Grid Effect

That was some fucking night of television. We got the best Mad Men of the season with huge stakes for all of the characters, but as great Mad Men was, it couldn’t even hold a candle to what David Simon gave us with the finale of Generation Kill. We got into work late and need to collect our thoughts before doing a recap, so we will just offer up some links this morning. But still, it warrants mentioning every hour, on the hour how great that was.

If you are in college and actually know of some obscure comedy on FX called It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, then chances are you aren’t doing it right. On the other hand, the news that the cast is doing a ten campus tour to promote the new season might interest you. Fact is, this series is catered to spoiled, entitled college kids with a twisted sense of humor, so it is probably a good move. If you are in college though, and use your domicile for anything more than sleeping, we still maintain that you are doing it wrong.

You know our countries priorities are askew when Johnny Fairplay is privileged enough to meet Barack Obama in a personal setting. While I am sure the guy who took a shit in a housemates bed once has some enlightening perspectives on foreign policy, this seems like a waste of everyone’s time except for the two people who agreed to it. I suppose if you are a fame whore, you are a fame whore in every aspect of the public eye. Just on principal we hope this photo costs Mr. Obama some votes and Fairplay some money that he so clearly, desperately needs.

More healthy news for teenage girls in America: MTV is set to produce a new “reality” series in which abhorrent amounts of weight. At least they give the person who loses the most $100,000, that way she can pay for college and all the physical and mental therapy she will need afterwards.

Here’s an article asking why television stars do not watch television. My best guess is they are bitter they are not in movies, other than that their reasons would vary just like any other non television actor: simply do not like the medium or are preoccupied for with other areas of life. One of the strangest cases of this to me was finding out that Wood Harris never watches The Wire (Looked for the link, read it in a rap publication awhile ago). Considering it is a masterpiece, he was an integral part of it for three seasons, and he is an aspiring musician (and all rap musicians seem to watch the series), I was actually taken back by this revelation.

This is something of interest for the upcoming Entourage season: Watch Richard Roeper and Michael Phillips (from the New York Times, I think), fire off on “Medellin” in the season premiere on Ebert an Roeper. That is actually a nice swan song for the PTI-esque film criticism show, especially considering Mr. Roeper is such a fan of the series and with them airing their last episode two Sundays ago and saying nary a word about it. One last hammering of some awful, pretentious, (fake) indie-film crap before the show goes quietly into the good night.

...Two hours later, the statue was missing.

Wire alums news: In news that shocked nobody Felicia “Snoop” Pearson (played Snoop, obviously) was arrested on drug charges. When she was fourteen she went to jail for man-slaughter, so if you look at it from that angle this isn’t so bad. Also, after five seasons of The Wire, Lance Reddick (Cedric Daniels) will be starring in Fringe, a much lighter-hearted series on FOXl and he is thankful for the change in tone and pace. I can imagine, I cry myself to sleep everytime I watch The Wire, if I actually had a hand in making it, I’d probably adapt too much to my surroundings.

Margaret Cho, in a feeble attempt to create some buzz about her new series, the unfortunately named Cho Show, has compared it to Curb Your Enthusiasm. I didn’t watch it on Friday night, mostly because it stars Maragaret Cho, is on Friday night and is on VH1, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that anything airing on VH1 is nothing like Curb Your Enthusiasm. Please inform us otherwise if we are wrong, but unless anyone says something in the next ten seconds, we’ll know we are right…Then it’s settled.

DMX, the one time hip-hop phenom, is now getting a reality series based on his legal trouble or something. I don’t know. By my estimation he is about fifteen years ahead of schedule. If you are using the Flava Flav model at least. DMX still isn’t donning a giant clock around his neck or any other novelty accessories, but then again his is set in prison and not some Hollywood owned mansion packed with trashy, desperate women with no worldy skills hoping to scorn the Earth with Flava Flav’s progeny.

That is it for now, back with the review/recap of Generation KIll later today.