"Mad Men" on AMC (US) - (Spoilers Within)

[Nathan Dodge]

Perhaps I'm dismissing the show out of hand, but I'm sensing, based on the behind the scenes short AMC has aired, that this will be another of those "paint the past with a broad brush and wasn't it shocking and wrong how people lived back then and aren't you so glad we're so much better than that now?" type pieces. I resent shows and movies portraying the past as some horrible, horrible place that we look back on only in revulsion and that we can thank our lucky stars that we weren't there then.

[akaBruno]

I just watched it. Not bad. It's just a modern day truthful look back. Not a candy coated "Leave it to Beaver" episode. Don't look for any morals, they were just as rotten then as we are now.

[Tony in Tarzana]

I enjoyed it, even though I found myself nit-picking the props a little. Black Western Electric 500 desk phones still had black metal dials in 1960, and so on.

Apart from the nit-picks, they did a great job capturing the atmosphere.

One funny thing was, everybody was smoking like a chimney and the first episode was about cigarette advertising, but the office ceilings were pristine white. Anybody who has been in an office that allows smoking (am I showing my age?) remembers the brown stains around all the ceiling A/C vents.

[goldwyn girl]

My hubby liked it better than I did. Although I did enjoy it. As akaBruno said not candy coated, rather gritty I thought. We'll be watching the series. Anyone know who the stripper was. She looked so familiar to me.

[Tomasso]

Pretty good premiere, on the whole. I didn't mind the lack of sugar coating but then I prefer "The Apartment" to "Pillow Talk". I will say that were it not set in 1960, I wouldn't be watching it.

[ShortClara]

I enjoyed it. I had no idea it'd be such a commentary on the sexes, but I enjoyed that. I did find myself wondering if it was laid on a little thick, but perhaps I'm naive. I'm sure it all did happen, just maybe not all at once Any thoughts? It's now in my Tivo - a rare honor!

[Rooster]

I liked the show, I'll be watching more. Women may have been treated like that in the big cities, but not in the little burgs in the midwest where I grew up. My Mother or my Grandmothers would have left the office if treated like that.

[Dalexs]

I thought it was a bit disappointing compared to all the hype and good reviews. I think i was expecting more out of it.

It just seemd kinda flat storyline wise. I liked the overal look though.

I'll give it a chance, there's not much on during the week so I have nothing better to watch right now.

[vintage68]

I watched it with my girlfriend and we really got a kick out of it. My girlfriend is such a strong, independent woman ( headed up her own ad agency for years), that I couldn't resist heckling her with the sexism we were hearing from the show.

*Sigh* Those were the days....;-)

I'll duck now!

[RedHotRidinHood]

I LOVED it...I loved Joan the best-she was so snappy. My mother worked in a law office in New York for about a year after she graduated high school in 1962, and she said it was very much like that. Everyone smoked, and you just put up with the sexism, even though she said she wasn't one of "those" girls and pretty much kept to herself.
I really feel for Don Draper-he seems like a good guy in a tough world, kind of a flawed hero type. He's not perfect but he's doing the best he can. Those little bastards, the younger ad guys, are sure naughty, though. It's going to be fun watching to see what happens. I'm hooked already!