# 1 hullaballoo Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

Transcription is a bitch, isn’t it? Great start to the interview. Can’t wait to read more.

# 2 Karl Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

Re: Don’s openness

Don has always been curious. It’s a big reason for his success. The pilot opens with him questioning his waiter about why he smokes. Don draws inspiration from life, and (“The Wheel” not withstanding) not always his life.

# 3 Ellelque Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

Amy named her son Archie Arnett. I totally loved it. Great for Elizabeth being such a good sport and coming on.

# 4 Whitney Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 3:33 pm

I have always depended on the kindness of the internets to provide my Mad Men viewing, and being on the West Coast had to wait until this morning to watch the finale and finally click on your site to see what everyone else thought about it. The news that Matt Weiner came to your party made me as emotional as the letter to Betty did.

You ladies are an inspiration, keep up the thought provoking work.

Now to watch it all over from the beginning…

# 5 kassy Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 3:53 pm

Whitney, I agree, I feel all teary reading about Matt coming to the party. Congratulations Roberta and Deborah!!

# 6 Femme1 Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Teacher!! Teacher!!! *hand waving in air* I got it right, I got it right!

That’s what I feel like, but let me have my moment of satisfaction. I’m so happy that MW commented to you guys about the chicken leg; here’s what I wrote in the Meditations in an Emergency thread:

“Betty eating the chicken leg in her kitchen right after her encounter in the bar was one of my favorite moments in this episode. We heard that she doesn’t eat any more from Sally (worry about pregnancy, or effects of early pregnancy). But now she’s nourishing herself and looks rather thoughtful, not worried.”

OK, OK, it’s not exactly what MW said. But I DID know that it was a significant bit of a scene.

Oh, and Deborah…kudos not only to being THE best MM blogger (and your sis, too, of course) and having the incredible coup of getting Matt Weiner to your party, you also called it right on the BDSM thing with Bobbie. I thought people were going too far on calling that sexual encounter rapist-like and aggresive. And yes…some of us…ahem…like it a little rough once in a while. When we want to…and not coerced.

I’ll go now.

# 7 elaine Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

I’m so excited for the interview!

It’s nice to hear that insight about Betty’s fling. I find her character the most fun to ponder and hardest to predict. Maybe I am the only one but I felt sad when she told Don her news, I felt she was partly resigning herself. Not entirely but maybe more than half of it was resignation. Maybe 45% hope and 55% resignation. And I also felt bad for Don because it reshuffled his cards right at the moment when maybe he could have started to open up a little about some things. Now this season Betty’s been piling up her own secrets and the baby on the way seems like more of the same thing that keeps them from being able to talk.

You know why I think it was kind of easy to anticipate that Betty’s news to Don was going to be the baby? Because they were in the kitchen! I don’t think she would bring him into the house and then once he got all cozy, drop a cuban missal on him.

# 8 elaine Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 4:08 pm

hehe, missal, not what I meant but whatever.

# 9 Femme1 Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 4:13 pm

Elaine, “missal” goes right along with the Catholic/religious/faith theme though..

Good Freudian slip…or Weinerian slip?

# 10 sidewalkstory Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 4:26 pm

Deborah said: she was pregnant (which was the only guaranteed birth control at the time)

——-

Birth Control pills came out in 1960 and were widely accepted right away.

# 11 B.Cooper Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 4:36 pm

didn’t want this post to end, deb. i was waaaay into everything. so proud that he showed up for you guys, and equally jealous that i was in a hotel room in phoenix, still on east coast time, watching the left coast broadcast, rather than with everyone in nyc.

can’t wait for the big q&a …

# 12 elaine Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 4:40 pm

Oh Femme that’s what it was a Weinerian slip! I’ve got Peggy’s ‘baby news bombshell’ and associated imagery stuck in my subconscious! Drrr.

# 13 Sir Hillary Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 4:43 pm

Roberta and Deb,

1) Thanks for this blog. Has definitely made my internet life more interesting.

2) Can’t wait to read the rest of the interview with MW.

3) Re: the final scene…not only was I fully expecting Betty’s “news” to be her affair, when she told him what she told him, I turned to my wife and said, “Holy shit, I totally forgot she was pregnant!” The salon scene was only 30 minutes earlier, but so wrapped up was I — in the tryst, the letter, the board meeting and the Peggy/Pete scene — that I had completely forgetten about the pregnancy. THAT is good writing.

4) Did I say thanks for this blog?

# 14 wisefish Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

#10, even now, BCP are not 100% effective!

# 15 Deborah Lipp Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

Birth Control pills came out in 1960 and were widely accepted right away.

As wisefish says, it’s not 100% effective. Plus, a woman who became sexually active before the Pill was introduced was not likely to feel completely comfortable with it. I mean, the notion that sex is risky was still there.

Even when I was in high school and college; a sweet spot in sexuality—post Pill, pre-AIDS, post Roe v. Wade—where sex was at its lowest risk, I knew girls who were using 2 or 3 methods of birth control (like Pill and condoms, and remember, pre-AIDS) “just to be sure.” Anxiety is always there.

# 16 Doug Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 5:50 pm

I love what you have wriiten so far about your interview with Matt Weiner. Take your time. Thank you for this site. I cannot wait for season 3

# 17 briome Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 6:39 pm

The early birth control pills were not as easily tolerated as today’s are. My mom mentioned how she was on them and they didn’t really get the hormones right yet and women got really wacky…. I doubt Betty was taking them anyway!
So why not give the eye to Mr. Awesome from ‘Chuck’.. I also love that show!

# 18 B.Cooper Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 6:48 pm

Time for a great Rodney Dangerfield joke:

Guy says to another guy, “My wife and I are down to having sex just once a week.”

The other guy says, “Once a week, is anything wrong?”

The guy says, “No. There’s three other guys she cut out altogether.”

# 19 L Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 8:09 pm

This is amazing. That is all I can say.

# 20 wisefish Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 8:25 pm

It is so so cool, to be part of something like this!

Thanks Matt Weiner and everyone who makes Mad Men so fun to watch and so enjoyable to discuss afterward. And thanks Lipp Sisters for proving the Basket of Kisses where we get t o have such intelligent, deep, insightful and funny discussion!

# 21 pixelwax Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 8:57 pm

Holy crap, I direct actors via the script just like Weiner! My screenplay professor told me to be a novelist instead. But I kept saying I wanted actors to “get” the character. I’m all for actor’s bringing their ideas to a part but you gotta let them know character quirks and such. Whatever. I’m trying to write both now.

# 22 Lord Bottletop Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 10:02 pm

So sorry the show airs on Sunday nights! Would have loved to come up from Chapel Hill. I must say, the battle for Pete’s soul was one of the best subplots of the season. I love the character, and am very touched by his sadness and desperation. I don’t envy Vincent Kartheiser, who must be wondering what’s going to happen to Pete Campbell after he’s last been seen holding a .22 caliber rifle in a dark office.

# 23 carocat Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 10:13 pm

I just wanted to say that your blog is great and wow WEINER at your party! I wanted to come in (from larchmont) but have two little kids and didn’t think I should do it on a school night . . DUMB DUMB DUMB! Oh how I wish just being able to jump in cab like the old days! Anyway, if you have another party next year, I look forward to it. Not to totally pump up your heads, but not only is this the best MM blog, its one of the best blogs outthere on any subject, because it is thoughtful but also tons of fun and the people treat each others’ ideas with respect and openness. SNARK, on so many blogs, is overrated. Well done ladies.

# 24 Lara Says:
October 28th, 2008 at 1:45 am

Oh, now I wish I HAD cashed in those Southwest miles to be at the party!

Great interview. I totally didn’t pick up on the S&M thing, of course now that you mention it its totally obvious. He left her tied to the bed, no? And TOLD HER not to talk! And I thought Don Draper couldn’t get any hotter….

And I want my Gold Star for TOTALLY knowing that Peggy’s baby was NOT the blond moppet at her sister’s house.

Thx again for such as great blog!

# 25 BroncoRoger Says:
October 29th, 2008 at 8:06 am

“He would love to work with Mark Moses again and hopes the scripts lend to him coming back.”

Hmmm. A bit of foreshadowing maybe?

# 26 Max the Communist Says:
October 29th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

I, too, love Don’s openness to new things and people and experiences.

I’m thinking that maybe sharing his past wouldn’t be so important to Betty if he could just take her along on some of his own explorations. I’m thinking of the dinner at Lutece with Jimmie’s crappy apology and Betty crying in the car afterwards. She’s not happy, as she claims, but she does like to participate in an area of his life that so defines him and yet is closed to her.

Don doesn’t just shut her out of his past, he shuts her out of where he might like to go–he shuts her out of a possible future. Of course, there’s one future we all know they will share–that baby.

# 27 Roberta Lipp Says:
October 29th, 2008 at 7:56 pm

Max, yes; that was first expressed in Ladies Room. After dinner in the car she told Don she loved seeing him like that. She has seriously been in that gilded housewife cage. That’s why the horseback riding has been so important… Don won’t let her into his explorations (or meditations), but she certainly found some for herself.

# 28 2008 in review. Just suck less. « Roberta’s Voice Says:
January 1st, 2009 at 10:17 am

[...] 7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I know I should say: November 4th, 2008. Obama walking out on stage to make his victory speech. The emotions of that moment. First and foremost the overwhelming sense of relief that… we… won. Eight psychologically-punishing years had left me pretty traumatized and it wasn’t until that moment that I finally started to unclench my political sphincter. And then the realization that we weren’t just finally seeing the end of the Winger Era, we were in fact witnessing an incredible moment in our nation’s history. We had a elected a black man president. It was, shall we say, heady.(That was Maurinsky’s answer that SHE had copied from Toast.) And I mean yes, I will remember that. But also? October 26th, when Matt Weiner walked into our party. [...]

Comments on: Things Matt Weiner says at a party

By: Deborah Lipp

28 Responses to “ Things Matt Weiner says at a party ”