Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

It’s a doggy dog world.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

Come on, man.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

I also would like a pony to improve my balloon juice experience.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

You are here: Home / TV & Movies / Television / “Mad Men” open thread

“Mad Men” open thread

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I don’t want tonight’s “Mad Men” thread to be polluted by people (like me) complaining about how bad the acting is on “Rubicon” so I’m giving “Mad Men” its own thread. Whine about “Rubicon” in John’s thread….

Too much LA and not enough RS last week. And I was *very disappointed* that Don and Lane didn’t end up seeing The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Reader Interactions

53Comments

  10. 10.

    Lolis

    I don’t get Mad Men this season at all. The first two episodes had me so bored I stopped watching.

  11. 11.

    DougJ

    @Lolis:

    I liked the second one. Didn’t like the third. The fourth left me puzzled. I wish I had known Allison was going to play such an important role in this one so I could have titled this post appropriately.

  12. 12.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @PaulW:

    Omigod, that was priceless. The little head looking at Don over the partition, then disappearing when he turns around.

  13. 13.

    MikeJ

    I don’t watch Mad Men, but Umbrellas is one of my favorite movies. I’d smack the shit out of anyone who passed up a chance to see it.

  16. 16.

    kd bart

    Two great things in the episode:

    Harry Crane’s continual use of Yiddish phrases. He’s so show bizzy.

    Bert Cooper in the reception area, in the background, eating an apple, reading a magazine with his feet up and no shoes on. Priceless.

  19. 19.

    adolphus

    MikeJ: They chose Godzilla versus Gamera. If those are your choices you are choosing a mood for the evening, not the best movie. (Like choosing Gatorade over Guiness. Both excellent choices, just not for the same kind of evening) What I liked about that scene was the total man-date etiquette with one seat between them.

    This was my favorite episode this season so far. Lots of Peggy doing cool stuff. I just hoped she realized when she got on that elevator that she dodged a huge bullet with Crane. Also, while she deserves to be part of that other lunch group, she is totally going to have a better time with hers. It might take her awhile, and more drugs, before she realizes it though

  21. 21.

    hamletta

    @MikeJ: I thought she was 19, but who cares?

    The first time I watched that movie I wanted some kinda shades that would make her blinding beauty stop hurting my eyes.

    I love that movie beyond all reason, crappy lighting be damned.

  23. 23.

    MikeJ

    @hamletta: I won’t swear to either age. In that neighborhood anyway. I just love that “everything is a primary color” look.

    Visually, the only thing comparable is Absolute Beginners. Of course not every line is sung in that one.

  33. 33.

    DickSpudCouchPotatoDetective

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    John Spencer was good but he couldn’t overcome the Martin Sheen factor. Nobody could be that good.

    Besides, if the central character is being played by the wrong guy, your show is sort of screwed.

    Loved Marlee Matlin though.

    Rob Lowe’s career certainly took off. Well, I mean, Rob Lowe took off.

    Just about every tv actor in Hollywood was on the show at one time or another. So it’s kind of like a look at a casting agency.

  36. 36.

    DickSpudCouchPotatoDetective

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Any put down of evangelicals is great, but of course, he didn’t write it. He just said the lines. I mean, you don’t think Reagan was really the Gipper, do you? Heh.

    I will say this, at least Martin Sheen can remember his presidency.

  38. 38.

    MikeJ

    Martin Sheen? you mean from Apocalypse Now Martin Sheen? You think having him in the cast is a bad thing?

  39. 39.

    burnspbesq

    Here’s tonight’s WW trivia question.

    Name the movie that John Spencer and Bradley Whitford were in together, long before WW.

  41. 41.

    RadioOne

    I think “Rubicon” works, and I’m surprised by those who think the acting is lame. I think the show’s biggest problem is the plot.

  42. 42.

    LikeableInMyOwnWay

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Okay, they made like 150 episodes, used every actor in Hollywood, and did some good stuff. All I said was, they took it too seriously, and that Sheen was annoying to me. The ensemble was pretty good. Some of the scripts were quite good.

    I also pointed out that Mad Men is tongue in cheek, doing a great job of capturing the quirky insanity of the pre-hippie Sixties. It’s funny and also has a great ensemble. And Elizabeth Moss as a much more interesting character than Zoey.

    This is the basis for war? Wow, what has being a liberal sunk to?

    I thought we were for world peace. Well, until I started hanging around here.

  43. 43.

    LikeableInMyOwnWay

    I think the show’s biggest problem is the plot.

    Rubicon has a plot? So far, I can summarize the story line as “he never would have parked in space 13, he must have been sending us a message.”

    I suppose in Season Two we will find out what the message was.

  45. 45.

    eric k

    as someone who works in Marketing I loved Don’s speech to the focus group lady. That is so true, people only know what they’ve already seen and just ask for it.

  46. 46.

    eco2geek

    Screw Mad Men and Rubicon, what happened with Les Parapluies de Cherbourg? So he goes off to the war in Algeria, leaving his love in tears, and…? He comes back, they get married and make lots of babies? He steps on a land mine, is horribly disfigured, undergoes a botched operation, they meet in the shadows, he tells her, “Jacques is dead, mon amour, you can call me…Joker,” then kills her – what?

    Damn you, DougJ.

  47. 47.

    JGabriel

    DougJ:

    I wish I had known Allison was going to play such an important role in this one so I could have titled this post appropriately.

    Take Off Your Party Dress? Or: I Understand That You Are Not Impressed?

    .

  48. 48.

    Boudica

    What is with the liberal use of the word “shit” this season on MM? It’s like they got the green light to use it and feel like they’re being so hip. Every episode, it’s thrown in. I’m not a prude, but it feels gratuitous and out of place.

  49. 49.

    Clark

    @adolphus:

    I got the feeling that Peggy was no longer part of that lunch group, now that they are all partners and senior executives, and she’s still a copywrighter.

    Like a lot of things on Mad Men, especially for Peggy, this is probably going to cut both ways. All is not going to be perfect with her in artsy world, either.

  50. 50.

    John PM

    @Boudica

    I have noticed the use of the word shit, but I don’t think it has been overused.

    On another note: yeah Ken Cosgrove. I was sad when he didn’t make the move to the new agency. I was just saying that it must have sucked for the actors whose characters were left behind.

  51. 51.

    walt

    Head nod to Peter Campbell. He finally scored a touchdown (Don Draper’s congratulatory handshake was hilariously brief). The Pond’s focus group was classic. The Warhol Factory party was vague – what’s Peggy gonna do? – but points at the demise of midcentury and the rise of Carnaby Street. Once Don Draper starts sprouting sideburns, it’s a whole other show.

  53. 53.

    flyerhawk

    The best episode of the season.

    I love the fact that Don is really torn up about Allison and how he treated her.

    And the final scene with the old couple slowly ambling over to their apartment was great. Don staring at them with the sense that he will never have that.

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