Review: Mad Men

I am toying with the idea of sitting down to watch the show Mad Men on Netflix. I've been curious about the show for awhile and it's been out since I don't know when. Some of my coworkers at ZG are big fans of the show and it occurred to me why that might be when I snuck a quick peek at the synopsis. The setting for the show is in an ad agency, and since where I work is a modern ad agency, it makes more than sense.

So here we go. I'm going to watch the first episode and sort of live-blog it. I'll pause the show at different intervals and give my visceral opinion.

One-minute mark: The opening credits are ominous and foreshadowing. Clearly the faceless office worker dude's life is symbolically falling apart so he jumps out the window and falls past all those pretty advertisements that he likely helped create. But then the credits end with him relaxing in a chair with a cigarette. In case I wasn't already aware, there is some foreshadowing that there is lots of smoking in this show. Credits end with a quick definition or explanation of the "mad men" term. Ahem...

MAD MEN

A term coined in the late 1950's to describe the advertising executives of Madison Avenue.

They coined it.

Nice.

Two-minute mark: So far, my scientific estimate is that 116% of everyone smokes during the fifties, based solely on observation of this show.

Four-minute mark: The main character is Don Draper and he is in the apartment --in the bedroom-- of a female artist. He is ostensibly here about a problem at work, but more likely this scene will lead to sex.

Five-minute mark: Yep. I called it.

Eight-minute mark: Okay, so now we are in the office meeting some of the other characters and learning why you hate them. The men are all sexist hedonists. They openly talked dirty about a women in an elevator. They are planning a bachelor party for their friend. The women are all secretaries. Right now a veteran secretary, Joan, is showing a fresh-faced new girl around the pool. The new girl is going to be Don's assistant. And here he comes now.

Here's a quick aside. The batteries in the Wii remote are dying and there's a mosquito in the room that keeps buzzing my ear. Additionally, my wife is going to bed and I realize that morning comes early so I may watch only some of this show then stop.

By the twelth-minute we've heard them openly talk about how they don't hire any Jews. They are about to drink in the office. Draper is a copy writer. The medical researcher has a German accent and I'd guess she escaped from Germany during the war.

At 19 minutes we can see there's going to be some inter-office rivalry between Draper and the twerpy little 26-year-old kid who's the star of the impending bachelor party. Don and twerp are about to meet with the Menken account.

Twenty-one minute mark: Okay, wow it really sucks during to be a woman in the 1950's. New girl from the secretarial pool has a lady-doctor visit and that was unpleasant. Everyone keeps telling her she needs a shorter dress.

Twenty-seven minutes: This meeting with executives of a tobacco company is the one scene I'd already caught. Draper is about to pull a rabbit out of a hat, impress his boss, placate the client and show up the twerp all in one (improvised?) move. ...And boom, there it is. "It's toasted."

Tassles! And with that, I'm going to bed.

Kudos to Steven Tyler

I swore internally that I'd never write about American Idol again, let alone would I ever watch it. But once again, my wife is watching it and that means that even if I'm doing something else at the same time, I'm watching it. As an aside, if there is a television on in the same room where I'm at, I'd be hard pressed to pay attention to anything else except the screen. This is true no matter how I feel about the quality of the program or how my friends might judge me for it. But that's my issue.

Tonight was the premiere episode of this season and the new host is Steven Tyler who is also the lead singer of a band called Aerosmith. There's been controversy about his decision to do the show, as not only have Aerosmith fans voiced complaints (Tyler Interview from 2011/01/19, Tyler Interview from 2011/01/17), but also his friend and band mate Joe Perry (Perry Interview from 2010/09/08, People Complaining On An Internet Forum: Because It Helps).

It's [Tyler's] business, but I don't want Aerosmith's name involved with it, Perry told the Calgary Herald It's a reality show designed to get people to watch that station and sell advertising.…

What? Okay, listen. I know I have complained copiously about too much advertising. And I have nothing but respect for Joe Perry as a musician and guitar player, but he's a bit off base here. I'm not going to say the show is the highest form of entertainment out there, but there is nothing wrong with being associated with it in this tangential way. Although Perry admits during the interview to the fact that several Aerosmith songs have been played on the show and that was okay, apparently he forgot all about his own guest performance on the show.

Here Is a Reminder...

Never forget...

All that aside, I think the real issue for Perry is the current friction within the band. To him, this is just another symptom. Whereas for Steven Tyler, he's just keeping his own options open and expanding his own career. Perry should be congratulating him, not berating him. But they are fighting like the married couple they are and perhaps they'll work out their issues or perhaps they won't. I hope they do, because I freakin' love Aerosmith!

As far as tonight's episode goes, I had my headphones in and missed most of it. But when I asked Lisa about how it was going, it is clear that none of the three judges this year is as being "mean" as we've come to expect, which was possibly a draw for a good portion of the viewers. Just how much of a jerk was Simon Cowell going to be this week? It's possible the show has jumped the shark long ago anyway. But even if this is the last season ever, I've come around to the idea that Steven's decision was the right one.

If you need convincing that Tyler's decision to be part of Idol is a good idea, look no further than the plethora of other rock stars who came to his defense.

• Nikki Sixx Defends Steven Tyler as 'American Idol' Judge
• VINCE NEIL Defends STEVEN TYLER's Decision To Judge American Idol; Video Available
• Gene Simmons Defends Steven Tyler's American Idol Move

My wife had mentioned previously that Gene Simmons was on KSHE's morning show defending Steven Tyler. If she and I can paraphrase, he basically said that Tyler was doing the right thing keeping himself out there in the public eye. It's something you have to do if you want to stay famous. The way I see it, a regular gig on a weekly show is more steady reliable work than being a singer in a rock band NO MATTER HOW CLASSIC AND SUCCESSFUL that rock band is. I know there are other issues that are causing friction within the band, many of them probably more important. I will be sad if they stop being a band, but I will be one Aerosmith fan smart enough not to blame American Idol.

Stay famous, Steven Tyler. Stay famous.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Most likely ready for this fall, a new television show will be released called Star Wars Clone Wars. The stories will be set in a time frame between Star Wars Episodes II and III, and will center on the main heroes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and familiar others.

Not yet excited? Try watching the teaser trailer for Star Wars: Clone Wars and see how you feel then. I would like to post a scene-by-scene review, but I'll get to that later.

Star Wars: Clone Wars

I'm so excited to see this. First off, Star Wars.com has revamped their entire site specifically in time for the Celebration. But that's not the best part. There is a new trailer that has been posted for the upcoming animated television series. The story takes place between Episode II and Episode III.

American Idol Begins Tonight

I've mentioned American Idol before. Honestly, I don't feel like I can summon enthusiasm for it this year. But I say that every year. My wife likes the show and I'll most likely be watching it with her.

Something about the show seems wrong to me. It's basically way too artificial and manufactured. I don't like what it says about the music business. I might be wrong, but I'm guessing a lot of people feel the same way.

I don't want to knock the performers from the show that have done well for themselves and gone beyond their roots and developed their own career. They deserve their congratulations. However, picture the world without the show. We already had way too many Pop / Rock / R&B stars than we really needed. Now they are not only going to inject --almost forcibly-- one more star into the mix in the case of the winner, but also we are going to get the runner-ups and top ten or whatever.

There are already too many starving artists of all varieties out there. There are too many bar bands and not enough bars. There are too many amateurs and not enough open-mike nights. There are too many wanna-bes and too many divas.

The industry big shots and lobbyists blame the internet and file-sharing for the shrinking sales. But is it possible that they have oversaturated the market with too many flowers for the flower shop? Basic supply and demand people!

I get the appeal of the show on many levels. There are the good singers and the crowd favorites. People get tied up in the people and get divisively devoted to one particular performer that they want to win. It's the competition and the betting on your favorite 'horse', if you will.

Also quite entertaining are the flops. These are the losers who for some reason think they can sing but that cannot really sing. Nor can they really understand what music really is. Most of them probably have never tried to sing outside the shower. Some look genuinely surprised at either the sound of their voices in a public space or at the judges reactions to them. Some really are idiots, some are faking it and some have to be plants by the producers of the show just to illicit the right fiery responses from Simon.

And there is all the range of human emotion in between. Like most 'reality' shows, when it's good it's good, but when it's bad it's even better. It's similar to staring at the accident victims as you pass them on the highway. It's sick, it's wrong and we can't stop doing it.

I'd write more, but ... ooh, it's coming on soon! See ya!

AMERICAN IDOL Judge references Star Wars

Dateline: Weirdsville - Today on Fox Television's American Idol, judge Simon Cowell was trying to describe how he felt about one of the contestant's performance for the evening. He was trying to describe to the 'rocker' singer how when he switched from rock music to pop music and then attempted to switch back again, it was ...like in Star Wars and going to the Dark Side and back again ... or the Light Side and back again. What? AMERICAN IDOL?

G.I.s missed on American Idol

Watching American Idol this season it occurred to me that our boys and girls in uniform didn't seem to be making as much of an appearance as they had in previous years. And then it quietly dawned on me why that might be. They're on duty fighting for our protection. Whether you agree with the politicians about the war or not, raise a glass for the soldiers who have died, those who are hurt and those still risking their lives every day.