The Romanoffs
This just got a lot more interesting to me. I wasn't too jazzed about a period drama.
“The Romanoffs,” Weiner’s highly-anticipated follow-up to “Mad Men,” will feature eight separate stories about people who believe themselves to be descendants of the Russian royal family. Weiner created, wrote, directed, and executive produced the series.
Shot on location in three continents and set in seven countries around the globe, each story takes place in a new location with a new cast.
Lots of great, familiar faces here:

Comments
Nice to see Nina from the Americans again.
I like that it's an anthology and wish there were more of them.
I mean, I discovered you guys back in the Mad Men days so it is hard to imagine a Matthew Weiner show without their feedback. Fingers crossed.
This is why I'm excited, because that's how Mad Men feels to me. "What? Half the season is about one of their wives?"
Sepinwall: In his much-anticipated (and somewhat fraught) TV comeback, ‘Mad Men’ creator Matthew Weiner achieves moments of brilliance amid unchecked sprawl
Darren Franich: The Romanoffs has good actors, fascinating ideas, and dopey stories
The last family of Czars was brought down by a string of really unfortunate and preventable mistakes and with a strong supporting role from the mystic/con artist, Rasputin. You can draw a straight line from the events in the book through the rise of Communism, the Cold War, and much of the conflict in the world today.
It reads as much like a novel as it does like a history. You may be interested even if the show isn't your cup of tea.
(No, I'm not the author, related, or being endorsed, lol.)
Really enjoying this episode as it progresses. I'm all in for this series. @A_Ron_Hubbard and @Jim I know you have said you've been considering covering this show and I'm pretty much begging you to please do a weekly podcast on it.
Episode 2 was really good also. I'm liking the construct of this - every episode is its own little short story. And I loved seeing Noah Wyle (and especially John Slattery) back on my tv for a little while.
Edit: Non-consequential, but do you think that gold carriage was still inside the egg when Greg's girlfriend left with it? His aunt was so protective over it, even going so far as to not allow Hajar to touch it.
She said it was a fake afterward, so I presumed the carriage was too.
I thought the girlfriend was Sarah and the aunt represented either God or Abraham. Although I know the nephew was functionally Abraham lol.
I want episode 3 now. I'm ready to binge this series like crazy.
So a surprise murder has kept this family and the people who identify with this family trapped in this psychosis. They have this stunted life where their best years are behind them. And Kerry Bishe (who I forgot how much I LOVE, need to rewatch Halt and Catch Fire) suffers a surprise murder attempt and survives... just like the Romanoffs' ancestors. But to her, it means freedom.
Sometimes they don't rent out the whole ship... it's just a fraction of it. That was my feeling here. There doesn't seem to be enough of them to afford that, but they can afford a little decadence.
I would fucking love that.
That said, the first 2 episodes are just great Matthew Weiner storytelling.
I do have a minor quibble, which is that I think Weiner has a type when it comes his female leads. Sophie (ep 1) and Michelle (ep 2) can both be body doubles for Jessica Pare, and how can anyone not see Megan dancing with the Charles Manson look-alike in S7E5 The Runaways when Michelle was slinking next to the jukebox? Not to mention Shelly is basically an even thinner(!) Betty Draper.
Finally, Michael Romanoff is Pete Campbell-- the entitlement, the weasel-like tactic just to get laid, the obsession over a casual fling, the inability to scheme, and the hair loss. I loved them all!