Fortune Favors The Bold

I know I made fun of this earlier, but I want to point out something disconcerting that indicates something about the way we live today:

Of all the TV shows I’ve ever heard people discussing, by a very wide margin, Mad Men is the one where the most people talk about the ongoings of the real-life actors who star on the show but always use their stage names. Every single time. If Jon Hamm does something, people say, “This weekend, Don Draper was seen doing”… and if it’s January Jones, she’s “Betty Draper”… and if Christina Hendricks shows up to the Emmys wearing something so va-va-voom that half the men in the country tumble sideways off their chairs, people will comment, “Oooh, did you see that dress that Joan was wearing?” (Close second: The Wire.)

I’m not saying they’re making a mix-up with names… they’re actually calling the people by the names that they believe they were given in this world. Apparently the show is so psychologically and stylistically involving that people believe we actually live in an extension of that world.

Yikes! I mean, I just want some easy watching! I don’t have to worry about who’s playing who on Top Chef, you know what I mean? They’re real cooks, they’re cooking, it’s a contest, it’s easy to follow. There is no benefit for watching the more pretentious show. Your brain is rotting at the same pace whether you watch AMC or Bravo, I hate to tell you.

(Speaking of these deeply involved shows… Carolyn quoted BJ Novak last night, as he said, “I’ll watch The Wire whenever I watch The Wire” as a canned response to all those pesky people who literally hang off your sleeve until you promise to see it. Coincidentally, I’d say the same thing about The Office! Half-hour sitcoms are much easier to catch up on, though.)