Mad Men.

Christina Hendricks as Joan does and says many marvellous things.

Just being her is enough to make a man happy, I reckon.

However, what I love the most about how the character is acted is the facial expressions and not, shall we say, some of the more 'obvious' features.

Ms Hendricks has a face which looks different every time. Even the slight movement of an eyebrow creates another visage, especially when she is staring at Roger and listening to his banter. Wonderful stuff.
 
I agree, the best ever episode, incredibly involving and moving. Much of the emotion that both Don and Peggy usually suppress or at least superficially appear not to feel like others around them, welled up and just came out bang wallop - it was powerful because the emotional drama of Mad Men is typically subtle, internalised and underplayed, so its release was all the more intense. A textbook case of less is more.

The writing is wonderful and the storytelling unpredictable and non-cliched. Who'd have thought that Duck Philips, essentially a minor character, would show up when he did and unwittingly trigger quite so much.
 
This is a big problem when they delay series so long across the pond - I don't like "resorting to other means" but if a show is too delayed, I may do so because when you read news sites or articles, often a major spoiler will creep in - the ending of Sopranos was ruined for me because of a passing mention of it in an US news article that had nothing to do with Sopranos, but it was assumed at that time everyone knew the reference....
 
Using Google I found about ten different articles discussing or mentioning the "You People" comment.

Every one of them assumed that the comment was directly aimed at Sal's homosexuality. On the articles with comments none of the postings contradicted that assumption.

The meaning was clearly obvious from the context of Sal's homosexuality. Would Don have fired Peggy because she had rejected an approach from a man, and then said to her "You people"?
 
We've had dishwashers since the late sixties or very early seventies. In fact our three kiRAB who left home years ago, don't remember us not having one. Testimony to that is that it was the first appliance they each bought when setting up home for themselves. They couldn't imagine coping without one.
Given the choice, I'd rather the washing machine broke down than the "dishy." I'd go to the launderette a couple of times while waiting for it to be fixed (as I have in the past) rather than wash up.
 
I don't think it's the same little boy actor who played him for the first 2 series, which is a shame, as I loved his acting all mournful whenever Don had to tell him off.
 
Sure has a way with worRAB our Roger....:eek:.......and there was me (and probably Joan) thinking he was going to say something beautiful and meaningful to her.
 
Gareth McLean is an idiot. What is so insulting about his rant is his accusation that fans of the show are engaging in some sort of bad faith, that they don't REALLY like the show but only say they like it because it is fashionable to say so. Snobbery, he says? I think the true snobbery is his attitude that no one is entitled to like something he does not like, that if someone does like Mad Men, it's because they are toadies and parrots of the conventional wisdom.

Even though I like the show, I can certainly understand why some don't. Everyone has their own taste. So why is Mr. McLean unable to extend the same courtesy? What gives him the right to verbally assault people who do like the show as poseurs and frauRAB? There is something tyrannical about his rant, as though he is offended by the very idea that people should be entitled to differ from him. What a obnoxious, petty little man.
 
Sure, and I do get that point -- that the cast will eventually either want to leave or will demand too much money. But we don't know when that point will be reached yet, and we certainly don't know how much money for Hamm Lionsgate considers "too much." So no, the show won't stay on forever, but right now Lionsgate seems to want it to stay on longer than Weiner and it is really Lionsgate's call, not Weiner's. That's all I'm saying.
 
I read that in the the description of next week's episode on BBC4. They nearly split up at the end of last season, and I know Betty made up with Don mostly because she was pregnant. I hope that ultimately Don and Betty will find a way to come back together.

Hicken, that resonates with me too. Women in that generation were told that having a successful husband, a luxurious house in the suburbs, and children would be their ticket to happiness - that, and keeping up their figures and appearance so they would be the most attractive woman in their social circle. That dream is still apparent in American culture: you can see it on the countless commericals for The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Real Housewives of New York on the Diva Channel (I watch the Bold and the Beautiful on that channel; rather, I record it so I can zip through the endless commericals). The dream didn't make my mother very happy. She became an interior decorator and started her own business when I was very young. In an earlier generation my grandmother wasn't a stay at home wife: she was much happier running the family clothing business. I can't see Joan being happy in the suburbs in a big house with a couple of kiRAB. She could get involved with charity work or Junior League work, but that wouldn't be fulfilling enough for her. I hope that she leaves Doctor husand pronto and establishes a career for herself - many women began to forge successful business enterprises in the mid 60s.
 
II agree. I wonder if Mad Men won because the televising of The Wire on terrestrial here was so long after the series was first aired (better late than never, of course!!!).

Long live both shows, though :D

parthena
 
Completely agree, broadcasters have to cater for a broad range of tastes, something that is increasingly lost to the trendy young things taking over television production and procurement.

I like my mindless pap, but I also like some slow, what-the-hell-is-happening stuff as well. Too much fast food makes you fat and slow, too much fast telly makes your brain fat and dumb.
 
I think Pete's acting is a realistic portrayal of someone who is very insecure and pretentious. His persona is fake and calculated, so he has trouble connecting with people. He's trying to live up to a worldview that was already antiquated even in the 60s. Most of the other characters are a bit more comfortable in their own skin and are more able to express their genuine personality. Don has a very artificial persona in many ways, but compared to Pete he usually manages to pull it off much more smoothly.
 
I'd say this is one of the best, if not the best new series to have come out of the USA in years.

Love this series and really hope there is a second.

Billirant little touches throughout the episodes.
 
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