Plastic Little

Photo from the New York Times.

The licensing of Barbie to Mad Men is pure nirvana for popular culture junkies, but surely poison for the character of Roger Sterling as he will no longer be able to call women 'doll faces' on the show without breaking the all important fourth wall.

The Notorious D.I.P.

Photo taken from the Mep Report.

Just remember tonight during happy hour when you are attempting to impress colleagues that are in most cases 20-30 years older than you, with your witty, insightful commentary on world events, to make sure they appreciate popular culture references of the last 20 years, because if they don't, when you bring up what President Obama said today, they will likely embarrass the hell out of you by pointing out when the president cautions of a double-dip recession, he is in fact referring to a legitimate economic state, one that most recently occurred in the United States during the early 1980s, and not to something that happened on Seinfeld, you stupid idiot.

Wire, Wire Pants on Fire

Here, someone brilliant has somehow assembled a more than serviceable 10 minute clip of 100 pieces of dialogue from the Wire, which featured the sharpest, most authentic writing in the history of episodic television and is credited with the invention of swear words.

Sesame Mucho

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, Sesame Street exposes 40 of its most shocking secrets, including how Cookie Monster is able to eat significantly more cookies than all the other residents on Sesame Street combined.

The Gift of Flab

When Larry Charles is credited as Director, Curb Your Enthusiasm fans know to expect an episode chock-full of heightened lunacy and provocation, bigger and badder than what the show typically dabbles in on a regular basis. Previous moments of Larry Charles unease, like the episode where star, creator, writer, Larry David likens the abnormal size of an eight year-old's penis to that of a circus freak show, surprisingly does little in preparing viewers for last night's wildly deranged activities.

Bad Men

Breaking Bad begins with the greatest pilot episode ever in the history of American television, then strings brilliant hour after brilliant hour, eventually building the most satisfying episodic series since the Wire. Never has a show known itself so intimately so immediately than Breaking Bad. Creator Vince Gilligan and star Bryan Cranston involve audiences, like we have rarely been before, into a diseased riddled contemporary America as shouldered through the calm, authoritative, hilarious, heart-breaking chaos of Walter White, an unassuming family man whose evolution from high school chemistry teacher to cancer patient to crystal meth kingpin is nothing if not the most brilliant bit of character exploration since Tony Soprano.

No-Longer-Living Room

Photo by Piotr Redlinski for the New York Times.

Dexter, and other Showtime favorites, inspire these design concept living quarters.

Magaseen

Los Angeles and New York subscribers of Entertainment Weekly should note their September 18 issue will contain an embedded video advertising CBS's Fall television schedule. Readers are cautioned to finish all articles of interest before accessing the video chip as the magazine will self destruct five seconds shortly thereafter.

Jersey Boys

F.B.I. agents arrested two New Jersey mayors, an assemblyman, and several rabbis this morning in connection with a two-year corruption and money-laundering investigation. A statement later released by the F.B.I. confirmed reputed mob boss Tony Soprano was also in custody, ending widespread speculation that he was killed in the final episode of the Sopranos.

The Real World

Having proven his worth as a rapper, actor, martial artist, sheriff, author, real estate tycoon and breakdancer, Shaquille O'Neal still has something to prove. In August, ABC will begin airing Shaq Vs., a reality show that pits the basketball superstar against leading athletes in their respective sports. The idea came to O'Neal as a perfect way to train for the upcoming NBA season, something the 17-year league veteran has never done before. Network executives, initially skeptical of the show's high concept format, green lit production after an impassioned series pitch from O'Neal himself.

"I told them I have an idea for a television show. It's like Survivor, only with me, Shaq. They were like 'What?'. And after I told them what it was about, they were like, 'Can you dig it?!'.

Bleeding Hearts

The allure of the modern day vampire is at its most mainstream. With success in film, television, print and fashion, audiences, especially women, are thrilling to stories of the undead. I suspect a good deal of fascination is concentrated on vampire romance, a reoccurring and central theme in most adaptations. The good girl who tames the bad men is a popular storytelling device no matter the material. Placed in the world of vampires and it becomes the ultimate symbol of girl power. At least for some. Some just want blood.

Forever, Zack

Mark-Paul Gosselaar revisits his career role, Zack Morris of early morning 90's favorite, Saved by the Bell, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and leads the Roots through a cover of the Zack Attack standard, "Friends Forever".

Star and Stripes

Stephen Colbert is broadcasting from Iraq this week, hoping to increase media coverage of a somewhat forgotten war and hand deliver to over 150,000 troops a pint of his Ben & Jerry's ice cream before it melts.

Kiss Kiss, Fang Fang

HBO's vampire serial True Blood begins Season Two on June 14. Season One bites retail tomorrow. Late comers in the meantime should delight in the show's brutal and hip opening titles. As they perfected with Six Feet Under, Digital Kitchen opts again for a juxtaposition of flash pans, fuzzy filters and brooding imagery that sequences the world of True Blood in grand thematics.

Happy Mother's Day

Love, Tony.

The Morning After

The brilliant, seductive opening credit sequence for Dexter heightens the mundane of everyday ritual by bringing out the brutality in getting ready for work. It's about as good at setting up an episode as the opening credits for the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Mad Men and Perfect Strangers were.

D.W. Soprano

Sopranos creator David Chase is returning to HBO with a miniseries about the makings of Hollywood entitled, A Ribbon of Dreams.

The Reunion

Larry David is assembling the Seinfeld gang for a multi-episode arc on the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. This will be the first time since 1998 that Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer appear together in episodic television, though presumably they will portray Jerry, Julia, Jason, and Michael.

He's Fallon, and He Hopes You Stay Up

The Jimmy Fallon Late Night era began last night with guests Robert De Niro and Justin Timberlake, two men I've had non-sexual crushes on at various points in my past. Besides a few nervous exchanges with De Niro, Fallon seems at home; his gullible charm can be right for late night talk especially during segments that allow him to be chill, like 'Slow Jamming the News' and 'Lick it for Ten'.

Do Not Donut

A big Duff-sized thank you to Madison Red for the Simpsons 'Ironic Punishment' Deluxe Boxed Set birthday gift. I had forgotten how truly insane this show was early in its run. I've since stopped watching. It's absurdist comedy got stale after Season, oh, I don't know, 12? The toy versions of fan favorite segments, however, are as fresh as 'Aye Carumba' was in 1989. Never have I owned a toy with a package blurb reading: COMES WITH OVER 200 DONUTS! The crank on the back of the playset makes donuts fall into Homer's mouth.