Here is the second part of the list of great TV shows I wrote about earlier.

Rome is a dirty history lesson. Even with enough sex and violence to satisfy the most debauched mind, the show convincingly recreates the lost civilization with all its glorious battles and senate debates. This is a unique way of looking at history – through the eyes of a handful of richly created complex characters rather than a series of events between great battles. It’s very down to earth, like an episode of The Sopranos and is also full of human drama, an element normally missing from most history textbooks. There can be no more entertaining a way to learn history. The show’s production is singularly impressive, as can be expected from any HBO production. The detailed and intricate costumes and the exceptional acting free of the usual costume-drama pompousness is simply wonderful. Rome is smart, bold and stunning. History lessons have never been more sexy. Read more »

I gave you a list of some of my favorite TV shows earlier. Today, I’m writing about why I love a good TV show. Good TV shows are like good movies, only longer, with the story unfolding over several episodes. Great TV shows, like great movies are seldom about the story and more often about unforgettable events and memorable characters. The miniseries format is my favorite kind of television. A great TV series can possess you and occupy your thoughts all day for several weeks. A movie does not deliver this lingering excitement, simply because it is too short, even when it is really good. Don’t you sometimes wish that your favorite film would just keep running, especially when it is about to end? A significant part of the charm of reading a novel is this very feeling of having it take over your life and sweep you into its own world. Somehow, that feeling is often short lived or completely lost at the movies. So, we watch TV. Read more »

Mad Men
One word comes to my mind when I think of Mad Men – style. Mad Men is so stylish that you almost forget that all of its substance doesn’t really add up to a conventional story arc.

The show, in its second season seems to be going nowhere, and you couldn’t care less.
The show painstakingly recreates the American workplace of the 60’s, with all the political incorrectness and the sexual innuendos and the reckless smoking. The show’s central character is Don Draper, an advertising executive in Madison Avenue (mad men?), New York – a mysterious man with a dark past. The acting on the show is superlative and you could keep drooling at the beautifully recreated period details such as the interiors, the clothing and the mannerisms. The show’s atmosphere is almost film noir despite the color and everybody smokes like there is no tomorrow. Don Draper would say “I’m living like there’s no tomorrow, because there isn’t one.” Read more »