Mad Men

Can't wait for Season 5. I had planned to buy the show on Blu-ray. I'm not sure yet. I'll probably just Netflix the thing again before S5 comes on. And then have to wait week-to-week when this show demands chainwatching.

I was actually going to come post this today

The reason: totally hit it off with a chick who's a dead ringer for Jessica Pare today. :twisted:

Vesper wrote:

I was actually going to come post this today

The reason: totally hit it off with a chick who's a dead ringer for Jessica Pare today. :twisted:

Damn. Hope she has better teeth, though. Anybody else think Jessica Pare is sorta like an inferior Eva Green?

I still don't think it's the teeth so much as are her gums. They'e like a goddamn mountain range! The teeth aren't bad but if her gums weren't so massive.

But this chick does, FWIW :twisted:.. bilingual in French too. Eery.

I think Pare and Green look pretty different to be honest. I can't pin who Pare reminds me of, but the jawline is pretty different.

I also can't wait for season five. Well I can, but the promise of more home-life stuff from The Drapers 2.0 is a good thing. The show suffered for being so office focused last year, IMO.

Don't like the Joan twist though, it's really soap-opera-y even by this show's standards, and it just seems like writing her into a wall.

I like Jessica's teeth. Then again, I'm English. Mind you, I was more of a fan of Melinda Page Hamilton's face. Such a square head.

I was a bit hasty denouncing Mad Men on MI6 as feminist propaganda. The show does tend to polarize viewers, though; if you're over 30 you watch it with nostalgia for a better world. If you're under 30 you thinks 'Jesus. Men used to be such c*nts.'

Still think the show could do with a bit more plot.

Nice to see you gave it another chance Ambler.

It is amazing that a show so devoid of any character the audience can easily identify with has achieved such success. They are obviously greatly helped by their period setting and a generally top notch cast.

I do think they took the Betty character too far in season three and beyond, she has become a bit of a caricature.

Season three I think still made sense, but last season was silly. I think Keirnan Shipka's extremely talented for her age, but making Betty the villain to her protagonist is too simplistic. Hopefully that relationship becomes more complex because I can't see Megan remaining this idealised figure of motherhood for too long.

To Jones' credit, the scene in the child psychologists office in episode 5 and the last one between her and Don in the finale were well played, though.

Anyone seen Boardwalk Empire? I bring it up because it's a clear HBO reaction to Mad Men's success. Besides the noticeable bigger budget is it any better/completely different/worse?

Salomé wrote:

I do think they took the Betty character too far in season three and beyond

True, they changed her from put upon wife to a bit of a child. Not sure why or how that happened, but the sessions on the psychiatrist's coach didn't really explain her condition. However, my main beef with Mad Men is its lack of plot and nudity. I don't think a show that requires constant power shagging can be taken seriously without skin. I suppose that's down to AMC. Shame the show wasn't on HBO or Showtime.

Why don't you open a Deadwood thread, Daisy? It's still my favourite TV show of the last 10 years.

I've watched most of Season 2 and (I think, can't recall) 3, though I sometimes felt a bit lost without the first season. Gotta remember to downlo-- obtain it legally through a monetary transaction.

On a related note, why don't unions ever fight for whiskey and cigarettes in the workplace?

Vesper wrote:

Anyone seen Boardwalk Empire? I bring it up because it's a clear HBO reaction to Mad Men's success. Besides the noticeable bigger budget is it any better/completely different/worse?

I've seen it advertised on Foxtel and intend to check it out.

CJB wrote:

I've watched most of Season 2 and (I think, can't recall) 3, though I sometimes felt a bit lost without the first season. Gotta remember to downlo-- obtain it legally through a monetary transaction.

On a related note, why don't unions ever fight for whiskey and cigarettes in the workplace?

Watch series one, it will mostly make more sense. It gets good around episode 5.

Vesper wrote:

Anyone seen Boardwalk Empire? I bring it up because it's a clear HBO reaction to Mad Men's success. Besides the noticeable bigger budget is it any better/completely different/worse?

Well it's a slow burner, it only really takes off around the halfway mark of the season. It might have the finest ensemble cast of any current show. And you can see in nearly every frame they spared no expense to make it look as real and authentic as possible.

Gretchen Mol's character is one of the most memorable TV moms in the medium's history.

So the rumours that Gretchen Mol can act turned out to be true?

Well I'll be darned. Does she get her tits out?

Vesper wrote:

So the rumours that Gretchen Mol can act turned out to be true?

Well I'll be darned. Does she get her tits out?

It's an HBO show and she plays a showgirl dancer. You do the math. ;)

I'm still not convinced she's a great actress but the good thing about that show's cast is that no one is asked to do anything that is beyond their capabilities.

http://www.latimes.com/features/image/la-ig-madmen-20110320,0,1311762.story

Jessica Pare and Anne Hathaway have similar knockers.

I don't watch the show... :( I have been told by friends that I must or be disowned by them.

If you're a Mad Men fan, I highly recommend the following 2 films from the earlier(and better) half of the 1960s:



and



They're both very funny spoofs of the advertising era during that time period.

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

If you're a Mad Men fan, I highly recommend the following 2 films from the earlier(and better) half of the 1960s:



and



They're both very funny spoofs of the advertising era during that time period.

I recommend CASH McCALL. It's less of a spoof and more of an awesome.

30 million for three seasons is ridiculous. But it's not like Weiner's ego is a secret or anything. Glad it'll be back.

When it came out that part of the dispute involved cutting series regulars, I think it showed the full idiocy of the world and the internet that all the blogs/forums thought January Jones was the prime candidate as opposed to, gee, Aaron Staton, Rich Sommer, Robert Morse, or Jared Harris.

I mean, the character's gone downhill, but it's not like she isn't crucial to the show or anything. Then again you really can't be surprised by people's failure to think critically on the internet.

Vesper wrote:

30 million for three seasons is ridiculous. But it's not like Weiner's ego is a secret or anything. Glad it'll be back.

When it came out that part of the dispute involved cutting series regulars, I think it showed the full idiocy of the world and the internet that all the blogs/forums thought January Jones was the prime candidate as opposed to, gee, Aaron Staton, Rich Sommer, Robert Morse, or Jared Harris.

I mean, the character's gone downhill, but it's not like she isn't crucial to the show or anything. Then again you really can't be surprised by people's failure to think critically on the internet.

I'd keep Morse and Sommer. Harris I'd rather see stay, but Staton I couldn't care less. Are they really gonna cut peeps?

As for Betty. I don't fucking get why so many people equate "I wouldn't want to have coffee with that character" and "that character needs to leave the show". So many people are fucking stupid and wanna have every character be likable and all happy and smiles and shit. Betty is my favorite character on the show. She's an icy bitch, and she's just getting colder. Aside from turning me on immensely, I also find it to be interesting to watch.

No cast cuts for anything other than creative reasons. Weiner managed to rob the bank and get everything else he wanted. No wait, he'll have to produce a 45 minute version of episodes 2-12 in each season and save the 47 minute versions for DVD, not like that will wind up being a selling point that winds up making him even more money or anything...

I could live without Sommer and Staton, they don't add much of substance to the show. My point was all of those characters are rather fungible. Morse may well be out after this season anyway (they never really stressed whether his whole "Fuck this, I need the cigarette business" was a proper departure or not) but he never really added much depth to the show's narrative after the first two seasons.

And I have to roll my eyes everytime someone says "Don and Betty are divorced now. She's not important to his life anymore, so she should be off the show"

You know, don't overlook the children, the massive chunk of his life that involved her, the fact that she's one of four people who know about his true identity and everything. Clearly a divorce means you're done with that person for ever.

People are stupid.

Then again reading the internet occassionally, I'm pretty sure a sizeable portion of the female fanbase just get wet at the sight of Jon Hamm and assume Don Draper is a victim in everything and in no way responsible for his actions.

People are stupid.

January Jones is sexy.

She needs to do a movie where she shows her baps.

Vesper wrote:

People are stupid.

True, but you're thinking with your dick.

This is the Don Draper story and he's divorced Betty. Time to move on. Or bury her under the patio.

And January Jones is - if you're being generous and rank John Slattery below her - the second worst actor on the entire cast.

Though at least Slattery occasionally provides us with a bit of fun.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

If you're a Mad Men fan, I highly recommend the following 2 films from the earlier(and better) half of the 1960s:



and



They're both very funny spoofs of the advertising era during that time period.

I recommend CASH McCALL. It's less of a spoof and more of an awesome.

Nah - PKK's two selctions are far superior. They're too incisive to be called "spoofs" - dont like the word.