Underwhelmed by the Mad Men: Days of Our Mads?
My old enthusiasm for Mad Men is fading considerably. After waiting for a year and a half, the series is back, and is now on its third episode.
Here’s what going wrong:
1. The old suspense over Don’s real identity and what would happen if he got found out – one of the big arching threads of the first couple of seasons – has been resolved. Now everybody knows, including Don’s bimboesque second wife Megan. Don’s first near-wife is dead and forgotten. No replacement for her interesting character or the story line yet.
2. Men stopped wearing hats in the mid-1960s.
3. Piling cliche upon cliche, Don’s second wife is catty, immature, a poor housekeeper, and sings bad songs while forcing Don to endure a most-unwanted birthday party. How more obvious can you get? A Roy Lichtenstein canvas over the fireplace spelling out “THIS MARRIAGE IS DOOMED”?
4. The one new character who got some camera time this week, Michael Ginsberg, is even more annoying than Pete, while Pete continues to annoy as always. Sal is gone forever, and Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse) is not on camera long enough to make one hope he’ll break into A Secretary Is Not a Toy.
Joan showed up unexpectedly at the office last week in a cocktail dress and hasn’t been heard of since.
Weird Glenn stayed at the old neighborhood.
Trudy’s wearing house dresses, depressed and nagging…in the ‘burbs. Yet another cliche.
5. Betty got fat. For a show that cashes in on the stylishness of its characters, having the Grace Kelly look-alike in a fat suit is probably not a good thing, since it brings to mind endless (cliched) Oprah lamentations about hating one’s body, yadda, yadda. However, the writers probably came up with this plot device since January Jones is pregnant.
It would have been more interesting, however, to have a blissfully pregnant Betty happily married to a Republican while living in full Victorian splendor in a Castle on the Hudson. It may have even caused Megan to exclaim, Zoot alors! from the middle of her Danish Modern apartment.
Which brings me to the last issue,
6. Politics appears to be rearing up its ugly head:
Two, count ‘em, two digs at Republicans: George Romney, then governor of Michigan, enduring a put-down “Romney’s a clown!” (by a John Lindsay Republican, fer cryin’ out loud, which makes one wonder who’s beclowning who), which of course is a dig at Mitt Romney because who’s the Romney in the news? how many Mad Men viewers know that George even existed?
and an anecdote on Charlton Heston, then a Democrat who at the height of his fame marched with Martin Luther King, Jr, in Washington. Of course this was not mentioned.
Heston supposedly “had great weed” and met Harry Crane naked at the door. Wish I had been there, but still,
Republican fans of the show (and I am one) will now have to worry about more of this straight through to the end of the season
while enduring the rest.
Has Mad Men jumped the shark? Will the Mad Men hold up to the mid-1960s? Will I give a damn?
Take it away, guys!
Tags: Fausta's blog, Mad Men
April 3rd, 2012 at 6:54 pm
I watched all the other seasons on DVD, blissfully free of ads. I only have basic cable, so I haven’t seen any new episodes. I did hear the number of ads chops the narrative up terribly. I’m waiting for Don to show up in a nehru jacket.
April 3rd, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Mad Men has always, always been how people – us – 50yrs after the fact imagine what that era was like.
The intrigue – tease, almost – of the show is the tension between just how much destructive passions peek out from under the collar, around the sleeveless dress strap, behind the too-square couch cushions, the perfectly balanced lamp shades, etc.
Watching it is a guilty pleasure because we all know -so much more than the characters do – about the enormous social unravelling that will accompany them into and beyond middle age (except for Sterling, who is fated to act as if he’s 15 yrs his junior). There is a thrill in wondering who would survive and who would be completely undone by them.
Alternate series title: Three-Piece Sin
April 3rd, 2012 at 7:46 pm
I lost your address when my computer was trojaned… so here’s some entertainment b4 I forget to tell you:
MY title is HOORAY FOR PR:
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Rev. Al Sharpton and three Puerto Rican politicians from New York City received stiff jail sentences Wednesday for breaking onto the U.S. Navy’s grounds in Vieques during protests over bombing exercises there.
Cuffed in the courtroom and led to jail, Sharpton was sentenced to 90 days on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing, a stiffer sentence than most of the other 12 on trial received. In determining jail time, U.S. District Judge Jose Fuste considered Sharpton’s previous conviction stemming from a 1993 protest at the Brooklyn Bridge.
It gets even better:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2001-05-24/news/0105240318_1_vieques-sentences-sharpton
I hope the other prisoners don’t go to the Rev for any spiritual counseling. He sold his soul a loooong time ago.
So, Happy Easter.
April 3rd, 2012 at 9:29 pm
Oh, I understand your misgivings, though I refuse to give up too quickly. Yes, I believe as Mad Men moves along into the 60′s, it will naturally lose some of its appeal–I mean really, who wants to spend an hour watching hippie antics? (Have you seen Occupy Wall Street folk?!) But, these writers are very talented, and I trust that they will make a way. (As a side note, I find that it greatly enriches the show if you watch the “Behind the Scenes” videos on AMC’s website).
And Meghan? Well, she’s got Don’s number–she knows exactly what makes him tick. Just like Bobbie did!
Wow, what a shocker to first lay eyes on “fat” Betty! But, I complete understand why and how it happened. It will be very interesting to see precisely what turns her around. Will it have to do with Don? Hummmm…
The new Gingsburg guy? I already love him!
April 3rd, 2012 at 9:30 pm
P.S. Yes, I caught the Republican references. Good grief, can’t they just shut up the politics and provide us some entertainment?!!!
April 3rd, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Entertainment!
And bring some creativity while at it!
April 3rd, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Thank you for the link, Dymphna!
April 3rd, 2012 at 9:56 pm
At this point, Person of Interest has my interest more than Three-Piece Sin, Jeremayakovka, but I love your alternate title!
April 4th, 2012 at 12:21 am
Fausta, i do not watch TV much and not Mad Men, but heard an enthusiastic Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh air interviewing the creator/writer of the show, Mathew Weiner
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=149161109&m=149383578
After hearing this interview, i felt that i would have watched the show if i cared.
April 4th, 2012 at 5:21 am
The essence of MM – esp, should there be a spin-off series – is in the preteen but post-primal scream Don’s daughter lets out when she learns her daddy got her tickets to the Beatles.
April 4th, 2012 at 10:02 am
Beatlemania lives, Jeremayakovka!
April 4th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
The show has been plodding and rather uninteresting. And the Meghan character doesn’t make any sense. Ostensibly, he chose her over that psychiatrist woman before she was so good with the kids. Now, he’s afraid of her raising his kids?
Also, they’ve seemingly changed the name of the show. The old logo was MADMEN and pronounced MAD men. Now, it’s MAD MEN and pronounced mad MEN. Very odd.
April 4th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
James,
I thought I was the only one who noticed the mad MEN emphasis!
April 5th, 2012 at 9:38 am
Like you, I’ve been mulling when the series will pick up steam. Here’s my two cents, plus a couple of predictions:
1. Betty’s already been pregnant once, to great on screen success. MW doesn’t seem to like to do things twice, maybe that’s why she was in the fat suit. (??) I must admit I was shocked when I saw her. She was definitely the most glamorous character in previous seasons. Surely there is something big in store for her storyline (pardon the pun).
2. The dig at Daddy Romney was stupid, and didn’t seem to make sense in context to the politics of the time.
3. Megan/Meghan/that Canadian girl seemed more immature this season than last. I don’t see her pulling off being the shiny penny at any important dinner (like the fabled Otts Dinner w/Jimmy Apology and Don’s napkin). Betty knew how to work a room to her advantage. Megan just pouts in her panties while she’s scraping Cheetos off the carpet.
4. Pete seems whinier (if that is even possible) this season than last. Trudy in house shoes is another downgrade of one of the glamourpusses.
5. The green screen shot of the Castle on the Hudson needs work. It looks like something pulled from the Dark Shadows back lot.
Predictions:
1. When Greg comes back, it will be discovered that Joan’s baby is NOT his. Expect nuclear meltdowns from Greg and Jane.
1a. If Greg doesn’t come back, still expect Jane to find out and set out to destroy both Joan AND Roger.
2. Trudy will discover that Pete has another child and in that relentless way of hers, will not stop until she finds out all the details.
3. Megan will get pregnant. Don will see Betty, newly slim and shiny again, at some soiree and they will tryst in a back room. Fertile Myrtle Betty will get pregnant again. So Don’s got two babies on the way.
4. Sally will run away with Glen and join a commune.
All pretty lame, I know. Hopefully MW will surprise us all.
P.S. I noticed the mad MEN change as well.
April 5th, 2012 at 11:22 am
OS,
So Don’s got two babies on the way
It’ll start to look like the Henry Fonda/Lucille Ball Yours, Mine, and Ours!
April 6th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
OK, I’ve not gotten back into the series after S1, but the movie clip reminded me of two other business-related movies that are quite good and manage to stand the test of time moderately well:
The Apartment
The Secret Of My Success
If you’re watching the latter, pay attention during the opening title sequence to see a remarkably young looking celebrity whose name I shall not reveal… ;-D