Gobsmacked

With the writers’ strike and the resultant glut of reality TV (“Groomer Has It”? Really? Really?), there hasn’t been much to praise about idiot box programming of late. But I found myself gobsmacked by two very different shows this week.

Many people already love “Mad Men,” the AMC drama about Madison Avenue advertising execs in the early 60s. This time I think the bandwagon is worth jumping on – I don’t remember seeing another show on the small screen that evokes a sense of place and time like “Mad Men.” Sometimes your jaw is on the floor from the intricate production design; sometimes it’s from the writing, which is multilayered and subtle and fascinating in its unflinching examination of power and control and the roles we play with ourselves and others. And then there’s the casting – John Hamm and January Jones (what a name!) playing the ultimate 60s Ken and Barbie couple, and especially Christina Hendricks (who I loved in “Firefly”) as the iron-fist-in-velvet-glove office manager, Joan.

It’s a show that makes you *want* to pay attention to every moment. It makes you sit forward in your seat. When’s the last time that happened to you watching TV?

The first season of “Mad Men” is out on DVD. Watch it and let me know so we can discuss it. It’s that good.

Then there’s “The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” which couldn’t be more different from “Mad Men.” It’s a show that has no right to be so good: it’s an alternate-timeline TV spinoff of the “Terminator” movies. How awful does that sound? But the show has a beautiful movie-like look, and the pacing is fast and furious. The action feels visceral, and the constant twists and turns seem interesting rather than cheap, like the endless chain-yanking of “Lost.” Plus, the show actually honors the “Terminator” canon rather than crapping all over it like you might expect. Of course, there’s also another “Firefly” alum, Summer “River Tam” Glau, as the new Terminator protector. So I was bound to love that. Her scene this week where she tried to talk a teenage John Connor out of deactivating her left me yelling “Oh my god! I can’t believe that!” at the television.

That never happens.

So give these shows a try, if you haven’t already. It appears there’s some hope for the idiot box yet.