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HouTex

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On 3/26/2018 at 10:03 AM, HouTex said:

Been bing watching this.  Can't believe I didn't watch it when it came out.  I'm about 2/3 done with season 3.  I was born in the early 60's and except for the office environment many of the sets/styles etc. remind me of my childhood.  Especially the  smoking and drinking part.

I hated the series when it came out.  I retried it in season 2 and bailed.  Then there was so much talk about it on TOS that I started Season 3 and it finally clicked.

Tonight I watched the first 3 episodes.  So fucking good.  So different from other shows on TV.  It was also trippy seeing young Glenn again.  LOL.

The drinking is soooo over the top.  The pregnant chick drinking at the party was beyond odd by today's norms.

When Don goes into true selling/ creative mode, those are my favorite parts of the show.

Edited by slorch
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On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 12:19 PM, Parliament said:

An early look at what makes MM so great.  Cooper's eccentricity and underrated, deep knowledge of the business.  Roger's immaturity, glibbness and ability to "grow up" at the time it's really necessary.  Don's naivete, caused by the fact he grew up poor.  And Pete trying to be a baddass, only to be exposed as the douchebag he is.  Also a great plot twist.  

so much good going on here

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it also goes to show how much of the narrative changed from pilot to show.  apparently weiner had been shopping it around for 8 years, and i'm sure his idea for where the show would go changed a couple times per year.

i haven't seen the pilot in a while, but if i recall correctly, don was a nervous creative exec, always looking over his shoulder because guys like pete were moving in on his territory, measuring his office, etc.  the lower down guys were all swaggering around the office (i still remember the original trailer where they're walking into don't office, and his girl is like, "is he expecting you?" and they respond, "oh, he's not expecting anything" or something).  

then when the show really started (episode 2 and beyond) it was clear that don was the big swinging dick and the guys beneath him were constantly ill at ease, paranoid, jockeying for position.  (funny, because in the pilot you think pete is basically the younger don.  but once you learn how the agency works, you realize pete is technically under roger, and creative is a completely different ladder.)  it's a much stronger way to go, because don's weakness was in his past, so the bravado was all part of the character he invented to present to the world. 

meanwhile, you had kinsey always lurking around forgetting ideas (i didn't write it down), harry screwing things up with lee garner jr, pete/peggy/duck "stop infecting me with your paranoia" scenes, kenny getting in trouble writing short stories on the side.

he got it right.  obviously.

Edited by henrygandorf
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17 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

when peggy brings don the drawing of joan getting banged by lane, don says something like, "strong narrative, forced perspective.  are we sure joey did this?"

cracks me up.

then the whole, "so fire him.  believe me, you do not want me involved in this."

 

I don't remember that. Which episode was that? 

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rewatching it now, middle of season 2. I had forgotten just how awful the Glenn character is, also amazing how much sally grows into a solid actress from just a tiny kid. And damn peggy was/is not attractive, the fact pete would get down on that with tits mcgee at home. 

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13 hours ago, bluto said:

rewatching it now, middle of season 2. I had forgotten just how awful the Glenn character is, also amazing how much sally grows into a solid actress from just a tiny kid. And damn peggy was/is not attractive, the fact pete would get down on that with tits mcgee at home. 

It wasn’t about the sex, but it was... if that makes sense. 

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1 hour ago, Parliament said:

You wanna spoiler that?

And:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Not letting me now. Can't figure out how to delete either.

 

It's really not a huge spoiler. On a scale of "Emperor dies at the end of ROTJ" to "No, I am your father," it's a "Porkins doesn't survive the death star assault."

But if a mod wants to delete it, be my guest.

Edited by drewcifer
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1 hour ago, drewcifer said:

It's really not a huge spoiler. On a scale of "Emperor dies at the end of ROTJ" to "No, I am your father," it's a "Porkins doesn't survive the death star assault."

Dammit! You want to spoiler THAT??

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Not letting me now. Can't figure out how to delete either.

 

It's really not a huge spoiler. On a scale of "Emperor dies at the end of ROTJ" to "No, I am your father," it's a "Porkins doesn't survive the death star assault."

But if a mod wants to delete it, be my guest.

 

I'd say it's like when Sue Ellen shot JR after Bobby Ewing didn't actually die.

 

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rolling back thru the hg version (office only).  started early season 2, now up to s3 premiere.

such a great juxtaposition after they fire burt peterson.  they call pete into lane's office.  at first he tells his girl, "tell him i'm at lunch" to avoid confrontation.  he's nervous and anxious, prefers to stand while hearing the news.  acts surprised upon hearing burt has left, and then shocked when he gets promoted to head of accounts.  even remarks later to his wife about not asking if it comes with a pay raise.

then ken gets the same call.  tells lane he dropped his lunch and grabbed a sandwich.  struts into the office, sits, lights a cig, then as he's told about burt, he says, "if that's your news, i think you got scooped" (burt made a big, loud scene after getting axed).  then he hears the news he's getting upped, has a strong, confident reaction, then says, "i wouldn't be much of an account man if i didn't ask if it came with a raise in pay."

then of course lane shoots back with, "i wouldn't be much of a financial officer if i wasn't prepared to disappoint you."

ken cosgrove has a great, underrated character arc throughout the show.  really glad they brought him back in to the new agency (eventually) and really liked how he treated the potential conflict with his father-in-law (as opposed to how pete handled a similar situation).

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I've been doing a similar rewatch... not strictly office, but I FF at least through Betty scenes. Started with "Shut the Door, Have a Seat..." and am halfway through S5.

You could compile a book full of the best lines from this show (in fact, I own one), and while Roger's are often the creme de la creme, I'm not sure it gets any better than...

Spoiler

 

 

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Glad I’m not the only one. Just made it back up and started S6 now and watching office scenes only. Amazing how much I find myself missing from the first pass.

 

The only thing that bugs the shit out of me is how/why Don can’t articulate the difference in why he wrote the “letter” to the Tobacco industry and why other clients shouldn’t be concerned he would do the same to them.

 

That seems like a very basic concept that was never addressed. They could have had the DOW account.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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18 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

 

ken cosgrove has a great, underrated character arc throughout the show.  really glad they brought him back in to the new agency (eventually) and really liked how he treated the potential conflict with his father-in-law (as opposed to how pete handled a similar situation).

Totally agree.  I think it stems from the fact that Pete is a grimy little pimp, while Ken is not.

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at least 2-3x throughout the show he's said something like that.  it's a very big thing for his character (although seems with his upbringing it wouldn't be, but whatever).  when the reporter asked him to comment on ted chaough's comment about being in draper's rear view mirror or something, don says, "i don't even know who he is." 

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1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

at least 2-3x throughout the show he's said something like that.  it's a very big thing for his character (although seems with his upbringing it wouldn't be, but whatever).  when the reporter asked him to comment on ted chaough's comment about being in draper's rear view mirror or something, don says, "i don't even know who he is." 

It's a great move if you don't mind looking like an asshole.  I'm not Surly 1%, so I don't have enough pee-ons in my life to try one of these out. 

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5 hours ago, bluto said:

Even with her grill fixed she'd be way down on the list. 

And halfway through season 5 I think Ken and Stan are the only truly likeable characters. 

Joan is plenty lickable...

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  • 1 year later...

Not going to read through the thread yet, but Mrs. Laz and I are currently watching for the first time.  We're about halfway through season 2.  I intentionally stayed away in the early days so that we'd be able to go through it all once the series finished, and just didn't get around to it until now.  With this much distance, it's fairly easy to avoid spoilers, but every time I get the urge to look up one of the actors, I run a real risk.   

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1 hour ago, Lazarus Bocanegra said:

Not going to read through the thread yet, but Mrs. Laz and I are currently watching for the first time.  We're about halfway through season 2.  I intentionally stayed away in the early days so that we'd be able to go through it all once the series finished, and just didn't get around to it until now.  With this much distance, it's fairly easy to avoid spoilers, but every time I get the urge to look up one of the actors, I run a real risk.   

Different show after the third season, and not for the better. I still love the show, and every season is worth a watch.

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  • 5 months later...

It's very curious this show is no longer on any major streaming services and is not in syndication. I've heard showrunners say it over and over again. Infidelity is a very raw, emotional issue with viewers. Most of them don't want to watch it because it brings up insecurities in their own relationships. I think this could be part of the reason. If people were watching Mad Men, Netflix would have attempted to keep it. 

I think the show suffered after Don and Betty divorced. The Henry affair storyline was painful to watch, but he was the type of guy Betty should have always married. A blue blood with the right connections.

Seasons 4-7 were entertaining, but forgettable. I'll give credit to Weiner for sticking the landing. The finale was perfect. That said, not letting Jon Hamm out of his contract to star in Gone Girl was a very f***ed up move. Hamm would be a much bigger star today if he did that movie. 

I wish January Jones got more roles after Mad Men. She was great on Mad Men and seems like a lovely person from the interviews I've listened to. 

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30 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

It's very curious this show is no longer on any major streaming services and is not in syndication.

It was running daily on Audience Network (DirecTv) until AT&T pulled the plug. Now it's streaming on IMDbTV.

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netflix has been hemorrhaging shows recently because of all the other networks out there throwing big money around.  lionsgate wanted in on the action.  this isn't the type of show that would be syndicated in the traditional sense anyway.  those days are pretty much gone now.

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/mad-men-streaming-rights-amazon-imdb-tv-1234691725/

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