"Mad Men" on AMC (US) - (Spoilers Within)

[MrBern]

rubber baby

check out the prop, used to fill in for Betty's baby boy

http://www.amctv.com/videos/mad-men/?bcpid=8803972001&bclid=29713005001&bctid=36707805001

 

[Senator Jack]

I thought Baby Gene's present to Sally was going to be a carton of cigarettes.

 

[Senator Jack]

What was with the Oliver! screw-up? Oliver had been running in London since 1960, so was the reference intentional to make Joan appear stupid? If so, why did the Brit sound like he had no idea what the show was about? (the tragedy with a happy ending line.)

That's the second Broadway error they had in the show. In an earlier episode Harry mentions having got tickets for Can-Can now that the audience thinned. Can-Can had premiered on Broadway in 53. it was the film that came out in 60.

 

[Feraud]

Mad Men's much touted mythic attention to detail is not all it's cracked up to be.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yeah, that Oliver! thing bothered me too, though I was quickly distracted from it. Why send them to a show that originated in London? Weren't Camelot, The Sound of Music, Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened..., etc., running then?

(A quick visit to the very useful http://www.musicals101.com/index.html indicates that most of them were.)

Yes, they clearly do make mistakes now and then.

 

[Flitcraft]

Yes!...

Don needs to assemble the team and fly to Istanbul for a Topkapi inspired jewelled dagger heist.

I'd watch that!

 

[MrBern]

Oprah's pal Gayle

I'm amused at how the audience gasps at the sexist lines.

http://www.oprah.com/media/20090903-tows-gayle-king-mad-men

pre-interviews
http://www.oprah.com/media/20090917-orig-january-jones

http://www.oprah.com/media/20090903-orig-mad-men-jon-hamm

radio interview with Hamm...mouseburger?
http://www.oprah.com/media/20090812-radio-gayle-king-jon-hamm

 

[Tomasso]

I'm still hanging on due to the story line but the dialogue is faltering......... Plus last week they made up that stuff about Admiral turning down black advertising when they were actually one of the first national companies (after Zenith) to advertise with Johnson Publications. Ross Siragusa must be spinning in his grave.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'm still hanging on due to the story line but the dialogue is faltering.........

Yes...and has anyone noticed some of the characters' reactive facial tics? Betty's darting eyes; Peggy's quick, jerky nods; Don's squints. It gets old.



.

 

[Feraud]

Yes...and has anyone noticed some of the characters' reactive facial tics? Betty's darting eyes; Peggy's quick, jerky nods; Don's squints. It gets old.



.

Which reminds me of a comment someone wrote about Richard Gere's acting style. They summed it up as, "blinks his eyes a lot".

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.



Meet the REAL Conrad Hilton.


Below are both sides of a card that was handed out at Conrad Hilton's funeral. The prayer was written by him.

.

 

[AmateisGal]

Yes...and has anyone noticed some of the characters' reactive facial tics? Betty's darting eyes; Peggy's quick, jerky nods; Don's squints. It gets old.



.

I've never been a big fan of January Jones' acting. At first, I thought it was just her playing the character as rather stilted. Now I'm not so sure.

 

[Tikismall]

I like that the characters have their little qualities that make them signature.

Betty is a headcase.
Peggy is struggling with being confident/ambitious and insecure/pleasing.
Don is just all kinds of messed up!

The acting is great and I hope the show just gets better and better. This season is interesting, I think everyone seems more comfortable with their roles and now we're getting used to seeing their patterns as actors.

All in all, I am enjoying it still.

 

[Drew B]

I like that the characters have their little qualities that make them signature.

Betty is a headcase.
Peggy is struggling with being confident/ambitious and insecure/pleasing.
Don is just all kinds of messed up!

The acting is great and I hope the show just gets better and better. This season is interesting, I think everyone seems more comfortable with their roles and now we're getting used to seeing their patterns as actors.

All in all, I am enjoying it still.

Here, Here!

Realisticly, Mad Med won't be able to capture that time perfectly (and really - neither will we) but I still quiet like it. As far as their little ticks and what not are concerned; sure it may be a little exaggerated but these things are in essence what make ourselves ourselves. I like it that they have kept these little nuances for the three seasons so far and I hope to see them remain. Just my 2c.

I do however have to admit that it has slowed down a little, but most serials do slow down after the second season; some pick back up and some don't - that is generally what decides if the stay on the air or not. I still enjoy it and will keep watching it.

Cheers,
Drew

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I'm still hanging on due to the story line but the dialogue is faltering......... Plus last week they made up that stuff about Admiral turning down black advertising when they were actually one of the first national companies (after Zenith) to advertise with Johnson Publications. Ross Siragusa must be spinning in his grave.

Except, the storyline might be that they first got the idea of targeted advertising to blacks from one agency and went to another to have it carried out or refined.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Meet the REAL Conrad Hilton.

Below are both sides of a card that was handed out at Conrad Hilton's funeral. The prayer was written by him.

And to think, what most people now associate with his name is his insipid rail-thin with the forward thrust hip, shoulders back, right hand on hip great granddaughter Paris Hilton. That's hot! Not! :eusa_doh:

 

[Cricket]

This may be off topic but I thought it was funny...Our two year son was in the living room when my husband and I were watching Mad Men last week. He runs into the room, points at Draper and says, "Daddy?"

My husband and I just looked at each other and started laughing. He wasn't quite sure if it was a compliment or insult. lol

 

[PADDY]

I like Don...

He's a tragic hero - very Bryonesque, and in part I can identify with him. He's in inner turmoil and all will end in tears for him, sadly...
I'm 'loving' it!! (watching it online).

 

[Doctor Strange]

I agree. Don is stuck somewhere between hero and antihero. His life is built on lies, he is manipulative and amoral, with no control over his passions for drinking, smoking, and sex with nearly every woman he meets...

Yet he frequently does unexpectedly right, selfless things - for Peggy, Sal, Betty, his kids, etc. And - perhaps because he's aware that he's occupying his position of power under some false pretenses - he seems surprisingly open-minded: the foreign films, run-ins with beatniks and proto-hippies, support for Peggy's rise from secretary to copywriter, lack of moral superiority regarding Sal, disgust with Roger's blackface routine, etc.

In some ways, I find his character reminiscent of the old western standby, "the good badman" - a rascal on first glance, but with his own code of honor and a mostly sure sense of right.

 

[MsStabby]

I agree. Don is stuck somewhere between hero and antihero. His life is built on lies, he is manipulative and amoral, with no control over his passions for drinking, smoking, and sex with nearly every woman he meets...

Yet he frequently does unexpectedly right, selfless things - for Peggy, Sal, Betty, his kids, etc. And - perhaps because he's aware that he's occupying his position of power under some false pretenses - he seems surprisingly open-minded: the foreign films, run-ins with beatniks and proto-hippies, support for Peggy's rise from secretary to copywriter, lack of moral superiority regarding Sal, disgust with Roger's blackface routine, etc.

In some ways, I find his character reminiscent of the old western standby, "the good badman" - a rascal on first glance, but with his own code of honor and a mostly sure sense of right.

Don Draper is living out Dick Whitman's fantasies; Don is able to have the life that Dick could only dream of. That gives him the freedom to experience anything that comes along, to be a dilletante if you will. I don't think Don is necessarily open-minded as much as there is no there there. There is no "Don", as there is no "Dick". Everything about him is stolen, both psychically and materially. He's a manipulator and a thief and he found the perfect profession. If a Mad Men-like show was set in present day he'd be Madoff-like.

Dick/Don is a narcissist which explains why he isn't bothered by Sal, among other things. He doesn't care because he truly does not care - it doesn't affect his life, it makes no impact on him. He has no regard for the consequences of his choices and actions as seen by his inter-personal scorched earth trail.

I would like to see more life pressure put on Dick/Don, to provoke his more sociopathic side, like the season premier of Dexter.