Season One

Mad Men - Season One
$39.98
I bought the first two seasons of 'Mad Men' from Amazon based upon all the buzz surrounding this show. I don't have cable tv so didn't see it on AMC. After getting through the first season and part of the second I have given up all hope of this poorly written soap opera becoming something better.

There are some good things about it. The sets are terrific, ditto the cars, costumes and the acting. Though most of the poor actors have nothing but one dimensional characters to work with. Don Draper, played by the handsome and charismatic Jon Hamm, succeeds in attaining a rounded character. His wife Betty, a lovely performance from January Jones, is another of the lucky few who have any meat to chew on in these otherwise mediocre to downright ridiculous scripts.

The writers and creator of this show really push credulity to the limit. Are we really to believe an intelligent woman (I won't say which one) working in a Manhattan ad agency doesn't know she's pregnant until she goes to the doc with a stomach ache and gives birth to a 9lb baby boy? I was left inferring that it was because she was from a stupid Catholic family which explains it all, I guess. This sort of nonsense is scattered throughout the show and is insulting to the intelligence of the viewer.

I was a child of the 1950s, and taking the child's experience of being secure and healthy into consideration I have to say that my memories of those days and those of the 1960s are at WIDE variance with what this show presents. It is a little offensive to diss the men and women who fought for our freedom in Europe. In my experience they were a good, kind, hard-working, honest, sophisticated and fun loving generation and it is churlish in the highest degree to spit in their faces as the creator of this show has done. But, then, I suppose I'm just a reactionary, hide-bound traditionalist.

The seeds of tyranny sprout from the sort of ignorant clich���s that abound in 'Mad Men'. If this series is meant to be ironically funny then there is no hope for humor in our society. Mark Weiner's little ego-trip here is a bitter, mocking attack on everything that has made this country prosperous and free. And he's laughing all the way to the bank.

If you hate capitalism, Republicans, big business, organized religions, smoking, drinking and the suburbs you'll probably join the army of those who think this rubbish is the greatest television since 'Dallas'.

Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One (TV Series)
$44.98
This is a great product! Watching the individual episodes without the commercial break fade-outs and no Cartoon Network logo printed onscreen is the BEST way to see these wonderful shows! Each episode has a corresponding featurette that outlines the production of that episode. There is a booklet of arwork affixed to the center of the DVD case that affords a cool look into the storyteller's minds.

My only complaint is: I LOVE behind the scenes materials! I would've really enjoyed something that showed even MORE aspects of their production... sculpting maquettes, scanning them, animation nodes, storyboard to digital comparisome... I can think of so much more I'd have loved to have seen... sniff... sob... I guess I can't have it all.

It's a great pleasure to have the entire season at fingertip's grasp. I was disappointed at the decision to release the episodes in individual DVD's containing a few episodes each. I don't know how Lucasfilm made out on that decision, but I refused to buy them in that format and waited, hoping the entire season would be released as a whole. Well, folks, here it is... and it's great!

Nurse Jackie: Season One
$39.98
For those looking for conflict resolution or some sort of psychological undressing of Jackie - you have the wrong show. Jackie is too hard for that sort of Oprah candy. She has been hardened by the life she has lived in the Emergency Room. Like a soldier on the frontlines of battle, she is undergoing horrific trauma on a daily basis with no time to process or find healthier ways of coping. Clearly she is spiraling towards some sort of crash, which she is doing her best to stem off with drugs. But it is inevitable. This is what drives the show - how close can the writers take Jackie to the brink but not push her over? (When and if they do push her over that brink and into rehad, the show will lose its momentum - not sure what season two will look like.) I don't think the writers intended her to be some sort of "character" tied up in a neat bow of conflict, conflict resolution - hopefully in the third act. This show is more like The Wire, it intends to show life as it is in certain segments of our society and people, flawed people, doing whatever it takes to deal with it and cope - not always successfully. An Emergency Room in Queens is the belly of this beast that is our healthcare system and society - characters like Jackie are intended to reflect the sickness that is the system.

One Piece: Season Two, Fifth Voyage
$49.98
The first part of the Alabasta arc contained in Season 2, Fourth Voyage (technically this is about Season 4 of the original anime series) was mostly filler but nevertheless covered some exciting adventures as Luffy and Co. trudged through the desert to the rebel base in Yuba where they hoped to meet with Vivi's friend Kohza and stop his planned attack on the capital Alubarna and on Vivi's father King Cobra. Luffy's brother Ace, who had travelled some distance with the group, has now parted ways with them to continue his search for Blackbeard, but he vows to meet Luffy again at the Pirate Summit (something that is happening just now in the manga series in Japan). Upon reaching Yuba, they find the town abandoned except for Kohza's father, who is stubbornly digging for water. The rebel base, apparently, is now in Katorea, a town much closer to where the journey started in Nanohana. DOH!!
All of this is pleasing to Baroque Works leader, Crocodile, who is using the distraction of the civil war to facilitate his takeover of Alabasta. Meanwhile, Luffy and Co. converge upon Crocodile's position in his casino at Rainbase. The Marine division led by Smoker and Tashigi arrive here at about the same time as the Straw Hat Pirates and eagerly pursue them. But this development plays into Crocodile's plans as well, as the Straw Hats take refuge in the casino and fall into his trap along with Smoker. Sanji, Chopper, and Vivi help the rest of the group to escape, but the most crucial role is played by a former enemy once believed to be dead!
Once free, the Straw Hats find a much faster way to Alubarna. Crocodile tries to kidnap Vivi, but Luffy thwarts the effort and enthusiastically squares off against Crocodile. Unfortunately, Luffy learns the hard way that Crocodile is in an entirely different league than any of the opponents he's fought before. Being made of sand and with an endless supply of sand to manipulate, Crocodile proves unstoppable and leaves Luffy to die. Thanks to an unexpected rescue by Ms. All Sunday, Luffy lives on, but he needs some time to recover.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew races on to Alubarna, where they find Crocodile's Officer Agents waiting for them. They then separate to fight the Agents in a thrilling series of one-on-one battles! Usopp and Chopper take on the tag team of Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas in a bizarre fight combining elements of baseball and Whack-a-Mole (in this game, the mole can attack you too). Sanji takes on the playfully sadistic transvestite Mr. 2, who besides being a ballet dancer and face copier has kenpo fighting skills that rival Sanji's. Mr. 2 is also aware of Sanji's weakness for Nami and exploits this weakness fully. Nami, at long last, gets her first solo fight against Ms. Doublefinger, a dominatrix who can turn her whole body into deadly spikes. Luckily, Nami has a new weapon invented by Usopp called the Clima Tact that can create a variety of weather effects (including lightning). Unluckily, Nami hasn't quite mastered the use of this weapon, and her life is on the line as this volume ends.

Next: Zoro vs. Mr. 1, Luffy's arrival, what Crocodile really wants in Alabasta, the end of the war, and a new, unexpected addition to the Straw Hat crew.