I am going to make a long, windy dissertation on the State of Premium Cable.

Brotherhood ended the season on a silent fart. They need to come back on a concrete arc.

Weeds is in trouble. They need to be about something, pretty damn fast.

The L Word -- I gave up mid season last year, behind a sense that it had become all about prurience.

... Ok. Maybe it wasn't that long, or windy.

Hey, Gus! So, that Marlo, you think he's ever heard the the word "hubris"?

Hey, SA and Gloomcookie, I've been thinking about something all day at work, and since you both chimed in on it, I want to bring it up for discussion. To wit:

Calamity Jane as a strong portrayal/image of womanhood? How so? The picture I've always had painted for me of Jane is not too far removed from the one shown in Deadwood. What was your image of her? I'm curious.

My dislike of the character didn't have to do with my perception of the real Calamity Jane. It just took me a while to get past the put-on voice and bravado and to get to the heart of the character. And that has definitely happened for me at this point.

Also, I agree with Gus on The L Word, but with the dearth of lesbian shows on TV, beggars can't be choosers. Plus Jennifer Beals is HOTT!

Plus Jennifer Beals is HOTT!

I can support this statement. It is a fact. My problem with The L Word is like this: Imagine that we could substitute "heterosexual" in all the places that "lesbian" occurs in the show. Would we show as many sex acts? Maybe not.

On The Wire: Marlo is like a Barksdale baby sired by Stringer -- all pretty, and all raised-up sideways. You know ... half-smart.

My mother would say he was more "jerked up" than raised.Both the L word and Brotherhood are on my list...possibly I'll find I'dve liked them mixed together, better. I'll let you know.

Gus is this the start of season 2 of Weeds? How many eps are you in? I just finished season 1 on DVD.

Yup. Second season Weeds. Actually, there have been eight eps aired, so far.

eta: OK, I'm a little afraid to admit it, but I'm following Dexter. Got to give props to the Showtime folks, though, for putting up a series with a sociopathic lead character.

The Wire is so much better than we deserve.

"We're not worthy." Despite the fact that I have no shrine, I have a Simon-autographed book about which I am superstitious as hell and used to touch when the writing went badly. But then I cut it out figuring the man himself would mock the hell out of any person who did that, but the words haven't been coming right since. Dag. One thing I wanted to say about this ep is that I've been watching televised bodies drop since I was the same age as Namond and them. Probably watched my own little BodyMore Murderland. But no show has ever made murder feel more significant than The Wire. Which you'd think might be the opposite since these detectives don't take every vic personally like television heroes. I guess cause people get shot going about their business without "bad news" music or anything. I'm not sure.