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HouTex

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Tom

Tom 2959

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4 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

 

Seasons 4-7 were entertaining, but forgettable. I'll give credit to Weiner for sticking the landing. The finale was perfect. That said, not letting Jon Hamm out of his contract to star in Gone Girl was a very f***ed up move. Hamm would be a much bigger star today if he did that movie. 

 

I can't agree with that assessment.  Season 5 has been my favorite since I watched it the first time weekly on AMC, but not by much.  This is one of the few shows where every season is so consistent and good, it would be very difficult for me to pick an order.  

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11445

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1 hour ago, Tom said:

 

I can't agree with that assessment.  Season 5 has been my favorite since I watched it the first time weekly on AMC, but not by much.  This is one of the few shows where every season is so consistent and good, it would be very difficult for me to pick an order.  

I probably won't convince you otherwise, but what made Mad Men great was the dichotomy of Don Draper in the suburbs and Don in New York City. Think back to the pilot. Don is presented as a playboy and advertising superstar. Then he goes home. Gasp, he has a perfect family and house in the suburbs. How could he do this to them? He has so much to lose, the American Dream. 

Take away Don's life in Rye, New York and place him in Greenwich Village. There aren't any consequences, and well, it's not as interesting. 

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RPM

RPM 26315

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55 minutes ago, Deej said:

I want to go back to a time when independent women like Peggy would give hand jobs to strangers in a movie theater. 

Problem is the ones that would do that looked like Peggy.

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SizzleChest

SizzleChest 8283

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On 7/17/2020 at 2:01 PM, Nole-4-Life said:

The episode where Betty confronts Don with the contents of his box and his real identity while his side piece waits in the car all night then has to do the walk of shame home was some great television. Very raw.

Weiner was mentored by Chase.  That kind of suspense (is she going to walk into the house?) is very reminiscent of certain Sopranos scenes where the tension is through the roof.

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11445

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On 7/17/2020 at 2:01 PM, Nole-4-Life said:

The episode where Betty confronts Don with the contents of his box and his real identity while his side piece waits in the car all night then has to do the walk of shame home was some great television. Very raw.

Great episode. Abigail Spencer is a terrific actress and probably the most sympathetic of all the mistresses. She was a good person involved with a very bad man.

Post Betty, I think Dr. Faye was the best Don girlfriend. I think they could have been happy together. Also I'm Team Cara Buono. 

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3245

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On 7/17/2020 at 1:34 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

I wish January Jones got more roles after Mad Men. She was great on Mad Men and seems like a lovely person from the interviews I've listened to. 

she's pretty well known for being cold and stand-offish.  

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Guest

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27 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

the jones side of my family has been in sioux falls (where she's from) for a long time so i assume we're related somehow.

Need to see pics of your mom’s/ sister/  daughter’s( no pedo) racks to be sure.

 

The fact there are multiple seasons being touted as ‘the best’ just reinforces how bad ass this series was.

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lateshow

lateshow 1304

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2 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

Finally started watching for the first time a few weeks ago. I’m halfway through season 5 and loving it. It’s amazing how enjoyable it is to watch a group of mostly terrible people! Ha. 

I'm truly envious of you getting to watch that series for the first time.

Where are you watching? I used to be able to rewatch on Netflix, but no more. 

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Knoxtnhorn

Knoxtnhorn 5971

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46 minutes ago, HouTex said:


All of it or just a bite? That’s fucking disgusting.

I don't know.  Not sure I want to do the research.

Dear God, I did the research.  The quote I got from People mag is that she has "been eating it" as in, over time.

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Guest Lobo

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dibs on "Creamed Placenta" for my new band name.  

I miss this show sometimes.  Obviously during the pandemic, I crave any good programming.  And while I probably liked the Sopranos and Breaking Bad more as overall shows...nothing had the writing chops of Mad Men.  Every character, no matter how despicable, could make you laugh or move you to tears somehow.  That's never going to happen again on a series.  Every single one of those deplorable little assholes made you pull for them.  That's maybe 3-4 characters on a long-running series.  But Mad Men did it with everybody and did it with a pithy smile. 

Think about the excitement of world-building for a New Jersey mob family or the largest meth empire up the center of the country.  The basis itself was half the show, though the characters were still incredibly rich and provocative.  But Mad Men, while a period piece that did challenge thoughts on race and gender, was just a show set in an office with a womanizing male lead who was both protagonist and antagonist.  Yeah, the clothes and midday drinking and grabbing secretaries asses inside the elevator operated by the poor black man.  But that wasn't nearly enough to build 7 top-flight seasons around.  The writing of every primary and secondary, and even most tertiary characters was the best anything television has had to offer in 75 years.  I loved and hated almost every single character on that show at one point or another and because of some bottled episode where they did something bad or funny, but for prolonged seasonal arcs because they were determinedly heading somewhere bad or good.  Everybody propped up somebody at some point, destroyed somebody, or foiled something.  It was probably already the best written show in history for just the workplace and family-life drama, but you sprinkle on the ad pitch meetings and some sardonic wit...it pulls way ahead of any other contender.  Again, not my favorite overall show.  But easily the best written one I've ever seen.  

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HouTex

HouTex 1866

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I don't know.  Not sure I want to do the research.
Dear God, I did the research.  The quote I got from People mag is that she has "been eating it" as in, over time.

I know it’s not the same thing, but I can’t get fava beans and a nice chianti out of my head.
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utee94

utee94 15797

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7 hours ago, DCA_HORN said:
20 hours ago, 4th&Five said:
Ha. He and Sally both annoy me. 

Sally was great.

Agree.  When she's younger there's not much there, just a generic kid, but as she grows and starts to test herself against her parents, I think it rings true.  To me it never came off as overly teeny/whiney, that wouldn't have matched the show's tone.  Rather, it was pretty genuine and often raw, like the rest of the show.

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29189

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On 1/12/2021 at 12:38 PM, Lobo said:

dibs on "Creamed Placenta" for my new band name.  

I miss this show sometimes.  Obviously during the pandemic, I crave any good programming.  And while I probably liked the Sopranos and Breaking Bad more as overall shows...nothing had the writing chops of Mad Men.  Every character, no matter how despicable, could make you laugh or move you to tears somehow.  That's never going to happen again on a series.  Every single one of those deplorable little assholes made you pull for them.  That's maybe 3-4 characters on a long-running series.  But Mad Men did it with everybody and did it with a pithy smile. 

Think about the excitement of world-building for a New Jersey mob family or the largest meth empire up the center of the country.  The basis itself was half the show, though the characters were still incredibly rich and provocative.  But Mad Men, while a period piece that did challenge thoughts on race and gender, was just a show set in an office with a womanizing male lead who was both protagonist and antagonist.  Yeah, the clothes and midday drinking and grabbing secretaries asses inside the elevator operated by the poor black man.  But that wasn't nearly enough to build 7 top-flight seasons around.  The writing of every primary and secondary, and even most tertiary characters was the best anything television has had to offer in 75 years.  I loved and hated almost every single character on that show at one point or another and because of some bottled episode where they did something bad or funny, but for prolonged seasonal arcs because they were determinedly heading somewhere bad or good.  Everybody propped up somebody at some point, destroyed somebody, or foiled something.  It was probably already the best written show in history for just the workplace and family-life drama, but you sprinkle on the ad pitch meetings and some sardonic wit...it pulls way ahead of any other contender.  Again, not my favorite overall show.  But easily the best written one I've ever seen.  

it's my favorite drama of all time.

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Guest Lobo

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1 minute ago, henrygandorf said:

it's my favorite drama of all time.

"Creamed Placenta" or "Mad Men"?  Not judging. 

When this pandemic is over, and you're in Austin next...you gotta come see some of the Weiner archives at the Ransom Center.  The wardrobe and cocktail glasses are fun, but the "behind-the-curtain" writing notes and plot assembly is just mesmerizing.  It's like the Nimitz Museum, you can spend all weekend in there and leave even thirstier.  They're trying to get a Mamet-Weiner (the writers, not the STD) thing going in a couple years.  A salon/festival/writer retreat reveal of sorts to coincide with the ATX Film Festival.  Probably delayed a bit by pandemic but I bet writers in solitude have an even more interesting perspective to share with looking at their works as being some of the only stuff out there of quality for the last 15 months.  

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henrygandorf

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11 minutes ago, Lobo said:

"Creamed Placenta" or "Mad Men"?  Not judging. 

When this pandemic is over, and you're in Austin next...you gotta come see some of the Weiner archives at the Ransom Center.  The wardrobe and cocktail glasses are fun, but the "behind-the-curtain" writing notes and plot assembly is just mesmerizing.  It's like the Nimitz Museum, you can spend all weekend in there and leave even thirstier.  They're trying to get a Mamet-Weiner (the writers, not the STD) thing going in a couple years.  A salon/festival/writer retreat reveal of sorts to coincide with the ATX Film Festival.  Probably delayed a bit by pandemic but I bet writers in solitude have an even more interesting perspective to share with looking at their works as being some of the only stuff out there of quality for the last 15 months.  

i was hitting on a very unattractive writer from mad men many years back.  i think she wrote "the wheel", or maybe i just told myself that.  from what i remember, matt weiner is a real mother fucker.  give me mamet any day.

but mad men is awesome, obviously.

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Guest Lobo

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If she wrote "The Wheel", I think you should have given her the chance (pre-marriage, of course).  Everybody at the Ransom Center says Weiner is a fucking asshole, worse than DeNiro by a mile.  But he did work with them on the transfer of items really nicely, then became a dick afterwards when it came to how the material would be studied.  He wants everybody to respect his process and genius but had no guidance as to how that would take place.  Basically a "engage the writing community in my brilliance and if they don't go about studying/worshipping me the right way, I'll pull the agreement.  but I won't tell you what that looks like, I'll just know it when I see it."  Still, he was able to bring a lot of the drafts and notes from his co-writers/co-producers and it's just fascinating how it all comes together.  Was it so brilliantly written because of such wonderous collaboration or because of steadfast one-off glimpses of genius from singular writers from time to time?  Or a combination thereof?  

Anyway, I went out on a limb and gave the show a thumbs-up.  

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htown85

htown85 159

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I don’t know if it’s possible for a show to ever top this on my list. Just such a great combination of writing, acting, the period, etc. 

 

Speaking of Weiner, I had high hopes for The Romanoffs....it disappointed. Apparently he is developing a half hour show for FX.

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11445

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8 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Have 5 episodes left. Sally has grown on me over the last few seasons. Can’t wait to see how it wraps up. 
 

Up there with Breaking Bad as far as consistency over seasons.

I remember watching Mad Men on Netflix DVDs. Jesus that seems like a long time ago.

AMC thankfully runs marathons of their marquee shows. I started late, but I got caught up pretty quickly. I think I watched every episode live beginning with Season 2. 

It’s tough to say where I’d rank it. Not as good as The Sopranos or a Breaking Bad, but better than late  GoT. 

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Tom

Tom 2959

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2 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I remember watching Mad Men on Netflix DVDs. Jesus that seems like a long time ago.

AMC thankfully runs marathons of their marquee shows. I started late, but I got caught up pretty quickly. I think I watched every episode live beginning with Season 2. 

It’s tough to say where I’d rank it. Not as good as The Sopranos or a Breaking Bad, but better than late  GoT. 

 

I started watching live in season 3.  I remember renting the first season from Blockbuster around 2008ish.  You had to pay to rent each disc separately and I believe there was something like 4 discs a season, so I probably could have bought it for what I paid to rent it.  Luckily they ran a marathon of season 2 before 3 started, so I was able to catch up before watching live weekly.

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11445

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1 minute ago, Tom said:

 

I started watching live in season 3.  I remember renting the first season from Blockbuster around 2008ish.  You had to pay to rent each disc separately and I believe there was something like 4 discs a season, so I probably could have bought it for what I paid to rent it.  Luckily they ran a marathon of season 2 before 3 started, so I was able to catch up before watching live weekly.

Yep. Netflix would give you 4 episodes per disc. I was crashing at my cousin’s place in the Houston Medical Center, and he pulled out a Netflix envelope. He asked me if I wanted to check out this new show called Mad Men. He didn’t have cable, so of course my answer was an automatic yes. We watched episodes 1-4 in one sitting, and I was blown away. 

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Tom

Tom 2959

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On 1/19/2021 at 9:32 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

Looks like it’s free with ads for everybody. Not just Amazon Prime members. We’ll see how long it lasts. I’m sure AMC + wants to get paid for it. 

 

 

That's what the ads are for.

 

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