“Mad Men” and “The Good Guys”

The other night I watched “The Shining” with Jack Nicholson on AMC. That movie was a good one, but extremely weird and creepy. Timberline Lodge was used for exterior shots for the film. I will never forget the little boy riding his tiny little trike up and down the halls of the lodge when he was scared which was all the time. And Jack Nicholson breaking his way into his room with an ax, and shouting “Here’s Johnny!” Quite a movie. But every few minutes, especially toward the end of the movie when there was time to kill before the premiere of “Mad Men” started, they would interject ads for “Mad Men” – so many of them that by the time it actually started, I was sick of the whole thing!

I was looking forward to “Mad Men” and it didn’t disappoint me. A few years had elapsed, but the people are still the same. Betty Draper is still her cold, self-absorbed self. She was always so strange with her kids . . . not like a real mother. She has a new husband since she divorced Don, and from the looks of it, she’s doing the same things that brought on her estrangement from Don in the past. However, Don Draper was no catch. He fooled around so much it was hard to keep track. Don is now dealing with questions about his past, and Peggy’s taking control of her life in a big way. Joan is back just as busty as ever, thus making all the men happy, especially Roger Sterling. Don’s started a new company with most of the same people, and things are sort of in a state of flux. He was trying to convince a swimsuit company, Jantzen, to come to his Ad Company and show more skin on the models – bikini-wise. But Jantzen is a wholesome, family-type company and wouldn’t give in. We’ll see what happens to that one.

I just watched “The Good Guys” which is a Fox show. I wrote about it before, and I liked it then and still do. It’s completely different from “Mad Men” in that it operates in completely different circles. “Mad Men” people are sophisticated, or supposed to be, and wine and dine in up-scale establishments and mix with other sophisticated people. Of course there are some losers in every family, but they aren’t playing the big roles. In “The Good Guys” there’s Bradley Whitford, an older policeman, who is sometimes drunk or on the way and doesn’t want to exert himself. He talks about the gold old days and about his old partner, Frank. He says, “Frank and me did this, and Frank and me did that . . .” His new partner is Colin Hanks, who looks about 12, but is a very earnest, hardworking officer. The two of them are continually getting into some kind of trouble without even trying. I laugh during this show all the time. I have never seen Bradley Whitford play this sort of role and I love it! I like it when I can laugh during a show. It makes me feel good. So I hope Fox will keep this one on.