Mad Men Mention in Memoir
(Try to say that title three times fast.)
I have an “advance uncorrected proof” of an upcoming memoir from Nathan Rabin who is a writer for The Onion, in particular, The A.V. Club.
The pertinent section concerns cancellation of a review show he did on AMC called Movie Club With John Ridley. He liked many aspects of the show, but felt it was compromised in an effort to keep the reviews positive. The cancellation was attributed to AMC being dropped by millions of subscribers for being neither movie-y or classic-y, and so there was less money to spend. It’s never wise, or really allowed, to quote directly from what might not be the final version of a book, so I can only paraphrase the next part with the expectation that some version of it will see the light of day. Rabin considers it a bitter irony that AMC has garnered its greatest success, on both the creative or commercial front, through Mad Men and Breaking Bad, and not through movies. He uses words in relation to MM such as “brilliant,” “uncompromising,” and “pure.” — the opposite of what he felt Movie Club to be. Finally, he notes that abandoning classic movies was both the worst and best decision AMC ever made.
The book, for those who might be interested, is largely concerned with the author’s Dickensian childhood and how he thinks pop culture was a lifeline. Ultimately, I was expecting something even more concerned with the connection between movies, books, and T.V., and his survival, but the writer has a really sharp wit, and you’ll never see Topher Grace in the same way! Mr. Rabin is also a fan of Susanna Kaysen, so fans of Girl Interrupted might enjoy it as well.
The title: The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought To You By Pop Culture, by Nathan Rabin. It’s available for pre-order.
