Mid Season Premiere Dates – UPDATED

Make sure you check out the main page for an update on the 2014 Mid Season Premiere Dates.  Game of Thrones, Mad Men, About A Boy, Believe, Survivor, the Amazing Race, and more have all been added.

 

AMC Announces Premiere Dates for Mad Men, The Killing, and The Walking Dead

I’m sure this announcement from TV Line comes with mixed emotions from the fan bases.

The long-awaited return of Mad Men’s Season 5 hits the air Sunday March 25th.  Mad Men has been off the air since October 2010.  The usual spring premiere was pushed back to a fall premiere which was then delayed until after 2012.  It’s quite strange for a show this strong to be on hiatus for as long as Mad Men has, but I’m sure the fans won’t care at this point.  We are just so happy Don Draper and crew is back!!  Now I just need to finish the 4th season before March!   I think I can do it.

The Walking Dead has its Season 2 debut on Thursday, Feb 2nd.  I don’t watch this show, but I’m hoping Netflix has it because I would like to start watching it.  It’s gotten great write ups so I would like to check it out.  For those of you who watch it, should I check it out?

Finally, the show that brought a fan base to its knees last summer, The Killing returns on AMC on Sunday April 1st.  I was one of those people who was livid at the way The Killing handled its last few episodes and the way their head writer Veena Sud was so condescending to the fan base in her explanation as to why Rosie’s murder wasn’t solved at the end of the first season.  I am beyond curious to see the ratings for the show in its second season.  I’m still torn as to whether or not I am going to tune in but I know many fans who said they are done with the show and they’ll see who the killer was at some point on-line.

Are you going to be tuning into The Killing season two?  Are you getting your martini and scotch glasses polished for the return of Mad Men?

 

President of AMC Speaks to EW Regarding the Viewer Backlash to the Season Finale of The Killing

Wow.  It must take A LOT of negativity for the president of a network to come out and address a season finale on his network.

In an exclusive interview with EW.com, AMC president Charlie Collier addressed fans criticisms of the inaugural season finale.   “We underestimated the passion of viewers have for closure within this season.”   You think?   “It was never our intention to misguide the viewer.”   Then what was your intention?

I’m very torn on this.  I’m not someone who always needs a story or a season to be wrapped up in a tight little bow.  And I love a great cliffhanger at the end of a season.    I also tip my cap to show runners and creative teams that think outside the box and take some risks with their storytelling.  And for the most part, The Killing was good.  It was gripping and exciting and heartbreaking.   It really showed, in real-time, how something like this affects so many people in different ways and how a tragedy like this can completely change and uproot your life in ways you never imagined.

Having said all that, when you take a risk (like not closing a season long case in the season finale) you take a big chance of alienating your audience and losing their trust if not handled correctly.   I personally don’t think the people behind The Killing handled this correctly.   First, AMC promoted this series as “Who Killed Rosie Larsen?”   It talked about following one case throughout the entire season and telling the story from the different perspectives of the detectives, the family, and the suspects involved.  When you talk about following one case and the whole premise being who killed Rosie, you give the audience the impression that by episode 13, the case will be solved.   When you look back on some of the promos for the show and there was a series of commercials with the cast (which were awesome) where all they talk about is how this show grips you and all you want to know is who killed Rosie.  Well, that’s exactly the excitement you built up in your audience.   So are you really that surprised that when you don’t tell them, they are pissed?    Are you really surprised that when you don’t solve the crime and say guess what, you have to come back next season to find out, that people are annoyed and feel tricked?    You shouldn’t be.  If I were the person coming up with this idea the first thing I would say is that people are either going to love us for this or hate us for this.  So the hate us part, shouldn’t be a shock at all.   That is what has surprised me.   That Veena Sud and Charlie Collier underestimated the backlash.   That shocks me.   The baseline premise of your show is who killed this girl.  You don’t tell the audience and you didn’t think it would be that big of a deal?   Ok then.

As I mentioned in previous posts, my issue with the show wasn’t the fact that they didn’t close the case out in 13 episodes, but that the story telling was disjointed at certain parts of the season and there was plenty of opportunity to tell a gripping, mesmerizing story and wrap up the case.   The way the story was told this season (wasting so much time on the teacher for example) it didn’t surprise me at all that they didn’t wrap it up because they didn’t leave themselves enough time to do so.  About episode 11, I got the feeling this case wasn’t going to be solved.   And I would rather them not solve it this season and go into the next and wrap it up correctly vs. hurrying to close a case where it feels cheap and easy.  But if the story telling flowed better, they should have been able to get this done in 13 episodes.

The Killing was still one of the best new shows of the season.  With all it’s faults, I still enjoyed it and I will be back for season two.  If for no other reason than to see who killed Rosie!!!!   But Sud and Collier cannot be surprised by the negative backlash they have received as a result of their risk taking.  They can’t be surprised that people are furious that the promotion they witnessed leading up to the show…Who Killed Rosie Larsen…gave people the idea that the case would be solved only to be left hanging until next season.   But see Collier’s comments for yourself by clicking on the link above.

 

SEASON FINALE REVIEW: The Killing “Orpheus Descending” S1 E13

Who Killed Rosie Larsen?   That would be………………………………we still don’t know.  No I’m not kidding and no this isn’t a joke.   13 episodes into The Killing and I am just as in the dark as I was in Episode 1.  And WOW were people on Twitter pissed last night!!!    But not finding out who killed Rosie wasn’t even the biggest thing people were upset about.   If you haven’t seen last night’s finale yet, don’t read anymore below.    But if you did see it and you know what I am talking about, please read on.

I think it’s safe to say that from the very beginning, there is one person we knew who didn’t commit this crime….Detective Sarah Linden.  No ifs ands or buts about it.  Everyone else was fair game….even Mitch and Stan (Rosie’s parents.)  But I do think that a twist people didn’t see coming was that her partner, Holder, would somehow be in on it.    There were things that happened and ways Holder was acting in the last few episodes leading up to the finale that did make me raise my eyebrow.  I talked more about it on the podcast than on the blog, but there were two things that happened that made me question Holder before tonight.   The first was seeing him with the token that had the same symbol on it from the casino where Rosie was last seen.  Did he see Rosie there that night?   Did he know she was a regular there?   Either way, Holder appeared to be holding information back.    The second was when video surveillance from the ATM machines came in and he told the cop on the phone not to let Linden know, that he would take care of that.  Now at first it seemed he was doing it because Jack was missing all day and he wanted to give Linden time with her son.  But my first gut reaction to his decision-making was that something smelled fishy about that.  Why wouldn’t you tell her?  I think it’s because there was something on there he wanted to check out first to make sure Linden didn’t see.   But I blew both suspicions off as me reading too much into it….until last night.

Linden and Holder are hot on the trail of Richmond thinking he killed Rosie.   There is a ton of circumstantial evidence but nothing concrete to arrest the councilman who presumably is about to be elected mayor.   But just when the chief is about to shut it down, guess who comes in with something solid?   Holder.   He brings in a photo graph from a toll booth that they had requested from the night of Rosie’s murder, which shows Richmond driving the car that Rosie was found in that is time stamped the night she was killed.  That’s all the chief need to see and told them to go arrest Richmond.   They arrest him and he tells them they are making a huge mistake.   Since the case is “wrapped up”, Linden and Jack finally get on their plane to Sonoma (I’ll get into why this is really stupid later on) when Linden gets a phone call from the toll booth operator stating she couldn’t get them the pictures they requested.   Linden is obviously confused since Holder turned in the picture.  THe woman explains to her that the camera on the toll booth hadn’t been working for months and there is no possible way a picture could have been taken the night of the murder.  Flash to Holder getting into a car with someone we don’t see and says “the picture worked.  Richmond is going down.”  Flash back to Linden stuck on a plane to Sonoma stewing with this newly discovered information.   Rosie’s killer is still out there.

Here are my thoughts on the season.  I enjoyed The Killing.  I think the cast is fantastic and I find the case intriguing.  However, I think the way the storytelling flowed was off.  I know some people had issues with the pacing.  I had no such issues.  I thought the pacing was fine and I’m not someone who needs non-stop action to be entertained.   My issue is more with the storytelling.  In 13 episodes, we spent 4-5 episodes focusing on the teacher, Mr. Bennett.  The first three episodes spent time setting up the case and characters.   One whole episode dedicated to finding Jack and develop Linden and Holder’s relationship.  That left about 4 episodes to cover other witnesses and wrap up the case.  There seemed to be so many details out there that I wanted clarity on but there wasn’t enough time to go through it.   What was Stan’s sketchy past?   Did Rosie get involved in her Aunt’s escort service or was that something else entirely?  Where did Rosie get all that money?   What is the connection to the casino?  If Richmond had nothing to do with her killing, how did she end up in the car?   Why wasn’t her shoe and other parts of the crime scene investigated at the beginning of the investigation instead of 2 weeks later?    The storytelling wasn’t clean.  I’m not saying it has to be perfect and in chronological order.  But I think too much time was focused in certain areas (like Bennett) and not enough time on others (other possible suspects.)     The season finale felt like the writers were trying to cram 15 pounds of crap into a 5 pound bag.  And some of the portions of the case that were introduced last night, felt like things that should have been happening a while ago…checking the toll booths, expanding the search to areas around where Rosie was found, etc.  I also felt like there was no way it could have been Richmond because the “evidence proving his guilt” came together so quickly and strangely that I didn’t buy it.  Which is what made the reveal of the “twist” that Richmond is being set up by someone else, much less impactful.   If it had been leading up to him or there was a slow build to him being the killer, the twist would have been that much greater.  But that isn’t what happened.

I have to talk about one story line I REALLY wish would be dropped because it is so preposterous.  That is the story line of Linden and her fiance Rick.  Come on guys.  She’s the main character.  She’s the lead detective.  You know she isn’t going anywhere and you know she’s coming back next season.   So why are we still going through this ridiculous farce of her moving to Sonoma and marrying some guy who obviously doesn’t support her career?    Can we stop this already and move on?   No one cares about Rick and everyone knows Linden is staying.  This is the dumbest story in the series and it’s time to let it go.

I know the fan base is VERY divided on this.    Some people are livid about the non reveal of the killer.   Others don’t understand what the big deal is because there is a Season Two where we will find out who killed Rosie.  I’m kind of in the middle.   A cop-out, I know.  I’m not as upset as I would have been had The Killing not been renewed for a Season Two.  I’ll still be able to see the results of Rosie’s investigation and therefore who killed her.  If The Killing was not renewed, I would be much more upset.   I still think it’s risky because according to Veena Sud, that was the plan all along…to not solve the case this season.  I guess they got lucky they received a renewal.   But I can understand why people are so upset.  You invest 13 hours/episodes watching a show that promoted itself as following one case throughout the season with the inference that the case will be solved by the season finale.  There were many episodes that weren’t utilized as well as they could have been.  There was plenty of time, if told in a more fluent, succinct manner, to tell the story of the crime and the people and to wrap the case up in 13 episodes.  Sud and the writers chose not to do that.  That’s their right and prerogative.  But guess what, you are going to have viewers very unhappy with that decision and you risk losing viewers moving forward.  They haven’t lost me as a viewer but there are many people who have already commented that they will not tune in next year.  Like I said, that’s a risk you take.

So what do you think of all this?   Will you tune in next year?  Are you done with The Killing?   And I still get to ask the question….who do you think killed Rosie?

 

The Killing Finale Live Tweet!!

Hello The Killing fans!!   This is it.   Tonight, we finally find out who killed Rosie!!!!

I will be live tweeting during the broadcast tonight so come join me.  Then check back in with the blog and the podcast for thoughts and analysis on the finale and the first season.

 

RENEWED SHOWS: The Killing

Yeah!!!!  It took AMC long enough!!!   My goodness.   The Killing was finally renewed for a second season today.   I guess Linden really isn’t moving to Sonoma with creepy Rick anytime soon.   Thank God!!!

I didn’t get to watch last night’s episode yet.   Between the Tony’s, the Heat/Mavericks game, and the fact that I don’t have cable at the Jersey Shore, I didn’t get to it.   But I will tonight!!

 

REVIEW: The Killing “El Diablo” & “A Soundless Echo” S1 E3-4

I am so behind that I am going to do some very quick reviews to catch up.

This show is fantastic.  I remember saying after the pilot that I wasn’t too sure if I liked the character of Linden or not.  I can now say with 100% certainty that I love her character.  She is very complex and I think there is a lot more to her than we have learned yet.  Remember when Rick comes to see her on the boat and notices the bandage on her arm?  She tells him it’s just a scratch and he says “it’s happening again isn’t it?  I can’t compete with a ghost.”  I’m dying to know what that’s all about.   But the way Linden has been observing and analyzing the case, you can tell there is something (non Rosie Larsen related) eating at her.  And there must be more to her storyline with Rick.  I don’t understand why the writers would introduce the idea of Linden moving away with Rick and her son when we all know she is going to be the lead detective in the this case and not go anywhere until it’s solved.  So why even go there?  Because there must be a bigger reason.  At least, that’s my hope.

I’m still not sold on the partner yet (Holder.)   I know this is his first time in homicide but he has been a detective before and he is coming across like such a rookie.  And a disrespectful unprofessional one at that.  Although it seems his creepy style may help in this case since all the youngsters think he is just as much of a scumbag as they are.  Which may be true but time will.  So it’s easy for him to get close to some suspects as a result.

I’m really happy to see how Jamie’s storyline is playing out so far.  Originally he came across as pompous, callous, and obnoxious.  He still may have some of those traits but I think he’s pretty loyal to Richmond.  I like that he was set up as the leak and therefore fired from the campaign so he could plant himself inside the mayor’s office to take him down from the inside.  Loved that!  You know who I don’t trust a lick though?  Gwen.  With her huge political connections (her father is a Senator) and the fact that she seems to be quite shady in her dealings with Richmond’s campaign, she can’t be trusted.  Maybe, like Jamie, she has been planted to take down Richmond from the inside.  I don’t think that’s the case, but it’s possible.  I think she’s just very ambitious for herself and is using Richmond for her own aspirations.  I also think she has something to do with Rosie’s death.

The Larsens continue to break my heart each week.  However, the scenes with them really slow down the show at this point.  It’s a tough web to weave because these are the grieving parents.  They aren’t going to be over Rosie’s murder in a day or two.  Hell Mitch may never get over it.  And you have to show how hard this is on the Larsens.  But do we need to see every step of them picking out her casket and talking to the priest about the services?  I know the show is supposed to be told from all angles and at this point, their grief is their angle, but it really does bring the show to a screeching halt.   What was very interesting was this twist that Stan may not be the perfect husband after all.  Turns out he was into some pretty shady dealings in his past that he isn’t proud of and I’m sure that will come to light over the course of the season.  He needed to borrow some money from the person he used to work for (possible a mob connection) since he bought a house for Mitch and his family right before Rosie was murdered.  Now he needs some help.  I have a bad feeling about this for Stan.

Two people I really hope spend a lot of time in jail being some dude named Bubba’s bitches are Kris and Jasper.  I think it was pretty obvious that the video was not of them raping Rosie even though it was shown in a way to make us think it was.   The video showed a girl in Rosie’s costume and pink wig but never her face.  Turns out the girl who was raped was Sterling, Rosie’s BFF and she hasn’t been right ever since.  And how about that asshole that came over to her in school and said “hey Sterling, no means yes.”  Are you kidding me?  Who’s raising these kids?  But those little scumbags better get what is coming to them.  I don’t think they had anything to do with Rosie’s murder but as proved by the video, they are far from innocent of a crime.  Bastards.

But I big revelation (that is also a big red herring in my opinion) is Rosie’s connection with her teacher, Bennett Ahmed.  At the end of E4, there was a 2-3 montage showing some pieces of a puzzle coming together.  Holder followed Rosie’s normal bus to the end of the line where it ends up in a bad neighbor hood.  Turns out, she was there with someone helping out the youth in the area.  That person…Bennett Ahmed.  When Linden was searching Rosie’s room because she had a feeling Rosie was involved with an older man, she found letters written to Rosie that were hidden in her globe lamp.  The author of those letters…Bennett Ahmed.  Finally, Mitch is at Rosie’s school talking to one of her teachers who ended up giving her book that was Rosie’s favorite.  The teacher….Bennett Ahmed.  You see where I am going with this?   Bennett obviously had a bigger connection to Rosie than just student/teacher.   What that connection is yet, we don’t know.  It could be completely innocent and platonic.  Or it may not.  Either way, I don’t think it’s sinister and I don’t think he killed Rosie.

What do you think of The Killing?  Are you watching?  And if you aren’t, why the hell aren’t you?  You must start watching.  Any early guesses from the readers on who killed Rosie?

 

The Killing Recap and Review Coming Soon!

My DVR only taped 2 minutes of last week’s The Killing (grrrrrrrr) so I watched both episodes last night.  This show is AMAZING!!!   If you aren’t watching, you REALLY need to be watching this show. The acting and writing are so superb.

Work is crazy today and tomorrow but hopefully I will have thoughts on both episodes very soon (hopefully by Wed/Thurs of this week.)  So make sure you check back.

All I am going to say at this point is that I change my mind about my initial thoughts on Jamie.  I don’t trust Gwen AT ALL.  I think she is up to something and I wouldn’t be surprised if she is behind the killing of Rosie.  And I just want to beat Jasper and Kris with their skateboards for what they did in the cage.  I hope they get what is coming to them!

 

REVIEW: The Killing “Pilot” & “The Cage” S1 E1&2

There were lots of shows that premiered last night.  And I was up till the wee hours of the morning watching them because I was excited for all 3 shows.  But the show that was the best of the bunch was The Killing.  Set in Seattle, The Killing follows the story of Who Killed Rosie Larson?   The story is told from the angle of the detectives, the victim’s family, and a political campaign.  I love a great serialized “who done it” so I am already 100% behind this show!

Already what I like about The Killing, is that it follows one case for an entire season.  There are many questions about why this happened and who was responsible but that’s not all we are going to get into with this show.  It’s not fair to compare a procedural drama (like The Mentalist or Criminal Minds) to a serialized format like this “who done it” will be but I am going to anyway!!  If you read my blog you will note that I have mentioned how much easier it is getting to figure out who the guilty party is on these shows.  In fairness, they have 42 minutes to get all the information they need into this episode to make it flow and work.  The suspect list is usually small so it’s easy to see (or at least narrow down to a 50/50 guess) who will be guilty.  But in a show like The Killing where it is serialized, we have an entire season to get into the case, the suspects and how this affects all the characters involved.  It reminds me of the show from the 90s, Murder One.  It’s a little different since Murder One was more about the trial than the investigation, but it’s similar in my mind.  I loved that show!!!  I loved all the different stories that made up the series and the character development that occurred.   I think that’s exactly what we are going to get here as well.  This is series will be so much more, I think, than who killed Rosie.

Detective Sarah Linden (Mirelle Enos) is a single mom who was just recently engaged to her boyfriend Rick, and they are moving to Sonoma, CA.  Jack, her son, I gather isn’t a big fan of Rick nor of them moving and Sarah tries to soften the blow of uprooting Jack as much as she can.  Before she leaves though, her boss tells her to investigate one more case with the new detective from narcotics who will be taking over for her, Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnamen.)   Already you can tell that Holder is not as polished when it comes to a murder investigation and Linden keeps giving him the old stink eye every time he screws something up.  Since Sarah is the main character of the show, you know she isn’t going anywhere and allows this case to pull her back in.  This is one of the first questions I have outside of Rosie’s investigation.   Why is Sarah so drawn to this case?  I’m sure she’s investigated hundreds of cases before so why is this one forcing her to reexamine whether or not she should leave?  Is she just that determined to finish what she has started or is there some connection to her past that is making her stay?   Time will tell.   I’m anxious to get to know these characters a bit more.  First impression, neither one are very likable, especially Holder.  And I guess I wouldn’t say Linden is unlikable but initially she comes off a bit insipid.  She spends a lot of time just staring off into space.  Are they trying to paint her as stoic or pensive?  I’m not sure.  Or, again, is there a deeper story there?  I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now.

Rosie’s parents are, so far, the standouts of the series.  Mitch and Stan (Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton) are Rosie’s parents who are blue-collar, hard-working people, raising their family in downtown Seattle.  Rosie is their oldest and they have two younger boys who idolize their older sister.  I get the impression that Rosie was a good kid getting ready to go to college but did have a bit of a mischievous streak in her.  Mitch and Stan took the boys camping while Rosie went to a dance and stayed at her best friend Sterling’s house over the weekend (allegedly.)  I did find it surprising that neither Mitch nor Stan would reach out for Rosie over the weekend or double-check that she was in school Monday, but I guess that’s the more of the norm at their house.  Since Stan’s ATM card was found in a field with a girl’s bloody sweater, Linden and Holder go to talk to the family.  The one thing I had a problem with, and I’m not a detective so maybe I am completely wrong about this, was Linden noticing a pink bike and asking Mitch if she had a daughter and where she was.  As it turns out, it was her daughter that went missing and was eventually killed, but Linden didn’t know that at the time.  Don’t you think it would have been horrible for her to assume it was Mitch and Stan’s daughter that went missing and arouse fear in them, if it turned out not to be her?  I just think that was an awful big leap for her to make.  It would have made more sense if Holder made that mistake but not the experienced homicide detective.  Anyway, as a result of the meeting, Mitch and Stan are heartsick about where Rosie could be and are trying to stay positive.  Stan promises to go out and find her and Mitch waits at home by the phone in case she hears from her.   Stan thinks he finds her at her ex-scumbag boyfriend’s house but it turns out not to be her.  Stan starts to worry and calls Mitch to tell her what is going on.  As he is driving, he stumbles on the scene of the police and they have the road blocked.  Stan jumps out because he sees them around a car.  They radio to Linden that they have the father and when she walks over to him, he asks if that is his daughter.  She keeps telling him that he shouldn’t be there but her face tells him everything he needs to know and he breaks down with Mitch on the other line.  It reminded me of the scene in Mystic River when Sean Penn keeps asking Kevin Bacon if his daughter is in the bear cage.  It was awful to watch.  So was this scene.  The worst was watching Mitch scream for her husband while she is breaking down and her 2 sons are watching her in horror.  After they had to ID her body (which I honestly don’t know how any loved one can ever do that without completely being messed up for life after seeing that) they take the boys out to tell them what has happened to their sister.  It was another gut wrenching scene that was beautifully executed by all actors.  So the search for their daughter’s killer begins while they try to piece their lives back together.

Finally we have the political element of the show.  Councilman Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell) is running for mayor of Seattle.  Gwen Eaton (Kristin Lehman) and Jamie Wright (Eric Ladin) are his campaign managers and advisors.  We learn that Gwen and Darren are sleeping together and that Darren was previously married but that his wife passed away.  He was seen in the beginning of the episode at a memorial/cemetery and we eventually learn that his wife has died.  Jamie is the typical disgusting campaign manager while Gwen is the typical appeaser.  On the surface, they are very stereotypical members of a political campaign.  But is there more to each of them?  I think there is.  Maybe not with Jamie he seem like a real sleaze but Gwen may not be a “wonderful” as she appears.  Rosie’s kidnapping/murder happens right in the middle of his bid for mayor and not only will it be a political hot button now during the campaign, but it seems that Rosie was found in the trunk of one of the cars registered to his campaign.  Yikes.  Although the car was reported stolen a few days ago so maybe it’s just a coincidence.  Me thinks not so much!

There are also many other side characters/suspects that we meet….Rosie’s Aunt and Mitch’s sister Terry (Jamie Anne Allman), Rosie’s BFF Sterling (Kasey Rohl), her teacher and principal, Bennet Ahmed (Brandon Jay McLaren) and Principal Myers (Kerry Sandomirsky), douchebag ex-boyfriend Jasper (Richard Harmon), Jasper’s father Michael (Barclay Hope), Jasper’s Skater buddy Kris (Gharrett Paon), the incumbant mayor Lesley Adams (Tom Butler), fellow councilwoman and Richmond supporter, Ruth Yitanes (Lee Garlington) and Stan’s partner at work Belko Royce (Brendan Sexton III.)

The Killing looks to be a fantastic show.  I do think there were parts that were a bit slow.  And I don’t mind slower moments that could develop character or plot.  But some parts felt slow for no reason.  Like the opening of the show when Linden was running and ran on the lake side to see some dead animal in the sand.  Then she did her typical stare off into space with a desperate look.  I’m not sure what point this served.  It’s so early in the series and we don’t know Linden at all yet so I can’t even bring to imagine what she was thinking or feeling at this point.  It isn’t a huge deal but something I did notice throughout the premiere.

I  know it’s ridiculously early in the show and there are probably many characters/suspects we have yet to meet.   But if I had wager an early guess on the culprit….it would be either Belko or Jamie.  I have no significant reasons for those picks other than Jamie is an asshole and Belko just looks like he’s done something wrong.   What are your thoughts on The Killing?  If you watched it, will you continue?  If you haven’t checked it out, AMC will be replaying several times this week.  My advice would be to check it out or DVR it because it really looks to be one of the best new shows of the season!

 

Mad Men Renewed for Two More Seasons!!!

Great news for us Mad Men fans.  Matthew Weiner has inked a new deal with AMC!!!  Yahoo!!!!  Why is this great for us?  Because not only is Mad Men renewed for Season 5 but also for Season 6.  Awesome.

Most of us were pretty confident that a Season 5 was coming.  However, because negotiations were going so slowly, instead of Season 5 premiering in the summer, like Mad Men usually does, Mad Men’s Season 5 premiere will now be in early 2012.   Yikes!  I can imagine for people who watched the finale last August/Sept of 2010, early 2012 is a looooooooooong time to wait for Mad Men to come back to our screens.  For me, Mad Men is a show I am just starting to watch.  I have watched S1 and I am on S2 right now.  My plan is to get through all 4 seasons during the summer so I will be ready to go for Season 5 when it returns in 2012.

Part of why this took so long was some concessions AMC wanted Weiner to adopt…cutting 2 series regular cast members, incorporating product placement into the show, and cutting 2 minutes off each episode to allow for more commercials.  The product placement is happening.  I assume that would be a pretty easy one considering they do work for an ad agency.  The premiere and finale will still be a full 47 minutes but all the other episodes will go from 47 to 45 minutes.  However, when they go to DVD, they will be a full 47 minutes.  The biggest news though, and most importantly, there will be NO cast cuts!!!

Mad Men fans are you happy?  I know I am and I’m thrilled this is finally complete.  Now I just need to get through these seasons on DVD!!!