Oh Where oh Where Is Scripted TV, Oh Where oh Where Can It Be?

With reality television shows springing forth at the speed of sound – and multiplying as fast as rabbits in heat - the list is  endless with titles from A-Z: A Dating Game to zBlow Out.   It is very difficult to select a favorite television show these days, unless its label as a “reality show".  It seems every week a new reality show springs forth designed around someone trying to make a come back or remain in the limelight: Flavor Flav,  Flavor Of Love or Denise Richards, It's Complicated; or some unheard of trying to make a name for themselves: Jon & Kate, The Bachelor, or Wife Swap.   Apparently those that can’t act, do reality shows.   Either way, it is becoming all to familiarly boring.   Most of these shows are just cookie-cutters of one another, basically if you’ve seen one you’ve seen the other.   Ironically, knowingly being followed around by a camera crew, isn’t reality – its really just people performing for a camera at their own home or in a selected setting, footage which is clearly edited for television.  

Someone mention that the reason the boob-tube is bombarded with the screaming hollering foolishness of reality TV is because it is cheaper to produce than scripted television.   What the heck?!  Just because some producers are too cheap to open their wallets does that mean viewers must subscribe to cable or satellite just to see a television series, which is only there in re-run syndication?  Although there seems to be an unbelievable market for the annoyance of  fist fights, hair pulling, cursing, and name calling; Why can’t they air series that speak to the remaining viewing audience in ways that have an entertaining engaging plot or storyline instead of being  reminiscence of a Jerry Springer smack-down episode.   There are a few scripted-series on the air, but clearly reality shows outnumber them hands down.  Its as though the Writers are still on strike, and they’re throwing anything at the viewers.   And what’s being pitched isn’t worth the 30-60 minutes it fills the screen on a weekly basis;  just 5 to 10 minutes into one of these reality shows gives one a great appreciation for books.   Reading is fundamental and an easy way to escape reality,  reality TV that is.
Stay-tuned for additional installments.

Mad Men’s Betty Draper’s Ordeal - Depression or Selfishness?

You do not have to be a television couch-potato, to become a die-hard fan of Mad Men (aka MM) all it seems to take is your undivided attention to an episode – and you could very well become hooked.  Most baby-boomers can appreciate how well the series’ managers to capture the ambiance of the 60s era.  And everyone else can just appreciate the opportunity to be transported back in time and experience what they weren’t able to first-hand.
Writer, Susan Weissman’s recent (11 November 2009) article in The Huffington Post, posed a question that ask, if the alluring Betty Draper  character would smile before next season’s final episode,   Well, since the third season finale aired Sunday 8 November 2009, and it was a tantalizing cliff-hanging finale, with the promise of a phenomenal fourth season; it’s probably safe to say that MM fans are more interested in the start of the fourth season next year, as oppose to the final episode.
As for Betts (as her husband Don refers to her as), she's what some refer to as spoiled and self-centered.  Most women like Betty who were so use to having the spotlight shone on them that they can't bare to have anyone else upstage them in the attention category, including their own children - so they create a dramatic/depressed atmosphere, starring none other than themselves.  It appears that Betty doesn't smile often because she wants someone to ask her what they can do for her or give to her to make her smile.  Perhaps she is frustrated with her life, because she's not doing much to contribute to her own happiness.
Anyway,  Betts appears to be going from one open-wallet to another  with her latest human-ATM, Hunter, the only thing is, she's not really taking much to the table is she? No, she's a pampered brat who does not work outside the home, but has the nerve to drink and smoke while watching her housekeeper cook, clean, & care for her children.  Yet, she still can't seem to find a way to accomplish any goal she may have had or find anything meaningful to do with her endless free time.

Mad Men Is On Point

When Mad Men debuted on AMC in 2007 it quickly became one of the most talked about series on television. The show set in 1960ish New York, focuses on the men and women of Madison Avenue Advertising. The show even made history as the first series to win an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series; it also won Golden Globe’s Best Television Series – Drama.

One interesting element of the show is that there is a tremendous amount of cigarette smoking throughout each episode, depicting how rampant cigarette smoking was during that era; in the boardroom, the bedroom, and shall we gasp?, even pregnant women; which makes you wonder how/why everyone growing up in the 60s isn’t dead or suffering from cigarette-related cancer of some sorts. The series’ recreation is so on point you can almost feel the burning sensation in your eyes that takes you back to the days of smoked-filled rooms clouded with Camels and Kools.

The show has developed in to such a pop-cultural phenomenon with such a passionate fan base Mad Men continues to surpass everyone’s expectations with each new episode. And the record 4.5 Maddicts viewers tuning into the premiere Season 3, were delighted to learn that the show has been picked up just three episodes into the current season. The captivating world of Sterling Cooper will be back on AMC again next year." said Charlie Collier, president and general manager of AMC. And just in case you’re new to this television sensation -- Mad Men currently airs Sunday nights on AMC at 10pm | 9c.

Even if you’ve not yet become a Maddict fan you may still wish to tune in to catch a glimpse of priceless moments such as the one aired in last night’s episode. The scene begins innocently enough, with an older man walking out of the house carrying three large phone books, chatting with his two grandchildren who are on their way to school; but it’s the look on nine year old Sally’s Draper face as Grandpa Gene presses down on her foot to increase her driving speed from 5 mph to a whopping 25 - 30 mph is one of sheer delightful devilment; as she expertly maneuvers the family’s black Lincoln through the Suburban NY streets during another of her Grandpa’s many escapades; to drop she and her younger brother off at their Grammar school. And if by chance you miss it the first go round at 10pm, the show immediately re-airs in its entirely at 11pm. But the Mad Men Maddicts already know that; so select a time, tune in, and be a Maddict that's on point too.