It is rather unfortunate. I need a new show and I'm craving some good ol' 1950s-60s drama. Watching the Twilight Zone puts me in the mood, and I was hoping Mad Men would fill this gap.
Damn!
How do people watch this show?! Maybe they're just smarter than me, but it is really too slow and stilted. It feels like a poor stage production a lot of the time and a lot of the conversations drag on and on...I'm all for the snappier cuts and leaving a lot unsaid.
I gave it a good shot! I watched 5 episodes. FIVE. That is more than generous, considering if I don't like something halfway through the pilot, it is usually gone. I kept waiting for it to get good and it just got worse. The only thing I really liked was a little monologue about drinking and the line "your generation drinks because it is licking some invisible wound." I was like "oh, snap! This just got cool!" But then it went back to being a one-dimensional snooze-fest and I realized 5 hours of my life just wasn't worth that line.
It didn't have the relish, the self-directed drollness, and witty dialogue that I crave.
The only shows that have truly satisfied this taste of mine are.....
How I Met Your Mother
"Legen....dary."Eli and I got into this by pure chance (channel surfing and we went into hysterics 30 seconds into landing on this gem). It is what modern television needs and is absolutely wonderful--the perfect combination of plot, character development, humor, and sentimentality. It is smart, but unassuming.
Everyone can relate.
Seinfeld
"No soup for you!"
"Hoochie-mama!"
"Giddy-up!"
"I WAS IN THE POOL!"
"Hello Newman."
Need I say more?
The ultimate. The original.
The show about nothing.
LoveLoveLove.
I Love Lucy
"Lucy...you've got some 'splaining to do!!"
Are you seeing a theme here? My 3 favorite TV shows are set in New York City and center around groups of young couples.
I started watching Lucy when I was in the hospital as a kid, with cancer. It took a lot to entertain me, obviously.
I never tired of it then and I don't now.
It is simply lovely. The chemistry with the characters, the sets, the quips! And Ricky is so cute.
I've done impersonations of Lucille Ball for several class projects now, starting in Jr. High (I performed Vitametavegamin. And I still have it memorized! That's right).
And lastly...a non-American sitcom.
Keeping up Appearances
British comedy at its best.
We gave some of the videos from this series as a gift to my Grandma, but when we realized that the main character, Hyacinth here, reminded her too much of her own demanding, persnickety, etiquette-obsessed self, we took them back from her and from my teens onward I have been in love with them.
They're weird and, obviously, very British.
And damned funny.
This is as close as I get to slapstick.
I know it is a lot to ask that Mad Men, or any other show stand up to these expectations of mine, but come on. It seems TV producers are pumping out quantity and rarely quality these days--lets return to the basics (much like How I Met Your Mother has done) and make decent shows. Even just one or two!
Because I need some entertainment! Jeopardy is good for the brain, but I need some decent laughs too, and quirky situations that make me think differently, spark my creativity a bit.
Farewell, Mad Men. I'm sorry we didn't get to know each other better, but you are such a drag.
We're over.
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