TV Geek Out 170: Mad Men, "The Summer Man"

"The Summer Man" may have been the first B grade episode in a season full of As and A plusses. Still, for everything that was uneven (Don's admittedly awkward voice over journal entries), there was something encouraging (Don's slower pace with drinking and women). And even a somewhat lesser Mad Men episode is still ripe with discussion topics ranging from how well the Rolling Stones fit into the show's world to whether or not Peggy was right to get stealth chauvinist Joey out of the office after he harassed Joan. We cover these and much more here.

TV Geek Out 169: True Blood, "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'"

TV Geek Out covers the finale of the second season of True Blood, which sees the demise of the evil maenad Maryann. Her twisted sacrifice-wedding ceremony combo is undermined by a clever plan hatched by Bill and Sam, and with the help of Sookie's distracting powers. After the death of Maryann, Eggs is "tragically" killed by Jason (in defense of Andy), Sam heads out to look into his roots, Hoyt tells off his mama, Jessica chows down on a sleazy truck driver, and Bill takes Sookie to a fancy French restaurant and proposes... but is mysteriously kidnapped shortly thereafter. Oh yeah, and Eric also plays some Yahtzee with the queen. TV geeks Heather and Dana had mixed feelings about this somewhat underwhelming finale. Listen in as they talk about both the good and the bad here.

Also, stay tuned for TVGO's coverage of the latest season of the show, coming soon!

Announcement!

Hello, TV Geek Out fans! This is just a little message to tell you that we've resolved a technical issue that was keeping us from being able to offer our entire run of TVGO for download via iTunes. As of yesterday, you can now find every episode of the Geek Out in iTunes and easily download them onto your handheld devices for your listening pleasure. (Previously our iTunes podcasts were limited to just the most recent 25.)

Keep in mind that we were a little rusty in our early days of podcasting -- our audio quality has come a long way. But all of our discussions are worth checking out for the devoted listener;)

TV Geek Out 168: Mad Men, "The Suitcase"

Mad Men's fourth season has, arguably, been its strongest yet, but there's little room for debate that "The Suitcase" is one of the show's finest hours. An exploration of the dread of anticipating the worst that can happen -- and the strange sense of relief and renewal that follows when it finally does, this episode had the intimacy of a play. Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss both delivered Emmy-worthy performances, with Don hitting bottom and losing the last tie to his old identity, and Peggy losing some illusions about her personal and professional lives. The Cassius Clay/Sonny Liston fight was woven deftly around the characters' sparring, underscoring the generation gap that has widened with every installment of season four. And while this was one of the show's heaviest episodes to date, there was still plenty of room for humor, whether it was Pete's panicked look upon discovering Peggy and Trudy talking to each other, or Duck trying to turn Roger's pristine white chair into a toilet. Insightful, touching, uncomfortable, witty -- "The Suitcase" was stuffed with everything that makes Mad Men great, and we unpack it all here.

TV Geek Out 167: Mad Men, "Waldorf Stories"

How low can he go? That's the question Mad Men's fourth season keeps asking about Don Draper, and "Waldorf Stories" charted some of the seediest stops along his fall. Even in the face of winning a Clio for the Glo-Coat commercial, Don still manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory: His drunken pitch for Life Cereal plays like a grotesque caricature of the "Carousel"; he misplaces the award; and after striking out with Dr. Faye, he beds a willing jingle writer and, perhaps most shamefully, a plain waitress named Doris. He's surrounded by cautionary examples of what could be his future, from a morose Roger to a belligerent Duck, and by the mediocre present in the shape of Danny, a copywriter with connections and the belief that "perspiration's as good as inspiration." Danny's entrée into Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is mirrored by flashbacks to 1955, when Don is a wannabe adman looking for any way to get his foot in the door. "Waldorf Stories" isn't all downhill, however. We see SCDP's younger generation rise to their responsibilities, with Pete acting as "designated driver" at the Clios and showing Ken who's boss. Meanwhile, Peggy rises to the challenge of working for a demanding, forgetful, alcoholic boss and with the agency's latest sexist pig, art director Stan Rizzo -- and triumphs in ways big and small. This episode had more ups and downs than a hotel elevator, and we discuss them all here.

TV Geek Out 166: True Blood, "Frenzy"

TV Geek Out discusses the penultimate episode of True Blood's second season, "Frenzy." Jessica and Hoyt's relationship is on the rocks after she feasts on his mom, but when he later learns some disturbing secrets about his father, he has second thoughts about forever being a mama's boy. Meanwhile, Bill meets with the queen of Louisiana, but she forces him to pseudo-sunbath and play Yahtzee all day before telling him what he wants to know about maenads. Jason and Andy go to the sheriff's station for weapons and later have a highly entertaining bonding session. Sam finds Arlene's kids, who haven't been well cared for lately, and they go to see Eric for help. Tara is so determined to save Eggs that she manipulates her mother into freeing her from Sookie and Lafayette, who then go after her to the now-demented Stackhouse home. Maryann tells Tara she summoned Maryann to Bon Temps during her exorcism ceremony, and Tara is slapped into re-zombiedom. When Sookie shows up, she has to deal with a house of horrors before making her way upstairs to find Tara and Eggs destroying Gran's things to make a nest for a giant egg(!), and then gets accosted by a zombified Lafayette -- nooooo! TV geeks Heather and Dana had mixed feelings about this episode, from the pacing to the disappointing introduction of Evan Rachel Wood as Queen Sophie-Anne, but there was a lot to love about it too. Eric flies and coins the term "teacup humans," so it can't be all bad! Listen in as they discuss the pros and cons of this crazy episode here.

(Please excuse the audio quality on this recording; it's below our normal standards, but the conversation is still well worth checking out!)

TV Geek Out 165: Mad Men, "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword"

It's another super-sized Mad Men discussion, but then "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" was jam-packed with plot and subtext. This episode took on so many of the show's main themes -- the generation gap, the battle of the sexes, what people want versus what is expected of them -- some with a direct approach, others so subtly that they were revealed only after multiple viewings. But perhaps the most surprising, and satisfying, thing about "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" was that people really opened up to each other. Both of the Drapers, so practiced at keeping their secrets safe, finally got a lot off their chests. Don confided in Faye, learning firsthand that people do feel better after they've talked, while Betty revealed more than she realized to an honest-to-goodness psychiatrist (that Dr. Edna was a child psychiatrist was all too appropriate for this poor little rich girl). Compared to the episodes surrounding it, this was one of season four's more lighthearted installments, allowing Don one of the moments of eleventh-hour genius that used to come so easily and Peggy to drive around in circles on a groovy little Honda. Yet it also had downright cringe-inducing moments, both physical (Betty slapping Sally) and verbal (Roger insulting the Honda executives). So much conflicting information! We talk about it all here.

TV Geek Out 164: 2010 Emmy Nominations

Sure, they don’t have as much historical weight as the Oscars, and the telecast isn’t as fun to watch as the Golden Globes, but the Emmys are still the award everybody in television most wants to win. With that in mind, prepare your predictions for Sunday with the TV Geek Out crew as Dana, Heather, Perry, and special guest geek Chrysta break down the major categories and offer their tips on who will -- and who should -- take home the gold. Check it all out here!

TV Geek Out 163: Mad Men, "The Rejected"

Since Mad Men's third season spent so much time on the dissolution of the Draper marriage, season four isn't wasting any time returning to the show's other major stories. One of the biggest is the relationship between Peggy and Pete, which "The Rejected" caught up with in thrilling, sometimes heartbreaking fashion. Those crazy kids are so similar, yet so different, and the episode illustrated this with artful parallels in their varying paths. They're both growing up and thriving, yet their directions couldn't be any more opposite. Becoming a father seems to give Pete the push he needs to graduate from man-boy to man, and his wheeling and dealing lands him a secure place in the old boys' network. Peggy, on the other hand, tastes the sweet and bitter sides of choosing "other things" besides marriage and a family: Meeting Joyce the lesbian and her arty friends puts Peggy at the epicenter of New York's counterculture just as it's beginning to explode, while hearing of Pete's domestic bliss reminds her of what could have been.

Meanwhile, Don's life continues its publicly embarrassing downward spiral, Ken Cosgrove makes a welcome return, and John Slattery does a terrific job of directing one of Mad Men's finest hours. We had a lot to say about all of this so check out our plus-size "The Rejected" discussion here.

TV Geek Out 162: Mad Men, "The Good News"

The good news is ... Lane is more fun than a barrel of drunken monkeys when he's had a few! Joan can still have babies even though she's had a couple of "procedures"! And that's about it. "The Good News" was yet another example of how bleak, and funny, Mad Men's fourth season is. The episode contrasted and balanced its emotionally devastating scenes: Don telling Anna he had to go (instead of telling her she didn't have much time left) and Joan's breakdown were countered by Don and Lane's cathartic New Year's night out and Greg's surprisingly healing jokes. Focusing on three of the show's most stoic, even repressed, characters underscored just how much their old ways are doing them disservices -- and what a fresh start the new year offers them. Grab yer Texas belt buckle and begin 1965 with the TV Geek Out Geeks here.