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I love everything about Mondo’s “Godspell” look. Even the hair.
UPDATE: I just saw this “official” tweet from earlier today (June 13): “#ProjectRunway returns for Season 10 Thursday, July 19 at 9/8c on @LifetimeTV! RT to share the big news with friends!”
Yes! By the way, follow @ProjectRunway for more stuff like that.
**END UPDATE**
As annoyed as I am by the idea that Mondo Guerra had already been decided as the winner of “Project Runway: All Stars” the second GretchenGate started — not to mention his moody attitude toward the end of the season — I did like his “All Stars” finale mini collection more than his Season 8 collection. And I LOVED Mondo’s “Godspell” look for the Broadway challenge. That was my favorite look of the season, even more than (sorry!) anything Rami did. But Rami left much too soon. I wonder if that was part of the conspiracy.
Anyway…
I can’t wait to meet the next Mondos. “Project Runway” Season 10 is currently searching for this summer’s contestants. According to the fabulous Blogging Project Runway, there are open casting calls for Season 10 on April 9 in New York and on May 2 in L.A. As Heidi Klum noted last year, the show always shoots in June and July. Season 9 premiered on Thursday, July 28, so I’m thinking Season 10 will premiere around the same time. Right?
*Update* Did you notice that Tim Gunn is now on Twitter?! Check him out @timgunn. It makes me feel better to know that Father Tim’s thoughts on everything are now available on a daily basis. I miss his post-show vlogs!
Catch up on my limited “Project Runway” stories in this archive.
That Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce ad should’ve mentioned that secretaries either marry executives, get pregnant by them, run over their feet, or die.
April 1 update: Check out my Week 2 mini recap and quotes: Quotes from ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 3, ‘Tea Leaves’: ‘Who Smells Like Pee?’
April 8 update: Week 3 recap and quotes: Recap and 15 Quotes from ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 4, ‘Mystery Date’
April 15 update: ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 5, ‘Signal 30’ Recap & Quotes: Lane Fights Pete!
April 22 update: ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 6 ‘Far Away Places’ recap & quotes: ‘Love Leave’ ends
April 29 update: ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 7 ‘At the Codfish Ball’ Recap & Quotes: Daddy’s Girls
May 6 update: ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 8 ‘Lady Lazarus’ Recap & Quotes: Megan Quits! Yay?
May 13 update: ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 9 ‘Dark Shadows’ Recap & Quotes: Happy Envy Day?
May 20 update: ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 10, ‘Christmas Waltz’ recap & quotes: Hare Krishna?!
May 27 update: ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 11, ‘The Other Woman’ Recap & Quotes: Sex Sells (Out)
June 3 update: ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 12 ‘Commissions and Fees’ Recap & Quotes: Lane Closed
June 10 update: Mad Men Season 5 finale recap & quotes: ‘Are you alone?’ Don chases The Phantom
***
“Mad Men” (finally!) just aired the two-hour premiere of Season 5, “A Little Kiss.” Basically, everyone is bitter and cynical this season. And it upsets Megan. One mustn’t upset Megan Draper! She has taken over Don Draper’s life, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce’s copywriting desk and the “Mad Men” 5 premiere. Don married her but we shouldn’t all have to put up with her, “Zou Bisou Bisou” or not.
Here are my 21 favorite quotes from the premiere, in order of their appearance:
1. Black woman protester [on the white water bomb throwing executives]: “And they call us savages.”
2. Don Draper [to Sally, on Betty and Henry]: “Give Morticia and Lurch my love.”
3. Peggy Olson [to Megan]: “Men hate surprises. Didn’t you have ‘Lucy’ in Canada?”
4. Megan [on Don’s surprise birthday party]: “Everyone’s going to go home from this and they’re going to have sex.”
5. Peggy [on Don]: “Clients are right all of a sudden? I don’t recognize that man. He’s kind and patient.”
Stan: “And it galls you.”
Peggy: “No, it concerns me.”
6. Trudy Campbell [to Pete]: “Dissatisfaction is a symptom of ambition. It’s the coal that fuels the fire.”
7. Roger Sterling [after Don receives a Steinway walking stick for his birthday]: “You could stick it up your ass and have a concert.”
8. Pete [at Don’s birthday party]: “Roger, I didn’t know you were invited. Or did you just hear I was invited and show up?”
9. Jane Sterling [on Pete]: “Is he going bald?”
10. Abe [on Don and Megan’s white rug]: “I just want to take my pants off and slide my ass on the carpet.”
11. Roger [on Megan]: “Why don’t you sing like that?”
Jane [on Don]: “Why don’t you look like him?”
12. Roger: “The only thing worse than not getting what you want is someone else getting it.”
13. Don [after his surprise party]: “Don’t waste money on things like that.”
Megan: “It’s my money and you don’t get to decide what I do with it.”
Don: “Well, could you please not use it to embarrass me again?”
14. Don [to Megan]: “I don’t need to be a center of attention.”
15. Joan [to her mom]: “You love stirring the sh*t.”
16. Roger [shows newspaper]: “You wanna smile?”
Don: “Is it your obituary?”
17. Roger [in his and Don’s wives]: “They’re all great girls. At least until they want something.”
18. Pete: “Where am I supposed to conduct business?”
Roger: “In the crapper for all I care.”
19. Roger [on Joan showing up with their secret love child]: “Well, well, well, there’s my baby. Now move that brat out of the way so I can see her.”
20. Megan [to Peggy]: “What is wrong with you people? You’re all so cynical. You don’t smile, you smirk.”
21. Roger: Is it just me or is the lobby full of negroes?”
**
Read my latest lament at the loss of Sal and Lois the foot crushing secretary here at “We Miss Sal! Mad Men Characters We Want Back For Season 5.”
Catch up on my “Mad Men” premiere recap and other stories here.
Welcome to the tacky half of the '60s! Pete and Trudy now literally and figuratively clash.
April 1 update: Check out my Week 2 mini recap and quotes: Quotes from ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 3, ‘Tea Leaves’: ‘Who Smells Like Pee?’
April 8 update: Check out my Week 3 recap and quotes: Recap and 15 Quotes from ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Episode 4, ‘Mystery Date’
**
Pete Campbell got chubby in the time between “Mad Men” Season 4’s 1965 and Season 5’s 1967 1966. Not quite fat, but there’s a second chin there. Apparently when he’s unhappy, he eats right out of the box. On top of that, he’s balding, as Jane Sterling pointed out on the Season 5 premiere, “A Little Kiss.” And he’s definitely more put-upon than ever. He’s turning into Willy Loman.
Meanwhile, Harry Crane lost weight and all dignity and became a total sleaze. Vulnerable new mom Joan Harris was looking disheveled at home with her baby, but she showed up as her usual glam self toward the end of the premiere and seemed just as lost and confused about the new events as the rest of us. Don Draper got happy (although not as happy as everyone thinks), which does indeed “gall” Peggy Olson, although she denied it. She hasn’t changed one bit. She and Pete — remember their baby fling? — are like sad sack siblings so far this season, although Pete takes the cake. Not only does he look and dress bad, he’s living out in the sticks with one acre and a wife (Trudy!) who doesn’t dress to the nines like she used to, when all he wants is the glam life in the city. Don’s life. But even Don doesn’t always want Don’s life.
Poor Pete. They need to move that column before someone else walks into it.
On the two-hour Season 5 premiere, Don turned 40 and his WIFE (he married her after all!) / COPYWRITER (she works with Peggy now!) Megan threw him a surprise party. Men aren’t into surprises, Peggy warned Megan smugly and even though the party was a success — complete with Megan’s French “Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo” (technically it’s “Zou Bisou Bisou”) “burlesque” sex dance that got all the other men crazy — Don just wanted to sleep after, and asked Megan never to embarrass him like that again. So even though he can’t keep his hands off her, their age difference and lack of actually knowing each other is a real issue. (Although she does know that he used to be Dick Whitman.) But there’s nothing like hot, angry makeup sex to solve that problem. We know Don likes to be dominated and it turns out Mary Poppins Megan has a dominatrix tough side.
(Side note: What is it with women and French performances on this show? Remember Joan’s awesome “C’est magnifique” performance on the accordion?)
Roger Sterling is still funny, but even more useless than ever, much to the irritation of Pete and now, Harry, whose job in media actually makes him 10 times more relevant than anyone else in the office. Pete vs. Roger is already officially on. Megan vs. Harry is also on. Apparently Don didn’t like Harry even before Harry dropped a sleaze bomb all over Megan, behind her back. Will anything come of that? Harry is more valuable to the company than Megan, even if he’s much more of an ass than he was during the early seasons. (Why can’t there just be one purely good character? Too much to ask?)
Oh and Peggy vs. Megan is just starting. Glad for this. I love that Peggy and Joan are friends but she’s now battling Megan. Megan feels put-upon by the “cynical” SCDP people who don’t smile, they smirk. Wonder why. Maybe ’cause of the blatant nepotism of Don marrying his secretary then promoting her? She’s much too much of a Pollyanna child for the ad world. Unless she’s just acting, as her friend suggested during the party?
I missed Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and I love how the Season 5 premiere dropped us right into the middle of the action with no hand-holding exposition. There was enough going on to keep the two-hour running time feel action-packed although they really could and should drop the Lane Pryce storyline completely. I don’t need to hear more about his dirty old man ways. His taxi wallet discussion slowed everything down.
I’m definitely interested in seeing the new Joan back in the office, although it sounds like she let Roger completely off the hook when it comes to the baby. He knows it’s his but, although he was happy to see “my baby” in the office (meaning Joan), he also said he was happy that Joan didn’t attend Don’s surprise party. Then he snuck out on his wife Jane (the bloom is way off that rose) to go to Staten Island.
Question: Does anyone actually like their children? Joan seems ready to be away from her child. Pete can’t seem to stand his kid. Peggy still doesn’t seem comfy holding a baby. Weirdly enough, only Don seems to have a good relationship with his children at this point. We didn’t see Betty (aka “Morticia”) but I can only imagine she still can’t stand her children. (Sally Draper’s voice has changed! And she’s getting close to as bossy as Betty.)
At the end of the episode, Megan said she’s not sure the people at the office like her or that she likes them. I’m not sure I like her either and I don’t like that she’s a copywriter now. I also don’t like how much of the two-hour premiere was about Megan. She’s taking over! Thankfully Megan is starting to question whether it’s a good idea that she’s at work. Don wants her at work because he wants her, but — like Roger — he doesn’t care about work. Only Pete and Peggy actually care about work. And that white rug was hideous. It didn’t tie the room together at all.
Read my latest lament at the loss of Sal and Lois the foot crushing secretary here at “We Miss Sal! Mad Men Characters We Want Back For Season 5.”
Catch up on my “Mad Men” archive here.
Shh! Don't say anything, it'll be even more irritating than everything else you've said all season.
Are walkers available for bribes? I’m willing to see the following characters chomped to bits on “The Walking Dead”:
Carol — Ugh. She’d probably even be a useless walker.
Carl — Bless his little heart, but the kid is as pale and annoying as a Twilight vampire and twice as much of a pain in the ass.
Lori — I’ve actually been a Lori apologist for a while now but she can’t keep her eyes on Carl for more than two minutes and all she does is stir up the fight between Shane and Rick, then when Rick actually takes action, she treats him like he’s even more infected than the rest of them. Tired of the Lady Macbeth hypocrite.
I agree that no one should be following Rick at this point, but not just because he kept the CDC “we’re all infected” thing a secret or because he’s now a dictator instead of president of their zombie apocalypse democracy. (On the upside, no boring checks and balances. Suck it, Congress!) He just makes bad decisions. Crap instincts. I think Shane was a pretty darn good leader until Rick showed up and the Rick/Lori/Shane/Carl love story put everyone’s lives at risk. It was Shane’s and Carl’s gunshots that drew the Atlanta walker pack (love that intro) and that was all because of that stupid love square.
A giant walker migration was the perfect excuse to "accidentally" shoot Carol. That's what you should've done, Andrea. Not SAVE her. What, did you think she'd be grateful? Tsk tsk.
It was almost cheating for the Season 2 finale to kill off peripheral characters like Jimmy and Patricia while leaving us with Carol and Carl — never mind poor T-Dog, who should just steal one of the cars and head for the coast like he wanted.
Daryl Dixon is my favorite character, but he’s a good enforcer, not really leadership material. Dale was the group’s moral compass, but also not good leadership material. Glenn might have been a good leader before he got tangled up with Maggie, but now he has to focus on calming her down every episode. (I thought Maggie would be more of a badass when the herd showed up. Isn’t she the one who had a killer intro, bashing a walker with a bat while riding a horse?)
For my money, Andrea is the ideal leader. She used to irritate me with her whole death wish, but I loved her transformation on Season 2 (including her sexy time with Shane — why the heck was he hung up on Lori when he could’ve partnered up with Andrea?). She’s calm, smart, resourceful and willing to keep an open mind, as illustrated after Dale’s “Don’t kill Randall” speech. She’s the only one who bothered to really listen instead of just waiting for the guy to shut up so they could go back to burying their heads in the sand.
I CAN’T BELIEVE they didn’t save her. Yes, she got saved by the hooded woman (fan favorite character Michonne) with two armless walker slaves (shades of “The Road” for me for some reason) but for zombie’s sake, Lori saved Carol’s useless life and then Daryl saved Carol and NO ONE decided to look for Andrea before hauling ass out of there. At this point, Andrea still doesn’t even know that Shane is dead.
Never mind Andrea, I'm going to pretend Daryl saved me instead of Carol.
I’ll miss the farm. Not as much as Herschel, who clearly loved the farm more than his family, but I for one enjoyed having a stable base of action. I’m worried for this group to be following Rick but excited for what’s next for Andrea on Season 3. Maybe she’s better off without those clowns anyway. But when Daryl rode up to the walker herd to save Carol, I was really, really, really hoping it’d be Andrea. Those two are the perfect pair. Yeah, OK, she shot him by accident. But she shot him with love.
Is Allison the real winner of this current cycle, without even showing up?
Loyalty! Such a prized commodity nowadays. Could it be that “America’s Next Top Model” fans are more loyal to Allison Harvard than Tyra Banks?
According to TV by the Numbers (via Wetpaint.com), only 1.3 million people tuned in to the Cycle 18 “British Invasion” premiere and the show pulled a 0.6 in the coveted 18-49 demo. For comparison, that 0.6 is 45% worse than the spring 2011 premiere.
Why? According to the comments under Wetpaint’s story, the general consensus is “IT’S COS ALLISON LOST.”
So far I really like Scottish Ashley and British Annaliese of the “British Invasion” cycle.
Yes. Maybe. Probably.
But I agree with the guy who wrote “It’s because Alisson lost AND because they disqualified Angelea without giving any explanations at all.”
I would add AND because having Americans compete against seasoned British models makes even less sense for AMERICA’S Next Top Model than everything else they do.
That said, there’s no way I wouldn’t watch. In fact, I’m writing recaps of Cycle 18 for Wetpaint. If you are boycotting the show but still want to know what happens, why not read the recaps of a devoted Allison fan like me? If you feel like it, check out my premiere recap here. They do a “power rankings” style recap and, right now, I’m fond of the Scottish girl. I like all the Brits best.
I’m also recapping the “Kris Jenner” episode tonight and you can read my recap Tuesday a.m. here at Wetpaint’s ANTM site.
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