- Joanna Weiss at the Boston Globe blogs about Mad Men. She notes that AMC spent $25 per new viewer, believes that Peggy put the baby up for adoption, and that the package was mailed to Midge.
- A somewhat more in-depth analysis of the ratings numbers from Conde-Nast Portfolio.
- The Republican-American (which is apparently just the name of a local paper, not a political affiliation) loves Mad Men madly, as noted by Basketcase Peter G.
- Basketcase Lindsay tipped us to Style Notes, which shows you how to shop for the Mad Men look.
- In the world of funny headlines, TV by the Numbers’s made this week’s hit parade with Is Mad Men the Gossip Girl for Adults?
- The Waterloo (Canada) Record has a nice article on Jon Hamm, discussing the masculine image of leading men of an earlier age, and how that worked against him at a certain point in his career. By the way, all these bios of Hamm, when listing his credentials, call him the co-star of Kissing Jessica Stein. KSJ is one of my favorite movies, I’ve seen it about six times. Hamm is in one scene. One. And he’s not the main character in that scene either.
- Martin Malloy does a wonderfully personal, conversational review of For Those Who Think Young.
- There’s a lovely little on-set interview with Christina Hendricks at Zap2It.
- Speaking of the lovely Joan Holloway, our friend zeitgeist has photos from Comic-con, of Hendricks (aka Yo/Saf/Bridg of Firefly). She is wearing a Jayne hat! And appears to have a shamrock tattooed on her breast!
- Tim Goodman is back with more Mad Men love. This time, it’s WWDDD? (What Would Don Draper Do?)
- I love this column in the Rocky Mountain News, using Mad Men to compare “then” and “now.”
Or how about my spin on this solicitous statement from Draper’s at-home wife. “Are you hungry? I left you a plate in the oven.” I’m more likely to say, “Are you hungry? There’s peanut butter. I’m going out with so-and-so. Catch you later.”
Which shows how far I have yet to go – I’m still pointing out to a grown man that there’s peanut butter.
- One of the most interesting articles I’ve seen lately, and fabulously illustrated (really, you’ve got to click through to see it), is from Men’s Vogue. The author takes “political incorrectness” as a badge of honor, waxing nostalgic about the joys of smoking and (for reasons unknown) kicking your housepet. At the same time, he has unique insight into the Mad Men era, having lived through it, and recounts the most entertaining story I’ve read lately, of his boyhood phone calls to Kim Novak.
- The (London) Times Online has a wonderful, insightful article about Mad Men, speculating as to why ratings aren’t higher.
What gives Mad Men an almost unbearable tension, a Chekhovian edge, is our knowledge that for America, and for the men so busily selling the idea of it in the series, the sense of existential certainty lasted for so brief a moment. We know it’s about to be shattered ” by the tragedy of the Vietnam war, which is barrelling round a blind corner like an unstoppable tank; by the late-1960s counterculture, which will reject the values that led America into Vietnam; and by the attendant sexual revolutions, which will radically change the way men and women relate to each other.
11 Responses to “Mad News July 31-August 3, 2008”
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That photo of Peggy, Pete and Trudy is an interesting scenerio.
Can you picture the conversation?
"So Peggy, you remember my wife Trudy? Trudy, this is Peggy, she was one of our secretaries?" Pete says.
"I'm a copywriter now." Peggy replies smiling at Trudy and avoiding Pete's gaze.
"Oh, so your a career gal!" Trudy says smugly. "It must be so interesting. I myself have been dedicated to being a wife and a mother?"
"That's nice." Peggy replies. "It is pretty busy in the office. So much takes up your time. It's nice to have parties like this."
"Maybe you'll find some swell guy here." Trudy says, "There are a few single fellas here tonight."
"Oh, Honey, Peggy is devoted to work." Pete interjects, "Sterling Cooper is the man in her life." Peggy looks uncomfortable.
"Oh Pete, career isn't everything." Trudy says lightly and curls her arm into his. "Peggy doesn't want to wind up one of those shriveled, old, child-less career women. I'm sure."
"No, I don't think that will happen to me." Peggy replies back, a small smile on her lips. "So you don't have children yet?" Already knowing the answer.
Trudy's arm on Pete tenses and she gives a fake bright smile, "Oh, not yet dear. My Pete and I are just enjoying each other a while longer before we start our family."
"Yeah, I am sure one day you can find a swell guy to make an honest woman of you Pegs." Pete says, "Maybe spend a little more time out of the office."
"She would be a good match for Ken or even Paul, if he and his girl don't work out." Trudy says.
"Honey, now let's not go playing cupid." Pete says stiffly. "I'm sure Peggy doesn't want to mix business and pleasure by dating in the office"
"No, I have heard that it's not a good idea." Peggy replies sweetly.
Very nice, Elle.
Would it actually cause Peggy pain to not dress like she's fresh from the convent? The color at pattern are nice, but eesh. Actually, I don't think I'm responding to that dress so much as the combined effect of her whole wardrobe.
I hope, I pray that Peggy did not give that little boy up for adoption. (Like the lady at the Boston Globe predicts) It is a storyline situation that is so ripe for drama. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Peggy left Pete Jr. with her folks. Maybe we will find out tonight when she goes home for dinner? It will be interesting to see how the home lives of thse characters actually is.
Elle, that’s what we think too. The mother or sister is raising him. Deb has been saying all along that he is being raised as her nephew or brother, Jack Nicholson style.
I found it fascinating that from the very first scene of Peggy, putting on her perfume, she looked 100% more sophisticated, and sexy, despite the fact that she still wore bangs and a freaking prairie dress that we know to be at least two years old and probably homemade, at that.
Elle. Oh. Elle.
The AMC MM website has some preview pictures for episode 2 and they include Harry with his wife AND one with Peggy, Pete and Trudy at a party.
http://blogs.amctv.com/season_2_mad_men_photo_gallery/harry-crane-season-2-episode-2.php
I'm sure Peggy can afford one stylish outfit from Menken's!:P
I did love the rose material that Peggy is wearing in the photo. Can you imagine that material (minus the collar and frill) in a form fitting dress like the kinda Joan would wear. Scoop neck, pencil tight shirt. It would really do Peggy justice. I hope they morph her into something a little more revealing. I mean they have her necking with a strange dude in the hall in the next episode. If she is gonna get around, at least start to dress the part.
Joan should give her some tips.
It was an interesting piece on the low ratings, but ignores the main reason quite possibly being there was almost no publicity the first season — the push came before this season. And if the show fails to catch fire it's because, even with all the publicity, the late support asks people to go out of their way to play catch-up. As flawless as AMC has been in recent weeks, they largely twiddled their thumbs for a year.
I will but into almost any other theory about the show demanding a lot, and the leisurely pace, and the dumbing down the the audience making it hard for them to watch a show that challenges them, but until recent weeks few people had heard of the show. You have to make people aware of the show before you can act like they've rejected it.
The Waterbury paper article link above is going to a log-in screen. try this one: http://rep-am.com/articles/2008/07/28/lifestyle/356220.txt
Ellelque, I loved your scene. You should consider writing Mad Men fan fiction. You captured the characters perfectly.