Grid Effect

We came into work an hour late realizing we would be the only people here, so were going to have to resort to links before we posting our Generation Kill recap. Mad Men, much like last week, will come on Friday. But we will go so far as to say that we’re pretty convinced this series is now in the same vein as The Wire and The Sopranos, in that there will always be something we take away from each episode. Because while last night may have seemed contrived on a lesser series (a plane crash that someones family member just so happened to be on), it seemed natural on Mad Men.

Also, let me add that while waiting for Generation Kill to start, we watched about ten minutes of promos out of sheer boredom. And in doing this we learned that HBO’s fall lineup looks to be astounding. We’ve got Entourage (still in the camp it needs to end but we’ll watch it anyways) and Conchords coming back, in addition to True Blood (which has potential) and a Dr. Katz -esque animated series entitled, The Life and Times Of TIm.

Here’s some bingers, to brighten up your day…

Lance Bass is reportedly going to compete on Dancing With The Stars. Or former stars in this case. Haha, I’m incorrigible. Anyhow, I guess there was speculation that he would have a male dance partner, because he is  gay, you see. If in fact he is going on this show and E! isn’t lying to us, this is probably the right move. You don’t want Bill O’Reilly harping on your lack of family values every night for ten minute stretches. There’s no sense in making that man jealous. Wait, what?

David Simon and several other Wire cohorts held a forum at something called the Museum of Moving Image and no one informed me. Sure, it’s probably in New York and I’m here in Columbus, but that still is only a mild deterrent. Some of the more interesting things to come out of the panel were the cast’s favorite characters and an apparent McNulty dream sequence that didn’t make it past final cut to open season two. In hindsight, they have to imagine that was the right decision. Can you imagine a Wire episode with dream sequences? That’s like the antithesis to Lost without flashbacks.

Here’s a column speculating on whether or not Ben Lyons, the kid set to be one half of the replacement for Ebert & Roeper, got the job only because of his famous dad. What? that’s ludicrous. Everyone knows that lineage and familial influence has no bearing on your place in the workforce, and the most qualified applicant always gets the position. I’m sure young Ben Lyons got the gig at E! the same way he got the Ebert and Roeper gig, through hard work and dedication. His dad being wealthy, famous and powerful are negligible.

I should probably pass this along to the few people who read this site: but here is a casting call of sorts to appear as an extra for Friday Night Lights. It’s really only practical if you live in the Austin area, but still, we’d do it for the chance to grab Minka Kelly’s ass. You know how in movies people often misrepresent their intentions to gain access to something, and it is usually to assassinate or rob somebody? Well, we’d be doing the same thing, but our ruse would be for something much more simple: to grope Minka Kelly before some meathead bruiser type knocked us out and threw us off set. It would probably still be worth it, but the cost-benefit analysis says otherwise.

We don't mean to alienate any female readers, but we might have to book a plane ticket to Austin.

Damages is doing a marathon next Saturday starting at 7am (Why so early, Batman?). This something we will probably record and pretend like we will eventually get around to watching it, only to delete it when our DVR is filling up (that’s right, finally got the DVR. It’s great to be back in 2004). But we honestly have every intention of watching it. I don’t know, sometimes I think The Wire ruined me to all law, crime and cop dramas for the rest of my life. But this one is so widely accepted we might have to defy conventional wisdom.

And finally, here is an article speculating on whether or not Justin Timberlake could host the Oscars. We didn’t watch the ESPY’s because we’d rather leap into a gauntlet of wild man-eating animals, but we hear he was quite good at delivering jokes that were written for him. Still, if Jon Stewart is replaced as an Oscar host for a former N’Sync member (while the one above is going to be on Dancing With The Stars), we’ll know it’s time to move onto another blog.

Generation Kill review/recap later today.