Mad Men Holds Court at TCA

BuzzSugar — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:32:37 -0700

The centerpiece of Wednesday's presentations at the TCA press tour was the panel discussion with the cast and creator of Mad Men. More than a few critics who were in the room called the session a total lovefest, and it's easy to understand why. Creator Matthew Weiner is legendarily tight-lipped with details about plot twists, but he and his actors did let a few tidbits slip in the session:

Season two, which starts later this month, will pick up in February 1962, 14 months after the season one finale.
As the show goes on, we can get used to those kinds of time jumps: Weiner has "a five-year plan" for covering the '60s, ending up in roughly 1968 by season five (though Weiner insists there's no plan set in stone for the series and its storylines).
In the season's second episode, Pete Campbell will suffer a major tragedy, and the script will be about how someone reacts to bad news versus how they should react.
The cast still only rarely gets recognized on the street, but one of the biggest tragedies for the female cast members is that they can't wear their own favorite vintage clothes anymore lest someone think they're in costume.
The interaction that seems to best sum up Weiner's attitude about spoilers:

Question: What would you say to the viewers who will tune into the premiere and will want to know immediately what happened with Peggy and the baby?
Answer: I'd say trust me, I will give you the information as you need it, in the most entertaining fashion.
Remember that New York Times story about Weiner and Mad Men from a few weeks back? Weiner apparently thought it captured him perfectly.

As for the goings-on at the rest of TCA, just read more.

David Alan Grier is bringing a sketch show called Chocolate News to Comedy Central.
The newest dirty job to get its own show: New York City tunnel-diggers, on the History Channel.
Apparently there is a TV network called Retirement Living TV. Every day, I mourn the fact that the Puppy Channel from this This American Life episode was just a wee bit before its time.
Attention William Shatner fans: He's getting a talk show.
Note to self: never ask Eriq LaSalle about ER.

HBO is up later today and there's already lots of news coming out, so I'll share that in just a bit!

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TV Preview: "Thank God You're Here"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 08:00:23 -0700

Now that "The Black Donnellys" is officially canned, we'll get two hours of "Thank God You're Here," NBC's new improv show in which celebrities walk into a set-up scene and have to ad-lib their way through. The show debuts this coming Monday, April 9, but you don't have to wait to see it - the premiere episode is available online now.

My snap judgment: TV isn't the best showcase for improv, but this show isn't as bad as I'd feared. When I first heard NBC was doing an comedy show with celebrities, I thought they'd be shoving, say, Patrick Dempsey or Evangeline Lilly into a scene, so I'm glad to see that the "celebrities" are actual comedians like Wayne Knight ("Seinfeld"'s Newman) and Joel McHale (E!'s "The Soup"). The supporting cast is also strong: They're good at setting up lines for the featured celebs, but they're funny in their own right too.

At the same time, the constant cutaways to the live studio audience seemed to scream "laugh now!" rather than letting us find the good bits on our own, and the idea of having a judge give a trophy to one of the performers felt like pandering, even if the judge is Dave Foley. My favorite parts of the show were actually the pre-taped (but still improvised) bits, which felt less forced and genuinely funny. Check out the episode and let me know what you think. Or, if you just want a taste, you can watch a clip from the premiere if you read more

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