Mad News, May 23-28, 2009
The Envelope’s Tom O’Neil looks at the Emmy campaign material show-by-show, including Mad Men:
January Jones moves up to lead, alongside Elisabeth Moss and Jon Hamm. Only Christina Hendricks, Vincent Kartheiser and John Slattery are in supporting. All others in guest, including Patrick Fischler, Colin Hanks, Melina McGraw, Robert Morse, Mark Moses and Joel Murray.
Grey’s Anatomy’s Patrick Dempsey dropped down to supporting, causing speculation that he is avoiding having to compete with Jon Hamm. Also, as several Basketcases noted, Christina Hendricks makes Michael Ausiello’s “dream ballot” at Entertainment Weekly.
Matt Weiner is quoted in an L.A. Times article on period dramas.
Matt also has an essay in “Afterbirth: Stories You Won’t Read in a Parenting Magazine.”
Jennifer Westfeldt; Jon Hamm’s partner in both personal and business matters, will be on the clock for the next season of 24.
TechCrunch wonders if Twitter is making the same special bond with users as Kodak’s Carousel slide projector.
Aaron Staton (Ken Cosgrove) and Sam Page (Dr. Greg Harris) appear in a hot web series.
IMDb has a page up for Season 3. This page potentially carries spoilers: I don’t consider episode titles spoilers, but you may. Ultimately, cast will appear, and this could spoil any surprise reappearances (which I am NOT saying are coming or anything, just hypothetically). So, beware.
The Mercury News writes about Season 3, but only to tell us they have no news to report.
We’ve been writing about the Optimedia survey and what it means. Here’s an interview on the topic with Greg Kahn, senior vice president of strategic insights at Optimedia.
What does last year’s Emmy breakthrough for cable shows mean this year? Illustrated with our show, of course.
Peyton List (Jane Siegel) has a new television show: Flash Forward.
Mad News compiled by Deborah and Karl.
Basket of Kisses: The unofficial blog of AMC's Mad Men. Where all the cool kids meet & greet to talk about Don Draper, Janie Bryant, Christina Hendricks, Jon Hamm, Matthew Weiner, & subtexty things.
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May 28th, 2009 at 10:07 am
They will dump the entire "regular" cast into every episode until users come in and correct them.
May 28th, 2009 at 10:35 am
I agree with everything S. Tarzan said.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Should we be concerned about this:
http://tinyurl.com/m43wj4
May 28th, 2009 at 11:41 am
alynch:
I'm not a big fan of that proposal. Then again, AFAIK Mad Men has always had fewer commercials than your average network or basic cable show (it's about six minutes longer than, say, Battlestar Galactica or Law & Order). So two minutes less would be bad, but not as bad as many shows already have it.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:48 am
The article Nikki posted is disappointing, but 2 minutes isn't so bad. Still they have a strange attitude for a network who wouldn't be much, in the way of publicity, without that show.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:51 am
It's all a question of when AMC made their plans known. If they told the writers about this well in advance, then it's probably not that big of a deal. If a writers knows he has, say, 47 minutes instead of 49 before he writes a word, it shouldn't be that hard to structure the script accordingly. However, if they told them to remove two minutes from already written scripts, or worse yet, already filmed episodes, then it's a pretty shitty deal.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I love Matt's comments on historical drama. So many period pieces do have that "ridiculous sense of superiority."
I've never seen the point of doing a deliberately, pointedly "modern" show as a period piece, a la "The Tudors." Is it just so you can put the women in log dresses and the men on horseback, because it's pretty to look at?
The great thing about striving for authenticity the way "Mad Men" does is that it puts the things we DO have in common with our forbears into a much brighter light.
Dang, I miss "Upstairs, Downstairs."
May 28th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Of course I meant "long dresses." "Log dresses" would be very uncomfortable indeed.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
IMDb might also get surprise reappearances wrong. As I recall, Rosemarie DeWitt and Maggie Siff were listed as cast members for For Those Who Think Young.
Those DDHG ads are great, btw.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Of course I meant “long dresses.†“Log dresses†would be very uncomfortable indeed.
Probably no more uncomfortable than the whale bone corsets and all those undergarments and foundation pieces needed to wear those long dresses, LOL.
I think I'd rather have two more minutes per show of commercials than actual product placement.
That's one of the things that really amazes me about Mad Men — that with the exception of Heineken in season 2, and some other liquor company in season 1 (was it Jim Beam?), Mad Men has used no product placement. That MM accomplishes what it does without interference from "sponsors" who want their products used in a certain way, is one of the most intriguing and refreshing aspects of the show. Despite making reference to actual companies with actual products, Weiner uses these brands the way he wants, not the way those companies say he has to use them. That has to be incredibly liberating — particularly in a show about advertising. Of course, it also means that he forgoes any revenue that would generate, but it does maintain the integrity of the program, and that's much more important to me.
One of the things (among many) that bothered me about the other recent show about advertising, Trust Me, was the excessive, flagrant use of product placement. Instead of enhancing the plot, it bogged it down, and weakened the integrity of the show. It became obvious that the show was merely a shell for their shill. Every product they highlighted was always The. Best. Thing. Ever. Ugh. No wonder people grew tired of the show and tuned out.
I love the way Weiner incorporates actual brands into Mad Men. I love how nonchalant the characters are about the products, even if it's what they're selling. There's no judgment about them for better or worse, good or bad. They're just props in the story, and that's a more realistic portrait of how these items fit into people's lives.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Perhaps this — http://tinyurl.com/m43wj4 — the supposed cutting of Season Three episodes by two minutes for additional ads, is the reason the Matt has slyly titled first episode of Season Three on IMDB "And Now with More Commercials."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1439792/
How's that for a connection?
May 28th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Ausiello posted his drama lead list…January and Elisabeth make it in, but Jon does not!
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/05/dream-emmy-ba...
May 28th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
hullaballoo,
The other product was Jack Daniels, so close.
May 28th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Love, love, LOVE "Don't Date Him, Girls"!!!
May 28th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Does the title of the premiere and those extra 2 minutes of commericals strike anyone as coincidence? I wonder if the writers knew already…
May 29th, 2009 at 4:15 am
I also don't mind a few extra commercials. Mad men is all about the long game, so you have to have a certain degree of patience to watch it, anyway.
May 29th, 2009 at 9:25 am
You can bid on the Mad Men pilot episode script autographed by the entire cast for the charity Urban Farming at:
https://auction01.charitybuzz.com/secure/viewItem...
Please let other fans know as well….
May 30th, 2009 at 9:32 am
"Does the title of the premiere and those extra 2 minutes of commericals strike anyone as coincidence? "
Nope, "And Now with More Commercials" didn't strike me as a coincidence, it struck me as a slap back at AMC.
That it could also plausibly be the title of an episode set in an advertising agency, is irony icing on the cake.
June 1st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Betty Draper gets a job? LOL.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allerleirau/30129126...
June 1st, 2009 at 8:12 pm
The most recent "daily images" column at Design Observer is dedicated to office automation of the late 1950s and early 1960s. They've got some fantastic Olivetti ads from the period, as well as some IBM ones, too. Reminded me of all the discussion of whether the typewriters in S1 were anachronistic or not. Some of the ads may have been the inspiration for Joan's "so simple even a woman could use it" speech. It also contains the "Betty gets a job" picture that I referenced above. Very cool.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:52 pm
These images should be a post.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Is that an assignment?
June 2nd, 2009 at 7:32 am
See how well that worked, hull?
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Upcoming Live Chat with Matt Weiner and John Slattery at Gold Derby:
http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/200...
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Dammit, JS, I was just going to link to that. *shakes fist*
June 3rd, 2009 at 6:52 am
Here's something exciting: Frank Pierson, co-writer of Cool Hand Luke and Presumed Innocent, writer of Dog Day Afternoon, in Matt Weiner's words "arguably one of the greatest living writers", is in the writers' room for season three of Mad Men. Apparently he came to MW and volunteered his services.
http://theenvelope.latimes.com/env-en-madmen3-200...
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:19 am
ST, that is exciting! Dog Day Afternoon is one of my all-time faves.