Mad Men on AMC • Fifth Season Thread

I like how we've spent several episodes debating if Ginsberg was going to be seen as competition/foil for Peggy, when it's ending up Don.

I also like, in reference to all discussions about just how good they are and how much a genius Don is, that when he started with the devil talk, I thought the point was that it was terrible. It was clear the next day that while it wasn't as good as Ginsbergs, everybody thought it was pretty good.

saw it as the rest of creative was humoring him, b/c he's the boss, it's a bit of a chickenfeed account, it was a decent enough concept, and Don hadn't done much on his own in a while. It didn't seem great, no.

I liked the bit where he said (when trying to make it seem like he was freestyling) that "obviously" everyone's minds turn to a snowball's chance in Hell. When... no, the first thing in my mind was a person being hit by a snowball 0_0

agree w/silby. Ginsberg's pitch seemed more effortless, particularly the thing about the pig

Don had definitely honed his concept a little bit between the time when he was recording ideas on the dictaphone and when he pitched it to the team

his new line was funnier ("this ... could change everything")

on a side note they finally did the sensible thing and started running The Pitch right after Mad Men (ad pitching competition reality show) instead of a rerun of the Killing

I watched it, it was ok. It was just good enough that I will probably keep the channel on AMC and watch it.

i'm just (vaguely, mildly, not really) annoyed that i had to turn away from the second hour of the food network star premiere.

Of all the shitty TV that I watch, Food Network Star is the one I feel most guilty about, because it's exceptionally shitty. But that's a conversation for another thread. Or better yet, for never.

That scene of Don brainstorming was pretty LOL. I kept thinking "Oh, these are horrible ideas, any minute now he's going to kill his machine with whiskey in a writer's block frenzy.

Food Network Star is responsible for Guy Fieri, so I think it should be killed with fire.

Funny if you think about it - Don & Megan so inspiring with Cool Whip, Betty solo depressing with Reddi Whip.

a) I think he was a plant
b) he's Orson Welles compared to pretty much every other contestant who's been on that show
c) I am sorry for cheapening a Med Men thread with food network star talk.

did Pete and Ken know that Don's pitch was Don's when they were suggesting it was pretty good (but less good than Ginsberg's)?

(btw, who were the ad people ['Peter, Paul and Mary'] who Pete was complaining about being highlighted over SCDP?)

re several comments upthread: i straight-up hate this show's treatment of betty. it's the one thing about mad men that really sticks in my craw. reminds me of the weird, nasty and at least borderline misogynist contempt displayed for elizabeth perkins' celia on weeds. somebody working out ex-wife and/or bad mommy issues...

Betty became a sympathetic character a while back, but she still acts upon her worst impulses. That doesn't make her a cartoon villain. That makes her human.

also ads for next week indicate quite a bit of Lane. xposts

Thanks! I get the show on itunes, so I don't really get to see the promos.

(btw, who were the ad people ['Peter, Paul and Mary'] who Pete was complaining about being highlighted over SCDP?)

I was wondering this as well

(btw, who were the ad people ['Peter, Paul and Mary'] who Pete was complaining about being highlighted over SCDP?)

See the link I posted above to the original article. Mary Wells, Richard Rich and Stewart Grene of Wells Rich Greene. "Our motto is, if we were modest, we'd be pefect".

Ugh.

I wonder if Melissa's happy now lol

article's behind the paywall

http://www.sendspace.com/file/0z0hzf

gracias!

Ha, they had to take the ads out of the article. Also, is it just me, or does Mary Wells look a bit like Betty/January Jones?

Betty became a sympathetic character a while back, but she still acts upon her worst impulses. That doesn't make her a cartoon villain. That makes her human.

yeah, but other at least partially loathsome (human) characters on the show get to act on a much wider variety of impulses, and the show seems to treat at least some of their behavior with a measure of sympathy and respect. for a while now, betty's just been getting hammered.

sure she's human but she's consistently the dumbest and most short-sighted human on offer. it's pretty conspicuously and i don't really like it either.

If Betty's character was never seen again in the series that ep would've been a damn good sendoff.

she's consistently the dumbest and most short-sighted human on offer

Harry

Feel like we haven't seen Betty's whole arc yet but I have a hunch they are going somewhere other than "lol Betty." honestly still her character very interesting.

she's consistently the dumbest and most short-sighted human on offer

Harry

yeah, but harry's dumb in a "basically decent", slobbery dog sort of way. he's not made to seem like a horrible, evil toad during every second he appears onscreen. he's mostly a harmless dork, and the show treats him with a measure of compassion (he even got to boast during the last episode that he's running his department alone and that it's doing well - something we have no reason to doubt).

harry is a dipshit but he knows how to do something!

lol Harry? decent? like when he was describing banging the boss's wife? perving out on teenage Stones fans? dude is a buffoon and nothing but.

Joan can do, and has done, his job

Really don't think there's anything stopping you from feeling compassion for Betty though?

I feel pity for Betty more than anything

I think the real problem with Betty (the character) is that she lacks charisma other than her beauty. Makes it harder to overlook the bad things she does (which are all petty compared to the others, tbh)--that overlooking we constantly do with the other characters.

I get the feeling the show people would be glad to see Betty go, but AMC won't let them dump the character because thwy feel January Jones is too big a name to let go.

nah, Betty and Sally's relationship is gonna be great story fodder.

Yeah Sally and Betty are heading for something epic.

lol Harry? decent? like when he was describing banging the boss's wife? perving out on teenage Stones fans? dude is a buffoon and nothing but.

yeah, he's crass, a dumbly lecherous boob, but he's not out to hurt anyone. we've never seen him do anything evil. in this respect, he's much more decent-seeming than don, pete, roger or betty.

dumb lecherous boobs are their own special brand of evil imho

I know we've been over this, but the others all have redeeming qualities

I think the real problem with Betty (the character) is that she lacks charisma other than her beauty. Makes it harder to overlook the bad things she does (which are all petty compared to the others, tbh)--that overlooking we constantly do with the other characters.

― ryan, Monday, May 14, 2012 4:36 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think this might be due to limitations of january jones as an actress.

yeah, i tend to blame the writers, but that has the ring of truth bomb

i guess it's to the shows credit that we all see the characters so very differently

There were hints early on of, if not charisma, then something more compelling. I am thinking in particular of the scene with the air rifle.

xposts

Okay, the Sally thing is worth it to keep Betty around, but otherwise Betts is getting the scorn stick harder than the others.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m40yeuGBMS1qbvaudo1_500.gif

so glad we have #1 board feminist contenderizer around to inform us how a sad character on a tv show is an example of gross misogyny