3: Life on Mars in America; trimming "The Wire;" will "Friday Night Lights" go dark?

They say talk is cheap but we prove it's actually free! Unpaid podcasts are the best love ever! (I'm feeling really exclamation point happy today...). So, here's the TV Talk Machine "Ep. 3," featuring the return of Question Boy (Chronicle media writer and longtime friend Joe Garofoli), e-mail and phone mail questions from around the globe, my willingness to drink Ken Burns' old bottled water both because my throat was killing me and I thought it might make me smarter. And yes, the aforementioned George Clooney man-love. (It's a long story. But it started out innocently enough with a reference to the unnamed Erica Hill, a longtime crush magnet of mine, but then it sort of spun sideways...the Clooney thing, not the Erica Hill crush which is chugging right along, no thanks to Anderson Cooper, who's 360 degrees of cable nonsense has essentially kept me away from EH...) Along the way, Question Boy and I tackle everything from "The Wire" to shows on USA and why very talented people (Rob Corddry, David E. Kelley) can't see (smell?) the crap they're making. I get lots of love from Canada, which always feels so right, and then we manage to pointlessly ramble our way to the end. Ah, but before we get there, we drag in Chronicle podfather Benny Evangelista who was working the dials to join the fray over our TiVo vs. Replay debate. Yes, RePlay. Turns out I told Joe's wife to get him one years ago instead of a TiVo. My bad. Anyway, it's a lovely piece of work. If you hear only one podcast this year...well, hear the Ken Burns one. But still, come share the joy! Exclamation! For those of you wondering about that much-heralded two-part podcast with Ken Burns, yes, it's coming. I taped it at the Chronicle with him last week despite barely being able to talk. See?! You see what I do?! Anyway, the Chronicle's promotions department is going to work some mojo with the TV Talk Machine and once the forces of promotion and technology unite, we'll post it. Now, if only they'd invite the forces of capitalism to swing by for a cozy bottle of red, then we'd have something.