PODCAST · tv
The TV Doctor
by M. Foss
Television "prescriptions" to help cure whatever is ailing you.
Episodes
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Sickbay: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" (Episode 53)
Send us some fan mail! In this episode, Ashley is not enjoying the Klingons. (Could it be because she hasn’t met WORF?) Also, does not enjoying the Klingons mean you aren’t enjoying Star Trek? M. Foss continues her Saru Apology Tour, and wonders when—or if—Ashley will come to appreciate him. He...
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Sickbay: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" (Episode 52)
Send us some fan mail! In this episode, M. Foss and Ashley ponder the classic time loop episode and how a time loop works as a metaphor across a myriad of situations. Is it a metaphor for fandom and how we trust our beloved properties to get back on the horse if they tried a little something and…
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Sickbay: "Lethe" (Episode 51)
Send us some fan mail! M. Foss accidentally uses an inappropriate (or is it?) slur to refer to Captain Gabriel Lorca (here's a hint: it sounds an awful lot like the word "horror") and Ashley absolutely knocks it out of the solar system with her take on Sarek's journey with guilt. Content Warning:...
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Sickbay: "Choose Your Pain" (Episode 50)
Send us some fan mail! Good news for Tilly apologists (like M. Foss): Ashley is warming up to everyone’s favorite cadet. Bad news for fans of Saru (like M. Foss): we can’t say the same about everyone’s favorite Kelpian. Ashley still hates him. Also bad news for anyone who has ever seen The…
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Sickbay: "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry" (Episode 49)
Send us some fan mail! In this episode, M. Foss creates a rather robust list of things that “are Star Trek” or “are NOT Star Trek”…follow along to see if you agree or disagree! Also, a question for the room: can we truly invest in a character without the threat of the character’s demise on the...
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Sickbay: "Context is for Kings" (Episode 48)
Send us some fan mail! If universal law is for lackeys, and context is for kings, then Star Trek is for lovers and we're fully shipping Lorca and Stamets over here. In this episode, Michael Burnham provides us with valuable lessons about leadership. Also, M. Foss is on the edge of breaking down…
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Sickbay: "Battle at the Binary Stars" (Episode 47)
Send us some fan mail! M. Foss and Ashley are back on the bridge with a fun but frank take on the hegemonic stifling of main character energy when said main character is Michael Burnham. We also tackle the topic of whether Klingons can be racist amongst each other (spoiler alert: they can)....
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Sickbay: "The Vulcan Hello" (Episode 46)
Send us some fan mail! Welcome to the premiere of The TV Doctor, Season 5! This time around, we're doing things a little differently. Think of Season 5 as a clinical trial. M. Foss has returned, but she's not alone. For Season 5, the TV Doctor will be joined by a very special "intern" for a very...
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Polyphagia: Food Television (Episode 45)
Send us some fan mail! Nothing says "summer" like a heaping helping of Food TV! Welcome to the cookout. Come get you a plate. Your auntie made the Over-the-Counter potato salad, so you KNOW it's fire. Oh, and your uncle is over there grilling up a BOMB Second Opinion. The cousins said they're…
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Sick Day: Game Shows (Episode 44)
Send us some fan mail! Who doesn't want to wager one dollar or spin the wheel or get a Daily Double or offer their final answer or conquer Mt. Midoriyama? Everyone loves game shows, especially The TV Doctor. Join M. Foss for a countdown of the best traditional game shows of all time (and stay…
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Malpractice: Gone Too Soon (Episode 43)
Send us some fan mail! Have you ever felt like you were the only person in the world who watched (and loved) a show? Do you believe you are the sole member of the Official (insert disappeared show name here) Fan Club? Do you have a miles-long roster of shows that, in your opinion, were gone too...
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Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: The Television Musical (Episode 42)
Send us some fan mail! Existing somewhere in the space between Empire and Annie Live!, the television musical is a powerful elixir, capable of twisting up your entire emotional constitution with less than a minute of the ol' song-and-dance. You might think musicals are corny, but also...I don't...
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Advance Directive: Best Finales Ever (Episode 41)
Send us some fan mail! Perhaps an episode all about series finales would make a proper show for the end of this current season. But you know what? The TV Doctor is a little superstitious. I'm not trying to end up like those shows that create a season finale only to discover they've been canceled...
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Physician, Heal Thyself: What show do you hate watch? (Episode 40)
Send us some fan mail! You know how they say you only hate something in others you also hate about yourself? Well, The TV Doctor is back with another "Physician, Heal Thyself" episode to try to prove that old saying wrong. We only hate when we're hate-watching, and it's all love, baby! Tune in if...
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Space Adaptation Syndrome: Afrofuturism in Television (Episode 39)
Send us some fan mail! Join the TV Doctor on a journey into light, time, space, and place. Amongst the stars we go, with a raised fist! It's time to talk Afrofuturism, y'all! NOTE: You'll notice a little voice in the background during my chat with my Second Opinion. That's her daughter, who was...
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Physician, Heal Thyself: Which TV World is Home? (Episode 38)
Send us some fan mail! The TV Doctor's back again with another entry in the "Physician, Heal Thyself" series. This time, the TV Doc answers the question, "In which television show would you like to live?" (Hint: the answer is NOT Star Trek; pop in around the 05:05 mark if you want to know why…
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Physician, Heal Thyself: We need to talk about We Need to Talk About Cosby (Episode 37)
Send us some fan mail! The TV Doctor returns for a fourth season with a new series: Physician, Heal Thyself. On this episode, the TV Doc answers the question, "What was your favorite show when you were a kid?" (the answer: The Cosby Show). It's a complicated and controversial answer; luckily, the...
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Homesickness: The HBCU Experience (Episode 36)
Send us some fan mail! Homesickness is a funny thing, ain't it? Some of us feel it when we leave home for college. Some of us feel it when we leave college for the next thing. This episode is dedicated to those of us in that second camp: the ones for whom college is HOME, especially those of us…
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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Marvel Cinematic Universe, TV Edition (Episode 35)
Send us some fan mail! You know what every good television universe needs? A proper crossover episode, of course! Well, never let it be said that the TV Doctor doesn't give you what you need. In this episode, M. Foss welcomes legendary comic experts The Capeless Crusaders for a spicy conversation...
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Stockholm Syndrome: Law & Order (Episode 34)
Send us some fan mail! In the [televised] criminal justice system, the majority of programs are considered especially heinous. In the world of podcasting, the dedicated host who investigates these vicious time-sucks is a member of an elite squad known as The TV Doctor. This is her episode about…
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Phantom Limb Syndrome: The Promise of the Premise (Episode 33)
Send us some fan mail! Sometimes our favorite shows will try to convince us that we can't see what we KNOW we can see, or that we ARE seeing something that's not really there, like a phantom limb. Join the TV Doctor for a discussion of three shows that try to get away with this kind of okie doke:...
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Hypnopompic Hallucinations: Hauntology and Atonement (Episode 32)
Send us some fan mail! Join the TV Doctor as we graciously invite the poltergeist that was 2020 to stop haunting us. Our last episode of the year asks us to consider past, present, and yet to come, just like ya boy Scrooge (Dickens or Duck, take your pick). You'll be visited by three shows that...
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Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca: Tearjerkers (Episode 31)
Send us some fan mail! It's not that you've got something in your eye; it's that you just worked your way through The TV Doctor's list of recommended tearjerkers. It's okay to cry. Let it all out. There, that's better. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tv-doctor/message
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Dyschronometria: What day is it? (Episode 30)
Send us some fan mail! The TV Doctor is back after some time (a little bit of time? a long time? who's to say?) with some timeless questions: Why is it so difficult to wrap our heads around the concept of time? What can television do to center us in the here and now? And, most importantly, what…
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Hyperthymesia, part two: I May Destroy You (Episode 29)
Send us some fan mail! In this conclusion to my two-part conversation about the revelation that is I May Destroy You, my Second Opinion guest (the esteemed Elaine Welteroth) and I are joined by Elaine's husband, Jonathan Singletary, who provides an interesting Third Opinion from a man's...
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Hyperthymesia: I May Destroy You (Episode 28)
Send us some fan mail! It might just be the best show of the summer. Hell, it might just be the best show of all time. When a show says "I May Destroy You," take it as a WHOLE trigger warning. There's so much to unpack here that it takes The TV Doctor and her Second Opinion (New York Times...
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Iron-deficiency Anemia: Best TV Weddings Ever (Episode 27)
Send us some fan mail! Dearest listener, do you take this podcast episode to be your downloaded and subscribed favorite? To positively review and rank? To laugh and to swoon? In long delays between episodes (blame COVID...I do) and House Calls on Instagram in the meantime, from this day forward,...
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Spontaneous Pneumothorax: Best TV Pilots Ever (Episode 26)
Send us some fan mail! What do superheroes have in common with a 9-1-1 operator, a Parent Trap-esque dating spree, an Evil Queen, and the 1970s sitcom What's Happening? They're all hints about the shows that made my list of the Best TV Pilots of all time! Can you use these hints to guess which...
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Depersonalization Disorder: Faith and Belief (Episode 25)
Send us some fan mail! The TV Doctor returns for a third season, kicking things off with a journey through the way three shows tackle the greatest question known to humankind: what do I BELIEVE? From the non-denominational certainty of Proof, to the ironically irreverent treatment of organized...
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Emergency Room: Watchmen (Episode 24)
Send us some fan mail! The representation of law enforcement on television is highly problematic, prompting some to call for it to be abolished along with the institutions it portrays. Others, like yours truly, instead recommend a change in the kind of representations we see (as well as more...
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Levodian Flu: Boldly Go (Episode 23)
Send us some fan mail! Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the TV Doctor podcast. Its continuing mission: to explore strange (yet familiar) new topics, to seek out new understandings about television texts and new connections for listeners, and to boldly go where thousands of...
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Rehabilitation: Here's to the Badasses! (Episode 22)
Send us some fan mail! Cheers to the Badass! Let us salute the characters who are serving us toughness, intellect, respectability, success, bravery, empathy, and vulnerability. May we know them. May we be them. May we watch more of them on television. May we learn more about them in this week's...
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Tonic Immobility: My Social Distancing Watchlist (Episode 21)
Send us some fan mail! This is not your average "what to watch while you self-isolate" list. Take a sneak peek inside The TV Doctor's A List (shows you REALLY SHOULD WATCH but just haven't done so yet) and B List (shows you REALLY SHOULD WATCH but probably never will, if we're being totally...
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Emergency Room: Love is Blind (Episode 20)
Send us some fan mail! If, like pretty much anyone who has Netflix, you've already heard of (or totally devoured) the "social experiment" known as Love is Blind, then why not hang out with The TV Doctor and friends for a spell as we chew it up and spit it out in all the ways you hadn't yet...
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Sprained Rotator Cuff: The Docuseries (Episode 19)
Send us some fan mail! Gimme a "DOCU"...gimme a "SERIES"...what's that spell? It spells: we're talking about the docuseries on this week's episode! From the awe-inspiring beauty of Planet Earth to the surprising depth and empathy of CHEER, we explore the sub-genre that reality-based programming...
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Emergency Room: The Circle (Episode 18)
Send us some fan mail! Don't worry that you're in the Emergency Room...you're under the capable care of The TV Doctor! It appears you have an acute case of SMOTS: Social Media on Television Syndrome. Your symptoms include blurry eyes (Where IS the line between reality and fiction online, anyway?)...
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Vinegar Syndrome: The Art of (and IN) Television (Episode 17)
Send us some fan mail! It's a question that has existed as long as the medium itself: can television be considered art? (Here's a hint: YES.) Now, here's a much younger question: how do we feel about art ON television? How does it impact the meanings we make and the positions we take as a result…
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Synesthesia: Doing It Yourself (Episode 16)
Send us some fan mail! No need to grab a hammer, you won't need your hot glue gun, and put down that tape measure. The only thing you'll need for this episode about DIY-TV is a time and place to listen! Let's get all "home and garden" with it, shall we? --- Send in a voice message:...
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Capgras Delusion: The Curious Case of Celebreality (Episode 15)
Send us some fan mail! Celebrities: they're just like us (if by "like us," you mean they too freak out when their opportunities to embarrass and/or exonerate themselves on national television start to dry up)! In this episode, the TV Doctor ponders the nature of what the folks over at VH1 call...
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The Countdown! (Episode 14)
Send us some fan mail! Who doesn't love a good countdown? It's the end of the year AND the end of the decade, and everyone wants to tell you about their Top 10 shows (Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men...blah blah blah). The TV Doctor, however, wants to tell you about the OTHER Top 10 shows,...
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Dissociative Fugue Disorder: Sketch Comedy (Episode 13)
Send us some fan mail! From Saturday Night Live to MADtv, from Key and Peele to A Black Lady Sketch Show, and a quick stop in Portlandia, this episode breaks the fourth wall between the audience and the stage in that television staple, the sketch comedy. In this episode, the TV Doctor considers…
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Nostalgia: The Pain From an Old Wound (Episode 12)
Send us some fan mail! It's the Season Finale, so it's only right that we wrap up our first season with a fond look back at the way we were (and apparently, we were advertising executives on Madison Avenue in New York City, rock star flight attendants, and time traveling, crime fighting history...
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Does Teamwork Make the Post-Apocalyptic Dream Work? (Episode 11)
Send us some fan mail! After weeks and weeks of The TV Doctor dragging The Walking Dead around (like Michonne used to drag her zombie "pets"), it's finally time to learn what really motivates the Doctor's discontent. We're doing a Dead deep dive, y'all! --- Send in a voice message:...
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Osteoporosis: Aging on the Small Screen (Episode 10)
Send us some fan mail! What does it mean that it's been 25+ years and The Golden Girls is still the "gold" standard when it comes to representations of older people on television? We'll also ponder why Ron Cephas Jones is such a national treasure, why we could never cancel Betty White, and why…
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Necrosis: Shows That Go BUMP in the Night (Episode 9)
Send us some fan mail! From Dracula and the Wolf Man to being exorcised or buried alive, there's tons of spooky fun to be had on the small screen. No need to go to the theater...just scoot a little closer to your viewing partner on that couch, and enjoy one or all of the bone tingling delights...
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Insomnia: Chasing the Dream (Episode 8)
Send us some fan mail! The TV Doctor gets a Second Opinion from a real live actor on the topic of shows that depict the chasing of dreams. The OTC is an assortment of feel good moments from Reality-Based programs, and in Urgent Care, the TV Doctor writes a prescription for herself...it might be...
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Deep Laceration: Jumping the Shark (Episode 7)
Send us some fan mail! If you are a television show, there is only one fate worse than death: jumping the shark. You were once young and fresh and sexy, but then you ran out of interesting things to say, and you thought a gimmick would be the way to make people love you again. You were wrong. You...
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Deindividuation: It's not TV, it's HBO (Episode 6)
Send us some fan mail! Have you ever wondered what the following items have in common: the Stanford Prison Experiment, Batman: the animated series, Tales from the Crypt, musculoskeletal radiology, and Jimmy Iovine? No? Well, The TV Doctor is here to connect it all for you anyway. --- Send in a...
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Addiction: The Spectacle of "Exploitavision" (Episode 5)
Send us some fan mail! Exploitative television (TV that benefits from the pleasure we get from watching the hot messiness of others) is on the rise, and it's got us addicted, even when it's a show on the topic of addiction! Find out why Reality TV "stars" would sign up to be exploited; how Alicia...
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The Fever: LGBTQ-TV (Episode 4)
Send us some fan mail! They say you should feed a cold and starve a fever, but this fever deserves to be fed! This week's shows are lighting a fire under antiquated notions of who should be represented on television and in what ways. We'll explore three shows that are turning up the heat on your...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The TV Doctor have?
The TV Doctor currently has 53 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The TV Doctor about?
Television "prescriptions" to help cure whatever is ailing you.
How often does The TV Doctor release new episodes?
The TV Doctor has 53 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The TV Doctor?
You can listen to The TV Doctor on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The TV Doctor?
The TV Doctor is created and hosted by M. Foss.
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