If You’re Feeling Sinister…

Recently I’ve started watching My So-Called Life on Hulu after an enthusiastic recommendation from Kottke. This short-lived teen drama was on the air for only one season in 1994 before ABC axed the show for low ratings, but not before it attracted a small but loyal and dedicated fanbase who continue to run a popular unofficial fan site fifteen years after the show had been canceled.

The show was also a darling of critics, who praised the show for its authentic and nuanced depiction of high school and its sensitive portrayals of difficult topics of the time, including child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, homelessness, adultery, school violence, same-sex parenting, censorship, and drug use. 1994 was a time before networks catered to the youth and teen market as is routinely done nowadays, and ABC hardly knew how to market such a difficult show.

I was never particularly a fan of Claire Danes—she was completely forgettable in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and I haven’t yet watched Romeo + Juliet—but I used to listen to The Ataris a lot and on their ‘Looking Forward to Failure’ EP there is a song titled “My So Called Life”, in which Kris Roe proclaims his love for her ever since seeing her on My So-Called Life. That, plus the fact that the show is currently available on Hulu in its entirety led me to give it a try. And boy, am I glad I did.

And probably not a moment too soon, as there has been word that Hulu will officially start charging for content in 2010.

More on Dan Brown’s “writing”:

Lukas Mathis’ hilarious rant on the ridiculously poor opening sentences of Dan Brown’s new novel, The Lost Symbol:

Language Log » The Dan Brown contest:

We pick 20 of the clumsiest phrases from it and from his earlier works.

One of the most idiotic aspects of Dan Brown’s writing—in my opinion, of course—is his constant overuse of ellipses. How about this “brilliant” piece of “literature” (these are douchebag irony quotes, by the way) from his latest pile of vaguely coherent sentences:

It houses more pieces than the Hermitage, the Vatican Museum, and the New York Metropolitan… combined.

I guess the ellipsis here is supposed to imply a small pause meant to increase suspense, because the moronic people who read his idiotic books (of which I am obviously one) can’t guess that the last word in the sentence is going to be “combined.” Perhaps they think the last word is going to be “subtracted” or “multiplied with each other”, or maybe “pants.” They’re like “oh the suspense, I have no idea how this sentence will end, and now I have to wait because there are three random dots in the middle of the sentence, I can’t bear the suspense, this book is so great my head is going to asplode!”

And by the way, that’s the payoff? The word “combined” and a damn period? Can’t even spare a fucking exclamation mark, you stingy old bastard?

Also, how about the first fucking sentence of the book:

Since the beginning of time, the secret had always been how to die.

No, it hadn’t, you jerkface schmuck! People are capable of dying just fine! There’s no secret! Everyone knows how to do it! What the fuck is that sentence even supposed to mean! You’re giving me a fucking aneurysm with your stupid-ass book! Fuck!

Okay, back to reading, I need to know what happens to Langdon next.

The book sound so terrible I’m actually curious enough to read it myself, just to see what all the fuss is about. Which could be some sort of evil-genius marketing ploy. Maybe Dan Brown isn’t so stupid after all.

danhacker:

There’s a vocal subset of people that are complaining that the third season of Mad Men is dragging and not a lot of stuff is happening. All I have to say to those people is stop watching Mad Men now because clearly it’s not a show for you and apparently you didn’t watch the previous seasons.

Mad Men isn’t a show built around giant cliffhangers and big game changing events. It’s about subtly and the theme of the show has always been “less is more”. Mad Men season 3 feels on pace with how it should be. I recommend to those not enjoying the pace of the third season to stop watching now, and just finish off the season when it comes to DVD and Blu-ray next year.

I haven’t heard any of these complaints but this is a well written rebuttal in defense of Matt Weiner’s fantastic drama. I’ve been a faithful Mad Men fan since the very beginning and can easily say it is one of the greatest shows I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

The pace of the story is almost another character of the show itself; I can’t see it working any other way. But if this is too slow for you, I sincerely apologize on behalf of the show and kindly suggest something like CSI: Miami, which would probably be more of your cup of tea.