The Remote Island : The Sopranos

Britain, Still Reeling From The Revolutionary War, Ranks American Television Shows

Jake Kalish — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:35:00 GMT

Sure, flex what little muscle you have left, former colonial power. The Times Of London has ranked the top 50 U.S. shows of recent years - and the show you see pictured above didn't make their top ten.

No Mad Men in the top ten? See, this is why the sun now sets on the British Empire. Although, in their manner, the Brits are quite gracious and complimentary:

The quality of entertainment arriving over the Atlantic is so good viewers are taking television seriously again. Every wave of imports slowly washes away the endless slurry of reality nonsense from our screens, and the idiot box takes us into a world of intelligent, complex drama.

And we can’t get enough. Digital schedules groan under the weight of new American programming, while shows such as The Wire, Mad Men and The Sopranos have found a dedicated following online and via DVD sales.

For reals? We're that good? Did you see Osbournes: Reloaded? And you did that to us. Every one of them farting, food-throwing Osbournes - British. But, on behalf of America, thank you for the kind words, Britain. And no, you can't have your country back.

Check out their list, which has this top ten:

10. Curb Your Enthusiasm

9. The Shield

8. South Park

7. Lost

6. The Simpsons

5. The West Wing

4. 24

3. The Sopranos

2. Battlestar Galactica

1. The Wire

Mad Men came in at #14, one spot ahead of Dexter. We would have moved those both up (and moved Mad Men way up) but other than that, it's a pretty solid list, especially at the top, with some ridiculousness - The Office is #49, nine spots behind Weeds. We know, your Office was first, but don't take it out on us. And while The Colbert Report comes in at #37, The Daily Show doesn't even make the top 50.

PREVIOUSLY:

Full Frontal Nudity On British Afternoon TV

"Post-Conception Pregnancy Advice Service" Ads On British TV?

"The Osbournes: Reloaded": Please, Osbournes, Stop Shooting

British Lawyer Uses The "Homer Simpson Defense"

David Chase Returns To HBO With "A Ribbon Of Dreams"

Jake Kalish — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:02:00 GMT

David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, will write and produce (as well as direct the first two episodes of) a fictional HBO miniseries that traces the history of the film industry through the eyes of two producing partners and their offspring. While the guy responsible for The Sopranos certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt in all future projects, we do have our doubts about this one.

First off, here's the official press release description:

The miniseries, "A Ribbon of Dreams" -- whose title comes from Orson Welles' observation that "a film is a ribbon of dreams" -- will begin in 1913 and follow two men, one a college-educated mechanical engineer, the other a cowboy with a violent past, who form an unlikely producing partnership.

The duo will start off as employees of D.W. Griffith and then cross career paths with such Hollywood greats as John Ford, John Wayne, Raoul Walsh, Bette Davis and Billy Wilder. Through the eyes of the two main characters -- as well as their offspring -- "Dreams" will chronicle the growth of the film industry from the age of rough-hewn silent Westerns, to the golden era of talkies and the studio system, to the auteur movement, to television, and finally to the present day.

Hmmm. Sounds like it'd make an okay book. Or PBS documentary narrated by Peter Bogdanovich watched almost exclusively by geriatric contributors to Public Broadcasting. But HBO miniseries? It seems potentially pretty stuffy. And nostalgia-driven. And insider-y - the kind of thing that would play well in the room to Hollywood producers, because, well, it's basically about them and their lives. But will a general audience dig it? We're not sure. Still, David Chase is the guy responsible for the "Whitecaps" episode. Benefit of the doubt.

PREVIOUSLY:

Edie Falco As "Nurse Jackie" On Showtime

"Big Pussy" Beat Up His Fiancee?

A Complete History Of "The Sopranos" In Four-Letter F*cking Words [VIDEO, NSFW]

Edie Falco As "Nurse Jackie" On Showtime

Jake Kalish — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:35:00 GMT

We're pretty psyched about Edie Falco's June-debuting Showtime series Nurse Jackie, in which the greatest television actress alive (hold on, Jean Stapleton is alive? Okay, they can fight for the title) plays a Vicodin-snorting supernurse. Here's the description of Nurse Jackie, from the show's site:

NURSE JACKIE is a half-hour dark comedy that is at turns wicked, heartbreaking and funny. Edie Falco stars as the title character Jackie O'Hurley, a strong-willed and brilliant — but very flawed — emergency room nurse in a complicated New York City hospital. A lapsed Catholic with an occasional weakness for Vicodin and Adderall to get her through the days, Jackie keeps the hospital balanced with her own kind of justice. Every day is a high wire act of juggling patients, doctors, fellow nurses and her own indiscretions. The series also stars Eve Best, Peter Facinelli, Merritt Wever, Haaz Sleiman and Paul Schulze.

We dig. Except, of course, now we have to wait four months. In the meantime, we'll just have to make do with our "first look"...

"Big Pussy" Settles Fiancee-Abuse Lawsuit

Jake Kalish — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:20:00 GMT

Good. Better to not let everyone know all the sordid, violent details of your horrible breakup, Vincent Pastore.

PREVIOUSLY:

Big Pussy Beat Up His Fiancee?

"Big Pussy" Beat Up His Fiancee?

Jake Kalish — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:27:00 GMT

This is ugly. Lisa Regina, the ex-fiancee of Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore, is suing the former Sopranos star for $5.5 million, saying he smashed her head against a car's gearshift and flung her into the street after an April 2005 screaming fight in which they broke up. Big Pussy, who calls his former love a "gold digger," admits he wasn't acting like a gentleman, but says it wasn't as bad as all that:

As the civil trial opened in Manhattan Supreme Court, Pastore denied smashing Lisa Regina's head against a car's gearshift and flinging her into the street, but admitted he yanked her by the hair and screamed an obscenity at her.

"Lisa yelled, 'Come! Big Pussy's beating me up! Sopranos!'" Pastore testified. "Nobody was beating anybody up. I was leaning against a wall."

This would be more believable if Vincent Pastore hadn't already pleaded guilty to charges of attempted assault for the incident, and served 70 hours community service. Now, with his Sopranos money on the line, he is innocent. When asked by the New York Daily News why he pleaded guilty to criminal charges, Pastore said he regretted not taking that case to trial, and added ""Whaddaya gonna do?"

Well, you could not beat up women.

A Complete History Of "The Sopranos" In Four-Letter F*cking Words (VIDEO, NSFW)

Bryan Christian — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:32:00 GMT

Video after the jump... (if you're at work, seriously, get your headphones on... and clear the next half-hour off your schedule.)

the sopranos, uncensored. from victor solomon on Vimeo.

Holy smoke, is this hypnotic. And, indeed, you can pretty much get exactly what was going on over the entire show. Can we assume that this was compiled using the stuff A&E couldn't broadcast?

[via Buzzfeed]

RIP, John "Johnny Cakes" Costelloe

Jake Kalish — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:30:00 GMT

John Costelloe, the actor who played Johnny Cakes, the gay lover of Vito Spatafore on The Sopranos, has died at 47, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Costelloe's excellent, subtle, moving portrayal of a closeted, married short-order cook saved what could have easily been a storyline gone wrong. We'll always remember when, sensing something, he first took Vito's hand in the diner; it was a moment of true affection and vulnerability - beautiful and sad, at the same time. It was really good television. Rest In Peace.

Lillio Brancato Jr. Of "The Sopranos" Not Guilty Of Killing A Cop

Jake Kalish — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Lillo Brancato Jr., former star of A Bronx Tale and featured player for a little while on The Sopranos, has been acquitted of murder but found guilty of burglary. Brancato way got caught up in drugs and, during a heist gone wrong, (they were looking for prescription pills) his accomplice Steven Armento shot off-duty officer Daniel Enchautegui, who lived next door and had gone out to investigate. Here's a good profile of Brancato right after the shooting. And here's Lillo on The Sopranos, in an awkward moment with Tony Soprano:

Another "Sopranos" Product: Now You Can Smell Like Paulie Walnuts

Jake Kalish — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:39:00 GMT

A couple of weeks ago we told you about the new line of Sopranos wines. Well, there's a new Sopranos-related product: Paulie Walnuts Cologne. Tony Sirico's new fragrance is actually called Paolo Per Uomo - "Paul For Men" - and the bottle will have a gray streak, just like Sirico's head. Tony says he tried 14 formulas before he came upon the right one, which has hints of cognac:

Something was missing, but the 15th time - bada bing!

Aw, don't say "bada bing", Paulie. We remember, you were on that show. Hey, not a criticism, just an observation. Put the lead pipe down.

-- Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights

"Sopranos" Wine: Wake Up This Morning And Get Yourself Some Vino. Or Else.

Jake Kalish — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:33:00 GMT

The Sopranos has a new line of wines, by the Vesuvio Import Company - which you might note was named after Artie Bucco's fictional restaurant. There's a Chianti, Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Noir, all made in several different Italian wineries and including several Tuscan labels - and all priced between $14.99 and $33.99. So buy some, huh? Or maybe you're just a Big Pussy? Ohhhhhh! The mouth on dis guy!

- Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights

"Sons Of Anarchy", You're On Notice

Bryan Christian — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:23:00 GMT

In short, the best things about last night's episode of Sons of Anarchy -- wherein the Sons tracked down a child rapist so her father could back out of getting a grisly revenge -- were probably, um, all the promos for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

In long: Jax was kind of nowhere to be seen, there was a bunch of senseless and stupid violence, Mitch Pileggi brought a little too much swishiness to a scene where he was supposed to be buttering up Katey Sagal, Jay Karnes from The Shield turned up to complicate not one but two plotlines a little too conveniently and hamfistedly (ATF ex machina, the Greeks called that), and we're not sure which line of dialogue was more embarrassing: the time where Drea de Matteo emerged from a meth induced coma/rehab to deliver, in thorough-yet-marblemouthed legalese, "The hospital's a little nervous about liability issues," or when Katey Sagal, speaking to the mother of the poor girl violated in the open scene, warned her that her daughter might always think of herself as "the girl who was raped at Funtown."

Now, maybe you don't get the full absurdity of that line. So say it to yourself, right now, sitting in your cube. Be sure to think of all the times they said something both banal and weirdly profound on The Sopranos. Now imagine that scenario as a FAIL, with Segal bringing none of the conviction that, say, Silvio brought to every single ridiculous syllable that fell from his lips. No, seriously, do it. We'll wait. Pathetic, right?

All in all, last night's episode lacked any of the qualities that we found appealing in the pilot -- gone were the intimations the road as an endless frontier and bikers as a landless nation roaming it. Gone too were any of the references to Hamlet; in fact, we're starting to wonder if the producers or the network doubt that Charlie Hunnam, with his laid back approach to Jax, has the magnetism to carry the show on his own. (Hence his second banana-ing and the appearance of Karnes?)

And what did we get instead of all that? We had a bunch of trigger-happy rednecks and petty theives, solving crimes for the rich and dealing dirty justice in a vacuum or morality or consequence. And not in a good way; more like The Fall Guy with leather and knives.

Therefore, we are ready to declare our first Recap Probation of the year. Sons of Anarchy, we will catch you next week and give you a fair shot, but if you don't bring the un-suck, you are off our pages until Ron Perlman wants out to shoot Hellboy 3 or FX decides it's time for there to be a Paddy's Pub West. Whichever comes last.

PREVIOUSLY:
"Sons of Anarchy": Do As I Say, Unless You Don't Wanna And Someone Gets Hurt
"Sons Of Anarchy" Fills A Gaping Bullethole In The Flak Vest Of Our Hearts

"Sons of Anarchy": Do As I Say, Unless You Don't Wanna And Someone Gets Hurt

Bryan Christian — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:29:00 GMT

"I know what you're thinking, and you're right. This show does need more me."

Apparently there's a sign up in SAMCRO HQ that says "Brains before bullets". So how come last night's episode of Sons of Anarchy seemed so senselessly violent? Is this what we can expect?

First things first: let's say you got this plotline with those two Mexican gals that were killed in the fire at the wirehouse. (The first warehouse fire in the pilot we mean; not the second.) When you got the law from two counties sniffing around, and you're worried about them tying the warehouse (which had been full of guns) to your club, it's no great position to be in. And that goes double when one of your boys -- let's say Tig, who seems to be a potentially scary dude -- might have left a little, erm, evidence of his own inside those aforementioned dead gals.

OK, that's a jam. But what we wanna know is where, exactly, does it say in the SAMCRO bylaws that the solution to this problem is to buy some bodies from a horny funeral home attendant who's got a thing for one of your club honeys so that you can fake a whole other murder across town to get the fuzz out of your hair long enough to steal the bodies of those Mexican gals and dispose of them as you please.

Hey, look at that, we just summarized like half the show in a single sentence. A single, wholly preposterous, needlessly crass sentence.

Are we beginning to rethink this whole Sons of Anarchy thing? A little. This was a pretty underwhelming second ep to a series, and one filled with too much non-gritty, non-quirky violence and a number of obvious plot complications that just kind of rose and fell out of nowhere: Tig's relationship with the dead Mexican ladies, Tara's suddenly knowing that Gemma tried to kill Wendy, Jax beating the crap out of some guy just because he cut him off in traffic. They're all developments that have something to do with character, and yet they don't really hang together all that well.

Also kind of half-baked is the story of Opie and Donna, who continue to have money problems, so much so that Opie's angling for more work in the club -- of the parole-violating sort, dum-da-dum!, that won't complicate things later on... So Donna's too proud to accept charity from Gemma. We get it, she's a toughie, and she'll have to be since he's probably got a target on his head. But maybe if there was just a hair more context for this story, like Opie having something to say about being passed over as heir to the club in favor of Jax... something to give these sadsacks some gravity! But we got nothing, so they're kind of chugging along, and we're supposed to feel bad for people we barely know who aren't going to dinner with the rest of the club? Meh.

The only satisfying plotlines this week had to do with Clay and his attempts to hold the club's finances together in the face of this whole warehouseless situation. The gun deal with the 'Niners apparently went off smoothly -- there were even celebratory muffins! -- but a few days later what first seems like business as usual -- a protection run arranged by the outgoing police chief, Unser, played by Dayton Callie (aka Charlie Udder from Deadwood) -- turns out to be a bold power play by Clay. Instead of making the protection run as promised, and keeping Chief Unser happy, Clay hands the shipment of [we don't know, we weren't paying attention] to "Uncle Jimmy" and the local mafia, making a percentage of the profits -- and putting Chief Unser in his place. Kind of an awesome move, but for some reason it had less screentime than Jax's corpse/booty snatching. We can't help but say: The Sopranos would have given this storyline serious play. We'd have been on that "protection run" so much we'd be picking insects from our teeth at home.

So hey, SoA, as our hero would say: You're on notice. Take it slow, ditch the Tarantino-esque, well, anything, and more Clay. If he's our Uncle Junior or Al Swearingen, we gotta get inside his head more. Ron Perlman can handle whatever you throw at him and besides, Clay might have much to teach us. Anybody who can make a little scratch and keep their local in-the-pocket-lawman from retiring in the same move belongs on The Apprentice!

Did "True Blood" Tank?

Ben Kallen — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:25:00 GMT

Fans of True Blood may want to start worrying. With 1.44 million viewers, the premiere of HBO's Louisiana vampire drama had half the viewership of the first episode of John From Cincinnati on the network a year ago. (Of course, that one followed the finale of The Sopranos.)

On the other hand, it's still a little more than watched the premiere of HBO's Generation Kill.

Meanwhile, creator Alan Ball says he tries not to think about ratings anyway. "My job is to do the best type of show I know how to do, and let other people worry about what it's going to do for HBO."

Previously:
True Blood: HBO Gets a Cool Adult Comic Book Show After All
True Blood: A Haiku Review

"Sons Of Anarchy" Fills A Gaping Bullethole In The Flak Vest Of Our Hearts

Bryan Christian — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:23:00 GMT

We’ve heard that FX would like to have Sons of Anarchy, the new biker gang drama that premiered last night, pick up the audience left high and dry by the impending departure of The Shield – but we’re not so sure they’ll pull it off. Don’t get us wrong, we’re hooked. They’re just very different shows is all: Sons owes a debt to The Shield, it’s true – California, crime, cursing – but it’s got a more ambling pace, and wears a few other references more plainly on its tattered leather sleeve:: The Sopranos, Deadwood, and in particular Shakespeare’s longest tragedy Hamlet, with its heir apparent prodded by circumstance and family (both living and dead) into realizing his destiny. This is a quieter, more thoughtful show, and though it’s got a few kinks to work out, it’s off to a pretty good start.

Sons is the story of what happens to Jax Teller, a member of the Californian motorcycle club the Sons of Anarchy (or SAMCRO) after a rival gang, the Mayans, blows up a shipment of guns the Sons were delivering to another gang. Clay, the president of the SAMCRO (played by Hellboy's Ron Perlman) wants to hit back hard and send a message; but Jax isn't so sure. He seems like a thoughtful kid -- Hunnam has a Ledger-esque innocence that no amount of blood or axel grease can obscure -- and circumstances in his life are making him secondguess the path he's chosen. His crankhead ex-wife Wendy, played by Drea de Matteo, has gone into labor 10 weeks ahead of schedule after OD'ing, and the baby (named Abel) has the same heart defect that afflicts all the men in the Teller family -- including, it seems, his late father and brother. To complicate things further, Jax has just uncovered a manuscript written by his late father -- the co-founder with Clay of SAMCRO -- indicating that maybe running guns and making money weren't the only things the outfit was supposed to be about.

Now, weaving through all this is Katey Sagal as Jax's mom Gemma, who since the death of her husband has married Clay -- yes, that should be your Hamlet alarm going off -- and is plotting to secure her son's rise to the leadership of SAMCRO after Clay can no longer ride. (Clay suffers from something like arthritis, which appears to be taking away mobility in his hands.) So, in this episode, we see Gemma extracting from Clay a promise to "nail Jax down", i.e., make sure he stays strong and plays hardball with the Mayans -- yeah, your Sopranos alarm should be going off, too -- and dispatching de Matteo's character with a syringe full of meth hidden in a bible (though apparently de Matteo will return.) It's unclear whether she's doing all this for Jax or for herself, but Sagal's handle on the character -- she's Livia Soprano with cleavage and Kools -- is familiar without being operatic and so full of offhand brio that she gets the viewer past her murky motivations even as they drive her to murder.

Back to the gunrunning. After some deliberation with the club, Clay gets his way, but his attempt to send a message to the Mayans gets a little more complicated -- and a little bloodier -- than anticipated. An attempt to steal back some guns and blow up their garage ends in a shootout, wherein Jax takes a few in his bulletproof vest -- in part because he let a good friend take a pass on the job and was caught up short. What's more, one of the victims of the shootout turns out to be a member of another gang, some Neo-Nazis led by a believably shirtless Mitch "Agent Skinner" Pileggi -- meaning that the Sons have twice as many enemies as they'd realized. Perhaps because of this, Jax finally relents and visits his newborn son in the hospital, with his mother and stepfather in tow.

Now, some critics have complained that Hunnam (who, we should note, is a Brit) plays Jax a little too close to the vest, but we buy his take on the role for a few reasons. For one, isn't one of Hamlet's great lessons that the way to enhance the impact of dramatic action is to set it on a backdrop of inaction? When, in a diner sitdown with the Neo-Nazis, Pileggi's Neo-Nazi taunts Jax about his family, his explosiive reaction is way more plausible than if he'd been all "loose cannon"-y throughout the pilot. (And this is even after he beats the crap out of the meth dealer -- also a Neo-Nazi -- who sold his wife her stuff. Again, unlike lots of other biker characters of his age, Jax is a guy who has some cool to lose.) Likewise, Ron Perlman is an actor who we all know is capable of big, broad emotion and theatricality, and he's underplaying here too, as are Pileggi, Sagal, and a host of other actors from Trees Lounge, Mad Men, The X-Files, Jericho, and The Corner. These are guys who are out of jail and trying to stay square, guys who are on oxygen, guys who spend their nights as Elvis impersonators, and guys who end club meetings with a tiny gavel. Better to give them somewhere to go than have them spinning their wheels and going nowhere.

Top Ten New Shows: #2 - "True Blood"

Bryan Christian — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:30:00 GMT

The new fall season is almost here. Starting next week, the cable and broadcast networks will begin rolling out their new shows to see if they take off like castaways on an island or singing casino managers. Here, then, are the top ten new shows we're most looking forward to seeing.

Loyal readers will know that we've been skeptical of HBO's original programming department the last few months. But we hope you understand: we'd really like for them to get back on track. Is True Blood gonna get 'em there? We think maybe. If we were to line up our favorite HBO dramas -- Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire – we'd say that the most important thing they share in common isn't crime or profanity. It's their obsession with how criminals and outlaws mangle and subvert the language. Remember all those half-finished jokes on the corners and in the squad cars of Baltimore, or those misheard references marblemouthed by agitated Jersey hoods? There's an angry intelligence behind those gags, one that wants to know what makes you so smart that you talk like a normal person, huh? We love that, and it something that's been sorely missing from the HBO lineup of late.

Which leads us back to True Blood, a series that not only promises some kick-ass vampire effects and a showrunner who was responsible for assembling one of the finest and most surprising acting ensembles of the decade – but also holds the slim possibility that vampires will become the next subculture we find ourselves obsessed with every Sunday night. As fans of the "Southern Vampire" novels will already know, in the world of True Blood, many vampires are basically trying to go straight, living publicly in the world and surviving on a Japanese-produced synthetic blood substitute – and occasionally being hunted for their own blood, which produces narcotic effects when ingested by humans. That's a complicated setup, playing on what we know about junkies, criminals, and any number of other subcultures. We got high hopes that their take on the culture clash between humans and the undead comes with plenty of blood, sure... but maybe it's own juicy patois to boot.

True Blood (Sundays at 9PM EST) premieres Sunday, September 9th at 9:00 PM EST on HBO

TOP TEN NEW SHOWS 2008

#1. "Fringe"
#2. "True Blood"
#3. "90210"
#4. "Life On Mars"
#5. "The Mentalist"
#6. "Sons of Anarchy"
#7. "Do Not Disturb"
#8. "Eleventh Hour"
#9. "Kath & Kim"
#10. "Knight Rider"

TV Columnist Admits TV Stars Hate TV

Ben Kallen — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:25:00 GMT

We all know people who claim they don't ever watch TV, except maybe Mad Men and Masterpiece Theatre and the occasional roundtable debate about the effects of global warming on penguin habitats. But now we have confirmation from AP television writer Frazier Moore that this group of Hills-despising, How I Met Your Mother-ignoring snobs includes TV performers themselves.

"Among the scads of TV stars I've talked to, I never made a point of grilling them on their TV consumption," Moore writes. "I don't recall how often it came up. But over time I started to realize (and marvel) that, out of everyone who did address the issue with me, fewer than a dozen of them copped to being TV fans.

"The rest: Well, they don't shun just the programs they appear in. They don't watch TV, period. Or so they claim."

Well, sure -- it's one thing to play Horny Nerd at Sci-Fi Convention on The Big Bang Theory, and another to admit you watch the thing. What would you tell your friends when you run into them at Pinkberry? In fact, Moore points out, it's obvious what Hollywood's attitude toward the medium itself is, given that the TV-watchingest TV characters tend to be fat louts such as Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin and Tony Soprano.

Luckily, not all performers feel that way about their own audience. The actors who Moore says do admit to being fans of the tube also participate in some of the smartest, most pop-culture-relevant shows: The Office and Extras writer-actor Ricky Gervais, Robot Chicken cocreator Seth Green, and Mad Men star Jon Hamm.

So if you ever catch yourself saying all you watch is Mad Men and The Office, keep in mind that the people on the screen are home with a bowl of popcorn and Two and a Half Men or some Law & Order marathon, just like everybody else.

Image: Fox

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Sunday Worst
Even More Great Office News
How I Met Your Mother Secrets Revealed (No, Not That One)

"Mad Men" Recap: Sunday Worst

Ben Kallen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:45:00 GMT

There's nothing quite as dramatic as what happened last week in this episode, but Mad Men is keeping its position as the most intricately gripping drama currently on TV.

So let's get to our overriding theme: As per the episode's title, "Three Sundays," it's all about how our characters spend what's supposed to be a holy day. Fat chance! Those who aim for religion miss the point, and those who care more about work get jerked around completely.

You have to love a largely Peggy-centric hour like this one. She's still going to church regularly after being guilted into it by her mother and sister, though she ducks out after saying she's not feeling well. (That same excuse is used by just about everyone this week to get out of a variety of onerous tasks.) But before she can get away, she runs into a hip young priest, played by a fast-maturing Colin Hanks. (It's a surprise to see him here, but he apparently begged for the part.) They quickly become friends -- we'd say and maybe more, but this really isn't The Sopranos.

Father Gill, who's trying to make a personal connection with his congregation in a very conservative era, asks Peggy to use her mad copywriting skills to help him with an upcoming sermon. She gives him some advice right out of Public Speaking 101, and it seems to help. So when he drops by the Olsons' for dinner a couple of times, he seems a lot more interested in talking to Peggy than to the rest of the clan.

All of this stokes the sin of envy in Anita, who sees her sister as a licentious slut who doesn't deserve the handsome young priest's attention. (Okay, she's not entirely wrong on that first part.) So she shares these feelings in the confessional -- knowing full well it's Father Gill on the other side -- and in the process tells him all about how Peggy had an out-of-wedlock baby with a married man. In the annals of passive-aggressiveness, it's a classic.

Back with Don and Betty: Have we mentioned that they're the worst parents in the world? When they notice the kids at all, it's so they can argue about how to punish them for doing something wrong. Or in the case of Bobby, for not doing something wrong, since it's starting to appear that he's been taking the rap for Sally all this time. And what an evil genius she's turning out to be! In the course of just this episode, she gets Bobby in lots of trouble, makes her father a drink that consists of about eight ounces of liquor with a splash of tomato juice, steals sips of booze herself, and comments on Joan's "big ones."

Most of this happens in the office, because one Sunday is take-your-daughter-to-work day when Don has an emergency meeting. (Meanwhile, Betty has to take Bobby to the emergency room because, while his folks were busy neglecting him, he burned himself on a hot stove.) The secretaries all find Don with his little girl to be the hottest thing they've ever seen -- but they give a big ol' cold shoulder to Peggy, whose new writing job has sent her status soaring above theirs.

The emergency is that the American Airlines presentation has been moved up a week, and everyone needs to get ready a whole lot quicker. Don's ideas are brilliant as always (he tells the copywriters to forget the crash, and pretend it's a whole new company), and we'd love to see what they come up with. But we don't, because just before the presentation, the head of the airline gets fired. They still show their ideas to the remaining staff, but realize that these guys are now lame ducks with no power to make a deal.

So does anybody get what they want this week, despite not really deserving it? Why, yes -- Roger, who meets a cute prostitute and throws money at her until she's practically his girlfriend. Of course, he has a perfectly nice wife at home who would kill for that kind of affection, but, sadly, it's not that kind of show.

Photo: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Taking the Reins

James Gandolfini Makes A Killing Auctioning Off Tony Soprano's Clothes

Bryan Christian — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:31:00 GMT

The top earner of last night's auction of Sopranos wardrobe in New York City was an outfit Tony got shot in -- bringing in "$43,750, nearly 12 times Christie's pre-sale estimate" -- but even if all you wanted was a little something to piddle around the house in, well, fuggetaboutit.

[James] Gandolfini was at the auction to see Soprano's signature white tank top, light blue striped boxer shorts, striped short robe and leather scuffs went [sic] under the hammer for $21,250, again soaring above the pre-sale estimate of $1,500.
Another robe -- forecast to go for $1,500 -- fetched $13,750...

Proceeds of the sale -- largely organized by Gandolfini -- went to charity, benefitting viewers still traumatized by The Sopranos' season finale. (Ha, we kid; the money went to Wounded Warriors.)

[Thanks Scanner Em!]

Sounds Like They're Freaking Out Over At HBO Original Programming

Bryan Christian — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:28:00 GMT

The story so far... After the demise of its most prestigious and successful original programs -- and with few successes to show for itself (but a couple might have beens) in the intervening months -- HBO has seemed for some time poised to lose its reputation as "more than TV" to rival pay cable network Showtime. To our mind, that hasn't quite happened yet. No matter how navelgazing/boring In Treatment or Tell Me You Love Me were, Showtime didn't overcome HBO in the last year or so so much as supply an alternative to it. They don't have any comedies as idiosyncratic as Curb Your Enthusiasm, nor do any of their hour-long shows acheive the grandeur of The Sopranos or even HBO's misfires, like Carnivàle. (Possible exception: This American Life, which since it's a doc we're thinking doesn't count.)

Still, HBO knows they've got a title to defend. And it looks to us like their solution is to throw lots and lots of money around developing new shows. None of which sound particularly great.

Just in the past couple days, we've heard of their developing a comedy club-based show for comedienne Lisa Lampanelli, with Jim Carrey exec-producing; an adaptation of Sloane Crosley's humorous essay collection I Was Told There Would Be Cake; and Bored to Death, which sounds an awful lot like The Singing Detective as written by Jonathan Lethem but is, in fact, from the very funny New York writer and performance artist Jonathan Ames. Previously reported shows being developed by the net include that vampire show from Six Feet Under's Alan Ball; Hung, from Election's Alexander Payne and The Riches' Dmitry Lipkin, which is about a guy whose "superpower" in life is his humongous cock and balls; and, according to the New York Observer, "a Darren Star adaptation of Tracy Quan’s Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and Surburban Shootout, based on a U.K. series, about a woman in the suburbs stuck between two housewife gangs."

Anything there tickle your fancy? Yeah, we not so sure either. Nor are we so optimistic about David Simon's New Orleans show, but that may just be because we thought that show's theme song got progressively way worse each season and figure that doesn't bode well for a show about musicians. (Generation Kill, on the other hand, we await with baited breath -- but that's a miniseries.)

The one show that we'd heard about being developed by HBO that we were hardcore excited about was Preacher, an adaptation of Garth Ennis' epic and deeply profane comic book about God, vampires, and rednecks. And that project is apparently stalled, even though HBO and DC/Vertigo (which published Preacher in the '90's) are part of the same company and you'd think they could share a few resources getting it right. (BTW, there's a big hubbub about trouble at DC here and here, which may shed light on that situation. Don't skip the comments.)

So, what do we do? Wait for HBO to get it right again -- or for Showtime to finally put together an hour-long drama that knocks it out of the park? Or are we just gonna have to rely on a diet of Mad Men and Damages for a while?

"Sopranos" Fever, Over "The Wire", Hits "Mad Men"

Bryan Christian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:32:00 GMT

We hope that Matthew Weiner, creator of AMC's New Frontier-era advertising potboiler Mad Men, has a big-ass box ready for all the superlatives that are about to be thrown at him and his show. Because now that the paper of record has given Mad Men the official "[Blank]est Show on TV" treatment, he can probably count on everyone short of Tom Shales' mother to chime in.

Everyone, that is, except us.

Don't get us wrong: we're not cynical about the show, which full disclosure, we've never seen but are expecting to like a lot. (We didn't have cable when it came out, and were planning to Netflix it before the second season started this July.) No, what we're cynical about is the whole "It Show" phenomenon -- let's call it Sopranos Fever -- that struck HBO's gangster soap first, and then moved on to The Wire, and now seems poised to fix itself on Mad Men. We're not generally cynical or suspicious about this sort of thing, and let's be clear: we love Sopranos and The Wire. But don't expect to see us participating in this sort of thing until The Powers That Be deign to bestow such lavish hosannas on a show that takes place, oh let's say, in space, or in the Old West, or on a remote island (hah!) and not within a hour's train ride from where we presume their offices to be.

A Year After the "Sopranos" Finale, Some People Are Still Obsessed

Ben Kallen — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:48:00 GMT

Is it possible that you're still wondering what actually happened in the final episode of The Sopranos just over a year ago? One guy sure is! He's written a seemingly endless blog, complete with screen shots and references to other episodes, arguing that the blacked-out ending meant the end of Tony. Some readers find his "proof" compelling; others, not so much. As for us, we couldn't even get through the damn thing. If you manage to, let us know what you think.

Meanwhile, something else got us wondering: Late last year, the band Journey announced that it had chosen a new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, after seeing his Journey cover band performing on YouTube. (Just like in that Mark Wahlberg movie!) So, what if it had been Filipino-born Pineda singing in the diner on that fateful night, instead of a bunch of Jersey boys -- would the whole new set of symbols have altered our view of Tony's fate?

Below, Pineda performs "Don't Stop Believing" like he means it.

Image: HBO