mad men

Mad Men Myself

Seth, Leave a comment

As those who read this blog know, I was late to the Mad Men party, having missed the first season during its initial run, but catching up in the run-up to Season Two sometime around the Twitter debacle and a marathon on AMC.

Once I fell into the show, I fell hard. I really got my fandom tweaked when I bought a cartoonish/caricature t-shirt of Joan and linked to the amazing, kitschy artwork of “Dyna Moe” and then I went dressed as Don Draper for Halloween.

Today there’s a new toy for the aspiring 60’s-era copywriter and slavering Mad Men fan: Mad Men Yourself. This is by no means a new or novel idea, but it’s well-executed and it definitely ties together my love and yearning for the show, a very specific visual kitsch and the propensity for folks to decorate their online social spaces with bits of pop culture accoutrements.

Well done, AMC.

I’m not the first to notice the trend, but I predict I’m hardly from the last person, either.

Here’s the output of my efforts, for those that haven’t seen my new Twitter icon or Facebook profile pic yet:

Me as a "Mad Men" era Madison Avenue creative type. Note the facial hair, glasses and coffee. Also, did no one rock the full Van Dyke? Just the goatee? Seriously?

For as good as the Mad Men Yourself experience is, I’m kind of miffed that not everyone can participate in AMC’s other cool Mad Men promotion of the moment, their online Casting Call. Seems you have to visit the retail location of their promotional partner, Banana Republic, to get a code to participate, which earns them the big, read FAIL stamp.

These would be my winning entries, should AMC choose to let me participate:

Me as Don Draper

Me as Don Draper

Is my fealty to mentioning your programming, watching & blogging religiously and giving a shout out to your promotional partner not enough? Give me a call when you’re ready to notify me that I’ve won.

😉

Oh, and Season 3 of Mad Men premieres Sunday, August 16 @ 10pm.

I Am Don Draper

Seth, , 2 Comments

Clearly, I need help. I’ve made good on my promise to dress as Don Draper for Halloween.

First, I blogged the facial hair, then I blogged Mad Men and now I’m clean-shaven and I *am* Don Draper.

Pics below:

Me as Don Draper

Me as Don Draper

More shots of me AND Jenn as Don and Betty coming soon. These are courtesy of co-worker and commenter Mel.

Happy Halloween!

Late Update: Jenn & Seth as Betty & Don.

Mad Men giveth and it taketh away

Seth, 2 Comments

I don’t watch SNL on a regular basis.
I gave up on The Simpsons a long time ago (even Treehouse(s) of Terror)
I love me some Mad Men.

So who’s disappointing me this week?

Not SNL. Here’s Don Draper’s Guide to Picking up Women:

Not The Simpsons. Here’s their version of the Mad Men show open:

Yes, the disappointing offender is AMC or, more correctly, Lionsgate, who produces the show. From a good source [Via TV Squad]:

It takes a lot to shock me when it comes to Hollywood business. But this is lunacy. I’ve confirmed that Lionsgate execs are calling Hollywood agencies looking for a showrunner to replace Matthew Weiner, the brilliant creator of Mad Men. The reason is that they think Weiner’s agents at CAA are asking for too much money for him. I hear CAA wants a multi-year deal that pays Weiner $10 million a year. (As opposed to what people tell me is the $2.5 million he should probably pocket…) Plus he wants control over promotion and advertising. Now that’s consistent with a big hit on pay cable and what Darren Star or David Chase made on HBO. But it’s way, way rich for a Lionsgate show on AMC, and execs are telling CAA it can’t pay that. “The ‘ask’ was insanity,” one insider tells me. “It’s preposterous. AMC is a basic cable network. The economics don’t support this. It’s why Lionsgate is throwing their arms up in the air. And, remember, they got a two-year pickup for the show with or without Matt Weiner.” So Lionsgate picked up the phone and began asking the tenpercenteries for a “general list” of possible showrunners, and about the availability of specific names (like Aaron Sorkin). The agents’ reactions were exactly like mine: are these suits NUTS?

Sure, AMC doesn’t have the numbers now, but they’ve got all the pop culture buzz in the world and their numbers are improving. Please, don’t let Lionsgate pursue this folly any further. Negotiate with Weiner and make some more great TV.

I think there are some really cool advertising opportunities/sponsorships (duh!) that AMC has yet to explore and that Weiner could really help with.

I also have to believe that the accolades, the Twitter brouhaha and, oh yes, the quality of the show will garner more eyeballs in the future. Plus, would it kill AMC to run it at a time when the broadcast season isn’t siphoning viewers?

Mad Man

Seth, Leave a comment

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but I’m now head-over-heels in love with Mad Men.

Actually, if you’ve read this blog at all in the past month, you’re probably sick to death of it/me.

Still, I’ve got a few links to share to either fuel the fire or burn you out.

  1. it’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world

    2. Michael Kors (yes, I watch Project Runway too) is apparently such a big fan of Mad Men, it inspired his newest line.

  2. The City Where ‘Mad Men’ Reigned Lives On

    3. Washington Post article on the New York City of Mad Men.

  3. Office Manager

    4. Limited Edition t-shirt with a silhouetted “Joan”. Found out about it on Monday, pre-order closed today @ Noon. Sorry.

    Joan's Silhouette
    Joan's Silhouette
  4. Mad Men Illustrated

    5. Mad Men-themed Illustration set. Brilliant and I’ve probably already linked it.

    My new iPhone wallpaper:

    Joan and the Xerox machine
    Joan and the Xerox machine
  5. Mad Men Season 2 Recaps

    6. Since I’ve only recently caught up, I’ll have to give these a try soon, but Kottke’s seal of approval carries a ton of weight.

Until Sunday’s episode!