Basket of Kisses

16 Responses to “ The One-liners of Roger Sterling ”

1. # 1 Suzanne Mills Says:
   November 28th, 2009 at 9:32 am

   I am going to miss him until next August. Forgotten, but I love these 2 Roger lines as well:

   “We’ve worked next to each other for a year. Don’t Act like a stranger. We got tea.” — Roger Sterling (to the Brit, Lane Price), Shut The Door, Have a Seat (Season 3)

   and of course:

   “Look, I want to tell you something because you’re very dear to me, and I hope you understand it comes from the bottom of my damaged, damaged heart: you are the finest piece of ass I ever had, and I don’t care who knows it. I am so glad I got to roam those hillsides.” – Roger Sterling (to Joan Holloway) Indian Summer (Season 1)

2. # 2 Shelly Says:
   November 28th, 2009 at 1:29 pm

   I love Roger

3. # 3 freelancewoman Says:
   November 28th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

   Lazy work from just this last season, how the hell did he miss:

   Roger Sterling: Aren’t you even going to have any of this? Look, we’ve got Oysters Rockefeller! Beef Wellington! Napoleons! We leave this lunch alone, it’ll take over Europe.

   Roger Sterling: Remember Don…when God closes a door, he opens a dress.

   Roger Sterling: I feel like I should make a speech…get back to work.

   Roger Sterling: The last time Freddy Rumsen had a cup of coffee, it was one of five being poured down his throat by a cop.

   Roger Sterling (about John Glenn): It’s incredible what passes for heroism these days. I’d like ticker tape for pulling out of my driveway and going around the block three times. It’s not like people were shooting at him.

   Roger Sterling: How much do you make?
   Harry Crane: Two hundred dollars a week.
   Roger: Plus drinks.

   Roger Sterling: Let me put it in account terms: Are you aware of the number of hand jobs I’m going to have to give?
   Pete Campbell: Am I being taken off the account?
   Roger: I’m going to have to pretend I had you killed!

   Roger Sterling: Any news?
   Paul Kinsey: He might lose his foot.
   Roger: Right when he got it in the door.

   Roger Sterling: I watched the sunrise today. Couldn’t sleep.
   Don Draper: How was it?
   Roger: Average.

   But of course I cheated by taking these off the Basket of Kisses qoutes.

4. # 4 the third Mrs. Draper Says:
   November 28th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

   Thanks for posting this, Carl! I guess they left out Ep. 13 because it was one, long collective one-liner? I didn’t have much use for Roger (or Pete, for that matter) prior to this season, but the humor and ridiculousness with which they are both played has brought us closer in to some really rich, complex characters.
   Also, because she is his mother, I believe Mummy Sterling’s “Does Mona know?” should have been included among these clips.
   And the pre-wedding conversation btwn Roger, Mona and Margaret in *its *entirety.
   Hmm, maybe my handle should be the third Mrs. Sterling instead.

5. # 5 Judy S Says:
   November 28th, 2009 at 5:49 pm

   Roger has the best damn lines! I love it!

6. # 6 seagirl Says:
   November 28th, 2009 at 8:46 pm

   Roger DOES get all the great lines- thanks freelancewomen for remembering some of the classics from s1-2.

   From this year, “Does Mona know?” is one of my all time favorites, right up there with Lane Pryce’s “Happy Christmas” sendoff to the Brits in 3-13.

   I also loved the exchange in 2-12 between Roger and Alice Cooper. First, Roger (referring to Alice’s hideous, if period-correct, fur boa complete with multiple fake animal eyes), says something like “I don’t know which one to look at” and a bit later, Alice refers to Roger’s “children” to which he stumbles “I only have the one”. It’s really fun to see Roger get flummoxed by strong women, even Peggy now when he asked for a cup of coffee. I can’t imagine the show without JS for any length of time.

7. # 7 Lisa Says:
   November 29th, 2009 at 3:57 am

   They missed two of my favorites from this season: “The British are coming!” and “Just when he got it in the door” (in reference to the rising star’s foot, pre-lawnmower). Both from “Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency . . . “

8. # 8 brenda Says:
   November 29th, 2009 at 3:25 pm

   Why not John Slattery as an SNL host? He’d give Jon Hamm a run for his money.

9. # 9 lsaspacey Says:
   November 29th, 2009 at 4:36 pm

   YES, Slattery on SNL! I can fully support that!

10. # 10 Suzanne Mills Says:
    November 29th, 2009 at 8:31 pm

    #8 brenda. What a great idea! John Slattery on SNL! I hope some NBC executive thinks of it or reads this blog to get the idea.

11. # 11 Anne B Says:
    November 29th, 2009 at 10:10 pm

    What I loved about Roger this year is that he surprised me. He went from petrified-forest frat-boy to finding his feet, and his voice, at the precise moment when everyone else at the office had more or less abandoned theirs.

    (And yes, I meant that line about the feet.)

    I don’t know what did it. Did marrying Jane wake him up, or did he wake up next to her one day and realize how wrong she is for him — that he is now completely alone and must make his way in a changed world, one more time?

    Again, I don’t know. But whatever jolted Roger loose — even if it was Jane — I’m grateful for it.

12. # 12 Shelly Says:
    November 29th, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    John Slattery is perfect for SNL. I’ve wanted to see him on that show forever.

13. # 13 berkowit28 Says:
    November 29th, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    @ 11 Anne B,

    I don’t think it had too much to do with his personal life. Like the other principals at SC – Bert and Don – he felt useless having no influence after PPL bought him out. To the extent that he even realized he’d never carried his weight, having inherited his position. Like Don and bert, he wants to feel relevant again. His personal life probably accentuated this feeling, as he came to realize that Jane wasn’t all that much advanced over his very immature daughter, nor was he interested in his old flame either. He just felt irrelevant and aimless in all areas of his life, and that got him thinking.

14. # 14 Nyna Says:
    November 30th, 2009 at 8:23 am

    Two random thoughts:

    I suspect that NY Mag had to pick and choose, otherwise whole episodes of Roger’s lines would have to be included. It’s just who he is, all the time, bringing me to my second point…..

    Even though I’m a hetero female, I ENVY Roger and want to be him; well, let me amend that. I want the freedom of power and unfiltered speech. When that English doofus (sp?) had his foot run over, the ensuing exchange, casually begun and tossed off by Roger was delivered with such evil, elegant wit, that my jealousy meter went off full tilt. Oh well, I’ll have to content myself with the little remorseful whip lashings I occasionally have to deliver to family and friends of my own……

15. # 15 Shelly Says:
    November 30th, 2009 at 2:21 pm

    Sorry if this is off-topic (it is Sterling related) but did you guys catch Elizabeth Rice in the Plavix commercial. I knew it was her the first time I saw it, but I thought I’d bring it up.

    A little ironic she’d be in a commercial talking to her “father” about heart medicine.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRr2pgy2F5s

16. # 16 Bill_the_Bear Says:
    December 3rd, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    Has anybody ever noticed that so many of the really good Roger Sterling one-liners sound as if they were originally written for Groucho Marx??

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