merry christmas, everybody! not you, don

You know I have to hand it to Jon Hamm, because despite being extremely attractive to the point of distraction, he still manages to make me hate his (character's) breathing guts this episode. He deserves to have a shitty Christmas, quite frankly. Way to make your poor secretary feel like a whore, Don. But for once can SOMEONE, ANYONE, please turn Don down when he propositions them? I mean, for heaven's sake!

Chekhov's gun, Mad Men-style: Introduce a fairly attractive female guest star in the second episode of the season and Don will have slept with her by the end of the season. We're looking at you, blonde doctor and brunette nurse neighbor. Place your bets.

Speaking of blonde doctor, anyone else mighty intrigued by her assertion that Don will be married again within a year? I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be true. I'd love to know what she "typed" him as...

Oh, Peggy. Your taste in hairstyles has improved dramatically this season, yet your taste in men remains dismally disappointing. I knew it wouldn't be a good sign when the "previously on" teaser chose to remind us all of your liaison with Duck Phillips.

GTFO, Lee Garner, Jr. (although making Roger dress up as Santa may have been worth it for the shot of Harry sitting on his lap. And many a gif was made!)

I have no thoughts on Glenn because he is creepy as shit and I don't even know where the writers are going with this and I'm afraid to speculate. But RUN, SALLY, RUN! It's a good thing Don is making lots of money because this is probably all going towards Sally's future therapy bills, assuming she makes it to adulthood in one piece.

Okay I realize most of this episode Don is fairly despicable but did anyone else think him calling Peggy 'sweetheart' was like the cutest thing ever? It was, come on, admit it! (P.S. Writers, don't ever make these two hook up, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease. It's Don's one functional relationship. Okay, yes, it's based on a mutual understanding of harboring deep secrets, but functional nonetheless!)

Betty had like two lines this episode. I'm not complaining.

change is good

Season 4. Finally. After a year of eager anticipation--and a little crying in the corner of my darkened room due to withdrawal--Mad Men has returned. I for one feel much better; physically, emotionally, and spiritually.


The first episode took us to 1964, a year of change. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP), the rebel agency Roger, Bert, Don, and Lane (RBDL) started at the close of Season 3, has been up and running for a year. Betty has officially divorced Don and is now happily married--well, at the very least, married to good 'ol Henry Francis. Don is living all by his lonesome in a bleak-looking apartment in Manhattan. And Ken Cosgrove, that tall drink of water with a talent for writing, is nowhere to be found. Yes, the times they are a changin'.

But rather than go through giving you a full recap of the season starter, I thought we'd do something a bit different. Let's be honest. If you're actually reading this blog, you've already watched the episode. Now, for those of you who don't know, this is actually a bi-coastal blog. One of us lives in California, the other in New York. Often what we do--particularly with Mad Men--is send each other Immediate Reaction Emails. For the sake of the blog, I am going to now refer to them as IRE's. So, to mark the blessed occasion that is the return of Mad Men, I give you a mashup of our IRE's:

IRE #1:

LOVED IT. LOOOOOOOOVED IT.

Also, hate betty hate betty hate betty hate betty hate betty hate betty hate betty hate betty hate betty hate betty hate betty.

Peggy's new hair is nice, though she's gotten a bit cocky, no? And since when does she wear eye shadow to work? And WHO is the wannabe Don Draper part-time art guy?

Where's tall drink of water Cosgrove?

Glad Allison's back, and glad Joan has her own office--please tell me her husband is a medic in Vietnam.

The Sally Draper incident at the dinner table was soooo awkward. Hate betty...and loved what the mother-in-law said about her.

IRE #2:

Ok I thought it was a tad slow but I think that every year...continuing on...


I see Betty is still a huge beeyotch. I really can't stand her anymore. I hope Sally goes on a rampage. Btw, KIERNAN SHIPKA looks like she's aged quite a bit!

Henry is starting to grow on me hahahaha. He and his mother.


Agreed on Peggy's hair. First thing I noticed, lol.

Cosgrove was in the credits so I am hopeful for his eventual return.


Don + prostitute = sigh. he's so messed up!

Roger had some line about VD that made me laugh.


Was I the only one who was thinking of John Hamm's ham with all those canned ham scenes???

Well, there you have it. Our immediate reaction to a season we've been waiting almost a year for. Can't wait to see where it goes.

and we're back

That's right, we've taken a break. Here at "We Watch More TV Than You" we believe it is not right to recap and give our thoughts on reruns. What's the point of that? Yes, yes, I know there are new summer tv shows produced purely to keep us occupied, but have you seen any of them? Are they really worth a second thought? No. No, they are not. I tried watching the first episode of Rookie Blue on ABC and soon after the beginning had to stop in order to keep my eyeballs from pushing themselves out of their sockets and rolling away in fear. And to spend time recapping shows of that nature--well, that's just time wasted, isn't it?

So, seeing as a certain show about a certain Manhattan ad agency premiered its fourth season last night, I believe it's an appropriate time to start posting again. Let's do this.

quick question

Since when is U2 thought of as classic rock?

I'm 24 and even I don't put U2 in that category, no matter how old their songs are. Sure, they date back to the late 70's early 80's but I stand by my opinion.

Last night's episode of Glee was just blah, again. I will freely admit that I was upset that I got no power ballads from Rachel. There, I said it. I can't help it. I like Lea Michele's voice.

Brittany again wins Most Valuable Gleek (MVG). Her lines kill me every time, and it's much due to her delivery and comedic timing, so goooooo BRITTANY!

And Sue Sylvester always kills. Here's a little gem I took away from her: "So you like showtunes! Doesn't mean you're gay, just means you're awful!"

Well, despite Kurt's rendition of a classic from Gypsy, I yearned for more showtunes last night. I like showtunes, which apparently makes me an awful person. I can deal with that.

lost: the candidate (or, lost writers pull the harry potter book 7 let's-just-kill-off-characters-because-we-can card)

THAT'S BULLSHIT.

(I realize the likelihood of me turning around after next week or the week after and saying "OMG the Lost writers are AWESOME" after castigating them this week is high, but bear with me.)

Okay, so clearly, I did not like this episode, but not for the obvious reasons. I know what you're thinking--oh, you're just upset because they killed off arguably three of the most popular Lost characters and made Hurley cry. NO. I mean, yes, but no. NO. NO. NO.

I didn't like the episode because of the utterly terrible way in which said characters were killed off. I mean, I would have understood (despite being really upset) if they'd killed off, say, Ben, back in his episode, because at least his story had a definitive end (i.e. redemption arc). But these deaths were so cheap:

-Sun and Jin: they spend the past two seasons apart, are together for one episode, then DROWN in a submarine? And wouldn't it have made more sense for Sun to have said: "Hey, Jin, we have a KID. You should leave me so our daughter isn't an ORPHAN and raised by my asshole father." Okay, something more emotional than that, but you get the idea. I honestly thought that was coming considering they mentioned the kid earlier in the episode and was really surprised it didn't. Jin should have pulled a Rose Dawson if you know what I mean.

-Sayid: He spends the majority of the season as a zombie, then (we assume) resurrected kinda by Desmond, but then nothing until he saves everyone by running away with the bomb (although gotta say, kudos, Sayid, for that). No real exposition on Sayid's un-zombification.

-Lapidus: Poor guy didn't even get his own episode. I'm assuming he's dead even though we didn't actually see a body.

Bitter interjection: HOW can Kate get shot in the chest and survive a sinking submarine but Sun and Jin can't?? HOW?????

Okay, grudgingly, a few good bits:

-Terry O'Quinn's CRAZY ASS expression when he told Claire she didn't want to be on that sub. Made me do the nervous giggle.

-All Jack/Locke interactions in either universe. They're great together.

-I'm starting to really love Jack again, after a good year or two of flat out hating him. Hooray for the return of heroic-ish Jack. And I have to say, Matthew Fox's crying is very effective for me. Everytime he does it I feel just terrible.

And some other random observations:

-Man, alt-Claire is really trusting of random men who offer her their services isn't she? First Desmond and now Jack. Granted he is her long-lost half-brother but still. And I better get an answer on that music box.

-What the hell happened to Richard and Miles?

-I don't even know what to make of the alternate universe anymore. I just want people to be happy. Can everyone else (ESPECIALLY Locke and Jack) just live happily ever after in the end? Pretty please?

-So according to Sayid Jack is the next Jacob, yes?

I know characters are going to die, but I really hope they don't continue down the route of doing it just because they can or because they think they should have a high body count. Not that it makes one difference because the writers/producers know it's not like I'm going to boycott the last 4 episodes. Sigh.

I'm now going to make myself feel better by watching the Babies trailer.

i have something i'd like to say

I THOUGHT GLEE WAS TERRIBLE LAST NIGHT

Yes, I'm well aware that only 3 people follow this blog--2 of whom are its posters--but I want the public to know that I truly, in all my heart, did not enjoy Glee yesterday.

I think I have a love/hate relationship with this show. Perhaps I should be more specific:

I love:

• Every single moment with Jane Lynch


• The occasionally familiar musical number with a new spin

I hate:

• Pretty much everything else

I know, I know. Why do I watch the show then? I really don't know. It started off as an "I think Jane Lynch is hilarious, and I'm a total musical-theatre nerd" thing. Now I don't know where I am. This episode was just way too much for me. Don't get me wrong. I'll still stay faithful to Glee. Episodes like last week's "The Power of Madonna" keep me coming back.

I realize now, that when one watches Glee, one has to escape into the cheese that is the show. So escape I do. But I've nearly had enough. Here are just a few of the many issues I had with my crazy and disappointing, yet good-hearted boyfriend of a show, Glee:

• The songs. Yes, I know this is a personal thing. There are probably many people out there who were SO HAPPY to hear the songs from last night. But in my opinion, all of them--and I mean all of them nearly put me to sleep.


• Speaking of the songs. I love love love Mercedes, but the pep-rally rendition of "Beautiful," a song that has been over-played so much so that it's lost its meaning, was just way too over the top for me. When did this show turn into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie?


• Finn's voice. I know my colleague will be happy to read this. I'm usually a fan of his voice. It's endearing to know that it's not perfect, but when he joined Kurt in that song I was already upset about because I didn't recognize it at all, I nearly wanted to rip my ears off.


• The finale song was SO BORING. I love Kristin Chenoweth. I've listened to her cover of "Alone" probably over 100 times. But last night was just UGH. Seriously, what was the point of that? I think by then, I had been so bored with the episode that I no longer cared about any of the characters and their stories, including April's. I won't even get into the cloud backdrop being unveiled, oh brother.

Well there you have it. And yes, looking at my issues, it is clear that the song choices are what ruined the episode for me. The songs just added a whole new level of cheese when there had already been so many other levels. Argh.

I will say one thing though. Brittany is now my favorite character. She's not the star, but she constantly steals the few scenes she's in with the few lines she's given. Well done, Heather Morris--yeah, I went so far as to look her name up, and did you know that her character doesn't even have a last name? SCANDAL! I applaud you, Ms. Morris. You are now another reason why I will stay faithful to this show.

it's official

Modern Family >>> Glee.

Sorry but it's the truth.