who else taken with AMC's "Mad Men?"

This is easily the most promising pilot I've seen in a long long long time.

I have a mid-life love affair with the late 50s (which 1960 really was...the 60s began, tragically but officially, with the Kennedy assassination). The Eisenhower years remain the definitive cultural context for most baby boomers, even if we prefer to identify with the more dramatic 60s. If anyone wants to learn more about the era, three books: Halberstam's brilliant THE FIFTIES, Dan Wakefield's NEW YORK IN THE 50s (the romantic era of BEST OF EVERYTHING, plus Mailer and the downtown beats in ascendence -- and a 3 bedroom apt on the upper west side for 150 bucks a month), and an invaluable book from the cheap tables at B&N, THE FIFTIES, which chronicles the decade year by year, books, movies, politics -- a must-read coffee table tome, encyclopedic and full of wonderful pictures, LP covers, lobby cards, you name it.

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I'm really liking this show. It's nice to see something different on tv besides another reality show, medical drama, or a crime drama.

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I didn't think last night's episode was that great.

First off, only the ugly girl gets hit on. Too much sex, too soon. In the first season, she shouldn't be hit upon by every guy. There's no room for future episodes. For balance, they should show her apartment and home life. If they aren't careful, it will fall into soap opera.

The tour of the office was wasted time. We don't need to know all that. The audience wants action not boring dialogue. The best way to find out who does what is to have characters talking about their jobs. The fact that the office was empty makes the show look low budget.

The actress who plays the wife needs speech lessons PDQ. If she hit one more bad "S" I was going to mute her.

Robert Morse was good. He should think about playing Tennessee Williams.

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love it! i miss the days when you could smoke, drink and harass women at work!

oh, and gothampc, the office was empty because everyone in the 50s went to lunch at the same time. it had nothing to do with budget, silly.

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that'll show 'em!

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Well, for my money, it's far more compelling (and not so pretentiously contrived) as the over-hyped DAMAGES. I am enjoying Glenn, but that show doesn't have the freshness. MADMEN has a kind of effortless evocation of time and place, and doesn't push to turn the plot wheels. In fact, the less pushy paced plotting is entirely consistent with the era--a meld of style and content. Can't wait for the next one. And I love the company of actors.

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i think so, with the sly comments he makes. how he didn't answer the "got a girlfriend?" question ("i'm italian aren't i?) and how he said something to the effect "i cannot imagine anyone saying they live their life one way and really living it another" when they were talking about the survey of what people do vs. what they think you want them to do/say.

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I missed the first episode, but I've caught the last two -- I'm loving it. Far From Heaven is one of my favorite movies of all time, so that is definitely feeding my compulsion to watch Mad Men.

I just love that late 50's/early 60's look, and seeing how the superficial attitudes of everyone at the time weighed on their lives.

OH, and about Bryan Batt...I was thinking the same thing about hime being closeted. I mean, let's face it, they're gonna deal with the gay issue sooner or later. There are simply too many facets of it in relation to the time period to not explore it. But the fascinating thing to me is that there was no "gay agenda" back then -- nothing for anyone to "fear." Gays were just "flowery" men who went to art galleries. It would never even occur to Bryan Batt's co-workers to think that he's gay. He's simply not as much of a "man's man" as the others are.

Updated On: 8/3/07 at 12:26 PM

there's been 3 eps? was Smoke the pilot? that's the only one I've seen

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Thanks Landry for the heads up about the Bryson book. I'll get it. I can also recommend Dan Wakefield's NEW YORK IN THE 50's. My absolute favorite about the era, required reading for New Yorkers, and especially, those of us who moved here to find fame, fortune, and a good board at which to post. Of course Halberstam's THE FIFTIES is definitive (the Wakefield books is a source).

Can't get enough of MAD MEN, which despite being "1960" of course reeks of the 50s. Most decades kick-in not at the turning year, but later, based on an cultural phenom or historical event. For many of us, the 60s officially began with Kennedy's death. This show feels like that fascinating age before, which of course is its appeal.

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I've had all the episodes on my dvr as they aired and I finally started watching them last night. I completely agree with everything Auggie has said about the show. Without even having lived through late 50s/early 60s myself the show really feels true in its treatment of that era. There's such a realness to the proceedings and the show manages to make the characters feel contemporary without being anachronistic.

ETA: FUN FACT - Elisabeth Moss, who plays Betty on the show, played Baby Louise in the Bette Midler Gypsy.

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Updated On: 8/13/07 at 10:48 PM