This Holiday Season’s Bestselling Gifts – Mad Men, The Office, Dexter

What better way to supply holiday cheer to loved ones than with kewl gifts inspired by their favorite TV shows and movies. At Gold Label you can find awesome officially licensed graphics from primo entertainment such as: Mad Men, Dexter, The Office, Monty Python, Astro Boy, El Superbeasto, Reservoir Dogs, Weeds, Californication, Repo The Genetic Opera, SAW, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Daybreakers and more. All you need to do is pick the product on which you’d like your chosen design to appear — which includes an amazing selection of quality mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, calenders, posters, stickers, and even Sigg water bottles and Flip Mino video cameras!

This holiday season’s best sellers:

Mad Men Truth Lies mug and t-shirt, Sterling Cooper mug and journal, Dexter Bowl Til You Bleed and Edgy t-shirt, The Office Dunder Mifflin and The Office logo t-shirts. Come check us out at Gold Label Goods and score gifts for everyone on the list!

Californication Finale – It’s Not Just About Sex!

By Matt Reed

The thing that I find humorous about Californication is the absurdity of the situations that DD’s character Hank puts himself into. A running three-way relationship, with his student, TA and the wife of the Dean at the private college he has landed a teaching gig takes the absurdity to a new level.

Can Hank hold it together and split town for NY with Becca and Karen before his antics and escapades catch up with him? Doubtful with the unannounced arrival of Mia (daughter of Hank’s ex’s then-fiancé / previously-under-aged fling who blackmailed him and stole his novel!), who now, back from her book tour, conspires to force their secret past indiscretion public. If exposed there’s little chance Hank will be making his long awaited exit to the Big Apple with family in tow.

On the other hand, it appears that Hank’s agent Runkle (Evan Handler) may have been thrown a bone by his boss Collini (Kathleen Turner), who asks him to be the agent for her memoirs. The question now is can Runkle contain himself from Collini’s sexual advances and not blow it once and for all with ex Marcy.

It appears likely that this season finalé will leave us all sitting on the curb next to Hank and Runkle. But that is where we enjoy them most anyways…

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Dexter Season Finale Blows Heads

Say it isn’t so! The next episode of Dexter is this season’s finale! For those who were worried all the acclaim, awards and a healthier budget could potentially ruin the series — wow. Even a baby and the whining of Dex’s wife Rita couldn’t keep us away. This was a superb season that maintained the integrity by bringing up new concepts to ponder and new predicaments with which our serial killing anti-hero must deal. And somehow, even though Dexter ends up murdering an innocent — albeit sleazy — man, we still love him! The arch-villain Trinity Killer — brilliantly played by Jonathan Lithgow (who’da thunk he had it in him!!!) — offers Dexter a new perspective on the challenge of balancing family life while maintaining one’s dark secrets. He’s also an intriguing and absolutely disturbing aspect of what a guy like Dexter could have become, if it weren’t for the moral counseling of his father. Fan sites are filled with theories pondering: how this meeting of the serial-killers might conclude, will any of Dexter’s family become a victim, is Dexter’s father actually alive, how Dexter’s sister Deb will react if (when?) she learns who her brother really is…. There’s been lots of hush-hush involved including: fake scripts, closed sets, watermarked screeners, and non-disclosure agreements signed by everyone on staff to protect the secret. Word on the street is that the “twist” will change the whole series. Executive producer Clyde Phillips reveals it “will blow the top of your head off.” Hmmm. And Courtney Ford (Christine / Trinity’s daughter) states, “It’s a game-changer if you’re a Dexter fan. Fans are going to freak out.” Okay, we’re ready! The last blood-splattering episode, entitled “The Getaway”, will air this Sunday, December 13th at 9pm on Showtime.

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Are You A Prisoner?

AMC’s make-over of the cult hit The Prisoner began airing last night. They take on the challenge of the reinvent, keeping it sharp, quick and entertaining with Jim Caviezel (in the role of “Number Six” – originally played by the late Patrick McGoohan) and Ian McKellen in the roles of “Number Two”, the man in charge of “The Village”. This spy-fi thriller gets a more modern spin as it reevaluates the question of who is really in control of our lives: “You only think you’re free.”

Gold Label isn’t scared to take it on either. The new official Gold Label The Prisoner online store has just opened with classy graphics from the show. Check out I Am Not a Number, Welcome to the Village, Resist Obey, There is No Out and more. Visit the store and choose from a variety of merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies, caps, stickers, buttons, mousepads. You’re not just a number to us; seek the Six with The Prisoner T-shirts and Gifts!

The Ratings Game: Dexter is Killing It!

It’s murder by numbers with Showtime shows like Dexter and Californication raking it in, leaving their cable competition in a bloody stupor. Even Perez Hilton is posing the question, “Is Showtime the new HBO?”

On a steady incline since its inception, Dexter’s October 25th episode has earned the channel their largest numbers – ever; which equates to over 2 million viewers on a single night.

And Dex is looking hot this season. Okay, not just Michael C. Hall but the episodes are now as slickly produced as the intro. And how about John Lithgow – did you think he was going to be able to pull off the nemesis role with such icky intensity?

SAW: Be a Part of the Game

There’s so much SAW action – where to begin…!

Not only is the new SAW VI coming out TOMORROW but there’s also everything from games, sweepstakes, rides and the proper attire to go with it.

First off, SAW VI is hosting their sixth annual blood drive. Jigsaw and crew may have taken a few lives, but by teaming up with the American Red Cross, SAW (Lionsgate) has inspired fans to give ’til it hurts, donating enough blood to save over 350,000 lives. To participate in the campaign click here and find the location nearest you!

SAW – The Ride has been open since last Spring at UK’s Thorpe Parke. The world’s first horror movie-themed rollercoaster is not only immersed in the the SAW experience, but blasts you with a 100° beyond vertical adrenaline fueled rush.

If you’re looking to get your scare on, Circus Circus’ Fright Dome is the ultimate haunted house this Halloween. Five acres of fear includes rides and attractions, including two SAW-themed haunted houses – “Game Over” and “Jigsaw’s Revenge.” It runs through October 31st so get your tickets now.

Konami has just released the new SAW video game. The style and graphics are just as sick and intense as SAW. Yes, it’s rated M (blood and gore, drug reference, intense violence, strong language) for mature!

And of course, Gold Label is providing the psychological thrill in the form of official SAW t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, posters and more. Trust them – they’re here to help you.

For more info on SAW VI including the SAW Sweepstakes, the SAW VI soundtrack, facebook widgets, the “Jigsaw Your Voice” App and more, visit the Official SAW VI site. Let the game begin.

Sneak Peak The Prisoner

Gold Label is excited to announce that we’ve got the license to provide merchandise for the new AMC mini-series The Prisoner. Though fans of the original thriller are waiting in anticipation, as co-star Jim Caviezel revealed, “It’s not a remake, it’s a reinvention.” This new version of The Prisoner also stars the esteemed stage and big screen star Ian McKellen who notes, “It feels like a movie; it looks like a movie.” The three night event begins Sunday, November 15th. And stay tuned for the new official mind-opening Prisoner products at our Gold Label shop coming soon!

A Full Monty Python-A-Thon

Diehard Monty Python fans can rejoice over a loony amount of Pythonic material being spewed forth this month: the 40th anniversary of the first broadcast of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

As Michael Palin aptly noted:

We should have had the 37⅓ anniversary or the 41½ anniversary; 40 seems too predictable….

This week (October 18-23) the Independent Film Channel will broadcast Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut); six one-hour episodes that include a hodge-podge of new interviews mixed with archival material, original clips, and commentary from a whole bunch o’ famous fanboys. This week-long “Python-a-thon” will also feature The Holy Grail, The Life of Brian and Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl.

Terry Jones’ thoughts on the project say it best:

This is the documentary I always hoped that would be made — something so complete and so faithful to the truth that I don’t need to watch it.

In case you missed it, do click the following link to watch the Monty Python Live Reunion, which will no longer be live, since it streamed on IFC earlier this week and included all the surviving members: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin…and Graham Chapman (who passed on in ‘89) in spirit.

And if you want to be appropriately dressed this month for the festivities, we highly recommend heading over to the Gold Label’s Official Monty Python Store. We’re having our own sort of Python-a-thon over here with an amazing collection of graphics from Python’s many phases of mighty movie-making genius. There is absolutely no fee to check it out – but we might inflict a few flesh wounds if you don’t purchase anything.

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Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut) will be released on Blu-ray October 26th (with extra footage). Also don’t miss their new 40th Anniversay book Monty Python Live, which they state is the first active collaborative effort from the group in a long, long time, and the first book since 1979. Their official sites include a plethora of funny: PythOnline.com for all things Python related; and their YouTube Channel for so much more!

There’s Still Time to Be Dexter for Halloween

Halloween is coming soon, and what better way to celebrate than to deck yourself out in Dexter.

Showtime has a pretty killer Dexter costume that you can order rush delivery and get in time for this year’s fright fest. (They also have a seriously sick coaster set that comes in a slotted, customized wood box with clear acrylic blood-splattered coasters made to look like Dex’s slide collection).

Most importantly, to complement your killer style, head over to Gold Label to get your Official Dexter “Tools of the Trade” Tote Bag. Use it for your trick-or-treat candy, then keep it as a purse, shopping bag, or…a place to store your “tools”.

Get Your Don Draper On

Though it makes for a great Mad Men t-shirt graphic, I don’t know what to think about a fictional character being nominated as 2009’s “Most Influential Man” (according to AskMen.com). I love Mad Men, and Draper’s a dapper hottie to be certain, but he’s a smoking, drinking, cheating one nevertheless. So, who said influential had to mean in a morally positive way?

It’s not as if the show’s creator’s designed Draper to be the perfect man. Still, he’s an ideal for those fed up with today’s standards (i.e. today’s political correctness, today’s rules of self-regulation, today’s women…). There may be no civil rights, but for the average white man Mad Men –and it’s ’60s timeframe– is a flashback to heaven. And Draper –despite his faults, which only seem to complement– is a man’s man:  powerful, confident, always knowing the right thing to say, earning the big $$$ and, most importantly, able get any chick off yesterday or today’s “Most Desired Women” list.

So, why bother analyzing the meaning behind Don Draper being the kind of man that men want to emulate? Well, AskMen’s editor-in-chief James Bassil made an effort to…

“Men are seeking the stability of tradition in the masculine qualities that they imagine their fathers and grandfathers to have had… The character of Don Draper brings all these traits together, and in doing so speaks directly to the modern man. He’s a man whose time has come.”

Mmm, hmmm, tell us more. AskMen.com also called Draper “value-driven” while at the same time being “permanently conflicted over how to reconcile his morals and his desires.”

To say the least – but damn, does he make the effort terribly sexy. Ah yes, the good old days when it was almost expected of you and certainly socially acceptable to be the manly man philanderer. Guess we’ll soon find out if Betty’s indulging has any negative side-effects.

Personally, if I had any say in the matter, my choice for #1 Most Influential (Fictional) Man would have been Entourage’s obnoxious but torturously devoted Ari Gold. But maybe that would be the answer for some “AskWomen’s” version of the list…. And in the end, ad man Don Draper does look better as an ad logo.

Darby Romeo, Gold Label critic-at-large, was editor / publisher of the popular ‘zine Ben Is Dead, as well as the one-off I Hate Brenda Newsletter, the Lollapalooza Tour Magazine and website Coconut Girl Wireless. She edited and co-wrote the book Retro Hell: Life in the 70s and 80s from Afros to Zotz, and has contributed to Vanity Fair, Alternative Press, Village Voice, The Chicago Tribune and LA Times. Despite all efforts, she’s only a pro-surfer in her mind.