2008-06-13

Upcoming changes - Adding "Mad Men," Cutting "The Office"

A few changes coming up in the next few months:

Coming soon... Mad Men recaps

The new season of AMC's Mad Men begins Sunday, July 27, at 10PM/9C. I'm going to take a crack at recapping these, but I can't swear that I'll be prompt each week. I can promise that my recaps will NOT do justice to the real thing, and I will probably tend to ramble a lot about the sexism and political stuff.

Frankly, I don't even know if my recaps will be worth reading. AMC will be giving you multiple chances to watch each episode, so it's not as if you'll be desperate to catch up.

I'll keep recapping the show as long as it's fun or if it seems that a lot of people really do want the recaps. If nobody's reading and it turns out that I hate the recapping, I'll stop.

If you need to refresh your memory as to what happened in the first season (like I can't remember how Don left it with his hippie girlfriend, or whether Don's boss survived his heart attack or not), watch the marathon starting at noon/11C on Sunday, July 20.

If you can't wait till July 20, the Season 1 DVD goes on sale July 1.

Dropping "Great Moments in Office episodes," but pondering a "Greatest Moments"

When I started doing the Great Moments, typically I'd hear someone say something really funny, then reach for a piece of paper and write it down.

Within a few weeks, however, I found myself sitting dutifully in front of the TV with my laptop, rewinding every time I heard a good line, then going through my long list afterwards, carefully selecting the very best. This made it harder to enjoy the show.

Since I can't seem to do it in moderation, I'm not going to do it as a regular feature any more.

However, if a particularly awesome line sticks in my mind long enough that I can find a piece of paper (which I won't be keeping at hand) and write it down, then it'll still be posted here, in "Greatest Moments in Office episodes." It won't be a weekly feature, though.

Ugly Betty recaps... no end in sight

I plan to continue recapping Ugly Betty for Season 3, as long as I still enjoy the show.

I have to admit that there were a lot of moments in Season 2 when I was tempted to give up - but I think some of the problems had to do with the writers' strike perturbation of the planned story arc. Hopefully, that won't be an issue for Season 3. However, if things don't get better - that is, if the show continues to rely on trendy fashion world guest stars rather than the solid writing that made the first season awesome - I'll have to throw in the towel.

If that happens, I'll let you know in advance, and recommend some other sites that give good Ugly Betty recap.

What of The Apprentice?

I believe there's another season in the offing, probably starting in January 2009. Depending on when it's on, who's in it, and a host of other things, I may do some kind of summary each week... but it's too soon to make any plans yet.