Doing Research Out of School

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who “don’t do their research”. Usually that term applies to people seeing a film without knowing what it’s about or choosing a film solely based on its start time. Or parents who take their children to anything animated. Or people who pay no attention to the rating system, taking their children to see everything, and then are aghast when their kids can’t quite take the gore/violence/etc. Or people who don’t read the book before seeing the film.

But within the last few weeks, this idea has now made its way into TV. Let me give you an example:

There’s a new TV show on USA called “Covert Affairs”. I’m sure you’ve seen the ads – they’ve been scattered all over TV for months. It looked like a bargain basement version of “Alias”, right down to the clothing on the female lead. But within the pilot, there is actually a reference to “Alias” (which I won’t spoil) and as soon as they said it, I was hooked.

So maybe it’s all about flattering your audience. I don’t want a film director to spoon feed me an ending or a plot, and I don’t want my TV show producer to just think I’ll follow along blindly.

All of which now brings me to the season premiere of “Mad Men”, which happened this past weekend, and my officemates and I are still discussing. Aside from the fantastic writing, new catchphrases and catching up with all the characters, there were references sprinkled through the show that I just didn’t get. And in my little red/brown/blonde head, that’s simply unacceptable. So what did I do? Googled them, of course (and from the search results, I wasn’t the only one)!

But is this something that I’m doing because I’m a self-admitted dork, or is this something that maybe more people should do? Is it ok if you don’t get what the writer is trying to tip their hat to or wink at? I know that “Psych” has all kinds of 80s references – most of which I get, but some I don’t, but I don’t research them. Ditto for “Gilmore Girls”.

But in “Mad Men” I simply have to know. It could be because most people in my office watch the show, and I can’t stand to be out of the loop. Maybe it’s because I love the era and want to know as much as I can, especially about the little things.

In my mind, if it’s good you’ll want to dig deeper into the word that's created - whether by Matt Weiner or David Lynch in “Twin Peaks” or Chris Carter in “X-Files”. TV, when done right, is more of an investment than film, and as such, requires a bit more work. They put in the work, and I can too. In Matt Weiner’s case, it’s the least I can do – he is giving me a 650 minute movie, after all.