Christina Hendricks and the issue of role models

Last week UK Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone further fuelled the fire that role models when it comes to body type and image. In stating that she believed Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway from Mad Men) was a ‘fabulous role model’ for women I’m not sure she expected all the criticism that was to come from the British media who were claiming that Hendricks ‘perfect’ hourglass figure was just as ridiculous to achieve as a Kate Moss size zero body. This comment appears to be blown out of proportion with media institutions such as The Daily Mail jumping on the bandwagon to slate Featherstone for her remarks and papers such as this claiming that Featherstone is encouraging women to aspire to a size 14. If you actually look at what she said this is not the case, instead she is opposed to the over exposure of air brushing and photo shopping in magazines which could place unnecessary body confidence issues on young women. In regards to Hendricks she simply states that she thinks she is fabulous and that women who have a curvier figure should not just be celebrated as an anomaly in a field of slim models, it should be a normal occurrence. At no point does she say that we should try and change the body type we have, in fact I believe that she is saying that we should celebrate the body type we have and this should be represented in the mainstream media.

Hendricks has come under scrutiny, particularly in the US for being a curvier body type than is the norm in Hollywood; this was most evident at this year’s Golden Globes when a New York Times fashion journalist wrote that ‘you don't put a big girl in a big dress’ in regard to the Christian Siriano dress that she wore. This comment was met with the kind of derision that you would expect and hope for, especially because she really isn’t a ‘big girl’, except maybe by Hollywood standards. The point here being is that Hendricks has already been portrayed in way as the champion of the regular woman, an appointment that I would imagine comes with a lot of pressure and means that her excellent work in Mad Men is often overlooked to deal with issues such as this one. It is a catch 22 problem as her figure is different from what viewers are necessarily use to and that yes this is something that should be applauded but at the same time it would be great if there could be a conversation about Hendricks where weight and body type were not the focus and I think that that is the point that Featherstone was perhaps trying to make in her comments. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t mention her appearance and yes it should be celebrated, it should just not be the continued focus when discussing Hendricks and yes this piece is guilty of what I am complaining about (as are other pieces that I have written), and in fact is this the issue? That there are certain people that you can’t write about without mentioning certain aspects or qualities and is this a gender issue or one that happens to both sexes?

I don’t think that the debate regarding the portrayal of both women and male body ideals will die down and it is definitely a debate that appears to be pretty cyclical, it would be super  though if this debate did end up with a more healthy and obtainable image for people to strive toward. When thinking of the women of Mad Men it is actually Elisabeth Moss who probably has a healthy obtainable body shape if you are looking for someone ‘normal’ with January Jones meeting the slim end of the register. 

Though Jones in a recent interview with Tatler magazine revealed that Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner told them to not work out and to actually eat as women of the sixties didn’t use the gym, another great reason to be working on Mad Men.

Whilst this debate remains endless, I am glad that Christina Hendricks is now a household name on both sides of the Atlantic and that those curious by Featherstones comments may actually go and check out Mad Men and see how terrific she is as Joan. Though next time I write about Christina Hendricks I hope that it is about her portrayal of Joan or the she has won an Emmy on the 29^thof August.

Photos courtesy of JustJared

Mad Men season 4 premiere

With the premiere of Mad Men being this Sunday the publicity machine has gone in to full drive, with late night talk show appearances and a red carpet event for the new season. The red carpet had Mad Men cast and crew from the previous three seasons with the one notable absence being January Jones who was said to have had Mad Men work commitments (which seems a little mean when everyone else gets to party). The women looked lovely as ever, though I wasn't blown away by any of the dress choices, below are costume designer Janie Bryant, Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss:

Jon Hamm looked as fetching as he always does in a suit, he really does look charming all the time and I could totally understand if he lived in the bubble (I also find it astounding that it has taken this long in his career to become the success that he is):

Jon Hamm was on the Jimmy Kimmel show to promote the new season and as ever he came across as charming and friendly telling a great story about his first residence in LA when he moved there to become an actor. Also during the interview there is a short scene from Sundays episode that further raised my anticipation for this new season (didn't think that was possible but evidently it is). There has been a lot of mentions of Jon Hamm in the past week in the entertainment press not just for Mad Men; the trailer for his new film The Town  (directed by Ben Affleck) was released last week, he is staring in the Alan Ginsberg centric film Howl that will hit cinemas in September and it has just been announced that he will be a guest star in a new episode of The Simpsons. Along with his two Emmy nominations this really is an excellent time to be Jon Hamm and he really deserves the glory. Here is his interview on Kimmel:

Photos courtesy of NYMag and JustJared

Emmy nominations snap judgement

The 2010 Emmy nominations have just been announced and there were some excellent surprises and some not so surprising omissions (it's still annoying even if it isn't a surprise). Here is a list of who and what I am happy with being nominated, the snubs that sting and the 'huh' they were nominated thoughts:

What I am happy about:

-Finally Friday Night Lights gets some love with both Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler getting nominations (Actress and Actor in a drama), these are long overdue and well deserved, they really are the heart and soul of this fabulous show. Very glad that 'The Son' has got a writing nomination, one of the best episodes of FNL.
-The final season of Lost being a nomination success; Matthew Fox (Actor in a Drama), Michael Emerson, Terry O'Quinn (Best Supporting in a Drama) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Guest Actress in a Drama) all getting acting nods. The writing and directing of the finale featuring, as well as a nod for Michael Giacchino for his score for 'The End' which made the show and the finale all the more emotional.
-The Pacific getting the most nominations with 24, though it not being included in the acting categories is a disappointment.
-Unsurprisingly Mad Men bagged itself 17 nominations and deservedly so. Those up for the acting gongs are Jon Hamm, January Jones, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss and Robert Morse (for actor/actress, supporting actor/actress and guest actor). Shame that Vincent Kartheiser and Jared Harris can't be included but I guess I can't be greedy. And whilst I'm surprised that 'The Gypsy and the Hobo' wasn't nominated in the writing category I'm pleased that both 'Guy Walks in to an Advertising Agency' and 'Shut the Door. Have a Seat' are nominated
-The Good Wife also favouring well in the acting categories with the both the women and the men being well represented: Julianna Margulies (Alicia Florrick), Archie Panjabi (Kalinda Sharma), Christine Baranski (Diane Lockhart), Alan Cumming (Eli Gold) and Dylan Baker (Colin Sweeney). I've really enjoyed this new show and after Margulies Golden Globes success it is great to see that her cast mates are also sharing in the award lime light, though it is a shame to see that Chris Noth (Peter Florrick) was overlooked.
-It's also not a surprise that Glee received 19 nominations, some more deserved than others, I was happy for Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) and one of the best father son combos on TV Chris Colfor (Kurt Hummel) and Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel). Also nominated in the guest actor in a comedy category for Glee was Neil Patrick Harris who has two nominations (the other for How I Met Your Mother), Jon Hamm and Tina Fey both also share in the double nominations, Hamm for Mad Men and 30 Rock, Fey for SNL and 30 Rock.
-The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien getting the nod over Jay Leno, Team Coco all the way, loved the reaction in the room to this one when it was announced as well as the fact that the Emmys will be broadcast on NBC. Though The Daily Show normally wins this one, so it's a win/win really for me.
-Other shows that got some love that I love include; The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Dexter, 30 Rock, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, True Blood, Nurse Jackie and Damages.


What nominations (or lack of nominations) made me go grr and huh?:

-Zach Gilford not getting nominated for the FNL episode 'The Son'. It was a long shot but after hearing Connie Britton and Kyle Chandlers nominations I was hopeful that he would be recognised as well, but alas. At least the episode got the writing nod.
-Tony Shaloub for Monk and Jon Cryer for Two and a Half Men just makes me say why?
-Even though he was presenting the nominations Joel McHale and Community came up with nothing, this was annoying, though he did a good job with the nominations. Loved when he jumped in to pronounce Mariska Hargitay.
-There seems to be a lot of unhappy writers out there about the lack of Parks and Rec nominations which has reminded me that I really need to get that show on DVD. I also need to watch my Breaking Bad DVDs before August 29th.
-Other long shots I would have loved to see but am not surprised by there omissions; Chuck, John Noble in Fringe and The Vampire Diaries. If I had an award show all of these would win.



For a full list of nominations head to the official Emmys site here

All photos courtesy of NBC

Daily dose of Mad Men

More new promotional pictures and video this way, first up the pictures. The group shots have been released and one has a person in that you might not expect. First up the group in a typical shot in a bar, all looking exquisite:

The perhaps surprising inclusion on the other cast shot is Kenny Cosgrove and his hair and what could this mean? Has he got a job at Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce? Does this spell the end for Kinsey, Kurt and Smitty? Peggy, Joan and Betty all look amazing in their dresses with Peggy this time wearing my favourite, her hair also looks less like a helmet in this shot. I'm also a fan of the bare background being just a sheet, further suggesting the re-building motif of this seasons theme. As I've said before I love how Mad Men is similar to Lost in how rife the speculation is pre season especially as so little information is available:

A few black and white portraits have been released as well that if nothing else make the men look pretty dapper:

A couple of John Slattery (Roger Sterling):

Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell):

Jared Harris (Lane Pryce):

Robert Morse (Bert Cooper):

More videos from the AMC promo department include this fabulous one with the women discussing how they feel about where their characters were at the end of last season, their favourite costumes and other related questions to the show, there are some really nice moments between Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss here and it is nice to see them together outside of the characters:

The second video is a 'look at season four' and by a look they just say that they can't reveal too much which is fine by me, the less actual information I have about the new season the better. Matthew Weiner reinforces the idea that he won't do the same material again and the first episode is referred to by Jared Harris (Pryce) that it is like another pilot, enjoy:

Photos and video courtesy of AMC

More Mad Men pictures, video

This blog is definitely Mad Men centric at the moment and with just over two weeks till its return it will be this way until then I would expect. Over at Zap2it they have got some more promo shots from season 4 that once again don't really reveal much of anything but let us speculate on all kinds of things like what year is it? Is Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce a success? Has Betty married Henry? And it allows me to rejoice in the fact that Bobby Draper remains as the same actor this year unlike the previous three seasons. Here are a selection of these photos:

Here is also an excellent video that compiles some of the really awful chat up lines that have been used by many of the characters including the lovely "You should do something with that sour puss, you're very beautiful" and "Are you Amish or something?" (both courtesy of Pete Campbell):

Not too long till Mad Men season 4...

So in the meantime you can go and Mad Men yourself again over on the AMC site, where there are new clothes, hair and accessories to play with, here is my new version and I decided to go for a leisurely look this time around:

This is good fun and reminds me of the paper dolls that I had when I was a kid, whilst on holiday my boyfriend was sweet enough to buy me a Kennedy family paper dolls book, which fits in nicely with the time and fashion of Mad Men. The designer of these Mad Men illustrations Dyna Moe has a great site that I have mentioned before but if you need a reminder it is here and should be checked out.

More Mad Men promotional videos have been released by AMC, including one with one of my favourite creative faces from Mad Men; Janie Bryant and she is showing us a peak at some of the wardrobe of season 4. I got excited by the glimpse that we saw of some of the costumes of season 4 in the last promo video so this is definitely a treat and that truck looks like heaven:

Lost: How it should have ended video

There has been many a reaction to the season finale of Lost, some positive, some negative (Emily Nussbaum for New York Magazine has an interesting and excellent take on this, that whilst I personally don't agree on can see where her frustrations come from) and the most recent is an animated response from the guys at How It Should Have Ended. This is a pretty awesome video and is well worth a watch:

Mad Men: The Rules

The promotional machine for the fourth season of Mad Men has got in to full gear and AMC have released this video discussing the rules of Mad Men. It is a compilation of clips of the last three seasons with talking heads from Matthew Weiner and a lot of the cast, who are all in full costume. The clips are great, especially the series of one liners from Roger Sterling who really does get the best lines, however it is the costumes that have provoked my interest, especially from the women. Peggy is rocking her new hair style which looks much better in these clips than it did in the promo photo and Joan is wearing some rather over the top jewellery, a gift perhaps?

Mad Men season 4 pictures

AMC have released four images from the new season of Mad Men (airing 25th July), the first is one that was first seen in Entertainment Weekly and none of them reveal all too much about anything really, but this doesn't matter, I'm just glad to see some new pictures. Also Peggy is rocking a more voluminous hair do and Don looks super as usual, here they are:

The main assumption that I can draw from these is that they will be taking a lot of meetings over dinner in restaurants which makes a lot of sense after where the season ended with the new company running from a hotel room. I'm very excited for this season and I'm looking forward to more promotional material in the coming month. I am currently rewatching season 3 on blu-ray (which it looks amazing on) whilst listening to the many and extensive commentaries that are available to get me in the mood for season 4 and it is definitely working.

Mad Men season 4 poster

The season 4 poster for Mad Men was released exclusively to Ausiello yesterday and it look pretty great:

The image is striking in it's simplicity and sets up everything that you need to know about the tone and direction that this season will be going in, that it is about starting over. This is both for Don in business and in his private life. Much like Lost when an image is released for Mad Men they are poured over and analysed and I am not disappointed with how this campaign has kicked off. Executive producer Matthew Weiner told Entertainment Weekly recently that this season will have the characters asking "Who am I" and that "It's about stripping away the things that define them. Once they're taken away, they just have to look at who they really are."

This alone makes me glad that July 25th is just over a month a way.

World Cup 2010

For the next few weeks World Cup football will dominate my television which I'm thoroughly looking forward to. I'm not sure how well England will do in the whole thing but I know that this is a time for hanging out with friends and enjoying football talent from around the world. So here's to a successful tournament and to some good TV watching as it seems that everyone has taken this opportunity to get a spanky new flat screen.
Other TV highlights of the next few weeks are of course True Blood and I have also just got the first season of Breaking Bad through the letterbox to dive in to finally.

True Blood promo poster 12

The final poster in the series of 12 for True Blood has just been released and as this blog and many others can testify this third season is hotly anticipated, only a few more days to go:

Photo courtesy of HBO

Rubicon

There is one other show that I am looking forward to this summer other than True Blood and Mad Men, Rubicon which will be on AMC officially on August 1st. However AMC will be showing the first episode this Sunday after the Breaking Bad finale at 11pm which looks like it will hopefully be another hit for this network. The show stars James Badge Dale, most recently seen in The Pacific as Robert Leckie which he was terrific in and I've been a fan since he was in 24 so I have high hopes for him here, Miranda Richardson is also one of the top billed actors here and my appreciation for her stretches way back to Blackadder, this is obviously a very different role.
Here is the trailer so you can check it out for yourself:

 

Poster image courtesy of the Ausiello Files

True Blood season 3 red carpet

I am a big fan of when TV shows get a red carpet premiere and it is something that the cable channels are pretty good at, the True Blood cast were treated to this on Tuesday night where both familiar faces and new ones were out in full force. This event has wet my appetite all the more for this Sunday and everyone looked dandy all dressed up, it also once again reinforced the fact that Alex Skarsgard is a giant in comparison to everyone else:

Anna Paquin looked stunning and proved again that she can rock a mini dress this time in Proenza Schouler (with True Blood co-star and real life fiance Stephen Moyer):

Kristen Bauer who plays the vampire Pam looked as flawless as her character:

I was glad to see Carrie Preston (Arlene) turning up with real life husband Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost) and it looks like her red hair will be all hers this season (like in The Good Wife) rather than a wig like normal:

Deborah Ann Woll who last season of Jessica had one of my favourite story lines looked amazing in a simple navy dress with an equally stunning Rutina Wesley who I was hoping would be given a less bleak story this year as Tara, don't think that is going to happen. Anna Paquin completes the trio of these awesome Bon Temps women.

Season 3 new comer Joe Manganiello (Alcide) looked pretty sharp in his three piece suit and I'm looking forward to his inclusion this year:

Old favourite Ryan Kwaten (Jason) did not disappoint either, looking casual in his open collar and the word is that Jason will be returning to his womanising ways this season, I for one see nothing wrong with this:

The one person that you would not want to see in a boring suit is Nelsan Ellis who plays Lafayette, he did not disappoint, this is not a look that can be pulled off by anyone but he looked fabulous (not sure about the hat but I'll give it a pass):

They certainly are a well dressed cast and you can see why this show is highly anticipated, I'm so glad that we have this and Mad Men this summer otherwise it would be a pretty lean time for TV. Though there is the World Cup also starting this weekend which will also be eating in to my (potential) sunshine time.

Photos courtesy of MTV Hollywood Crush and Celebrity-Gossip.net

Like a hedgehog doing karate

Whilst I was away there were three nights in a row where Jake Gyllenhaal featured on different late night talk shows (Letterman, Kimmel and Fallon) promoting Prince of Persia. All the interviews were different and funny, not what you might expect when someone is shilling the same product but from what I have seen of Gyllenhaal recently in the past and from this promotional campaign he really does seem genuinely funny and like a good interview subject. The main highlight came not from part of an interview but from a sketch that he did on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, who at the moment is my favourite of the late night hosts (followed closely by Jimmy Kimmel), here is the video of them performing 'Like a hedgehog doing karate', it really is brilliant:

True Blood promo posters 9-11

With just under a week to go until the start of the third season of True Blood and the promotional campaign in full flow, here are the promo posters 9-11, which cover several areas of the show:


Number 9:

Number 10:

Number 11:

Shifters, Bill and what the show is named after are covered here (of which we got a bottle in the HBO store in New York on holiday, we got it home safely and are yet to drink it, but I'm looking forward to the blood orange drink). I'm really looking forward to the new season and word from the critics who have had advanced screeners seems to be very positive. I also wonder what is in store for the final poster of this series.

Photos courtesy of HBO and MTV

Normal transmission will shortly resume

So I took a holiday at possibly the busiest time in a TV season, right when all the finales happen and there is so much that I need to catch up on a write about. This will occur when my brain is less muddled and the jet lag has gone. Of course most importantly is the Lost finale which I loved and really need to see again before I can fully be happy to write about it. The same goes for Fringe and Bones, both of which I watched on the day of my arrival on holiday which was seen through a similar hazy jet lag mind, rewatch is needed for both. So to unpacking and the Chuck finale and then I will be set hopefully.

Undercovers and Lonestar

Having had a quick look at the offerings from NBC and Fox at this years upfronts the two shows that I am most anticipating are Undercovers and Lonestar. Undercovers is the new spy caper from JJ Abrams that mixes romance, action and comedy, as I have previously said the Abrams stamp on a show will at least mean that I will watch the pilot and will most likely mean that I will fall in love with the show:

Lonestar will air on Fox and tells the story of a con man, which Fox exec Kevin Reilly referred to as being 'a modern day Dallas'. It stars Jon Voight as the head of a multi-million dollar company whose daughter (played by Friday Night Lights' Adrianne Palicki) is married to Bob Allen, the con man of the piece who leads a double life. This does look like it could be a bit soapy, something that I normally watch shows like Gossip Girl for but I was definitely drawn in by the promo:

Fox mid season will be launching the sci-fi adventure Terra Nova that has Steven Spielberg at the helm and may or may not be starring Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) as the father of a family who travel back to prehistoric times. This was referred to as being "one of the most ambitious shows ever created for television" so I am looking forward to what might come from this, after all I will need something to fill the giant Lost hole that will be created at the end of this Sunday.

Chuck finale promo

Before I go on holiday I just wanted to post a quick couple of things, first up the Chuck season 3 finale promo. This looks set to be quite a double episode and it will be even better knowing that Chuck will be returning this autumn for a fourth season. I am glad to see that Ellie is finally getting involved more even if she is inadvertently screwing everything up and it will be interesting to see what kind of cliffhanger/game changer that will occur to mark the end of this season:

True Blood season 3 promo

HBO are now in full swing with their True Blood season 3 campaign, from minisodes to the twelve promo posters that are getting released until the June 13th start date. After all the teasers proclaiming that 'Waiting Sucks' a full length promo has been released that looks set to amp the interest toward this third season. This has definitely worked for me as after seeing this I am definitely looking forward to seeing this season and I am glad that there looks like there will be an interesting Jessica story, werewolves are coming to Bon Temps, developments between Sookie and Eric and where is Bill? Who is the guy with Tara? And many more flashes of what looks to be an action filled season:

Chuck renewal and other TV news

So this is a super busy week in TV land with finales, pick ups, renewals and cancellations happening all over the place, the one cancellation that I have been worried about as I was last year was Chuck, but word is that NBC are renewing it for a fourth season! The official word from NBC has not been stated though sources say that there has been an initial order for 13 episodes, this is all coming exclusively from Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello and many of the other TV websites have all but confirmed this, including my very own favourite (and huge Chuck fan) Alan Sepinwall. The official word will likely come on Sunday when NBC announces their schedule for the autumn.
Sepinwall has suggested that the best pairing for Chuck this year would be the new JJ Abrams spy show Undercovers which is one of the new series that I am most looking forward to as I am a sucker for anything with the Abrams stamp on it. This is also the first pilot that Abrams has directed since Lost and considering how much I love Alias I am confident that this will be another good show. Fox have picked up the other show  that I am excited for is the comedy Running Wilde which stars Will Arnett and Keri Russel with Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz attached as well. This looks promising so lets hope it is a success and isn't cancelled too early like the aforementioned Arrested Development which also aired on Fox, lightening can strike twice just ask Joss Whedon.
The slew of cancellations this week has gone up, with ABC announcing yesterday that Flashforward is a goner. Out of all the other cancellations this is the only one that I watch and whilst I thought the show was kinda stupid it has definitely had its moments and I really like the cast. I expect that because they have wrapped before this cancellation that it will be left pretty open ended which I'm sure will be irritating. Where will the cast of Lost and British actors in Hollywood now go? ABC also ditched Scrubs and Better Off Ted, the latter being a show that I quite wanted to see after hearing nothing but good stuff, the former really should have just ended last year. The big cancellation rumour yesterday came courtesy of the peacock with word coming down that the twenty season long Law and Order was ending, no official word on this though, this is the longest running drama on TV so will be weird if it is over, I'm sure there will be reruns forever though. For any updates the best place to go is to Michael Ausiello's 'Renewal Scorecard' page as he is always up to date and a good source for exclusives.
Other than that I just finished watching The Vampire Diaries finale which was so so good and needs an entire post of it's own which will be up later. Bones this week was also a strong lead in to next weeks finale with the Gravedigger going to trial and I'm just about to settle down with part one of the Fringe finale, hoping that it continues the streak of excellence.

Lost props Auction

Want to own a piece of Lost history? Well you can, for a price. This summer there will be a huge auction of props from the six seasons of Lost, ranging from passports, to weapons, to jewellery to Dharma equipment as well as many more props. There is a preview of a hundred of these items up at the Profiles in History auction site and it really is a treasure trove, and going through the pages there were many things big and small that I would love to own, highlights include:

Ben's Swiss and Canadian Dean Moriarty passport:

 

Charlie's acoustic guitar:

Desmond's photograph of himself and Penny:

Locke's Backgammon Set:

Sawyer's Letter and Penny's Letter:

          

Dharma Beer:

There are many, many other items that are on there which I would love, this is just a snap shot, now where to find all the money for these. What piece of Lost history would you like to own?

Lost fan art for sale

A while back I wrote about an artist Ty Mattson and his collection of Lost fan art, the good news is that these prints will be available for purchase on the ABC website, the first design to go on sale is the smoke monster:

There is a variety of merchandise available for each design, ranging from screen prints to t-shirts and mugs. This is really exciting and I am very pleased for Ty Mattson as these designs really do evoke what the show is about. If you want to check out more of his work head to his site.
I still think that a book should be produced to demonstrate the impressive volume of work that some Lost fans have put in regarding artistic renderings of their interpretations of the show, if this would be possible I would be first on board with buying as this site has shown that the work of fans has been truly brilliant and extensive. Would copyright infringement be a huge issue or could we get ABC on board?

True Blood promo poster 8

HBO have released poster 8 and this time things are getting hairy:

Werewolves have been mentioned before on the show and this is suggesting that we will be getting to see some this season, wonder how they will get on with the rest of our characters?