Season 1 | Basket of Kisses

Cautionary Tales – Mystery Date
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Mad Men is watching Sally Draper try to figure out adults’ baffling ways. There’s that yearning to be a grown-up already, to finally have the power to make your own decisions, and the fear that maybe you won’t be up to the task. After all, no one hands [...]
Hare Hare, Paul Kinsey
Is there anybody in Mad Men viewerland who did not laugh when we were reintroduced to Paul, in Christmas Waltz? I’m in my forties: I laughed because I have vivid memories of the Hare Krishna Movement.
The Money MacGuffin
The MacGuffin. I remember hearing Hitchcock describe it as, and this is not a quote but purely my recreation, the thing that is terribly important to the people in the film, and not at all important to the people watching the film. The impact of the MacGuffin on the characters leads to the action. What’s [...]
Attentiveness
Don sent Joan flowers. Don listened, really listened, when Joan said she used to get flowers. He knows what it’s like to build an identity on other people being charmed by you. He knows her sense of loss in seeing that change. He heard her need to be the person her mother raised her to [...]
The Real Negron Complex
As presented in Christmas Waltz, Paul Kinsey’s Star Trek script, “The Negron Complex,” about a world where white people were the slave class, was not very well written. However, it’s worth noting that during it’s original three year run, the producers of Star Trek had actually considered an episode that would have taken place on [...]
The Killing: Sayonara, Hiawatha
Sayanora, Hiawatha was a terrific episode of The Killing. The more I watch, the more I know that this show really can’t recover from Season 1. I suspect it will just be cancelled. Because during every excellent scene: Tommy and Stan leaving the school, Mitch phoning Stan, Holder stumbling through an “I’m there for you” [...]
Recap: Christmas Waltz
In watching Mad Men episode 5.10, Christmas Waltz, my first thought was not about the episode’s theme. In fact, at first, a theme didn’t emerge. Instead, my first thought was how much fun this episode is. I haven’t been complaining about the season; last week got some bad reviews but I was fine with it, [...]
Just for Grinzo
I don’t have a post about this week’s episode. I don’t have much to say about Dark Shadows because as Tim Goodman wrote, it’s a table-setter. It’s season five’s equivalent of a ground ball between first and second, moving the runners over. I could comment on other posts like Anne B’s rumination on marriage and [...]
A Matter of Time?
If Mystery Date established Richard Speck as an analogy for Don Draper, then Signal 30 clearly (too clearly, in my mind) links Pete Campbell with University of Texas Tower sniper Charles Whitman. As I’m sure most Mad Men viewers unfamiliar with the case have Googled by now, Whitman was a former Marine who, on August [...]

Betty runs into Joyce

Posted by Deborah Lipp on April 2, 2012 at 3:15 pm Season 1, Season 5 42 Responses »

Apr 022012

The woman Betty runs into at the oncologist is Joyce Darling. It appears she’s one of those random “people from the past” that are introduced on TV all the time, but she’s not. Betty even mentions Joyce’s husband has the same name as her own, Henry.

Marriage of Figaro: Joyce and Henry are on the left

Joyce and Henry Darling and their son Andy were guests at Sally’s birthday party in Episode 1.03, Marriage of Figaro. They even got the same actress, Adria Tennor. And no, I don’t know how I caught that, but I was able to double-check because Roberta put a guest list in her recap (which is lucky, because I do almost all the recaps, and I doubt I’d have included the guest list).

It’s Just Mad Men Mar 28, 2012 29 Responses I have a similar experience with every Mad Men season premiere—what will it be like now? I have an expectation that nothing will be recognizable. And then it starts and within moments it’s ohh. It’s just Mad Men. And hey, I love that show. Part of the Mad Men magic is the lack of formula, [...] Full Story	Mad Men Video Essays Mar 26, 2012 1 Responses Here’s the live videos. You really should click over to Press Play for the transcripts and supporting materials (especially for “It’s a Mad World” which has an attached essay). Also, go to Press Play for mobile video links. Top 5 Moments, by Basket of Kisses Full Story
Rachel’s decision Feb 29, 2012 71 Responses I have literally been thinking about this post for three years. In my “drafts” note area, I wrote: “That’s IT? She dumps him like THAT? Maybe two people were wrong that day.” Three years later, I think how little we knew of Don then; his romance with Rachel was beautiful, and seemed real. It fooled [...] Full Story	BoK Fundraising Mad Through the Seasons–Dinners Dec 23, 2011 1 Responses Thanks for stopping by during our Holiday Season Fundraiser. I cannot believe 2011 is almost over–and not a single new Mad Men episode. It’s a wonder we survived. As we are in the thick of the thickening season and all its festivities, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some memorable [...] Full Story
BoK Fundraising Mad Through the Seasons–Salvatore Romano Dec 22, 2011 0 Responses Hello! It’s our next installment of Mad Through the Seasons, all part of our Holiday Season Fundraiser. Today we honor Sal, for whom we heartbreakingly only have three season’s worth of posts to pick through. Please to enjoy! Season 1 Between Seasons 1 and 2 I wrote a piece on Sal–it’s interesting to read the [...] Full Story	Fundraising Feature: Mad Through the Seasons–Don’s Lovers Dec 21, 2011 1 Responses Welcome to another Mad Through the Seasons edition of our Holiday Season Fundraiser. We’ll revisit one post per season. This is Don Draper we’re talking about, and so that in itself was quite a feat! Season 1; Rachel This is not just a crush–he is crushed by her. Don is thinking about Rachel as a [...] Full Story
Mad Men Sunday Open Thread–4 from Season 1 Dec 18, 2011 9 Responses Oh, the women… Representing today’s Mad Men airings: Shoot, Long Weekend, Indian Summer and Nixon vs. Kennedy. Go to town, Basketcases! Full Story	Tom Vogel: He’s All Right Dec 14, 2011 4 Responses Occasionally on Mad Men, I am not sure if I’m supposed to like certain characters or not. Betty’s sister-in-law Judy is a good example. Betty sometimes acted as if Judy was manipulative, but I never saw Judy act anything but helpful and sweet, and in a very genuine way. So I don’t know if it [...] Full Story
Sunday Open Thread Dec 11, 2011 16 Responses Oops, this is going up a little late. Mea culpa, Basketcases. Today’s Mad Men episodes: Babylon, Red in the Face, and The Hobo Code. Very rich episodes. In these three, we are learning about our characters for, in many ways, the first time. Our first in-depth look at young Dick Whitman. Our first look at [...] Full Story	Mad Through the Seasons– Holidays Dec 8, 2011 0 Responses All month is our Basket of Kisses Beauty Makeover Holiday Season Fundraiser! If you enjoy our blog, please consider a donation. In our newest feature, Mad Through the Seasons, we’re playing with different themes, characters, things that appear in each of the four seasons. We’re gathering old posts that fit the theme, or go back [...] Full Story
Mad Through the Seasons–Season Openers Dec 7, 2011 0 Responses Welcome to our next installation of our Basket of Kisses Beauty Makeover Holiday Season Fundraiser! We thought we would put the fun in fundraiser by approaching different characters, scenarios or themes via revisits to old posts, one per season. So today we’re taking a look at the four season openers: S1 Smoke Gets in Your [...] Full Story	Sunday Open Thread Dec 4, 2011 22 Responses Today, AMC is rerunning New Amsterdam and 5G, and we meet Adam. As a discussion topic, I’m inspired by the introduction of Adam Whitman to ask: Who are your favorite and least guests and recurring guests? Full Story