Grid Effect

We could have written the Mad Men recap yesterday and out of respect to you the reader and for our sanity, we probably should have. But this isn’t about what’s practical and what isn’t, it’s about doing the bare minimum and still being rewarded the same had we busted out ass. So today, later, we will get that done. For the time being let us enjoy some day old news items.

Oh, and fucking baseball waiting until mid-afternoon to announce that they were delaying the last three innings of game four until today really fucked us. We could have gotten the Tuesday preview out of the way yesterday and wrapped up all our nightly previews by next week. Sometimes, it just isn’t your seasonal shift.

So, remember when I said that Mathew Weiner would forever and always be associated with Mad Men, so long as it was on the air? Well, I’ve been usurped by Nikki Finke, who is reporting that Lions Gate wants to dump Weiner in favor of someone who won’t ask for $10 million a season. That is a heavy price tag for an independent production company, so I think their concerns are warranted. But we still maintain that this is a negotiation tactic. He demands too much, they put it in the media that he can be replaced before making a counter offer that they will then negotiate from. My guess is Weiner ends up with about $6 million for season three in a one year deal.

Speaking of Mad Men, here is a Simpsons parody which we all knew was coming. Thing is though, its not really a parody (unless the whole episode or at least part of it is modeled after the AMC series) of the show, just of the credits. And instead of a series of shadowy iconic images from the 60’s, it is a shadowy Homer plummeting from a building while brightly lit Simpsons characters and staples are attached to the buildings around him. Needless to say, they seem to be continuing to lose their touch. God, it pains me to badmouth The Simpsons.

It has not been a good six months for Ben Silverman. What with endless rumors that Jeff Zucker and the rest of NBC are looking to fire him, the constant allegations and suspicion about his supposedly depraved lifestyle, Silverman is probably regretting ever leaving his day job as a small TV production exec. Now Tina Fey finally admits what everyone was probably capable of figuring out, he is the inspiration for at least four different semi-bafoonish characters on 30 Rock, and since Tina Fey is basically the Barack Obama of comedy right now (you can’t criticize her, and even if you do, regardless of the legitimacy or severity criticism, nothing sticks). I get the impression that they were probably arguing behind the scenes, then the reviews/ratings came in for her series and it ended with Fey screaming, “I’m your boss, I’m your boss”, followed by her slamming her apartment door in his face.

If you do not get the above reference, hopefully you do now.

For those who may be interested, Barack Obama will be on The Daily Show tonight. I enjoy Jon Stewart’s nightly musings immensely and I will probably end up voting for tonight’s guest (if I do not abstain), but it has delved into a bit of a circle jerk lately and has been more of a daily prolonged endorsement for either why you should vote for Barack or not vote for McCain as opposed to an actual comedy show. Something we never thought we would be able to say.

It would seem that the ratings for True Blood, Life and Times of Tim and Little Britain are fairly underwhelming, because HBO is now entering the wine selling business. Specifically, Sopranos themed wine. If this feels like it is about four years too late to you or idiotic regardless of the poor timing, then rest assured you are not alone. Pssh, I’m holding out from HBO’s corporate shilling until they get into the smut business and open a gun store.

Mad Men recap later today.