Mad Men Podcast - The Forecast - Boozy with a chance of inappropriate relationship? #MadMen #MMcast #TV

Mad Men Betty and Glen

Mad Men The Forecast was a great episode with so much character development and a real feeling of moving towards a clear ending. Listen to Jeremiah and I break it all down on one of the last episodes of THE MAD MEN PODCAST...

Mad Men Same as It Ever Was - Severence S7 E8 #MadMen #TV

Don Mad Men Severence S7 E8

Mad men returned last night for it's final episodes. I had hoped that all the money from being bought out by McCann Erickson and the character developement we saw in our Mad Men friends brokering that deal would result in better/happier people for these last episodes...NO DICE. It's almost 10 months later (April 30, 1970) and we're back to the same old issues. 

Don seems to have revert to his miserable self where he just drowns everything out with liquor and women. He is talking about his childhood but he is sugar coating it a bit, changing the whore house to a boarding house. Still it does seem he is integrating his personas as everyone has suspected would be the case. He is still going by Don Draper though, so that cat is in the bag.

Roger rocking a stache in Mad Men Severence S7 E8

Equally disappointing is Roger's return to his womanizing, though he seems to have cut back to one at a time, telling the ladies above he'll have to take one of them home. I was imagining he and Mona rekindling their marriage. Based on last nights episode that is not the case. Further it looks like McCann has more of a hand in the management of the agency with the firing of Ken. They said Ken had to go and out he went. Of course Ken can hold a grudge with the best of them and will be making his former employers lives miserable as the new head of accounts at Dow Chemical. So much for that novel.

Mad Men Severence S7 E8 Peggy and Joan

We got a look at a day in the life at work for Peggy and Joan and it wasn't too pretty either. Joan is still just an object to men. She has all this money and power but they can still belittle her. Hope she doesn't blow all her money on retail therapy.

Peggy seems to be carrying on in her usual fashion though she still seems to be looking for love. I would love to see this thing with Stevie work out for her. She can be quite mercurial and a guy who will take veal when he ordered lasagna may be just the ticket for her.

Finally, we got to find out what happened to Rachael Menken. She got everything, the job, the husband, the kids and then she died of Leukemia way too young. So sad and probably just an affirmation for Don to keep "living like there's no tomorrow, because there isn't"

Overall it was kind of a bummer. No one really seems happy. The Peggy Lee song IS THAT ALL THERE IS, was definitely fitting. The entire cast seems nonplussed by their achievements and rewards. Hoping things take a turn for the brighter next week...

More Mad Men

Doctor Who Season 7 on Netflix

Doctor Who season eight doesn't return to BBC America until August but you can get yourself caught up or just refresh your timey wimey memory on Netflix. Until the other day they only had up to season 6 of the more recent incarnation of the Doctor. But season seven has just been added.

 If, like my daughter, you have already committed all of those "first" six seasons to memory you will be happy to learn they have added season seven. Which gives you more than a month to study last season's farewell to Matt Smith and the introduction of Peter Capaldi.

Until there is this!

Mad Men Season 7 epi 7 Waterloo

Bert Cooper singing The Best Things in Life Are Free

Last night was the mid season finale of the final season of Mad Men and it did not disappoint. Many story lines where tied up and another fresh start was secured for our boy Don Draper. All of this was anchored with the historic moon landing. It was one of those rare episodes where we get to see all the shows main characters develop simultaneously.

Things start out pretty scary with Ted taking Sunkist on a flight that it looks like he's not too interested whether they ever come back from. Telling them that if the astronauts don't make it all their troubles will be through. He really is off the deep end, wandering into to bleakest Don territory.

Lou  has a fit that SC&P lost the Commander cigarette account, worried that all the reputation he built up before coming to their firm will be squander and Cutler tells him they don't owe him anything and he's a hired hand. Looks like he's on his way out. Then Cutler, without consulting the other partners, decides to serve Don breach of contract papers for his Commander Cigarettes stunt. Don has a more successful fit of his own bringing all the partners together to vote on it immediately. Don wins by one vote, his own. Cutler voted for himself and Ted and shocker Joan votes to send Don packing. Benedict Joan as Roger later says.

The shock of the finale was the passing of Bert Cooper who dies watching the moon landing with his housekeeper. I couldn't help but be reminded of his line when Ms. Blankenship died about her being born in a barn and dying on the 23 (?) floor of a Manhattan skyscraper. She was an Astronaut.(Something like that)

Don knows he is hanging on by a thread even with the vote, but when Bert Cooper dies he thinks all is lost. In a rare selfless act he tell Peggy that she should now do the Burger Chef pitch so that when he is gone the business will be unequivocally hers. Peggy is terrified at the prospect but nails it in the room.

Roger takes his final conversation with Bert to heart and becomes the leader they all need and works out a deal with McCann to protect his team, as Bert told him a leader does. After Don convinces Ted, who really just wants to curl up in a ball and die, The deal is made with even Cutler voting for it. They will all be very rich selling their share to McCann and Roger will be the King.

The final scene finds Don imagining the ghost of Bert doing the above pictured musical number The Best Things In Life Are Free. Funny advice from a man whose greatest pleasure seemed to come from really expensive art, to a guy who is about the be a multimillionaire. But maybe this is setting up Don for the completion of this last season. Will he be able to create real connection with his kids and co workers? We'll have to wait till next year to find out.

Post by Mad Men.

There was so much in last night episode so stay tuned for more details on tonight's Mad Men Podcast Or join us live at 9PMet/6PMpt

Mad Men Season 7 Epi 6 The Strategy

A great episode of Mad Men last night. It was good to see Bob Benson and Trudy again. AMC had teased that there would be some old faces and though I had hoped for Sal, this was good too.

I felt like the episode was about loyalty and all the allegiances that have been made over the last 10 years. Pete is loyal to Don, bringing him into the Burger Chef pitch. Don is loyal to Harry for his loyally reporting to him about the cigarette account and votes for Harry to make partner. Bob loyally keeping Bill Hartly's secret and bailing him out. And on and on.

I was happy to see Joan turn down Bob Benson's offer an "arrangement" marriage. Is it possible she has actually realized that love is the goal in a relationship. I am concerned about her mother's line about her disappearing. As I have said many times Joan has some secret respiratory malady, if she is losing weight it may be something other than a diet. I'm guessing we are being set up for something in the final half of this last season.

I loved the scene with Don and Peggy working on the new Burger Chef campaign. They are both in the same boat with their fear that they have wasted their lives building nothing for no one. But if nothing else they do have each other. The two of them having a very father/daughterly dance to Sinatra's My Way couldn't have been more perfect. "regrets I've had a few" check "I did it my way" check.

Stay tuned for tonight's taping of The Mad Men Podcast or join us live at 5pt/8et



Until then here's the number If They Could See Me Now from Sweet Charity, Bonnie and Pete are watching on the plane before they join the mile high club. They bit they show is around 4:06. Again a very apropos song for our characters.

Mad Men Season 7 Episode 5 The Runaways

Last night's episode of Mad Men The Runaways was so busy, even if we only saw a handful of our characters they were all up to so much. We also got to see a character we've been talking about but haven't seen in a long time.

First off there is Lou Avery's comic book or strip or whatever that was about Scout the inept recruit. When he defended it mentioning Under Dog written by Danser Fitzgerald's Chet Stover, it reminded me of Pete's effort to be a writer like Ken several seasons ago. Though I think Pete was trying to be arty and I think Lou just covets the extra income. Still it allowed the boys in the art department ample material for their boyish camaraderie. Unfortunately, for Stan it may have left him in the dog house with Lou.

Don seems to have made peace with Peggy and is doing the work to climb back up the latter of respectability. I wonder how long Meredith is going to last as his secretary, after that dictation scene, where he first spells a word for her and then feels it necessary to tell her he spelled it so she would know how to spell it and don't spell it out in her typing. YIKES!

Sadly this episode marks what we all have know was coming for Ginsberg for a long time, almost since the character was introduced, his totally schizophrenic break. I hope that they will somehow keep his character in the show. Although, if wetting your pants gets you fired, I'd imagine cutting off a nipple is a pretty permanent farewell at SC&P. I doubt anyone was surprised to see his exit on a gurney. Stan was sweet to go down in the elevator with him and I, for one, think this will bring Stan and Peggy closer together. Peggy who is spending her Saturday night watching TV with the kid neighbor from upstairs.

Calling in from the left coast we find Stephanie, Anna Draper's niece, calling Don for help. She is very pregnant and dirty. Don is happy to help and sends her off to Megan (FYI it would be a very strenuous walk from the Capitol Records Building to Laurel Canyon). Megan on the other hand is very threaten and sends her packing with a hefty check for $1000. Megan continues to seem less than confident at her party when Don doesn't notice her dancing with another man. Finally after the party is over Megan arranges a three way to get Don's attention. Even there she has to convince him. I'm still expecting to see Megan offed by the Manson Family any episode. I wonder if Don will notice?

Betty and Henry seem to really be struggling, Betty and Sally get to have one of their touching mother/daughter shouting matches, and Bobby wants to runaway. Also Don gets a tip from Harry Crane, of all people, that may save his job at SC&P but I'll save all that for tonight's Mad Men Podcast which we'll tape tonight at 5pt/8et join us at Mad Men Podcast Live.

Mad Men Season 7 Episode 4 The Monolith

Mad Men Season 7 Episode 4 The Monolith was a really mysterious episode. To begin with when Don first arrives at work and finds the place deserted, as though the entire staff had been evaporated by aliens, leaving phones off the hook. I actually thought he was dreaming until he heard the voices upstairs.

It turns out the entire staff had been yanked from their desk to hear about Harry Crane's new computer that would be replacing their Creative Lounge. We are also introduced to Lease Tech the company that will be installing the computer room and it's owner Lloyd Hawley.

Immediately the tension between creative and the computer is felt. Mathis bemoans the loss of the lounge as being what "made this place unique". Ginsberg yells into the void that they can't be erased. When Harry tries to sooth Don with "this is not symbolic" Don retorts "No it's quite literal." Don asks Hawley, who is replacing more human his company or IBM. The message is clear Man Vs. Machine.

Then I googled Monolith. At the risk of having trash heaved at me from my classic film circle, I will now admit I have never watched 2001:A Space Odyssey. But it turns out, now that I've read a film synopsis, that this episode is largely pulling from that film. The film is about these big black monoliths that have effected mans development. Teaching them to use tools as cavemen and on from there. Several lines from the film are used throughout this episode.

Which is how I know Lloyd Hawley is a bad guy. In 2001 HAL is a bad computer on a space ship who is killing off all his astronauts and blaming it on "human error" just like Lloyd does with his lighter to Don. There is also Don and Lloyds talk about the fear of tech and Lloyd's comments about it being "Godlike to possess infinite knowledge" through mastering computers. Sounds a bit like the snake and the tree of knowledge to me.

In other stories Pete gets a new account Burger Chef and Peggy gets to be head of creative on it. The good news bad news is she gets $100 a week raise and she has to have Don on her team. Don has been sitting around for 3 weeks twiddling his thumbs and I think the partners want to give him as a hard as a time as possible. He gave them all the worst time and if he wants to return he is going to have to be cleansed by fire (earlier reference to evil and the bible intended)

Of course, Don does not like this one bit. First lashing out by throwing his typewriter at his window, then just leaving for the weekend early, then he tries to change the conversation by bring in a new client and is shut down by Bert, and as his final act of aversion, he gets drunk. Fortunately, he sees Lane's Mets pennant and decides to call Freddy to go to a game. Freddy shows up and gets Don out of the office without anyone realizing he's wasted. With the possible exception of Lloyd Hawley who he more or less calls the devil on his way out the door.

Joan and Peggy have one of their pow wows, that we all love. Discussing Don and the partners. Peggy telling Joan that she can't make Don do his assignment and wondering what the motives were of the partners, putting them together on this account, other than to see which of them would survive the test. Joan assures her that Don is not up to his full powers as a partner and that in all probability the partners had not given it that much thought. The old, don't worry what others are thinking of you because they're not.

Our third story line bring us to the Sterling Clan. Roger's daughter Margaret has abandoned her family and gone to live in a commune (that looks suspiciously like Don Drapers early childhood home). Mona and Roger go up to try to convince her to return to her family, but she refuses. When they try to play the mother card on her she throw it back at them. First confronting Mona with her apparent hiding in the bathroom with a 1/5 of gin. That's all Mona needs to hear and she leaves. Roger stays and tries to finesse the situation. But in the end says she needs to go home and take care of her son. Margaret asks him if he had any problem leaving her and having his secretary buy her birthday gifts. Roger has no answer and also sulks off.

At the end of the episode we find Freddy waking Don with coffee and giving him a tongue lashing for getting drunk and encourages him to quit drinking. Don resists but Freddy is persistent and manages to convince Don that he needs to shake off his pride and do the work to regain respect and his place at the office. And it works, at least for that day. We cut to Don in the office telling Peggy he'll have his work in by lunch and we go to black with The Hollies song On A Carousel.

Loved it!

I'll post our wrap up from tonight's Mad Men Podcast this evening

Mad Men Season 7 Epi 3 Field Trip

Field Trip was the 3rd episode of season 7 of Mad Men, it could have been called rejection tour. Every single character is dealing with being told no. With varying degrees of style and confidence.

First we see Peggy is upset about not getting nominated for a Cleo, while Ginsberg and Stan are. It turns out that Lou hadn't even submitted her St. Johns/Rosemary Baby ad. Lou says it was Cutler that didn't want to submit it, but really it was just Lou not wanting to submit any work that predated him at the agency. Beside the point, that I think Lou just wants to push Peggy down and build up the guys. Another sexist hurdle for Peggy to deal with.

Megan is getting the most direct rejection in Hollywood. She's handling it so badly that her agent is calling Don to help her get it under control. Which was probably the wrong move. Since Don is the one who is making her the most insecure. Still he runs out to LA to try and build her up. He ends up telling her about his leave from the agency. It may be the last straw for Megan, that he's chosen to stay in New York, when he could have been in LA with her.

 We find Betty having lunch with her old buddy Francine who is telling her all about her exciting life as a travel agent, now that the kids are getting older. Betty tries to maintain her happy homemaker persona but you can see the wheels spinning. As soon as she gets home she throws herself into her mothering role by volunteering to go on Bobby's field trip. It seems like the trip is going well, smoking on the school bus, drinking cows milk from a bucket, then Bobby accidentally trades Betty's sandwich for some gum drops and Betty takes it as the ultimate insult. With the amount of guilt she lays on him, that kid will never be able to eat another sandwich. Later Betty tells Henry that the kids don't love her??? Because a kid obliviously gave your sandwich away??? 

Finally,  Don pulls the trigger with Dave Wooster and gets an offer from his firm to jump ship. Don takes the offer directly to Roger. After a bit of "How dare you not stand up for me" and "You were begging for it" ending with Roger admitting he misses Don. Roger says come back. Sadly Roger neglects to tell any of the other partners about this. Don ends up spending the whole day waiting around in the office, how humiliating. Even though none of the other partners seem to want him back when Roger points out that they will have to buy him out and that they will now be competing against Don for accounts, they come around. But they make him sign a contract that says if he misbehaves they will absorb his shares and he will have to report to Lou. I was shocked Don didn't haggle this more but he just said OK. You get the feeling though he knows he can win them all over again. Once he's making his amazing ads.

I think it will be Lou's raison d'etre to keep Don down, which should move Peggy out of his sights, at least. I don't think it will take Don long to send Lou packing with his tiki bar. Still it should be interesting to watch them jockey for position.

This and That:

Every time they're in LA and you see the sky line through a window they fill it with orange smog.

The woman (Emily Arnett) who approaches Don at the dinner with Wooster. Perhaps Wooster is just lying about not getting her or maybe it was just an opportunity to show us how much Don has changed. He is saying no to all the girls. 

Henry Might be Attorney General

Stan so wants Peggy. Putting out his hand to help her up when they are talking about the Cleo.

The agency needs to balance it's business side and art side they always seem heavy one way or another. Harry can't get the computer he needs. Cutler thinks having Lou, who is only "adequate" by his own description, is fine? Ted is totally off his game in California and Peggy is being shut down by Lou.

Megan stalking a director having lunch with Rod Serling at the Brentwood Country Mart.

The Carousel in Central park makes Ken Cosgrove think of Don

The final song Jimi Hendrix If 6 Was 9.

Stay tuned for tonight's Mad Men Podcast

Mad Men Season 7 epi 2 A Day's Work Recap

Last night's Mad Men (season 7 episode 2) A Day's Work was, mostly, another experience of people not getting what they want or having it whipped away from their grasp at the last moment. Pete manages to sign up the Southern California Chevy dealers only to have the New York office decide that it all needs to be run by the bigger client that is Chevy itself, which means Bob Benson. I have to say Pete's girlfriend, Bonnie Whiteside, is another great woman for him. Her pep talk about how their fortunes are not in their hands and the fun is trying to get it away from those who are in charge is brilliant and totally talks him down from his tantrum.

The episode starts with Don's kind of pathetic day of sleeping in till noon even though his alarm goes off at 7:30 still. Once he finally does get up it's a day of ritz crackers and Little Rascals episodes. The further degradation of his once perfect white carpet apartment, that last week had broken sliding doors, now continues with the introduction of a cockroach. We get it guys his life is falling apart. He does finally get up and get dressed and we think he might have somewhere to be but turns out he's just making himself look good for his secretary Dawns visit, which informs us that indeed Don is keeping Megan in the dark about his "leave" from the firm.

The next day is Valentines day at the office. We find Ginsberg, Stan and Peggy in the elevator. Peggy obviously doesn't realize it's Valentines day and Ginsberg is happy to turn the knife in her when they inform her. Stan seems to want to be light about it, making a comment about her cat not being able to afford to send her flowers. I think Stan has a little (possibly very little) torch for Peggy. He smiles at her warmly and tries to joke around with her, until she comes back with lines like" Is this a joke because I don't want to have to fire you later." Which freezes him up and returns him to calling her boss.

I love the camaraderie between Dawn and Shirley. That they call each other by the others name is hysterical. I presume everyone in the office mixes them up frequently enough that they have gotten use to answering to either name. It's a great way to show all of that without having to film a frame of it. Just put them in a room together and have Dawn say "Hi Dawn" to Shirley and vice versa and all of the rest is there.

Lou showed what an insecure jerk he was this episode. I think he is pretty threatened by Don, or just incredibly self centered that his secretary might have stronger ties to Don then him, that he has her removed. Either way I think everyone dislikes him and no one will be sad to see him go when, I predict, Don makes his triumphant return.

On an up note Joan finally is released from her duties as office manager and joins the partners up stairs in a new office. Cutler, of all people, notices Joan juggling her duties trying to reassign secretaries for all manner of petty reasons and realizes she should be focusing on her accounts. This ends up solving several issues. Dawn, who Lou doesn't want on his desk, becomes office manager. Shirley who has had a misunderstanding with Peggy moves to Lou and all is right with the world. Of course this leave room for some new secretaries to be hired, I think Peggy is still without one???

Finally, the whole Don and Sally relationship took a turn this week. Sally's unannounced stop by the office reveals to her that her father has been excused from his duties there, which allows her to feel sorry for him and let go of some of the anger she is justified in having. Sally is clearly not happy with either of her parents. The line about being willing to stay in school till 1975 if it would put Betty in the ground, left no doubt about that.  Sally is still struggling with her own identity. Later while stopping at the coffee shop with Don, I loved when she says she only went to her roommate's mother funeral to go shopping, and when Don says he doesn't think that's true she says "I'm so many people" Don's face is so still with just the slightest wince in the eyes. I think that one hit close to home for him. In the end when her father tells her that he has blown it and he is trying to make it up to his partners and that he doesn't even know how to go about it, she softens to him, even telling him "I love you" when he drops her off at school.

For more on last nights episode I'll be recording the Mad Men Podcast on Wednesday night. Check back here for the link and then Youtube embed.



Last, but not least, here is the video of the Turtles song Elenore (who spells it like that?) that is playing in the car while Don is driving Sally back to school. This song was meant to be a spoof of poppy songs but ended up so good it made it to number 6 on the top 100 charts. Make of that what you will.

AMC #MadMen Time Zones Season 7 epi 1

AMC's Mad Men final season premiered last night. Jeremiah and I had a great time talking about it on tonight's edition of the Mad Men Podcast. Don't forget to enter to win the Joan Barbie doll. Details on how to enter are in the podcast.

I'm also including this promo for Bracken's World, the show Megan will screen test for.



For all my post on Mad Men

Mad Men Podcast Season 7 Predictions

Jeremiah and I get out our crystal balls and make our Mad Men season 7 predicition. Will Don and Megan get back together, has Sally forgiven Don,Will Henry be elected to the senate? We really have no idea but we can't help trying to guess.

I've Joined Mad Men Podcast

I'm very excited to be joining the Mad Men Podcast for this final season of the show. Last night we recorded it's first live video cast. It's a little rough, and I definitely need to work on sitting still while I talk on camera. We'll be back in two weeks with our predictions for this season then on Monday April 14th we'll have our recap of the first episode of this final season.



On this podcast we talk about our upcoming giveaway of a Joan doll. We also recap the Mad Men Paley Fest panel with ridiculous spin off ideas and Pete Campbell's hair secrets., Finally, we discuss all the teaser pictures and videos for season 7 that are rolling out and whether they are decipherable. Hope you enjoy our first effort!

Mad Men Paley Fest Live Stream

More and more Mad Men pictures and video are coming out every day, in the build up to season 7 premiere April 13th. Today we get this collage of everyone!

Season six left us at Thanksgiving 1968. Looking at these pictures I'm guessing we won't jump forward too far this season. I always think of 1969 as being the beginning of the modern era we now live in. It's when films like Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, and Midnight Cowboy came out. Both examples of more realistic representations of the world than earlier films. It makes me wonder if Mathew Weiner had always intended to end the series in 1969-1970.

I'm looking forward to watching the live stream of the Mad Men panel on the Paley Fest March 21st. Hoping Weiner is at least a little forth coming about this final season. One of the things I really hope is revealed this season is Joan's respiratory issue. For those of you who have been reading my Mad Men posts for a long time, know I say this every season. Joan has, over the years, referenced hospital stays and exhibited respitory issues. It's never been explained and it makes me extremely curious!!!

Stay tuned for news on my co hosting on The Mad Men Podcast this season and a fun giveaway.

Get A Peek at Mad Men Coming Season

Update with the season 7 poster 3-7 2:31

Mad Men returns to AMC April 13th. They released this tiny peek, just to make us crazy. It isn't much just Don getting off a plane. Of course I watched it a bunch of times just to see if there were any clues in how he was putting on his hat.



I came up with nothing. But Don goes somewhere in season 7. That might be enough to hold me for this last month until we get our first half of this last season. If you are joining us late I'm including a Don Draper synopsis' AMC has released. These are very broad brush strokes, so you really should immediate plan a Mad Men binge.

Mad Men Season 7 Coming Soon Or Not

AMC has just announced news regarding the final season of MAD MEN. I think it's a case of good news bad news. There will be 14 episode in the final season is the good news. The bad news is they will be aired in 7 episode installments a year apart. The first 7 episodes will be aired in the Spring of 2014 and the last 7 in the Spring of 2015.

Excuse me while I go have a hissy fit. Apparently this technique did great things for the viewer numbers for the final season of BREAKING BAD. But for us viewers it is cruel and unusual treatment. We just want to know what becomes of all of our damaged friend on Madison Avenue.

Alas we will have to wait. But I am etching some choice hobo code symbols on AMC's fence!

For all my MAD MEN obsessive post

Doctor Who Returns To BBC America

Doctor Who is returning to BBC America March 30th as part of their supernatural Saturdays. I  can't wait to find out how they are going to work out The Doctors new companion, Clara Oswin Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman) . So far we've seen her in two different timelines and it looks like she'll be in present day in this new season. The mind reels at trying to figure out what kind of time line continuum will make this all seem possible... I'll be right there to find out March 30th.

This will be Doctor Who's 50th season, so I'm expecting some exciting guest stars.



Also premiering March 30th as part of Supernatural Saturday is Orphan Black, an interesting new show about clones and identity theft. More on that soon. We'll also see the return of The Nerdist March 30th. So all in all Saturday night TV viewing is handled.

Doctor Who returns to BBC America

Doctor Who Season 7 is back on BBC America Saturday, September 1st! Woo Hoo!

I had heard rumors, but this morning I got an official press release for BBC America. There will be five new episodes, beginning with Asylum of the Daleks. All the incarnations of Daleks will apparently be present. Daleks are bad enough, and now there are crazy ones.

Enjoy this trailer till next saturday!