One of the best TV shows ever produced
On paper, the trials and tribulations of a New York Madison Avenue ad agency in the '60s to very early '70s may sound as exciting as watching paint dry, especially coming from the cable and streaming era that produced shows like Breaking Bad and Deadwood. You couldn't be more wrong. This show has just about everything going for it - believable and deeply flawed characters, fascinating overlapping stories, wit and humor, and pathos, all presented with a backdrop of historical events in America.
Don Draper has entered the cultural lexicon as code for slick overconfidence, but as the show progresses, through flashbacks and other mysterious characters who weave in and out of his storyline, we see a deeply insecure and flawed individual. The other main character in the show is not really his wife Betty (whose character goes on her own unique and ultimately tragic journey), but his protégé Peggy Olson, who is first hired as his secretary but ends up climbing the corporate chain at the agency, battling the expected amounts of sexism along the way. While maintaining her fiercely independent demeanor.
There are dozens of other regular characters in the show, from the cynical partner Roger Sterling, who refuses to accept his age while engaging in the life of a silver fox playboy; Joan Holloway, the head secretary, icy and distant at first but like the other characters, goes through some unexpected revelations; and Pete Campbell, an eager beaver copywriter who views Don with a mix of contempt, jealously, and secret admiration.
The set design is flawless--the viewer is transplanted into the period. Although the amount of smoking seems excessive (it's highly unlikely that people smoked this much, even back then), smoking as done as a stress reliever, and stress is something these characters grapple with in every episode. The scenes involving ad copy writing and the mechanisms of an ad agency take on an almost documentary-like approach. Inject the characters whose lives we become so invested in, such as Don, into these scenes, and you get one memorable sequence after another. Perhaps the most memorable of many such ad pitching scenes involves Don revealing the campaign for Kodak's new carousel projector, where he uses the slide projector as a metaphor for life. It may sound hopelessly cliché but the gravitas of the pitch provided by Don sells the Kodak execs, and the viewers of the show.
A character-based period piece is ultimately as good as its actors, and there is not one bum performance in the show: Jon Hamm as Don Draper, whose midwest accent and all American machismo male conceals a deeply troubled past. Elisabeth Moss as Peggy, who may seem "Plain Jane" in her appearance compared to the other dolled up females in the show, but is by far the most interesting and complex female character; character actor John Slattery as Roger Sterling, who embodies his character so effectively that whenever Slattery shows up in other shows or movies, Sterling is instantly recalled; Christina Hendricks as Joan, frosty and unfulfilled. Perhaps less effective, compared to these other heavyweights, is January Jones as Betty Draper, who seems a bit one-note and insensitive. But given Betty's arc in the entire series, the viewers can probably understand why Jones plays her in this detached and angry manner.
This show is the brainchild of Matthew Weiner, one of the head writers of The Sopranos. No two shows could be more different. But a common denominator is the fleshed out characters - even the minor ones - that elevate both shows to classic rewatchable status.
Don Draper has entered the cultural lexicon as code for slick overconfidence, but as the show progresses, through flashbacks and other mysterious characters who weave in and out of his storyline, we see a deeply insecure and flawed individual. The other main character in the show is not really his wife Betty (whose character goes on her own unique and ultimately tragic journey), but his protégé Peggy Olson, who is first hired as his secretary but ends up climbing the corporate chain at the agency, battling the expected amounts of sexism along the way. While maintaining her fiercely independent demeanor.
There are dozens of other regular characters in the show, from the cynical partner Roger Sterling, who refuses to accept his age while engaging in the life of a silver fox playboy; Joan Holloway, the head secretary, icy and distant at first but like the other characters, goes through some unexpected revelations; and Pete Campbell, an eager beaver copywriter who views Don with a mix of contempt, jealously, and secret admiration.
The set design is flawless--the viewer is transplanted into the period. Although the amount of smoking seems excessive (it's highly unlikely that people smoked this much, even back then), smoking as done as a stress reliever, and stress is something these characters grapple with in every episode. The scenes involving ad copy writing and the mechanisms of an ad agency take on an almost documentary-like approach. Inject the characters whose lives we become so invested in, such as Don, into these scenes, and you get one memorable sequence after another. Perhaps the most memorable of many such ad pitching scenes involves Don revealing the campaign for Kodak's new carousel projector, where he uses the slide projector as a metaphor for life. It may sound hopelessly cliché but the gravitas of the pitch provided by Don sells the Kodak execs, and the viewers of the show.
A character-based period piece is ultimately as good as its actors, and there is not one bum performance in the show: Jon Hamm as Don Draper, whose midwest accent and all American machismo male conceals a deeply troubled past. Elisabeth Moss as Peggy, who may seem "Plain Jane" in her appearance compared to the other dolled up females in the show, but is by far the most interesting and complex female character; character actor John Slattery as Roger Sterling, who embodies his character so effectively that whenever Slattery shows up in other shows or movies, Sterling is instantly recalled; Christina Hendricks as Joan, frosty and unfulfilled. Perhaps less effective, compared to these other heavyweights, is January Jones as Betty Draper, who seems a bit one-note and insensitive. But given Betty's arc in the entire series, the viewers can probably understand why Jones plays her in this detached and angry manner.
This show is the brainchild of Matthew Weiner, one of the head writers of The Sopranos. No two shows could be more different. But a common denominator is the fleshed out characters - even the minor ones - that elevate both shows to classic rewatchable status.
- Katz5
- Sep 27, 2024