The ##

Skins - MTV Shows

Oh shit, oh shit. Call it the British Fucking Invasion cuz two more Brit shows are coming over the pond and Pam isn’t the hottest part about them.

Showtime’s Shameless premiered some time this week (we don’t get the rich channels in the Bureau, but who watches TV live anymore anyway?), introducing America to the Gallagher, a lower class Chicago family struggling to get by. Contentious Emmy Rossum plays de facto household leader while patriarch William H. Macy is too busy being a pants-pissing alcoholic. Gratuitous sex? Yes. A documentary on class in America? No.

This week sees the debut of the Americanized version of Skins, a show about [real teenagers] written by [real teenagers] (thanks New Yorker). Having watched the British original (which is definitely worth checking out), I can tell you the plot is about a group of teenagers definitely on the fast side, but not really unrealistically so, getting by, dealing with teenager shit. 

Both shows have incited a debate about how much SEXDRUGS to show and what effect that has on the “quality” of television. Do the edgy sex scenes, made so prominent in Shameless’s sneak peek and the Skins teasers, exist solely to shock viewers, to prove the network isn’t afraid to “show it how it is”? There’s certainly plenty to be shocked about from what we’ve seen. Shameless has plenty of sexual acts in its sneak peek and it’s not just any party that has Sleigh Bells as its soundtrack. 

Especially with Skins, my first worry about MTV’s production was it would be too soft— not enough SEXDRUGS, too much PARENTSRESPONSIBILITYWORRYINGRATIONALITY. From the new teaser we see we’ve got a shot at getting over that first, easy hurdle. The second obstacle the US version will have to conquer is more subtle: character development and their relationships. Got to get us invested in the kids. This includes making the parents just as “fucked up” as the kids— otherwise we’ll see the kids as too bratty; their excesses not true escapism. We also must understand that accomplishing the first step— i.e. allowing plenty of “real” SEXDRUGS on screen— does not necessarily disqualify the show from accomplishing the second. In fact that’s where the realness or authenticity of the British original came from. 

So assuming MTV’s grown some balls (through Jersey Shore’s various scandals and success from featuring shallow sex-driven culture?) and can give us the SEXDRUGS we want, I’m prepared to admit they might have a chance here. There’s the media blitz from all brows, the Viacom-funded ad campaign (read: big billboard at Houston and Broadway), a “secret warehouse” party in NYC to sway us tastemakers (Sleigh Bells and Rusko?!?), and now this teaser. Hey, it might just work. 

Nope, got ‘em!

The League just started its second season. 

(via Jon Hamm Source, hat tip Lindsay Robertson)

Here at The ## we faced a choice. We could not let this monumental Sunday come and go without some sort of commentary, but what stone has been left unturned? Today, we find ourselves with a daunting amount of stellar analysis of last night’s episode of Mad Men, from our friend Natasha Vargas-Cooper’s typically awesome installment of The Footnotes of Man Men over at The Awl, to Slate’s roundtable discussion, to a group of profs and academes writing in their smart but staid Higher Ed style. SO, instead of giving you a well-formed reaction, which we could provide if we were wont to do so, we’ve posted the chat that the ## masthead engaged in immediately after the end of last night’s episode. It’s fast and messy and occasionally brilliant. Shit might get weird, but stay with us. And tune in next week: We’re live-tumbling the response! So after the episode, come straight to The ##. Enjoy!

Person 1: THAT JUST HAPPENED

Person 2: YES

OH MY

Person 1: PEGGLE

Person 3: Betty is a total [C-BOMB!] now

so awesome

Person 4: meh!

Person 5: meh

Person 4: first

Person 3: tits or GTFO

Person 2: First off: someone needs to make a gif of Sally spitting up her food

Person 5: ok bye

Person 2: lulz!

Person 1: PEGGLE

we need to talk about peggle

Person 3: wat is this i don’t even

Person 2: Let’s talk about that television we just watched!

Read More

More to come tomorrow. 

FoxNews:

In a lawsuit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, a former assistant prop master named Carl Jones claims he was fired from the show in March … because he didn’t go along with the “degenerate conduct” of his superiors.

In the suit, Jones claims he was harassed by two of his supervisors for refusing to engage in “visits to strip bars, participation in getting drunk, stoned or intoxicated on cocaine, to participate in sexual conduct at the trailer, and other dangerous conduct.”

Jones claims the supervisors would often refer to him — and other employees — as “f*gs, pussies, b**ches, slaves, dummies, retards and idiots.”

In the docs, Jones claims he watched his supervisors get drunk on tequila and engage in “throwing a knife at a target on set.”

The TV show House is a great show… to have on in the background while you recover from a hangover/have lazy sex. But who knew the cast knew how to really throw down. 

Remember, it’s not peer pressure, it’s just your turn. 

(photo, photo)

(via fymadmen)