tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54400199630141825782009-11-07T20:44:24.911-05:00Watercooler observations on pop culture, news & politics fueled by lots of caffeineMeredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.comBlogger538125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-12959557125923512342009-11-05T10:59:00.001-05:002009-11-05T11:00:07.177-05:002009-11-05T11:00:07.177-05:00

I like Julianna Margulies. And I’m fond of the premise of The Good Wife: A woman -- a wife and mother -- is trying to pick of the pieces of her shattered life after her corrupt politician/husband humiliated her by having affairs with hookers and is now in jail because he was found guilty of abusing his office. The first few episodes of The Good Wife deftly balanced Margulies’ Alicia Florrick’s

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-20994351667343436692009-11-04T13:02:00.000-05:002009-11-04T13:02:07.070-05:002009-11-04T13:02:07.070-05:00

Big Love returns for its fourth season in January, in case you're in the market for a new show to help fill the vacancy of Mad Men. And HBO's starting to drum up anticipation by releasing a new promo. What's disappointing about it is that it contains no new scenes, only audio. I'm anxious to find out what happens with the new Church of Bill and Barb's fears about "outer darkness."

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-53334398779215969172009-11-04T12:42:00.000-05:002009-11-04T12:42:54.271-05:002009-11-04T12:42:54.271-05:00

I watched the premiere of V last night on ABC, you know, that new drama about the aliens "visiting" Earth as their ginormous spacecraft hover over the world's biggest cities. The pilot episode was intriguing, but I think I’m a tad biased because I'm a fan of Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet from Lost) who plays single mom FBI agent Erica Evans on V and has been convinced that the "visitors" want to

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-20116039633989534652009-11-03T14:15:00.000-05:002009-11-03T14:15:36.146-05:002009-11-03T14:15:36.146-05:00

Two freshman comedies on Wednesday nights on ABC have been giving me something to look forward to every week: Modern Family and The Middle. And given that Mad Men’s season three finale is on Sunday, we need something to fill the void each week. My weekly Pop Culture and Politics column over on Mommy Tracked this week is about how these two comedies have filled the space in my heart that used to

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-42293361935436703322009-11-02T12:49:00.000-05:002009-11-02T12:49:27.222-05:002009-11-02T12:49:27.222-05:00

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the latest episode of Desperate Housewives.* Gabby Solis – who didn’t realize the Soviet Union had broken up – as a homeschooling “bad mom?” That unbelievable situation was matched only by Tom Scavo answering to the moniker of “T-Scav,” Bree Van de Kamp Hodge contemplating marrying a lying philanderer, one Carl Mayer, and Katherine Mayfair is continuing to act

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-46905867990411840392009-11-02T11:37:00.000-05:002009-11-02T11:37:01.624-05:002009-11-02T11:37:01.624-05:00

* Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Mad Men* Upon seeing this pointed scene between Don and Betty Draper last night, what did you think? Is this the end of the Draper marriage? A speed-bump? Betty's revenge for feeling betrayed and hurt?

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-20397793793966747942009-11-02T09:55:00.001-05:002009-11-02T10:44:04.703-05:002009-11-02T10:44:04.703-05:00

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Mad Men.* The latest episode -- built around the assassination of President Kennedy and the destabilizing impact that violent act had on everyone in the Mad Men world -- was unexpected and outstanding. I would’ve never imagined, for example, that the combination of losing the senior accounts post to Kenny-boy Cosgrove and watching the news

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-74453767636221123212009-10-29T11:08:00.000-04:002009-10-29T11:08:26.989-04:002009-10-29T11:08:26.989-04:00

The New York Post reported this week that, in the wake of Jon Gosselin’s demand that his kids no longer be featured in a TLC reality show (the one that made the Gosselin's a household name), it's entirely likely that we've seen the last original episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. "This is the last episode for which we have completed filming," a TLC spokeswoman told the Post. "We remain suspended."

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-44035960688158668772009-10-29T10:08:00.001-04:002009-10-29T10:08:39.739-04:002009-10-29T10:08:39.739-04:00

The promo for the eighth season of 24 -- which starts January 17 -- features a nicely recovered Jack Bauer (out of the morphine-induced coma he was in at the end of season seven after the effects of the chemicals in a bioweapon became too much for him to bear) with his cute-as-a-button granddaughter. She calls him "Jack." He asks her to call him "Grandpa." Later in the trailer, Jack grumbles

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-26247420729519812442009-10-27T13:37:00.001-04:002009-10-27T13:41:49.360-04:002009-10-27T13:41:49.360-04:00

Unfortunately for fans of Friday Night Lights who don’t have DIRECTV, (including yours truly), we’ll have to wait until 2010 to get our fix of our favorite Texas high school football coach, his high school principal wife and the angst-ridden students who populate the show. For those of you who do have DIRECTV, you’ll be able to see the premiere of this wonderfully nuanced drama tomorrow (that's

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-18716754475842927102009-10-27T13:20:00.001-04:002009-10-27T13:44:41.232-04:002009-10-27T13:44:41.232-04:00

While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid attempts to muster enough votes to back a public option in a Senate health insurance reform bill (as White House officials cast doubt on the likelihood of a bill including a public health insurance option passing), one group of constituents is amping up its public relations efforts to make sure their needs are represented in whatever health insurance reform

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-75046843136024009462009-10-26T17:52:00.000-04:002009-10-26T17:52:04.218-04:002009-10-26T17:52:04.218-04:00

Remember several months ago when those who have a particular affinity for the insightful, and, at times emotionally sharp HBO therapy drama In Treatment were sending bars of Irish Spring soap to lobby HBO execs to renew the show with its Irish star, Gabriel Byrne, in the leading role as Dr. Paul Weston? Don't know if it was the strong scent of the soap or not, but HBO recently announced that In

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-55033045889313266442009-10-26T15:33:00.002-04:002009-10-26T15:37:06.464-04:002009-10-26T15:37:06.464-04:00

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the latest episode of Desperate Housewives.* “It is in our nature to judge those around us.” In the opening scene of Desperate Housewives, we were handed the theme of the episode about our propensity to judge others yet not wanting to be judged ourselves. Gabby didn’t want her parenting judged by an overprotective helicopter mother. Bree didn’t want to be judged

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-52912829588074927572009-10-26T11:35:00.002-04:002009-10-27T13:45:49.667-04:002009-10-27T13:45:49.667-04:00

Watching the AMC video below -- featuring interviews with Mad Men creator/writer Matt Weiner, and stars Jon Hamm and January Jones -- doesn't really answer fundamental questions about the impact of Don's admission of his life of lies to his wife and whether Betty's going to leave him or try to make it work. If anything, it spawns more questions:

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-86458861423306177442009-10-26T11:16:00.001-04:002009-10-26T11:25:54.262-04:002009-10-26T11:25:54.262-04:00

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Mad Men.* I don’t entirely trust Don Draper and how he reacted to being caught in his web of lies as his carefully crafted image was smashed to smithereens by his wife. When I watched “The Gypsy and the Hobo,” after a tough-as-nails Betty called Don on the carpet and refused to back down in the face of his attempts to bully her, I kept

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-49849628493920511012009-10-23T11:40:00.000-04:002009-10-23T11:40:28.395-04:002009-10-23T11:40:28.395-04:00

Noticed a mini-trend in TV shows this fall featuring an ambivalent mother? Desperate Housewives has Lynette Scavo, the married, full-time ad exec, mother of four, who is distinctly unenthusiastic about the fact that, in her mid-40s, she’s pregnant with twins. In fact, during her first ultrasound, she didn’t even want to look at the screen and later said that there was a voice in her head

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-35041694026134334172009-10-23T11:21:00.000-04:002009-10-23T11:21:38.918-04:002009-10-23T11:21:38.918-04:00

*Warning, spoilers from recent Grey’s Anatomy episode ahead.* With Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl sidelined for personal reasons (Pompeo just had a baby and Heigl just adopted one), Grey’s Anatomy writers have had to come up with ways to explain their absences. For Meredith Grey, it’s that she felt guilted into donating some of her liver to help save her alcoholic father, and she needs time

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-82266690405492644062009-10-21T11:07:00.000-04:002009-10-21T11:07:02.350-04:002009-10-21T11:07:02.350-04:00

I didn’t mention it in my review of “The Color of Blue” Mad Men episode, but this scene, where members of the Sterling Cooper creative department acted out the ad pitch for the Aqua Net account, was highly amusing, didn't you think? The only way to improve it would've been to have Kinsey in the scarf. By the way, what do you think will happen to Sterling Cooper? Bought back? Bought by a

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-31881403296485808712009-10-20T20:04:00.001-04:002009-10-20T20:08:13.867-04:002009-10-20T20:08:13.867-04:00

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Brothers & Sisters.* Are the writers of Brothers & Sisters trying to inject a bit of the real life John and Elizabeth Edwards drama into the ABC show's storyline? Main character Kitty Walker McCallister (Calista Flockhart) -- who just adopted a baby boy with her husband Sen. Robert McCallister (Rob Lowe), who’s running for California

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-87294265035591128902009-10-19T13:29:00.000-04:002009-10-19T13:29:48.037-04:002009-10-19T13:29:48.037-04:00

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the latest episode of Desperate Housewives.* Okay, what have they done with the Carlos Solis character which the show carefully cultivated over the past few seasons, the one who was caring andloving, a full-fledged human, not a stock character from Mad Men’s Sterling Cooper? The one who became worthy of the love and devotion of his wife and two daughters, the one

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-4707486241242060582009-10-19T11:01:00.000-04:002009-10-19T11:01:00.430-04:002009-10-19T11:01:00.430-04:00

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Mad Men.* So now she knows. Someone named “Don Draper,” whom she knows as her husband, was once married to a woman named “Anna Draper,” for whom Don has the deed for her California home. She knows that Don has a secret shoebox tucked away in a locked drawer, next to piles of cash, and contains two sets of dog tags for Donald Draper and

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-69979470664414149422009-10-19T09:35:00.001-04:002009-10-19T09:38:46.004-04:002009-10-19T09:38:46.004-04:00

Clearly the Heene family has a screw (or several) loose. But when I last posted here on Friday, I wasn't 100 percent convinced that the parents had intentionally perpetrated a hoax on the American public, blatantly toying with our emotions in order to secure a reality show contract to become another Jon and Kate, as if they're not enough of a cautionary tale. Perhaps the kids messed up, I

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-80065242618605977122009-10-16T10:12:00.002-04:002009-10-16T16:14:12.753-04:002009-10-16T16:14:12.753-04:00

Once the world learned yesterday that the 6-year-old Colorado boy, Falcon Heene, was NOT inside that homemade helium balloon which flew 50 miles away from his home and crashed into a field, that the kid was safe hiding in his attic, everyone breathed a sigh of relief . . . after all the cable networks went wall-to-wall with live coverage of the runaway balloon after which the U.S. military sent a

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-29581968966297996102009-10-14T10:39:00.001-04:002009-10-14T10:40:42.396-04:002009-10-14T10:40:42.396-04:00

While reading this morning's New York Times, I decided to look at the Dining section which is always an ironic thing for me to do since my three children have transformed the word "dining" into an ironic one, at least in our home. Their idea of "dining" consists of one of two things: Stuffing as much food into their mouths as quickly as they can and leaving the kitchen table in five minutes or

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5440019963014182578.post-41100131991363923472009-10-13T17:09:00.000-04:002009-10-13T17:09:43.948-04:002009-10-13T17:09:43.948-04:00

When she's not hurling metal lock boxes filled with campaign donations for the New York governor's re-election at his top political aide for whom she has the hots, Mad Men's Betty Draper likes to spend time vacationing in Rome, donning mod attire, speaking Italian and flirting with the local men at an outdoor bar. Dyna Moe of Nobody's Sweetheart created this fab illustration. See all of Dyna

Meredith O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13931703511561742340meredithobrien@hotmail.com0