Mad Men!!!!
 

Finally it returns!

Early reviews of the first four episodes have all been great. I LOVE this show.

I can't wait for the season premiere. This is outstanding television.

I love this show and so does my 18-year-old son - he thinks Don Draper is the man! We're both looking forward to Sunday and one of the things I'll miss the most when he leaves for college next month is watching it with him.

I love that show! I think I will have a Mad Men marathon this weekend, to prepare for the new season!

That was what late June/early July was all about for me! I realized how much more you pick up on the second time through...

Can't wait for tomorrow night :D

Wow. So, did anyone else know that Don Draper was into some rough sex?

Slap me harder!

Nothing surprises me when it comes to Don Draper and sex. The whole episode kind of freaked me out, though, seeing everyone in their new context. Can't wait for next week ...

Commenting about the first episode: I kept wondering when the show would address Betty Draper's abusive behavior toward her kids. Last year...locking the daughter in the closet...this year pinching. The possible MIL (?) has it right, "The kids are terrified of her." She is the banality of evil, a gorgeous perfect package, with a black heart.

Really hated the lighting in parts of the show...too dark.

But the stories? LOVED them.

Thoughts on the premiere...

It makes me sad that Betty is becoming such an awful character. I started off liking her a lot in the first season. But she really has lost it and become very selfish and childish. Even though Don was not faithful to her and wasn't around enough, which obviously isn't ok, when he was home he was a good father an a kind husband. She didn't leave him because of the infidelity (which she was never 100% sure of), she left him when she found out he came from a poor family. She's a snob and she treats her children like pets. When they amuse her (like baby Gene does) she treats them well but when they annoy her she pushes them away (sends them to bed, gives them to Carla, tells them to go watch TV, etc). I'm still holding out hope for her to grow up, come to her senses and become a better person, but I don't know if it will happen. In the mean time - poor Henry. He got a lot more baggage than he bargained for.

Nonetheless, I would do terrible, terrible things to get the chance to raid Betty's closet.

Don seems like he's not in a good place right now, and I feel bad for him. The scenes between him and Betty, Sally and Bobby were so sad, particularly for me as a child of divorced parents (though mine were much more civil and adult about it!). Sally seems so much more grown up now... I can see teenage drama on the horizon with that one. Getting to see more of her personality will be interesting - like in the episode when Grandpa Gene dies. Anyway, in terms of Don - I think one of the great things about this show is that they can take someone who on the surface is so unlikeable (philanderer, absentee husband/dad, selfish and arrogant in many ways) and make him a very well-liked, well-respected character. It's interesting that now that he's actually on the market he's really lost his game, though.

Peggy is turning into such a badass - I love it. Although when she was sassing off to Don about the agency's reputation, that seemed uncalled for. I still secretly hope they'll end up together. She challenges him (like Rachel Mencken did) and it's good for him. She's also not the typical bimbo he steps out with. They would be such a great power couple!

I'm still annoyed by Pete. Something about him just makes my skin crawl. I wish they had left him at Sterling Cooper.

I love that Joan has her own office! But what's going on with her eyebrows?

And did they try to spice up the premiere by giving Roger 3x the offensive one-liners of any other episode? That felt cheap.

All in all I'm stoked for the season. I read on Perez that the numbers for the premiere were much lower than anticipated, though... hopefully things will pick up steam.

I see Sally with sunshine and moonbeams, a flower child in total rebellion very soon. Pete I love because he is such a counterpoint to the evolving of a nation. He is total fifties, and not in a good way. Betty was, in my opinion, not likeable ever. Her character is, to use an old term, a cold fish. BUT her clothes...God bless the stylist. And Don has always been a cypher, like a commercial. Gorgeous packaging and he is what you want him to be, like a good advertisement.

I wonder if we've seen the last of the other Sterling Cooper employees like Ken and Paul? I'm also dying to know what has become of Sal.

I, too, would kill for Betty Draper's wardrobe!

OK, for all you young uns....I think that Sal will emerge triumphant. Around this time in the village (oh please someone with a greater knowledge of this time and place step in) there was a riot when, I believe, the police stormed a gay bar in the village to make arrests. This was the first salvo to begin the civil rights movement for gays.

I have a real Pucci dress from the mid 60s in my closet. A friend's mom gave it to me when she was cleaning out the closet. Perfect condition. I love the clothes from that time.

Really? I thought Betty left Don because he lied to her about everything he ever was, not because he came from a poor family. And regarding Betty and Sally, I think on some level Betty is jealous of Sally. Sally is/was close to Don and Grandpa Gene, and I don't think Betty likes the competition.
As for Sterling Cooper Draper Price, I told my son the other night that maybe they would hire their first "negro" this season, but he doesn't see it coming.

It is certainly possible that the first person of color may enter their world. Again, you have to realize that the company is totally WASP. In those years there were Jewish advertising agencies that were entirely a separate culture. (One of my father's cousins ran one.) And there are markets that were yet to be tapped. So.......they may be dragged into progress...slowly and reluctantly.

Betty left because of a lot of things: she had an affair and he lied. But she also had a crush on the guy from riding. So, she is the "Diary of a Mad Housewife" just waiting to happen..and she did.

I think Pete's actually a more progressive guy in some respects. Remember, last year he proposed marketing some product (which I forget) to black customers; his idea was shot down, but we still saw him perusing an issue of Ebony. Also, when Roger was singing in blackface, Pete looked on with a bemused expression. (On the other hand, Trudy, who I do like, was amused by that performance, not to her credit.)

For real ... Sal Romano was considered out of the ordinary because he was Italian. If anyone besides Don had known the whole truth about him, things really would have been interesting. ;)

Don was not always respectful and nice to Betty. I recall in the first (I think it was first) season, when Betty was a more sympathetic character, Sterling Cooper was pitching Heineken, and Don volunteered Betty to cook an "Around the World Cuisine" dinner for the client. He made her cook that ellaborate meal, then on top of it he humiliated her in front of all their guests by making her the subject of a bet regarding Heineken. That was a huge scene for me in terms of illustrating their relationship and how they treated each other. Betty had done what was needed for Don to do well at work, and he repaid her by making her the butt of a joke.

said in a sotto voice...with a touch of a clenched jaw, "Well dahling, after all he is ARTISTIC.";):rolleyes:

Forgot the round the world dinner........But she always reminded me of a cold fish.

Betty's cold fish character is not unlike many women of that era. She's from a very uptight "main line" family, she has been taught to stay with a man for the sake of her children and yet here she blows out of town with her new man. I see him almost as a father figure of sorts who comes into her life very soon after Grandpa Gene passes away.

I forgot that was the age of phenobarbetral (sorry the spelling is way off). Mother's little helper. Every mother took it where I came from...............

ok I am new to the show and only at the beginning of season 2, but I can't wait any longer... Can someone PLEASE tell me what Peggy did with that baby?!

Thanks :)

I think...and this wasn't a part of what brought me to the show....I think that I remember her going to her mother's house and there was a baby there. Peggy was/is very removed from the baby situation.

Just saw the scene, thanks. I've GOT to be more patient. That was an odd situation over all.

I found the whole Peggy's baby storyline interesting. In those days, if a girl was "in trouble" and the father could not or would not marry her, she was sent off in secrecy to a "maternity home" to wait out her pregnancy and surrender her baby for adoption. It was almost unheard of to keep a baby if you weren't married. A few older women who didn't have much to lose reputution-wise brazened it out but young girls almost never did. Families gave out cover stories, such as "She got a job in Cleveland and is staying with Aunt Edith" or "She transferred to State U" and no one talked about it openly but everyone knew what was going on. I'm an adoptee born about a year after Peggy's baby and a product of that system. Even when I was in school in the early 80s it went on. One year I came back from Christmas break to find that one of my sisters had suddenly decided to transfer to another school. The next fall she was back as if nothing had ever happened and I've always wondered.

well it didn't so much surprise me that she didn't keep the baby, I just thought it odd she chose not to even mention it to the daddy. And I mean damn she didn't even know or suspect she was pregnant. I understand she was on the pill but come on now... ok back to season 4 :)

She "mentioned" it..................

What's this Peggy-as-born-again-virgin crap? And what attraction can this Mark guy have for her? I mean, he's a nice guy but I don't see him with a go-getter like Peggy. I think Pheobe the nurse is cute and I love her hair ... the stylists are moving into the mid-60s. As for Don being with his secretary ... big mistake!

I was so confused by that part! Is Mark just assuming that she's a virgin, or did she tell him that? Also, does anyone else think that he looks a lot younger than Peggy?

You can totally tell that Don and his secretary are going to cause a problem- I'm interested to see what happens when/after he asks her to go with him to Mexico for New Year's but I'm even more (!!!!!) excited to see what goes down between Joan and her jerk husband, although from the preview it looks like she might be pregnant.

So who's getting excited for Season V? It starts on Sunday, March 25, 2012. Yippy!!

Meeee! I was just thinking about how I can't wait. I'm obsessed with Mad Men. Especially Jean.

You all better be watching this 2 hr season premiere. :D

The "zoobiezoobiezooooooo" (sp) performance was funny at first...but then it was quite sexy. Boomchickawowwow.

He's such an ungrateful prick. He's 40 and she wants to spend her money to spoil and embarass him. Cry me a river. LOL.

LOL @ Roger saying to his wife "why don't you sing like that?" and his wife saying "why don't you look like him?"

(John Slattery can give Jon Hamm a run for his money. I like silver haired and black haired men. They both look their most handsome in their Mad Men roles or when they are super clean cut. Slattery was also a hottie when he played the politician in SATC.)

This has been sitting in my Netflix queue forever and I haven't watched it yet. I'm ashamed, because this is my industry lol

Is this a show I can watch at work? I don't want to pull it up and have random body parts flashing on screen.

Ha ha!! That was a great line!

I think the rose is off the bloom already where Roger and Jane are concerned. Oh well, for Jane, I guess it's a case of "Marry Young, Marry Often". LOL

Who is "Jean"? Do you mean Draper Kid #3, "Gene"? Or is that a typo and you mean "Jane" Siegel (i.e. Mrs. Roger Sterling #2?)

LOL, I meant Joan. That's what I get for posting with my brain off. Such a good episode. I'm really starting to get annoyed with Pete though. He's such an entitled asshole and he doesn't treat Trudy well.

Re: Peter Campbell

Yes, agreed. Also, Vincent Kartheiser (Peter Campbell) is starting to look a little jowly, compared to when the show started out.


I should have clued in that "Jean" was "Joan" (just change the 2nd letter). :D

Ok, here comes a rant.

Just because a character makes a racist and/or sexist joke on Mad Men does NOT mean it is funny or appropriate to repeat in 2012. In fact, it's basically the opposite. So, for example, when people are talking about how Roger's quip about "darkest before the Don" is soooo funny, it's really disturbing to me. The line isn't written to be funny, it's written to show that unfortunately, blatant racism in the workplace was acceptable in that time period.

I'm worried that these idiots are taking this show as a cue that saying this sort of stuff is normal and acceptable and funny, when in fact, it's obviously not. I think one of the great things about this show is that it enlightens people about how far we've come with regards to civil rights, but I worry that when popular characters act badly, it normalizes the behavior for the lowest common denominator.

I'm not disappointed in the show, I'm just disappointed in humanity.

Tl;dr - the Mad Men facebook fan page is a cesspool.

Otherwise, though, I'm enjoying the new season so far...

I can't handle it when they're in the same room.

Does anyone else think Megan isn't all what she seems either? She seems very accepting of Don Draper's other identity that I wonder if she's doing the same thing.

Well, she *IS* French(Canadian) after all! :p;)

That dream sequence where he dreamed that he murdered that stalker woman was CREEPY!

I have my suspicions about Megan as well, especially after the line, "we could meet people I used to work with too." She made it sound really sketchy. Maybe she did some sort of porn stuff. Judging by how interested she was in those rape pictures Peggy's friend brought in, I am a little suspicious.

My favorite part of the episode was the exchange between Roger and Peggy. "How much you got?" "$400." "Give me all of it...do you want me to take your watch too?" I seriously laughed out loud for a good 30 seconds. I love Peggy. I felt SO bad for Joan though. She is my absolute favorite. At first I was really sad, but then I remembered how badly I want her and Roger to be together so I was okay with it. With Roger and Jane's relationship obviously going downhill, I don't think it's too much to hope for. We'll see.