Having blogged about my favorite new comedy, I feel I should mention another new favorite—New Amsterdam. Unfortunately, it looks like it might get canceled, but I really like some things about this show. It's the first show I can remember that really addresses the pain of immortality—of outliving the people you love.

I lost a brother already. I can't imagine what it would be like to outlive a child. The protagonist of New Amsterdam has outlived dozens of children and grandchildren. His dog is named 36! That's a lot of grief. The writers (and the actor) have done a good job making the character realistically optimistic. He'd have to be, to keep going day after day, year after year, century after century.

If freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, then immortality is just another name for loneliness.

I hope they don't cancel this show! It might be speculative fiction, but it's a hell of a lot better than so-called reality-TV.

One of my favorite new shows is The Big Bang Theory. I already blogged about liking the link between genius and science fiction. But last night's episode reminded me that I also like the way they have a smart woman as well as smart guys. Yes, it's only a 1-to-4 ratio, but at least Leslie Winkel got her chance to shine last night. And also, Leslie seems a good deal better adapted to society than our four very bright but socially clueless guys, so that's a kind of balance.

But really, I love the show because of the writing—clever, witty, fun, and loaded with in-joke science fiction references. What's not to like?

GalleyCat had an item that the band Fall Out Boy is licensing a comic book of themselves. This struck me as a hilarious example of circularity—the name of the band comes from Fallout Boy, the sidekick of RadioActive Man, a comic book hero in The Simpsons.

So, real people name their band after a fictional character on a fictional TV show, and then when they get famous, they create a fictional comic book version of themselves. Layers within layers! Where does make-believe start and reality end?