BOOB TUBE: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

Is Pete Campbell going to die? I don’t know, but I think I might after watching Eden’s World.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly dives right into the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of television each week. Still unsure what this column is about: The Good will focus on the best thing on TV this week, The Bad will explore the worst thing, and The Ugly will vary from week to week, but it’s usually serving up the hottest of hot messes allowed to hit our TV screens.

The Good.

Parks and Recreation was back on our televisions last night and it was as good as it gets. Bradley Whitford made a guest appearance this week and with him came one of my favorite little moments: a nod to The West Wing.

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Also, this:

Oh, and this:

The Bad.

I tried watching an episode of Eden’s World on Logo this week and while Toddler’s and Tiaras (where Eden came from) is a delight, Eden’s World is just awful.

“Eden’s World is a show without even the small amount of suspense that Toddlers and Tiaras afforded the viewers. I can’t tell what’s sadder: That Eden is poised to be a reality-television washout before she hits the third grade, or that her team is so intent on pushing her success that they seem perfectly suited for this kind of run-of-the-mill “docu-series” about high-stress work environments. Heather remarks that her relationship with Andrew may push her to the breaking point, but it’s all for Eden’s career. “I might spend her teen years in jail, but at least she’ll be famous,” she declares resignedly. (via)

The Ugly.

This season of Mad Men is coming on strong with great story lines and acting. Pete Campbell is one of my least favorite characters on this show and this week I felt bad for disliking him so much. You know how sometimes you see a friend going down a path of self-destruction and no matter what you do you can’t help them until they reach rock bottom and you have to call up Intervention because you’ve always wanted to be on that show so maybe you didn’t do something to help on purpose? No? Well, Pete Campbell is heading for an Intervention and I am writing my letter to him right now. First there was the teenage girl in Driver’s Ed, then the prostitute, and finally the fight with Lane. Pete, honey, get your life.

Vincent Kartheiser recognizes this downward spiral his character is taking:

“Whenever you have something good, you’re scared of losing it,” the 32-year-old actor said on Monday in an interview with Slate. “You do have anxiety, but if I’m going to die on a show, or if I’m going to get kicked off a show, this is the one I want to do it on. I trust Matt [Weiner, the series’ creator]. I’m happy to do whatever he needs me to do to tell the best story. And if that means me not being on it anymore – if that brings to a head a point that he’s trying to make – then I’m happy to be the arrow that he has to fling away.”

When he’s not discussing what he watched last night on television with his cats, Steven is a freelance writer and blogger from Boston. He writes about television at TV Hangover and blogs about really important stuff like pizza and feelings at his blog. He also tweets from the bathroom while his children are playing video games.