All posts by Michael R. Hall

About Michael R. Hall

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Google Analytics Individual Qualification: An Insightful Way to Spend an Afternoon

Digital Media, ,

Google Analytics logo

Source: google.com/ +GoogleAnalytics

Today, I passed the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) certification exam. I took the certification exam because I wanted an intellectual challenge of my Google Analytics skills. Also, I love regular expressions.

Google Analytics is a robust, dependable, and intuitive web analytics solution. It’s the right analytics product for publishers of any size and with any web analytics budget. Its e-commerce and AdWords integrations are seamless and thorough. We’ve used Google Analytics at NESN as we’ve grown NESN.com’s monthly user count from 30,000 in 2008 to over 2.5 million in 2013. Google Analytics has been the right product at every stage of our growth. I’ve run multivariate testing through it, used it to determine correlations between referral growth and unique user growth, and turn to it more and more for its real-time site analytics.

If your company uses Google Analytics, I encourage you to visit Google’s Conversion University for classes in Google Analytics. It’s a great way to reinforce your working knowledge of Google Analytics and to learn advanced techniques, including virtual pageviews and event tracking. If you’re ready for a challenge, head to the Google Testing Center and take the Google Analytics IQ certification exam. It’s a insightful way to spend an afternoon.

Why CBS Was Right to Pull Rank on CNET

Digital Media, Television, , , ,

I believe that media is more of a product than a mission. Each new piece of content produced by a media outlet is a product extension, offering a new concept while expanding the outlet’s brand. If the new piece of content makes the media outlet’s brand better, whether through its own quality or through its promotion of the outlet’s other products, it is successful. If the new content detracts from the media outlet’s other product, it is not successful.

CNET Best of CES Logo (source: cesweb.org)

CNET Best of CES Logo (source: cesweb.org)

For anyone looking to build a career in digital media, I’d recommend focusing on building your outlet’s brand through your content. The successful content creators at all career stages combing quality content creation with support for their companies’ bigger goals. It’s necessary to have an awareness of where your company stands on important issues, to make sure that your content adds to the bigger battle.

That’s why CNET’s decision to celebrate Dish Network seemed so clearly unproductive. CNET’s parent company, CBS, had filed a lawsuit against Dish Network in May 2012 over the Dish Hopper, a new DVR service that automatically skips commercial breaks on playback. The lawsuit was big news, especially since CBS’ lawsuit was accompanied by suits from other broadcast networks against Dish Network. Nevertheless, CNET’s editorial team chose the Hopper for CNET’s “Best of CES” award at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. CBS rightly asked CNET to pull its support for a product at the center of a lawsuit, leading media pundits to criticize CBS’ decision as “a journalistic disaster.” The fault here rests with CNET’s editorial staff, however, for not considering their company’s greater interest. If they had considered the their parent company’s interests, they would have been able to publish without undue oversight.

If you’re entering digital media, learn as much as you can about their outlets’ points of view. It’s OK to operate from a point of view, and even better to build your outlet’s overall brand through your content. The CNET editorial team would have preserved CNET’s reputation if it had operated with understanding of and respect for its parent company’s interests.

Does Local Media Add Enough Value to Justify a Paywall?

Digital Media

Journal Register and Media News Group One hidden storyline in the Journal Register Company’s bankruptcy filing is the role paywalls will play in the company’s next turnaround attempt. John Paton, the CEO of Digital First Media (JRC’s parent company), stated in 2011 his belief that the market value of journalism is “about zero.” Paradoxically, Paton is in the paywall business, controlling “more newspaper paywalls than just about any other executive,” according to the Columbia Journalism Review.

Paywalls guarding valuable content can work, provided that the content is (a) exclusive and time-sensitive, dampening the value of aggregation; (b) expensive to deliver, as in the case of live video content; or (c) easy to track in the event of theft. Most local media content falls into categories (a) and (c), as it’s easy enough to track infringers of reporting from a single local source.

Is there enough demand for local content, however, to justify a media company’s expense in creating a paywall? Digital advertising can sustain companies with national content coverage, but almost certainly cannot sustain a siloed local media outlet as it transitions from publishing in a tradition format (print, TV, radio) to digital publication. So, local can’t make money on display ads alone. The only way local media can make a profit is either by: (a) going national in coverage and making money on nationally-based digital ad sales; or (b) using a shared technology solution for paywalls. The JRC’s effort at approach (b) hasn’t worked because the demand didn’t exist for exclusive, timely local content. Despite its bankruptcy, the JRC (and its parent, Digital First Media) is in the lead in technological innovation for local media companies, so their effort is likely the best of what a paywall will bring.

The inevitable conclusion? Paywalls only work with either: (a) truly exclusive, coveted, time-sensitive content of a national demand (WSJ, Financial Times); or (b) live content that’s difficult to deliver (video streams of like sports games). Otherwise, the winning approach is display ads, free content, and when the chips are down, a national content approach.

Why Are So Many Reporters Reporting on a TV Show?

Advertising, Digital Media

Jeff Jarvis is spot-on in his criticism of media travel to the 2012 political conventions. The last contentious convention was the DNC in 1972. Since then, they’ve been glorified television shows. Media outlets distinguish themselves through analysis (which can be done at home) rather than reporting what 100 other outlets have already reported.

Reporters: Why are you in Tampa? – Jeff Jarvis, Buzz Machine

Bleacher Report, Crowdsourcing, and Gamification

Digital Media, Topics

I wrote a Tweet proclaiming that “everyone criticizing Bleacher Report’s rumored acquisition price follows some element of Bleacher Report’s strategy.” What’s lost in the number and the criticism is the new way of thinking Bleacher Report has brought to sports writing (or all reporting, period). Here’s a brief background that I wrote for two reasons: (1) I had an MBA assignment, and most of the below is from that assignment; (2) I believe the rumored purchase price is justified.

For background, Bleacher Report is a sports news website established in 2006. Bleacher Report’s content is crowdsourced from over 5,000 sports fans distributed across the world, allowing it a greater depth and breadth of coverage than any of its rivals in traditional sports journalism. Bleacher Report manages its crowdsourced content through a best-of-breed content management system and a team of around 30 editors experienced in sports journalism. Because of its unique mix, Bleacher Report has become one of the most popular sports news sites (even just plain news sites, period) in the United States, with an audience of over nine million U.S. visitors per month as estimated by comScore, the leading Internet measurement provider.

Bleacher Report’s success has led other sports media companies to co-opt parts of its strategy. Media companies, from national television networks local newspaper publishers, have broadened their coverage through the work of independent contractors and volunteer contributors. Turner Sports, a Time Warner subsidiary, has gone one step further by reportedly offering $200 million to acquire Bleacher Report. Given that Bleacher Report’s traffic is about equal to that of Sports Illustrated, Time Warner’s legendary sports magazine, it’s a sign that content strategy is shifting permanently toward crowdsourcing.

One big takeaway from Bleacher Report’s success is its emphasis on gamification. Bleacher Report’s Writer Rankings incentivize entry-level writers to keep writing by awarding “points” and “medals” to frequent contributors. The writer’s medals are displayed to the public in his account information. The writer’s title increases as he accumulates points, escalating from “Contributor” to “Correspondent” to the top level of “Chief Writer.”

Media companies should include rewards for their content contributors. The technical platform for a media site can calculate statistics such as page views and the number of comments per story, then display badges on an author’s byline indicating his level of accomplishment. If badges aren’t doable, then display something – web traffic, number of comments, number of social comments. Just give something to the world to indicate a contributor’s magnitude of accomplishment.

Breaking Bad Live Blog: Season 5, Episode 2 – “Madrigal”

Breaking Bad, Television, , , , , ,
Breaking Bad Episode 502 - Source: amctv.com

Breaking Bad Episode 502 – Source: amctv.com

Final score: Mike wins the night! He stood up to Hank and the DEA, he brought Lydia back on the team, and kept us from Small Town Security for another two minutes.

The plot developments: Walt, Jesse, and Mike are going into business together, with Lydia providing material and money. The Germans are involved. Hank is slowly getting closer to the truth. Skyler didn’t get out of bed all episode. In other words, it’s like Season 4, but with a less compelling villain. Walt needs more screen time.

And somehow, mysteriously, Small Town Security is a reality show! Maybe I’ll watch it next week.

Thanks for reading my Breaking Bad live blog! See you next week.

10:59pm: Lydia can provide Mike (and Walt and Jesse) with methylamine, so she gets to live. Moral of the story: if you can provide a unique service (or a controlled substance), you get to stay aboard.

10:57pm: Mike can’t shoot Lydia. This is a mistake.

10:56pm: Mike asks Lydia if she has anything to say. Lydia responds by asking not be shot in the face. So vain!

10:54pm: We’re back with Mike in a very nice house with glass walls. He appears ready to shoot the house’s owner, which I’m guessing is Lydia.

10:50pm: Mike shoots the stick-up man, because he’s a professional assassin and enforcer, and that’s what they do. It was anti-climatic.

10:49pm: Surprise, surprise. Mike guesses that it’s a setup, breaks into Chow’s house, and gets the stick-up man. Chow is quite dead, so hopefully I’ve spelled his name right.

10:47pm: Mike gets a call from Chow (Chao?) asking him to come over to his house. This seems like a setup, and in fact, it is a setup, as there’s a guy in Chow’s house pointing a gun in is face.

10:45pm: Walt indicates that he is broke, but I think he really means that he’s not liquid. He does own a car wash, and Skyler paid off Ted Beneke in laundered cash.

10:44pm: Walt and Jesse are meeting with Saul to go over the logistics of where the new meth lab will be. Walt insists on a lab location close to Albuquerque, because he’s on a power trip.

10:42pm: Still in commercials. I feel like nothing’s happened in this ei save the whole death-by-defibrillator thing.

10:40pm: Commercial time. Aaron Paul (the actor who plays Jesse) is at a fake cocktail party for Ciroc vodka.

10:38pm: Hank and Gomez are attempting to intimidate Mike. Mike is unflappable. Yay, Mike!

10:37pm: Hank brings up the fact that Mike’s granddaughter has $2 million in an account linked to Gus Fring. Mike was apparently very good at her job.

10:36pm: Mike to Hank: “Drug empire? First I’m hearing about it.” He did get his ear shot off, of course.

10:34pm: Mike’s actual job is the head of corporate security for Los Pollos Hermanos. So, not a great week for him in his real career.

10:33pm: Mike is at the big police building/federal building conglomo. He’s in an interview with Hank and Gomez.

10:32pm: We’re back at the White house (ha!). Walter Jr. didn’t eat his raisin bran. This is a compelling episode.

10:31pm: Mike assures Lydia that his men are “solid” and that they won’t give in to the cops.

10:29pm: The woman asks, “who killed Gus?” Her name is Lydia, and she’s a nervous wreck. She’s somehow involved with Gus Fring’s old business, and she wants Mike to kill everyone that Gus ever worked with, ever. This is not a good risk management strategy.

10:28pm: The mysterious woman is not good at acting casually. She looks a little like Demi Moore.

10:27pm: We’re back. Mike is in a diner eating alone, and a mysterious woman in dark glasses sits near him.

10:24pm: Commercial break. I want an Intel Ultrabook.

10:22pm: The boss brings up his close relationship with Gus Fring, so maybe the fact that he missed Fring’s drug running merits his termination.

10:21pm: Hank’s and Gomez’ boss is getting canned due to the Gus Fring issue.

10:19pm: The Germans are in Albuquerque, talking to the DEA. It turns out that Herr Schuler was running a restaurant division within Madrigal, which is a big manufacturing firm in Germany. Anyway, the Madrigal CEO is there to “help out” as best he can. Hmm.

10:18pm: Hank walks into work, because he’s miraculously cured in the span of a couple days.

10:17pm: Mike to Walt: “You are a time bomb.” Fortunately, since the episode’s going so slowly, there’s a lot of time before the boom.

10:16pm: Walt and Jesse meet with Mike and ask him to join them, providing distribution and protection. Walt gives a nice MBA business plan, but Mike turns him down.

10:15pm: We’re at Mike’s bachelor pad. It turns out that running protection for an international drug lord pays off, if “pays off” means “living a moderate middle-class life.”

10:13pm: Walt helps Jesse “find” the plant, and now Jesse’s crying because he almost killed Walt in Season 4 over the “lost” ricin. This is the first time since some of the Ted Beneke scenes in Season 3 that I’ve felt the show has just slowed to a stop. There better be a payoff here.

10:12pm: I’m not sure what’s going on now, because this planted cigarette thing is taking forever. When an episode opens with the head of a multinational company electrocuting himself to death, though, I guess there’s enough action already.

10:11pm: Walt is at Jesse’s, helping him look for the ricin cigarette. This plot point must be important later on, because they’re spending a lot of time for Walt to just plant a cigarette.

10:09pm: Walt is assembling a fake ricin vial, filled with salt, while a VO about Jesse and Walt plays in which Jesse says he’s concerned that he’s lost his ricin cigarette. In reality, Walt stole the ricin cigarette, and now he’s hiding the ricin in an electric socket. So, yeah, a lot of text for a little action.

10:08pm: It’s a commercial for Microsoft Internet Explorer. IE9 is AMAZINGLY fast, apparently. I will check the next time that Chrome, Firefox, and Safari are permanently deleted from my laptop.

10:06pm: It’s an early commercial break. AMC airs a self-congratulatory commercial about its Emmy nominations. Herr Schuler, unfortunately, cannot attend the ceremony.

10:04pm: Herr Schuler sees three policemen waiting in his office, looking at a photo of him with Gus Fring. He then grabs a defibrillator, locks himself in the bathroom, and shocks himself to death.

10:03pm: Madrigal’s corporate headquarters are shown. It turns out that they own a number of fast-food restaurants, but as Herr Schuler walks through the hallway, custodians taking down the “Los Pollos Hermanos” logo.

10:02pm: Herr Schuler, the dip taste-tester tells his assistant that he’ll see the three men there to see him shortly. So, yeah, it looks like he’s going to get shot.

10:01pm: We open in a German food testing facility, where the German scientists are creating new dips for chicken nuggets. This must be Madrigal. The executive-type person is testing the foods absentmindedly, so he probably lost a lot of money when Gus was killed.

10:00pm: It’s time! Breaking Bad is on and Jesse is bringing up the poisoning again.

9:58pm: Wikus is the protagonist of District 9, as well as holder of the most unlikely first name in cinema history.

9:53pm: “It’s a respect laugh. Howie Mandel gets them all the time.” This is either: (a) a line in Workaholics; (b) how we laugh when anyone but Saul Goodman makes a joke on Breaking Bad.

9:50pm: We could have watched District 9 on AMC in advance of Breaking Bad, but we elected instead to catch up on Workaholics. Neither of these options are schoolwork.

9:40pm: Tonight’s Breaking Bad episode is entitled “Madrigal,” which is the name of the giant conglomerate that owned Gus Fring’s chicken business…and his side business of selling blue rock candy. Just as a side note, couldn’t the other drug kingpins in Albuquerque add blue coloring to their regular meth and sell it as the blue stuff? Seeing a difference in one variant versus the other is like being able to tell different wines apart.

Anyway, Walter White is getting too big for his britches, and we’ve got 15 more episodes before his demise. Will it be cancer? Assassination? Rock candy? Let’s see if tonight provides more answers.

See you here at 10pm for tonight’s Breaking Bad live blog!

Breaking Bad Live Blog: Season 5, Episode 1 – “Live Free or Die”

Breaking Bad, Television, , , ,
Breaking Bad Episode 501

Breaking Bad Episode 501 – Image Source: AMCTV.com

Final Score: The Supermagnet wins the night! Walter White and his junkyard team created the most powerful magnet known to man, causing a near-seismic event in Albuquerque. The federal building’s security team gets an assist for enabling an unmarked van to drive up to the side of the building. Plausible? Well, I want the series to continue for another 15 episodes, so we’ll allow it.

Walt is becoming an angry drug kingpin, which seems like a faulty strategy. Gus Fring was calm and composed, allowing him to build a large supply chain network across the Southwest. His one vice was his anger over the death of his business partner, Max. He kept feeding his anger by visiting Hector Salamanca over and over, just to brag about how effective he had been at killing everything Hector cared about. And in the end, Gus paid for his anger with his life.

Where will Walt’s anger take him? It appears that New Hampshire is one destination, so the Granite State’s lack of an income tax isn’t enough to soothe him. I believe we’ll see Walt flame out by the half-season’s end, most likely with Hank and Skyler conspiring to take him down.

Thanks for reading my Breaking Bad live blog! See you next week.

11:00 pm: Yep, that’s it for this week’s Breaking Bad. The final score is coming up.

10:59 pm: That’s it? We have another minute!

10:58 pm: Walt is now confronting Skyler about the payoff to Ted by … giving her a hug and forgiving her? But is he forgiving her infidelity or the payoff?

10:57 pm: Walt to Saul: “We’re done when I say we’re done.” But you knew he said that, because it’s been in all the promos.

10:56 pm: It appears that Walt paid Saul to give Brock (the poisoned kid from Season 4) the Lily of the Valley.

10:55 pm: Walt to Saul: “You’re not Clarence Darrow, Saul. You’re a two-bit bench lawyer, and you work for me.” Walt is ascending pretty quickly to the throne here, huh?

10:54 pm: Better call Saul! Walt is in Saul’s office as Saul details Skyler’s plan to pay off Ted.

10:52 pm: We’re back in the evidence locker. Good news for Walt: Gus Fring’s laptop has a broken screen and appears damaged. Bad news for Walt, potentially: Gus had a Cayman Islands bank account, which was revealed after a picture frame broke because of the Supermagnet.

10:51 pm: Mob Week is coming to AMC! Do Walt, Jesse, and Mike constitute a mob?

10:50 pm: Commercial break. We just saw an ad for Small Town Security, which looks like Reno 911! without the intensity.

10:48 pm: Mike drives the getaway car and asks Walt how he’s so sure that the Supermagnet worked. Walt’s response: “Because I say so.”

10:46 pm: Walt is too super of a supergenius, as he cranks the Supermagnet too high, tilting the Supermagnet’s truck to the side and leaving a big vat of evidence to the police. Walt is confident that everything’s untraceable, of course, which is why he has a New Hampshire driver’s license in the future.

10:45 pm: Hey, the Supermagnet appears to work! Computers are getting wiped and metal’s moving everywhere inside the evidence locker. Walt is a Supergenius.

10:44 pm: Jesse drives the Supermagnet over a sidewalk, which is also a totally fine thing to do and would not disrupt the intricate magnet in the back of the truck.

10:43 pm: Mike is outside the federal building (presumably), spraying masking liquids on cameras and hotwiring garages. This happens at important government buildings – there’d be no security, right?

10:41 pm: Ted to Skyler: “I haven’t said anything to anyone.” Does this mean that he’ll need some more blackmail money? It’s a little unclear, because he seems terrified for his children, which works well for Skyler and her serial murderer husband.

10:40 pm: Skyler’s at the hospital, seeing Ted. Maybe she shouldn’t have reacquainted herself with Ted in Season 3. Anyway, she probably wouldn’t do the same now, because Ted’s in a full neck brace.

10:39 pm: Hey, the Supermagnet works! Unfortunately, it also violently moves anything metal, which will make “one hell of a noise,” as Mike points out.

10:38 pm: The Supermagnet has destroyed the test vehicle, but not the test laptop. More power!

10:37 pm: Breaking Bad is back from commercial break. They’re about to test the Supermagnet (son of Superlab!) at the junkyard. Is this where Walt’s glasses break?

10:34 pm: We’re still on a commercial break in Breaking Bad. There was another Bing commercial, but good news on that front – it looks like Microsoft is launching its own news service after breaking away from MSNBC.com. This seems like a genuinely exciting opportunity for online reporters.

10:33 pm: Commercial break. It’s worth nothing that Ted is not dead.

10:31 pm: Better call Saul! Saul is meeting Skyler at the car wash, informing her that the Albuquerque police may call her involving Ted’s death. Remember Ted slipping and hitting his head and the falling oranges and everything? Yeah, I didn’t find that plot like compelling, either. Anyway, Ted’s not dead.

10:30 pm: Walt has mentioned to Jesse that he doesn’t have the cash to purchase the magnet from Season 3′s junkyard proprietor (see the photo for this blog). Slight problem.

10:29 pm: Jesse has the idea to use a high-powered magnet to wipe the laptop clean of any video footage. It’s apparently a good idea, physics notwithstanding.

10:28 pm: Walt has a plan! He wants to blow up the laptop. His mind’s set on getting a bomb into the evidence locker.

10:27 pm: Walt wants to break into the Albuquerque federal building to steal the laptop. Mike to Walt: “What are you going to do?” Well, Walt has orchestrated the assassination of many key drug kingpins, so maybe he has a plan.

10:25 pm: Mike is on the phone pretending to work for the Postal Service (or something), claiming that he needs Gus Fring’s computers to prosecute mail fraud. Even with the feds, mail fraud is less important than drug dealing. But yes, Mike confirms that the feds have the computer, which presumably has footage of our trio.

10:23 pm: Commercial: It’s a new Will Ferrell movie called The Campaign, in which Ricky Bobby runs for Congress.

10:22 pm: Commercial break, leading to a side question: how did Mike get out of Mexico? He didn’t enter legally, and when Gus and Jesse were faced with re-entry in Season 4, they had to walk across the border in Texas.

10:21 pm: It appears that Walt/Mike/Gus are too late, as Hank and his team are already at Los Pollos Hermanos recovering a computer.

10:20 pm: Walt points out to Mike that the video cameras Gus installed everywhere recorded all three of them, so they need to go find the recorded videos and destroy them.

10:19 pm: Mike to Walt/Jesse: “What is it with you guys?” Good question!

10:18 pm: Speaking of pollos, Mike is feeding some chickens in Mexico as he recovers from his shooting in Season 4. He then learns that Gus is dead, so he drives like mad to find Jesse and Walt, then threatens them with death. It’s good to see Mike back.

10:17 pm: Hank found the camera into the lab, which means it’ll be a matter of time before he finds videos of Walt at Los Pollos Hermanos.

10:16 pm: Hank and Gomez are back together again, and Hank is taking absolutely no guff. There’s no joking around – Hank is on the march, and he’s determined to find out who’s behind the Superlab’s demise.

10:15 pm: Hank is in the remains of the Superlab, walking around reasonably well. Like Skyler’s massive one-day weight loss, it appears that Hank has also staged a miraculous recovery. One day can be magical.

10:14 pm: Laura has noted that Skyler appears to have lost 20 pounds from the end of Season 4 to the beginning of Season 5. In other words, she dropped 20 pounds in a day.

10:11 pm: Walt Jr. and Skyler are back at the White house, and Walt Jr. is breathlessly recapping the news that: (a) Gus is dead; (b) Gus has been exposed as a drug kingpin; and (c) Hank was the first agent to connect Gus to meth.

10:10 pm: Walt is back at the White house (ha!), removing all traces of his meth production and his Lily of the Valley plant.

10:09 pm: Laura is breakdancing. This is incidental to the show.

10:08 pm: We’re back at the end of Season 4. Walt to Skyler: “It’s over. We’re safe. I won.” New Hampshire has no state income tax, so yes, I’ll say he did, in fact, win.

10:06 pm: For a recap of the first few minutes, Walter White at age 52 is a New Hampshire resident named Mr. Lambert. He has new black plastic glasses, an apparent hair transplant, and a brand-new Uzi that he purchased from a sketchy guy in a Denny’s bathroom. Also, it appears he still has cancer. So, all’s well.

10:05 pm: Hey, Walt’s new car contains a automatic rifle. Things must be going well for him in the future. Commercial break!

10:04 pm: Walt’s name is Mr. Lambert. He’s from New Hampshire! He grabs a duffel bag from his New Hampshire car and goes to another car (he purchased the keys from the old man in the bathroom).

10:03 pm: This is looking like how the series will end.

10:02 pm: Hey, it’s a shout-out at Denny’s to Swampscott, Massachusetts! In other news, Walt’s doing some sort of illicit drug deal with an older man in the Denny’s bathroom.

10:01 pm: Walt has his hair back! He starts his 52nd birthday at Denny’s by playing with his food. His new state ID: New Hampshire. Hence, “Live Free or Die.”

10:00 pm: It’s on!

9:58 pm: Hey, it’s Alien vs. Predator on AMC. This is a natural lead-in to Breaking Bad, though I might have gone with…oh…the Season 4 finale.

9:52 pm: Breaking Bad is minutes away. I hope we get a “Previously on Breaking Bad” recap before the start of tonight’s episode. This isn’t Mad Men. Stuff happens on Breaking Bad.

9:19 pm: Tonight’s the start of Breaking Bad‘s final season! Well, it’s the start of half of Breaking Bad‘s final season, which really sounds like two separate seasons of eight episodes each. British television shows run for six or eight episodes in a season, yet we need at least double digits in the US to make the season feel real.

The first night of Breaking Bad is delayed for our friends with Dish Network, as AMC and Dish work out a carriage dispute. AMC blames Dish, Dish blames AMC, and I blame Gus Fring.

Fortunately for Walter White, his plan to kill Gus at the end of Season 4 worked perfectly (apparently?), leaving him alone at the top of Albuquerque’s methamphetamine empire. Walt and Jesse Pinkman burned the Superlab and all its evidence (apparently?), which means they’ll need to start over at Season 5 begins. There appear to be no competitors left, since they were all killed in Season 4 (apparently?), so the US Southwest is wide open for Heisenberg.

Will Walt and Jesse build a bigger empire than Gus ever dreamed? Will Mike help them out? Will Marie ever stop wearing purple? These questions will probably not be answered tonight, but at least I can watch the show. It’s Breaking Bad time!

Mad Men Live Blog: Season 5, Episode 13 – “The Phantom”

Mad Men, , , , ,

Mad Men Episode 513 (AMCTV.com)

Final score: Megan Draper inexplicably wins Season 5. Who saw that coming? Megan has a rich husband in Don Draper and a nascent career as an actress, all while avoiding becoming another Betty Draper.

[You can read my full live blog for Episode 513 below, starting from 10pm Eastern through 11:02pm Eastern.]

We saw all that coming. The surprise was her contribution to Don’s morality and business, both of which make Don complete. Megan added value to Don in a way that Betty never cared to contribute. For that reason, Megan Draper wins the season.

But can Megan stay out of the Betty zone? Megan was cast in a commercial because of Don’s connections, as was Betty. Megan made a plaintive wail about how she lived for Don’s love, as did Betty. Sally Draper stopped trusting Megan, as she did with Betty.

So what keeps Megan from becoming Betty? First, Don’s respect for Megan is substantially higher than his respect for Betty. Don never really believed that Betty was a partner, but merely just a prop. Megan has held her own in front of Don’s clients and helped him win business, and Don must admire her assertiveness in asking for the role in his commercial. Second, Megan is ambitious. She wants more than to be Don’s pet, while that’s all Betty ever really wanted. Even if Betty were born a decade later, she doesn’t have Megan’s drive. Third, Megan is outspoken. She comes from a loud family, so she’s loud, but productively loud. Where Betty shut down and sought to shut her kids and family down, Megan looks to engage. She wants to be a part of the discussion.

Now, Megan needs to keep Don on the moral path. Don became the series’ moral center in Season 5, largely due to Peggy’s work departure and Joan’s moral departure. Season 5 ends on a cliffhanger of whether Don will go back to his cheating ways. I believe that Megan’s drive will be enough to keep him in line while he builds SCDP into the big firm he was born to lead.

Thanks for joining my Mad Men live blogs this season! See you for Season 6!

11:02pm: Season 5 ends as follows:

  • Don on the set of Megan’s commercial, first wishing her well, then walking off into an empty room and eventually into a bar.
  • Peggy watches two dogs mate.
  • Pete listens to music while wearing headphones, because he’s already made enough women cry for one night.
  • Roger stands naked before a window looking onto New York. He’s on LSD!
  • Back to Don’s bar, where he’s propositioned by two young women, because they want nothing more in New York than an aging ad man.

Don wins this round.

11:01pm: The partners look at SCDP’s new office space. It could have been an iconic photo for Season 5, but instead will be the promo photo for Season 6, assuming no one dies in the next two minutes.

11:00pm: Like Season 4, this season seems like it’ll end with the penultimate episode having more action than the finale.

10:59pm: Don notices that Megan’s commercial audition reel lists her name as “Megan Calvet.”

10:58pm: Trudy Campbell to Pete: “I can’t live like this.” Translation: Pete gets an apartment in New York. He’s like Don Draper as a 30-year old, only with less hair.

10:57pm: It’s a preview of Season 5 of Breaking Bad! Walter to Saul: “We’re done when I say we’re done.” Yes!

10:55pm: Commercial break. It’s Season 2 of the new iteration of Dallas, which is a mildly better idea than another season of The Pitch.

10:53pm: Pete also gets punched out by the train conductor after giving him a 1960s’ version of the “educated loudmouth” speech. Pete’s just getting punched by everyone this year.

10:52pm: Pete and Alexis Bledel’s husband fight on the train back to Connecticut. As usual, Pete loses the fight.

10:51pm: Peggy tells Don that she’s going “on a plane” to visit the cigarette factory in Richmond, Virginia. That’s not a train ride?

10:50pm: Don goes to the movie theater after his dentist appoint and finds Peggy Olson in the seats. Don asks Peggy how she likes her new job, and she says it’s great. Oh, they’re just old friends at the movies together.

10:48pm: Pete’s going on a long speech here about his life to post-electroshock Alexis Bledel, who appears to care more for shiny lights than anything Pete’s saying. Pete’s speech is typically woeful, and he calls his life “a temporary bandage on a permanent wound.” Maybe he’s going to join Lane soon.

10:47pm: Pete goes to visit Alexis Bledel at the hospital, though whether it’s pre- or post-shock is uncertain. She’s forgotten their tryst at the Hotel Pennsylvania, but that could be either from the electroshock or from Pete’s performance.

10:46pm: Don’s half-brother Adam appears to Don as a vision at the dentist’s office with a rope burn around his neck.

10:45pm: Don is finally at the dentist’s office. Will he get found out as Dick Whitman at the dentist’s office?

10:44pm: Megan’s mom tells Don that Megan is not an artist. Well, she says it as “not an ar-teeee-st,” but the message remains.

10:43pm: Megan evokes Betty Draper by telling Don that he’s all she lives for. She’s dangerously close to Jessica Pare territory again.

10:42pm: Back to the episode. Megan is drunk at home, alone, by the time Don returns. Don’s tooth hurts too much for him to kiss her.

10:41pm: A Mad Men-style ad for Turn, an online ad network, showed a jealous wife/girlfriend shooting at her husband/boyfriend and his new lady friend. Very dark for a commercial, but hey, so is Mad Men.

10:40pm: Twenty minutes left in this Mad Men season. Why does it feel like someone’s about to quit or die or both?

10:39pm: Commercial break. There’s a Bing ad that implies that my friends will lead me to finding a great rental property. I can see the search ad for a time-share right through the TV screen.

10:37pm: Roger to Megan’s mom: “Stop being demure. You’re already on the bed.” In other news, Roger asks Megan’s mom to take LSD with him. Megan’s mom tells Roger that she won’t take care of him emotionally. Just emotionally.

10:36pm: Pete arrives home after his afternoon with Alexis Bledel and immediately makes his baby cry. Women everywhere hate Pete.

10:34pm: Mrs. Pryce yells at Don for “filling a man like that with ambition.” She also yells at Don for only offering her a $50,000 payout ($350,000 in 2012 terms). So, the whole condolences thing didn’t work out well.

10:33pm: Don stops by Mrs. Pryce’s apartment to offer his condolences. Mrs. Pryce to Don: “We’re not ones to wallow.” Stoic.

10:32pm: Back to the episode. Megan’s mother calls Megan’s attempted acting career “a phantom.” She then curses at her in French and storms out. Montreal’s still awesome.

10:31pm: I’m still marveling over the size of Lane Pryce’s insurance payout. Given his limited value to the firm, it’s a shock he earned that much in death.

10:28pm: It’s another commercial time. Don’s tooth still hurts, so we’ll be on the lookout for a good local dentist.

10:26pm: Joan is talking with Don about Lane’s death benefit payable to SCDP: $175,000, or $1.2 million in 2012 terms, according to Dollar Times. Wow! Lane is more profitable in death than in life.

10:25pm: It’s morning at SCDP and Don sees his dead half-brother again, working at a drafting table.

10:23pm: Roger calls Chez Draper and asks for Megan’s mother. Remember what Sally Draper learned about the birds and the bees at the Codfish Ball? Yep, that’s coming up again.

10:22pm: Don to Megan: “You want to be someone’s discovery. You don’t want to be someone’s wife.”

10:20pm: Back to Chez Draper. Megan attempts to get Don to hire her actress friend the gig in SCDP’s shoe commercial. No, just kidding. Megan asks Don to cast herself in the commercial. This could be Megan’s decline back to being called Jessica Pare, so let’s be careful here.

10:15pm: Commercial break, and there’s an ad for Superman Strikes Back or whatever the series re-boot is called. Denis Leary plays a police chief, and he’s got a great temperament for a bureaucrat.

10:14pm: Was that just the “brief” in the brief nudity? We’re back at the Hotel Pennsylvania, where Alexis Bledel and Pete are being their same miserable selves after sleeping together. She keeps calling him “Peter” for some reason. Anyway, Peter invites Alexis Bledel to Los Angeles because he’s ready to blow up his current life, and she declines like every other woman does.

10:13pm: Back to Chez Draper. Megan and her actress friend (who looks like Ivanka Trump) are hanging out at her apartment, looking at listings for actresses. The actress friend wants an in with SCDP because they’re casting for a role that she’d fit well, Megan says she’ll put in a good word with Don, and the friend then kisses Megan right on the lips. Montreal is awesome.

10:11pm: Before her electroshock therapy, Alexis Bledel begs Pete to give her “this” (yes, “this” is that), and Pete complies. Let’s hope she’s not like Claire Danes in Homeland, just to remember how wimpy Pete is.

10:09pm: Alexis Bledel welcomes Pete to the hotel room, and Pete is petulant, which is just typical Pete, blowing a chance with a lady because he’s a wimp. Alexis Bledel is in New York to get electroshock therapy, which is totally normal for the 1960s.

10:08pm: At the next partners’ meeting, Joan presents a sunny view of SCDP, despite the fact that Lane is, well, dead. No one thinks to mention it. Lane is gone and forgotten.

10:07pm: Peggy is with Ted Chaough at her new gig, wearing a hideous dress. Just sayin’. Anyway, Ted Chaough says that she should be able to write for women because she’s a woman.

10:06pm: Pete Campbell gets a call from Alexis Bledel and asks him to meet her at the Hotel Pennsylvania. Hmm.

10:05pm: MICHAEL GINSBERG is attempting to convince the creative team that it’s OK for Topaz panty hose to be viewed as cheap. The Topaz guy makes a racist remark about Dawn. MICHAEL GINSBERG is clearly not a woman and therefore does not understand panty hose. Didn’t he go to college?

10:04pm: Don arrives at work and thinks that he sees Adam (his brother) in the elevator on the way down. Note that Adam is supposed to be dead.

10:03pm: Pete Campbell is on the train with Alexis Bledel and his creepy life-insurance salesman husband. He grabs at her scarves before she walks to the smoking car. Creepy.

10:02pm: Don’s toothache might come from Megan’s mother, who’s staying at Chez Draper for an indefinite period.

10:01pm: Don Draper has a toothache to start the show. Megan comes into the apartment with something that looks like CDs.

10:00pm: Tonight’s Mad Men episode promises “brief nudity.” I’m guessing it’s from Bert Cooper.

9:59pm: It’s Mad Men time!

9:58pm: The equivalent of Pete Campbell on The Killing is now a prime suspect in, well, the killing. Why is it called The Killing? Why not The Murder or The Show that Prevents AMC from Showing a Replay of Last Week’s Mad Men?

9:53pm: The Mad Men season finale is less than 10 minutes away! In other news, it’s still raining in Seattle on The Killing. I want to become more emotionally invested in The Killing‘s storyline, but Lane Pryce’s departure last week from Mad Men trumps the relevance of a random in a Washington state casino.

9:46pm: Each of the mayoral candidates on The Killing has a huge staff. The city councilor candidate has had the same campaign team for years, following with him up to his mayoral race. How does Seattle, a city of 600,000 people, have enough money for each candidate to afford a contingent in the teens?

9:45pm: The Killing just had a major plot breakthrough at a valet parking station. If this were Mad Men, the valet lot would be at one of those New York lots with the car elevator, just so Don could look down the elevator shaft and contemplate his mortality. On The Killing, we get a cop that tells the valet attendant to avoid a run-in with the “po-po.”

9:34pm: While waiting for the Mad Men season finale, we’re watching Part 1 of The Killing‘s season finale. Or, alternately, the penultimate episode of The Killing‘s season. If a season finale is two 1-hour episodes, split into two separate airings, then only the second hour is the season finale.

Anyway, on The Killing, it’s now Election Day in rainy Seattle. The title incident of The Killing occurred about a month before the election, the incident is related somehow to both candidates in Seattle’s mayoral election, and two Seattle detectives have dedicated the greater part of that month to solving the crime. Does Seattle’s city government have that much money to spend on solving one murder? And would a mayoral candidate in Seattle be involved in that type of crime? Seattle’s current mayor ran the state’s Sierra Club branch, while the candidates in The Killing are involved with the mob.

9:05pm: Don Draper could end this season finale as the only moral character on Mad Men. Joan Harris, arguably the moral center of the show, sold herself for a little bit of SCDP. Peggy Olson quit, hopefully not for the remainder of the series. Lane Pryce took the easy way out after Don discovered his embezzlement. Pete Campbell got knocked out by the same guy who took the easy way out, so any shred of hope is gone from his life. Roger and Bert are checked out, and Bert shouldn’t even be in the series at this point. Don’s the only one left who’s worth saving.

Tonight’s episode is titled “The Phantom,” which could refer to the Rolls-Royce Phantom that launched its sixth edition life in 1968.  The title could also refer to the Dick Whitman phantom that’s followed Don ever since Season 1. Or, perhaps, the writers of Mad Men are all fans of the Steel Phantom, the greatest roller coaster ever.

How does Season 5 rank in Mad Men lore? My sort order is Seasons 1, 4, 2, and 3 in the rear. Season 5 has had more shark-jumping that any other season, but it could be due to Matthew Weiner’s need to wrap up the series soon. If only the series can live on in fan fiction, with Joan’s departure from morality removed.

It’s an exciting night! See you for the Mad Men season finale tonight at 10pm.

Mad Men Live Blog: Season 5, Episode 12 – “Commissions and Fees”

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Mad Men Episode 512 Thumbnail

Mad Men Episode 512 – AMCtv.com

Final score: Don Draper wins the night by asking for Lane Pryce’s resignation. In Season 5, Don is Mr. Integrity, which is a perplexing byproduct of marrying Megan. Don is responsible for SCDP and not responsible for how Lane reacted to getting fired. While Don may feel sadness about Lane’s death, he should feel no liability.

[You can page down for the play-by-play or read my review of the night starting here.]

With Lane’s departure, the biggest question in the season finale next week is who takes Lane’s place at the agency. Joan can probably handle most of the finance and accounting of the firm, and she is now a partner, so does SCDP become SCDH? Even that acronym sounds like a better fit for the show.

Lane was a vestige of the British invasion story line from Seasons 2-3. That plot line was contrived, as was Lane’s decision to jump to the new company. He extended himself without redefining himself, and he paid the price.

Lane Pryce’s character was weak. He won’t be missed. His departure is the right move for Mad Men heading into the Season 5 finale.

Thanks for joining me! See you next week for Mad Men‘s Season 5 finale.

11:03pm: While taking Matthew Weiner’s creepy son back to school, Don asks him what he’d do if he could do anything. The answer: drive Don’s car. Given Lane’s attempt to drive drunk earlier, Glen is the safest driver in tonight’s episode.

11:00pm: The SCDP crew, despite being told by the police not to disturb Lane’s body, have disturbed Lane’s body. They also take a note on his body, which is just a simple resignation letter. Lane can’t even do goodbyes right.

10:59pm: Don, Roger, and Pete break into Lane’s office and see his body hanging from the ceiling. Considering Sally’s maturation into womanhood earlier, this is the second-worst visual on Mad Men tonight.

10:58pm: Bert Cooper informs Don and Roger that Lane Pryce hanged himself.

10:57pm: JJ and Sally Draper, something, something. Lane’s dead!

10:56pm: Lane appears to have died. So who gets his racing green Jaguar?

10:55pm: Joan: “I think something’s terribly wrong in Mr. Pryce’s office.” A little understated, but she’s not a copy editor, so…

10:54pm: Joan attempts to get in Lane’s office, but it’s blocked by a chair.

10:53pm: Another Mad Men commercial break observation: We’re getting a Foxwoods ad in New England, and it sure makes gambling seem like the avocation of young, pretty people. That’s exactly how I remember Foxwoods at 11am on a Monday morning.

10:51pm: Off-topic during the commercial break: Bing search is now positioned as how “search goes social.” But what if my group of friends all use Google for search and Facebook for social? Do we really want another layer in between us and information?

10:49pm: JJ triumphantly calls Megan and celebrates Sally’s period, stating that “she just needed her mother.” Actually, JJ, Sally needed any female authority figure, and Megan was out at auditions, so you continue to be her second choice.

10:48pm: Sally heads back to JJ and Henry Francis after getting her period. She takes a cab back from Manhattan at a $25 fare, which is $171.48 in 2012 dollars per Dollar Times, my favorite inflation calculator.

10:47pm: Don to Dow Corning: “What is happiness? It’s a moment before you need more happiness.” So…why be happy?

10:46pm: Don to Dow Corning: success is temporary. As evidence, he cites the Vietnam War. This is a good start at a pitch meeting.

10:45pm: Ken’s father-in-law is taking Don to the woodshed in his Dow Corning meeting for his anti-tobacco letter.

10:42pm: Hey, it’s an Audi commercial. I’m guessing Jaguar didn’t want to advertise after Lane’s failed effort to start the car.

10:40pm: Sally is becoming a lady in the museum’s ladies’ room, and AMC decided we should see visual evidence of her maturation. Not necessary.

10:39pm: Matthew Weiner’s creepy son is less creepy and more boring. He just called Sally a “little sister.” Borrrrr-innnnng.

10:38pm: So Sally and Matthew Weiner’s creepy son, two teenagers interested in each other, alone in an apartment, decide to leave and go to a museum. Courtship was different in the 1960s.

10:37pm: It’s Monday morning and everyone’s getting ready for meetings. Sally’s meeting Matthew Weiner’s creepy son, Don and Roger are meeting Dow Corning, and Megan is meeting rejection at her next audition.

10:36pm: Lane goes into the office late on Sunday night to type a letter. Perhaps it’s his suicide note?

10:35pm: Sally Draper invites Matthew Weiner’s creepy son to Don and Megan’s apartment in the city. I sense an educational opportunity.

10:34pm: Lane’s trying to off himself inside his Jaguar through carbon monoxide poisoning, but he can’t get the Jaguar to start. He can’t even succeed in killing himself.

10:33pm: Sally Draper just poured a metric ton of sugar into her coffee.

10:32pm: Laura on Megan’s makeup: “She doesn’t look good with a skin-tone lipstick.” I confirm.

10:31pm: Lane is sober now on Sunday morning after getting drunk two days in a row. I think it’s Sunday. I’m as sure as Lane is of the date.

10:30pm: Commercial break. John Malkovich loves Portuguese sausage. This and many other insights, courtesy of Siri.

10:28pm: Lane vomits in the parking garage, due to some combination of alcohol abuse and financial abuse. Lane’s wife appears to still give him the keys.

10:27pm: Lane’s wife bought a Jaguar? And she’s giving her clearly inebriated husband the keys to the car?

10:26pm: Lane returns home to see his wife waiting on him for dinner. Can Lane even afford to go to dinner?

10:25pm: Megan complains to Don about how awful a person he is. Don responds by telling Megan that he had to fire Lane, mainly because Lane is a worse person than Don is.

10:24pm: Don arrives home to Sally on his couch, watching TV. Why does Don work? Does he even care about his family? He just let Sally cancel school because his meeting’s more important. Again, parenting in the 1960s is complicated.

10:23pm: Ken to Roger: “I don’t want a partnership. I’ve seen what’s involved with it.” But beyond that, he won’t stand in the way of SCDP getting the business of Ken’s father-in-law.

10:22pm: In lieu of firing Ken, Roger attempts to get him out of the way by asking him not to pick up the phone when his father-in-law picks up the phone.

10:21pm: Sally lands on Megan’s doorstep. Megan is nervous.

10:20pm: Don tells Roger to fire Ken Cosgrove if he won’t leverage his family for SCDP’s benefit.

10:19pm: Roger to Don: “You used to love “no.” “No” used to get you…[motivated?].”

10:18pm: Don to Roger: “I don’t want Jaguar, I want Chevy.” I prefer Ford.

10:17pm: Hey, it’s http://keepamc.com right before the Mad Men break. Interesting.

10:15pm: Is Lane going to jump out the window? I’ve always wanted to use “defenestrate” in a entertainment context.

10:14pm: Lane makes a lewd comment to Joan, because now he can.

10:13pm: Wow, no commercial break? That was too tense.

10:12pm: Don to Lane: “I’ve started over a lot.” It’s easier to start over when you invent a storyline, of course.

10:11pm: Lane to Don: “What will I tell my wife?” Well, hold on now — doesn’t Lane’s wife hate America and want to return to England? This works well for everyone! And Don will cover the amount that Lane embezzled. This is a tidy bow.

10:10pm: Lane to Don, angrily: “I have operated on a loss for three years!” Don to Lane: “I can’t trust you.”

10:09pm: Don asks for Lane’s resignation. Don to Lane: “You embezzled funds and you forged my signature.” Well…yep. Lane is now crying.

10:08pm: Don and Lane are now speaking about the embezzlement. Lane denies that he embezzled it initially, but Don is a good liar and therefore knows a good liar. Don asks Lane repeatedly if the check is the only one, and Lane fires back by stating that the Christmas bonus cancellation “was his money.”

10:07pm: The bomb drops! Bert Cooper, of all people, discovers Lane’s embezzlement and assumes that Don gave him a Christmas bonus. Here we go!

10:05pm: Sally Draper is arguing with January Jones about wearing sweaty boots. JJ threatens to lock Sally in a trunk, then calls Don and asks for permission to strangle her. Parenting in the 60s was complicated.

10:04pm: The SCDP partners are meeting sans danish, then start discussing whether they’re willing to switch their payment structure. The danish would have made the discussion more interesting.

10:03pm: Lane is about to get an unpaid position as the financial lead for a professional association (the 4 As?). He’s successfully embezzled before, so here’s another chance!

10:01pm: Don meets a rival at the barbershop. The rival praises Don for winning the Jaguar account, but fails to mention the real winner – Don’s hair.

10:00pm: It’s time for Mad Men! Let’s see who sells out this week.

9:57pm: In more predictions about The Killing, I bet the killer is the Canadian who was on Tilt, ESPN’s hit poker drama in 2005. Tilt‘s tagline: “You’re playing poker. They’re playing you.” I usually play blackjack.

9:54pm: I’ve now been briefed on the plot of The Killing and I’ve learned that Duck Phillips did the right thing by letting Detectives Mr. and Mrs. Killing check in the key evidence. This makes up for the his behavior at the Clios.

9:50pm: Duck Phillips is on The Killing! He’s gone from being an alcoholic ad man in New York to a police lieutenant in Seattle. Is that an upgrade?

9:41pm: The shark jumps back in the water this week on Mad Men. Joan Harris has returned back to the office, with gossip abounding about why she received her partnership. Of course, if someone else were on the receiving end of a partnership, Joan would lead the gossip hounds, which is exactly why it’s still odd that she would sell herself into the role. Maybe she felt vulnerable financially, maybe she felt her youth slipping away, or maybe she felt that an abrupt 180-degree turn on her character made sense. If so, then I wish she (or the writers) would explain her motivation, because absent that, last week still seems like it’s non-canon.

This week’s episode promises genuine character development, as Sally Draper will be “going out.” If she’s going out like a regular teenager in the 1960s, it’ll be a pleasant night of movies and milkshakes. If her shark jumps like Joan’s did, she’ll probably drop acid and swim to Manhattan. Anything can happen now on Mad Men.

See you at 10:00pm Eastern!