Mad Men Season 4

FYI - That was John Slattery's first time directing. Anything. I thought he did an awesome job, too. So did Sepinwall, who interviewed him about it:

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/interview-john-slattery-on-his-mad-men-directorial-debut

 

There are a lot of younger people between 20 and 40 here where I live who are Mad Men junkies. Two of my friends celebrated their birthdays by throwing a Mad Men themed party.

As someone in his mid-30's, it fascinating to see how Mad Men have gotten my age group and younger to skip out on Jersey Shore and Big Brother and take in the allure and what it was like in the 60's. Plus, the writing and the acting is what they appreciate from the show.

Kids these days (the 20's and 30's) are not all a bunch of selfish bastards and Lauren Conrad wannabes. Put out a show that has appeal and they'll come out in droves.

 

Anecdotal evidence aside (being a 28-year-old who loves the show myself), the ratings suggest the droves are not coming out.

 

And I think it's pretty clear the problem is that if you haven't been in on this thing from the get-go, you've missed a lot, and many of the nuances will
fly right by. And we all know that there aren't all that many who've
been in on this thing from the beginning.

 

Why do people keep spouting on about Nielsen Ratings when it comes to Mad Men. Those are immaterial.

As long as upper middle class people keep watching Mad Men, they won't be chasing ratings. A pretty good indicator that you've hit the advertising sweet spot is when Mercedes-Benz and BMW are tripping over themselves to get more ads on during Mad Men episodes.

Nielsen Ratings are dead, when it comes to cable television. Get the people you want to buy your products watching, not people who drive a Chevy Cobalt.

 

Speaking of that, an undesirable byproduct of that is that many of the commercials that air during Mad Men try to ape its style, either totally ripping off the opening credits or having a bunch of hipster ad men sitting around during the spot.

 

Because the discussion usually isn't "how much money is Mad Men making," it's "how popular is it?"

 

And, sweet Jesus, do the latter suck large. Call in Peggy for some real copywriting, for chrissake.

 

But why do we care if it's popular? All I care about is it makes money so that it can stay on the air and pay John Hamm when he asks for Ted Danson money.

I've never gotten why people want their shows to be mega-hits. I understand the communal value of shared experiences, but that went away with cable and the internet.

It used to be important that your show was popular so you could discuss it at the watercooler. Now you can discuss it with millions of other people online. I'm not saying it's as edifying as it used to be, but the outlet is there.

 

Why do we care? Sheer curiosity, that's all.

 

"How does she not fall over?"

Instant classic.

 

David McCallum!