Round One

MR. PICKLES

VS

MADAM SECRETARY

 

SEE THE BRACKET AT challonge.com/popfilter

Ahhh…fall is back. When the leaves change color, children are buying new stencil sets for their stencil classes, and a nation of television watchers mildly prays for mediocrity. Please, oh please, at least just give us mediocrity.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Greatest Event in Television History, Moral Orel, NTSF: SD: SUV, Rick and Morty, Childrens’ Hospital, The Eric Andre Show, Metalocalypse, Newsreaders, The Venture Bros. This is just a small sampling of the shows that the PopFilter staff watches and recommends wholeheartedly. I’m writing this as proof that there’s no anti-Adult Swim agenda here, despite the fact that they have had two shows trounced by us in the last couple of days. I don’t think that it simply boils down to the fact that Adult Swim has an audience they are looking for, and I don’t fit in it. I think it’s even simpler, and much more accurate, to say that Adult Swim is capable of hitting game winning home runs, but when they swing and miss, everyone in the stadium gets windburn.

Mr. Pickles is the story of a dog who has the power of Satan. Or something. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that someone thought that that premise was so brilliant that there was no need for jokes or coherent storytelling. As you watch this dog run around fucking with the townspeople – people so horrible they deserve everything this dog can throw at them and more – you begin to wonder if you’re one of the townspeople, and the way that Mr Pickles is fucking with you is by making you watch this show.

And then we have that sweet, sweet blast of mediocrity we were praying for. Madam Secretary is everything you’ve come to kind of know and barely like in a CBS drama. It’s simple, it’s formulaic, and it’s just barely entertaining enough to make you say “I’ll never watch this again,” but in a way that you’re not upset about. This makes casting Tea Leoni as the titular secretary one of the most ingenious moves of the fall. Tea Leoni is no one’s favorite actress, but they are never sorry to see her. They don’t mind that her range is small, or it sometimes feels like she isn’t trying, because she’s just naturally talented enough. She comes in, does her job, and no one complains or falls in love.*

 

*All of these things also describe Madam Secretary, in case you were wondering.

 

I’d be surprised if Madam Secretary has the chops to make it out of round two, but in a first round filled with demonic dog shit, she wins in a landslide.

 

NEXT UP:

FOREVER VS SCORPION