Trust Me

"This is why we got into advertising in the first place, remember? Some kids wanted to be firemen, some kids wanted to be astronauts, some kids wanted to be doctors; we always wanted to be hung-over from expensive booze that someone else paid for while everyone back in Chicago thinks we're working. That was our dream. We dare to dream.

-Connor"

A TNT dramedy which premiered in January of 2009, Trust Me stars Ed and Will as two advertising gurus in Chicago. Alright, it insists on calling them Connor and Mason. The show focuses on their relationship with each other and their team once Mason is promoted while Connor is not. Side plots also revolve around the balance of work and family for Mason, and the newcomer to the team, Sarah Krajicek-Hunter and all of her neuroses. It proposes to be a character-driven drama and is in no way similar to another show on AMC.

As the show progressed, it started dealing with Mason's balancing act between work and family. His ambition is tempered by his agency's lack of new clients and loss of current clients, the latter of which may be partially his fault. Connor meanwhile struggles with his love life. Sarah also, but from a much different perspective as she deals with a divorce and reentering the dating scene.

This show provides examples of:
"Sarah: I am a total guy's guy.
 * Berserk Button: Sarah was promised an office with a window, dammit!
 * Brand X: Arc Mobile, Hydrenaline, and several others
 * Career Versus Man: possibly what led to the break up of Sarah's marriage; she's one of the few who chose career over man
 * Casanova: Connor
 * Deadpan Snarker: Connor
 * Family Versus Career: the dilema shown in Sarah's temporary partner; she chooses family
 * Follow the Leader: This sure came out pretty soon after Mad Men struck gold didn't it? What are the odds?
 * George Jetson Job Security: Mason worries constantly that he will be fired, though no one's actively threatening him.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: What the show would like you to think Mason and Connor are
 * Hey Its That Guy
 * Mason is Will, Connor is Ed, and Sarah is Lori
 * Ho Yay: what their relationship actually drifts into
 * The Ladette: Sarah, possibly one of the reasons for the mistake made below
 * Married to The Job: Mason
 * Mean Boss: several, most notably Stu
 * Mistaken for Gay: Sarah in a recent episode
 * Motor Mouth: Connor. Sarah, too, to a lesser degree.
 * Naive Newcomer
 * Interesting case with Sarah. She's not new to the world of advertising--in fact, she's won several awards and will continue to remind you about that at length--just new to Mason and Connor's company.
 * One Hour Work Week: Connor, though Mason edges into this territory at times
 * One of the Boys: Sarah, who feels more comfortable working on beer than shampoo.

Mason: No one would ever doubt that."


 * Only Sane Man: Mason
 * Perma Stubble: Connor
 * Product Placement: Quite a bit of it, actually. And it does this without any irony as a show about the ad business. So far most of the products they're promoting are fictional, but they've also done ads for Dove Haircare, Rolling Rock Beer, and Bertolli. They also drink from Starbucks cups quite often. Tone down on the subtly, guys.
 * Sorry I'm Gay: what Sarah's ex-husband eventually tells her
 * Straight Gay: Sarah's husband
 * Those Two Guys: Tom and Hector
 * The Windy City: the setting