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[firstVIEW.com]


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We are still in the throes of turkey and carb overload-induced coma while simultaneously attempting to gear ourselves up for what we hope is a mere toe-dip into Black Friday madness, and since this was a pretty disjointed episode that recycled a lot of the same old conflicts, we're only up for bullet points and videos. We figure that's all you're up for too. Ready? Go.

- Except there are no videos. Boo to Fox, who apparently is protecting its property vigorously. It gets harder and harder to find decent embeddable performance clips from each episode, and this week we couldn't find any at all, unfortunately.

- It says something about the quality of the episode that we're not particularly upset about Bullet Point # 1. There just weren't any kickass musical numbers. Sure, "Papa Don't Preach" was cute (and Quinn's best vocal performance yet) and so was "True Colors," if only for the long-overdue Tina solo. Her voice was perfectly suited for the song. That Hair + Beyonce mashup was funny - especially the deaf kids' reaction to it - but it's not like we were humming it the next day, which was kind of the point, we guess.

- But what really kind of made us uncomfortable was the "Imagine" number. They were clearly going for the lump-in-the-throat effect (and to be fair, they got it from us, a little bit), but we couldn't help thinking how rude it was for the New Directions kids to jump in uninvited. And it struck us as a little bit of a copout on the creators' part. If you wanted us to tear up over the deaf choir, then have the bravery to give them the spotlight on their own.

- "It's like cool epilepsy." lines like this, along with characters like the pick-pocketing Aphasia, are what keep the show from skirting too far into Hallmark Channel sweetness. The occasional political incorrectness of the show is, for us, a selling point and to its credit, it's applied equally to all the characters, from the pregnant head of the chastity club to the scheming bitchy queen, plotting to trick his unrequited love into loving him.

- Having said that, there's no denying that the show definitely has a problem with its female characters. Terri, her sister Kendra, Quinn, Sue Sylvester, Rachel - they're all either batshit crazy or scheming bitches, usually both. It's to the credit of Jane Lynch and Jessalyn Gilsig that they can find the comedy in their characters, but it's episodes like this one that illustrate just how pervasive it is on the show.

- And speaking scheming queens, we have to give it up for Kurt, who got some of the best lines of the night.


It could be argued that Kurt's character is a cliche and a tragic one at that, but like we said, it's a little refreshing that the gay character can be as politically incorrect as any of the other ones and they've built up enough goodwill by showing us various sides of the character in previous episodes, so we don't mind it at all.

- In case it wasn't obvious, this was clearly not our favorite episode of the season. All the plotlines feel like well-trod ground at this point. Don't get us wrong, it's always an hour bound to get you to laugh at least once and enjoy at least one musical number, but this one was a bit of a letdown.

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Kittens, we couldn't wait to see last night's episode. Not because we were anxious to see what happened next; we already knew what happened next thanks to a screener sent to us by those lovely folks at Warner Brothers. The reason we couldn't wait is because the screener was a rough cut sans special effects (with some unintentionally hilarious results) and we were eager to see what the engine room and the V armada looked like. Well, now we know. Kinda cool that the Vs fly in V formation.

It's all coming together a little bit more. We can't say we know exactly what the Vs are planning, but they clearly built their plan banking on human fears and paranoia. You have to remember that this isn't a strict remake of the original V so it's not a foregone conclusion that they want to eat us. It looks to us like whatever the plan is, it's a bit more complicated than that.

So what do we know? We know that they're sucking humans further and further into relying on them to "save" them, by opening up "medical centers" where they can magically treat a host of ailments that we backwards humans haven't conquered. We know that they've been secretly experimenting on humans and that they plan on introducing a drug they call R6 into a common flu vaccine. We know that Valerie is pregnant with a little V hybrid and that Chad is dying (or was fooled into thinking he is). We know that Georgie is a loose cannon and a pain in the ass and we know that we won't shed a tear when he gets killed. We also know that Tyler is an idiot and we also won't shed a tear whenever he finds out how he's been used by the Vs. Whatever else Tyler is, he's "The One" and we don't think Lisa means her future husband when she calls him that. We know that "The Bliss" entails Anna acting out her own little Chanel No. 5 commercial for the V population, which makes us think she's as much a religious figure as she is a political one to her people - and that makes her far more dangerous and powerful than we originally thought. We know that Father Jack really is Action Priest and we know that Erica, for all her other good points, is kind of a lousy mother. We also know that there are cute gay Vs.

Okay, maybe that last one was just us. But did anyone else get a "I wish I could quit you" vibe from Fifth Columnist Joshua and his little compatriot, who sacrificed himself for the good of the movement? There were an awful lot of longing glances between them, wouldn't you say?

Thankfully, the creators realized that they needed to step up their game and they did so with this episode. We still see problems (and apparently so do they, hence, the hiatus): Erica needs work, the show needs to rethink its style, and the dialogue is sometimes painfully clunky, but the tension level rose dramatically with several major plot advancements and some juicy cliffhangers. How long is Ryan going to let Valerie think she's carrying a normal baby? Now that Erica knows her idiot son is in tight with the Vs, what will she do about it? Will Father Jack live? Of course he will, but now the Vs know who he is and that can't be good. Will Chad become a full-on V supporter after they save his life? What is R6? And what happens when that V armada shows up in our solar system? And the one that they're going to drag out as long as they can: Who is John May?

We know this: we can't wait for the show's return in March.


[Pictures courtesy of ABC TV]


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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted their first State Dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur of India.

Michelle Obama wore a one-of-a-kind gown designed by Indian-born designer Naeem Khan.



Knocked that one out of the park, wouldn't you say? It's a gorgeous dress and the big earrings and bangles really set it off. Love the hair, but not so in love with the makeup, which, curiously, doesn't look, shall we say, expertly applied. Visible lip liner is a big no. But that's really only noticeable in the closeups. Minor complaint though, because all eyes would only naturally be on that dress and rightfully so. She looks stunning.









[Photos: Getty Images - Video: YouTube/MsMamaobama]


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We love this dress and we think she looks great. Obviously, that means IN. Lorenzo isn't nuts about the tights but Tom doesn't mind them. We're both in agreement that she shouldn't have altered the straps the way she did. It's supposed to be all about lines radiating out from a central point and she almost ruined the effect by eliminating one of the straps. Still, a minor complaint. It's an eye-catching dress and she's rocking it. Love the hair too.



[Photos: WireImage/Style.com]


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An illustration of what well-placed curves can do for a dress. She looks way better than the model.


We like it much better without the belt but the shoes are way too matchy-match.



Feh. It's alright, we guess.


Cute. Nothing earth-shattering. We kind of dig the "'40s bathing costume" vibe of it.




Looks like a trashbag and the shoes make her look awfully stumpy.



Pretty, but a bit too formal and ethereal for the event. Oh, and Nicole? Lay off the flat iron for a bit. That hair looks tortured.



Way too much dress. She looks a little like a wedding invitation.


Yawn. Did you hear us? YAWN.


Very cute. Love the sandals.



We got a lot of emails about this one last night. Most people thought it was a version of Carol Hannah's Bryant Park dress:



But CH herself twittered last night that it wasn't hers. We'd love to know who the designer was because that's close enough to be called a ripoff. The shorts don't help the look.


Note from Carol-Hannah:

"My first thought was "SHORTS??!!"

I don't know what to say about this. I'm generally one to give the benefit of the doubt, but there's an awful lot of shady vibes coming from this given the timing, etc. It's one thing to be copied (potentially)...but a whole other issue when copied poorly.

I would absolutely LOVE to talk to her stylist."



[Photos: WireImage/Style.com]


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This is downright demur for Heidi. Sure it's tight and it's short and it's got a little bit of shiny, but it's for the most part a toned-down look for her. This is an IN for no other reason than her superior German genetics. The bitch gave birth less than two months ago.




Ahh, now there's the tacky milk maid we all know and love. For her second look, she ditched the short and played up the tight and shiny. Is this a classy dress? Not on your life. But it's a Victoria's Secret after party and Mrs. Samuel has reached an age where she has to prove that she's still got the goods. In a different venue this might have come across a little tacky and desperate but this dress has one purpose: it's a walking advertisement for the glory that is Heidi Klum Samuel's body and on that level it's an unapologetic IN. We just don't like the asymmetrical hem and the little gloves with the finger armor.


[Photos: WireImage]


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Congratulations! You can finally tell the world you won.
I know, it’s been a long time in the making.

How was it, you know, having to keep it a secret for so long, especially being the winner?
I sort of just went back to my own world and kind of pretended it didn’t happen yet. It happened, but it didn’t happen for everyone else, so I kept it in the back of my mind.

Were you worried that this season wasn’t going to even air with all the legal issues going on? Did that bother you?
It did, because it was uncertain for a while, we didn’t know if it was even going to air. It was a little bit depressing after all this work and effort we all put into, you know, this might not even go anywhere.

That’s true, we even felt that when we attended the shows at Bryant Park. Was it tough to have to hide backstage and not be able to take credit for your collection?
It was, but you know what? At that point we were so happy that we were at least showing, everyone showed up, things were still rolling as usual. I personally wish we could have had introduced ourselves, but that was on the backburner of my mind, it didn’t really bother me that much at the moment.

Speaking of introductions, when did you tape that fake introduction?
It was taped very early when we first got there without an audience and then they added everything through the magic of television. Somehow, they made it look like we actually introduced ourselves.

Your father got very emotional when you won. Was that a cool thing to see?
Totally, he was so proud and so happy. It was definitely a very emotional moment.

Did you ever doubt you were going to win? It was clear to us when we saw the collections that you had by far the best one.
There were moments when I doubted and there were moments when I didn’t, it was sort of back and forth. The judges play so many tricks on you. They’ll say something nice and then something negative. You’re like, “Stop, messing with me, tell me like it is and let’s get this over with.” I was happy with what I presented at Bryan Park. I definitely felt that I got my point of view across. I knew it was strong, no matter what would’ve happened, I knew I had put together a strong collection.

Michael Kors was right when he said that you had the best sense of showmanship. Is that something you had in mind when you put your collection together?
Absolutely, it’s a show. Especially when it comes to Bryant Park, people want to see a show. I did keep that in mind, I definitely wanted to make it dramatic. It’s like when you go see a great movie, you want to leave with that sense that you’re taking something away from it. It leaves an impression and that’s something I definitely thought about.

One thing we noticed was that your collection was a little different than what you presented throughout the competition, was that deliberate?
Throughout the competition we get assignments that are so specific, we go to one fabric store with a very limited selection and then Heidi says to do whatever you want with $9,000 and you have a lot more time to think about what you want to do. That’s why it looks so much more polished and something that I could identify with a lot more, instead of challenge by challenge, especially in the beginning. It took a while to get used to the whole situation.

I’ve been saying all day today that I have so much more respect for every Project Runway contestant. It really takes such a brave person to do this sort of competition, to bare your soul every day and work like there’s no tomorrow and it’s intimidating standing in front of those judges under the spotlight, whether it’s good or bad criticism, it’s still intimidating.

You were very brave to disagree with Nina on the “too much black” issue, considering that she was one of the judges.
I’ve been a little rebellious all my life, I always do what I want to do, but this was for a good reason. It kind of evolved into being mostly a black collection because it was such a play on texture and leathers and the knits…I felt that adding color would take away from all the craftsmanship. I didn’t think it needed color.

That didn’t bother us. The knits were fantastic. Did you do them yourself?
I did with the help of one my favorite teachers at Parsons. She actually taught me how to knit and crochet, well, most of the crochet I forgot. That was the last extra thing she taught me. I made up all the patterns, knitted them in pieces, I would have a question with the stitch and then she would show me how to decrease and all these things I had forgotten since school and I needed a little bit of guidance.

We have a lot of readers who knit or crochet and they were so excited to see so much of that among the Season 6 designers. Is that a craft you always keep in mind when designing a collection?
I do. I’ve always loved knitwear. One of the things that was strong when I graduated is that I had a very strong knitwear portfolio. I sold a lot of knit swatches to people for inspiration, so that was a big thing, and I knew that was going to be one of the things I was going to really focus on. I don’t know if you guys could see it, but some of the pieces had so many different combinations of knit, they were really detailed, it was a lot work.

You said that your inspiration was Coney Island, but we also saw a lot of military, warrior influences.
It fell a little bit into that, but that wasn’t the focus, I didn’t want a military collection. I wanted a collection that is about NY, inspired by NY, feeling vulnerable, sort of what it takes to survive as a woman and still feel fragile and also tough; it’s OK to be both.

The felt hats were gorgeous.
I knew I wanted headwear, I love accessories, handbags, hats, shoes…they always make an outfit. I’m sort of an accessories addict. I wanted hats, but I always sure about the style of the hats and I couldn’t find anything in the market that I really liked so I decided to look for patterns, I ordered some supplies online, the chemicals…and I said, you know what? I’m going to give it a try, see what happens. I made one; it’s almost like sculpting, the chemicals make the felt really hard. It’s really great; the whole process is like the traditional way of making hats. Then I made another one and got all excited about it and kept making them, before knew it I had 6, 7 hats. They’re the same, slightly different.

The slashed pants were also hot.
Thank you, those took forever because the metallic matched the black and they had to be appliquéd by hand and then sewn on. It was definitely a very meticulous collection. It required a lot of hand sewing.

The t-shirts had this interesting technique. What was it?
I love play with chemicals. I love figuring out how to change fabrics. The technique is a burnout technique. You have to buy very specific jersey that has just the right amount of cotton and synthetics in it for this burnout to work and it needs to be done at least five times because the chemical is so strong, it would eat right through the t-shirt. The grey one in particular, I had to do it several times because the fabric would just melt with the chemical. You basically apply the chemical, you let it dry, you iron it over and it turns into this brownish yellow, you wash it by hand very delicately and it basically peels off a layer of the fabric. The clouds, for example, that’s the under layer of the material.

Was it hard to get that phone call from Tim and hear him saying that you had to rethink the whole thing because of copyright issues?
It was tough because I wasn’t sure. That was my first go at t-shirts, so I didn’t know the rules and regulations. You see t-shirts in the market and they always have iconic images. With the Coney Island images; that would’ve been OK to use had Lifetime paid for them. I got the image from a vintage postcard from the 60s or 70s and added my own graphic twist to it. It wasn’t straight from the postcard. It was manipulated enough that it was my own image, but they still had to pay for it and that’s something they didn’t want to do. I ended up having to scrap that.

Now for your new idea you did use lines from the NY magazine article “Reasons to Love NY 2008.” Wouldn’t that be copyright infringement as well?
Yes, I did use them, but those were actually from - the funny thing is when I was working on it, I said, "Wow, this is serendipity." I got that article and it wasn’t like one author. They interviewed random New Yorkers; a chef, a messenger…you know, like people you see every day in New York City and they said their favorite things about New York. I did include one of my own lines, which was “Because it loves me back.” I thought what better than just sort of throw all that in there because this is New York, all these different opinions. Everyone experiences the city so differently.

We think the issue with our readers, and the viewers of the show, is that you never brought that up as your source of inspiration. We never heard you saying something like “I was reading this article…” That never came up.
Because it was all edited out, so many things were edited out; so many nice things were edited out, interactions with each other, but you know, that’s their right to edit it the way they want to.

Did it bother you to get the Meana Irina editing?
It didn’t. I thought it was kind of comical at first. Listen, it’s a show, it has to be fun, it has to be creative. It didn’t bother me. I was pretty assertive on the show. In real life I’m not as blunt, the stress and the exhaustion does that to you, you tend to not beat around the bush.

We were loving it; at least some excitement.
I saw it, I got Miss Congeniality quite a few times [laughs].

So, what’s next for Irina?
As soon as I'm done with the festivities, I’m going to dive right into creating fall 2010 and I’ll be showing in New York Fashion Week. I’m really hoping to grow my brand, maybe home and other areas. I’m definitely going to get a show room in the near future and even a store.

Fantastic! You’re very talented and we wish you good luck. Thank you so much, Irina.
Thank YOU guys.


Related: Irina Shabayeva's Final Collection [ProjectRungay]


[Photos: myLifetime.com]


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We desperately wanted a chance to interview Deborah Lacey, who plays the Drapers' maid Carla, before the season ended. It took a little longer because of some scheduling issues, but we finally got a chance to do so this week. We could have asked the AMC peeps for a chance to interview just about anyone in the cast, but we really wanted to shine a spotlight on her because there's something about her quiet, dignified portrayal that riveted us and we were curious to hear her thoughts on the character, the times, and the show itself. She is very warm and interesting and easy to talk to and we had a wonderful conversation that went in all kinds of unplanned-for directions. It was honestly one of the most rewarding interviews we've ever done.

Part of the reason we wanted to talk to you specifically is because of your portrayal of Carla and how you do so much with the little that you’re given to work with.
Thank you. And it looks like people are getting what I’m trying to do with Carla.

We think so. Even though Carla got maybe two dozen lines all season, it always seems like the focus is pulled over to her in every scene she's in.
Wow, thank you. That sounds good!

Now that we’ve buttered you up, what do you think of Carla? Who is she?
I see her as very dignified, probably has some kind of interest in education. She’s interested in politics in the world. She’s very loving and caring. She has her own strengths. She’s definitely deserving of equality. She has a lot of sense. At least, that’s how I’m hoping I’m portraying her.

Were you given any background or information about Carla from the show’s writers or creators?
No.

Did you fill it in yourself?
I pretty much kind of made her a general type of character. No ideas where she comes from or what she does when she leaves the Draper house, but I have certain ideas in my heart about her and who she is when I’m playing her.

Does she have kids, in your mind?
I think she does. I don’t know that, but I think her loving spirit for these children comes from a loving place. I think she understands children; I think she understands raising children. I think that’s why she has patience with children. I think she has children of her own, yeah.

We think she understands marriage very well too. One of our favorite Carla scenes was from last season when she told Betty, “Splash a little cold water on your face and go outside.”
Exactly.

So what do you think Carla thinks of the Drapers' marriage? She sees all of this drama play out and she never says anything.
I think it’s a human experience. I think she knows what they’re going through and I think she knows what married couples go through when they’re not faithful to each other and the marriage is not a priority. I think she respects both of them equally – and she respects her job – so she’s not going to get in the middle of anything. But I don’t think their marriage is the kind of marriage that she would have. There was some reference to her going to church every Sunday, so I think she has a more spiritual foundation where she respects marriage more than what the Drapers are doing. So she pretty much stays silent and not involved.

Do you think she, for lack of a better word, do you think she judges them? Because an awful lot of bad stuff played out right in front of Carla. How much of an opinion does she have about who’s right or wrong in that marriage?
Well, I think from a woman’s perspective, she may have a little more sympathy for Betty. I mean, that’s how I feel about it. When I reached out to her in that scene you were talking about, it was like a woman-to-woman type of thing. She offered her friendship to her from a woman’s point of view. I think she still respects who Don Draper is because he’s still paying the bills. I don’t think she has an opinion as to who’s right or wrong because she knows her place and she doesn’t want to get fired.

It’s interesting that you use the phrase “knows her place,” because that leads us to our next question. As an African-American actress in 2009, is it difficult to play a pre-civil rights maid?
You know, I get that question a lot and the answer is of course; of course it is. The reason why I can play Carla the way I do and give her the dignity that she has is because the set is so wonderful. The other actors treat me with all the respect and regard that they give to each other, so I never feel like I’m less than anybody else in my real life.

And also, my mother was a maid in the ‘60s. My mother was the maid for Bob Denver in the ‘60s. So in order for me to play her, I called my mother and got a good sense of her relationship with Bob’s wife and how they loved each other. They were very good friends. I based Carla on that relationship in terms of being equal and open to a friendship and always knowing that there was a paycheck involved, and with the times involved there was a line that you just didn’t cross. So I had kind of a personal feeling about it and I wanted to be more than something stereotypical that other people might have seen. I just wanted her to be something different.

Has your mother seen your portrayal?
She’s seen it a couple times but she’s not really into television. She talks to me about it all the time because I’m always telling her when I’m on. But she doesn’t really appreciate television all that much. She’s older; she just turned 90 in June. So she’s a little bit into her own things, she knits and stuff, but we have conversations about Carla all the time. She likes that I’m playing Carla.

You have an awful lot of experience on television. How does Mad Men differ from those other shows?
Well, it’s a period thing, so that makes a difference, going back to that period. Because they’ve researched it so much I really feel like I’m reliving that history. So that’s an opportunity that I never had before, feeling like I’m part of a real place.

And there’s the costumes, which just add to that feeling of being in a different time. Most of the things I’ve done are current characters. I would say the biggest difference is adjusting to the different times and being that person in history. And the wardrobe helps with that. You know, they’re being very authentic to everything in this period.

Right down to the underwear?
[Laughs] Absolutely. Yep.

Do you feel a little left out that you don’t get to wear the fabulous clothes that the other women get to wear?
I feel very left out! And I’m telling you, Carla has another life! She lets her hair down and she’s probably singing at some club somewhere; a whole totally different persona.

Hopefully, we’ll get to see that next season.
Yeah! There’s got to be more of her. I think she’s an attractive woman. I think when she lets her hair down that she’s appealing. So I think there’s another life there. I would LOVE to do that. I have five older sisters who grew up in the sixties and I looked at a lot of their clothes and pictures and they had these beautiful flip hairdos with bangs. That’s how I see Carla.

Our favorite Carla moment this season was the moment when she found out JFK was dead. When she sat down on that couch and took that cigarette from Betty, she seemed very human and it felt like the barriers had dropped and just for that moment she wasn’t Betty’s employee.
Exactly. Well, thank you. That’s exactly what I was going for. The director was really good and very specific. His direction was, “You don’t care about anything; you don’t care about those kids; you just want to get in there and find out what’s going on.” So that’s what I did. Again, that was a moment when I could let people know who Carla is outside of this house. I had a hard time trying to light that cigarette and make it real because I don’t smoke and I’ve never smoked. I never even played a character that smokes. I was totally all thumbs in the rehearsal trying to figure it out. At one point they just said “Okay, forget the cigarette,” but I knew that it was a moment that I could take advantage of to make Carla look more real. So I said, “No, no. I can do it.” So I worked on it and it worked. I had a couple of people who called me and said they loved that moment.

That comes from a personal experience. My mother talked about when Kennedy died and how affected my family, my father, people and friends at church. I mean, we loved him. People were saying to me in my own family how hard they took it and how they cried. We shared the grief that the rest of the country shared.

Wasn’t Kennedy in a lot of ways, to coin a phrase, the great white hope at the time, for a lot of African-Americans?
Exactly. We thought that he was sympathetic to civil rights. He was the first president to come along and care and say to the world that equality is important; segregation is evil. So that dialogue opened up with him. And that was true of all the Kennedys. Even Ted Kennedy, I loved how he spoke of equality.

I remember Ted, before he passed away, there was an interview where he talked about one of his sons asked him why he left money on the counter in the bathroom when they were leaving. And he said “Well, there’s someone who’s going to come in here and clean up after us and that person has a family and deserves a decent wage.” I thought that was beautiful. To me, it gave me something to give Carla more dignity. Real moments like that to relate to real people. Even if they’re in the role of a servant, they’re human beings. They deserve your respect. So I keep that with me when I’m playing Carla.

How do you feel about how the show deals with the burgeoning civil rights movement of the time? Because for the most part, it’s seen through the eyes of white characters.
I’m hoping that if they stay true to the period, there’s no way they can’t bring that story to the forefront. I mean, that was the turning point for the country. This is ’63, this last season, so depending on when they decide to start next season, I don’t see how they can avoid civil rights.

There was a really nice scene with the elevator operator and Peter from the ad agency and he was trying to get advice from him about the television he uses. Even a simple scene like that showed so much. And then when he went to the client and tried to get them to open up to this whole other market and the client said “Is that legal?” I mean that’s how stupid people were about that kind of thing. I really appreciate how Matt Weiner manages to put in those kinds of scenes, that kind of dialogue. It is their point of view but it’s showing that it’s not always the right point of view.

Aside from talking to your mother, what kind of research did you do for this role?
I went to the library a lot of times and looked through old magazines, read the articles. And like I said, I have five older sisters. Very attractive and very educated women; I have two attorneys in my family, I have a brother who is a director of finance. I have very successful, educated people in my family and they all grew up during the ‘60s. And they knew that they were going to be better than what was being offered to them. A lot of this is where I come from. I come from a very proud people and hopefully I’m making them proud. That’s who Carla is. I’ve given her the type of history that my family comes from. We’re definitely people who were out there marching with Martin Luther King. We’ve always believed in human rights and civil rights and all that. So I looked through their yearbooks and try to relive their lives and experiences. It really is a feeling of reliving history.

Another of our favorite scenes is the one where Carla was listening to Dr. King on the radio and Betty walked in and she turned it off. It was very powerful because Carla didn’t feel like she could even listen to this in front of her employer.
Well, it was no longer her private time. This was what I mean about respecting the space. My mother gave me tips about that. She said she always knew where the line was that she couldn’t cross. She said she was friends with Bob Denver’s wife but she always knew that she worked for her. She always knew that she couldn’t get too close unless she was invited. Like that scene you were talking about when Carla tried to offer advice to Betty and realized she’d gone over that line and walked away and said “I’m sorry,” that was exactly what my mother said had happened with her. There was a time when Bob’s wife was talking about something to her and my mother started offering her thoughts and Bob’s wife immediately acted like she didn’t want to hear her talking to her that way. My mother said she just backed up and said “I’m sorry.” Because that’s the thing; I’m very conscious of not making them uncomfortable around me.

It certainly sounds like you have Carla completely fleshed out in your head and that’s part of what makes her so compelling to the audience.
Thank you. Yeah, I do. And one of the best parts is when Matthew said to me last season that he loved what I was doing even when I’m not talking.

Well, Carla definitely doesn’t get enough lines.
[Laughs] I know! But there still has to be a presence there. That comes from my training as an actor. I’ve had some really good training and great acting coaches in my career. There’s always an inner dialogue going on with the character so that her presence is felt.

You know that scene where the women during the fundraiser were talking about segregation? Carla goes to answer the door and she brings in the woman from the governor’s office and there were two women there talking about the south and one woman says something like, “My husband says they’re not living in 1963; they’re living in 1863,” and laughs. And Carla walks up right at that moment. I deliberately timed that so the audience can see that these were the kinds of conversations that were happening in our presence and we just had to keep working. That’s what I mean when I talk about having a presence.

When the strike happened when all the maids stopped working during the bus strike, when Martin Luther King called for that, I mean that was a powerful time in history. And it showed the dignity that these people really did have. When they had a chance to speak up, they did. I’m very proud of that part of my history. My own mother was a part of that history. And I love my mother. I think she’s one of the proudest people I know. And she’s given dignity and pride in my life.

And I’m very proud of Matt because he’s never asked me to do anything that I would feel uncomfortable about and he’s always told me that he’s very happy with what I’m doing; he’s never told me I’m going in the wrong direction with her or anything like that. Just the opposite, in fact. This season he told me that he didn’t even realize what a good actress I was when he hired me. I appreciated that.

Do you think Carla has any anger?
Oh, yeah. Of course. Of course she does. How can she not have anger in this period? Anger for the situation and feeling less than other people. I’m sure she goes home and has somebody to vent to, absolutely. I think that’s where a lot of my presence, when I need to be strong, comes from; being able to get angry.

Carla had a great moment with Betty’s father when he mistook her for his maid and she snapped at him to the effect of “We’re not all the same.” That was a moment where we got to see just a little of Carla’s anger.
Exactly. And the fact that she assumed that he was thinking she stole the money in that episode.

Is there ever a moment where playing Carla really weighs on you and you go home and feel a little down about it?
Yeah, there is. I’ve actually cried, like the day we shot the scene where she was listening to Martin Luther King’s sermon for the girls in Birmingham. I mean, we were listening to the actual sermon. It’s really difficult for me to hear that this type of thing was going on and not feel a lot of pain about it. I definitely felt heavy and I felt sorry for my people, sorry that we had to go through this. And then you feel grateful that people went through it for you. Because I never experienced it the way that they did. So the struggle that they had to go through gained all the rights that I have today and I don’t take it for granted.

I’m grateful for the people who came before me. I draw on that strength. And I want Carla to have that strength to be able to endure. I think she knows there’s a better future. I hope people can see more than just a maid when they see Carla. That was definitely in the forefront for me when I took this job. I hoped that I could do something with this job that hadn’t been done; to give a woman in this role a real dignity and not be stereotypical in any way. I’m very conscious of not making her a “Yes, ma’am” type of person. Of course women like that existed but I think we’ve seen enough of that side of it.

Well, we definitely think you’ve succeeded in making her a fully rounded character because whenever we read about the show – and we read about it A LOT – it seems to us that many writers go out of their way to point out how important you are in your scenes.
Well, I need to read some of these writers!

We just want to thank you for the interview and we hope that Betty takes Carla along to her new marriage next season.
I hope so too! Thank you so much.

Darlings, in more Mad Men news, we will be sitting in and chatting about all things Mad Men on Live From the Left Coast on San Francisco's Green 960 from 6:00 to 8:00 (Pacific) TONIGHT along with Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant and writer Maria Jacqemetton. And you don't have to be in San Francisco to listen in! You just have to go here.


[Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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Congratulations, Irina! YOU are the winner of the most boring season of PR ever! YAY, you!

Of course, she's reading this thinking "Who the fuck cares if it was boring? I got my 100 grand!" And y'know? She'd be right. It's not her fault the season sucked. Reading over the torches-and-pitchforks comments in T Lounge, you'd think she was solely responsible for everything from the move to L.A. to the move to Lifetime. Bottom line: she had the strongest collection of the three. She earned her win.

Oh, they tried, kittens. Those Bunim/Murray pixies tried their best to wring some drama out of the situation, but only projectile vomiting was going to save this finale and unfortunately, Carol Hannah's antibiotics kicked in in time.

We have said it countless times all season and we're going to say it again, even at the risk of angry pitchfork-wielding virtual villagers accusing us of being Lifetime shills: we are not terribly concerned about the future of the show. Everything bad about this season can be attributed to two things: the move to L.A. and the lawsuit. The latter took care of itself and if they make any noise about setting season 8 in L.A., well... can you say Facebook petition? We'll deal with that when and if it happens.

To be honest, we felt a little sorry for the girls. Despite the UTTERLY RIDICULOUS magical editing and special effects, that day in the tents was not a happy one. We were there. It was morose and depressing and everyone felt it. We knew they'd never show it, but when Heidi came out in her bright pink outfit, even she admitted to the crowd that she was kind of sad about the whole thing.

You have to remember that back in February, no one had any idea if this season was ever going to air at all, let alone what the future of the show was going to be.

We can guar-own-tee that the sadness that everyone felt at the time was partially responsible for Tim's backstage hissy fit. We can't imagine what it must be like to put all this work into something and feel that it might be all for nothing. We're telling you: at the time, in that space, it felt like a funeral for the show.

At least there was Suzy and her amazing gravity-defying hair to provide some momentary entertainment.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and for the ONLY time (and hopefully the LAST time) we sat there bored and watching the clock. We all knew who the likely winner was, we'd all examined the collections ad nauseam. We just wanted it over.

And if they were going to use post production wizardry to make it look like the designers introduced their collections to a cheering crowd, they should have just gone whole hog and had them beam in like in Star Trek.

By the way, the cheering you heard? Never happened. That tent was silent as a tomb.

Freakshow.

Even the judging felt half-assed, like their hearts just weren't in it.

Nina in particular looked like she needed a double espresso.

And their commentary just didn't have the same pop and zing that other finales had. Oh, they said they were excited and it was a wonderful show, but actors they are not and it wasn't remotely believable. We realize such commentary would never see the light of day, but wouldn't it have been great if one of them had said "Man, the Weinsteins really fucked this one up, didn't they?"

But look, none of this takes away from Irina's win, in our minds. She deserved it, end of story. Yeah, she used text on her t-shirts that she shouldn't have used without getting permission for it, but we doubt very much the judges knew that at the time and besides, from their perspective, it wouldn't have mattered. The actual text didn't change the design and it was the design that won her the prize, not the writing. It's up to NY Mag if they want to pursue it but we imagine this is all just gonna blow over in the end.

At least Carol Hannah managed to get a little revenge out of it.

*infect*
*infect*
*infect*

And they all lived happily ever after, puking their guts up for the next 48 hours.

We'll be ripping the collections in our inimitable style in the days ahead, kittens. Count on it.

[Photos: GettyImages/myLifetime.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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Let us all raise a glass and toast the END of the most disappointing season of Project Runway. They tried, god bless 'em, but with the lawsuit and the ill-advised move to L.A., this is the one season of the show that we're all just going to try and forget.

But Season 7 is right around the corner and we remain hopeful, especially since it's back in NYC and Nina and the Duchess are back in their chairs. So let's not be bitter kittens. Let's be optimistic kittens.

Optimistic Kittens will be the name of our band (although we like the sound of Bitter Kittens better).

At any rate, we're going to try and make the best of a bad situation. So, who's gonna win it:
Nerd Girl, Immigrant Girl, or Ohio Girl?

In the end, it's about watching designers struggle to make something beautiful and stylish, so we're just gonna focus on that. It's been so long since we saw these collections that we're actually looking forward to seeing them in motion again.

Here's the preview to get you started:


Oh, and don't forget to look for us in the crowd. We were in row 2 at the end of the runway on the right (if you're facing the PR logo). Alex was there too (along with a slew of PR regulars) but we're not sure where he was sitting.

[Video: myLifetime.com - Photos: PlanetFabulon.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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Sometimes, you just gotta give up the stuff you want in order to get the stuff you need. Last night's episode was sadly Sue Sylvester-free, but in the end we didn't mind because there was big movement on the plot front. So big that we honestly didn't see it coming. Not only do Quinn's Glenn Beck-watching, chastity ball-attending, constantly buzzed parents now know about her pregnancy, but they threw her out of the house, leaving her to live with Finn and his mom and her amazing denim vests. Further, Puck blurted out that he's the father of the baby, except he blurted it out to Mercedes, who had the best intentions but didn't exactly give the best advice as to how to handle it.

Plus there was a cute and funny subplot about Rachel crushing on Will and Terri suffering years of hormonal high school girls going after her husband. In typical Terri style, she figured out a way to make it work for her: by treating the girls as household slaves. And believe it or not, the last girl who had a crush on Will, Suzy Pepper, is played by the same actress who plays Sal Romano's wife Kitty on Mad Men, Sarah Drew. Go look it up. That girl is a chameleon. She was completely unrecognizable last night. The only reason we knew who she was is because Lorenzo has always loved her since her appearance on the late lamented Wonderfalls.

Except for the final highly emotional number, the songs were a little flat this week. "Endless Love" was great but they talked all through it and Cory's "I'll Stand By You" was sweet, but he definitely doesn't have the voice for solos. And while they finally figured out what a mash-up is (not a medley), we didn't think Will's mash-up of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "Young Girl" actually worked. Of course, the second the words "You're having my baby" came out of Finn's mouth at the Fabrays' dinner table, we groaned and covered our eyes. One thing that's notable about the song choices (and to be fair, we didn't notice this until someone - oh, okay: Laura - called us up and pointed it out): they weren't exactly subtle. "Endless Love" leads to a crush, which leads to Rachel wanting to sing "Crush." Finn needs to get the baby out in the open so he sings "Having My Baby." Will is concerned about Rachel's crush so he sings a mash-up of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "Young Girl." Not so much a criticism, just something that we hadn't noticed until it was pointed out to us. Thank god we didn't have to suffer through Kurt's proposed rendition of "I Honestly Love You."

So yeah, we were nearing the close of the hour a little disappointed with the musical numbers until the glee club offered up a song that's appeared in one too many movies and phone company commercials to have any sort of emotional impact and yet, there we were, tearing up listening to it. Manipulative? You bet. But isn't that what music is supposed to do, manipulate your emotions?



Once again we have to single out Artie. That kid really does have a fantastic, soulful voice. We loved his version of "Dancing with Myself" last week, but this performance was his best yet. It's just funny to see this skinny white kid open his mouth and have a big soul voice come out. And we can't imagine ever getting tired of Mercedes' crystal clear voice.

Finn and Kurt bonding over their dead parents was sweet and believable, a bond that makes sense for the characters. Unfortunately, Kurt's growing crush is a little painful for us to watch. It's something any gay boy can relate to but most of us didn't take it so far as to try and convince the captain of the football team to give up girls permanently.

Anyway, it was kind of an uneven episode but we didn't care. It was still fun. Let's wrap this up with our favorite quotes along with the rest of the numbers.

"It's a male duck."

"I could totally sing this song with Finn, but screw him if he thinks he's taking the Diana Ross part from me."

"I never noticed this before because he's always trying to ruin my career, but Mr. Schu has really pretty eyes."

"Listen, you little psycho, this is Will's wife, and if I don't get enough sleep my antidepressants won't work and then I'll go crazy and I'll kill you."

"He's cheating off a girl who thinks the square root of 4 is rainbows."

"He'll be crying into my shoulder pads."

"Hey, Barbra Streisand. We need to have a little talk."






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Oh to hell with it. She's Sharon Goddamn Stone. She's a 50-some-odd years old movie star who doesn't give a shit what you think of her and she's wearing something from Dior's foundation garment couture line. That she inexplicably topped it off with a leather trench and fedora only makes her more fabulously insane. She is beyond such classifications as IN or OUT. She's just Sharon, a classification in and of itself.


[Photos: WireImage/Style.com]


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In a way, it's a little frustrating designating ourselves cheerleaders for this show. We're not completely ignorant of the flaws so far, but we like the show in spite of them and because we see a tremendous amount of potential in the concept. There was a hint of a germ of an idea in the pilot when political buzzwords like the deliberately familiar "hope and change" as well as the anvil-heavy "universal healthcare" were tossed around. A lot of people jumped on that and assumed that the show was somehow an anti-Obama tract dressed up as a science fiction show but we think it goes a bit further than that. We touched on this when we wrote about the pilot, but we want to revisit it for a second here to explain why we see such potential.

The original V debuted in the early '80s and we suppose someone could make the argument that it was somehow a response to Reaganism but frankly we think that's a stretch. Anyone with a base understanding of recent history knows that the differences both political and cultural between 2009 and 1983 are vast and we think the show is attempting to play off of that. We live in hyper-politicized times and for all the talk of cold war-era fears being reflected in the television shows and movies of the time, our art has only really tangentially touched on post 9/11 fears, even though we'd argue as people who lived through both periods, the fear of nuclear annihilation was no greater than the current 21st century American fears of terrorism, immigration, economic collapse and environmental degradation. In addition to those fears weighing down on us, we are stuck in the grips of a two-decade long "culture war" that shows no signs of letting up. This is why we think the show has such potential: because it can easily play off of the post-millenial hysteria and use it to give the story more layers and more meaning.

Unfortunately, it's just not quite there yet. We have reason to hope, however. Production on the show was halted after only 4 episodes were completed and the showrunner was replaced. There's a retooling going on at the moment and we hope very much that it happened because someone involved with the show saw the potential that we see. Because of that, these first four episodes have the feel of a prolonged prelude. It's when the show returns in March that we'll really see if the creators involved get what they have on their hands.

Part of what frustrates us about the show is that very few of the characters have any, well...character to them. With the exception of Anna and her daughter (!!!!) Lisa, the rest of the characters have a stock feel to them. Further, the show has no style to it. Everything is shot and art directed in as bland a "network television" style as possible. Take away the aliens and it could easily pass for any basic police procedural on television. In particular, the show suffers terribly from a "Canada passing for New York" aesthetic that sets our teeth on edge.

Another thing that irritates us is that the show doesn't quite have the courage to "go there," to use a phrase. When Ryan had the gun to Cyrus' head last night, we were shouting "Kill him!" Not because we're bloodthirsty but because if you're going to do a story about the potential annihilation of the human race by alien invaders, then you need to take the tension to that level. The literal fate of the world is at stake and everyone who knows that seems to be pussyfooting around quite a bit. It may seem unfair to compare this show to Lost but to our way of thinking, it's unavoidable. Both shows have large ensemble casts and a sci-fi-influenced plotline. The difference is, Lost was never afraid to go there and as the seasons went by, the body count went up and up as the stakes got higher and higher. We need to see that level of intensity here. We need to feel like the stakes really are that high.

None of this is to say that we don't enjoy the show. We do. Immensely. And in fact, we think last night's episode was the strongest yet as multiple plot strands were introduced and existing plot strands moved forward slightly. The creators need to realize what a gold mine they have in Morena Baccarin as Anna. Almost every other actor on the show appears to be struggling a bit to find their character and she alone gives off the impression that she knows her character inside and out. Sure, we love her because she's fabulous and wears fierce clothes, but we also love her because she inhabits the skin of that character (no pun intended) 100%. She's both fabulous and creepy as hell and that's not an easy trick to pull off, especially when you're not dealing with the strongest of scripts. Laura Vandervoort as teen slut V Lisa deserves some credit too. It's funny. We didn't see the "Mother" line coming at all but just before that we were discussing that she was just as fabulous and as coolly creepy as the Anna character is. Now we know why.

Elizabeth Mitchell still seems to be struggling a bit in her role. She needs to be bumped up a bit in the scripts in order to go toe to toe with Anna's character because whether they intended it or not, she is Anna's counterpart in the resistance. This is further illustrated by the fact that her child is about to sleep with Anna's child and if it's anything like the original series, that will result in a hybrid baby, which means both of them will be grandmothers to the same child. Right now, she's a generic TV series FBI agent.

We actually like the work they're doing with Father Jack, who is a bit of a moron when it comes to the spy work he's taken on, but that only makes sense for the character. If he had inexplicably become "Father Jack, Action Priest" overnight, we would have been rolling our eyes. We're glad they finally got the four main characters of the resistance together. We think that took a little long, actually. They shoved so much information at us in the pilot that we assumed every episode was going to move that quickly.

But we're being a little unfair here because like we said, a LOT happened last night. Along with getting the resistance up on its feet, we were treated to several intriguing twists. Number one would be the revelation that Anna is Lisa's mother. Never saw that coming. Also never saw coming the revelation that apparently, there are Fifth Columnists on board the motherships. Is Dale dead? It would make no sense for him not to be, but that's kind of a shame. He had the makings of a great villain. Also, what did Cyrus mean when he talked about being "reconnected" and "the bliss?" And who are the other sleeper agents in the FBI office that Dale mentioned? And how did Ryan seemingly reduce Cyrus into a pile of ash? And how many sleeper agents need to turn on Ryan before he realizes he can't trust the guys? Most importantly of all, who the hell is John May?

It kind of sucks that there's only one episode left before they go on hiatus, but we have to admit, much as we love it, we realize it needs the time to iron out the kinks. Until then, we are of peace. Always.

Photos courtesy of ABC TV

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There's something a little incongruous about a getup that says "Young! Fun! Party!" paired with a mug that says "I'm smiling because my handlers told me to." But it's a cute, fun outfit and she's putting in the effort, so we'll give her an IN.

But wait! There's MORE!




We're not all that crazy about the mullet-esque hairstyle, but the dress is gorgeous and she's rocking it. IN again. Who'd have thought?



[Photos: WireImage/Style.com]


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