I received the book Prime Time, Prime Movers for Christmas and have been plowing through it over the last week or so. As these things go, reading a book about the big individual creative forces in television history has me thinking about contemporary writer/producers. Therefore, today, I debut a new occasional feature where I will discuss … Continue reading Showrunner Series: Ryan Murphy = Matthew Weiner (Except, you know, awful)
Tag: Betty Draper Francis
Season Finale — Mad Men, “Tomorrowland”
As someone who is coming to the Mad Men finale "Tomorrowland" criticism late, I feel as if there might not be a whole lot of value in me spewing thousands and thousands of words with my interpretations when there are so many great writers who have done an exceptional job since 11 p.m. last night. So … Continue reading Season Finale — Mad Men, “Tomorrowland”
Mad Men, “Blowing Smoke”
Penultimate episodes often make things really, really bad for characters, creating a world where there looks to be no hope. Even in a series like Mad Men where characters are not necessarily in mortal danger and when things have already been unraveling at a consistent rate, "Blowing Smoke" has no problems making things just a little worse. … Continue reading Mad Men, “Blowing Smoke”
Mad Men, “Hands and Knees”
Ed note: I'm currently with a laptop, so that's why there was no posting over the weekend, why this is later than usual and why there might not be any other posts the rest of the day. Sometimes Mad Men is more obvious with its thematic concerns, but in most cases, that's okay. If the themes … Continue reading Mad Men, “Hands and Knees”
Mad Men, “The Beautiful Girls”
The world of '50s and '60s advertising is certainly a boys club, and although things have been changing, particularly for Peggy, "The Beautiful Girls" goes a long way in suggesting that despite the advancements out in the world, the women of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce are still being held down, either professionally or personally. A … Continue reading Mad Men, “The Beautiful Girls”
Mad Men, “The Summer Man”
In almost every piece of criticism I read about last week's fantastic episode of Mad Men, the writers wondered if Don and Peggy's night together signaled a turnaround for Mr. Draper. Well, I think "The Summer Man" answers that question fairly handily. Of course, it's not going to be easy for Don Draper, but it … Continue reading Mad Men, “The Summer Man”
