So, as many of you know, AMC last night debuted season two of its first original series Mad Men. We’ve been fans since day one – and not only for out actor Bryan Batt’s closeted character. Last night’s premiere hit our particular spot and we love the tonal change, but would love to hear what you lot have to say. So, any of you mad about Mad Men?
Insanity?
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crazylove
The tone was much better, but sometimes it had the Brother and Sisters feel in that it just sort of ran along briskly not allowing us to connect. Brothers and sisters is written like they are just trying to get through way too many story lines at once and just wrapping up things and dropping them without much development, etc. For example, we weren’t really allowed to feel the frustration of the lead and his wife when he wasn’t able to well- perform sexually. The same is true of when they had the scene with the mechanic and the wife. I can only hope they again aren’t going the way of brothers and sisters. The result is that every story lines starts to feel unimportant and more like comfort food fluff.
dvlaries
It’s one of those shows that I caught minutes worth from time to time, but last night’s new season opener was one I watched from start to finish, and yes, I liked it very much. I already knew the critics were stopping just short of opening their veins with praise for it, and now the 16 Emmy nominations for it probably have ABC, NBC and CBS kicking themselves that they didn’t take a chance on it. Who would ever guessed grubby little American Movie Classics channel with an original series that becomes such a conquering hero?
I did note that while the show allows all characters to smoke unapologetically, I saw at least three ads for “mytimetoquit.org” in the show’s at-least five commercial breaks. Coincidence, or a way to keep pressure groups off their backs…?
The show opened with Chubby Checker’s “Let’s Twist Again” playing on the soundtrack, and snippets of one of Jackie’s tours of the White House. “Twist Again” went into the Billboard Top 10 in July 1961, and I’ll be paying attention to time-details like that as it goes along.
We need to get more of the clothes off Jon Hamm too. Was he ever down to just briefs in the first season…? 🙂
Wolfie
I knew Bryan YEARS ago when I woorked at The Ninth Circle in NYC. he was really a nice guy. Nice to see him working on a great show!!
Tex...
Don’t get it…don’t like it.
thatguyfromboston
I watched every episode last year. Like Andrew I was hooked from the first episode. I’m sooo glad that it’s back on the year. HBO must be killing themselves for turning down this show.
mike
I thought last night was sorta a bore.
I was waitng for something to happen. You know,
something entertaining
crazylove
that’s the thing mike- they would do these set ups, and then like brothers and sisters sort of drop them. maybe like brothers and sisters they will just end them with out much fan fair before jumping to the next story line. i hope not, but the flow didn’t seem thought out.
HL
Oh how I adore Mad Men…
Not so mad about madmen
The show has high production values and some decent acting, but it has the curse of Desperate Housewives, which is that it shoves its POV down your throat — white men are pigs, women are victims or vixens or both, smoking & drinking are the most evil thing in the world… yada yada yada. I predict it will sink like a stone after a few seasons under the weight of itself.
Countervail
I’ve been a fan since last year and I and my partner were turn on to it because Bryan is a friend of ours. I love it.
I’ve Tivo’d but not watched last night’s episode, but if the pace is a bit more brisk I wouldn’t mind. Last season there was something great and horrible in how slowly things developed. In one sense it created a dreamy, absorbing psychology – you became enveloped in each episode and it was very cinematic. However, because the pace was so slow it never seemed like anything developed and you had to watch the whole season to get something out of it. It reminds me of Far From Heaven. I’m totally looking forward to this season.
If anyone doesn’t get it, try this. Turn out all the lights, make some popcorn and get rid of all distractions. Turn it on and watch it like a movie. It’s not the kind of show you can multitask into your life.
molotov
Love this show as much as I loved “Six Feet Under”. Highlights from this season’s premier: Jon Hamm in the first scene in the doctor’s office… His body language conveyed absolutely how much working in advertising is taking its toll on his character. Hamm is gorgeous, but he looked less fit and somewhat beaten down and defeated. Also, the evil, indirect way that Joan put Peggy in her place by putting the Xerox machine in Peggy’s office. Brilliant writing and great cast…
J
The set-up and drop that CrazyLove mentions IS annoying. It drove me crazy in the first-season episode where the art director (is that Batt’s character?) was invited by the client to come back and see the view to his hotel room. He stormed out, citing incredulity that the client didn’t get why not. I imagined that it would lead to a furtive tryst or an arrest in a raid on a mafia-owned gay bar. But then >>poof<<, nothing at all….
robert
I really love the aesthetic of this show. While I think you have a potential point, “Not so mad…” I think the saving grace of the show is that Draper is the real deal (witness his “sex sells” reprimand) and at base the folks writing him like him and are on his side, so I don’t know that there’s a lot of condemnation lurking. I think there is hope; it doesn’t seem to be judgmental to me.
Lucky Pierre
Um, No. 9, you do realize that the show is portraying the advertising world as it was in 1960, right? Men were pigs because they could be, and everyone smoked everywhere. As for drinking all day, including in the office, well that went on as well.
I’m in advertising, and I’ve been a fan since the first episode. The acting, the staging, the plot. It’s all great.
JH
I dunno. I don’t really get all the buzz around this show after having watched a few episodes. I saw part of the new episode and loved the scene of Bryan Batt watching the Jackie Kennedy special on TV and wondering out loud why JFK wasn’t on the special, too.