TV Stuff

[shipperx]

Okay, big deadline at work has meant that I've worked all weekend so I didn't see the Who finale or the premiere of Being Human, but that's okay as I've already seen both. Did see the season premiere of Mad Men and tonight's episode of True Blood.

Mad Men: Peggy and Pete were darn cute being all competent at their jobs and stuff. Don's gloss was kinda tarnished (though as someone who just worked all weekend, I have to envy the fact that he can sleep in his office. And OMG, Roger's office. How cutting edge design (bet Jane hired a decorator for it. And not the one that did Betty's living room... though I did note that Betty had a new, traditional bed.) And Betty seems as 'great' a mother as always.

True Blood Aw. Poor Lafayette. Knew that things were going way too smoothly. But darn Lafayette and Jesus were cute. Am interested in the duo. Eric's fake smile is creepy as hell! But I did enjoy his outrageous flirtation with The King. Also enjoyed The King's amazement at how in the dark Sookie is. Less amused by how quickly Sookie went to "bygones!" over Bill's actions, particularly regarding Tara. Speaking of Tara, yay she got her backbone and some of her brain back. Unfortunately from the trailer I suspect that I was right yelling at the TV "Oh for God's sake, grab an axe and chop his head off!" Has she forgotten "vampire healing?" One suspects that Franklin is going to be even more insane when he inevitably turns up still undead. All in all -- Plot progression! Hey, I appreciate plot progression.

Comments

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Mad Men was exquisite. Don Draper can be knocked down, but he's never out. This show is the perfect antidote to...

...True Blood, which is more preposterous and overcrowded by the minute. I completely loathe Sookie now - she's obviously as moronic as her brother, and that's really not something you want for the heroine of a TV show. Jesus. She's going to forgive BEEL for everything! She's a doormat and a whiner, and I hate her. Bill can have her.

Ball is changing Eric so much from the book character that I don't think I'll wait for Godric's reappearance anymore. I doubt it would change anything anyway. I FF through most of each episode and immediately delete each one, so it's obvious the show holds no more allure for me. On Sunday nights I'll stick to MM, Rubicon and the odd Masterpiece thingy from now on.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I think it's probably to my advantage that I've not read the books so it doesn't bother me when they deviate. That said, I think True Blood is just camp. It in now way, shape, form, or thought in same league as Mad Men. True Blood is deliberately OTT and their OTT often goes so OTT that it's just spectacle. Everything on Mad Men is done with deliberate intent.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Tara, yay she got her backbone and some of her brain back. Unfortunately from the trailer I suspect that I was right yelling at the TV "Oh for God's sake, grab an axe and chop his head off!" Has she forgotten "vampire healing?" One suspects that Franklin is going to be even more insane when he inevitably turns up still undead
Nods. Tara really didn't think that one out well.

Eric's fake smile is creepy as hell! But I did enjoy his outrageous flirtation with The King. Also enjoyed The King's amazement at how in the dark Sookie is.
Russell really is a great Big Bad this Season, so much more enjoyable than Maryann.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Russel is a really fun villain. Maryanne became just sort of ... gross. But Russel's relationship with Talbot is hilarious. Then he comes across as smart. And we have hints of just how ruthlessly evil he truly is. That combo works. he's not always playing the same note. Maryanne was, for the most part, just one note.

[calturner.livejournal.com]

Sookie forgives Bill far too easily, doesn't she? I much prefer her when she's apart from him. She becomes way too reckless as soon as he's back on the scene, and seems to lose what little common sense that she has. It's annoying!

But yay for Tara fighting back! Franklin is going to be so pissed when his head grows back. :D

Poor Lafayette. I knew things were going far too well!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I was kind of stunned where it was mentioned (I think by Alan Ball) that the entire course of True Blood from Season 1 until now has been EIGHT WEEKS. When he said that I was like... and she's so obsessive with Bill why, again? They went from never having met to lets get married to I'm obsessed with you beyond all my reasoning faculties... in the space of six to eight weeks? That's a bit much.

Oh man, Franklin is going to be terrifyingly pissed. SHOULDDA CHOPPED HIS HEAD OFF!

[shapinglight]

:shades eyes from Mad Men spoilers:

I enjoyed True Blood, as always, though have to agree it was a bit bloodthirsty this week (more so even than usual), and Tara should definitely have cut Franklin's head off. He's sure to be back.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Most of my Mad Men comments were art direction. You know Mad Men, it likes to do a slow build.

And what was Tara thinking? When a vamp dies, they're a puddle of blood. Franklin was not a puddle of blood. He's gonna be terrifyingly batshit when he comes after her (and Frain is rocking the house. And I liked Franklin's PJs. :)

[shapinglight]

Franklin's PJs were insane! Like the rest of him.

I do wonder if he might react to Tara's not beheading him as being a sign of how much she really loves him. He is that bonkers.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Girlfriend should have chosen axe.

Decapitation - a classic for a reason.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I know! Bludgeoning might get her aggression out, but when TB vamps die, they're a puddle of blood. Was Franklin a puddle of blood? No. He's not dead, Tara!

[angearia.livejournal.com]

True Blood wasn't as enjoyable for me this episode. Last week's was just nonstop fun, but this felt dissatisfying.

Then I watched Mad Men and realized what was wrong with True Blood: too much flash, not enough substance. TB seems intent on shocking us, again and again. Eventually, I become a bit desensitized to it. And yeah, grossed out, but it's the sort of reaction that means I don't want to experience the show again.

With Mad Men, I want to rewatch and relive those scenes. The slow buildup of malaise and how Don is self-destructing because he doesn't know who he is anymore. He's lost his wife and his home--who is Don Draper? He hasn't invented a new story to tell anyone, he's just walking around like a cypher. Until the end, when he realizes he's the entrepeneur. What's fascinating is that while he's telling the story, and he probably thinks it's just a story, he really is the story he's telling. He just feels like such a phony that he can't see the story is really his life, his identity, that it's genuine.

There's so many fascinating layers to this show. Quality. And I loved Peggy and Pete in this. And how Peggy is constantly figuring out ways to work with Don, even doing so coyly, but she'll still lay it straight, tell him to his face he's being "spiteful". Go Peggy!

There was not enough Joan in this episode, but I loved the bits of Roger we got like "Oh good, I caught you while you're vulnerable" and "stuff her turkey"--oh Roger. Though I thought the potshots at the guy with the wooden leg were ugly, but it's the sort of ugly that's truthful in how people were thoughtless and awful about disabilities.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. True Blood is fun, but all that it is on the surface is really all that it is. It does stuff to be OTT just for the hell of it. With Mad Men, everything it does is deliberate. There's intent behind it. It's in an entirely different league than True Blood.

And yeah, it needs more Joan. But I figure we'll catch up with her in another episode.

[silverusagi]

Yeah, Tara, you should have cut his head off. It also probably would have been less gross.

[cy-girl.livejournal.com]

I don't have HBO so I'm watching Season 2 of True Blood on Netflix. I find Sookie really grating at this point and was happy to see her locked in a basement. I watch it for the secondary characters.

Love the design on Mad Men. The Saarinen tables and chairs! The Florence Knoll sofa! Want!