CBS Cancels 'CSI: Miami,' 'Rob' & 'NYC 22,' Renews 'CSI:NY'
Mad Men Recap: "Mad Money"
matthewweiner
Mad Men season three -- An early look
When I was in LA a couple of weeks ago, I was among a number of critics who were able to get a look at the first episode of Mad Men's third season, and I have to tell you, I liked it a lot.
Here's the problem: What do I say about it?
In the various conversations the other critics and I had with Matt Weiner, Jon Hamm and the rest of the cast during the TCAs, we were very politely asked not to reveal anything about the show, especially when it comes to when the first episode takes place. Remember that there was a two-year jump between seasons one and two, and I guess Weiner wants to keep the timeframe a secret this time around.
"You're going to get to see stuff before the audience does," said Weiner about me and my fellow critics. "Let them have the same experience you had."
Fair enough. But without the timeframe and a couple of other tidbits, it's tough to talk much about season three. But I'm gonna try. If I spoil anything, it'll be after the jump.
What the hell? Lionsgate calling around for a new Mad Men show-runner
Among the Hollywood industry insider columnists, Nikki Finke's hit rate is pretty high, so it's troubling to read a report from her about the acrimonious contract negotiations between Lionsgate and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. It's gotten so bad that Finke is reporting that Lionsgate is calling around looking for someone to replace Weiner as show-runner.As everyone else in the industry is saying: What the hell?
Mad Men just finished its second season with record ratings. It's the first basic cable show to win an Emmy for Best Drama, and Weiner is the show's heart and soul. Believe me when I tell you that it's his vision and attention to detail that you see in every scene. Weiner gave critics a tour of the sets during the July TCAs, and he was able to speak about the look and feel of the show as easily as he was able to talk about the stories and characters. I can't imagine anyone else running the show, even if it's someone that's already on staff.
Mad Men has a ten-year plan
Is there a new trend in the television landscape? Could be. At the TCA panel for Mad Men, creator Matt Weiner, revealed that the show is only going to run four more years. That's right, the man has a plan. Each season of Mad Men will jump ahead approximately two years, so that when Don Draper's story comes to an end, it will be 1969. Can you imagine how radically the show will look by the end of the 1960s? With their attention to detail, it'll be amazing.
So what's the trend? It's setting an endpoint for a series. Battlestar Galactica did it, and Lost has as well. Traditionally, American television series run and run and run until the creators choose to end or the network calls it quits which usually corresponds to viewers having tuned out.
Mad Men: Marriage of Figaro
(S01E03) At first I thought I had found the one thing I didn't like about this show: the ads. Not the ads discussed in the show, I'm talking about the commercials that run during the show. There aren't a lot of commercial breaks, just two or three, but they are rather long, and they have these trivia facts flashed on the screen before the ads.
Mad Men: Ladies Room
(S01E02) "I can't tell you about my childhood. It will ruin the first part of my novel." - Don Draper
Is it possible to fall in love with a TV show? I don't mean a show that you really like and respect and put on your TiVo season pass, I mean a show you actually want to date and kiss and walk hand in hand with on the beach? Mad Men is that show for me. I'm even in love with the credits, a montage of black and white graphical images of buildings and people and subtle, sly music.
I also like how this show is set in 1960. It's firmly set in the attitudes of the 1950s but there are more than enough hints that the "60s" that we all know is coming fast. And these people are trying to prepare for it (some a lot more than others, of course).
Mad Men: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (series premiere)
(S01E01) I think it's really appropriate that the Emmy Award nominations were announced on the same day this show premiered, because if there's any justice in this TV land, we'll be hearing a lot about Mad Men at this time next year.
The television landscape is filled with a lot of shows that are just the same as other shows on other networks. Even when we say "there's nothing else like this on TV right now," it's usually not true. There's usually something a bit (or a lot) like the show we're talking about. Mad Men is one show we can truly say is rather original. Of course, it's original by being retro. It's New York City, 1960. The world of Madison Avenue advertising men. And it is men, as most of the women are in the secretarial pool or gum chewing telephone operators.
But the women have power too, in ways the men don't see.
TV Squad Hot Topics
Most Popular Articles
From Our Partners
- Chris Hayes apologizes for not calling fallen soldiers 'heroes'
- Bethenny Frankel teases 'Bethenny Ever After' Season 3 finale
- 'Hemingway & Gellhorn's' Clive Owen: 'He was in my head every day'
- 'Hatfields & McCoys' Kevin Costner: 'Life is all about whose pig it is'
- Zap2it Awards: Nina Dobrev vs Sarah Michelle Gellar and more for Best Actor Playing Two Characters
- More From Zap2it
- Eye on Emmy: Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam on Jax's Evolution and His Real Stance on Awards
- What to Watch: The TVLine-Up for Monday
- Mad Men Recap: A Woman's Worth
- The Idol (Less) Rich: For Jessica Sanchez, No Guaranteed Album Deal, Likely Smaller Payday
- What to Watch: The TVLine-Up for Sunday
- More From TVLine
