State Songs made its debut and we got lost in Robert Evans’ memoir this week on The A.V. Club

New This Week

State Songs, our newest video feature, premièred with Iron & Wine paying homage to the great state of Texas with the song “Waves Of Galveston.”

Don’t Miss

• Inventory looked at shows that found ways to improve after seasons that could have tanked the series.
• Nathan Rabin dove in to Robert Evans’ memoir The Kid Stays In The Picture, learning that overexposure to Evans’ writing leads to taking on the affectations of a ’70s movie producer.
• Loud premièred a track from Plow United’s forthcoming reunion album and reflected on how Spazz’s Dwarf Jester Rising remains an important piece of powerviolence history.
• Noel Murray explored what makes a singer good; it’s not just having range and power, although that certainly doesn’t hurt.
• Tom Sizemore went through his acting credits in Random Roles, relaying stories about Tom Hanks being totally likeable and Pete Rose telling him to “shut the fuck up.”
• Robyn Hitchcock told us what makes “Arthur’s Theme” such a miserable song and how its tie to a “schmucky film” doesn’t do it any favors.
• Watch This spent the week immersing itself in music documentaries, ranging from the inspiring We Jam Econo to the dysfunctional Beats Rhymes & Life.
• Noel Murray once again asked himself “Why Is This Commercial?” by analyzing how Samsung portrays its users as simultaneously smug and dorky.

This week in Great Job, Internet!:

• Everyone from “Weird” Al Yankovic to Marc Maron auditioned to be in The Postal Service in this Funny Or Die video written by Tom Scharpling.
• We discovered just how difficult Legends Of The Hidden Temple actually was, and that it was probably in violation of some child-endangerment laws as well.

What are we arguing about this week?

In addition to our AVQ&A that looked at pop culture we deem perfect, we told you just how lucky we are by teasing a new Neil Gaiman book.

This weekend

See: Oz The Great And Powerful fails to live up to the majesty it promised, but film editor Scott Tobias says Beyond The Hills is the best film so far this year.

Read: Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman take an in-depth look at how people define success and failure in the engaging analysis Top Dog: The Science Of Winning And Losing.

Listen to: Trent Reznor’s How To Destory Angels uses familiar sounds effectively, while The Men continue their move away from noisy hardcore.

Watch: TV Club Classic started its coverage of Gilmore Girls, finally giving you a reason to rewatch the whole series. Again.