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It’s a Mad Mad World

And I’m Pissed / Dustin Rowles

Trade News | October 30, 2008 | Comments (41)

The good news, first: “Mad Men“‘s season finale last Sunday pulled down huge ratings. Well, for an AMC show. It scored 2.9 million viewers over three viewings on Sunday, 89 percent better than last year’s season finale. The jump likely had a lot to do with word of mouth, as well as those Emmy wins, though I know people who’ve tried, but could never get into it. It’s a slow-burn, folks. Methodical, layered, and absorbing. I don’t recommend the show for alcoholics, however. “Mad Men” also has the highest concentration of upscale viewers on basic cable. If you’re not watching, then obviously you’re not upscale, you fucking redneck.

The bad news: Despite the success of “Mad Men” and the fact that it’s pretty much put AMC on the map, Deadline Hollywood’s Nikkie Finke — who drinks bottles of scotch laced with thumbtacks for breakfast — is reporting that Lionsgate is looking to replace Mad Men’s motherfucking brilliant showrunner, Matthew Weiner, because they’re not willing to plunk down $10 million a year to keep him. But then again, $10 million is apparently a lot more than the going rate for a basic cable showrunner. That’s David Chase money, and though “Mad Men” is the first basic cable show to garner an Emmy win for best drama, it’s not “The Sopranos” and it’s not HBO.

So, who’s at fault here? CAA, of course. It’s always the fucking agents. Also, Sarah Palin.

And by the by: Can you name a show on television right now with more attractive leads? Jon Hamm, January Jones, John Slattery, and Christina Hendricks, not to mention the slew of mistresses on that show. Good. Night.


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Comments

Don't watch it. Comes on opposite my beloved Nascar time trials.

Posted by: becks at October 30, 2008 10:05 AM

Don Draper's "I don't have a contract" is looking a bit meta right about now.

Posted by: Valeria at October 30, 2008 10:07 AM

What's her faces boobs hypnotize me, and I'm female. My only complaint is that they are the wrong shape. In 1960 they were severely pointed and cone shaped, not round like hers are. Ever watch DangerMan with Patrick McGoohan (pre-Bond spy TV show)? The womens boobs would put your eye out if you got too close.

Posted by: BWeaves at October 30, 2008 10:09 AM

I love, love, love this show. The season finale was so wonderful, especially regarding Peggy and Peter.

Posted by: samantha t at October 30, 2008 10:13 AM

Awwww, is your mean widdle nihiwism show going down the cwapper aweady?


(You'll only approximately find me on the Pajiba map! *flees*)

Posted by: Jay at October 30, 2008 10:17 AM

Can you name a show on television right now with more attractive leads?

With Peter Krause in the line-up, I have to go with Dirty Sexy Money. The cast also boasts Blair Underwood and some beautiful women whose names I don't know. I can't say much for Lucy Liu though, because she just annoys me.

Posted by: Cindy at October 30, 2008 10:17 AM

becks, The races, I understand. The time trials, I kinda understand. But who hasn't had his/her fill of cars turning left to the point he/she watches NASCAR practice?

It's like televising batting/infield practice ("Watch how old Charlie here handles the fungo bat on his grounders to short, folks. He's been doing it for 47 years and he's pure magic.") or layup drills ("That's 97 straight for the Knicks, folks ... Ooops! Looks like they're gonna have to start counting allll over again. Of course it's Isaiah's fault."), isn't it?

Posted by: bucdaddy at October 30, 2008 10:21 AM

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

you have got to be shitting me

Mad Men is Matt Weiner's baby, only he knows where the rest of Dick Whittman's skeletons are buried.

just read this
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2008/10/mad-men-matthew-weiner-q-for-season-two.html

Posted by: Thaf at October 30, 2008 10:22 AM

Oh, uh, this is embarrassing. I actually know nothing about anything you just said bucdaddy because I was just making an "I'm a redneck" joke. You may as well be speaking in Latin.

Posted by: becks at October 30, 2008 10:27 AM

How is an "upscale viewer" defined and how do they know? Seriously, how do you come up with some sort of statistic like that?

I don't give a shit who watches the show, just so long as people are watching, but that just seems like a weird factoid to me.

Posted by: tt_marie at October 30, 2008 10:31 AM

Oh come on people, everyone knows that the hottest lineup of attractive actors on television belongs to DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. Botox is the way of the future baby, and Teri Hatcher and her chiseled totem-pole face are leading the way! Still not sure? What about Eva Longoria? She's currently responsible for one of the biggest (and best!) movies in Hollywood right now- Beverly Hills Chihuahua! Does she act in it? Does it matter?! Her small pointy chihuahua face has led to a subconscious yearning of the part of 30- and 40-something's everywhere to by scraggly ass little dogs. That's power people. That's beauty. Desperate Housewives is like an orgasm of medicine and taxidermy and you better show it love!


....I kid :-D

Posted by: Rorny at October 30, 2008 10:38 AM

Damn, don't remind me of where Dana Delany's let herself go.

Posted by: Jay at October 30, 2008 10:39 AM

My bad, becks, my nuance detector is in the shop.
===
It IS a mad world, isn't it? Consider:

If you write a book and sell 100,000 copies, you have a hit.

If you put out a CD and sell 500,000 copies, you have a hit.

If you air a TV show that attracts 2.9 million viewers to a cable channel that probably has 3 million subscribers, you're a failure.

Posted by: bucdaddy at October 30, 2008 10:48 AM

Battlestar Galactica.

Posted by: Sandra at October 30, 2008 10:48 AM

I must say that I much prefer Don's manly 60s-hair on the show to the luscious locks he's rocking above. That look suits him.

Posted by: samantha t at October 30, 2008 10:53 AM

Desperate Housewives is like an orgasm of medicine and taxidermy

They should definitely start using that as a tagline for the show.

Posted by: becks at October 30, 2008 10:57 AM

How is an "upscale viewer" defined and how do they know?

Because they hang out at my house and I tell them what it means.

Posted by: sansho1 at October 30, 2008 11:13 AM

I love this show. More than once, the actors in the scene have been having, on the surface, a very mundane, tame conversation. And everything that needed to be communicated was done by body language. Everything. I can almost let my twelve-year-old stay in the room while I'm watching, because I'm completely certain she's missing all the important subtext.

Battlestar Galactica is the one show that even comes close to matching this quality.

Posted by: Wednesday at October 30, 2008 11:15 AM

Some of the comments for that article claim that Matt Weiner is a bit of a pain in the ass to work with. And you know what? I don't care. John Lennon treated his first wife like crap and Paul McCartney not-so-secretly redid some of Ringo's substandard drumwork, but The Beatles were still the greatest band of all time. Anyone who thinks someone else could run "Mad Men" and keep up the style and level of quality it's had so far is insane.

If this comes to pass I will just be thankful for the two incredible seasons we got (one more than we got of "Firefly").

Posted by: Todd at October 30, 2008 11:17 AM

Sandra:

You are very wise. If the government assigned you to run my life, I would say "okey doke."

Posted by: firedmyass at October 30, 2008 11:23 AM

However, I will say that Sal, in the very first episode I think, articulated exactly why I have no desire to vist a strip club ever again. And isn't it ironic?

Posted by: Jay at October 30, 2008 11:24 AM

I also want to give kudos to the show for portraying decent, if deeply flawed, Catholics. There's an excellent thread somewhere about Catholicism on the show. The posters were so informed (obsessed? idle?) that one of them devoted several paragraphs to the inaccurate use of "Sleeper's, Awake!" for the Easter episode (it's more of a Christmas piece).

As you can see, Peggy's one of my faves on the show, but I really love them all. Sal! Such a classic.

Posted by: samantha t at October 30, 2008 11:28 AM

I almost feel guilty for giving up on Mad Men after a few sloooooooow episodes, but at least now I don't have to be mad about them losing their showrunner.

Posted by: Sabrina at October 30, 2008 11:33 AM

It's weird. Almost all of the endorsing I've read has people saying "it's slow, be patient!" Do people really complain that it's boring? I gathered up a batch of episodes and set out, but then gave it up because it was crushing my soul and pouring salt on my heart, and while I was on vacation! I said "fuck this", went to Zaxby's and caught up with my downloaded "Spaced" instead. Certainly wasn't dull though.

Posted by: Jay at October 30, 2008 11:42 AM

What? I haven't even seen it yet and it's over? Now I may never see Flo the Progressive saleswoman in a serious role. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Posted by: Eep at October 30, 2008 11:49 AM

Do people really complain that it's boring?

Yes. At least, I do.

Posted by: Sabrina at October 30, 2008 11:56 AM

Eep:

Don't panic. Re-runs are beginning almost immediately. I have no idea how anyone finds this show slow. I am invariably surprised that hour is up so soon (of course I DVR it and watch later to avoid the endless commercials).

One question: why does everybody on the show persist in maintaining the myth that Peggy is a beautiful woman?

Posted by: PaddyDog at October 30, 2008 12:33 PM

Best show on television - Lionsgate better not fuck it up!

Posted by: Ginger at October 30, 2008 12:48 PM

I like the pacing. It's nice to have something (a beautiful and well-written something, in fact) that's not at the normal speed of television series these days.

Now *shaking fist* get off my lawn! Damn hooligans.

Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at October 30, 2008 1:17 PM

Hell, it somehow worked for "Sex and the City" and they had a harder battle to win, Paddy!

Posted by: Jay at October 30, 2008 1:18 PM

When we tune in at our house, and we always tune in, we say "and now for some ennui". Seriously, was NO ONE happy during this era? We watch it every week, we don't exactly enjoy it and then we watch again the following week.

Jon Hamm looks like he was created by a 1960s advertising agency to embody what a man is. How's that for meta?

To be honest, I just wait for Slattery. He's another Clooney on Facts of Life: All the girls have known about him since Al rocked Ann's world and the boys are just catching on now.


It's just a sexy soap opera.

Posted by: Henry at October 30, 2008 1:30 PM

Good choice Sandra. BG has us waiting so long, I'd almost forgotten all those pretty people. And fuck if I don't have a thing for Edward James Olmos.

Posted by: Cindy at October 30, 2008 2:04 PM

Don't freak out just yet, according to Defamer, a deal will be made with Weiner by Christmas.

Posted by: rachel at October 30, 2008 2:21 PM

Paddy:

Peggy is NOT a beautiful woman. I am rather shocked that Elizabeth Moss looks as bad as she does in this show. I always found her so cute in West Wing.

She's pretty much the only high profile woman on the show who isn't over-the-top beautiful though.

Posted by: Ed Newman at October 30, 2008 2:55 PM

That's it. I quit. I am officially the kiss of death when it comes to brilliant TV. Any show I fall madly in love with is ultimately doomed. First Friday Night Lights, now this. Why are people so turned off by the slow play and character development?

On the other hand, perhaps I can use my powers for good..."Three and a half men", meet your newest fan. Mwahahah!

Posted by: lynx at October 30, 2008 3:59 PM

I honestly don't know what it is about this show that keeps me watching. I have the attention span of a 2 year old in a toy store, so technically I should find it boring. But I don't. I'm mystified.

Oh dear Godtopus how I miss Battlestar Galactica!! And yes, they have more people I'd jump than Mad Men. Hendricks' puppies ARE impressive, but they're no match for Six' cylon psycho-eyes. And Jon Hamm, Schmamm, he's no Helo. However John Slattery is a sexy MF, to quote Prince.

Posted by: Joker at October 30, 2008 4:27 PM

Those of you who think it's boring can just watch with the sound off, okay? Man up. Jesus. Bunch of babies.

Posted by: greer at October 30, 2008 6:43 PM

I admit I've never watched the show because I already feel as if I watch too much television as it is. However, I respect the opinions of everyone who loves it so much and am angered for them. Another win for mindless nonsense such as Three and a Half Men or whatever reality crap MTV is airing 20 hours a day, and a loss for intelligent entertainment. After my heartbreak over the cancellations of great shows like Veronica Mars and Freaks and Geeks (I also am in love with Friday Night Lights against my better judgement because I know how it is bound to end), I decided against becoming invovled in another show that will only be cancelled because the networks only wish to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Posted by: Austin at October 31, 2008 1:33 AM

What I'm hoping for is a flash-forward for season 3, if there's going to be one. I really just want to find out what happens to poor Joan and her dick of a fiancee. Also - I'd love for Roger's trophy wife to leave his ass.

The season finale was so fantastic. That final scene of Betty and Don at the kitchen table was just so damn moving. I hope those crazy kids can work it out.

Posted by: amanda at October 31, 2008 7:52 AM

does anyone remember how awesome it supposed to be COMMANDER IN CHIEF?? then, there was a new writer, then..................

Posted by: Mario at October 31, 2008 8:37 PM

This show is so good. I can't believe they didn't lock Wiener up for 3 years when the picked the show up in the first place, that was dumb. The fact is he nailed it, the whole era, the Madison Ave way of doing business and living life, two worlds that collide regularly and sometimes horribly. I watched the show with a friends mother, and she was meh about it, her feeling was it brought back bad memories, that's how spot on it is. I will miss what could have been. Bad AMC, bad!

Posted by: Jinxy McD at November 2, 2008 5:45 PM