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

[Doctor Strange]

I have to agree. There have definitely been cases where women didn't know they were pregnant... but Peggy was consistently portrayed as way too smart to be one of those women. (Pete has to be the father, right?)

I did like the image of Don alone on the stairs, finally missing the family he kept pushing away (including his late ex-brother, and even his mistresses).

Oh, and as somebody who was leafing through photography magazines back in the early 60s, I recognized that original Kodak Carousel projector, and the carousel-horse logo they showed with it in the ad mockup! (But by the time we got one circa-1965, they had redesigned the exterior into the sleek, black, curved one-piece look that remained standard for decades.)

 

[Miss Dottie]

Never heard that euphemism before.

Another guy - er gal - who's got this show pegged is Sacha Zimmerman, who writes for The New Republic. Her dissection of MM is here.
(Note: Google cache. TNR has taken down their page, as cultural commentary obviously has the same shelf life as weekly news. Hmph. :eusa_doh: )

Well, I think that's why this is considered more of a drama than say a campy comedy.

Yes, yes, I know that some of the characters are more extreme and I don't see many "everyman" characters on on the show. (I'm having a tough time with the whole Peggy pregnancy thing...) But unfortunately, I don't know that many "everyman" characters on TV today regardless of what time period it's put in.

Since I wasn't alive during this time period, I can't tell if it's realistic or not, but seems to be based on what I've seen/heard from others. And they seem to take the design very very seriously as almost its own character--perhaps that is a nod to how different times were back then. But regardless, it is a great backdrop for some complex characters.

And I'm sure there are shameful anachronisms that I'm just not clever enough to see (although hello--Raymond Loewy designed the Lucky Strike logo--it would have been nice if they started off with a less iconic logo...) but it's also just nice to sit back and enjoy the show.

I think this show is definitely a slow burner. Similar to the Sopranos, I think not everything is answered immediately and that it could take awhile for the truth to be unearthed.

So we'll have to wait until Summer 2008 to get more of it. I guess we'll just have to read some John Cheever until then.

Oh and here's another review from TV industry insider Jack Myers' site: http://www.jackmyers.com/mediavillage/tvshows/elaine-liner/10737481.html

 

[Decodence]

I hate 99% of TV programming, but boy do I love this show. Even my liberal wife likes it.

 

[Starius]

I just got done watching the season finale. I have to say, this show did grow on me over time.
I've said it earlier, but this show is a real slice of life kind of thing. It doesn't spoon feed you any easy answers or clear cut concepts, just like life. Some people just don't get that or find it uncomfortable. Personally, thats what I love about the show. It leaves the entire range of interpretation up to the viewer. Tell Me You Love Me on HBO does much the same thing in that regard, though I think Mad Men might actually do it better.

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

Never heard that euphemism before.

Another guy - er gal - who's got this show pegged is Sacha Zimmerman, who writes for The New Republic. Her dissection of MM is here.
(Note: Google cache. TNR has taken down their page, as cultural commentary obviously has the same shelf life as weekly news. Hmph. :eusa_doh: )

Bah. What a drip. I loved it and considering that it got brought back for another season, apparently a few other people did too. What a snotty article!

 

[fortworthgal]

Okay, I MISSED the season finale. Can someone recap please?

 

[carter]

Okay, I MISSED the season finale. Can someone recap please?

It'll be back for season two so my guess is that they'll rerun the whole thing some Saturday morning thru the weekend before then.

 

[Doctor Strange]

If you can't wait for a rerun, AMC has a pretty good synopsis up on their site here:

http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/episode13

And there's other good stuff there besides the episode guide - definitely worth a look if you're interested in the show.

 

[KittyT]

Notes on the title sequence

Somewhere in this thread, there are some conjectures about the title sequence of this series.

Now, all of your questions answered by the creators themselves:

http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2008/03/qa-title-design.php

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Thanks for the link, Kitty! I'm looking forward to Season 2.

 

[scotrace]

Tony! Mwua! Haven't seen you in a bit.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I'm around, but work has been using up all my energy of late. Gotta post more, I guess.

 

[KittyT]

Production Begins on Season 2 of Mad Men

set for July

http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2008/04/season-two-update.php

Also:

"The first season of the series will be released on DVD July 1 and is available for pre-order for $10 off the retail price in the AMC Store. Fans can also look forward to the release of the compact disc Mad Men: Music from the Series, Vol. 1 on June 24 featuring thirteen songs featured in the show."

 

[A.R. McVintage]

*Case you missed it, Sal, the AD, is a closet case. You can tell because he wears tan suits sometimes and holds his smokes funny.

Was this aside from his effeminite gesturing, over-posturing towards pointing out "how he's one of the guys," how in the first episode he's drawn his neighbor shirtless, or the myriad other "FOLKS, THIS GUY'S GAY!!!" billboard sized signs around him?

 

[Decodence]

set for July

http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2008/04/season-two-update.php

Also:

"The first season of the series will be released on DVD July 1 and is available for pre-order for $10 off the retail price in the AMC Store. Fans can also look forward to the release of the compact disc Mad Men: Music from the Series, Vol. 1 on June 24 featuring thirteen songs featured in the show."

I wonder why no Blu-ray co-release.

 

[A.R. McVintage]

I wonder why no Blu-ray co-release.

There is:

http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Men-Seaso...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1210881634&sr=1-1

 

[Polka Dot]

set for July

Can't wait!

 

[goldwyn girl]

Second season starts July 27th

 

[David Conwill]

Second season starts July 27th

Yippie! I can't wait.

-Dave

 

[texasgirl]

I just read that AMC is planning a marathon July 20, starting at noon. All of the episodes air back to back. I think I may try to catch these since I missed it the first time around.