Grid Effect

Now that, my friends, was a television night. Not the type where we sit down and watch any random show because we’re lazy and have nothing better to do. But the type that we actually waited in anticipation for all day (week) and it paid off tremendously.

We’ll post our Generation Kill review/recap later this afternoon, so just a few quick words about Mad Men. All we can say is that it lived up to all the expectations that we had placed upon it. The stylization was virtually identical to the first season, with a little less music and a truckload of Sopreano-isms, we’ll call them.

From the opening montage (which brilliantly used “Let’s Twist Again” as a callback to the usage of “Lets Do The Twist” in season one, an indicator of the year we’re in, and a shout out t all the fans who enjoyed the series so immensely last summer) that reminded us of the “Seven Souls” montage from season six, to the color palette, to Don Draper made a young kid take off his hat in an elevator (which Tony did while eating out with Ari); lets just say that if you didn’t watch the first season or have any idea who was involved behind the camera, but were an avid fan of The Sopranos, then you would probably notice the influence.

Someone's thrilled to finally lose the fat suit.

We don’t want to delve too much into plot, but all the inter-office friction (Don-Duck, Peggy-Joan, Pete-everybody) is setting up for a great storyline and thematic season. Anyhow, we’ll try to make this the last we say about it before Friday’s recap. Here are a few morning links for you while we try to collect our thoughts.

In a stunning move that wouldn’t shock anyone with a pulse or the simplest understanding of Nielsen ratings, HBO has canceled Tell Me You Love Me. Maybe I’m underwhelmed because I was under the assumption it had been canceled already, but this is truly the sign of a rebound for the network. Just get fucking rid of all the self-important melodrama of upper-mddle class white folks and bring us something people who aren’t going through divorces can appreciate.

It seems CBS has rearranged their scheduling, switching America’s Greatest Dog with the Big Brother eviction show. Jesus. Just the fact that they have this as an option, and is something that at least one other person spent a lot of time contemplating is extremely depressing. Can you imagine having a career extolling the virtues of either of these shows, in which you have to consider their respective strengths, who they appeal to and which is the preferred night to air each show on seems like a sign of the apocalypse.

Dexter is apparently only entering its third season, which is amazing because I’m pretty sure I’ve been hearing about how genius this show is for six or seven years now. But supposedly this season is about emotional development. Why do people watch this series like he is a normal person. When we watched The Sopranos or even The Wire, the murderers and thugs aren’t portrayed as noble dignitaries, nor does the majority of the audience interpret them as such. But for whatever reason, everyone watches Dexter and actively roots for his well-being. I’ve only seen a few episodes of the series, but isn’t he just reigning in his psychopathic tendencies and saving them for supposed criminals who’ve managed to escape justice? And isn’t this only the case because his dad taught him how to do this? Whatever. Maybe I’m biased because I don’t want to ante-up for Showtime.

Leonardo DiCaprio, probably as influential and powerful actor as there is in Hollywood, wants to make a Twilight Zone movie. Let’s see, it is late July…odds are this thing will be shooting in October.

And finally, Hard Knocks began filming last week and will debut on August 6th. This season is at the Cowboys mini-camp, which should be an upgrade from the dreadful Kansas City season of 2007. Anyhow, I believe the 6th is a Wednesday. Meaning for at least a couple weeks we’ll have a different series to write about on Monday (Generation Kill), Tuesday (Weeds), Wednesday (Rescue Me mini-episodes, but still), Thursday (Hard Knocks) and Friday (Mad Men). Yes, it’s good to be back.

Generation Kill recap later today.