Mad Men - All about the Women

The key to this show for me is that through all the male chauvinism and bravado, it is the women of the show that shine brightest. They show true bravery, determination, grace, and intelligence. Their beauty blinds the men around them to these qualities (almost) all of the time. They take an OK show with some cool set and turn it into the best show on TV right now.

Peggy - She is best of the bunch. She is young, energetic, has a no nonsense attitude, but also is mature beyond her years and increasingly sexually assertive. She is extremely progressive in her mindset but also is a devout Catholic. She has overcome adversity, faced her demons, and risen from the ashes, but now she is faced with the possibility that she has peaked at Sterling Cooper. She has stood up to the men and likes the way she measures up, but now she is faced with the prospect of being alone and with never being an equal no matter how good she is. I find myself rooting for her very hard.

Mate Rater - While she can seem stiff and kind of a wet blanket, I imagine her as very good in bed. Her looks are underrated. 9 out of 10.

Betty - She is so repressed. Brutally so. She is also very passive aggressive. She has been trained to keep her mouth shut and obey. Be pretty and be quiet. In an age where the Peggy's of the world are coming out of their shells, she doesn't have the social skills and fears she is missing the boat. She is a very sub-par mother. Have you ever seen her in a tender moment or acting in any way nurturing? Don treats her like garbage and I think she is tremendously bored.

Mate Rater - She is adorable and gorgeous. But she is cold and I imagine her to be a bit of a dead fish. 5 out of 10.

Joan - This season I have seen Joan in a totally new light. She is almost like a wild horse who was broken by the office rape. She has proven to be a faithful wife-to-be, even in the face of his worsening career prospects. She played the accordion like a monkey in front of his high society friends. She was Peggy and now she wants to be Betty. She probably thought it would never happen once Roger chose another. Through it all, she showed tremendous class and composure under pressure. I feel like she is on the verge of either a meltdown or a comeback.

Mate Rater - Has to be a little gun shy since the office rape, right? Otherwise, she seemingly does it all. 8 out of 10.

What to Watch tonight - 09/28/09

Tonight is back to normal night at the Golden house...except we have a dog. I am still a little tired from the beating my body took this weekend. Here is the good work that will get done by my DVR...

Heroes - 8pm on NBC
House - 8pm on Fox
HIMYM - 8pm on CBS
AoP - 830pm on CBS
Gossip Girl - 9pm on CW
Trauma - 9pm on NBC
J&K+8 - 9pm on TLC
Big Bang - 930pm on CBS

That is a full slate. The good news is the football game promises to be boring for everyone who isn't a fan of the two teams. Carolina and Dallas are two of the biggest choking dog teams out there.

My DVR is near capacity after last night's TV action. I haven't seen Fringe, Top Chef, Simpsons, Family Guy, Mad Men, Curb, Californication, and I am sure there are more. I am hoping to get in a solid six hours tonight.

Soggy and miserable...and a dog.

I finally dried off from the horrible, wet, cold, and rainy 14 hour day in Happy Valley. I got sick. The game was terrible. I lost my voice. Oh, and I got a dog. I bought a toy Rat Terrier. His name is Bruiser and he weighs about 2 pounds.

I got back Sunday afternoon, watched some football, did dog and house stuff, and squeezed in a little TV.

I watched about 4 episodes of Big Bang. I am now about halfway through season 2 and Sheldon keeps getting better and better. I love how nerdy the crew is too. The episode where Penny gets strike 3 was great as was the one where Sheldon had a "girlfriend".

I watched the premiere of Cougar Town and Accidentally on Purpose back to back, which is funny because they are basically the same show. I think the two are both OK but if I had to pick a winner it would be Cougar Town b/c I am picking up on the serious Bill Lawrence vibe of the show. Very Scrubs-y. I am giving these shows a personal three episode extension. Let's see if either turns out to be something.

What to Watch this weekend

As I head north to State College for a football weekend, my DVR will be dutifully recording the season premieres of Dollhouse (Fox at 9) and Smallville (CW at 8)

Monk and Psych are both new on USA.

Football weekend...The PSU-Iowa is a revenge match from last year. Don't let PSU's ranking fool you. They have not looked like world beaters against vastly inferior teams. Were they just unable to get up for the weaker teams or are they not as good as advertised? We will find Saturday at 8PM.

Other college games of note...Kentucky-Florida, Oregon-Cal, LSU-Miss State, and Arkansas-Alabama are all upset potentials. Yes I learned my mistake from last weeks terrible prediction about USC. The VTech-Miami game is suddenly elevated by the sudden rise of the Hurricanes the past couple of weeks.

As far as the NFL, there is one matchup of 2-0 teams...San Fran at Minnesota. Brett Favre in the limelight where he is most comfortable.

Also, do not miss the PGA Tour Championship with $10 million on the line and Tiger in the hunt.

Work gets in the way...

I have been tied up getting a brief together and planning my trip to Happy Valley and have fallen behind a little here in navigator-land. Here is a snap shot of what I have watched...

Always Sunny (great)
The Office (eh)
Parks & Rec (good)
Community (good)
SYTYCD (eh)
Glee (eh)
Old Christine (good)

That leaves me with some catching up to do...with the blog and with my DVR. Just have to put the finishing touches on this work week...

Lost - Episode titles released

The titles for the first four episodes of the final season are out. Click here to see the article and Doc Jensen's analysis. Here are the titles -

6x01/6x02 - LA X
6x03 - What Kate Does (Kate-centric)
6x04 - The Substitute (Locke-centric)

Assuming Doc is right and the final season will mirror the first season thematically, what clue does that give us as to what will happen and how this will all unfold?

I need to spend some time coming up with my theory.

The machine knows...

This article makes me feel good in that I am not the only one but it also puts pressure on for me to keep up. 8 hours a day is some serious TV watching, America. Now wonder we are obese.