mad men

[dornish prince]

didn't search, so delete if necessary...season 2 begins on july 27th...so speculate, if you please.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

There is indeed another thread [url="http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?showtopic=22714"]here[/url], where I've linked to some spoilers for the second season if you're interested.

[Rhom]

With the new season getting ready to kick into steam, I'd say a separate thread is certainly justified.

I finished out the first season on DVD with a marathon session on Saturday night that went much later than I planned on. Fantastically written show. I just now read some of the background on Season 2 in the original thread that Spiro linked. It sounds interesting and I will certainly be there on my couch for the new episodes.

I find it interesting that one of the complaints in the first thread was that "nothing changed" and now we are getting the dreaded "two year gap" (not to be confused with "five year gaps" that have been shown to be unworkable. ;) ) leading into what I would assume will be very little "real" change in the lives of the characters.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Technically, it's a fourteen month gap, from November 1960 to February 1962. ;) (I think the bit from the EW cover story is actually from episode two, not one.)

And speaking of episode 2.1, somebody on the official forum linked to [url="http://www.multichannel.com/blog/1300000330/post/1790029379.html"]a spoiler-ish review of "For Those Who Think Young"[/url], which is very positive; I get the impression that the reviewer is holding stuff back, but it may still be too much information for some people.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Five days until season two starts up, and I have a few spoilers. First, [url="http://www.lippsisters.com/season-2-episodes/"]a link to the official summaries[/url] of the first seven episodes; they tend to be pretty coy, so don't go looking for the "...at which point we discover that Don Draper is actually a man named Dick Whitman" moment.

Also, a bunch of casting information is now known, including [url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0913585/"]Audrey "Pam from [i]Big Love[/i]" Wasilewski[/url] as "Anita Olsen Respola", believed to be a married sister of Peggy; the most prominent guest star announced so far is [url="http://thebiz.fancast.com/2008/07/exclusive_colin_hanks.html"]Colin "son of Tom" Hanks[/url], who will be playing a character whose name and significance have not yet been released.

Finally, [url="http://de.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=3762b6f5-4928-492e-a186-b3eece91cf90"]this post[/url] from Watch with Kristin is unusually packed with interesting nuggets, including the transcript of a brief scene from "For Those Who Think Young", and a statement by Matt Weiner that leads me to predict with 95% confidence that

SPOILER: Mad Men

episode 2, "Flight 1", will deal with the death of Pete Campbell's father. I say this because Pete is going to deal with a "major tragedy", and the actor who played Pete's father died a few months ago in a skiing accident.

[Tears of Lys]

I was lucky enough to catch a first season marathon of "Mad Men." I can see why people are high on it.

Looking forward to the 27th.

[Blaine]

Yeah, I re-watched the first season last week. On second viewing, I've realized that John Slattery (Roger Sterling) is even more of a genius than I previously thought.

There's simply nothing cooler than a guy who will march into your office, pour himself a drink and after the first sip lovingly say, "[i]there[/i] you are" to the glass.

That and the commentary is fascinating, especially Weiner and Taylor's. I'd also forgotten how awesome the show looks. More than just the costumes, which (deservingly) get all the attention - but the actual cinematography and lighting is gorgeous. Especially in HD.

[Commodore]

The scenes with Slattery and Hamm together are what make the show.

[dornish prince]

i'm bursting at the seams in anticipation for this sunday. my bro purchased the first season on dvd the other day, so we'll probably be watching it to refresh our memories.

:D

[Blaine]

[quote name='Commodore' post='1452920' date='Jul 23 2008, 13.25']The scenes with Slattery and Hamm together are what make the show.[/quote]
Agreed. My personal favorite is the two of them chatting and casually exiting the office while Pete and Ken engage in a full fistfight behind them.

[Rhom]

[quote name='Blaine23' post='1453111' date='Jul 23 2008, 16.04']Agreed. My personal favorite is the two of them chatting and casually exiting the office while Pete and Ken engage in a full fistfight behind them.[/quote]

I did actually laugh out loud at that.

[Commodore]

The genius of Weiner shines through in his commentary, a man who truly knows his craft (the actor's commentary was god awful).

How the hell could HBO pass up a pitch from a guy as smart as that, and instead go with something as average as True Blood.

[Dirk Llama]

[quote name='Commodore' post='1454053' date='Jul 24 2008, 03.24']The genius of Weiner shines through in his commentary, a man who truly knows his craft (the actor's commentary was god awful).

How the hell could HBO pass up a pitch from a guy as smart as that, and instead go with something as average as True Blood.[/quote]

Dude, [i]True Blood[/i] comes from Alan Ball who was a proven stud showrunner that brought HBO many viewers and much acclaim. Show is supposed to improve significantly in the second episode. Yes, Weiner was a key writer (shit, Winter and Green/Burgess were probably better/more important) for [i]The Sopranos[/i], but it's not the same.

HBO passed on [i]Weeds[/i] because they didn't want to do a show with kid actors featured so prominently.

FX passed on [i]Breaking Bad[/i] because it was too dark or impenetrable or some shit.

HBO passed on Kurt Sutter's [i]Sons of Anarchy[/i] and then decided to develop [i]1%[/i] a couple of months later.

Networks do inexplicable shit. But, so long as awesome projects make it to air and aren't fucked with creatively, I don't really care what network they air on. Yeah, HBO would have meant that we might have seen January Jones or Christina Hendricks naked, but... Uh.

What?

[Blaine]

I have to agree about True Blood. Unless they change the tone, the writing, the location and half the characters from the pilot... then that show is poo. Which is sad because I love Ball's writing on Six Feet Under. And American Beauty.

HBO, did screw up royally by not picking up Mad Men. I mean, the guy's had the pilot script for 5 years... and it perfectly laid out the show.

By picking up (and perfectly executing) shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, AMC is showing the kind of creative recognition that [b]made[/b] HBO what it is today, in terms of original programming.

Of course, with HBO... we still probably wouldn't have Joan or Betty nude. But we'd have definitely seen more T&A out of Aluminum siding twins. And probably some nude Midge.

[Rhom]

Mmmm... Betty Draper...

:drool:

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Honestly, I don't see how nudity would have helped the show. I mean, obviously, I'm not about to object to seeing most of the characters naked, but it wouldn't necessarily have made the show better. I think what would have helped, definitely, is having a longer episode length, so that more character stuff could be included in every episode. Also, I imagine that if Mad Men was in JfC's slot last year, it would have been in a much better ratings position right now.

[Commodore]

I"m saying if you watched the[i] Mad Men[/i] pilot and the [i]True Blood [/i]pilot, there is no way you could pick the latter over the former, if quality programming is what you are after.

The [i]True Blood [/i]pilot reminded me of one of those quasi-sci-fi shows you see on the CW (Reaper, Smallville, etc.)

I've started to realize that the EP is the primary factor in whether or not a show is great. Milch, Hurwitz, Simon, Weiner, when you hear their commentaries you see their vision driving these shows.

[Blaine]

[quote name='Commodore' post='1454630' date='Jul 24 2008, 11.47']I"m saying if you watched the[i] Mad Men[/i] pilot and the [i]True Blood [/i]pilot, there is no way you could pick the latter over the former, if quality programming is what you are after.

The [i]True Blood [/i]pilot reminded me of one of those quasi-sci-fi shows you see on the CW (Reaper, Smallville, etc.)[/quote]
That's exactly it. What I saw could've been a SciFi original... except that Anna Paquin's in it.

The True Blood pilot is everything I didn't like about Alan Ball's writing (and none of the stuff that's great).

Jokey plot reveals that elicit groans instead of surprise
Poorly stereotyped regional characters
Hammer-over-the-head obvious social commentary metaphors
Characters who are quirky for the sake of being quirky

Sadly, what's missing is his touch for human drama through solid depictions of American life. There's really none of it on display here. The guy has a deft touch with making depressing or moody material witty and clever. When he tries to go for straight comedy or thrills... well, he misses.

[Commodore]

I can imagine what Ball would have done with characters in Mad Men, it would have been straight up trashing of middle America ala [i]American Beauty[/i], rather than Weiner's much more complex characters.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

While I wait for Matt Weiner's live chat to load up, some quick thoughts on episode 2.1, "For Those Who Think Young":

Best line of the episode goes to one Pete Campbell, when asked what explains Peggy's 'charmed career': "Fat farm! I thought we had a verification!" The best moment of the episode, however, is Don on the elevator, telling that young whippersnapper to take off his hat; he's never seemed older than he did in that moment.

I don't think the book is going to Rachel Mencken. That's the obvious choice, and I'm betting on the headfake here.

I didn't think the episode could get more uncomfortable after Pete and Trudie started discussing her failure to conceive, and then we cut to Don and Betty at the Savoy. I commented to my friend that this must be the first time that we've seen Don having sex with his wife, but that turned out not to be true. (Betty, bless her heart, handles it in the exact wrong way too.)

Speaking of Betty, she is going to send poor Sally Draper to therapy soon: not only mentioning the death of the little girl in Gone With The Wind, but her line to the other woman at the stables, the one with the daughter who was skipping lunch at school: "At least she'll be getting slim." Your mom did a number on you, Betty Draper.

And finally, [url="http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2008/07/mad-men-for-those-who-think-young-get.html"]Alan Sepinwall argues[/url] that Peggy couldn't have skipped several months and kept her job without one of her superiors knowing, probably Don. I'm inclined to agree. Thoughts?