Author: Katie Man

Email Roundtable #48 – The End of Mad Men

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This week, we attempt to discuss the series finale of Mad Men.

Kerri: First off, I’d like to gloat. I long ago stopped making public predictions about Mad Men (I kept making predictions in secret) because I never, ever, ever got anything right ever. Well, it’s been 7 seasons and finally, in the last episode, FINALLY I got something right. I almost got two things right, so maybe we can score me a plus 1.5 (and minus, like 3 thousand, but that’s beside the point). First, I declared that Peggy and Stan should get together. And they did. Beautiful, wonderful, perfectly banter-y Peggy and Stan realized what we’ve known for a long time and professed their love for each other. And, I mean, ok, sure, as far as things being telegraphed from miles away, this relationship was a straight ahead lazer beam. So I got the obvious thing right. Way to go, me. (At one point I had also said that Peggy and Joan should start their own firm. I was this close, too, dammit). But here I am speaking in “shoulds”. And if Mad Men railed against anything, just like the hippie retreat in the last episode, it was these “shoulds”, these things that we expect to happen in our TV shows, with our favourite characters. Because I do know as an audience member I deserve nothing. What I want to happen won’t always happen and what I think should happen is meaningless. Just like in life. Continue reading →

Finales and Live TV

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I have a standing appointment with AMC. For the next six Sundays, I’ll find someone who subscribes to AMC, show up at their door at 8:45pm sharp, and we’ll watch Mad Men. We’ll be watching along with 2 million other people, if Mad Men’s viewership statistics stay predictable. And come finale night, maybe a few million more will join us. Here at Golden Age of Television, we write about Mad Men a lot, but today’s entry isn’t about Mad Men so much as it is about watching shows live. A while back, Kerri wrote about communal TV watching and how watching TV has never really been a solitary activity for her. I think about communal TV watching a lot when it comes time for a series finale. Continue reading →

Females are strong as hell: early thoughts on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

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unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt

Ellie Kemper as Kimmy Schmidt

6 of 13 episodes watched for review

In scene one, episode one of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Kimmy Schmidt is rescued from an underground bunker. For 15 years, Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne brainwashed Kimmy and four other women into believing the world above ground had been destroyed on judgment day. When Kimmy emerges from the bunker, she is ecstatic. “It’s all still here!”

Ellie Kemper, as Kimmy Schmidt, radiates happiness. She hops and skips, pulls faces, and gobbles candy, and when she’s down she trudges and drags her body through whatever situation she’s in. Kemper is an excellent physical comedian and gracefully enacts not just Kimmy’s exuberant joy, but her deep-rooted anger. Kimmy’s escape from the bunker is where the plot begins, but Kimmy’s escape from her personal trauma is the driving force, and the root of the comedy in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  Continue reading →

The Winner’s Edit

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Making the Audience Love the Winner

I know exactly who is going to win this season of Survivor. Well, I think that I know. He’s not the person that I like the best, hell, he’s not even the most deserving, but the way that this season has been edited has lead me to believe that ol’ Excitable Jon is taking home the million. Ol’ Excitable Jon that thinks he’s a wine connoisseur. Ol’ Excitable Jon, who will vote with whoever talked to him right before tribal. He just gets excited, that guy. He goes hard and falls hard. Ol’ Excitable Jon, whose girlfriend can’t bear children but “he will still love her anyway.”

He’s not the worst person to ever play the game, nor the best. He isn’t particularly annoying (he doesn’t spit and fart like Wes) and he isn’t socially clever (like Jeremy or Natalie or Reed) but he has been in the right place at the right time often enough to make it to the final seven. It helps that Jon and his girlfriend Jaclyn are playing together, and they often become the “swing vote.” It helped that Natalie told Jon to play his immunity idol on the vote that would have sent him home. (He wouldn’t have played it otherwise.) And yet, despite his mediocre gameplay and vanilla personality, Jon has had a ton of screen time this season. It’s what we Survivor fans (the type of fans that take to message boards of pop culture websites) call “the Winner’s Edit.”

What’s “the Winner’s Edit”? Well, it varies on every reality show. As the phrase “winner’s edit” suggests, the editors (and producers) of the TV show have cut the existing footage to favour the ultimate winner. Why do they do this? Because at the end of the season, the viewers need to be satisfied with the last episode. Can we believe X won Big Brother? If we can’t, the whole season seems like a waste of time. Continue reading →

My Stories Are Back! 2014 Edition

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The leaves are brown and on the ground
The autumn air blows hair around
My brand new boots came in the mail
And new TV is on the dial

It’s my favourite time of year (for television): the return of new TV. Sure, we had Netflix and the occasional episode of Big Brother to keep us company this summer, but fall has returned, and with it, my stories. For you today, a wee review from the most recent episodes of my favourite returning shows. Continue reading →

I used to hate Nathan For You, but now I think about it daily

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To my fellow bloggers, Kerri and Graeme, you were right. Nathan For You is brilliant TV.

If you haven’t seen Nathan For You, it’s a half-hour comedy show on Comedy Central, where comedian and business school graduate, Nathan Fielder offers advice to business owners. The advice is always unique (unorthodox… silly… dumb… negligent…) and it always leads to awkward and funny results as the owners gamely try to follow Fielder’s suggestions. The first episode of season one features a segment where Fielder suggests that a yogurt shop introduce poo-flavoured yogurt to bring in curious clientele.  Continue reading →