Three Ways to Make 'The Carmichael Show' More Carolinian

Note: Since I started working on this post North Carolina has entered center stage of the transgender rights debate.  Naturally these events have slightly influenced the final product.  If you get a chance to see last year's The Carmichael Show episode on the issue I highly recommend it.

With only six episodes in its first season NBC's The Carmichael Show has already become a hit with critics and garnered enough viewers to land a second season with twelve episodes that premiered earlier in March.  At risk of jinxing it, one can't help but compare this success with Seinfeld which launched with a five episode freshman year, returned with twelve before becoming a decade defining cultural phenomenon on NBC.  For many viewers it is also as representative of New York City as any Woody Allen movie and without trying too hard to do so like How I Met Your Mother.  One of the reasons The Carmichael Show has become a favorite of mine (along with the bold, uncompromisingly compromising approach to hot button issues, fantastic performances and wonderful jokes) is that it is set in North Carolina, the home state I share with the show's creator Jerrod Carmichael.  So far in the second season Jerrod's fictional mother has mentioned the capital Raleigh as the site of her hypothetical affair and Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has been sighted twice by characters off-screen at retail stores.  However, if The Carmichael Show is going to represent North Carolina the way Seinfeld represent New York I have a few suggestions.

Cheerwine

That's an Avett Brother referring to Cheerwine

North Carolina is kind of a major player in the history of soda (we call it soda by the way).  Pepsi was invented in New Bern, NC in 1893.  About twenty years later another beverage was created that doesn't have quite the same amount of outreach.  For the most part Cheerwine is almost exclusively available in North Carolina.  This cherry flavored, rich red hued refreshment with the weight of a cool breeze is a staple of pig pickin's and local sporting events.  Let me rephrase that.  This sugary, fruity, colorful nectar, which could just as easily be the official beverage of the LGBTQ community as the people who apparently hate and fear them, is a common sight at social gatherings.  Nothing would confirm The Carmichael Show's setting like the characters drinking from a chilled burgundy can.

An Uneasy Loyalty to the Tobacco Industry

This is from Bull Durham

North Carolina was largely built by tobacco.  It's only rival as the state's main export is cotton and of the two only tobacco is the most deadly plant outside of the evil sentient tree known as Croatoan who ate the entire colony of Roanoke.  Durham is especially reliant on tobacco, earning the Bull City another nickname, Cancer Capital of the Galaxy.  In recent decades humanity has accepted that cigarettes and the ilk are deadly and anyone who uses them does so knowing full well that it could be the thing that kills them.  Of course many places in the United States, particularly the South, have dark spots in their history; slavery, Jim Crow, and now rampant homo/transphobia for instance but so few of those are currently economic necessitates that kill people every day.  Although, that still might not be as bad as forcing the glamorous Laverne Cox to use a filthy men's bathroom, assuming she ever graced the Tar Heel State with her presence.  An episode about a character's struggle to quit smoking would be an easy fit for The Carmichael Show.  If anything it would be too similar to the episode about David Alan Grier's Joe and his adherence to a poor diet in spite of his failing health.

Andy Griffith

I don't recognize either of these people

You can't talk about television and North Carolina without talking about The Andy Griffith Show.  It's easily the most famous depiction of the Old North State.  With his folksy charm and sly grin Griffith's sheriff Andy Taylor and the fictional town of Mayberry captivated the nation of the 1960's.  Griffith quickly became North Carolina's chief unofficial emissary, a role he filled to perfection up until his death in 2012.  For over half a century Andy Griffith and Mayberry's colorful cast of characters have been an omnipresent force throughout the state.  Actually, Griffith's legacy can be seen in the pilot of The Carmichael Show and Jerrod Carmichael might not even realize it.  Despite his kindness and unlimited country wisdom, Andy Taylor could often be quite manipulative, like a benevolent trickster god from a folk tale.  Likewise, Jerrod's character spends most of the pilot steering the conversation to avoid the topic of his girlfriend moving in with him.  It's a trait that hasn't been seen much since that first episode but could easily make a return.  Failing that, Jerrod's brother Bobby would make an excellent sheriff.  All he would need is North Carolina's beloved moral compass, the question "what would Andy Taylor do?"  The answer is rarely if ever "let misguided fear and bigotry conquer over compassion."

Crisis on Insignificant Earths: This Is So Dumb

The hole in the universe was surprisingly colorful.  Richelle Verlaine was looking up at it from her front porch as she did frequently in the three weeks since it appeared.  Obviously, the whole world was fascinated and terrified by it but Richelle felt something a little to the left of fascination, something more like fondness, and she wasn't really afraid of anything anymore.  Becoming a werewolf and hunting down other werewolves until you undo the curse by killing the one that originally bit you has a way of hardening a person.  She tasted frozen yogurt even though she had never had frozen yogurt before.  The hole had that effect on people.  They would have visions and experience unknown but oddly familiar sensations like they were remembering a life they had never lived.  They saw things like the sun rising in the south, pyramids standing on one edge, and Johnny Depp accepting an Oscar for Mortdecai.

On Earth Two people wipe their butts with
 LaserDisc copies of Spotlight.

Richelle turned around to appraise the work of art in the doorway, a mystery more miraculous than a thousand universes combined, her girlfriend Amy Grace taking a hormone replacement tablet, wearing Star Wars pajama pants and a t-shirt that read "Keep Calm and Feel the Bern."  Amy was actually the one who pulled the trigger on Richelle's werewolf sire.  In the time since she had developed pet peeves she didn't have before and shouted at people for peeving her pets.  They couldn't go back to the only record store in town because the clerk nearly peed his pants after saying Let it Be and Let it Be... Naked were "basically the same for all intensive purposes."  She joined Richelle on the porch.

"Aren't you tired of looking at that thing yet?"

"No, I have yet to be bored by the inexplicable hole in the sky."

"Oh, it can be explained.  Haven't you heard, it's here to punish us for our sins," Amy said.

"You know, for a few years there it seemed like they had given up on blaming us for everything."

"I meant murder."

"Hey, there was no sky hole for Stalin.  There's no way the universe is falling apart at the seams because we put an end to that dangerous jerk."

On the other side of the sky hole Brian YonceBe watched Mortdecai with his family in their North Korean home.  The earth shook under them and above them and all around them.

"Did you feel that?"  Brian asked his wife, Beyonce.

"I can tell from the rate of vibration that it's no ordinary earthquake.  It's the result of our universe clashing with another," she said.  As one of the best magic users in the world Beyonce YonceBe had an innate understanding of the rhythms of the universe.  That's how she was able to see the good in a strange wendigo and turn him back into a human.  That and doing it on accident.

"Oh bother.  Is there anything we can do about it?" asked Brian and Beyonce's son Chairack.

"As a matter of fact, your father and I, as a former wendigo and a current sorceress respectively, are uniquely qualified to save the world, but you are too young.  Aunt Michelle is going to stay with you while we're gone."

"Yayyy!  Aunt Michelle and Uncle Chairack are coming!  All my friends are jealous because their aunts aren't chairs."

"It can wait until Mortdecai is over, right?" asked Brian.

"Of course."

"Good.  I'd sooner see the world burn to flames than interrupt the impeccably paced Mortdecai."

When Mortdecai was over Beyonce called her best friend Michelle.  She and her human husband Chairack came over as soon as possible.

"Did you guys see the giant hole in the sky that appeared after the earthquake?" Chairack asked.

"I don't think your sarcasm is called for, Michelle.  I was just making conversation.  You don't know, maybe they didn't see it."

"There's a hole in the sky?  I love holes almost as much as I love the world not being threatened!  This day just keeps getting better and worse!  We've got to check out that hole!" Brian said.

"Good idea, honey.  That's the best place to start looking into this 'worlds colliding' fiasco."  Beyonce and Brian walked out the front door.

"Now, where do we go?"

"I don't know, do you see the hole in the sky?"

"No, I don't see the hole in the sky."  Brian shouted over his shoulder back into the house, "hey Chairack, which way is the hole in the sky?"

"Up."

"Oh, there it is, directly over our house.  That's convenient."

"I have an idea."  Beyonce touched her left palm with her right pinkie and dragged it up.  The two of them floated off the ground toward the hole.  Brian flapped his arms wildly.  "I love that you knew to do that without me having to tell you."  Beyonce said.  She had a point.  The two of them were perfectly in sync.

"We even finish each other's"

"Suicides."

"Someday.  But first we need to see what's on the other side of this hole," Brian said.

They went through the hole.  Michelle's spell gave out and they plummeted to Earth, landing in the middle of a desert.  Brian used the enhanced senses left over from his time as a wendigo to set them on course to the nearest town, then they went in another direction because the first town would have set the story back a ways.  They wound up a few miles from Richelle and Amy's home.

"I smell something," Brian said.

"What do your wendigo nostrils smell, Brian."

"There's a supernatural being who lives in the vicinity."

Those are actual lines from Lord of the Rings on Earth Two.  They tracked the smell to Richelle and Amy's front door.  They knocked.  No one answered.  They sat on the front porch for an hour and 18 minutes.  Then they stood on the front porch for two days.  Then Richelle and Amy got back from their spontaneous vacation in India.  The hole gave them a vision of the Taj Mahal with too obviously phallic architecture and it inspired them to appreciate the "real thing" in case the universe exploded.

"How was your trip?" Brian asked.

"Fine, thanks.  Who are you?" Richelle asked with much more interest in the answer.

"We come from the universe on the other side of the hole in the sky.  We're here to keep our worlds from destroying each other."

"And you're going to do that on our front porch?"

"I doubt it.  My understanding of the story structure is that the four of us are going to team up and save the multi_verse together."

"Why us?  Why you?" Amy asked.

"Because we're secret samesies and the guys from the other other universes are boring," Brian said.

"My husband and I are very experienced with the supernatural," Beyonce replied.  I am a sorceress.  Brian was a wendigo before I changed him.  We can sense that you have also been touched by magic forces."

Richelle hesitated, then nodded and muttered "werewolf."  After she pushed her feelings about that time in her life back down she asked "what about Amy?  Why is she involved in this."

"She knows why," said Beyonce.

"Oh no.  Okay, let me explain.  I wasn't exactly upset that I killed a person as much as I was disappointed in myself for killing a person again.  I come from a long line of vaguely mystical assassins.  I was going to tell you but it never came up.  Except for all those times we talked about murder but it never seemed like the right time."

Richelle took several minutes to take in what she had just heard.  She wanted to get angry but she kept thinking of  Amy pointing that gun at what amounted to a serial mauler.  She considered that saving her life once or even twice didn't entitle anyone to a free pass.  Her brain flooded with a hundred more ideas and implications.  Then she thought of the pajamas and the T-Shirt.  "Well, that's a lot to take in," she said, "but in the long run I guess it doesn't really matter.  Just, you know, I'd rather you didn't keep secrets from me in the future."

"That's fair."

"Well, looks like we've got everything cleared up.  Now can we get going on saving the universes?" Brian asked.

"Sure," Amy said.

"Fine with me."

Maybe we should start with our neighbor, Professor Disaster.  He's pretty sketchy."

"I thought my ears were burning," Professor Disaster said as he turned the corner.  "You guys talking about me?"

"Yeah, hey Todd," Amy said.  "Quick question, did you set our dimension on a path of destruction with another dimension?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Professor Todd Disaster.

"Why?"

"I'm kind of going for a Doctor Doom brand of villainy where I just wreck stuff without a whole lot of motivation.  I mean, I have a tragic backstory but you probably don't care about that.  Do you guys want to hear my tragic backstory?"

"Not really."

"Actually," Brian said, "I'd like to hear it."

"OK, cool."  Todd cleared his throat.  "I saw the new Fantastic Four movie."

Brian, Beyonce, Richelle, and Amy agreed that that made sense.  "So how do we stop you?"

"You can use the app I U2-ed onto everyone's phones, but you still need need the code," he pulled an index card with handwriting on it out of his pocket, "You'll have to pry it from my cold," Amy shot him, "living hands.  I was going to say 'cold, living hands.'"

Beyonce pried the code from his cold, dead hands while Richelle opened the app.  She put in the code and suddenly there were only two people standing there.

"What happened?" asked Rian Brolaine.

"I see, it's a four, not a nine.  You accidentally combined our universes into one amalgamation," said Amonce YonceGre.

Richelle put in the code with all the right numbers.  The universes separated and the hole disappeared from the sky.  Our four heroes looked around to make sure everything was back to normal.

"Well, I guess we'll be going," said Beyonce.  She took out her left shoelace and handed it to Richelle.  "If you ever want to visit our universe just touch this and say 'I'd like to be elsewhere.'"

The heroes of Earth Two and Earth Seven went their separate ways.

The End.

Or is it?

"It is," said Beyonce.  "That shoelace does nothing."

A Conversation With My Twelve Year Old Self About 'Batman V Superman'

Ben Affleck is on Jimmy Kimmel Live promoting Batman V Superman and his friendship with Matt Damon.  The weight of my eyelids is slowly increasing.  I cut off Ben mid-sentence and go to the Netflix app where I scroll to "Continue Watching."  I move a bit to the left and start a new episode of my nostalgia trip Justice League: Unlimited.  In this episode, "The Once and Future Thing: Part Two," Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Batman go to the future and interact with the next generation of heroes including Lantern's offspring and Batman's successor who is mentored by a grizzled Bruce Wayne with his bat-cane.  As I recall, 2005 Batman and 2039 Bruce Wayne kept their interactions brief because of their shared stoicism and fear of damaging time and space.  However, that's based on my own memories from 2005 because in 2016 I dozed off a few minutes in to the episode.  Next thing I knew I was in a hazy but polished version of my childhood bedroom with my twelve year old self.

Twelve Year Old Brian: Stranger danger!  Stranger danger!

Twenty-Four Year Old Brian: Hey! Relax! I'm you from the year 2016.

Twelve: Oh, that checks out.

Twenty-Four: That's it?  You just accept it?

Twelve: Yeah, dude.  I'm twelve, I live for this time travel stuff.

Twenty-Four: Me too, actually.  Speaking of which, in about six years Doctor Who is going to become really popular.  Don't get sucked in.  It has its ups and downs but at its best it's barely as good as a mediocre episode of Star Trek.

Twelve: Star Trek?  Geez, do I really become that big of a nerd?

Twenty-Four: Yeah, but it's fine.  Nerds are cool in the future.  There are all these superhero movies like Captain America: Civil War, and Batman V Superman, and, like, a dozen X-Men movies.  The whole phenomena is best epitomized by this guy Chris Hardwick, who you know as "guy from the episode of Boy Meets World where Eric goes on a dating show."  Anyway, this guy has built an entertainment empire on nerd stuff and now he's getting married to William Randolph Hearst's great granddaughter, which is like American royalty.  He's basically a Kennedy and he loves sci-fi as much as we do.

Twelve: Wow!  I don't know what a Kennedy is but wow!  The future sounds great.

Twenty-Four: Yeah, in some ways but in other ways things aren't really going the way you want.

Twelve: What do I want?

Twenty-Four: And therein lies the problem.

Twelve: Okay.  Cool it.  I'm twelve and you haven't been in college for two years.  Neither of us is the right age for your pretentious indie-comedy existential angst bull crap.  Let's go back a bit.  Did you say "Batman V Superman?"  What is that?  Like a court case over licensing rights?

Twenty-Four: No, it's a movie.  Batman and Superman are gonna fight each other in live action and it's a gonna make a ton of money.

Twelve: Holy cow!  That sounds amazing!  I can't believe I have to wait twelve years for that.

Twenty-Four: More like thirteen by the time it gets to cable.

Twelve: What do you mean?  Are movie theaters so exorbitantly expensive that only the extremely wealthy can afford them?

Twenty-Four: Almost, but actually I'm just not going to see it in theaters.  I might never see it.

Twelve: I'm going to murder you in your sleep.  Don't even joke like that.

Twenty-Four: I'm serious.  It's technically the sequel to this awful Superman movie.  The writer and director just don't understand the character.  I don't think they even like Superman.

Twelve: What are you talking about?  It's a superhero movie.  With two superheroes.  Fighting each other.  What's the problem?

Twenty-Four: Actually, Wonder Woman is in it too.  And Flash and Aquaman, I think.  Look, Superman killed a guy in his movie.  He killed his enemy, General Zod in Man of Steel.

Twelve: So what?

Twenty-Four: There it is.  That's the whole problem.  You don't care.  If you and I didn't see superheroes as role models at least a little bit we wouldn't be interested in them at all.  I don't like the idea of little kids like you seeing a superhero, especially Superman, killing someone.  I don't want you thinking that's an acceptable sacrifice to make, which you would.  I'm certain that some part of your brain would think "if Superman can kill his enemies maybe it's okay sometimes."  Maybe you would use that part to justify cops shooting black people or whatever.

Twelve: Alright.  Take a breath.  Hey, why are we in this bedroom.  We moved out of here years ago.

Twenty-Four: I guess I just don't associate your house with my childhood because it's kind of still my house.

Twelve: Ouch.

Twenty-Four: Yeah.  I mean, Chris Hardwick is doing great because he's really charming and charismatic.  Me, not so much.  And don't judge me, you little homophobe.  Go through the long and difficult process of defying your conservative upbringing to reach the conclusion that there's absolutely nothing wrong with being gay and then you can judge me and believe you me, I will.  Newsflash, your clothes are made of multiple kinds of fabric.

Twelve: I have problems too, you know.  I'm fat in middle school.  Now you're telling me I grow up to be a weird loser and I hate a superhero movie and everything sucks unless your Chris Hardwick.

Twenty-Four: It's not all so bad.  The fat thing is rough but that's one thing you have a certain amount of control over.  I've been floating around "average body type" since high school.  College is kind of cool for the first couple of years.  At least the first year.  The first three months are exciting.  And the majority of superhero movies really are pretty cool.  I mean, even Deadpool is amazing.

Twelve: What's Deadpool?

Twenty-Four: Oh, right.  In 2004 your knowledge of superheroes is almost entirely centered on movies and cartoons.  Doesn't matter, you're way too young to watch Deadpool anyway.

Twelve: I'm almost thirteen.  How old do you need to be to see a superhero movie in the future?

Twenty-Four: Deadpool is a special case, but that's another thing.  Batman V Superman doesn't exactly seem kid friendly.  Now, because of Deadpool, it looks like they're going to release a special R rated version which makes me think it would have rounded up to an R anyway.  Not that superheroes have to be for kids specifically, I just think there's a problem if you can't take a kid to see a Superman movie and say "that's how we should all try to be.  Superman has the ability to do more good than I can but I just try to do my best and I hope you will too."  Superman is all about inspiring greatness.  It's like Jor-El says to young Superman in the old 70's movie, "they can be a great people Kal-El, they wish to be, they only lack the light to show them the way."

Twelve: OK, I get it, Superman is good and Batman V Superman is bad.  Why are we still talking about this?

Twenty-Four: It's on my brain partially because of all the advertising.  You should try to explain to a targeted ad algorithm that loving Batman and Superman doesn't necessarily mean you're interested in a movie called Batman V Superman.  Also, I know I care about this way more than I should.  I guess Superman represents a part of myself that I'm really struggling to hold on to at this point in my life.

Twelve: Whoa, didn't we agree to drop the existential angst stuff, gaywad?

Twenty-Four: I didn't agree to anything twerp.  And there's that homophobia rearing it's ugly head.  You're going to regret that one day.

Twelve: Stop saying stuff like that.

Twenty-Four: Stop saying what?  That your fear and anger towards gayness is misplaced?

Twelve: Yeah, basically.

Twenty-Four: I get it, you've believed one thing for a long time and you think that thing is tied with the fate of your immortal soul.  When someone suggests that your belief is not just wrong but also harmful to other people it's easier to get angry than to really consider that you might be wrong.  A lot of people don't think about how hard it is to change your stance on social and political issues when you're afraid that you'll go to Hell for it.  And just imagine what it's like for actual gay and transgender kids in that situation.  My advice is to forget about the afterlife.  Decisions about how you treat other people shouldn't be based on your own happiness, eternity or no.  Be religious if you want to be religious but you should try to be a good person independent of that.

Twelve: Does that mean you're not Christian?

Twenty-Four: It's complicated.  Right now I'm just not really thinking about it.  Like I said, it's tough to make big decisions when you think your immortal soul is on the line and you're worried about what your friends and family expect from you.  All of that and more really stressed me out for a while so now I'm basically taking a break from thinking about it.  The more it stressed me out and then the less I thought about it the more I gravitated towards Superman.  He's like God, but with way less baggage.  That's why the neck snapping thing really gets to me.  It brought up some of that stress and anger.  If that was the point I guess it was technically successful but I don't think it was and either way I don't have to like it.

Twelve: You've said a lot about Superman but what about the Batman in this movie?

Twenty-Four: Actually, I was always on board for Ben Affleck to play Batman, at least as much as you can be on board for a detail of a movie that you have no intention of ever seeing.

Twelve:  Well, I think I'm going to leave.  You've given me a lot to think about considering I'm twelve and you turned a conversation about a dumb superhero movie into a reflection on your life and religion and philosophy.

Twenty-Four: Yeah, I maybe should have just stuck with the movie.

Twelve: Any more advice?  He asked as if he was in any position to give advice.

Twenty-Four: Better not, I don't know how any of this is going to affect the time stream.

Twelve: Dude, none of this is real.  Live a little.

Twenty-Four: OK.  Let me think.  Got it.  I have two pieces of advice that are both Seinfeld related.  1. Start watching Seinfeld right away.  2. Always do the opposite of what you think you should do.

Twelve: What does that have to do with Seinfeld?

Twenty-Four: Watch it and find out, dork.  Oh, and don't put too much faith in Bill Cosby, or any faith at all really.

Twelve: Great.  Who can I put my faith in?

Twenty-Four: Yourself.

Twelve: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Twenty-Four: Ha ha ha but really though.

Mad Men Report: New TV with 'The Real O'Neals' and 'Hap and Leonard'

Last time I did one of these "rate new TV shows based on their potential to distract me from watching Mad Men" things I used CSI: Cyber as a punching bag to make a point about the ridiculously high quality of the rest of television.  This week I watched the first episode of Fuller House with the intention of doing the same but I felt too much pity and regret to go through with it.  Instead I want to focus on a couple of actually good new series.  Before I rededicate myself to a life of positivity let me just say that Last Man Standing is a really awful show.  It wants so badly to be All In the Family but the writers don't seem to realize that you're not supposed to agree with Archie Bunker just because he's funny.  They're also generally pretty terrible at their jobs.  Now, about these good shows.

The Real O'Neals

ABC has really cornered the market on family sitcoms in recent years and, with some previously mentioned exception, they've done a really good job with that corner.  So good that The Real O'Neals seemed doomed to pale by comparison to the likes of Black-ish and Modern Family.  It doesn't pale, though.  The O'Neal family has quickly earned its place among the Hecks and the Huangs thanks to solid writing and a charming device in the form of Scrubs-like fantasy sequences.  The characters, portrayed in early advertising as one-note cartoons, prove themselves to be slightly more comprehensive and backed by some strong but largely unfamiliar actors.  Martha Plimpton as the family's matriarch, fresh from an incredible run as lovable white trash on the criminally underappreciated Raising Hope, now seems a little out of place as a devout Catholic but the rest of the cast is more or less unknown.  The biggest standout is of course the protagonist and narrator Kenny, as played by Noah Galvin.  The pilot sees the family's sparkly veneer soiled by a group dirty laundry session and from his mother's point of view Kenny's homosexuality is the dirtiest laundry of them all.  Galvin proves capable of handling the sensitive emotional moments as well as the broad comedy and clever witticisms.  Overall The Real O'Neals is a thoroughly pleasant surprise.

Mad Men threat level: 7/10

Hap and Leonard

Maybe it's a problem that Michael K. Williams has almost been typecast as tough gay men but there's no denying that he does it well, and it's not like anyone wants to see him play a weak gay man.  His titular Leonard Pine from Sundance's Hap and Leonard doesn't share much else with the iconic Omar Little.  They're both independent thinkers, sure, and they each have their own rigid code of honor but the similarities end there.  Leonard is a Vietnam veteran from Texas.  He wears a straw hat and sleeveless flannel.  His best friend is Hap Collins, a former hippie played by James Purefoy who dodged the draft and wound up in prison.  Together they work in the rose fields of fictional LaBorde, Texas in the 1980's.  At least, they did until they lost their jobs to cheap immigrant labor.  That's when Christina Hendricks, Hap's ex-wife Trudy, shows up with a job offer.  That's how the cowboy buddies wind up in a caper with a crew of unrelenting flower children.  While Leonard and the hippies argue about politics they all sit in ignorance of the horrendous oncoming threat known as "new wave."  The series shows enormous promise of lighthearted fun and action as well as social awareness and terrific acting.

Mad Men threat level: 8/10