On behalf of all of those who have stood together in their shock that Tony Harris is a major newscaster in the United States (see the long list of comments), I would like to officially welcome Stephen Colbert to the club.  Apparently Tony Harris was appalled that Colbert had a treadmill in the space station named after him (THAT appalls him?).  Colbert’s response is great.   Go to the last 30 seconds to see the Harris bit.

In the spirit of summer, I’ve been trying to catch up on television shows that I’ve ignored for the past year (or two?).  By far the most pleasant surprise has been Mad Men.

For the uninitiated, Mad Men is about the advertising executives of Madison Avenue.   It’s about their jobs, their secretaries, their wives, their “other” wives, their addictions, the end of the 1950s, the changing of the guard, capitalism, and arguably most importantly, feminism.  Of course I’d be remiss to not mention the star of the show:

I’m serious.  Scotch should get an Emmy in this show.

But more importantly, the women of Mad Men really make this show interesting.  You’ve got Don Draper’s wife Betty (played by January Jones), who we get to watch play out the dilemma of the 1950s housewife entering into the 1960s: She has two beautiful children, a huge home outside New York, and a wealth and successful husband.  But of course everything isn’t perfect - she’s lonely, bored, and her husband is clearly not perfect and not supportive of her desire to step out of her classic role.

Similarly, the women at the office, Joan and Peggy, both struggle to assert themselves in the male-dominated office.  Joan is a particularly enjoyable character to watch through two seasons - she’s the curvy redhead, played wonderfully by Christina Hendricks, who begins the series as the sex-pot who seems bent on finding the wealthy husband.  But her slow, and completely believable development to something more, to a gradual awakening of her self-worth and intellectual ability, makes me excited to see how Season 3 treats her.

And lastly Peggy, played by Elisabeth Moss (you probably know her as Zoey Bartlet from West Wing) quickly becomes the poster-child of feminism, as she struggles to get accepted as an equal in an office where women get the coffee, hang up coats, and graciously accept the leers of the men at the office.  Without giving spoilers, for those who have yet to catch the series, the dynamic between Peggy and Don is particularly intriguing, as they both entrust the other (willingly or not) with secrets.

Season 1 took place in 1960, Season 2 jumped to 1962, so it will be interesting to see where the writers situate Season 3.  As the world changes around them, Mad Men keeps getting more and more interesting.

It’s been awhile since we’ve posted here, but I’m back to watching tv so I might as well share some thoughts on what I’ve been watching. I’ll start with what I consider the most frustrating new show of the season, “Fringe” by Lost creator J.J. Abrams.

I keep watching it, convinced that it really should be good, but each episode it disappoints me.  The premise of the show is that stange, unexplainable things, referred to as “the Pattern”, are happening (although only around Boston, it seems). These involve mind-reading, flesh-melting viruses by clones, and strange super-fast ageing babies. (Seriously, I couldn’t make this up on my own).  Called in to assist is super-special FBI Agent and quiet talker Olivia Dunham, assisted by crazy old scientist Dr. Walter Bishop (who, as far as I can tell is actually responsible for developing all of these twisted phemenona - Nuremberg Code anyone?).  Assisting Olivia in dealing with his mad scientist father, and providing a slight bit of sexual tension, is Peter Bishop, played by good old Pacey from Dawson’s Creek, a.k.a. Joshua Jackson.  Rounding out the cast is Olivia’s boss, played by The Wire’s Lance Reddick.

So it has a relatively good cast, good creator pedigree - why does it kind of suck?  There’s an overarching “bad coorporation is at the root of everything theme”, but J.J. Abrams has said he doesn’t want to make Fringe the type of show that has to be watched from every episode.  He wants each episode to be “complex and accessible”.  The result, in my books, is a show where you want to know more about the overarching theme, but they spend the first 15 minutes of each episode recapping it, then they offer you a very very tiny piece of it at the end.  Completely unsatisfying.  Am I being too hard on it?  It just doesn’t strike me as quite as smart as it thinks it is.

I finally caught “Legally Blonde: Search for the new Elle Woods” on MTV last night.

This show is great!

(Photo: MTV)

A la “Grease: You’re the One That I Want,” the reality show seeks to cast one unknown aspiring actress in the leading role in Broadway’s “Legally Blonde: The Musical.”

Now this is a reality show! Taking a page straight out of the “America’s Next Top Supermodel” book, there are 10 hopefuls living together in close quarters in Manhattan, snarky judges who freely say what they don’t like about the contestants in vague, baseless claims (”I just don’t get an ‘Elle’ feeling from her.”), assignment sheets slipped under the apartment door, and PINK outfits galore.

The show is marginally “hosted” by “Broadway star (???)” Hayley Duff. You may know her as the older and less impressive sibling of Hilary Duff.  She looks like a giant grain of rice (bland and narrow) as she vamps into the apartment and gives the girls their next challenge.

Some nifty contestants too. Best of all is a girl named Lauren who looks like a combination of Britney Spears, Miss Piggy, and Mrs. Garrett from “The Facts of Life.”

Watch it! It’s the best thing going until “Entourage” comes back.

Here’s a pic of Rachel Bilson of The OC wearing a blonde wig for her role in “New York, I Love You” (currently filming).  Do you like it or hate it???

(source)

Okay, a little late on this bit of news, but as you may know, the Writer’s Strike was brought to an end last week. Hooray! What was the cost of the strike (besides our unquantifiable suffering at the mercy of unspeakable reality shows)?

As of Tuesday afternoon, a running tally by the producers’ alliance estimated that the walkout had cost writers about $285 million in lost wages and had cost workers in other film unions nearly $500 million.

It’s hard to get a sense of whether one side actually ‘won’, but my general opinion on any settled labor actions or when cutting a piece of cake: if both sides think they lost, it probably was fair. For a nice recap of the various strike-related stories, go to the NYTimes here.

But now to the important matter at hand: What’s happened to the shows?

It’s a mixed bag: Some shows aren’t coming back until next season, others will see a limited run.

For NBC, “Chuck”, “Life” and “Heroes” are renewed, but won’t come back until next season. “My Name is Earl”, “The Office”, “30 Rock” and “Scrubs” will have new episodes starting in April.

Most CBS shows are coming back for a limited run in March, including “How I Met Your Mother” for 9 episodes starting March 19th and all those CSI shows starting in April. For complete roundup see this blog post by a reviewer named Alan Sepinwall (which by the way, is an excellent tv blog).

At Fox, “24″ is going to be delayed until 2009. Arrgh. I was excited for this season - apparently they actually move the show out of L.A.! Their rationale is that fans want to see the season uninterrupted. I guess that makes sense. While “House” (Apr. 28), “Family Guy”, “Bones” (Apr. 14) and “The Simpsons” are being rushed back into production.

And at ABC, “Lost” has six episodes taped, and will do a shorterned season of 11 total this year. While “Pushing Daisies” won’t be coming back this year, but it has been renewed for next fall.

For a complete list (or as complete as I could find), click here.

And a final note: NBC has announced that it is moving to a 52 week schedule. This seems…well…smart? Doesn’t it? I’ve never quite understood why new shows end in May. People still watch tv in the summer, right? Maybe I’m missing something. In any case, welcome back writers!

Here’s LC and Audrina going out on V-day. Like the new haircut LC!

(Photo source: Pacific Coast News)

And here’s Heidi and Spencer in what can only be described as a Valentine’s Day PHOTO SHOOT in Marina Del Ray. I mean, this is so staged it makes me wanna puke. Check out the unlit candle. Who has a candle on the top deck of a boat???

(source: Socialites Life)

I can’t imagine that either knows how to sail. Jimmy Choos, Cristal, and a jerk. What more could she want?

This isn’t about movies or Hollywood, but I have to vent: Does anyone else absolutely hate the CNN Anchor Tony Harris? He drives me crazy. He’s glib, vapid, and he makes endless (very bad) jokes. He seems to enjoy ending interviews, where nothing useful is elicited, by taking a long pause and then saying: “Hmm, great interview. very helpful”. Clearly he never listens.

I searched for any “I hate Tony Harris” websites, and to my chagrin there are none. I did, however, find two blog posts that I officially join in Tony Harris-hating solidarity. One post lists Tony Harris as #3 on its “list of terrible news anchors” and criticizes his habit of “looking off into space, as if he’s thinking” (I think this speaks to my ‘vapid’ allegation). And then another blog complains about Tony’s habit of “hmmm’ing” as his interviewers talk. Couldn’t agree more.

I’ll add more examples as Tony makes them. But seriously, is no one else annoyed by him? Is there a more annoying anchor? (I’m excluding the undeniable crackpots, like Bill O’Reilly) Any suggestions on other most-hated news anchors , or Tony Harris bloopers, are most welcome.

Update: More Tony-hating.