The Killing: AMC's Latest and Greatest

I have Dennis Hopper/Isabella Rossellini relationship with AMC's original programming. I liked Mad Men when I watched it, but not enough to stick with it (I do keep telling myself I'll go back, but I'm kidding no one). I've never seen Breaking Bad, but heard it's fantastic. I loved Rubicon (detailed here), and they took that away from me. Walking Dead I felt had a very uneven season (first episode was fantastic - the middle dragged - last episode has given me hope).

And now here comes The Killing...

Based on a Danish series, The Killing centers around the "investigation" of a girl. I say investigation because, if you watch the above trailer, it suggests the case may be a kidnapping. Of course, the title of the series might give away that teeny tiny spoiler.

Before seeing this 4 minute "teaser," I was definitely excited for this show. Though AMC callously destroyed 2010's best television series, I am set to forgive them and check out The Killing.

After seeing it however, I believe I have a few reasons to give pause...

I'm a little concerned with some of the stereotypes the show seems to be employing - mainly in the councilman's (or guy running for council/some political seat). In the video we see the ambitious, amoral young go getter campaign manager snarkily trying to use the tragedy for the campaign's gain. Which is bad enough - but isn't a political candidate's involvement in this whole case seemingly a cliche? I beg and pray and hope the councilman isn't hiding a deep dark secret about the "missing" woman.

The high school scenes felt a little forced too, right down to the bitch of a drug dealer that seemingly lives alone and acts all tough in front of a grieving father. Are there really kids like that - kids who can operate on a sociopathic level during a murder investigation? It boggles the mind.

I realize this was simply 4 minutes of a entire series, on a channel that is known for creating excellent television fare, so this by no means will stop me from watching the show. What it has done is elevated my concern; if this thing is a standard, by-the-book cop show, I'm going to be really pissed that it exists and Rubicon doesn't.

Podcast 12.002 – Loud Refrigerators, Just Letting it Be, and Boobicon

Goose packed up his Gateway 2000 laptop and microphones so we could go mobile with this one.  Either Goose’s wife can’t handle high levels of mirth or there’s possibly some other explanation.

Irregardless (my hot new word for 2011), our itch to record podcasts has again flared up. 

After the jump comes a lot of audio/visual references to references we made.

If you aren’t already subscribed, search iTunes for “Popcorn Trick” or click here.

UPDATE: It’s showing up in some people’s iTunes, but not others. What worked for me was right-clicking “The Popcorn Trick” in the Podcasts section and choosing “Show all available episodes”.  Also, removing and re-adding the podcast should work.

Enjoy yourself.

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A live version of the intro/outro music Goose chose:

The full list of movies that I extracted from Comcast On Demand and sent to Goose (note the solitary exclamation point by Hot Dog):

• Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid
• Cop & 1/2
• Darjeeling Limited
• Deck the Halls
• Great Outdoors
• Hot Dog: The Movie (YES!)
• Jack (Robin Williams as a kid in an adult's body)
• Loch Ness (Danson investigates Nessie)
• Nell
• Nine Lives (Paris Hilton trapped in a Scottish castle)
• Radio
• Robot Holocaust
• The Rock
• Ski School
• Ski Patrol
• Street Fighter
• Taxi
• Three O'clock High
• Time Guardian (Dean Stockwell, Carrie Fisher)
• You Belong to Me (Lifetime movie w/ Shannon Elizabeth: Alex discovers that her young colleague Michael has an obsessive interest in her. Driven by her rejection, he attempts murder-suicide. She survives, he does not. He returns from the grave and she must fight his supernatural power)

The original storyboard for Dolly Parton’s “Straight Talk”:

Because we mentioned Paul Harvey, here’s possibly the best spoof of his unique delivery and aesthetic style:

“Be that as it may, Alex, those people have never been in my kitchen”

Here are both of the Gylne Tider videos:

 

And an example of what Michael Winslow could have done, if he were only given the chance:

And what may warrant its own blog post/podcast at some point soonish, the most underrated celebrity all-star charity video:

A trailer for what should have been Sherilyn Fenn’s primary Gylne Tider credit:

A trailer for Goose’s favorite thing of 2010:

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Could not find an embeddable clip of “Louie”, but watch the poker scene and prepare to be blown away.  It manages to be simultaneously funny, insightful, moving, and then funny again.

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Goose’s favorite album of 2010:

Cline’s favorite album of 2010:

Saw this live and it was awesome (“I don’t know. Take it easy, bro.”):

 

Goose made a brief mention of the pool scene. We use a GoPro camera for that scene.  This is all a circuitous excuse to show this awesome video of a GoPro attached to a turtle:

 

Thanks for listening and reading!  Happy New Year!

Best New Show of the Season You're Not Watching

Forget The Event (seriously, I hope you have and are not watching it because, c'mon!), watch Boardwalk Empire but realize it's not the best new show on cable right now.

That's because Rubicon is.

I realize that probably 95% of you have no idea what Rubicon is, and that's a shame. On AMC (and with the history of Breaking Bad and Mad Men, that fact alone should get you to at least check it out), the show follows the personnel of a government-funded think tank, and what motivates them. It has good guys and bad guys and twists and turns, and possibly 2 of the greatest television characters of the last 10 years. And yes, I'm including Omar from The Wire on that list.

Yes, it's slowly paced. That's the point of it. The unraveling of the larger story is taking time, which ultimately rewards the viewer immensely. It's different than other shows on television. It should be rewarded for that.

If you've never heard of this show, and feel you might be intrigued, read this interview with the showrunner. It will give you a broad idea of the show without spoiling too much.