discuss great television couples through the ages. Nicole devises a 3-tiered classification system for romantic pairings on TV shows. And Harold gets all misty-eyed over Tim and Dawn from the UK version of The Office. It's a veritable lovefest!

Episode 12: Harold and Nicole discuss the merits of Friday Night Lights and try to decipher what the critics and fans find so appealing about this sports-themed drama. Are you psyched that Lights is almost certainly coming back for a third season?

We also answer a listener question: What was the short-lived show from the '90s that was similar to Wonder Years, but followed an urban family from an earlier era?

Show notes:

• Friday Night Lights - you can stream full episodes of both seasons on NBC's website or pick up the DVDs for a pretty cheap price
• Brooklyn Bridge - it starred Danny Gerard, Peter Friedman and Marion Ross, among many others. It garnered several Emmy awards and then disappeared.

Episode 11: Harold and Nicole talk about Reality Television in general, as a cultural trend, and more specifically about the shows that they've watched and enjoyed, both past and present. Top it all off with a short chat about Rob Thomas, who has not one, but two new shows on the slate for next year -- a spinoff of Beverly Hills 90210 and a revamped version of his 1998 show, Cupid.

Show notes:

• Devwatch: Reality Shows - The Futon Critic's amazing list of reality shows that have been ordered for next year -- both pilots and series. If you only ever click one link in our show notes, please let this be the one, if only so you can dream about a possible future where Celebracadabra, Hey Bitches, L.A. Gang Unit, and Untitled Diddy Assistant Project are all waiting for you on your TiVo.
• America's Next Top Model - Guiltily or guilt-free, people love this show -- but you better believe they all fast-forward through Tyra Mail.
• FourFour - If you love ANTM, you'll probably enjoy Rich's weekly coverage.
• The Real World - Nineteen seasons in and they're still going. Strong? Hard to say.
• Project Runway - Perhaps the reality show with the highest barrier to entry, yet they still manage to cast some real nutjobs. A truly impressive achievement!
• SuperNanny - She comes in, cracks some skulls, and the kids behave. Looking forward to next year's SuperManny spinoff.
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Sure, it's an elaborate fantasy, and the made-over homes are held together with chicken wire and good intentions, but on the plus side, you are almost guaranteed to cry during the reveal...
• Temptation Island - They made three whole seasons of this stinker. It was a simpler time back then.
• The Biggest Loser - Harold is watching this one and has realized that an entire two-hour show can be watched while fast-forwarding in an envigorating 25 minutes. If only he was watching from the treadmill...
• "To Catch A Predator" - an ethically challenged recurring segment on Dateline NBC. This is the kind of reality television that makes everyone involved look really gross -- from the producers to the police to the perps. For some background, there's an Esquire feature and news about a recent lawsuit.
• Not one, but two Rob Thomas articles from The Hollywood Reporter
• Alan Sepinwall on Cupid on YouTube

Episode 10: Harold and Nicole talk about the recently launched TV portal, Hulu, and how ad-supported streaming video sites had better make the commercial-watching experience better than broadcast, not worse. We also tackle the sticky subject of the 10 "smartest" shows, as chosen by the chairman of MENSA. The list isn't popular, but can you do better? We round out the week by talking about upcoming DVD releases and the shocking news that Britney Spears has barged onto the set of How I Met Your Mother, causing guest star Alicia Silverstone to bail.

Show notes:

• Hulu - the lovechild entertainment portal from NBC and FOX. Watch everything from the Westminster Kennel Club to WKRP. Check out the coverage for more background.
• New Amsterdam - a new show about a NYC homicide cop who's 400 years old and immortal -- for now.
• 30 Days - Morgan Spurlock's TV-sized take on Super Size Me offers month-long looks at a variety of predicaments.
• The MENSA Post - the king of the brainiacs says Boston Legal and Mad About You are two of the "smartest shows" in the history of television. Hilarity ensues...
• Battlestar Galactica Season 3 - hits stores on March 18, just in time to brush up before...
• Battlestar Galactica Season 4 - premieres on the Sci-Fi channel the first week in April. Go now for an 8-minute recap.
• Bionic Woman - This show stunk. Sorry. Although, on the bright side, the discs, also out on March 18, might have some behind-the-scenes footage with Michelle Ryan, and she probably has a cool British accent.
• How I Met Your Mother - Two questions: Will they survive the Britney Spears stunt-casting? What happened to Barney's blog? Visit CBS for full episodes. Tune in March 24th for the Crossroads star.
• The Britney Experience - show creator Craig Thomas tells the tale.
• Neil Patrick Harris interview: "There were lots of 'Hey, hey—I need to see your wristband,' and I said, 'Lady, I'm actually on the show, so I don't have a wristband.'"
• We had some minor audio glitches this week. We apologize. It won't be a regular occurence, we promise.

Episode 9: Harold and Nicole and their guest, Jenny Check, discuss their attitudes towards and approaches for avoiding (or finding) spoilers -- key facts about future episodes of their favorite shows. Are you spoiler-phobic or spoiler-addicted?

Show notes:

• Spoiler Fix - search by show or just get the latest updates via their blog
• Spoilers News - spoiler links from around the web
• Ask Ausiello - TV Guide's Michael Ausiello answers reader questions, mostly about individual shows and their futures
• Slayage - the site of many a Buffy spoiler
• Mars Investigations - a very cool site about the defunct Veronica Mars series, with a fancy-pants drop-down menu that lets you avoid any spoilers

Episode 8: Harold talks with guests Jon Brooks and Molly McCall about the new half-hour HBO drama, In Treatment, and about other recent television portrayals of psychotherapy.

Show notes:

• In Treatment - Gabriel Byrne heads a talented cast recreating an Israeli show (Be'Tipul) about a therapist and his patients
• Narrative Junkie - guest Jon Brooks' site about movies and television
• "He Listens. He Cares. He Isn't Real." - a New York Times piece on audience reaction to Paul Weston, the main character of In Treatment
• Tell Me You Love Me - Did anyone like this show? Not our guests.
• The Sopranos - Dr. Melfi is perhaps the most well-known therapist from recent history of television, but she is certainly not universally loved.
• Irvin Yalom -this Stanford University Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry shared his impressions of TV therapists on KQED's Forum with Michael Krasny

Episode 7: Classic detective shows, past and present. Plus, we give our differential diagnosis of House -- is the main character a doc or a dick, or both?

Show notes:

• Magnum P.I. - Tom Selleck's career-making turn as a Ferrari-driving, shorts-wearing, Detroit-Tigers-loving houseguest / detective.
• High Road to China - Selleck tries to keep up with the Indiana Joneses. We liked this film, but apparently it's not beloved enough to make it to DVD.
• TV Eyes - a pretty good all-inclusive list of television detectives.
• Matt Houston - he was rich, he solved mysteries, and the ladies loved him.
• Remington Steele - Pierce Brosnan's career has held up a lot better than this early-80s detective show.
• Tenspeed and Brownshoe - Jeff Goldblum and Ben Vereen starred in this short-lived Stephen J Cannell series. Truly great, if you're 12 years old.
• Monk - Tony Shalhoub is kinda kooky, and kinda great.
• Seven Second Delay - radio comedy show on WFMU, with Andy Breckman, creator of Monk. You can also listen to the hosts on The Sound of Young America.
• Bones - Angel alum David Boreanaz is the best thing about this overly formulaic oddball detective duo.
• Sleuth Channel - this cable network's web site will soon start streaming classic detective series. Fingers crossed for Hardcastle and McCormick.
• House - we love Hugh Laurie, but we're on the fence about this repetitive and far-fetched medical mystery series.
• A couple of favorites Harold neglected to mention: The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew, Nero Wolfe, Miami Vice, The Equalizer, Sherlock Holmes, Veronica Mars.

Episode 6: Nicole and Harold talk about the resolution of the Writers' Strike and the resumption of regularly scheduled programming. Plus a quick preview of Fancast, an entertainment site with some interesting streaming content.

Show notes:

• WGA - the members of the Writers Guild are going back to work and will vote on the agreement in the coming weeks.
• "Entertainment Industry's Future is Anyone's Guess" - a short segment from NPR's Morning Edition
• Current TV - a younger network, trying to employ new business models.
• Scrubs - The end is near, but we're not sure how or where it will arrive.
• Journeyman - no more new episodes. Ever.
• Fancast - brand new entertainment portal with a decent amount of shows available online and on demand.
• Hallelujah - our podcast image courtesy of Kanaka Pacifica, Creative Commons, and Flickr.

Episode 5: Nicole and Harold talk about sci-fi and speculative fiction shows they've enjoyed over the years.

Show notes:

• Lost in Space - Nicole's first sci-fi crush.
• Battlestar Galactica - the original series was one of Harold's early favorites.
• Lost - Harold lost faith after the first season; Nicole continues to enjoy the adventure...
• Heroes - that first season was pretty great, until the last episode.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation - Nicole was a casual fan; Harold loved the original Star Trek with Shatner and Nimoy and the gang, but never watched the spinoffs.
• Alias - was the Rambaldi storyline enough to make this series qualify as sci-fi? Discuss.
• Alien Nation - wasn't Mandy Patinkin in this show? Must have been the movie, not the show.
• V - The much loved mini-series led to a weekly show, which didn't really catch on.
• Jericho - Kyle likes it, so it must be good.
• Firefly - a sci-fi show with absolutely no vaguely humanoid aliens.
• The Sarah Connor Chronicles - a promising start to bringing The Terminator to the small screen.
• Torchwood - a British sci-fi spin-off from the Doctor Who universe.
• Upside Down and Halfway to Happy Land - a Buffy podcast

Episode 4: Nicole and Harold discuss their favorite situation comedy of the last few years, and preview some TV-related titles that just came out on DVD.

Show notes:

• 30 Rock - What a shocker! Yes, we love Tina Fey and the whole gang.
• Damages - the popular new F/X show is now available on disc.
• This American Life - DVDs of the first season of Ira Glass's Showtime series are exclusively available at Borders, but you can also buy episodes on Amazon Unbox.

Episode 3: In this episode, Nicole and Harold talk about their history of watching situation comedies, from the syndicated classics to modern shows like The Office. Nicole also discusses her feelings about According to Jim.

Show notes:

Who needs show notes for every darn episode? Not us, apparently. You're on your own this week...

Episode 2: Nicole and Harold talk about the impact of the WGA strike and what the future holds for the post-strike TV landscape.

Show notes:

• Defamer - Gawker media blog offers its take on Hollywood
• "The Post-Strike Landscape" - some speculation from the New York Times