In Defense of Mad Men

OK, we are two episodes into this thing and I'm starting to latch on to AMC new drama series, Mad Men. I'm getting interested in Don Draper and his philanderings and Peggy Olson's missteps trying to navigate the shark tank that is Sterling Cooper.

Of course, I dig the MCM trappings of the show. My wife and I spend a lot of our time going, "Wow, look at that!" or "Is that Wegner?" It gets a lot of the period details right. If you want to get a little of the MCM flava, check the link above for an episode 2 sneak peek (episode 3 is tomorrow at 9).

However, when I look at the comments on the Mad Men blog, it seems not everyone is latching on. More people are bitching about the amount of smoking or whether the IBM Selectric was a 1960 or a 1961. Some don't buy the story as believeable or realistic. Sez one commenter:

As the son of a Madison Ave creative director, I have to laugh. My dad worked for BBDO during this time and he says the show is complete BS, except that they got the decor of the offices right. Sure they drank and smoked, but the portrayal of how things went is totally overblown. It was an intense, high pressure job and there was alot on the line, but they didnt act that way. He also says that he NEVER heard the term "Mad Men" either. My mom was also a million times more sophisticated than the portrayal of the wife of the ad guy too. It's too bad everyone is buying this. I work in the TV biz myself, so I recognize that in an effort to "dramatize" things, a bunch of suits thought this would be good TV. Well, it seems the critics, who are probably too young to have any reference, bought it hook, line and sinker as well. Well done suits, but too bad its just another unrealistic drama...

And then there's this guy:

I worked on Madison Ave fot 2 agencies between 1953 and 1967. At one, i was part of the account team on Lorilard,(kent and newport cigarettes). Later, at Gillette was involv ed with Right Guard.
Where did mr. Weiner get his data, lots of it is not true. The staff was mostly WW2 vets, some with MBA,s from our GI bill-we worked hard, did not drink in the office and the secretary liasons were infrequent-about the same as in every company where bright, younger people work.we believed in our products and helped build the success that
these companies became. P.S-no one ever considered Right Guard as a female product-it was the breakthru product for men.
If your wryers want some unusual stories about agency life in the sixties,
I 'll be happy to share.

To which I respond: COME ON ... IT'S A TV SHOW! We are still in the exposition stage -- meeting the characters and establishing conflicts and plot points. Does anyone want to give this show time to develop other than me? And, by the way, this isn't supposed to be a documentary. It's not about how 1960 really was. It's about how we thought it was, and I expect the show to use this context to discuss issues of sex, race and other social attitudes.

I also expect the show to be less about 1960 and more about 2007. Although it's easy to sit around and watch the casual racism and sexual harassment and feel like things have really changed, I'm thinking that things haven't changed as much as we'd like to believe. Is it a set-up? Where is this show going? I'm curious and I hope enough of you out there give it a chance.

Stay Tuned!

Green MCM Remodel

I found a pleasant little blog about a couple's re-model of a groovy MCM house in Portland, Ore. -- Green Mid-Century ReModel. They found a nice balance between incorporating new, green technologies and maintaining the period details of the house. And best of all, they have a kick-ass Frigidaire Flair in the kitchen. Check out the virtual walkthrough. It's pretty cool.

The Next Voice You Hear

Generation Exploitation had a great post on the 1950 movie The Next Voice You Hear. The premise James Whitmore) is listening to the radio one evening when his regularly scheduled program is suddenly interrupted by the voice of the Christian God. As Generation Exploitation puts it: "One can't help wondering, given the year and the context in which the film was made, if this was MGM's attempt to get the House of Unamerican activities off their back. As in, 'See, we believe in God and America - we ain't no commies!' "

Of course, the irony of all this is Whitmore is actually an atheist. In a recent interview on XM Radio's Bob Edwards Show, Whitmore told Bob about how he grew up a very pious young man, an altar boy. However, after serving as a Marine officer through some of the worst fighting in the Pacific, Whitmore came home a changed man. He said that after seeing the things he saw in the war, there was no way he could believe in God anymore. Kind of sad, but it makes an interesting story.

Oh, and another piece of Whitmore trivia -- he played football at Yale, where his coach was his future President Gerald Ford. I remember Whitmore saying that they were related somehow, but I can't find any attribution for this.

Anybody Want Pancakes?

One of my all-time favorite album covers -- combining my love of children's television in breakfast foods in one tasty combo.

Happy Birthday, Bakelite

It's graced everything from Kodak cameras to Russian World War II fighters and as of this month, Bakelite turns 100. In July 1907, Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland applied for a U.S. patent on a substance he dubbed Bakelite, the first "true" synthetic plastic. For more information on our little plastic friend, listen to this NPR segment on Bakelite, starring my old prof from the University of Texas Jeff Meikle, a plastics expert.

1535 Junior Drive, Oak Cliff - $775k

A nicely updated ranch in the 75208. EXCELLENT kitchen update! Sea grass wallpaper! Lots of original details! Bravo!

TIVO Alert! "Mad Men" To-nite!

AMC's new MCM drama Mad Men starts tonight at 9 Central. The buzz is good. Mi amigo Robert Philpot is raving about it. Will it make me forget The Sopranos? Give some Eames loungers, bullet bras and decent plots lines and you're on your way!