Notes on Pop Culture: Periodical Beach Reading, The Newsroom & Political Animals

I spent the past week on a Cape Cod family vacation where I swam, biked (rode a bike for the first time in many, many years), enjoyed sunsets, fresh seafood and got thoroughly and embarrassingly crushed on a farm-themed mini-golf course. (My 10-year-old handily kicked my behind.)

But when we weren't scanning the seas for seals, the favorite snack of sharks  -- we were a few miles away from that Cape beach where a shark chased a kayaker -- I was gorging on the heaps of reading material I brought along (an academic book and Lord of the Rings, both for a research project I'm working on, along with a bunch of periodicals). Here's what kept me entertained:

New Yorker: For a Boston area resident, I was rather sickeningly Gotham-centric this past week. I got substantial sunscreen and sand all over the July 9/16 issue of The New Yorker and enjoyed the long review of Douglas Brinkley's new Walter Cronkite biography by Louis Menand which included a fascinating debate over whether a Cronkite comment, coupled with the anchor's pessimistic view about American success in Vietnam, prompted LBJ not to run for a second term.
An article that sparked a beach-side conversation was by James Surowiecki about businesses that aren't hiring new employees because, the article asserts, employers are being too picky despite ample options:
"When companies complain that they can't find people with the right 'skills,' they often just mean that they can't find people with the right experience . . . Thanks in part to the sheer number of applications, screening of applicants is automated, with computers evaluating resumes according to pre-set criteria. Fail to meet one of those standards, and your application gets tossed, even if a good H.R. director might have spotted your potential."
How depressing.
Speaking of depressing . . . I was also riveted by "The Hunger Diaries," excerpts from American writer Mavis Gallant's journals written in 1952 when Gallant was literally starving for her art while living in Spain.

New York Magazine: The July 9 cover story, "Does Money Make You Mean?" ignited another lively debate with its provocative accompanying art. Citing various work by researchers who are delving into whether money causes people to be less humane and whether people who seek money share those same traits or whether the entire "less humane" question is bogus baloney, writer Lisa Miller worded her central query this way: "How does living in an environment defined by individual achievement -- measured by money, privilege and status -- alter a person's mental machinery to the point where he beings to see the people around him only as aids or obstacles to his own ambitions?"
New York Times: In between the pages of the Old Gray Lady, I greatly related to a Sunday Styles section meditation, "Friends of a Certain Age," about the challenge of making and keeping friends as we get older:
"In your 30s and 40s, plenty of new people enter your life, through work, children's play dates and, of course, Facebook. But actual close friends -- the kind you make in college, the kind you call in a crisis -- those are in shorter supply.
As people approach midlife, the days of youthful exploration, when life felt like one big blind date, are fading. Schedules compress, priorities change and people often become pickier in what they want in their friends."
In the same section, I found a scary story by Lee Siegel who accidentally sent Linked In friend invitations to all 974 contacts in his address book including deceased people, "lawyers, landscapers, accountants, literary agents, babysitters, window-installers, art dealers, ex-girlfriends, the ex-boyfriend of an ex-girlfriend . . . obstetricians, dentists, ophthalmologists, gastroenterologists, urologists, psychologists, pediatricians, billing offices for all of the preceding . . . my ex-wife [and] two litigious former landlords."

The Newsroom: As for TV, I saw the latest two episodes of Aaron Sorkin's new HBO drama The Newsroom which, I've decided, has officially hooked me with its cutting dissection of contemporary cable TV news. Yes, it can be preachy, annoyingly preachy and smugly sanctimonious as well. The second episode irritated me with its relentless focus on two of the female staffers falling to pieces over their love lives. But by the fourth episode -- "I'll Try to Fix You," which I reviewed here -- that got me.

Political Animals: I also caught the first installment of USA's mini-series (the network is calling it a "limited series event") Political Animals where Sigourney Weaver plays Elaine Barrish, otherwise known as Hillary Clinton had Clinton dumped Bill right after she lost her 2008 presidential bid. It also features a tough reporter, who wrote nasty pieces about Barrish's ex, shadowing Secretary of State Barrish around for a week for a story. The show felt crisp, the relationship between the reporter and Barrish is promising and the political manipulations entertaining (better than the boring, real life presidential race we've got goin' on right now). Looking forward to seeing more of this "limited" event.

Image credits: Amazon and New York Magazine.

Mad Men Characters as Comic Book Stars, in Ad Campaigns, Plus Other Mad Men News

The peerless Mad Men-obsessed illustrator Dyna Moe has created quirky new Mad Men images for those of us who simply can't get enough of the period AMC drama.

In addition to her book, Mad Men: The Illustrated World where she interpreted key scenes from the show in colorful illustrations, she keeps a Flickr stream where she uploades images inspired by the 1960s show.


Her latest pics have placed Mad Men characters into ad campaigns which complement their storylines, or as comic book heroes/villains or even on album covers.

Love.

Be sure to check out Sally as Nancy Drew, gal detective.

In other Mad Men news:

Jessica Pare, otherwise known as Megan Draper on Mad Men, is on the cover of New York Magazine's television-centric issue this week, talking all about her infamous "Zou Bisou Bisou" scene in the season premiere, becoming Don Draper's wife and the intriguing bit of trivia that she initially auditioned to be the prostitute who slapped Don in the face last season before landing the part of Megan.

Meanwhile, my retinas remain scarred from seeing Alexis Bledel -- forever Rory Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls to me -- in smarmy Pete Campbell's fantasy in the "Dark Shadows" episode, wearing a fur coat and underwear while trying to seduce Pete at the office.

In an interview on the Mad Men web site, Bledel said that her character Beth Dawes, a depressed housewife who sought out a fling with Pete, is intriguing. "I instantly wanted to know more about her because she's quite mysterious and she's conflicted," Bledel said. ". . . I felt for her right away. She is stuck in a bad marriage that is really taking a toll on her psyche I think, so I just wanted to explore what that meant for her."

I just keep picturing Bledel in season one of Gilmore Girls in the "That Damn Donna Reed" episode where Rory dressed up like a 1950s housewife, complete with faux pearls, serving up steak and instant potatoes to impress her boyfriend Dean. I know, I know, Bledel is in her 30s now. She's no longer a teen. And that episode aired way back in February 2001, but even now, you've got to admit, she still looks very young, way too innocent for the likes of Pete Campbell.

Image credits: Dyna Moe/Nobody's Sweetheart, New York Magazine and TV Fanatic.

Notes on Pop Culture/Politics: Season Finales, No-Win Pols' Wives & NY Mag on TV

Season Finales: The Good, The Bad

I always say that there’s too much pressure for TV shows' season finales to be homeruns all of the time. But part of that pressure is the result of the networks amping up viewers' expectations for some major razzle and dazzle. We set ourselves up to be wowed. And when that doesn't happen and our high expectations are dashed, we wind up disappointed.

The season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, which I reviewed on CliqueClack TV is a good example of this.


Image credit: ABC


The ABC drama has had a wonderful seventh season. Seriously. I've enjoyed it. However I wasn’t a big fan of the finale, because it seemed kind of flat (except for the Cristina and Owen storyline) and because I felt as though Derek’s character slipped back into old habits that I thought he'd put behind him, namely acting like a pompous jerk who’s above everyone, specifically Meredith. (The fact that he couldn’t just appreciate or acknowledge the fact that what Meredith did was rooted in love and her fiercely protective nature, peeved me to no end. Be angry, sure, but don’t take your ball and go home to sanctimoniously sulk.)

The Desperate Housewives finale was just blah, as was, frankly, most of the season which took camp to a subterranean level. So there was another murder and another cover-up on America's most dangerous street. There was another highly strung romantic relationship for Bree. Lynette and Tom were fighting again, albeit more seriously this time. (*yawn*) As much as I used to love this show, I think it's more than past time for it to take a bow.
One season finale that stood out and thoroughly entertained me from start to finish was The Good Wife's where Alicia not only triumphed in the court but, in the end, gave herself a little present in the form of one Will Gardner in a $7,800 a night presidential suite. (Technically, it was Will's credit card that gave them the gift of time alone together, but Alicia finally allowed herself to revel in this pleasure instead of being a stoic martyr.) The Good Wife's sophomore season was strong and the episodes leading up to the finale were fantastic and eagerly anticipated. As for the finale, it was well executed, stylistic and fun, the way I wish more finales would be.

Do you have a favorite season finale? A least favorite?

Politicians’ Wives: They Can’t Be ‘Winning’

Speaking of The Good Wife . . . people can’t seem to get enough of using that term not only in reference to Maria Shriver and the ongoing horrors that are being revealed about her husband’s outrageous infidelities, but are also applying the phrase to the wives of the presidential candidates. (Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman’s husbands aren’t getting as much coverage as the wives of potential presidential candidates are.)

In a Newsweek cover story, which seemed to pity and ridicule the wives of high powered pols, a campaign strategist observed, “We have achieved this odd place in American politics where the wife is no longer there just to support her husband. She has to be a full-fledged part of the campaign.”

What does being a “full-fledged part of the campaign” look like? Cindy McCain, wife of 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain explained in an accompanying essay: “Everything you do is criticized – your clothes are ugly; you’re not doing enough; your politics are questioned. It gets mean. I could not wait to get out of the job. The demands are significant and they are endless.”

I delved into what this unfortunate, hostile media climate means for women in my weekly pop culture column.

New York Magazine Takes on TV

It’s worth taking the time to go through New York Magazine’s big television-themed issue. From interviews with showrunners – including Shonda Rhimes of Grey’s Anatomy and Robert and Michelle King of The Good Wife -- who make some intriguing proposals for network TV (like 13-episode blocks with breaks in between instead of 22 episodes), to a quirky interview with Parks and Recreation’s Amy Poehler on her favorite TV characters and shows, the package is a good read.

Image credits: Randy Holmes/ABC, Newsweek, New York Magazine.

Who DOESN'T Need an Evacuation Chute, Like That Airline Attendant

*Cross-posted from the Picket Fence Post.*



When I opened up my Facebook account yesterday, I saw a post from a friend of mine who is obviously a kindred spirit when it comes to this whole parenting thing. She wrote:

“I am seriously getting depressed. If I see one more post about what a perfect family day someone had I am going to scream. My kids are driving me crazy and they are driving each other crazy. Nothing is perfect or idyllic here more like a slow boil with the chance to bubble over at any second.”

Her post seemed to have opened up a spigot of frustration as a chorus of similar parental sentiments followed in the comments section. Moms and dads chimed in with their not-so-nice feelings about the oftentimes aggravating, overheated days of summer. One person said that her kids constantly shouting “Mom!” were starting to make her feel like a “homicidal maniac.” Another joked that she’s only going to respond to her children calling for her when they refer to her as “Your Majesty." (Not a bad idea.)

I tossed my less-than-ideal summer observations into the mix, admitting that this week I’ve hidden from my three kids in the garage so I could carry on an uninterrupted telephone conversation. (I could hear them looking for me but I said nothing as I sat there in the dark. No, I'm not proud.) Yesterday, I intentionally let the rug rats waste away the morning hours in front of the TV because they were driving me nuts and I needed the time to finish some work without being harassed.

There must be something in the air, because this morning I read a page one story in the New York Times about a flight attendant who, like some of these parents, has had enough. And he totally lost it. When a passenger on a New York-bound flight left his seat to get the belongings he'd stowed in the overhead compartment after the plane had touched down but it was not yet safe for passengers to leave their seats, a longtime airline attendant, Steven Slater, told the passenger he had to sit down. Here’s how the rest of this weirdly inspiring story played out, according to the Times:

“The passenger defied [the flight attendant]. Mr. Slater reached the passenger just as he pulled down his luggage [from the overhead compartment], which hit Mr. Slater in the head.

Mr. Slater asked for an apology. The passenger instead cursed at him. Mr. Slater got on the plane’s public address system and cursed out the passenger for all to hear. After citing his 20 years in the airline industry, he blurted out, ‘That’s enough.’ He then activated the inflatable evacuation slide at a service exit and left the world of flight attending behind.”

He paused, however, to grab two beers from the service cart before jumping down the slide and running across the tarmac to the employee parking lot, the paper reported. (Unfortunately, Slater was arrested and charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.)

The comments on the Times web site about this story cracked me up. “I am having one of these [evacuation chutes] installed in every meeting room,” one person said, adding, “Haven’t we all wanted to hit the ‘escape button?”

Another said, “I wish my office had an evacuation slide.”

During the past 24 hours since the news broke, Steven Slater has been christened a "folk hero," according to New York Magazine. There are Free Steven Slater T-shirts, a Steven Slater Legal Defense Fund and even a move to try to get folks to contact JetBlue on his behalf.

For parents with young kids who spend summer days behaving like kids – meaning tormenting their siblings, challenging/harassing their parents and acting like the immature little creatures they are – don’t we all sometimes need an escape chute, an evacuation slide? Or at least a darkened garage to slip off to when Mommy needs a time out?

Notes on Politics: 'Game Change' Caricatures the Women in the 2008 Presidential Election

While the nation's political chattering classes are busy buzzing about Republican Scott Brown's "epic upset" (I've seen this phrase in many news stories) over Democrat Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race to fill the remaining term of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, it's worth taking a step back from the day's news (and the woefully inept Coakley campaign which blew a substantial lead and had once been considered a lock) and looking at how women in and around national politics are treated by the media.

I spent the bulk of last week plowing through the lengthy and riveting expose of the 2008 presidential election, the best selling Game Change, written by two journalists who declined to reveal who they interviewed for their book and who gave them what pieces of information. (That, to me, is problematic from a journalism ethics point of view, but that's grist for another rant on another day.) When I was done reading the book, I was so steamed about how the women were treated that I dedicated my Pop Culture and Politics column to it. With the exception of Michelle Obama, the female spouses of the candidates and the two female candidates -- Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin -- were described in an abysmal, sexist fashion. One had her reactions to bad news stories about her family labeled "hysterical" and another was dismissed as being a "beauty queen" who "flounced" back home after a disagreement with her husband, that's when she wasn't said to be weeping. One woman was depicted as having "hissy fits" and "conniptions," while another was maligned (guess which woman) as "Napoleon in a navy pantsuit and gumball-sized fake pearls."

Adding to my irritation were the cartoonish illustrations which accompanied a Game Change excerpt published in New York Magazine which portrayed Elizabeth Edwards as a monster (in one image, one of her hands was curled up so that her fingers looked like claws as spit came out her mouth), John Edwards' mistress was a smitten flirt and John Edwards himself was shown shouting and then sweating as news of his affair broke. Elizabeth Edwards, by far, came out looking the worst.

After taking this all in, I had to wonder: Were the authors simply relating the viewpoints of the blabber-mouth, disloyal former campaign aides who dished about these women, or were these words selected independently by the reporters and reflect their own opinions? Or, frighteningly, both?

Image credit: Nathan Fox/New York Magazine.

Notes on Politics: 'Lost' State of Union, Political Book Takes on Rage, Egos, Race and Infidelity

Lost State of the Union Address

There was quite a bit of consternation in them there internets last week about the possibility that White House officials would schedule the State of the Union address on February 2, the date of the Lost season premiere. Appalled Lost fans started tweeting and including the hashtag #NoStateofUnionFeb2.

Once it was announced by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs that while they didn’t yet have a date picked for the annual address he could assure folks that it won’t be on February 2, one of the Lost co-creators, Damon Lindelof posted a tweet, “OBAMA BACKED DOWN!!! Groundhog Day is OURS!!!!!! (God Bless America).”

Lindelof’s colleague Carlton Cuse, joked about the hullaballoo by posting this tweet, “In exchange for moving his speech Damon [Lindelof] and I promise to answer ANY questions the President has about LOST.”

On a more serious note, the campaign finance think tank Center for Responsive Politics suggested that the contributions of “people and political action committees associated with Walt Disney” totaling in $430,000 helped Disney make their case to secure February 2 for Lost.

Political Book Portrays Elizabeth Edwards’ Temper, Hubby’s Ego

Political reporters John Heilemann and Mark Halperin have dug into the political mud fairly deeply to unearth some damning, behind-the-scenes portraits of the major 2008 presidential candidates and those folks with whom they surrounded themselves with. The results are in Heilemann and Halperin’s new book, Game Change.

Among the revelations that’ve garnered mucho publicity in the past few days is the derogatory depiction of the Edwardses excerpted in this week’s New York Magazine entitled, “Saint Elizabeth and the Ego Monster.” (John Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter must be raising a champagne glass.) Characterized in the most extremely negative light possible, Elizabeth Edwards was portrayed as an exceptionally difficult person with whom to get along, with campaign aides referring to themselves as “battered spouses” for having to deal with her:

“With her husband, she could be intensely affectionate or brutally dismissive. At times subtly, at times blatantly, she was forever letting John know that she regarded him as her intellectual inferior. She called her spouse a ‘hick’ in front of other people and derided his parents as rednecks. One time, when a friend asked if John had read a certain book, Elizabeth burst out laughing. ‘Oh, he doesn’t read books,’ she said. ‘I’m the one who reads books.’”

John Edwards didn’t come off well either, as he was described as a deluded ego-maniac who thought he could just breeze through the campaign while screwing around and lying about it. The book excerpt said:

“Yet it was [John] Edwards who stepped so far across the line that his career and life were reduced to rubble . . . Edwards’s story is equally, lastingly resonant: an archetypal political tragedy in which the very same qualities that fuel any presidential bid—ego, hubris, vanity, neediness, a kind of delusion—became all-consuming and self-destructive. And in which the gap between public façade and private reality simply grew too vast to bridge.”

Pop Culture Quick Hits: 'Men of a Certain Age,' TV as Art & the SNL-Woods Controversy

Men of a Certain Age on TNT

Okay, okay TV reviewer people. I’ll program my DVR to record the premiere of TNT’s Men of a Certain Age tonight at 10. It’s a dramedy about three men -- one divorced, one single, one married -- dealing with a variety of dispiriting events that have happened to them as they flounder about in middle age. You critics have convinced me that Ray Romano demonstrates a degree of depth as the sad sack of a guy who’s been left by his wife and is trying to figure out where his life’s dreams went. You've indicated that this program -- also starring Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula -- is worth an hour of my time. You better be right.

The New York Times’ Alessandra Stanley said, “Men of a Certain Age is not violent, exciting or fast-paced, but the series has a quiet charm of its own; it is a believable, sharply observed portrait of ordinary men who, through all-too-common bad breaks and missteps, feel that they are backsliding.”

But they had me at Andre Braugher.

TV as Art

When this decade began, I had twin toddlers at home who were joined by a baby brother in mid-2001. Needless to say, the decade was marked by a lot of TV watching in my house as we didn’t want to have to obtain a second mortgage in order to afford babysitting for our very young children. And while I was watching said TV programs, I noticed the same thing that Emily Nussbaum of New York Magazine did, that TV has evolved into art (which is why when people act as though TV’s just for dummies, I bristle. Have they not seen Mad Men?) In New York Magazine’s ode to the decade of the 2000s, Nussbaum penned a love letter to this new generation of TV series, of the ilk that people like me obsess about on blogs like this one:

“. . . [F]or anyone who loves television, who adores it with the possessive and defensive eyes of a fan, this was most centrally and importantly the first decade when television became recognizable as art, great art: collectible and life-changing and transformative and lasting . . . It was a period of exhilarating craftsmanship and formal experimentation, accompanied by spurts of anxious grandiosity (for the first half of the decade, fans compared anything good to Dickens, Shakespeare, or Scorsese, because nothing so ambitious had existed in TV history).”

She continued:

“But as this decade began, it had already begun to dawn on viewers that television was something that you could not just merely enjoy and then discard but brood over and analyze, that could challenge and elevate, not just entertain. And a new generation of prickly, idiosyncratic, egotistical TV auteurs were starting to shove up against the limits of their medium, stripping apart genres like the sitcom and the cop show, developing iconic roles for actors like Edie Falco and Michael C. Hall. As the years proceeded (and technology inspired new styles of storytelling), even network TV could stage an innovative series like Lost. On pay channels, especially HBO, it was a genuine renaissance: Show-runners like David Chase and Alan Ball and David Milch and Michael Patrick King (and his Sex and the City writers) reveled in cable’s freedom, exploring adult themes in shocking, sometimes difficult ways.”

Among the shows Nussbaum singled out as having elevated the craft were some of my favorites: Lost (of course), Six Feet Under, The West Wing, Alias, and a small show I might’ve written about here a few times . . . Mad Men.

SNL-Tiger Woods Controversy

Saturday Night Live went there. With the Tiger Woods scandal. And when they went there, they went, in the opinion of some, too far. With Rihanna, one of this year’s most famous victims of domestic abuse, as the musical guest, SNL had a skit making fun of Woods and domestic violence. The cue cards at the end of the skit where the actor playing Woods had written on the back of them that he was scared and feared for his life at the hands of his abusive wife . . . that was the point at which I was sure they’d gone too far. Several bloggers took umbrage – and rightly so – over the skit and the horrific timing with Rihanna on the show. NYT Arts blogger David Itzkoff has a round-up of quotes from several bloggers who thought the sketch was in poor taste.

What DID I like from SNL this past weekend? The White House party crashers skit. Spot. On.



Image credit: TNT.

Missing 'Mad Men' Yet?

Sunday nights have felt so . . . empty . . . lately without Don, Betty, Peggy and Joan.

And we can't forget about Roger, whose killer one-liners were reliable moments of humor amid the disintegration of Don's personal life this past season. New York Magazine compiled Roger's one-liners (and two-liners) from the third season in this video below . . . making me miss Mad Men just a little bit more.

Mad Men Season 2 DVDs & Killer Vanity Fair Photos

I've spent the past couple of days marinating in Mad Men's second season DVDs in preparation for a column I've been working on. And, I must say, as a Mad Men fan, I found the DVD extras to be insightful. There are a bunch of audio commentaries on the disks which not only illuminated characters and plotlines, but also confirmed some of Mad Men fans' suspicions about why show-runner Matt Weiner had certain things happen.

For example, Jon "I'm Don Draper" Hamm said that the one of the main themes of the AMC show's sophomore season was about the evolution of the female characters, about "these women finding their place and finding their power." While commenting on the season two premiere, Weiner said that Betty Draper (January Jones) was trying to figure out the value -- in hard currency -- of her housewifedom and determine whether being a married, at-home mother was a form of prostitution. "I love this idea," Weiner said, "'What are we worth?'"

On the audio commentary for the episode "The New Girl," (otherwise known as the one where Don gets into a drunk driving accident while the Odious Bobbie Barrett's in the car, and Peggy bails them out of jail), it was fascinating to hear actress Melinda McGraw, who played Barrett, express her shock at how much "people hated Bobbie Barrett." She speculated on why there was a double-standard for Bobbie's cheating versus Don's, calling her character a female version of Don the debonair.

The disks also included a two-part documentary about the evolution of the feminist movement, using the women of Mad Men as a jumping off point, putting the show into historical context. (If Weiner sets season three in 1963 -- he hasn't yet divulged the year -- this Newsweek piece provides some details on what historical events transpired in 1963 that could be woven into the Mad Men narrative.)

Meanwhile, the media (myself included) are working themselves up into a frenzy leading up to the August 16 season three premiere:

-- Vanity Fair just released a long article about Mad Men and included some killer Annie Leibovitz photos of Hamm and Jones that should sell a lot of copies of that magazine. Smokin'.

-- New York Magazine had a three-article package about the show, including a shout-out for the snake-like Pete Campbell and a guide to the show's first two seasons.

-- And after seeing the slate of Mad Men events slated to occur in New York City in the next week, I'm kinda wishing I lived in NYC to attend them.

Image credit: Annie Leibovitz via Vanity Fair.

Suburban Mom's Pop Culture Week: Weeds, Jon & Kate, Mrs. Washington, New York Times Mag on Julia Child

This past week has been sheer madness at my house. We celebrated my youngest son's birthday and then took a seven-plus round-trip car ride to New York to adopt a 3-month-old puppy who has yet to sleep through the night yet in his crate without howling all night long . . . kind of like my youngest son did. Until he was three.

Here's what I've been able to fit into my pop culture consumption in the past week+, that is when I'm not taking the puppy outside in an attempt to housetrain him and keep the six-pound ball of fluff from being dinner to larger animals in the neighborhood.

TV/DVDs:

-- In order to prepare for writing a column about Showtime's Weeds, I ODed on it, watching several seasons via Netflix and On Demand. After watching the evolution of Mary-Louise Parker's character Nancy Botwin, while I remain entertained and intrigued by the current season of the mom-pot dealer comedy, I liked Nancy's character a whole lot more in first season, before she got seriously dragged down into the muck and immorality of the drug trade.

-- Jon & Kate Plus 8 returned with two new episodes this week, only with a lot less of Jon and more of Kate-as-a-single mom. As I sympathize with Kate more each day as I read more about the heel that is her soon-to-be-ex-"Hey I'm still young!" spouse, Kate sure doesn't make it easy with her queen-like, dismissive attitude displayed in the show's first new installment since they announced that they were filing for divorce. In one scene where Jon and Kate were consulting with kitchen designers about renovating their kitchen (a room which I think looked awesome and didn't need massive changes, but what do I know?) she was wretched when she gestured toward a vase of flowers and dismissively told Jon, "Can you get rid of those? They're really distracting and ugly." Then, in a strategic feat of editing, the show's producers soon went to a cut where Kate -- who now sits in a white chair, not a love seat, for her one-on-one interview, Jon does his separately from a leather chair -- said, "I'm not as ridiculous as I used to be."

I also really did not like how the show's editors mocked Kate's attempts to camp outside in her backyard with the kids in two tents by getting her children to make fun of their mother and say she didn't know what she was doing in putting up the tent. It was disturbing to watch to say the least.

-- In a moment of weakness, I DVRed and watched the Hallmark Channel's original film, Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith, about a woman who quit college during her junior year in order to get married, worked to put her husband through dental school, raised their children to adulthood and was unceremoniously dumped by her husband for another, younger woman. In a life-altering decision, the character, Alice Washington, decided to go back to school and live in the dorms in order to complete her final year of college. She hoped to then become a high school English teacher.

Why would I watch a completely predictable but satisfying TV film -- akin to gorging on a salty bag of chips -- which had at least one totally fantasyland situation (there's no way a fifysomething woman would make the Smith College hoop team, at least that fiftysomething)? I watched it becuase it starred Cybill Shepherd, whom I've always liked -- especially for her sitcom Cybill -- and was surprised to find that her love interest/college English professor, was played by Jeffrey Nordling, who was in Once and Again and, more recently, 24. Sure, it was a chickflick in its purest form, but it was one with an upbeat, positive message, "This is the next big step in the rest of my life," Shepherd's character, Alice Washington said. The Hallmark Channel is re-airing the film numerous times.

-- I'm up-to-date on Entourage and have found myself getting increasingly irritated with the man-boy that is Vince.


-- In preparation for a Mad Men-themed column, I'm immersing myself in the Mad Men Season 2 on DVD, especially the special features.

Magazines/News:

-- This past weekend's New York Times Magazine was so chock full of articles that I haven't even finished reading it all yet. Among the pieces was a solid one on the dearth of female superheroes for little girls to embrace and a thought-provoking one about the contradiction between the fact that while the Food Network seems to be doing well and people are much more sophisticated about food in general, we're making fewer and fewer meals on our own, instead preferring to outsource meal prep to the grocery stores and restaurants. Julia Child's revolutionary 1960s PBS cooking show was featured prominently in the piece, given that the film Julie & Julia comes out this week. (I'm hoping to see that movie soon and write a column on.)

The lengthy Michael Pollan food article was a fascinating read. Here's a sample:

"It’s no accident that Julia Child appeared on public television — or educational television, as it used to be called. On a commercial network, a program that actually inspired viewers to get off the couch and spend an hour cooking a meal would be a commercial disaster, for it would mean they were turning off the television to do something else. The ads on the Food Network, at least in prime time, strongly suggest its viewers do no such thing: the food-related ads hardly ever hawk kitchen appliances or ingredients (unless you count A.1. steak sauce) but rather push the usual supermarket cart of edible foodlike substances, including Manwich sloppy joe in a can, Special K protein shakes and Ore-Ida frozen French fries, along with fast-casual eateries like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. "

-- Last week's issue of New York Magazine arrived at my house just yesterday -- thank you snail mail -- and I got the chance to enjoy Emily Nussbaum's ode to the chameleon-like Madonna who's now entering another phase of her life and of her public persona. While Nussbaum's favorite phase was the "Ideal Brunette Madonna . . . saving Black Jesus in that incredible slip," (mine was the "Express Yourself" Madonna), she wrote:

"Maybe it’s because I’m getting older along with her, but watching Madonna strut past 50—hips grinding in high heels, posing legs spread—brings out anxious, contradictory emotions. It’s become taboo to criticize stars for plastic surgery—both because it is their choice and because they have no choice—but each time I glimpse that grinning mask, I wonder why it’s impossible for Madonna, with all her power, her will to shock, to ever stop 'giving good face'? I try to persuade myself to admire her most New York qualities (ambition, workaholism); I tell myself she’s a dancer, and this is what dancers do. But I feel exhausted just witnessing the effort it must take to maintain this vision of eternal youth. This didactically selfless Madonna is less inspiring than the selfish one in so many ways."

The latest New York arrived today and I can't wait to dive into the Mad Men pieces, including an interview with Christina Hendricks, a defense of Pete "The Snake" Campbell and an abridged guide to the first two seasons. Not that I'm obsessed with Mad Men or anything.

What are your pop culture fixes of the week?

Image credit: Alexx Henry/Hallmark Channel via the New York Times.

Suburban Mom's Pop Culture Week: Entourage, Wired & a Small Film With a Kid Named Potter

TV:

-- The sixth season of HBO's testosterone-heavy Entourage premiered on Sunday and I've got to agree with a blogger from New York Magazine who said that it felt a bit dated with stuff like Vinnie appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, given that Conan O'Brien has taken the reins. Ari made reference to his agency signing the star of My Name is Earl, a show that's now cancelled. "For a show that derives a great deal of its energy from the fact that it's supposed to feel recent and insider-y to viewers, these two factual slipups have us thinking that the show's creators are committed to once again running this season on autopilot," wrote Mark Graham.

That being said, it was a surprisingly mellow, low-keyed Entourage premiere, which quietly established the groundwork for the boys to finally be showing some inklings of budding maturity and no longer acting like, in Sloan's words, they live in "a frat house." It's about damned time. The women on this show always seemed light-years more mature than the men, except for E, who seemed like the only responsible boy in the bunch, though he has been susceptible to caving into pressure to be cool and go out with the dudes. (Vinnie is JUST getting his driver's license? How much arrested development does Vinnie have?) Will something like a suddenly mature Turtle change the dynamics of the show? Of course, but change can be good. Just ask the Lost people.

Additionally, I loved the Mad Men reference when Ari defended drinking the office in the middle of the day and Lloyd quipped that it won't seem so cool when the AMC show flashes forward to the 1970s and Don Draper & Co. have heart and liver disease.

-- Watched some of the episodes from the final season of Gilmore Girls that I DVRed over the past few weeks. ABC Family, which has been running Gilmore Girls repeats for years, in June finally got permission to air the final season, the one which saw Lorelai and Christopher marry, then divorce; Lane have twins and Rory graduate from Yale and turn down a marriage proposal while she went off to cover the Obama campaign. I only saw those episodes once after they were aired, so it's been nice to see them again, though the seventh season wasn't one of my favorites. Whenever I catch episodes from the first two seasons, I realize how much of that distinct, fresh, quirky something the later seasons were missing.

-- Are money and ratings the only reasons for the MLB All-Star Game to start at 8 p.m.? (Actually, the first pitch didn't happen until 8:50 p.m.) If this is supposed to be "America's favorite pastime," why is it on TV so late? Why can't it take place on a weekend day so that kids and people who work for a living can watch it? My children went to bed at 10 p.m. and only were able to catch an hour of actual play. (I DVRed the rest of it for them and they'll watch it later.) I'm completely on board with a column Stephen King wrote a while back in Entertainment Weekly lamenting this late-night practice and how TV had "ruined" baseball.

-- I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival -- via snail mail -- of Mad Men's season two DVDs. (Is it time for that show to premiere yet?) I'll be sure to post here after I've soaked it all in.

Films:

-- There's a minor movie that just came out last night, at midnight to be exact. You might've heard of it. The lead character's name is something like Palmer? Or Puddy?

My twin 10-year-olds have been literally counting down the hours until we go to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince tomorrow afternoon (tomorrow's the earliest when we can get someone to watch our nearly 8-year-old for whom I believe the film might be too intense). I must admit that I'm kind of psyched to see it as well. Brings out the kid in me. Here's to hoping the film's solid.

-- Over the weekend, The Spouse and I watched Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr. This was one of the films he'd added to our Netflix queue after he found the list to be too heavy with thinky, independent films, TV shows (The West Wing's on the list), romantic comedies and kids' fare. He joked that he'd injected more action-oriented testosterone into the list.

When we sat down to watch Iron Man, I fully expected to hate it, but surprisingly didn't. In fact, I found it very entertaining -- I had no idea there was an Iraq/military arms supplier backstory -- and stayed awake throughout the entire thing. (This is significant because we didn't start the movie until 10 p.m. after a long day of running around with the three kids.) The other Netflix movie sitting next to the TV: Milk. Might have to ply The Spouse with some caffeine beforehand.
Books/Magazines:

-- I finally finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and have commenced my second pass through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'd forgotten how deeply depressing the seventh book of the Potter series is. Nothing but downer after downer. Bleakness everywhere. Kind of puts me in a dour mood. In that world, it sucks to be Harry Potter.

-- I just got the August issue of Wired Magazine in the mail and found it to be packed with intriguing stories and blurbs. (FYI: My liking it has nothing to do with the fact that Brad Pitt is on the cover.) There are pieces on the etiquette of social media -- like should you follow your boss and your boss's boss on Twitter AND friend them on Facebook? -- and a brief musing on something I'd never heard of: a single-serving web site.

What's on your Pop Culture agenda this week? You planning on seeing THE movie of the summer?

Image credit: Warner Brothers via the Examiner.

Giving Poehler's 'Parks and Recreation' Room to Find Its Own Way

After its first few episodes, many folks were complaining that NBC's new Amy Poehler comedy, Parks and Recreation -- where Poehler plays deputy Parks director Leslie Knope -- was too similar to The Office, a show from which several of the Parks folks hailed. Poehler's character, people complained, was just a female version of Michael Scott.

However after reading New York Magazine's Emily Nussbaum's ode to the show and Poehler's character, I find myself agreeing with her thesis:

". . . [A]fter five episodes, [Parks and Recreation] has begun to kick free for me, mainly because the writers are onto something timely and resonant with Leslie, a fool who is also a budding heroine . . . [H]er motives are mixed, and her go-girl feminism goofy, she's not wrong to see cynicism everywhere -- the show satirizes her naivete, but it's also clear she's the only one trying to make things better."

Nussbaum added that the comedy showcases a female pol, similar in vein to the lead character in the comedic film in Election, Reese Witherspoon's Tracy Flick. Knope is, "a deserving hard worker, beaten down by the lazy and popular. At its best, Parks and Recreation provides an appealing Flick's-eye view -- the opportunity to see Leslie's burning, bumbling ambition as noble, not merely absurd."

I concur that Parks has started to grow into its own. Having Poehler's Knope work so hard to break through the political glass ceiling is simultaneously played as much for chuckles (because of her vast cluelessness) as it is for the "truthiness" it provides, that being that it's not exactly easy to be a successful female politician.

Knope went to the barbershop where a number of famous local pols have had their hair cut for years, even though that particular barber doesn't usually cut women's hair. He gave her a severe, masculine hair style and didn't understand why she went to him, but Knope was thrilled and felt as though she'd been accepted by the political establishment, that she'd invaded a male bastion where she believed political wheeling and dealing was conducted.

Knope wanted to fit in with the "guys" at city hall and have a few beers with them in the courtyard as they regularly do. But she was felt terribly guilty over having shared a bottle of wine from a gift basket that she'd received and said they couldn't ethically accept as public servants. She then outed herself as an unethical employee, something none of the men would've done and was reprimanded.

Knope -- whose office prominently features framed photos of women politicians -- tried to use a hardball political tactic recommended by her mother, also a local official, in order to help a worthwhile public works project move forward. However when she was unable to execute the borderline unethical political manuever, she was wholesome enough to feel guilty about it.

Sure, at first blush, Leslie Knope may seem Michael Scott-ish, but she's evolving, along with her own kooky brand of dunderheadedness. The show could also shine an interesting spotlight on the wackiness of local government. As a young newspaper reporter who covered my fair share of small town meetings, I know that there's plenty of material the writers can mine to make this show an entertaining, comedic romp, with Poehler at the helm.

Image credit: NBC.

Do YOU Think '24's' Becoming a 'Pathetic Parody of Itself?'

*Warning, spoilers from the recent episode of 24 ahead*

There's a rumbling among some TV critics when it comes to this season's 24: While it's not as bad as its previous Bauer-family centric season, the twists it has taken recently are making it a "pathetic parody of itself." That "pathetic parody" line comes from the Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik who doesn't understand why anyone with any degree of intelligence is still watching this season, whose exploits have included:

-- An attack on the White House by a group of terrorist thugs abetted by a security guard.

-- The murder of a U.S. senator whose chief of staff was a traitor, who also wound up dead.

-- The violent seizing of the president who was forced at gunpoint by African terrorists to read a statement on a live internet feed denouncing the United States' military intervention in a fictitious African nation overrun by warlords and whose democratically elected president was saved from terrorist clutches by Jack Bauer, after Bauer pretended to be working with his captors.

-- The shooting and burying alive of an FBI agent by terrorists who later was saved and was running around the nation's capital because her wound was apparently only of the flesh wound variety.

-- The downing of two American commercial airliners by the African terrorists, abetted by other home-grown terrorists, including one over the D.C. Mall near the Washington Monument.

-- The torture of a couple of evil terrorists.

-- A near meltdown of a chemical plant, saved by the plant manager who died from exposure to the chemicals but saved his employees.

-- A Blackwater-esque company got its hands on bio-weapons, after masterminding the actions of the African terrorists.

-- Jack Bauer was exposed to the contents of one container of said toxic material, and he's been told there is no cure to his condition, except for some experimental technique which requires the DNA of a close relative. Now Jack's having debilitating seizures and won't let his daughter offer DNA to possibly save him.

-- A former U.S. agent turned bad/turned good/turned bad and killed a top FBI official, plus orchestrated the detonation of a bomb that killed other FBI agents. That and he helped a fellow baddie get away with a canister of the weaponized bio-chemicals.

-- The attempted (?) suicide of the head of the Blackwater-esque private army company at the demand of an unnamed cabal of "others" who are trying to exact bad things on the American government and, by extension, the American public.

"I have to ask sincerely," critic Zurawik wrote after seeing the latest episode, "Why are you still watching this show? Isn't your intelligence insulted by what it has become and the way it tries to exploit your feelings?"

Zurawik added:

"The Jack-is-dying-and-only-his-daughter-can-save-him storyline is debasing. Watching [Kiefer] Sutherland mimic the sudden waves of pain, the need for an injection, the loss of memory and tendency to repeat himself Monday gave me new respect for the actors on daytime soap operas. Their performances in many ways are far more honest than Sutherland's . . . All I see is a great series gone bad."

Over at New York Magazine's Vulture blog, which regularly rates the "absurd" factor of events on 24, joked about the fact that Jack's daughter Kim has a daughter named Teri (after his late wife) -- making Jack a granddaddy -- as well as the fact that it's painfully obvious that Kim's DNA will save Jack. Equally as implausible was the supposed suicide via the red pill from Jonas Jolie Hodges' attorney's doppelganger which we know didn't succeed because he was shown in previews for next week. (Way to spoil your own surprise Fox!)

But I won't go as far as Zurawik or New York Magazine. While it's true that you have to suspend a whole heck of a lot to try and enjoy 24, I don't think it has quite jumped the shark or that Sutherland's acting belongs on a daytime soap. I think the first half of this season was really strong, then it slacked off a bit in the middle, as a 24-episode show tends to do.

The killing of Larry Moss last week by Tony Almeida was shocking, an OMG moment, even though I hate the vacillating loyalty factor that is Tony. Additionally, I'm not a fan of the nakedly obvious Kim-saves-Jack storyline, because we already know Sutherland has signed on for an eighth season to be set in New York City, or of the Jonas-Jolie-Hodges-isn't-dead-yet because the previews blew that fact.

All that being said, I'm not ready to kiss of 24 yet. It's been fun this season and redeemed itself from Jack Bauer's previous bad day, which was very, very bad. I'm just hoping the conclusion of this seventh day isn't a huge let-down.

Do you think 24 has become a "pathetic parody of itself" or do you find that it's still fun?

Image credit: Fox/AP Kelsey McNeal via this web site.

'Lost' Continues to Blow My Mind

It's taken me two days and two viewings of Lost before I've been able to write a post here about the most recent episode. (Plus I took my three February vacationing kids to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop yesterday and lost more than a few brain cells in the process.)

That being said . . . Wednesday's episode, "316," was one of the best and provocative installments I've seen in this series. So many elements came together and spurred questions:

Take the likening of John Locke to Jesus and Jack Shephard to Doubting Thomas (aka -- Thomas the Apostle), as well as having Locke serve as a stand-in for Jack's deceased father Christian on the flight.

The mysterious call made by a blood-spattered Ben to Jack from the pay phone at a marina. (Given that Penny and Desmond had docked their boat in LA, is it possible that Ben hurt or killed Penny as he promised he would?).

The uncertainty of what happened to Aaron (with Claire's mother?), coupled with the implied sexual relations between Kate and Jack after Kate told Jack not to ask about Aaron again. Did Kate become pregnant, representing the pregnant Claire on the flight?

Ben was reading Ulysses by James Joyce on the doomed flight; the book has chapters entitled "Hades" and "Penelope."

How, exactly, did the Losties got back to the island? (Was there an explosion? a crash?)

The single line of Locke's suicide note -- "I wish you had believed me." -- references the lack of belief that Jack, called the man of science in season two, had in Locke, the man of faith, about not leaving the island. This episode was entitled "316" which is also a Biblical passage, John 3:16, which says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

As I tried to take this all in, I was, simply, blown away. After I watched the episode a second time, I went online and looked up a number of other folks' analyses and found these to be among the best:

-- Entertainment Weekly -- which called this the "proverbial pilot episode for a whole new chapter of the show" -- had loads of amazing details and offered various connections between plot points.
-- Pop Candy's commenters provided great grist for discussion.
-- Jezebel and New York Magazine provided fabulously insightful episode wrap-ups.

Here's ABC's Lost Untangled video to help explain "316" (link to video here):



I still feel as though I need to read up more on Thomas the Apostle and Ulysses in order to prepare for next week's episode, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," which, going by ABC's previews, has Locke wearing a Jesus-like cloak and includes a scene where someone is kneeling in front of him. (Ben?) Link to preview for next episode here.

Suburban Mom's Political Fix: A Few Last Words on Caroline Kennedy's Failed Senate Bid

Caroline Kennedy exited the odd campaign for the U.S. Senate -- where the only person whose vote was required was New York Gov. David Paterson's who'd be appointing Hillary Clinton's replacement -- was ugly and odd.

While I was pleased to see an active work-life balancer in the form of 42-year-old Kirsten Gillibrand get the nod (she has a 5-year-old and a baby, to whom she gave birth during her second year as a Congresswoman), I was saddened by the collapse of the Kennedy bid.

I opined on the subject at length in my weekly Mommy Track'd column.

Image credit: New York Magazine.

Enough Titles for a 'Mad Men' Book Club?

After watching the latest episode of Mad Men, I think it would be an interesting project to put together a list of titles of books that are referenced on the show, the way folks do with Lost.

Mad Men is so tightly crafted that certainly, if a book is featured (so that you can read the title), or characters mention it, it must have some sort of significance to the greater plot, right? Or maybe I'm reading too much into these things. Anyway . . .

During "The Jet Set" episode, the William Faulkner novel The Sound and The Fury received some prominent attention. Having not read it (yes, I'm hanging my head in shame), I looked it up online and came across this synopsis from C-SPAN as part of its American Writers series:

"Set in Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, Miss., in the early 20th century, the novel describes the decay and fall of the aristocratic Compson family, and, implicitly, of an entire social order, from four different points of view."

Hmm. Sound like it could be applied to the decay and fall of the folks at Sterling Cooper? At Don Draper's life?

Earlier this season, Betty Draper was seen reading, Ship of Fools, by Katherine Anne Porter. An excerpt from eNotes says of the book about an ocean voyage:

"Ship of Fools is notable for its pessimistic view of the human condition. In particular, the Germans are portrayed in a harshly negative light. They are mostly anti-Semitic and contemptuous of races other than their own, with an arrogant sense of their own superiority. Critics have remarked on how accurately Porter conveyed the German mentality on the eve of the rise of Nazism. However, the other characters, with few exceptions, are unsavory also. The one Jew on the ship is filled with hatred for all Gentiles; the Spanish, who are members of a dancing troupe, are presented as amoral thieves, pimps and prostitutes. There is little genuine human love present in the novel, although there is much comedy and satire."

In season two's premiere, Don read and then mailed a book of poems, Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara to someone. At the end of the episode, you hear Don's voice-over reading a part of the poem, "Mayakovsky" (from National Post):

"Now I am quietly waiting
for the catastrophe of my personality
to seem beautiful again,
and interesting, and modern.
The country is gray and
brown and white in trees,
snows and skies of laughter
always diminishing, less funny
not just darker, not just gray.
It may be the coldest day of
the year, what does he think of
that? I mean, what do I? And if I do
perhaps I am myself again."

In season one, Don was seen reading Leon Uris' Exodus (in the primo episode "Babylon") and The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe. In July, New York Magazine ran a piece examining what books were pictured on Don Draper's bookshelf, including The Hidden Persuaders and Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, although I don't recall any scenes of any characters reading those books.

If you put all these titles together, you could form a reading log for a Mad Men book club. Not only could you analyze the books, you could analyze them for how they apply (or don't apply) to the themes and characters in Mad Men.

Any titles I missed? Please add them in the comments section below. If I get a comprehensive list, I may indeed start a Mad Men book club.

New York Magazine's 'Summer Issue'

This New York Magazine cover just cracked me up.

It perfectly captures the mood of now: Observing the presidential race unfold in the sweltering heat and humidity of summer . . . with tongue firmly in cheek.

Happy July 4th!