Blood and Advertising

By Paul Steven Brown

Two shows that are returning during the season that I would like to track on this site are ‘True Blood’ and ‘Mad Men’. HBO's 'True Blood', based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries books by Charlaine Harris, returns for its third season on June 13th. ‘Mad Men’, the highly acclaimed drama about ad men in the 1960s, returns to AMC on July 25th. Both are scheduled for Sunday night, but hopefully when 'Mad Men' returns, about a month into the new season of 'True Blood', they'll air at different hours. My bet is that it will be vampires at 9PM EST, while cigarettes and booze will flow freely at 10PM EST. If both air simultaneously, I'll watch 'Mad Men' 'live' and catch 'True Blood' 'on demand' on Monday.

There are some possible spoilers ahead for the past two seasons of 'True Blood' and three seasons of 'Mad Men'. The milk is on the counter. Drink at your own risk.

I enjoyed the first season of 'True Blood' quite a bit. It was big, silly, bloody fun. Sookie and Bill were a bit empty, though they were the main characters, but I really loved the supporting cast. The second season started out strong. The church plot line was engaging, but I was really digging the greater focus on vampire politics. Also, ‘Team Eric’ got a healthy helping of the hunky Viking vampire. He had viewers asking, “Bill who?”

The second half of the season wasn’t so hot. The ‘Maryann Takes over Bon Temps’ plot went on way to long and really wasn’t that riveting. There were a few episodes that I could almost hear the wheels of the plot spinning in place. Still, the season ended in an exciting fashion and I’m hoping that the writers have learned from the mistakes of the second season.

I had no complaints about the third season of ‘Mad Men’. If I had to change anything it would be additional episodes so there could be more screen time for certain characters like Sal, Lane Pryce, and of course, Joan. There were some major developments during the season finale and it will be interesting to see how far ahead the story has jumped between seasons. I have high expectations, but this show has always delivered on them.

If you haven’t watched ‘Mad Men’ yet, then get thee to a video store or put it in your rental queue. That’s thirty-nine episodes before July 25th, which is less than one per day. My wife had been watching the show for the first two seasons before I finally got around to viewing it. Some plot points had already been spoiled due to living in the internet age, but it wasn’t enough to damage my enjoyment of the show. ‘Mad Men’ is extremely well-written and wonderfully acted. It’ll make you laugh. It’ll make you cry. There’s even a few musical numbers.

So, expect these two shows to fall into the review rotation in the coming months. I’ll be reviewing them, unless I can draft someone else to take on the task.