[kdelande]

Not bad, nice production values!

They really seemed to emphazize the period things (glove color on the OB, etc) to show they were paying attention to details.

I thought the end was a nice touch, finally getting behind the "ad" the main creative guy Don puts on.

I'll try the next one.

KD

 

[FilmCritic3000]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Watching Mad Men feels as if a wormhole has been sliced open and the viewer is looking back at what society was like back then.

As you stated, kdelande, the production value was excellent; also, the acting was spot-on.

What's funny is, after the new girl took the lecherous young guy into her room and it cut away, I said, "Don's not going to appreciate the young guy preying on the new hire."

Then came the reveal...

All in all, I found Mad Men utterly compelling. While it highlights the lesser aspects that permeated our culture back then, it's a very well-written look at a group of people never before seen on television.

I'll be setting a Season Pass.

 

[avery]

I'm hooked!

I knew nothing about the show beyond that it was supposed to be good, so it was a complete surprise for me that it was set circa 1959/1960[?] I instantly loved that!

The show has a really nice look and feel to it. Excellent job capturing that era visually and musically.

(It just about drove me crazy trying to place the *very familiar looking* actress, who was the new girl at work... until it finally clicked that she was Zoey Bartlet on West Wing!)

 

[Bierboy]

I agree - this is well-produced and very nicely acted. And a nice surprise at the end...I'm sticking with it; the SP remains.

 

[TiVo'Brien]

Very good! Definitely worth a season pass. Good writing, believable characters, and an interesting look into the social strata of the time when working women were consigned to secretarial duty, and upward mobility was reserved for men.

Calculating the time, does the purple heart for Don Draper indicate he would have been in WWII? He seems late 30's or early 40's, which could put him right in the middle of WWII as a young man. I wonder how having gone through that will affect character development in this series.

The new secretary ain't from Brooklyn. Or if she is, they left out her accent. A young working class girl from Brooklyn in 1960 would have had a Brooklyn accent.

Mmmmmmm, toasted.

 

[Bierboy]

....Calculating the time, does the purple heart for Don Draper indicate he would have been in WWII?

...Could be the Korean war?

...the new secretary ain't from Brooklyn. Or if she is, they left out her accent. A young working class girl from Brooklyn in 1960 would have had a Brooklyn accent...

...was wondering the same thing...didn't hear a hint of an accent.

 

[cwoody222]

I really enjoyed this but was falling asleep at the end (not the fault of the show). I'll have to go back and rewatch the end because I don't remember any twist.

My only complaint was the played-way-over-the-top closeted gay guy... yea, we GET IT already!

Other than that, I loved all the period stuff... especially when the typewriter, phone, and speaker were revealed and they comment how complicated it must all look!

 

[TiVo'Brien]

...Could be the Korean war? ...was wondering the same thing...didn't hear a hint of an accent.

Yeah, according to a review on MSNBC.com, he's in his early 30's, so it's gotta be Korea.

 

[DevdogAZ]

I thought it was really good. Excellent period feel. Can't believe how accepted smoking was back then. All I kept thinking about was how all those places would just stink! Especially when they were in the pitch meeting and Don mentioned the "new car smell." I thought, "with the way you guys smoke, that new car smell wouldn't last five minutes."

Interesting twist at the end. I wonder if people at work know about that? They sure didn't seem to.

 

[Graymalkin]

BTW, there really was a Lucky Strike brand. It actually used the ad slogan, "It's toasted."

In 1917.

So already they've changed history to suit the storyline.

If there's any doubt about the Wiki entry for Lucky Strikes, there's this TIME article from 1938, about the slogan:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760432,00.html

 

[Bierboy]

BTW, there really was a Lucky Strike brand. It actually used the ad slogan, "It's toasted."

In 1917.

So already they've changed history to suit the storyline.

If there's any doubt about the Wiki entry for Lucky Strikes, there's this TIME article from 1938, about the slogan:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760432,00.html

The Lucky Strike phrase was L.S.M.F.T.....Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco (I'm really dating myself here by remembering that! And, of course, there was a much cruder interpretation of those initials, too, mostly by teenage boys ). I believe it was on all the cigarette packs. That was what I was expecting to hear and see in last night's show...kinda disappointed they didn't maintain accuracy there. But a fine program otherwise.

 

[DevdogAZ]

BTW, there really was a Lucky Strike brand. It actually used the ad slogan, "It's toasted."

In 1917.

So already they've changed history to suit the storyline.

If there's any doubt about the Wiki entry for Lucky Strikes, there's this TIME article from 1938, about the slogan:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760432,00.html

Lucky Strike is still around as far as I know. When I lived in Germany, it was probably the most advertised brand. Their ads were very clever and were EVERYWHERE!!!

 

[numb and number]

http://i11.tinypic.com/67qusxs.jpg

 

[DevdogAZ]

Here's an example of the German Lucky Strike ads that are on nearly every bus stop in the country:

The text basically says: Thousands of men have never come back from buying cigarettes. When are you sending yours? Lucky Stike or Nothing.

 

[DevdogAZ]

First!! (probably went up in September or October, making fun of retailers jumping the gun on Christmas decorating).

 

[DevdogAZ]

Take your time looking at this poster. It's interest free!!

 

[dbranco]

Did anyone recognize Odo's son (Remy Auberjonois)? He played the doctor that Peggy went to. Looks just like him!

(For non-Trek fans, Odo was a Star Trek Deep Space 9 character, played by Rene Auberjonois).


-Deb

 

[Fool Me Twice]

Hey! Look at the old white sexist racist homophobic lying cheating men of the past! Thank god for that 60's cultural revolution, huh? Wink, wink.

I hated it. The creators don't like their own characters and I don't either. Nor do I find them interesting. They are little more than shallow caricatures intended to bolster the sense of superiority moderns have over the past.

The creators of Dexter made an emotionless serial killer more sympathetic than these characters. On the other hand, Dexter does avoid the more serious thought crimes of sexism and homophobia.

Looks amazing, though. They should go ahead and award all the creative arts Emmys to these guys.

 

[Bierboy]

Hey! Look at the old white sexist racist homophobic lying cheating men of the past! Thank god for that 60's cultural revolution, huh? Wink, wink.

I hated it. The creators don't like their own characters and I don't either. Nor do I find them interesting. They are little more than shallow caricatures intended to bolster the sense of superiority moderns have over the past.

The creators of Dexter made an emotionless serial killer more sympathetic than these characters. On the other hand, Dexter does avoid the more serious thought crimes of sexism and homophobia.

Looks amazing, though. They should go ahead and award all the creative arts Emmys to these guys.

If you lived through that era, you were apparently oblivious to reality. What was portrayed is very close to the reality of that time period. I lived it; I know (look at my avatar; I'm an old fart and darn proud of it).

 

[Sadara]

I finally watched this today. I'm not as excited about it as some others here are. It just didn't click for me. My hubby liked it, but he didn't seem excited about it either. We're going to give it a couple more tries before we decide to cancel the season pass.