TV: Man Men assures quality, or your money back
Despite the yawns over this year's struck Golden Globes, some serious shit went down. Mad Men won for TV's best drama, and the show's Jon Hamm won for best lead actor. This show came out of nowhere and is the best thing on right now. Again, it's off network (it's AMC's first ever drama) and it begs the question how will the networks ever catch up to cable? It's 1960 New York City and "Advertising is Happiness." It's the America that's not yet grown up through Kennedy and Vietnam, women are seen as second class citizens, and smoking is still cool.
The mad and ruthless advertising world is shaping the heart of the American Dream. This cut-throat world is so ego driven (nothing new there) that it's a wonder these people could sleep at night. Maybe that's why it's constant cocktail hour. What's refreshing about this show is the stellar writing and fantastic performances. It's a lush bygone era that's so similar to today, it's amazing. We’re sure Madison Avenue is hooked. The music is perfect too, with music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas dishing up classic tunes from Bobby Vinton, Gordon Jenkins and Don Cherry. Main title is the whacky "Beautiful Mine" by RJD2 (Def Jux) and Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good" was on promo duty earlier in the season.
Music highlight from the series premiere: The song that plays through the surprise reveal that Draper is married with kids is Vic Damone's take on the My Fair Lady song "On The Street Where You Live". The sentiment of the song makes it feel like Draper adores his family, but is really just visiting them as his real home is back in the city. And let's not forget that My Fair Lady is about a woman giving up her dreams of a career to marry an emotionally stunted rich man, something that the secretaries at the agency all seem to aspire to.
Playlist: Mad Men - Ep101
1. "Band Of Gold" - Don Cherry - Draper talks to waiter in bar
2. "Shangri-La" - Robert Maxwell - burlesque show
3. "Caravan" - Arthur Fiedler - men commute home to the suburbs
4. "On The Street Where You Live" - Vic Damone - Draper with wife and
kids/credits
Check out the trailer here. It's on Thursdays at 10pm on AMC.
