Blog Project #1

Madam Secretary just wrapped up season 3 on CBS. In the season premiere, Elizabeth Mccord (Tea Leoni) struggles to balance work life and family life. It’s understandable given the fact that she holds such a powerful, demanding job. She is the Secretary of state and works side by side with the president every day. This episode takes off right where last season ended and starts off with major events that left me excited to binge watch this whole season. When a US naval base is destroyed as the result of a storm, McCord is prompted to question the policies and procedures currently in place. She urges the president to re-evaluate foreign policy. This show always shows the main character (McCord) in both a work setting and also a home setting. Business mode and domestic mode if you would target think of it like that. The main cast of characters are McCord (played by Leoni), her husband Henry McCord (played by Tim Daly), and her three kids. She has two Daughters and a son. Wallis Currie-Wood plays her oldest daughter Stephanie and Katherine Herzer plays the younger daughter Alison, while Evan Roe plays her son Jason. The executive producers of this show are Barbara Hall, Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary. The strong minded Elizabeth is constantly navigating her way through various diplomatic issues on American soil and abroad throughout the show. McCord is a former CIA analyst who was personally selected by President Dalton after the death of his previous Secretary of State. She is very well traveled, speaks many languages and has a deep knowledge base of the Middle East. She seems to have a certain way of bending the rules to her favor to accomplish her goals.

Madam Secretary has a unique style from other shows on TV today I think. To me it is a very touchy but very relevant topic. It gives a fairly accurate depiction of the state of the world today. In an increasingly violent hostile world there are many uncertainties and this show accurately projects some of the very real issues we are facing today. Several of the episodes from the first two seasons focused on foreign relations with America as well as domestic/worldwide terrorism. These issues hit very close to home for obvious reasons but I like the fact that the writers and producers of this particular series are willing to push the envelope a bit with the storyline. Where most shows are tip toeing around these kinds of issues Madam Secretary is facing them head on. Although the show is purely fictional there is still a very real feeling to it, it almost feels like a behind the scenes look at the way our country conducts itself. I am aware that the events depicted in the show aren’t an account of actual events, but they very well could be. They do an excellent job of keeping the storyline fictional, yet feasible and that is something most shows are lacking. Most are so far fetched that it doesn’t prompt any deep thoughts or open the door for important conversations. Madam Secretary does this. I also really enjoy the way the cast interacts. Another thing they do an excellent job of on this show is projecting a VERY accurate picture of today’s youth. The three kids on this show are very relatable and their characters are believable. Despite the fact that they are from a wealthy, powerful family they still go through everyday struggles like all teenagers and I like the way they interact with both their parents.

I don’t see any stereotypes being played out in this show. Actually, if anything I would have to say that Madam Secretary does make a serious effort to stray away from the “common” portrayal of women being somehow less than.  I think that it accurately depicts some of the complications that any female in a power position could potentially face during their careers. I think that a lot of unfair double standards are placed on McCord, and some situations shown on Madam Secretary simply wouldn’t be an issue if she were a man. I think that her superiors and co-workers tend to doubt her a lot more often than they would if she were a man, and I feel like a lot of the men on the show are intimidated and frightened by her due to the fact that she’s a woman. So, technically that is a stereotype of sorts and they definetly project that.

It is hard to determine the target demographics for sure but I believe it to be middle class people ages 30-65. I know that's a very broad range of people but I don’t see this show being “exciting” enough for most people in their 20’s, and I don’t think it would appeal to most people over 65.  It also may be seen as “too violent” for younger children or the elderly. I feel like it’s aimed at middle to upper class people because it focuses on serious world issues and sometimes the word usage seems a bit uppity to me. While I can’t be sure what the producer’s target demographic was, I did find some information regarding ratings, numbers, etc. It seems that a vast majority of viewers are in fact over the age of 50. If I were a tourist from another country and I saw an episode of Madam Secretary I would most likely think America is a scandalous place ran by powerful, corrupt, self serving people. So given the fact that a large portion of the world disapproves of America and Americans as a whole, I think that this is very fitting.

Among the many of strengths of the show I feel that the fact that McCord is the first female Secretary of State and she is brilliant at her job is the top one. My top complaint about the show as a whole is that sometimes there is a long lull in the middle of the episodes where it loses my attention briefly. This show is most definitely not a parody or a comedy, and although the storyline is fictional, they do such an amazing job of reflecting real life and society as a whole. In my opinion I would say we are in the midst of very uncertain times. This show mirrors that in so many ways. The interaction between the kids and the parents is amazing  While doing my research on Madam Secretary I was surprised to read several articles stating that Madam Secretary was loosely based off Hillary Clinton, and several websites that refuted that claim. BUT….t then I stumbled upon an article published on Deadline.com from 2014 confirming that executive producer Lori McCreary told critics at a TCA Summer Press Tour  “....Secretary of State, came about because of Hillary Clinton and Benghazi.” (Lisa de Moreas, Deadline Hollywood, 2014.)

I really appreciate the way McCord’s character is portrayed. She is a strong, firm, highly intelligent woman who doesn’t use sex appeal or her womanly powers to get what she wants. She is a respectable woman and she would be an excellent role model for girls who watch the show. The whole entire show strays away from using sex and scantily clad women to draw in viewers and that is something that is becoming more and more rare on TV these days and it is very refreshing to see a strong female lead who isn’t overly emotional, doesn’t flaunt her cleavage and doesn’t act like a ditz to further her agenda.

At the start of season one in 2014, LA Times reporter Mary McNamara wrote a review on Madam Secretary. McNamara was of the opinion that Madam Secretary would be a frontrunner for the Fall 2014 TV season of new shows,  “Smartly written and formidably cast, the series, which premieres Sunday, offers a welcome dose of Téa Leoni, female sanity and political heroism to a world perhaps grown weary of broken heroes, twisted ambitions and a universally sardonic view of American government.” (September 20, 2014 LA Times article). I am very much in agreement with her review on this show. She goes on to say, “Unlike so many of her American power-female counterparts, Elizabeth doesn't scream, she doesn't cry, doesn't have secret sex with the president, gobble down little pills, barf up her lunch or attempt to sexually intimidate via sheath dress.” in her review and I wholeheartedly agree. That was one of the things I liked about the show when I first started watching it. McCord has a hectic, but stable life and it’s ok to show women in power on TV. Maybe it’s because I’m a female and I notice these things more but it is empowering to see a woman (even if she’s a fictional character) who uses brains and not her body to succeed.

I am looking forward to getting all caught up because I missed the entire third season. I was watching it every week and it was one of my top three favorite shows. I have some good memories of sitting at my mom’s house watching this show and making snacks and just having family time. If i missed an episode she would record it on the DVR and I would have to stop her from spoiling it for me until I could watch it. I do not follow this show on an social media sites, but I don’t really do social media at all. There is a strong following on both facebook and twitter and it seems to generate a lot of comments between fans.