Who was the actress playing Abigail? She's great--so angelic and lovely. I loved her onscreen. I hope we see more of her.

who was abigail?

Has it been made clear that Don did not go to college? Two scenes tonight showed college educated women talking down to him, almost, as they displayed their higher education: Betty mentioning an Anthropology course (Pygmies & Michelangelo)and Rachel giving him the definition of "utopia."

i think they've made it pretty clear. i don't think dick whitman's family could afford college; unless the GI bill was available back then.

The worst part was when the guy who discovered Peggy's idea said it was "like a dog playing a piano." Yuch! How incredibly arrogant they are about their intellect and talent. Yet the sexual power is handed to the independent women. Rachel is an intelligent woman with some sense of restraint- which I assume just makes her sexier to the men- the restraint part. But the thing that is interesting is the these guys are surrounded by women with minds, but they don't see it or pay attention to it. They think Peggy's intelligence it lucky or a quirk. ( I remember being told by a male colleague that I have "good instincts" for the type of work I was in.)

I have to say that I have felt like Peggy many times when I was younger and in the company of some groups of women. However I don't think the men around me found that as tantalizing as they seem to thing it is in Peggy. I was only 4 in 1960, but the sexist attitudes persist in different ways. The men looking through the two way mirror reminds me very much of when I took a video production class and the guys were talking on the headset about the women who were in front of the camera. I was part of the crew and it grossed me out. That was in the 80's and I experience much sexism in the film industry in the 90's. The sexism in the film and entertainment industry took a lot longer to weaken then in other fields.

i am drawn to the contrast b/n peggy and rachel. both are intelligent women; rachel, up until this episode, is a dominant figure, using sex--her most valuable asset considering the era--to gain a considerable degree of power w/n the office. we see the harmful side of this approach in this episode. rachel is limited by her role (the caged bird); she has inhabited that role long enough to where she is unable to consider other possibilities. peggy, still an outsider, pushes past these limitations. her contribution to the lipstick ad campaign reflects the social changes that were s l o w l y taking shape during this time.

whoops...regarding my last post. i was not speaking about rachel, but joan. its late...

How interesting that you removed the first comments posted last evening. A lesson to all, it has to be an entirely positive comment or it will be removed. Perhaps in line with the theme of last night's show? I'll go back to IMDB. Buh-Bye!

I was gasping at the anti-Semitism and waiting for someone to speak up, and say that it was out of line. And then I remembered: nobody would have, not back then.

Hi,

If you'd like to discuss the show further, you're welcome to join -

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MadMenAMC.

If the previous link doesn't work, try:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/MadMenAMC/

I have been following your show and was so riveted by ast weeks show and learning that Don as actually somebody else. I got the impression that his mother was something quite aweful! Last night, you showed one sequence of this mother...and then nothing. Who is Don, really? Why does he hate his mother? What is his mother about? What is she like? What made her so horrible that he changd his entire life? Please show more of the character than one quick sequence at the beginning.

Loved this episode. The flashback to Adam's birth was brillant, leaving one to guess what his step-mother was really like. What dark secrets will Don Draper reveal in upcoming episodes. The office atmosphere is so typical with one person known as the "office slut". Every office seems to have one and Joan fits that character to a tee. Does Betty suffer from nymphomania? Poor Don!

I'm waiting to find out that Peggy's got a bun in the oven from her weird late-night liason with Pete in episode 1. Remember: she had only just gone to the smoking gyno's office for her pill script that same day. Now we know that Betty has some brains, but what we REALLY want to know is what her smoking shrink told her husband on the phone a few episodes back. Unfortunately, if she does not "snap out of" her depression soon she'll be in electroshock like countless other "hysterical" women back then (before SSRIs). BTW: I was born in the early 70s (in one of the last smokey delivery rooms, I'm sure) and I LOVE this show. This world is fascinating to me - keep it coming!

I worked in the story department of some reknown tv shows during the golden age of TV so i can attest to the authenticity of this series.

I hope that the producer/writers will explore the dramatic aspects of how the ad agencies controlled much of the content (as well as the choice of actors) in the programs that were aired during that period. Reps from the agencies met with us weekly to review the scripts and casting choices we made prior to production.

litconsult@yahoo.com

Wow, that Joan must be pretty smart, quoting "the medium is the message" four years before Marshall McLuhan even wrote the book. (Snort!) way to go, Mad Men fact-checkers!

I hate to quibble but on last night's show a reference was made to "brainstorming" in assesing the appeal of the various colors of lipstick. The actual advertising technique that was employed was a "focus group."

This is the most condescending show on television today towards women...I think it sucks...there was a line in it that threw me over the edge the men were talking about the women and they said they "don't speak MORON" thats because they are morons...what kind of trash is this..is this supposed to "help" the already very loose ideals of young people on how to respect women...the writer and everyone else involved in this are "MORONS. God help us all if this is how they think Women should be portraid...this show is worthless...all it does is validate the sick, worthless, low life thoughts of how men should Not think...and then instills in the young people that it is ok to talk to or treat women this way...we are supposed to move forward not reinforce the REALLY BAD BEHAVIOR of so many men....and then you wonder why women think the majority of men are a bunch of low life losers ...in a suit or not... Younger people try to emulate these shows...and this is what you losers came up with...been there, done that...get a life

Al, hat's true about the "brainstorming" actually being a focus group -- this show is SO ignorant.

To: Leigh B

No comments have been removed. There are two blogs going. This one and one under Episode 6: Babylon. It's confusing. Your comment about not liking this week's episode (Aug 23) is still where you wrote it last night.

Not positive comments are being removed. Good move guys (I mean interns).

This ep was full of filler scenes of couples mumbling in bedrooms, talking about ... I forget. And turns out the mousey secretary is the sharpest creative on Mad. Ave.

Are these New York ad guys or Des moines insurance salesmen?

The show is tanking. Lame story lines, cementheaded acting (by lead mostly) and throw in some "Look how anti-semectic we were!" vulgarity.

Have any of the writers actually ever been to New York?

New Mad Men iMix soundtrack on iTune - enjoy

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=262819829

Enjoy

"Babylon" is one of the most brilliantly written episodes of any TV show this year. While the surface reflects tidy and simple events, the undercurrent of change, anger, regret, and longing are roiling underneath.

Don's/Dick's lunch encounter with Rachel provided as perfect an explanation for the promise of Israel to the Jewish people as I've ever heard...and yet that's not what the conversation was about.

The desire to belong to someplace or someone is only a promise for these characters -- and what they're sacrificing to fulfill it is costing them dearly. And they don't even realize it. Yet.

I haven't been this instantly hooked on a show since the powerful opening of "Crime Story" in 1986. And unlike "Studio 60" which opened with brilliance and then dimmed to occasional flickers within weeks, "Mad Men" just keeps getting better as layer upon layer is slowly peeled away.

The folksy rendition of the song, "By The Waters of Babylon" was a perfect ending to this episode, evoking the longing of the Jews of the Babylonian diaspora for their homeland, Israel. Would that each of us find that elusive utopia.

Who knew that TV's bleak landscape of regurgitation and filth could offer up something this good this quickly?

Is it next Thursday yet?

OK, on last night's ep (Babylon), the writers are either dropping some awfully big hints that Don's big secret is that he is Jewish, or they are going to pull a twist and go in a completely different direction. Don't know yet which it is, but I'm sure it will be brilliant, as the show has been all along.

About Joan and Roger - I didn't see that coming, but of course it's obvious that the two most powerful people in the office within their separate realms would connect. Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac, as Henry K said, in a later time period. I did think their exit from the hotel, where they could not acknowledge each other and had to go separate ways, was sad and poignant, although it did make me think of the ending of the classic Gilda Radner skit, "Hey, You - the perfume for one night stands".

The lipstick brainstorming scenes were great. Sure, Peggy, you can come up with some great ideas, on your own time, for which you won't be paid and the men will take the credit! This show works wonderfully as a nostalgia antidote!

I did think there was one false note. In the basement club with Don's beatnik girlfriend and her beatnik boyfriend. Don said to the b/f, "I bet you spent more time on your hair than she did on hers". Not only not true of beatniks or hippies pre-Beatles, but doesn't sound like something a 1960 man would say to another man. I did love his comeback to the beatnik's tired old trope, "How do you sleep at night". Don's reply, "On a bed of money". Touche!

All the women are outsiders, in the sense that only Rachel has any power in her own right and that only because she inherited it. Back then (as now) some men understood that women were fully human and some didn't. The difference is that now when someone makes an anti-woman joke, the hearers recognize it as such, whether or not anyone says anything.

i have to watch this episode again on Sunday, it was very lost on me! hopefully, i can tap into some of my deeper thoughts when i see the repeat, otherwise, i didn't see much in it. i think i was too tired to think last night!

OH! i did want to comment on one thing though, I didn't take the dog playing piano statement as a slam rather a compliment. You'd never think a dog could play piano and when it did, you'd be fascinated. i think they were fascinated by peggy and would watch her closer in the future. they did after all ask her to write copy. if it was an insult, i don't think they would have asked her.

I thik the show is showing a non nostalgic look at the early 60 without rose colored glasses and illutrates why the lateer part of the decade exploded in ever direction.joan is my favorite for obvious reason she gorgous.

Stunned by the attention to detail which could not have been easy to recreate. Yes, there are some boo-boos (some of the Western Electric phones shown - although rotary dial models - didn't get those snap-in handset cords until the 1970s...and dial tones didn't sound like the ones heard until "touch-tone" service was introduced (late 60s/early 70s). Those old enough to remember (like me) recall that dial tones sounded more like scratchy buzzers. Still, the presentation and attention to detail is very well done.

Although the song Babylon is beautiful and fits the episode so well, it is actually a recording from 1971 American Pie by Don McClean. Although it's possible that it's a cover from an earlier version I don't think so. Too bad they couldn't use another song from that era and stay true to the time.

Actually, "Babylon" was a cover of a song written by Trent McNaughton and Brent Dowe of the Melodians, one of the most famous Rocksteady bands of 1960s Jamaica; it was recorded in 1969 and quickly became a Rastafarian anthem. *shrugs* So, they're 9 years off, and those beatnik musicians must be reggae prophets. But, oh well... artistic license and all that!

This was my favorite episode thus far..the brain storming scenes..so awesome. The men watching the women from behind glass..so compelling..like scientists watching guinea pigs react to new stimuli.

Peggy..quiet unassuming Peggy..not wanting just any available shade..not wanting to be one of a hundred colors in a box...and offering the basket of kisses...wow. The fact that the men recognized the value of what she said was great...i expected them to disregard it..hmm...this show is postitively addictive to me.

Is it thursday yet?

Hey Pete Cavanaugh is on the scene. NOW we have a really Great show!!! Mr Gross is in the House :-)

The lipstick testing scene wasn't brainstorming, nor was it a focus group since both brainstorming and focus groups involve group interaction to generate ideas. Instead, this was a series of individual interviews as demonstrated by the older woman with glasses interviewing the secretaries as they tried on the product. And boy, was that an absolutely horrible scenario. Her interview style and questions didn't allow the secretaries to really think about the question or come up with more thoughtful answers, which would have been way more helpful. And Joan's role was completely compromising as she stared at each secretary and made comments that clearly affected their responses. Sorry, I'm a researcher and even if that's how they did it in the 60's, yikes! BTW, I love Peggy, and I was waiting for her to say something like "A Color Made for Me" or "A Shade Just for You" as her next thought - can't wait to see what she comes up with next Thursday!

I love this show. I can't believe that women thougt the way they did in the 60's

I don't condone adultery at all, but I think that Don is cheating because Rachel and Midge are far more interesting than Betty. She really needs to have more of a backbone as she is like a pile of mush now and not interesting to me as a viewer and probably not to her husband, either. She says virtually nothing of substance! Hopefully some backbone will break out as a result of her therapy. I guess she represents the woman doing the status quo with the "perfect marriage and family". But someone who just "represents" something is not as interesting as a real 3 dimensional person.

I think that the viewer above who is annoyed by the attitude toward women should note the subtleties--this show is precisely about that attitude and is showing subtle ways in which the womien deal with that mentality and perhaps help improve it.

Once again, I am not a fan of cheating husbands, but I do think that Roger and Joan make a great couple!

This is exactly how I remember NY (and the resultant world) when I was 7 growing up there.

Everybody is an "outsider" as it is the end of the '50's & beginning of the hopeful yet to be "Kennedy Years", due to the increasing Cold War, McCarthyism.

The interactions between Don & Rachael, especially with his payoff of his brother indicate to me that he is actually Jewish, but "passing". The emphasis on Israel/Exodus is a heavy sign to that issue. His pefect blond Clairol wife & Westchester county homelife are the ne plus ultra for him It would have been easy for him to squeeze in through friends without a college education. As for the village scene - yes, he might have said that about the aspiring actor's hair.

The women are down perfect. Joan is queen bee as long as she keeps her affair going.The minute she quits you'll see. And men did leave their wives and marry a side order then. Rachael is enabled due to her money and store - there were many women like her then. No doubt about it though you needed a husband for whatever reasons.

Actually the best part about this series is that you can see what we have lost in our lives. So called "feminism" in the '70's has really produced no lasting results for women overall. There used to be a solidarity amongst women as shown by joan towards Peggy on her first day. It may seem sexist, but it was the truth and the only currency of negotiation.

I love this program and I get the feeling Peggy is based on Helen Gurley Brown - read up on her. She changed everything by naking it mainstream.

And Amy Winehouse as the soundtrack - perfect.

Roles were defined which may be part of the appeal.

I can't wait to see how they handle the incoming Nixon account!

If you are referring to the theme song as by Amy Winehouse, it's not -- it's "A Beautiful Mine" by RJD2.

i do think there has been an amy w song used in some promos, though. my last comment was merely b/c i too thought the theme song was "you know I'm no good" until i looked it up on itunes

Attention to detail.....

caught one silly flaw .....Lipsticks were

" bullet shaped " at the time.

Kiss those lonely nghts night good bye Miss Peggy.

I really think Don is Jewish! That is the big secret about denying his family.Not sure ifit has been posted before, but I had no time to read all the posts

As to the men-women relationships , that is how it was in that time!

I LOVED the lipstick scene. The two-way mirror was classic. The way the "boys" just enjoyed staring at the women .... hysterical!

DID I MISS SOME CORRELATION ....

First there was the lipstick scene at the office with the girls of the office (and) at the end of the show there was a super sweet scene of Betty teaching daughter, Sally, how to apply lipstick. The office lipstick scene was FUNNY - the lipstick scene between mother and daughter was precious.

TOTALLY LOVE THIS SHOW!

Re: the Babylon song. You two are talking about two different songs. There's a reggae song and a folk song. They are similar, but different. Words and melody are different.

Rachel's Jewish background and position--a woman running a department store, at that time, would be a rarity--alienate her. As shown in an earlier episode, Rachel's store is not the preferred choice of the mainstream. This motivates her to go to Don's ad agency in the first place. She holds a position of considerable power, but clearly exists on the outside looking in.

"the medium is the message" four years before Marshall McLuhan even wrote the book. (Snort!) way to go, Mad Men fact-checkers!

re: Joan's comment on "the medium is the message" statement in Thursday's episode......

Ya know it occurs to me that just because Marshall McLuhan "coined the phrase" meaning they got credit for it in print...I am sure someone in advertising thought about that prior McLuhan's research....dosen't mean that no one could have had the creativity to use the phrase before...we are only reacting to what we know as something that has been historically documented because we have the advantage of a particualr historical vantage point....why couldn't someone have said that in 1960?

>The worst part was when the guy who discovered Peggy's idea said it was "like a dog playing a piano.""

And IIRC, he stole that line from Dr. Samuel Johnson...:).

>Actually the best part about this series is that you can see what we have lost in our lives. So called "feminism" in the '70's has really produced no lasting results for women overall. There used to be a solidarity amongst women as shown by joan towards Peggy on her first day.

*snort* It's a solidarity based on women conforming to what men want--and what women think men want. We'll see just how long that solidarity lasts once Peggy starts making good as a copywriter. And do you really think feminism could have gotten anywhere unless women stuck together to force change?

"Actually the best part about this series is that you can see what we have lost in our lives. So called "feminism" in the '70's has really produced no lasting results for women overall."

Yep, there isn't a woman running for president this year. Nor are there female senators, businesswomen, or construction workers. And girls to a woman want to just get married and settle down to become wifey-moo. Yeah, feminism didn't work at all...:).

Interesting comparison to how Don and Roger act in their affairs. Don appears to have some level of control about himself. Roger, however, seems a little desperate. I think it would be a mistake to appear this way to a woman like Joan. She could ruin him. I don't see Midge having the same power with Don.

Question: was there anything about Don's family flashback that suggested that the family might be Jewish?

You people with the sexism comments, get over it. It doesn't make any sense that you feel such outrage about the script. It's fun! Love the show. Love Joan. Midge is boring. Peggy needs to watch out for Joan. She is treading in dangerous waters.

Don's secret will be that he came from a totally dysfunctional, rootless family as millions were during the Great Depression. He is in complete contrast to all around him - his in laws, all of the elite executives and neighbors he works with.

to the comments that he didn't go to college - I think this won't prove to be true. He is not interested in learning for learnings sake - just how it can make money. Also, if you remember the first episode when he drops his Purple Heart on the floor - the name on it was LT Don Draper. That means he was an officer and he would have almost certainly required a college degree.

Hey, why is everyone so hard on Betty? Her descriptions of things show a lot of intelligence. She's just completely repressed. She knows that Don is cheating on her but she can't let herself admit it.

I can't wait for her to crack and bust out of that 60's mold she believes she has to fit.

Smart, sexy and delusional. I love Betty.

Johnson's quote was "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

McLuhan's quote WAS written first in 1960 in a report for the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, published in New York in June 1960.

As for "Rachael is enabled due to her money and store - there were many women like her then. No doubt about it though you needed a husband for whatever reasons..." it wasn't until 1974 that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed, prohibiting discrimination in consumer credit practices on the basis of sex, race, marital status, religion, national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance. Without a male co-signer (e.g. father, husband) banks could and frequently did turn down loan requests from women. Credit was difficult to obtain in your own name. Most women who had charge accounts (predatng plastic cards at department stores, for example) had household accounts in the husband's name. That same year (1974) the Supreme Court ruled in In Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, that employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because that is what they traditionally received under the "going market rate." A wage differential occurring "simply because men would not work at the low rates paid women" is unacceptable.

Thank you, Annie! So many younger women take the rights we have now for granted. Things have changed dramatically for women since 1960.

I think Midge is starting to get too attached to Don and all hell will break loose when he dumps her. That, of course, is the problem with affairs -- they seem like a fine idea intellectually but one person almost always gets more attached than the other one and trouble ensues. Don's goose will be cooked if Rachel finds out about Midge, too. Can't wait for the fun to begin, but I like Rachel so much that I hope she chooses not to cross the line.

Something about this last episode tweaked my memory--specifically about Peggy. I figured out the real life character she's based on--Helen Gurley Brown (creator and editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine). Check out HGB's wikipedia entry. I can't wait to see how they develop her character. Yay mouseburger Peggy!

There is nothing new here and the writers of this show are reverting to the old standby of sex. Everyone is jumping in and out of bed with everyone else. That story line is as old as the hills and about as boring as it gets. As for Don hiding some deep dark secret, I no longer care what it might be. He's Jewish, big deal. Sure, sure, there was a good deal of anti-semitism in 1960 America, but there must be something fairly despicable in Don/Dick's past (other than the "unpardonable cirme" of being Jewish) to have him continually sporting the expresison of a man who needs an Alka-Seltzer. I don't think the writers have a clue as to what it is, and that is why we don't either. How many episodes can they keep the "suspense" going on regarding the mystery of Don Draper? Unless as a child he murdered his mother (and in episode 5, his half-brother announced to him that she had died, to which Don was obviously non-plussed), I don't think the writers can keep the suspense going much longer. How long can everyone watch Don/Dick skulk around, drinking, "servicing" every one from his clueless wife Betty to the Bohemian artist, before they finally lose interest? The character of Don is not all that interesting (and his wife Betty even less so), and I think viewers are swayed by his good looks. Would everyone be as eager to find out Draper's "secret" if he looked like say, Pete? Or any of the younger account executives? As for the drinking on the show, a couple of these people are quite obviously alcoholics. That's really not appealing and should not be glamorized; neither should the smoking aspect. Sure, a lot of people drank and smoked back then, but many didn't, and the people at Sterling Cooper seem to do nothing but that all day long. Oh wait a minute, they do stop long enough for a quick roll in the hay. This is nothing more than a boring soap opera. People have been doing all the things the Sterling Cooper crew does since forever. Nothing new here. I have totally lost interest.

>Don's secret will be that he came from a totally dysfunctional, rootless family as millions were during the Great Depression.He is in complete contrast to all around him - his in laws, all of the elite executives and neighbors he works with.

Hmm, is he really, though? He's had to reinvent himself a lot more than his co-workers/boss, but a fair number of them are pretending to be one thing when they are actually another--Roger, for example. One suspects none of them would be mad men if they weren't good at reinventing things. :)

"Don's secret will be that he came from a totally dysfunctional, rootless family as millions were during the Great Depression."

It's one of this country's great ironies that almost _everyone_ in every era of American history comes from a dysfunctional family. :) If you read enough oral histories--or bios. of "notable" Americans--it's amazing how few of them came from the normal, happy family that is held up as the cultural standard. Yet, people insist that families were "better back then" and that dysfunction was the exception, not the rule. Don was right--people love to be told what to do and what standards of happiness they should have. He should know better than anyone why...;)

"This is nothing more than a boring soap opera."

Exactly, except I don't think it's boring. The acting's better, and the characters are starting to develop more.

I'm sure many fans love the nostalgic part of the show. It's what's sold many of us. But don't forget, sex sells too.

In 1960, they hadn't really figured that out yet re: TV commercials.

I'd like to think there aren't too many children watching this show who would pick up on smoking and drinking being "cool". Good thing it's on as late as it is. Althought 1am for reruns is a little late AMC!

Don's secret is not just that he is Jewish--that's easy enough to hide without changing your name or buying off your half-brother. Plus WWII and the 1947 film "Gentleman's Agreement" made official anti-Semitism obsolete. I predict he will have stolen the real Don Draper's identity (Purple Heart, college degree, trust fund and all) in the war. Watch out for a scene with switched dog tags in the Battle of the Bulge.

Yes, the show is a bit 'sudsy' at times, but so was The Sopranos (which had the same executive producer/writer). That's part of what makes it good television.

Sometimes we need a little escapism. Otherwise, we all would look just as 'pinched' and uncomfortable as Don Draper. THAT guy needs a vacation!

Dick Whitman aka Don Draper has clearly taken the identity of a deceased war-time acquaintance / buddy. The purple heart embossed with Don Drapers name is kept in the bottom drawer of his desk. He pulls it out to reinforce his identity. One of the most interesting things about when Adam showed up was the look on Don's face. It's as though he has so completely lost himself in his assumed identity, that it IS his reality. And the reminder of his real past took a minute to sink in. . . he almost looked confused. Dick Whitman died and Don Draper lives on. Don is separate from society by the secret he keeps. He is exiled from his real past. . . even if it is self-exile.

I was raised with these images and attitudes as the backdrop and scenery of my young life. I was shaped by these things - these attitudes and impressions wormed their way into my brain. It is amazing to see them beautifully brought to life on the small screen. Every episode reminds me of something real and specific from my past. Even though I was quite young in the early 60's, the social politics were achingly clear. I am fascinated by each episode because it feels like being a fly on the wall of the events and social architecture that I could only perceive as a youth. To see through an adult's eyes that which I could only internalize or react to as a child.

One more observation. . . The look of contempt on Joan's face as she does an 'about face' and leaves the hotel room. Wow, does she hate him or what? And the caged bird. . . how apropos.

Is Don actually Jewish as well, i caught the dialog (his father) his name.. used to be Dick Woodman? did he change his name..and he has a brother Adam and the acknowledgement to God about the birth of her son. He may have more in common with Rachel, as an exile, than we think.

Now that Joan is in this trap, she's going to have a devil of a time getting out. Roger will become needy and clingy, and he's the boss. She can't back out, she doesn't want to move forward. Awkward.

I love love love this show. I work in advertising, and it is sad that the more thngs change, the more some stay the same.

"I'm sure many fans love the nostalgic part of the show. It's what's sold many of us. But don't forget, sex sells too.

In 1960, they hadn't really figured that out yet re: TV commercials."

Uh, yeah, they had. I'm old enough to remember the dancing cigarette boxes featuring the glamorous gams (that's legs to you youngsters) of faceless, nameless dancers - one of whom was a very young Mary Tyler Moore. They were prevalent in the 1950s (you had to be there, folks - even the Flintstones smoked!)

I almost forgot. Hugh Hefner's first nationally televised series, Playboy's Penthouse, premiered on October 24, 1959. The bunnies were considerably more demure than just a few years later (evening wear, not the cottontail outfit) but the show itself was fascinating - Hef always had great guests like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Lenny Bruse, Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte. The original show ran about 2 years but was resurrected a couple of times over the next decade or two.

Sorry, that's Lenny BRUCE - long day.

Based on the evidence I've seen, I'm not entirely convinced that Don/Dick has Jewish roots, but there was another clue that I haven't read on the blogs: In the first or second episode, during dinner with Roger and the wives, Don compares himself to baby Moses floating down the Nile.

Also, has anyone else noticed that in one of the "behind the scenes" videos posted on the web (the one about the episode "Manhattan"), they edited out the part where John Hamm, comparing his character with Pete's, talked about his orphaned background. Another blogger remembered Hamm saying that his character was Jewish, but I don't remember hearing that part. What's strange is that the web version edited out the entire phrase where Hamm talked about Don/Dick's background. I noted this because I went back to the video to check whether he said he was Jewish, but the whole reference seems to be gone. Any insights on that one?

The Joan-Roger storyline is far more interesting than the Don/Dick saga. I can't tell if Joan keeps Roger at bay (sorta) as a defense mechanism, or if she truly loathes him and sex is the only way she knows to 'equalize' the situation.

Pentimento: yep... she wastes no time getting the hell out of the hotel after the deed is done.

As far as the bird is concerned, she probably would have left it in the room if Roger had exited first! She clearly didn't want a live reminder of him in her home.

@Pentimento:

>The look of contempt on Joan's face as she does an 'about face' and leaves the hotel room

Not surprising, considering the eyeroll she gave when Roger reminded her of his pearl necklace gift! Joan is fascinating... I keep trying to pigeonhole her as the typical "Sex is Power" girl, but then she always does something slightly odd to throw off that categorization.

I definitely watched the video interview with Jon Hamm saying his character has a Jewish background. I think the Producers intended to slowly unwrap the Draper mystery, but didn't realize it'd be as intriguing to viewers as it is. Thus they backtracked a bit and removed references & clues other than what has unfolded on the screen. Maybe a bit of the uber-popular "Lost" mentality seeping into this much better show.

I like the intrigue, but that's not what keeps me riveted at all. Its the deeply true and raw recreation of life-shaping events and decisions by the characters. %And all of that portrayed with great dialogue and acting, and lots of 'wow' spot on moments of time traveling back to 1960.

The Babylon episode wasn't my favorite, but the ending with the Babylon song was perfect. DDraper being disected for his disconnected life in the bar, Don's wife putting the children to sleep and Joan & Roger 20' away from each other (moments after being intimate) on the street now worlds apart was absolutely gorgeous.

>Has it been made clear that Don did not go to college? Two scenes tonight showed college educated women talking down to him, almost, as they displayed their higher education: Betty mentioning an Anthropology course (Pygmies & Michelangelo)and Rachel giving him the definition of "utopia."

I wonder if there's supposed to be some significance to the fact that all the college-educated women on the show who have mentioned their schools have gone to Seven Sisters colleges: Betty went to Bryn Mawr; Rachel to Barnard; and the divorcee (I think her name was Helen) went to, I believe, Mt. Holyoke.

Then again, the Seven Sisters are generally thought of as the all-female equivalent of the (originally all-male) Ivy League.

A comment on how men and women lived in separate worlds back in 1960? Or subtle foreshadowing -- after all, both Helen and Rachel are "liberated" to a certain extent. Perhaps Betty will eventually join them.

Kim

Bryn Mawr '90 (still not co-ed!)

Hi,

Enjoying much.

But is Draper just a legitimate A. Soprano? Similarities abound. Maybe not a sociopath but a somethingpath.

MCM

They all have or know secrets which can make a person feel exiled. Don has his family secrets. Peggy knows about Don's affair. And Rachel is attracted to a man who is married and not Jewish. These three charaters, more than the others on the show seem to have a concience. The others just seem to be riding the wave and going through the motions of life. I can't get enough of it!

I adore this show. I was 7 in 1960 and remember it very well. I'm astounded at how well the producers, art directors, actors have captured the period so precisely. It's absolutely shocking to see and hear the atitudes spoken so absently. To the fellow that was criticizing it, that's the entire point! We have come so far. In the 60's I couldn't take shop, had to take Home Ec. and now I'm an architect. Thank God!I'd never go back in time. The birthday party scenes and the polio child, bring back so many memories.

My take on Don is that his mother also died in childbirth which is why he was so struck when Rachel told him that about her. There was an instant connection. He said "Don't tell me you were never loved!" and then embraced her. I suspect the dark secret was that his father blamed him for his mother's death. He remarried a woman who couldn't stand Dick and favored Adam. He was raised with all her relatives and was the odd child out. I love the idea that he stole someones dog tags and life. The fellow on the train that knew him from the Army did call him Dick. So he was Dick at the time, not a Lieutenant and not Don.

His whole life is fabricated and he's just one step ahead of being revealed. He loves Midge because he can leave his world completely. He loves Rachel because she is so much like him and so deep. He loves his wife, and children, but she is part of the fake world he has constructed. She is smart, beautiful, educated and has absolutely no outlet for any of it. She's trapped in the role her world has set for her. She's as unhappy in it as is Don. I love this actress, she is pitch perfect. Can't wait to see where it will all lead. Kudos to everyone connected to the show!

Then and now, a college degree was the requisite for a "creative" job in advertising. However, the content of the college education is irrelevant. So Don/Dick's knowledge doesn't matter, as long as he can use the language well. Many people in advertising know nothing of history (meaning anything that happened before they hit high school), literature, the arts, or science but do their jobs well and get promoted.

The women continually cite their 7-sister educations because they're stuck in housekeeping and child care, desperately trying to keep their brains alive.

I'm in love with this show and hope it has a long run. I was in the steno pool and then an executive secretary just a few years past 1960. By watching the show I was transformed back to that time to my days as a secretary. Was everything wonderful? It absolutely was not but I still have a lot of positive memories about that time in my life. We smoked at our desks. We were required to wear high heels. Pants/slacks were strictly prohibited. We covered for our bosses. We called them Mr. and we were referred to as "the girls". There were always "secret" affairs going on. We were absolutely sex objects. We made so little money that we could barely make the rent. I think by the time I was an executive secretary, I made about $750 a month. Men, with fewer responsibilites than "the girls" were paid more because they had families to support. The idea of advancing past the secretary level was almost unheard of.

I'm sure it all looks degrading to all of you young women. It was but that's the role we had, like it or not. Still, I have some good memories and this show brings it all back. This show is realistic.

Re:Good thing it's on as late as it is. Although 1am for reruns is a little late AMC!

Sorry, but I love the re-runs in the middle of the night. But, like so many women from the "Mad Men" era, I'm menopausal and have a sleep disorder. So I'm grateful for anything entertaining at 3 in the morning! :)

You're right Pimiento. Plus remember when Don's brother Adam says "I thought you were dead." So I'm thinking the family got a telegram from the Department of War that Dick Whitman was Killed in Action. The plot thickens!

Question: Why did Rachel say "If my mother hadn't died in childbirth, I could have just as easily have been Marilyn as Rachel." What does that mean??? I dont' get it. I "get" that Rachel is a jewish name and Marilyn isn't but what does her mother dying have to do with her name?

You're right Pimiento. Plus remember when Don's brother Adam says "I thought you were dead." So I'm thinking the family got a telegram from the Department of War that Dick Whitman was Killed in Action. The plot thickens!

Question: Why did Rachel say "If my mother hadn't died in childbirth, I could have just as easily have been Marilyn as Rachel." What does that mean??? I dont' get it. I "get" that Rachel is a jewish name and Marilyn isn't but what does her mother dying have to do with her name?

Laurie - I took that to mean that perhaps her mother wasn't Jewish, and that her father is the one who named her and raised her Jewish because her mother was gone. She also said at lunch with Don that she's "not *that* Jewish."

Rachel has also mentioned twice in conversation with Don that her mother died in childbirth having her. I think that might be a clue in piecing together Don's secret. Did Don's mother also die in childbirth having him? And while Rachel maybe came from "mixed" parentage and raised Jewish, did Don come from "mixed" parentage and raised Christian? In other words, are they mirrored characters?

Also, assuming Don's mother was Jewish, I am not so sure he knows that. When questioning Rachel about Judiasm and what it means to be Jewish over lunch, he seemed to truly be coming from a place of ignorance. It seemed to me that he had never really given it any thought before.

I hope truly that the big secret about Don is more than just "he's Jewish." I mean, that's fine and all, but there's got to be a bigger shoe to drop than that.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot at stake, if that's all there is.

I hope truly that the big secret about Don is more than just "he's Jewish." I mean, that's fine and all, but there's got to be a bigger shoe to drop than that.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot at stake, if that's all there is.

dansj30: Being Jewish doesn't seem like such a big deal today, but at that time and, in that particular environment, it was huge. Many anti-Semitic comments have been made by various characters.

I think the agency bosses would fire Don - not because he's Jewish, but because he lied to them. (Well, that would be their 'official' reason!)

I am so loving this show! It's so refreshing to see a creative work on television instead of a game show/competition show/reality show. I never thought a series with a fictional storyline and script would seem like such a novelty. The reference to the movie "The Best of Everything" a couple of weeks ago was brilliant. The first time I saw the secretarial pool at Sterling-Cooper I was instantly reminded of that movie. Good job, people--finally something fun and different to watch!

Sorry, not related to this show in particular, but can anyone tell me the name of that cool song AMC plays in that commercial showing previews of all upcoming movies-- the lyrics that are repeated are: " I like to look at you... when you're watching TV... I like to look at you.. when you play the guitar... you're so beautiful.... I'd really like to know the name and artist.

music from MadMen:

http://blogs.amctv.com/madmen/music/index.html

This episode had me on the edge of my seat, which is so interesting, because it is not an action oriented show. I just find each word and each nuance compelling.

But Dick Whitman? Not so much a Jewish name.

(I wonder if Rachel was named for her mother. Jews only name for the dead; typically the most recent. Perhaps she would have been 'Marilyn if the baby is a girl' and then it was decided after the tragedy that it was to be Rachel.)

Live-blogging Mad Men tonight at newcritics:

www.newcritics.com

Stop in!

I worked at Doyle, Dane, Bernbach Advertising from 1962 to 1970. I am disturbed at the over done display of cigarette smoking. Am surprised that they don't stick a cigarette in the children's hands to. Enough. Not everyone smoked, and even if they did no one ever did as much as these characters. I think the director must be trying too hard to display an era he never lived in. Yes, there was drinking and two hour lunches, but again here he is pushing it over the edge. Relax, and let our lives be portrayed a normal and not overdone.

I agree that no one smoked as much these people seems to! They are beyond chain-smokers! And the drinking! I think the show's creative team are trying way too hard to show us that the early sixties was filled with smoking and drinking but come on, this is ridiculous! The whole show now seems to revolve around smoking to excess, drinking to excess, sex to excess, and apparently, eating to excess. It's gross! And tonight's ending was totally gross! Was it necessary? It seems they go from the utterly gross to the utterly boring. Betty Draper is a drag, but then, so is her husband, Don. I don't care who Don really is (Dick), he is not at all interesting. In fact, with each subsequent episode he has become less interesting and more mundane. He seems to be on auto-pilot most of the time, except when he's accusing his wife of some imagined flirtation with his lecherous boss. Draper hops in and out of bed with everyone in a skirt and frankly, he seems to have a mean streak in him. As for Pete, he is downright weird and creepy. This series is beginning to wear thin.

I agree that no one smoked as much these people seems to! They are beyond chain-smokers! And the drinking! I think the show's creative team are trying way too hard to show us that the early sixties was filled with smoking and drinking but come on, this is ridiculous! The whole show now seems to revolve around smoking to excess, drinking to excess, sex to excess, and apparently, eating to excess. It's gross! And tonight's ending was totally gross! Was it necessary? It seems they go from the utterly gross to the utterly boring. Betty Draper is a drag, but then, so is her husband, Don. I don't care who Don really is (Dick), he is not at all interesting. In fact, with each subsequent episode he has become less interesting and more mundane. He seems to be on auto-pilot most of the time, except when he's accusing his wife of some imagined flirtation with his lecherous boss. Draper hops in and out of bed with everyone in a skirt and frankly, he seems to have a mean streak in him. As for Pete, he is downright weird and creepy. This series is beginning to wear thin.

i agree with jj - this show is a welcome respite from all the game/reality shows ... perhaps the smoking and drinking is overdone but remember it is TV where nothing is ever done in moderation!!

pete is seriously creepy and i'm sure he'll find a way to weasel the credit for the work that peggy is doing . . . roger grossed me out as well, he was so over the line in the kitchen - can you imagine a wife today just standing there, offering to make coffee rather than knocking him on his drunken ass!

i found myself squinting during the grocery store scene, trying to read labels and recognize products! i did see Hi-C in cans behind betty - is Hi-C still sold??

i still think this show is better than the usual garbage they offer us network channels and the same tired movies they trot out on the cable/satellite channels

and hope they continue with new episodes into the fall season

Actually, I'm surprised that Don didn't ask Betty to put up with that jerk Roger's advances. Don didn't like it but didn't just belt Roger. Why? Because it would have hurt his career. That's why I'm surprised he didn't ask Betty to just put up with it. Remember, Don morals are nonexistent. However, Don Draper/Whitman is anything but boring. Peter is beyond creepy and I agree, he will take credit for Peggy's work. That situation is too predictable and "beneath" the show's writers. Lastly, showing Roger barfing was stupid. It was gross and unnecessary. This show is for adults, not 12 year old boys that think that kind of display is funny. I don't!

Windjammer...I have a tip for you..why don't you just fade gracefully into the sunset...stop watching the show and stop posting to this blog...it is obviously a waste of your time and your posts are a waste of blog space

What happened to the Draper's dog?