he truly cool tend to arrive fashionably late here in Los Angeles. Even to their own party.
And so it is that the stars of Mad Men were missing from their own launch event at the TV critics tour. Up on a hotel roof patio, cable publicists fluttered and assured reporters the cast would be there, any minute now; one level down and around the corner, lead actors Jon Hamm and January Jones – Mad Men ’s all-American couple of Don and Betty Draper – were found casually smoking with series creator Matthew Weiner. When gently reminded the party upstairs had already started, Hamm lit up another. With a Zippo, of course. “On our way,” he said.
Like the bad kids in high school, the Mad Men players were in no rush to meet those seeking details of the show’s upcoming third season (Aug. 16 on AMC). When they arrived, they were mobbed.
“From what I’m told, Betty is very typical of many American wives in that era. She’s given her life over to making a beautiful home and raising children, but she still feels desperate and unappreciated. And she’s not naive about Don’s affairs. Betty is not happy about how married life has turned out. ”— January Jones
Critics and fans adore Mad Men . In two seasons, the series set in the New York advertising industry circa 1960 has become the most talked-about television drama since The Sopranos .
With great heat comes great responsibility, and on this occasion the talent were under strict gag orders.
“The less we say, the more it enhances the story for viewers,” says Weiner, a former writer on The Sopranos . “The show has evolved to the point where viewers care deeply for these characters, however flawed they may be. We’re a period drama, about real people. We need to hold onto what mystery we have for as long as possible.”
Set in the fictional ad agency of Sterling Cooper, the show’s first season was a sharp etching of early sixties American life. The show rewound the clock to the time of JFK, snug suits with narrow ties and cars with fins. It was also the era of sexism, racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism and other ugly behaviour.
“I’m sure some people enjoy the nostalgic element,” says Hamm, “but there was also shocking intolerance in those days. We don’t treat the period with gloss or see it through rose-coloured glasses.”
That first season introduced viewers to dapper Don, the agency’s hard-drinking, chain-smoking, womanizing creative director, and to an eclectic group of co-workers. Viewers also met Don’s wife Betty, who shot at birds in the backyard and liked to sit on the running clothes dryer. Here was the trophy wife, repressed.
“From what I’m told, Betty is very typical of many American wives in that era,” says Jones. “She’s given her life over to making a beautiful home and raising children, but she still feels desperate and unappreciated. And she’s not naive about Don’s affairs. Betty is not happy about how married life has turned out.”
The first season of Mad Men won Emmys for best drama and outstanding writing; its arresting visual style collected four more trophies, including outstanding hairstyling for a single camera series. “The hairstyles on our show are works of art,” says Christina Hendricks, who plays the zaftig secretary Joan.
In its second season, Mad Men entered the zeitgeist. Hamm hosted Saturday Night Live and the show was parodied in last fall’s Halloween episode of The Simpsons , in an episode titled How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising .
“An animator friend on The Simpsons snuck me a pencil drawing of Homer as Don falling down the side of the building. I have it framed in my house,” says Hamm, referring to the series’ Emmy-winning title sequence.
In the second season, the show became slightly heavier in tone and the historical backdrop moved toward the civil-rights movement and Cold War paranoia.
The show’s intensity rarely let up. People lied or kept dark secrets, like the earnest young Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), who took sick leave to bear the love child of co-worker Pete (Vincent Kartheiser).
“We show two sides of everything,” says Weiner, who holds forth as show-runner, head writer and sole executive producer on Mad Men . “People are lying to each other, but they’re lying to themselves, too. That’s very human. Viewers identify with that.”
Things peaked late in the second season, when personal disasters were played out against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis. Betty finally wearied of Don’s affairs and kicked him out of the house. Don’s breaking point came on his trip to California to curry favour with NASA and military contractors.
“At a time when it could have been the end of the world, Don’s instinct was to dig up new business with the people in charge of blowing up the planet,” says Hamm. “That resonated with a guy unsure of his past, or his future. It hit him a little harder than he thought.”
The storyline is now about to enter the year 1963 – a very big year in American life. What can be revealed: Sterling Cooper has been taken over by savvy Brits intent on making agency veterans scrap for executive positions. Don and Betty are seemingly back to their happy home life with the kids. Then comes another business trip. And a stewardess.
“Well, Don is out of town,” says Weiner. “So, in his mind that might not really be considered cheating.”
I love that I can watch Madmen on line. I only got to see the first 2 seasons hit and miss, but now I am completely caught up and completely loving the show.