Luckily the Kravitz’s have cable. I watch Mad Men with them on Thursday nights. They even have TIVO, which means we skip over the ads on this show about advertising.
Set in 1960 New York, this AMC series is about the personal and professional lives of Madison Avenue advertising execs.
At the agency it’s a man’s world—sexist and competitive; the drinking starts early and there are three-martini lunches and late nights at the St. Regis with clients, escorts, and more drinks. The show portrays the women but they’re mostly relegated to being secretaries and wives.
But the times they are a changing and the women are starting to wake up and are coming into their own at the dawn of the age of birth control pill and divorce.
Life in the suburbs isn’t what it seems and every one is unhappy for one reason or another. The suburban scenes are stylized and not altogether convincing vignettes of the sterile (and somewhat catty) world of housewives and children. They may be chirpy but secretly they’re suffering; one is in therapy and lies on an natty Eames couch.
The scenes in the agency are fascinating; it’s the beginning of an exciting and creative time in advertising, starting with the groundbreaking Volkswagon “Lemon” ad.
Watching with the Kravitz’s is fun. My father, who hates the show, was a copy writer in 1960 (and for many years after) and Mrs. Kravitz worked in advertising and Mr. Kravitz still does.
It’s all in the details. Great, spot-on authentic set design, references to all kinds of cultural icons and news. Can’t wait for next week’s show. The characters, especially John Hamm, playing Don Draper, are growing on me.
He plays the hard-working creative director with a roving eye. His wife is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and he’s breaking many single girl’s hearts.
