Loads of 'Mad Men' Season 5 Goodness

Entertainment Weekly has devoted its new issue to the long-awaited return of the quadruple Emmy award winning AMC drama Mad Men which, given all this hype and longing after a 17-month absence, I'm afraid won't be able to live up to fans' expectations (mine included). Nonetheless, as I cross my fingers, knock on wood and hope that Matthew Weiner & Co. have created another insightful, surprising and smart set of 13 episodes, I'm eagerly gobbling up all things Mad Men.

Like that new issue of Entertainment Weekly which devoted nine pages to the returning series that premieres on March 25. What did I learn from the magazine, amid artsy photos of Jon Hamm in his role as the troubled Don Draper?

• There will be some time jump from the end of season four to the premiere of season five but there's no word on how far forward they will leap. Says Weiner, the series creator and head honcho: "I want people to feel like they're going to visit their best friend, and they open the door and everything's been going on without them. The story is on page 30 when they open the door, so they'll have to catch up.
• Elisabeth Moss (Peggy) said she's "completely, completely surprised by season five. For a few of the characters that have big things happen to them this year -- big surprises and changes -- the audience is going to go back and go 'He said that in episode one!'" 
• Talking about the sudden and stunning marriage proposal Don gave to his young secretary Megan in the closing moments of season four, Weiner said: "A lot of the decisions that Don makes may seem strange to the audience, but they're going to seem strange to people around him, too. He is coming into middle age, which is closer to old age back then. Existentialism is a young man's game, and you can say what you want about how death nullifies things. But when you get closer to death, it starts to become more serious, and it's harder to laugh it off and say, 'I'm living for the moment.'" 
• Betty will be back but won't be seen as often as Betty fans (like me) might like because January Jones gave birth to a baby while Mad Men was in production. "It was interesting to work around that [the pregnancy] but [Matt] works best with a challenge," Jones told EW. "That turned into an amazing storyline for me and for Betty. You'll definitely see a different side of her."

Meanwhile, New York Magazine published seven pages worth of Mad Men material, from summarizing each of the show's 39 episodes in pithy fashion and delving into Don and Peggy's "special relationship" (it drives Moss nuts when people constantly ask her whether Peggy and Don will hook up) to a creepy editorial feature where the magazine asked an actuary to estimate when Don, who was born in 1926, will die and aged a photo of Hamm/Draper (see above). The actuary estimated that Draper will pass away in 1985 at age 59.

One last thing I found today while marinating in Mad Men pre-season excitement: Draping is apparently the new Tebow-ing. You take a photo from the back of someone and that person is draping his or her arm over a person or object like the silhouette of Don Draper does in the show's opening credits. Then post the image on Tumblr and/or Twitter. Fun for Mad Men fans of all ages.

Image credits: Entertainment Weekly, New York Magazine and Tumblr.

'Mad Men's' Weiner: Finale Looks at Life You Want to Live

"Tomorrowland is about who you want to be," that's what Mad Men creator/writer Matthew Weiner said about the season four finale. The episode, Weiner said, was about "what are you going to make of your life."

In the case of Don, that would be the same mistake Roger Sterling made, at least in my opinion.

Jon Hamm offered some insightful commentary in the AMC video above, about the fact that Don is starting a relationship with someone who doesn't really know much about him smacks of Don and Betty 2.0.

Of all the interviews in the video, I agree with Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olson) the most.

What did you think of Weiner's assertion that the finale was about what you want to make of your life?

Creative Take on 'Mad Men' Theme, Matt Weiner on Finale

As we draw closer to Sunday night's final episode of Mad Men's exquisite fourth season -- Matthew Weiner & Co. created, by and large, an outstanding set of episodes this year -- I thought you'd find interesting this video of NBC Nightly News anchorman Brian Williams' daughter Allison who combined the Mad Men theme with the lyrics from the Nat King Cole song Nature Boy and got this:



About that Sunday night finale, entitled "Tomorrowland," Weiner has remained pretty tight-lipped about it, though he told a TV Squad blogger in an interview:

". . . [W]hat I really hope for for the finale is that people will see the finale and understand the journey that they went on for the season. They've been looking at it week by week, and they've sort of been on board with it, and I think they've enjoyed learning so much about Don and seeing him pushed to the end, and seeing him either rise to the occasion or, as you're saying, not rise to the occasion. But hopefully they will see at the end what the journey that he's been on."

Earlier in the interview, Weiner said of Don's experiences this season:

"He got to a place this season, certainly in the middle of it, where he was very close to being a different person and sort of accepting who he was and saying, I'm tired of . . . and then the shit hit the fan. Now we're seeing this person is come out. Is it the same person we met at the beginning of the show? I don't know."

I don't know about you, but I'm in complete denial that, after Sunday night, I'll have until next summer for new Mad Men episodes.

Matt Weiner, 'Mad Men' Cast Talk About Show, the New Season, the 'Rules'

In a new video Mad Men creator/writer Matt Weiner, along with cast members, ponder the meaning and impact of the series, as well as its informal "rules" and what viewers can expect in the upcoming fourth season. But alas, no spoilers, no real info about the season -- like when it takes place for example -- other than Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete Campbell, joking that we'll see Don Draper au natural.

An interesting thing about this video was that after Weiner said Mad Men is about "human weakness and impulse," he made an analogy between the characters and criminals who wantonly flout the law and do whatever they want. In the end, however, he said, "Crime doesn't pay." (Former Sopranos writer is he.)
Also of interest, both Weiner and January Jones say that Betty Draper's a woman "who probably shouldn't have had children."

'Mad Men' Season 4 Promos Highlight 'Fresh Starts'

It’s never too early to start thinking about the fourth season of Mad Men, which kicks off on Sunday, July 25.

Though series guru Matthew Weiner has been reluctant to reveal anything about what the fourth season will bring – season three concluded in December 1963 with Don toting luggage to a new apartment, Betty on a plane with Henry and baby Gene to get a quickie Reno divorce from Don, the formation of the new ad agency (Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce) based in a hotel suite, and Sally and Bobby Draper chillin’ in their Ossining home with Carla – these promos that are floating around emphasize the “fresh start” angle.





Meanwhile the promo below highlights Betty’s supposed “fresh start” with Henry. But Betty's still got Don, the father of her three children, to deal with, so how “fresh” can all of these starts be with these folks toting around some significant baggage, literally and figuratively?