I also very much appreciated the frank perspective that newspaper folks looking for a break manufacture material all of the time if they feel it supports the underlying journalism.

After years of creating great television with Homicide and now the Wire, he basically let his baser instincts grab ahold of him and he used this season to release some long held rage towards the paper he felt had done him wrong.

He was a beat writer for the Sun and when he left, it was with a lot of resentment. Newspapers in the 90’s weren’t the newspapers of the 60’s or 50’s or even back at the turn of the century. Because papers have had to change to deal with various forms of media, the business models change, but the curmudgeons and social malcontents that make up your local paper newsroom never did change.

But to get to the point, Simon has this perception of how a newspaper should be run, it wasn’t run that way, and he took a season of the best show on TV to force feed his views and settle old debts with publishers and editors, which wouldn’t be a terrible thing if the story was good. But it wasn’t.

What a waste of acting talent this season was. Especially coming off of season 4, which was amazing.

But this was definitely a let down. It ended as well as it could, given the circumstances Simon put everyone in, but it really could have been special. And it wasn’t.

Five different half hour episodes weekly, covering a nine week period.

I’ll also second your recommendation of the original Office. I grew to love the American version, but there’s just something about David Brent. The squirm factor is palpable.

So let’s just say it: given it’s short history, HBO creates the best television ever made. Is that even debatable, actually?

The Wire, Deadwood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Big Love, The Sopranos, Rome, Flight of the Conchords, Extras, Six Feet Under.

Even the candy floss - Sex In The City & Entourage - is amusing.

The misses - John From Cincinnati, Carnivale - are so few that they make Ty Cobb look like a flailer.

The John Adams biopic looks to be outstanding.

So did I. I couldn’t do it justice. 58, 59 and 60 were the three best episodes of the entire run, I think, topping the second to last episode from season 3.

I only really cry when a pet dog dies, or I’m a little drunk listening to the end of Springsteen’s “Jungleland,” or Roy Hobbs hits that last home run down two strikes (got-damn soundtrack), but my living room got a little misty when Bubbles sat down to dinner at his sister’s table.