Basket of Kisses

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 [...]

Wrapping up S3 this weekend; next Sunday they’re starting over with Season 1, episode 1. Sorry for the alarming typos! I fixed them. So: Two of the most amazing MM episodes–discuss!

Note: This is a comment by Basketcase celina that I thought was interesting enough to give wider exposure. –Deborah tilden katz, I really liked your observation of The Gold Violin being the middle episode/turning point of the Don/Betty relationship. By that same logic, if there are 7 seasons of MM, then The Suitcase is the [...]

Enjoy some pool time!

I was watching Season 4′s Waldorf Stories yesterday. Don and Peggy are talking about the Clios—he’s going, she’s not—and she says, “Well, good luck this afternoon.” “You’re not supposed to say that,” he corrects her. “Oh. Well, break a leg,” she says. I thought this exchange seemed strange and I realized why afterwards. As an [...]

One of my fascinations is the occasional discrepancy between what Matthew Weiner intends in his storytelling and what is perceived by the viewers. There are two directions this can go in–there are times when Matt thinks he has been obvious about something but we, the audience, don’t pick up on it; on the other hand [...]

So, the Critics Choice Awards have never done television before. And because it’s the Critics Choice, it’s all prestige television that critics really, really love. Which doesn’t stop people from bitching (“where’s Treme?”). Blah blah blah. We’re happy because Mad Men was nominated in every category for which it is eligible (rundown below the fold). [...]

I know we all talk about the look of Mad Men, and usually we mean the outstanding art direction and the costumes, but I was watching a mini-marathon the other day and I was struck by the cinematography. Every scene is beautifully lit. Since 2008, Chris Manley has been the Director of Photography. Manley is [...]

Since we won’t be seeing Mad Men until next year, I thought I’d share with you my random thoughts about some of my favorite MM styles and props.  Ah, what I wouldn’t give to be a walk-on– just to wear some bitchin’60’s fashion and pass through those fantastic 60’s sets! First, a Costume. Peggy wore [...]

In The Suitcase, I noticed that Don has framed pictures of his kids on his desk. He also has framed and displays the picture that Anna sent him in Christmas Comes But Once a Year The Rejected. In Seven Twenty Three, Connie Hilton criticized Don for not having pictures of his family in his office. [...]

So I’m watching my brand-new Season 4 Blu-ray, listening to Matt & Jon’s commentary on episode 4.01 (Public Relations). As Don is being interviewed, I realize this is the reporter with the prosthetic leg. We discussed that leg a lot on the blog. What could it mean? What does it symbolize? We went round and [...]

Midge’s reappearance last season had me thinking about Bohemia, the Village, the Underground. Midge is the former middle-class girl who wants to be an artist. We’ve all known someone like Midge and, often, she’s seen as a poseur. (Why is being middle class in and of itself is automatically considered suspect in artistic circles? Lots [...]

Early in the episode, Duck calls Peggy about starting an agency: “I’m not going to lie, I was a little inspired by what Draper did.” Peggy gets Duck off the phone, Stan walks in, they discuss Samsonite. Stan says, “I was hating it too, while we were doing it, but not before. I’m not going [...]