What fascinates me about Mad Men is the evocation of the world of the grownups at a time when I was a child. At the time that the show was set, I was the same age as Don and Betty’s* daughter. My dad was a corporate executive, though not in advertising, and my mom was stuck in the suburbs, though she had neither the looks nor the class background of Betty. Anyway, the world in Mad Men has some deep similarities to the world I grew up in, and it’s interesting to see, as an adult, the full version of what I caught glimpses of, from below, as a child.
*completely OT – I just noticed the “Don and Betty” thing – my BIL’s parents were Don and Betty, and a couple more different from the Drapers it’s hard to imagine …
I just finished the second season. The setting is fabulous and I’m enjoying the show, but I’m getting frustrated with Don’s character. He seems to move wherever the wind blows him. Was there any point to the episode where he ditched Pete Campbell at the convention in California and hooked up with the orgy people? (If this were on HBO they’d have been orgy people, anyway.)
Eleanor of Aquitaine, I rushed to [url=Alan Sepinwall’s blog after every episode of the show. He always cleared up any confusion I might have had. His columns are a wonderful companion to the show.
I have a little bit of fascination with the show. The Drapers are the generation between my grandparents and parents. My grandfather was in advertising. I grew up near where they live.
It’s clear to me that it’s well made television. The characters are complex and interesting. I do not enjoy watching it. I may catch up in the future. Right now I have too many real problems to watch Don Draper’s and consider it entertainment.
My mom says she stopped watching because “everyone’s so damned whiny”.
Sort of off topic: I’ve been watching a lot of “Angel” reruns recently and just realized that Pete in Mad Men played Connor, Angel’s vamp-slaying son on Angel.
J.
I just started watching it via Netflix as well. My first 2 jobs (late 60s/early 70s–I was late teen/early 20s) were in publicity depts. of major corporations–same family as advertising, if you will.
The series kind of creeps me out as I recognize a lot of similarities in the characters as my then current co-workers. Like the men being such dicks to women and women taking it and even smiling about it and wanting more. I pretty much didn’t take that kind of crap from them in the workplace even at 18 and didn’t see why others did.
I’m up to disc 3 of season 1. Not sure how much more I’ll really watch. Something better catch my eye other than reminiscing about clothing I didn’t really care for at the time and what will happen with Peggy.
There are so many other things on my queue…
I find it fascinating, not so much for the era–though it is certainly intriguing–but for the fact of Don Draper’s assumed identity and his whole backstory.
His wife is a cold, mean, effing bitch, I must say.
As others have said, it’s not a “Fun” show about Those Wacky Ad Men set in The Sixties™. It’s a slow drama that happens to be about Ad Men in The Sixties™.
My wife and I really like the show and get a lot out of it, but I can understand why someone who prefers a show in which Significant Things Happen Every Week might not enjoy it as much. FWIW, my Dad assures me that the show is spot in regards to fashion, social mores, and attitudes for the time period, at least from his experience in office jobs at the time.