Trek Watch: s1e3 - Where No Man Has Gone Before

There's really endless commentary out there on Star Trek, but I really do want to watch the whole original series in order, so you may see some comments from time to time.

Technically, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is episode 3 of Season 1.  It features a young and terribly fetching Sally Kellerman as Dr. Elizabeth Dehner.  Rumor has it this is the episode that the filmmakers may be basing part of the plot on for the next film.  I have no idea if that's true, but the episode is a pretty great Trek story, even if Sulu isn't on the bridge, Scotty is a bit part, and there's no Dr. McCoy to be seen.  And absolutely no Uhura, which is ALWAYS a mistake.

In fact, this episode was intended to be the pilot, but as so often happens - the episodes were aired out of order making this Episode 3.

confession:  I'm still envious of Shatner's haircut from Trek.  That and "The Draper".  Man, I could never really pull either off.

Some Trek nerd actually knows how this game is played

The Enterprise enters a strange field at the edge of the galaxy that imbues Kirk's pal, Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell, with awesome mental powers.  And we face the age old dilemma of a man losing his humanity as he gains super powers.  

I'm shocked at how strong the show was coming right out of the gate as fairly potent sci-fi, even if they have to resort to fisticuffs to solve the problem.  

Also, they were still figuring out the uniforms.  Command is in gold, science is in blue, but they have funky collars and Spock is in command gold.  Do not approve.

SPACE MUTANTS!!!

The formula isn't there quite yet, but the solid foundation for the Enterprise is taking shape quite nicely.

The Comics Haul 8.22.2012 (and bonus note on TV's "Toy Hunter")

I made it to the comic shop this week and didn't exactly break myself trying to grab new books.

• Prophet has been getting a lot of good buzz, including from Signal Watch favorite writer Chris Roberson.  The trade was inexpensive and the descriptions I'd read on the Image website were interesting, so I'm giving the trade a try.
• Superman: At Earth's End is an Elseworlds special from a long while back.  I wasn't really seeking this out on purpose, but I've been meaning to read it for years.  It's pretty well liked, I understand and I came across it while doing some routine browsing of the Super-books at ABC.
• The Ring of the Nibelung is actually volume 2, and I haven't read volume 1, which is listing for quite a bit on Amazon.  I saw this on the shelf a while back and told myself on a light week I'd pick it up so I wouldn't need to watch the price on Volume 2 go up as well*.  But I won't read it until, of course, I've secured Volume 1 and watched the entirety of the Ring Cycle operas.
• Batman Incorporated 3 was supposed to come out the week after the release of Dark Knight Rises, but apparently has some material that seemed insensitive in the wake of the Colorado movie theater shootings.  I don't mind the delay in the slightest.
• Superman 12 is possibly my last issue of the current run on this title.  I am buying so I don't have a hole in my collection, and even writer Dan Jurgens is distancing himself from his work on this book right now thanks to all the editorial interference that's reportedly occurring at DC at the moment - and which is leading to top name books like this feeling like they were put together by nitwits.
• Supreme 66 continues the story by Erik Larsen that's okay, but not at the height of what Alan Moore was doing on this many, many years ago.

I didn't pick up the 50th Anniversary issue of Spider-Man like I planned to as it was kind of expensive.  New Rocketeer I will read in trade format.  I almost bought Captain America and Namor, but that will be cheaper in trade, and I'm doing just fine with Cap in trades now, anyway.


BONUS Content:

Toy Hunters, a new show on Destination America, came to our own Austin, TX this week.  The host visited Wonko's Toys in North Austin, a private collector of all sorts of toys and the fellow who runs Planet Superhero and lives just south of town, Tim Gardner.

I once met Tim randomly while at Wal-Mart.  He was savvy enough to spot a guy looking at some toys and asked about my interests and I explained I was mostly a Superman fan and we had a very nice chat about his website and collection.  He puts whatever I've got to shame.

I wasn't terribly impressed with the show, unfortunately.

1.  The host kept referring to a Super Powers toy from the 1980's as the vehicle of "Dark-Seed" as he was referring to Darkseid (pronounced "Dark Side" - as was made clear by the cartoon promoting the very vehicle he was buying had made clear).    He must have said "Dark-Seed" 20 times.  Total bush league, rookie mistake.
2.  The idea is that this guy goes around the country buying things from people and then sells them for a higher price at auctions in New Jersey.  This has absolutely nothing to do with the model of how vintage toys are bought and sold in today's market - but showing people clicking on eBay listings isn't good television, I suppose.  What was most vexing was watching the folks he was visiting basically take the same price for the goods they'd give someone off the street, not what they'd sell the item for themselves.  Tim and the guy from Wonko's Toys in North Austin are professionals - and this guy sort of made them look like chumps out in the sticks who can't figure out how to sell their own stuff.
3.  Yes, its Texas.  But Wonko's is located in a suburban strip mall in a developed and fairly well-to-do part of town.  The Country Bear Jamboree music made it sound like they were about to take a canoe ride in Deliverance territory.
4.  Do not explain to The Superman Expert anything about Superman.  It makes you look like an idiot.  I don't care if it IS for the cameras and people at home.  It's as awkward as when people find out I like Superman and try to explain to me that the first Superman comic is worth a whole lot of money.

The host is sort of an uncharismatic pill who uses that weird diction of anyone coached for talking about what they're doing for a reality show, and, frankly, the program needs a hell of a lot of polish.  They should try acknowledging something about the expertise of the people they're buying from, and maybe make it about what this guy can learn about the toys, the history of the toys and why they're valuable to someone rather than pretending he's the all-seeing oracle of toy value - something anyone with an internet connection can look up on eBay.



*last time I waited too long to pick up a book, I missed Torpedo Volume 1 and have just watched the cost rise and rise on Amazon as its also out of print and now in the hands of a different market.

Maintenance: Jamie's Mom's Health, The Olympics

Between the Olympics, travel and now Judy's health issues, we haven't been making much time for movies, comics, Superman or the usual malarkey.  When I have sat down with my computer, we've not had the usual to write on.

We'll see what the next few days and weeks look like, but, you know... priorities.

Judy Update:

Jamie's mom is improving bit by bit.  She's eaten a few bites, said a few words, stood up for a few seconds...  all pretty good for someone who had brain surgery on Thursday.  She's, of course, exhausted.  And she still has a greatly impaired ability to communicate, so we kind of guess what to do and not do for her by giving her options and seeing if she indicates a preference in any way.  She's not glassy-eyed and uncomprehending, but between the original issue, the surgery, and the meds, we're just glad she's waking up on a regular basis.

Jamie's  family has really done a great job, to the point where I'm not in my usual role of bed-side guy helping out, and have been taking over roles like laundry and house maintenance and whatnot.  All necessary, but not quite the crisis-side of this that I'm used to dealing with.  My own family and our pals have been terrific.  So, thanks to everyone.


The Olympics:

Once again the US dominated, enough so that the narrative should be getting dull.  But it's a lot of fun watching our teams win in Track & Field events, Beach Volleyball, and other sports.  Heck, I even enjoyed the inevitable victory by the US Men's Basketball team.  Not as much as hearing about the US Women's Soccer Team winning in a storybook finale.

I'll miss team May-Walsh in Beach Volleyball.  By 2008, we were over the bikinis and focusing on the sport and by 2012, it was all about the amazing feat of three-peating in an incredibly difficult sport.  And not just winning, but only losing one set in 3 Olympics.  Absolutely astounding.

Someone at NBC got the memo, I might add, and the interviews with athletes never turned accusatory, whether athletes placed or not.  And most certainly nobody was asked if they were disappointed at getting a Bronze or Silver.  Now, if the guy covering wee women's gymnastics could learn to dial it down about 11 notches, he might make the sport a lot more tolerable to watch.  Ie: It's weird that you're a grown man and unironically a total fanboy of these weird little 16 year old girls who don't go to school so they can do cartwheels all day.  I would be terrified to see your apartment.

The closing ceremonies were fine.  The usual mish-mash of good and bad ideas.  I understand that part of the theme was the passing of the torch, but don't have recent bands come on and sing standards for absolutely enormous artists.  I don't want to see a teen heart-throb covering Pink Floyd or Johnny Rocker Random cover The Who.  Especially when you have the The Who.  Or half the Who.

Special note:  I keep reading that Daltry and Townsend were there and played, but I somehow missed that as part of the telecast or else I left the room when Daltry was not the one who started with "Pinball Wizard".  Whatever.

And if you're not going to deliver Bowie, stop playing his music.  Bush league.

Anyway, we'll be watching again in 18 months when the Winter Games show up in Mother Russia.

"Revolution" Sci-Fi Fail: Wrigley Field Will Never Be Overgrown with Shrubbery

In watching the Olympics on NBC, every third commercial break or so they're running ads for an upcoming big budget program, trying to capitalize on the Lost audience and grabbing some of the Y: The Last Man aesthetic without actually going there.  Plus: swords for some reason.

The premise of the show seems to be that for some reason, the world has lost the ability to have electricity, and possibly all modern conveniences.  Except for make-up and hair-care product.  This is NBC, after all.

I won't go into too much of what I think looks a little dippy from the commercial, but it was already enough to tell me I wasn't all that interested in the usual network attempt at sci-fi that always feels like a frat-dude trying to put together a sci-fi idea from the bits and pieces they liked on some other show, but, you know, where the chicks aren't all weird or dogs or nuthin' and we're not going to make it all lame.  Oh, and the new lantern-jawed lead is now the all-purpose 20-something-haunted-girl-Mary Sue.  Check and check.

What struck me as a sign of failure (and this is based on a show I haven't seen and don't really understand the premise) was that, to try to earn some sign of how bad things have become in the wake of us having to live like it's 1915 or so again, the commercial shows Wrigley Field has become barricaded by trees and overgrowth, with vines crawling up the front of the building.

their sci-fi premise is, of course, that the The Cubs could get into the playoffs this year

Here's the thing:  No.

Olympics are Back! A report after Day One (2012)

So yesterday I got up and cycling was on. I rolled over to watching US Women's soccer against the villainous Colombian team, watched that whole match, then watched US Women's Volleyball against South Korea, and at some point was watching Norway play France in Women's Team Handball (it's like mini-Lacrosse with no stick. Just hands.). Then Primetime arrived and I wound up watching beach volleyball, swimming, men's gymnastics and concluded the viewing day after midnight watching women under 110 pounds lifting tremendous amounts of weight over their heads.

A few observations:

Sherman Hemsley Merges with The Infinite

Sherman Hemsley, a staple of television for the past 40 years and most famous for his role as George Jefferson on both All in the Family and The Jeffersons, has passed.  He was 74. 

Bit of Signal Watch trivia:  Sherman Hemsley also played Superman villain Winslow Schott, The Toyman, on  an episode of Lois & Clark.

Prep for Dark Knight Rises: I May Love Batman, But It's a Complicated Thing

I love Batman.  I do.  Most importantly, Batman has always been with me, and Batman will be around in some form long after I'm worm food.  Whether the idea will endure like Arthurian legend or disappear like so many other pulp characters, I can't say.  I do occasionally imagine a future in which it's a bit of trivia where people find out that the stories of Batman and Superman originated in comic books, their roots in the pages of comics long since lost the way, say, Paul Bunyan's legend spread as part of an ad campaign.

But as I grow older, I move further and further from a place where the repetition of the stories in the comics has appeal and find myself in a place where the character works better for me in movies or in the occasional graphic novel or some such.  While the comics kind of make a joke about it and ask the reader to engage in willing suspension of disbelief, after reading Batman comics since the mid-80's, it's hard not to notice that whatever state Gotham is located in has done a simply terrible job of managing its prisons and mental health care, and that the people of the state seem to have an incredibly low bar for what they expect their politicians to do about the fact that a clown-faced killer routinely exits a supposedly high-security mental institution under his own recognizance.

somehow this movie did not feed my need for believability in my superhero franchise movie

There's the small matter of child endangerment that's hard enough to ignore on the first go-round, but by Robin #5 (2 of whom have been "killed"), one would expect Superman would take Batman aside and suggest he give the kid sidekick idea a rest for a while.

There's the whole "how has nobody figured out that Bruce Wayne is Batman" thing, especially once you add in the "youthful wards" that keep rotating through Wayne Manor, placing Man-Bat on the things that feel more likely to happen than Bruce to not be considered the Michael Jackson of the DC Universe.

Prep for Dark Knight Rises: The Danceable Batman

As we head toward Wednesday and the release of the much-anticipated Dark Knight Rises, I cannot help but reminded of a simpler time when the average person on the street did not associate inverted semi-trailers and Christopher Nolan with The Dark Knight Detective.

The comics are, of course, silent.  We imagine the lonely street sounds of Gotham, and we can believe the sound effects splattered across the page in beautifully rendered and colored lettering.  But never do comics cross over with music, not unless they're brought to the screen.

I was at basketball camp in the week before the release of Tim Burton's highly anticipated Batman.  In fact, I had read the novelization of the movie during my downtime at camp that year.  The session ended mid-day on Friday, the day Batman hit theaters and it was a whole thing making sure I got to the movie that night (which I did.  Thanks, Peabo's Mom!). 

It's hard to explain exactly how Bat-Crazy I was (very publicly) in 1988, and what a big deal the film felt like at the time.  I'd been following Batman's production via magazines, newspaper articles, notes in the comics and other places, had taped the trailer and watched it over and over...

The camp took place at the University of Texas and we stayed in the dorms at The Dobie, and I still very much remember everyone stopping in the cafeteria line to watch the video for "Bat Dance" (there was a TV on MTV for some reason near the door).   The video was appreciated, but not as much as in 1987, when the video had been for George Michael's "I Want Your Sex".



Like anyone else born in the 1970's, I had a warm spot in my heart for Prince, but found him an odd fit for Batman. It's only in cold hindsight that I have to assume this was neither Tim Burton nor Prince's doing so much as that of WB executives.  But who knows?  (Probably Prince, I guess.).

Ernest Borgnine Merges With The Infinite

Ernest Borgnine, a talented actor with an illustrious career, who I still think of as Dominic Santini from TV's Airwolf, has passed at the age of 95.

He also once married Ethel Merman for a month.  Go figure.

Andy Griffith Merges with The Infinite

The Signal Watch bids farewell and Godspeed to entertainer and personality Andy Griffith.  He passed today at the age of 86.

An Open Letter to NBC as The Olympics Draw Nigh

Dear NBC,

This evening I tuned into some pre-Olympics coverage.  Coverage of time trials as young Americans in Omaha, Nebraska who had been working their whole lives (or some short period of time between adolescence and now) to become world class athletes competed against their countrymen in very silly activities like seeing who can swim fastest for400 meters, but changing directions something like 8 times to do so (just imagine if we asked 400 meter runners to keep changing directions.  I'd watch that.)

I can almost sense the impending failure just from the official NBC logo.

As we do every four four years, I saw Andrea Kremer hopping about in a golf shirt (a sports-casting garment reserved just for the Olympics.  Why is that?), trying to interview hairless, genetic freak men with excellent musculature.  I can see why anyone for whom that's a thing would be as excited as Ms. Kremer.

I also noticed the color commentators relishing the opportunity afforded them for a few weeks every quadrennium to seem something like relevant, instead of finding themselves filling time on CNBC at 3:00 on a Saturday in February.  They seemed very interested in odd minutia about very specific individuals, talked about how the nation's hopes were pinned on this seventeen year old girl who is supposed to swim faster in a switchback fashion than other people, and then had very little nice to say about her once she was in the water and not breaking laws of space and time.

If I may:  Planning a meeting or a conference or even a party takes an incredible amount of work.  I get this.  I do stuff like that often.

You work and work and work to get to the event, you struggle through it, and then its over and all you want to do is celebrate.  The last thing you want to do is show up again on Monday and consider what maybe you could have done better.  I also get that when only do something once in a while, say, every two to four years, its hard to remember what worked and what didn't and get better at doing what you're doing.

So I am going to help you out.  You can skip the notes you misplaced after 2008.  I got you.

Mad Men Season 5 Ends

Season 5 of Mad Men ended Sunday night.  That means only two more seasons to go, which is good.  TV shows need to know where they're headed or you run into the X-Files Syndrome.

People talk about smart TV, and then they mention something like Lost that was sort of dumb TV in smart-TV drag.  The creators got so caught up in creating loop-de-loops of logic and plotting, they managed to do a lot of hand waving about some sort of spiritual meaning to the proceedings, but by the mid-point of the final season, it was pretty clear that what they meant by spiritual was a non-threatening atmosphere CD from Target.

Mad Men, somehow, is a show you can most certainly watch as a soap opera with people falling in and out of love, having illicit sex, making bad decisions, etc...  But it's increasingly a show that's built on its longevity to build a lexicon and a readability that until 15 years ago, was reserved for film and books.

No News is Good News?

You know what I'm a sucker for?  The news.

You know what I haven't seen in the past 10 years?

There's an article on Yahoo! News (your place for breaking info on the Olsen Twins' fashion faux pas) about CNN as a Zombie news network.  

The conclusion:

And it may be that CNN's legendary objectivity is part of the problem. The network has always prided itself on covering the news with an even hand, but more partisan networks like Fox News and MSNBC have stolen away viewers by taking sides in the growing culture war and offering strong opinions with a conservative or liberal slant. CNN may win on journalistic integrity, but they're losing on passion.

Well, not for me and certainly not for anyone I talk to.  I may slant left, but I won't watch MSNBC because I don't need the news spun to me so that I'll nod like a muppet meeting the celebrity guest when Rachel Maddow comes on to tell me how smart we all are for agreeing with her.  


No, I quit watching CNN because they quit airing the news.  We all know that.

Summer TV: Sherlock & Star Trek

The shows I do watch are ended for the season, or wrapping up.  There are only a few episodes left of Season 5 of Mad Men (and last week's episode made me sad), Mythbusters carries on destroying everything in the name of science - even when its clear that Jamie and Adam are not really invested anymore, Parks & Rec has called it a day for 2012, and I've not seen a new American Experience since April, I think.

So its time for me to try to catch up!

Sherlock

You guys have recommended Sherlock to me a few times, and so last night I finally watched the pilot on Netflix.  And then tonight I watched the second episode.

Y'all, that was pretty good, right?  I mean, I'm not wrong on this?

hello.  We're British.

A few scattered things...

Parks and Recreation:  Another season of the show has come and gone.  I am a fan, and I look forward to the show's return.

solid advice

As a state employee and public servant, I appreciate that someone on TV occasionally suggests that folks working in public sector jobs might choose to work these because they love their work and what it does for the community and public.  I know its an unpopular sentiment to express aloud, but that's been my experience with myself and my co-workers.

Curiously, I've found a bit of a hero in Ron Swanson, played by Nick Offerman.  And not just because he's married to Megan Mullally in real life.  Maybe its his eating habits.  Maybe its the exhausted look he wears when dealing with his co-workers, or the Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness.

I can't say, but he is my current rolemodel.


Avengers:  Despite what some of you believe, I quite liked The Avengers.  And like many of you, for reasons I can't put my finger on, I am a big fan of Agent Coulson.   If you have seen the movie and are also A Fan of Phil, I recommend you start following #coulsonlives or @coulsonlives on Twitter.  Also, actor Clark Gregg.

Irredeemable:  I believe Mark Waid's amazing series, Irredeemable, will release its 37th and final issue on Wednesday.  While I am sad it is over, I am glad it existed.  And, frankly, I like the idea that it has a conclusion, like every good story in history.

It doesn't mean Waid can't revisit the setting or characters, but for now...  the curtain draws shut and we get our denouement.

Midnight Cowboy:   No, not the film.  For many years, those of us who looked up above the first story of the buildings on Austin's famed Sixth Street noticed that somehow a "masssage parlor" was operating just right there under the name "Midnight Cowboy".    I'm not clear on how these things work, but as far as I know it was open from the time the name "Midnight Cowboy" had immediate cultural cache until what must have been the last couple of years.

Well, the cocktail maestro for The Alamo Drafthouse (Bill Norris) has taken the space over, bleached it, added tables, and it is now a reservations-only cocktail bar on Dirty Sixth.  But they kept the signs and the name "Midnight Cowboy Modeling".  I'll report out in early June as to how it went.  A quick write up here.

Dick Clark Merges with The Infinite

Dick Clark.  Man.

Were it American Bandstand, Bloopers, Bleepers and Practical Jokes or pretty much every single New Year's Eve of our lives, the man was ubiquitous as he was welcome on TV screens.

The man's job was astonishing and will never be understood by The Kids.  In an era of three channels, Clark brought rock'n'roll to living rooms for decades (DECADES!), surviving the trends and talking about and to the artists, giving everything a shot.

I suspect when we lose Regis Philbin, that'll be it.  We'll have lost the last of the real TV hosts, the guys who were as much a part of your living room as the family dog and maybe even more friendly to both the people they chatted with, making performers seem vaguely charming, and to you, out there in your Barcalounger.

Here's PIL melting down on American Bandstand.

TV Round-Up: Shows I'm Really Missing

Of late, Jamie and I are running out of shows to watch.  Frankly, we've lost our enthusiasm for some of the shows we'd been watching as time seems to have taken its toll on whatever early creative explosions were occurring, giving way to predictable, redundant comedy or plotting turning the show into a 30-60 minute exercise in remembering better days.

Yes, I'm looking at you 30 Rock.  I've turned you off halfway through the episode the past two weeks.

But it reminds me that at least 30 Rock got a chance, again and again from NBC.  Other shows have either been cut down in their prime, or ended due to what I have to assume were business reasons before the show has finished really exploring the possibilities of the characters.

editor's note:  for clarification, from here to the end, its probably worth checking the calendar.

We mostly talk genre around here, so surely I am not alone in my despair amongst my friends here as I wonder aloud why Lexx ever went off the air.   A clear vision of man's future, at least as inspiring as Andromeda, or the oft mentioned Earth: Final Conflict.  All had something compelling to say about us as people, something that needed to go on for much longer than the limited schedules fate bestowed them.

But if I can indulge in Example Prime:  According to Jim.  

I am aware that many shows are lucky to see a single season, but with the complex plotting, nuanced characterization and fascinating growth of the characters in multiple modes from a sort of Sirkian exploration of family and class to a sort of pathos worthy of Von Trier, this slice of Americana received only 8 seasons in which to explore the lives of Jim, Cheryl, they're family and friends.  What more could we have learned by seeing Jim's eventual transition to retirement?  How would he and Cheryl have coped in Season 25 with the overdose death of Dana?  

There are so many lingering questions that only time and the room to let the characters really breathe in their space could have really bring the show to maturity and let longstanding trends with the characters bear fruit.

It seems impossible that 2009 saw the final (official) episode of the program, and I admit I'm a bit behind in my fan-fiction both prose and the skits and full episodes on my website http://geocities.accordingtoryan/\\3456#, but I think its worth keeping the vision of the show alive.  If Arrested Development can see a revival after its shaky ratings and confusing messaging, I'm fairly certain that the millions who watched According to Jim during its official run will be able to see this program see the light of day once more.  

Substituting Real Life for a life made better through Narrative Construction

In the past few weeks I've had three separate conversations with three separate people from very, very different backgrounds, all of whom were describing their individual situations and then wound up throwing their hands in the air and saying "this isn't how it is in the movies!"  They were not being hyperbolic or kidding.

I don't know if its any different from how CNN's favorite line from witnesses since 9/11 has been "it was like something out of a movie".  On the news, it seems, it's the only way to describe the fact that you're in one of those make-or-break/ life-or-death situations that comes along but once in a blue moon.  Unless you're in movies and your name is John McClane.

Have we found ourselves in a place where we speak more often about the construction of fictional character's lives than our own that our only model for how things go in life is in the condensed and scripted world of television and movies?  Are we learning more from watching Harry and Sally falling in love than we are from watching our parents or talking to friends?

As you know, I watch Mad Men, a program I feel manages to do what good fiction can do, and that's tell us something about the universal "us" or about ourselves as flawed, hypocritical, deceitful, kind, odd people who want to do the right thing, or the thing that we hope is right for us.  The program gets a lot of press coverage, and is well rewarded for its efforts by people who give out statuettes.  By taking place in the 1960's rather than today, we get some comforting distance, all while having a limited omniscience as viewers as we know where the world in which these characters are living is headed while they're just along for the ride.  Its meant everything from the shock of a Muhammad Ali win to the death of John F. Kennedy stopping everyone in their tracks for an episode.

On the season opener, which aired Sunday, apparently the opening sequence in which young advertising executives (not at Don's advertising agency, but another) were throwing bags of water down at African Americans from their Manhattan skyscraper offices while on the sidewalks a group of black protesters asked for equal treatment - was apparently pulled line for line from a newspaper story from the period in which the episode occurs.

So, Mad Men is back

I could spend some time writing about Mad Men and the virtues of the program.  While, no doubt, we can all agree the show has tremendous visual appeal (thanks for bringing back Jessica Paré, TV show!), the witty dialog, the solid character building, the completeness of the world...

Instead I'll talk about how Mad Men is one of the only forms of media that I partake in with a social bent with actual people and not, though you know I love you all, through social media.

With the start of Season 3 (Season 5 debuted Sunday, March 25th), Jamie and I began watching Mad Men with pals Matt and Nicole.  I don't know who had the brain storm to do so, or why we started watching the show together, but we're now entering our third season of getting together on Sunday nights (schedules willing), having some dinner, mixing a cocktail or three and ending the weekend with a bit of TV.

I don't think any of us believe the show isn't a bit soapy, and while I do believe it is one of the best shows on TV, I don't have a religious zeal for the program.  I'm not planning a Mad Men-Con (although, that might be fascinating...).  I haven't written any Mad Men fan fiction.  That you'll ever be allowed to read.*  But, yes, we have had 60's dinners, and I prefer to keep my drinks classic if we enjoy a cocktail during the show.

Aside from a few UT Football games per year, we really don't get together for media events in our home or at the homes of others.  Not even the Super Bowl.  As I've mentioned, I more or less do the comics thing on my lonesome here in Austin, hitting events by myself, and while the good folks at Austin Books are friendly as can be, I don't have many people I hang out with on a regular basis who share a shred of my enthusiasm for comics or superheroes.   I do still manage to catch a few movies with groups from time to time, but the "social" aspect of it also includes a 2 hour block in the middle where we're all sitting together, silently, in the dark.

For some reason, though,  on Sundays when Mad Men is airing, we finish our chores and activities early so that we can get together, watch an episode, pause it when something needs to be discussed, talk trash about anyone crossing Don Draper, and generally make a time of it.

I don't know if we watched it each individually we'd have feelings about the show.  In general, I don't get terribly invested in TV programming and can take or leave shows, even many I've watched for years (we're currently once again choosing to abandon shows at our house that we've watched for a few seasons).  But that's not how I've approached Mad Men, and I understand that's not how many of you approached shows like Deadwood and Sopranos. and other well received, critically acclaimed shows in which I never became invested.

So, with Sunday evening's return of Mad Men, so, too, have we seen the return of social Sunday nights.  I think it helps make it a lot more fun, and a bit more of an event.  There's probably something to that.  But I don't really need more than one show I approach this way.


*okay, in my timeline, Pete Campbell is also a spy and Peggy is secretly a girl wizard.

Mad Men returns March 25th

Just a reminder.