Okay, let's see if you're up to the challenge, folks. I don't know about the rest of the country, but it is as hot as (fill in the blank) here in what our weather people like to call "The Southland" and I can't think of any better way to beat the heat than to sit in your reasonably air-conditioned home (reasonable is 78 degrees, btw, and if you're watching TV it will be quite comfortable) and watch some critically acclaimed television.
First, AMC has a Mad Men marathon on Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm, and here's what Devin Gordon at Newsweek has to say:
... "Mad Men," a stinging drama set in 1960 about Madison Avenue advertising executives that is so sumptuously filmed, you could turn down the volume and just watch the suits. But then you'd miss series creator Matthew Weiner's crackling dialogue, soaked with casual bigotry and sexism, evoking, he says, "this textured world where Kerouac and Ginsberg are writing while Eisenhower is in the White House." Weiner wrote the "Mad Men" pilot seven years ago, and it helped land him a gig on—whaddya know?—"The Sopranos."
Also showing off its first few eps in FX's Damages (Monday from 3 pm to 8 pm) starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson, who is getting some of the best reviews of his career for his role as a take-no-prisoners corporatist. Margy Rochlin in the NY Times says:
... even with successes as the charming, teetotaling bartender Sam Malone on “Cheers” and the crabby but good-hearted Bronx doctor on “Becker,” the positive response to Mr. Danson’s dark, layered and vulnerable portrayal of the blue-jeaned, self-obsessed Frobisher has been as much a surprise to him as to television critics and viewers.
“He’s very complicated,” said Mr. Danson, who is more accustomed to situations in which the lead character isn’t so unpredictable and mysterious. “But the truth is that I have no idea just how complicated he is.”
I happened into a panel discussion at Comic-Con last month that included Matt Dallas from Kyle XY, and I have to tell you, the best special effect in that show is not the disappearing navel, but instead how they make this guy look so young. You women and 10% of us guys would go crazy over this guy as he appeared on the Comic-Con stage. Unfortunately, my pics were too far back to get anything publishable.
ABC Family is running a marathon of eps on Monday starting at 11 AM until they run the season finale at 8pm. This is what Michael Abernethy at PopMatters.com had to say about this show:
That Kyle knows no more about himself than viewers is promising. Too often in sci-fi, the "stranger" arrives with a mission or motivation. Kyle, however, is experiencing fear and uncertainty. He will likely face his past life at some point, indicated by the fact that he's currently being trailed by a shadowy man carrying a thick file. And yet, even with this figure in place, Kyle XY steers clear of the dark tone prevalent in so many sci-fi shows. Part comedy, part family drama, and part sci-fi mystery, Kyle XY strikes the right balance between all three genres. No matter who Kyle turns out to be, so far, his journey looks like fun.
And there are many others. TV Squad has a more complete list at this link.
Of course, if you have HBO on Demand, what you should do before any of these is watch all 10 episodes 0f John From Cincinnati (and you can stop it with your remote to go to the can or get a drink, how cool is that?) and then start writing letters to HBO to tell them they made the biggest mistake ever by not renewing it.
And here's a clip as a bonus to get you into it (don't ever say I didn't try to coerce you into watching the most intriguing new show on TV that just got cancelled):
Enjoy!
