Today's column previews tomorrow night's debut of "Mad Men" on AMC, which is definitely going into the blog rotation for the rest of the summer:"What do women want?" ad exec Don Draper asks his boss Roger in the middle of a workday.
"Who cares?" Roger shrugs, and takes another long drink from his whiskey glass.
Welcome to Madison Avenue, 1960 and the world of "Mad Men," a swinging new drama about an age when men were men, women were supplicant, and fulfillment was just a jingle away.
As Don (Jon Hamm), a square-jawed uber-man who's rarely without a cigarette in one hand and a cocktail in the other, explains to a client, "Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is a new car. It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard by the side of the road that screams, with reassurance, that no matter what you're doing, you're okay. You are okay."
"Mad Men" is quite a bit more than okay. Created by Matthew Weiner, one of David Chase's lieutenants on "The Sopranos," the series is a devoted but candid recreation of the era.
To read the full thing, click here.
I watched the Behind the Scenes special on AMC the other day and I think I caught a glimpse of Tim Van Patten. Hopefully he'll be directing an episode? And wouldn't it be great if they got Chase to come on board as a guest writer, since he loved the pilot so much that he hired Weiner for Sopranos.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that's the kid from "Angel."
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't believe that we finally get to see Christina Hendricks again. She was ridiculously hot in "Firefly".
ReplyDeleteEr, the "Sopranos" connections are intriguing, too. Yeah.
(Seriously though, can't wait for this one. Along with "Damages", the only good reason for TV existing in July.)
Oooh, I hadn't put together Christina Hendricks' name with the part from "Firefly." Seriously, there's some interesting stuff over the next few weeks--this one, "Damages," and "Saving Grace," which should be worth watching if just for Holly Hunter, who never fails to be interesting.
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