August 2008 Archive

In the summertime, when flipping on the TV means exposing oneself to a depressing array of bad reality programs and reruns, obsessive fans of some of the best shows on TV can find comfort on the internet. A small trend of brilliant fan-fiction-y blogs is on the rise, and they will keep even the most fanatical TV viewers entertained until September.

All the Sad Young Gossip Girls is one such blog. Its format, similar to that of Found magazine, features (fictional) notes, lists, forms, boarding school applications, Facebook pages and other pieces of ‘evidence’ about Gossip Girl characters, with each post extrapolating on a plotline or character. It is truly a masterpiece of fan fiction, and also an interesting extension of the show’s premise, which itself revolves around a blog.

Similarly, a crop of Mad Men-inspired blogs have recently begun, all in Q&A format. Each blog is told from the perspective of a Mad Men character: there’s What Would Roger Sterling Do?, which quotes the slick, slimy old boss of the Sterling Cooper ad agency, and What Would Don Draper Do?, which dispenses the wisdom of the agency’s troubled creative director.

Then, there’s What Would Joan Do?, told from the perspective of Joan Holloway, the agency’s resident femme fatale/objectified woman. Joan’s blog is particularly funny because she (having been around the proverbial block a time or two) is known for often dispensing advice to the office’s more naive secretaries. The blog really captures her matter-of-fact tone and is sprinkled with some of her best lines from the show in response to queries like “What’s the best cigarette a lady can smoke?”

Even though Mad Men has (mercifully) begun its new season already, the Mad Men advice blogs are still a funny, fun counterpart to the show for die-hard fans. (I maintain this despite the fact that NY Magazine seems to think this trend has already lost its freshness)

The point of these blogs is (like the shows themselves) nothing but frothy, frivolous entertainment. But they do manage to maintain (or perhaps even heighten) fan interest over the long, boring summer, which is no small feat.