Mad about Mad Men
As you know I fall into the category of people who never watch cable tv.
So as a result when we got Netflix and there were a number of series television shows that we could watch from episode 1 and not re-watch an episode.
AMC's original series Mad Men is one of them.
You all know the story line and you have heard about it being the sexiest show on the air.
Well that is what I have read albeit from AMC's web page. But through watching it has done what a great artistic endeavor must do.
I knew the writing was very good and the story line was unique in that it is set at a time that doesn't include the most powerful age demographic the 18-35 group of today.
It is familiar for me because I would be a bit younger than Baby Gene would be right now and if this pilot had come across my desk and the pitch was right I would have taken the chance also. I say that because of a huge interest that the youth of today have in the culture of the 60's and 70's but it's almost as though it all never occurred when you look at popular culture.
Oh the young people see the styles of the day
and hear the music but
This series might do a service beyond entertainment and inform a portion of it's fan base.
The authentic feel of this show is damn near mind blowing right down to the shooting style and yet I expected that.
The acting is fresh while being very convincing and I expected that too.
These are the things that had been mentioned by various friends, family members and reviewers so it met expectations.
When those expectations are exceeded consistantly as on this series a completely horrible critic such as myself has to nod in silence as I'm carried away by the characters in this brief history of MY youth.
We wonder what personal drama will underline the social drama just outside the offices of SCDP and I think about some 19yo watching this not knowing what social milestone is about to be arrived at next perhaps not fully understanding how pivotal this era was to people of my age and for what it's worth, their age.
In the end Mad Men is supposed to be a bit of dramatic entertainment and again it meets that expectation and again it does what great art must do, not just meet but to exceed expectation!
It is not really meant to be a history lesson, it is not meant to be a soap box for a political or purely social message. It is an accurate depiction of a space in time and the rest of what it is very subtle there for the viewer who wants it.
Again the script is so good, every aspect of it seems to be thought out to the point where I feel that the secretary in the back ground out of focus walking through the office has a story.
Then there is the inclusion of this history of a 2 decade period where everything changed for a moment, it is explored through the characters who are living it at the time and not as an aside but as something which affects them. Then this program does something that I have not seen in a dramatic series and that is inject pure comedy. Black comedy such as getting rid of Miss Blanckenships body, or a sight gag like Peggy's head popping up over the wall in Don's office.
Brilliant!
Deb and I are coming to the close of season 4 and it would seem we have a long 6 months or more to wait for season 5 to show up on Netflix.
Til then we will ration the last six episodes of S4 and hope that the same formulation is being used in season 5.
MAD MEN:
It feels thoroughly authentic but never nostalgic, to the entire cast and crew I tip my hat!
I really am Mad about Mad Men.
So as a result when we got Netflix and there were a number of series television shows that we could watch from episode 1 and not re-watch an episode.
AMC's original series Mad Men is one of them.
You all know the story line and you have heard about it being the sexiest show on the air.
Well that is what I have read albeit from AMC's web page. But through watching it has done what a great artistic endeavor must do.
I knew the writing was very good and the story line was unique in that it is set at a time that doesn't include the most powerful age demographic the 18-35 group of today.
It is familiar for me because I would be a bit younger than Baby Gene would be right now and if this pilot had come across my desk and the pitch was right I would have taken the chance also. I say that because of a huge interest that the youth of today have in the culture of the 60's and 70's but it's almost as though it all never occurred when you look at popular culture.
and hear the music but
perhaps don't fully understand how Different,
How Really Really
Different
the world was just a few decades ago.This series might do a service beyond entertainment and inform a portion of it's fan base.
The authentic feel of this show is damn near mind blowing right down to the shooting style and yet I expected that.
The acting is fresh while being very convincing and I expected that too.
These are the things that had been mentioned by various friends, family members and reviewers so it met expectations.
We wonder what personal drama will underline the social drama just outside the offices of SCDP and I think about some 19yo watching this not knowing what social milestone is about to be arrived at next perhaps not fully understanding how pivotal this era was to people of my age and for what it's worth, their age.
In the end Mad Men is supposed to be a bit of dramatic entertainment and again it meets that expectation and again it does what great art must do, not just meet but to exceed expectation!
It is not really meant to be a history lesson, it is not meant to be a soap box for a political or purely social message. It is an accurate depiction of a space in time and the rest of what it is very subtle there for the viewer who wants it.
Again the script is so good, every aspect of it seems to be thought out to the point where I feel that the secretary in the back ground out of focus walking through the office has a story.
Then there is the inclusion of this history of a 2 decade period where everything changed for a moment, it is explored through the characters who are living it at the time and not as an aside but as something which affects them. Then this program does something that I have not seen in a dramatic series and that is inject pure comedy. Black comedy such as getting rid of Miss Blanckenships body, or a sight gag like Peggy's head popping up over the wall in Don's office.
Brilliant!
Deb and I are coming to the close of season 4 and it would seem we have a long 6 months or more to wait for season 5 to show up on Netflix.
Til then we will ration the last six episodes of S4 and hope that the same formulation is being used in season 5.
MAD MEN:
It feels thoroughly authentic but never nostalgic, to the entire cast and crew I tip my hat!
I really am Mad about Mad Men.
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