Mad News, November 4-7, 2009
Matt Weiner talks to TV Guide about why he decided to address the Kennedy assassination after all.
Megan’s Minute examines Betty’s motivations for running to Henry’s arms in The Grown-Ups. And she quotes me, which I kinda love.
An anonymous source close to the Veith family sent us this: Robin “got a 3-year contract with a series on FX. She’ll be moving to NYC.” We don’t have a show name, but we think it’s about boxing!
Molly Lambert is doing extensive and illustrated and witty recaps which, 12 episodes in, I just noticed.
Via our links folder (people who link to us), I found that Kimblahg is very serious about her hot cocoa and very pleased that Pete raised this important issue.
Father Gill has a new role:
Colin Hanks will join Bradley Whitford in “Jack and Dan,” an action comedy slated to premiere on Fox next year.
Brian Mackey appreciates the Don Draper business philosophy, and collects it in one really fun essay.
Black Book Magazine interviews Bryan Batt. So does Wine Spectator (in a very different vein).
Mad Men Shrugged is a new blog (as of August 2009) devoted to our favorite show.
Five Things I’ve Learned From Mad Men is a weird and rude column that will either offend you or make you laugh or both.
Vincent Kartheiser cried at both recent Mad Men weddings. (Which is so sexist to turn into a headline!)
Abigail Spencer (Suzanne Farrell) shares her beauty tips. Wow, does she ever clean up good!
Cablevision’s profits tripled. Mad Men played a role.
Via Basketcase Josh, the Saturday Evening Post wonders why Mad Men is popular among younger viewers. (The concept of excellent writing and acting is not raised.) The also link to a gallery of 1963 advertisements.
A Mad Men parody from atom.com.
You know what’s really strange? A magazine dating an interview today that asks what will happen in the coming Mad Men season (season 3). But whatever, it’s Christina Hendricks, and we love her unconditionally.
Jere Hester reminisces on the season so far and anticipates (as do we all) the fnale.
At Politics Daily, Christine Wicker pens an ode to Betty Draper.
I like this opening line in the Christian Science Monitor:
Every once in a while, a television character seems to slide effortlessly off the screen to take up residence in the Zeitgeist.
Such a creation is Don Draper.
So cute: The recap of recaps.
The Washington Post offers the best regional bars for a “Mad Men vibe.”
WNYC radio in New York (a favorite of mine) blogs about Mad Men and the author’s own Mad Man dad.
I have just discovered the blog Pop Elegantarium. In the post currently on top, blog owner Alexa is dressed (perfectly!) as Joan for Halloween.
James Wolcott looks back to November 1963 for Vanity Fair.
The Plain Dealer considers Mad Men’s finale tomorrow in light of the history of television cliffhangers.
Zap2It’s TV Gal makes delicious fun of Mad Men episode descriptions.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Hi — first-time poster here. (Love MM & BoK!!) Hope I’m posting this in an appropriate place.
Okay, I’ve probably watched “The Grownups” at least half-a-dozen times by now, and recently I noticed a theme in this episode, then when I watched the episdoe again specifically to look for examples of this theme, I was shocked as how often it appeared.
The theme: “Either not hearing, or choosing to ignore.” (This theme was explicitly articulated at one point during the TV coverage during that weekend; see item #14.)
Here are 17 instances of this theme:
(1) Pete not hearing when Lane tells him that Ken’s the Senior Something of Account Something, and Pete’s only the Something of Accounts.
(2) Jane not listening when Roger told her (off screen) to have no more contact with Margaret.
(3) Pete and Harry not listening to CBS’s breaking news bulletin, “Three shots rang out” (ironically, while Harry is complaining that he will die at his desk, ignored by SC)
(4) People in the main office room of SC ignoring all the ringing phones.
(5) People in the main office room of SC ignoring Don and his “What the hell’s going on?”
(6) Sally and Bobby ignoring Don’s “turn off the TV”
(7) Betty, asleep, not hearing the continuing radio coverage
(8) At the wedding reception, Jane not listening to Roger’s toast.
(9) At the wedding reception, Betty not listening to the conversation at her table so she can eavesdrop on Henry’s conversation (and learn that the young chick is his daughter, whew!)
(10) As Pete recounted to Trudy, Harry Crane ignored Chet Huntley talking about “Jackie and how she just lost that baby” because Harry was so busy going over his paperwork to see how many commercials wouldn’t air (due to coverage of the assassination)
(11) Jane, drunk, not hearing Roger’s questions to her, nor his telephone call to Joan.
(12) Roger not hearing the usual city sounds that Saturday night (“I can’t believe how quiet it is out there,” he tells Joan.)
(13) Pete and Trudy watching the slow-motion version of the replay of the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, during which the newscaster points out that “the shots have been fired, but you can’t hear the sound in this version of the tape.”
(14) A (young!) David Brinkley reporting, “There have been flowers. The family requested no flowers, but people either didn’t hear or chose to ignore” that request.
(15) Betty’s favorite movie is “Singing in the Rain” — which is about the problems that arise when “not hearing” is no longer an option
(16) And of course, Betty telling Don “you can’t even hear me right now” when she tells him she doesn’t love him anymore
(17) Finally, Betty choosing to ignore Don’s “Good morning” on Monday, Nov. 25, 1963 (the national day of mourning).
November 7th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Vincent celebrating the Artios Awards in Casting.
http://backstage.blogs.com/blogstage/2009/11/at-the-artios-awards-with-vincent-kartheiser.html
Nice interview about casting directors. Mad Men winners Carrie Audino & Laura Schiff.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
‘Paul Kinsey = Andy Bernard’ = WIN. The rest were a little reaching.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
If the FX show that Veith has signed up for is about boxing, then I’m pretty sure its title is “Lights Out.” That show’s about washed up former boxer who starts working as a collections enforcer for a bookie.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I’m sort of new here and don’t have much pull but if there’s a vote, I vote to keep JoanBetty132 definitely in the Basket.
Job well done with the micro and macro up there. I thought about it all at some point but hadn’t completely seen it, until #1. Huzzah, JB132!
November 7th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Not sure if it’s my computer or the site, but the link for the atom.com parody doesn’t appear to be working. All the other links are fine, but when I try to click on that one, nothing happens, and the cursor is the same as when it’s over normal text.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
There’s also an 18-minute interview that Matt Weiner did with an Australian TV network on Thursday night (to find it, just scroll down the stories on the right until you see “TV drama makes a comeback.” He doesn’t explicitly address season 3, but the last 5 or so minutes are interesting as Weiner tries to pinpoint how big-budget American movies went wrong.
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline
November 7th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Welcome to JoanBetty132, that was excellent especially #15!
November 7th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I just wish Weiner would have taken back the “I’m not doing the assassination” thing before the season. I get why he did it, and he should have, but his pronouncment that “if I do it, it will be something different” set me up for disappointment. Having it relate to your characters’ situations isn’t earthshattering, Matt, sorry. I’ve come to see it as a nice episode, once I readjusted myself, but I’d rather my first time viewing hadn’t been ruined by hype.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I just read the “Megan Minute” article. I have to say that I don’t have a problem with Betty’s relationship with Henry Francis. I’m not going to pretend that I know how he will treat her. If he can make her happy, fine. There is no law that Betty has to come the “emancipated woman”. As long as she can find a husband who can make her happy and not treat her as a trophy wife, I don’t mind.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I fixed the atom.com link.
JoanBetty, I wouldn’t consider this the right place for your essay, but we’re not super-strict here about posting in the right thread, and that was genius.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I happen to think what Matt said to TV Guide was remarkable and brave. He spoke of how his previous decision had been cowardly, which means, to me, that he looked deeply inside himself and really did a 180 on what he’d been saying based on a new understanding of his visceral reaction to the possibility of filming the assassination. I think it was bold of him to face his own writing process that way, and as a writer, I appreciate it.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I’m really glad that Matt re-thought his position on whether to incorporate the events of 11-22-63 into the show. And the way he handled it, I think, was exactly right.
Also, within his chat with TV Guide, there’s a link to a bit with Rich Sommer, that’s worth reading.
He notes: “I think this has been our best season yet, and I think that the finale holds up in that way,” he says. “It’s going to be big. It answers questions, and it asks plenty more. It’s a good one. We’ve said from the beginning that this season was about change, and I think that carries through up through this finale.”
I am looking forward to seeing how Season Three closes out tomorrow night – but at the same time, it’s going to be something like nine months, before Season Four kicks off and I’m not happy the long wait that’s ahead (though, I’m sure it’ll be worth it).
What an awesome show Mad Men is!!!
November 7th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
This has probably been available for some time now, but I was poking around over at AMC’s Photo Galleries section and discovered that you can download a high-res. version of Don Draper’s contract. Pretty neat!:
http://media.amctv.com/img/originals/madmen/photo-gallery/don-contract.pdf
November 8th, 2009 at 12:58 am
January Jones on SNL! two major cast memembers so far!!
November 8th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I wish John Slattery would host SNL. He would be perfect.