“The Fabulous Beekman Boys”
Wednesday 9pm, Planet Green
This charming documentary series follows two big-city homos (I’m a homo; I can say that) as they embark on turning their upstate New York farm into a down-home enterprise fit for Martha Stewart. The domestic goddess reference is quite intentional, as one of the guys—high-strung Brent—used to work for Marty, and boy, can you tell. Everything has to be just so, and he has an eye for milking every drop of money from the budding agritourism business. Meanwhile his partner, former drag queen Josh, provides the comic relief, running around at Brent’s beck and call, narrating it all with exasperated, snarky sound bites. I love watching them haul manure in mucking boots and expensive button-down shirts. It’s like “Green Acres” for a modern audience, minus the talking pig and a Gabor sister.
“Mad Men”
Sunday 9pm, AMC
How do you follow back-to-back Emmy wins for Outstanding Drama Series? By taking a fresh start. That’s the concept behind Season 4 of this much-lauded series that follows Madison Avenue advertising execs in the 1960s, set against the rapidly changing social mores of the time. Last season ended with pretty much the entire cast walking out of the agency that had employed them for years, and hanging their own shingle. We’ll get to see how the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency fares amongst the big dogs, and also how series protagonist Don Draper (the utterly delicious Jon Hamm) fares being newly single. Not that his pesky wedding ring ever impeded his relationships with the opposite sex….
“Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County”
Monday 9pm, HBO
When I first saw the title of this documentary, I prayed that it was a follow-up to Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Orange County” series in which the spoiled, near-feral children of those awful harpies finally got the karmic comeuppance they so richly deserve. Alas, it’s much more realistic—and heartbreaking—than that. This film explores the existence of the working poor in one of the most affluent areas of the country, as they live week to week in discounted motel rooms and attend special schools designed for a transient population. It’s soul crushing to listen to a 6-year-old girl explain how she once had to sleep in the bushes. But at the same time, America needs to get the message.
