Mad Men

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
So, now that Lance Quazar has revealed himself as the only other Mad Men fan I've noticed on here, I feel like it's time to finally start a thread for what is, in my book, the best show currently on television (not that I watch <I>that</I> many of them).

So, any thoughts on this obsessively contextually-concerned drama and period piece? What's possibly most compelling to me about it is its consistent focus on the question of identity-formation, not only in the extreme case of Don Draper, but all the way down the line. I resisted acknowledging it for years, but it really is one of <I>the</I> questions of our time.
 

phantom train

New member
I'm a huge fan of Mad Men - it's is a superb TV show, and is definitely one of the best new shows out there. The show is an amazing portrait of a specific era, and really showcases the very profound changing social values that were occuring (or going to occur) at that time - though I wasn't born until about a decade after the show takes place, the producers of the show have really done their homework on making the cars, hairstyles, etc. identical to what they looked like in the early 1960's - you really feel like you're there during that time period when watching this.

What's also interesting is that you can see the first hints/shades of the extreme social changes that would occur later - a good example of this is the scenes in the first season when Don Draper is "partying" with those bohemians in NYC; this made me think of what will happen in the later 1960's with the hippies, the counterculture movement, etc.

One of the most poignant/disturbing moments in this series occured when Don Draper's younger brother confronted him (1st season?). I won't go into this too much here since some reading this thread may not have seen the show, but suffiice it to say that this really displayed the lengths one will go to to escape their past. It's obvious that this was a lot easier to do in the 1950's/1960's than it would be these days.

I'm always behind on watching new TV shows, however, since I don't watch TV at all, just TV shows on DVD - so, at this point I've only seen the first two seasons (the 3rd season of the show is now on DVD, and I'll probably check that out later this year).
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Thank god SOMEONE got the reference from the "What Year Should Indy V be set in thread"!

:gun:


Yes, Mad Men is such a terrific show. I'm really enjoying this season. Lately, it seems each season kind of starts out slowly, but really it's just laying great groundwork for what will follow.

Don's visit with Anna Draper was heartbreaking. And poor, poor Sally!

As messed up as Don's persona life is, it was great to see him on top of his professional game during the Honda situation last week.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Lance Quazar said:
Yes, Mad Men is such a terrific show. I'm really enjoying this season. Lately, it seems each season kind of starts out slowly, but really it's just laying great groundwork for what will follow.

And now we get the traditional mid-season turn, I think. Man, that was one heck of an episode. Somewhat interesting that this is our second "Don's night at the office/night out on the town" episode this season, and neither one with Roger. Killer work from Hamm and Moss.
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
. . . but Roger's "It's never bothered me before" line was the best of the season.
 
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Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Attila the Professor said:
And now we get the traditional mid-season turn, I think. Man, that was one heck of an episode. Somewhat interesting that this is our second "Don's night at the office/night out on the town" episode this season, and neither one with Roger. Killer work from Hamm and Moss.

A sensational episode spotlighting the two most compelling characters. EXCELLENT work from Hamm. It's hard to go wrong with an episode all about Peggy and Don. This may go down as one of my favorites in the series.

A very heart-wrenching good-bye to Anna Draper. So sad.

On a lighter note, the show took a much needed break from the endless torment visited upon Sally Draper.

Yeah, Attila, structurally it did seem a bit similar to Don's "night out" with Lane. I think I would be perfectly happy if the series was like this even for the rest of its run - these wonderful, intimate character pieces just focusing on a couple of characters at a time.

Outstanding stuff all around.
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Why I'm Quitting Tobaccco

One thing I really like about Don Draper . . . . he doesn't owe anything to a Sean Connery-like father.
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Attila the Professor said:
Maybe the 1912 flashback would have been better if it had a little more kick.

Ha!

Seriously, Draper is self-made -- and I wish Indy was more Draper-esque.
 

DiscoLad

New member
I don't know, Spongebob is more my style...and Phineas and Ferb.:p

Mad Men is too... Not funny, and too serious.
I hear great things though. It's gotten awards right so theres something to show off. (y)

Too dramatic. Dig?
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
DiscoLad said:
Mad Men is too... Not funny...

With all respect...I'm guessing you must have missed out on this guy:

slattery.jpg
 

DiscoLad

New member
Never seen him before, Would this make me want to watch Mad Men more?
Cause heck if I get a chuckle I'll watch it. :)

Heck I couldnt watch it for more than a few minutes the other night.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
DiscoLad said:
Never seen him before, Would this make me want to watch Mad Men more?
Cause heck if I get a chuckle I'll watch it. :)

Heck I couldnt watch it for more than a few minutes the other night.

I mean, I'm not going to pretend it's a laugh a minute, but the character pictured there (Roger Sterling, as played by John Slattery) knows his way around a one-liner better than anyone.

The other thing: it's not a show you can just jump into, unfortunately. You really need to start at the beginning in order to appreciate it, since so much of the pleasure of watching it is predicated on knowing the histories of the characters involved.
 

DiscoLad

New member
You didn't hear me say how much I like one-liners did you by any chance? (y)

I'm gonna look this guy up. I might get back into the show. I hadn't watched a full episode since...geez must have been a good while.
 

phantom train

New member
I just finished watching the first 6 episodes of Season 3 of Mad Men on DVD - I know I'm behind, but I always am with TV shows since I don't watch regular TV, and always wait for the DVD's.

These episodes were amazing, and the show seems even better here than the first two seasons, if that's possible.

Some comments - not there are SPOILERS below:

- The storyline of Don Draper's father in law coming to live with them was very poignant. I was especially impressed by the scene when he opened the box with all of his WW I memorabalia and showed it to his grandson - very moving. The episode when he passed away was sad, but you saw it coming. And, the playing of the famous patriotic WW I song Over There over the credits was brilliant and appropriate - though the show doensn't use music that much, when it is used the choices are always amazing.

- The scene in episode 6 when the secretary ran over the British liaison (Mr. Hooker?!) with the lawnmower was shocking and horrific - I was actually really bothered by that scene, and when you found out he was going to lose the foot that made everything that much worse. It was also both horrible and funny when Draper & co. were laughing about it.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing the rest of Season 3 on DVD. I'm guessing that Season 4 will be released on DVD sometime in 2011, so I'm looking forward to seeing that as well.
 
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phantom train

New member
I just finished watching Mad Men Season 3 on DVD, and was very impressed. This is probably the best series of the show up to this point (I still haven't seen S4, though). Some highlights from episodes 7-13. Note there are SPOILERS below for those who still haven't seen this season yet:

- The episode when Don picked up those two hitchhikers who later robbed him was interesting; I liked how the episode started out with Don getting up in the hotel room and being very disoriented, and then we flashed back to what had happened earlier.

- The episode focusing on what happened with JFK was very well-done; though that event occured long before I was born, it seemed very accurate in depicting how people felt when they heard about this terrible event.

- The scene when Betty Draper confronted Don about his previous life as "Dick Whitman" was classic, and you really felt that everything that had gone on in the series beforehand was leading up to this one event. When Don broke down and confessed everything (especially when he talked about his brother, the janitor from earlier in the series) you really felt sorry for him at that point, even though he was normally such an arrogant *****.

- The scenes when Don & others started their own company (towards the end of the series) were great, and unexpected (to me, at least).

Alll in all, a great season.

For those who are interested, here is a link to the box art for for the forthcoming Season 4 DVD set - this is from the website tvshowsondvd.com :

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mad-Men-Season-4-Box-Art/14889
 
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