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Thread: Mad Men is back!

  1. #46
    Pre-tty, pre-tty good!! MWM's Avatar
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    Re: Mad Men is back!

    Quote Originally Posted by Unassisted View Post
    IMO, the long delay between seasons gave Matthew Weiner so much time to come up with ideas that he's struggling to fit all of the story arcs into a single season. This season seems to be aimed so heavily at giving every character in the ensemble something meaty to do, that it's sacrificing depth.

    Frankly, in previous seasons, I was turned off by some of the pugnacious quotes by the actors about the earth-shattering importance of this show to the medium. It's still just a show, it's not a cure for cancer. But it's also a good show and if the mistakes of this season take some of the air out of those inflated egos, I don't mind if it slips a bit.
    Fair points. It's tough to maintain the same artistry of a show like this once it reaches the masses. Few have been able to do it. I remember watching the first two seasons and thinking "that's it?" I was expecting things to resolve and reach a conclusion but they just kind of stopped leaving you thinking. That was the genius of the show. There was very little in the way of typical plots that have clear climaxes and resolutions. After a while, I accepted it was a character exploration show and I loved it. It was almost more of a day in the life rather than linear story lines like most dramas.

    I still really like it, it's just taken on a different character to me. As someone who works in brand marketing and has worked extensively with very well known ad agencies, some of the portrayals annoy me a little as they aren't close to reality, even back then. For example, the whole meeting with the Dow executives this last week was just asinine. It seemed to me a forced scene they needed in order to bring the old Don back and show that this season's virtuous and boring Don was only temporary. They needed a device that would do that, so they forced that scene.
    Last edited by MWM; 06-06-2012 at 02:33 PM.
    Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David


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  3. #47
    Member Redsfaithful's Avatar
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    Re: Mad Men is back!

    Not saying you are inaccurate, but how do you know how it was 45 years ago?
    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
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  4. #48
    Pre-tty, pre-tty good!! MWM's Avatar
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    Re: Mad Men is back!

    Quote Originally Posted by Redsfaithful View Post
    Not saying you are inaccurate, but how do you know how it was 45 years ago?
    Mad Men is one of the dominant topics of conversation with any creative agency, whether it's an advertising or a branding one. I've talked to people who have been around a long time and their view has pretty much been that the show nails the culture of working in an agency at that point in time, but they miss by a wide margin on the actual pitch and creative process, and how they manage clients. They may not have been around in the 60s, but they started pretty close to then. Plus, I just can't imagine that agencies ever went about it that way. I'm sure there were some differences, but it's hard for me to believe these pitch meetings ever happened the way they are portrayed.

    But i think their portrayal of that process really doesn't matter much. Getting the culture is much more central to the show. It's kind of like doctors who laugh at how the actual medical stuff is portrayed in shows like Grey's Anatomy. They say the same thing, that it's much closer on the social culture of working in hospitals amongst docs, but way off on the medical stuff. Lawyers say the same about the Law and Order's of the world. Real life tactics are much less dramatic, and as a result much less interesting.

    I will say this, the perception within ad agencies that they are the smart ones and have all the great ideas while the clients are dumb and stubborn and can't see what's obviously best for them is pretty accurate even to this day. That's how agencies think. Most of the casting and directing of those on the client side consistently makes them look slow and unintelligent, lacking real business sense. If a show was created from the client side of the relationship it would look a lot different.
    Last edited by MWM; 06-06-2012 at 04:27 PM.
    Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David

  5. #49
    Member Redsfaithful's Avatar
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    Re: Mad Men is back!

    Interesting insight, thanks.
    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
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  6. #50
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    Re: Mad Men is back!

    I have read where the show will end in another 2 seasons and that they wanted to show Don...into the 80's and even today. How the heck are they going to fit that in?
    Is the 70's going to be a blur? Which i am sure it was for most who lived through that.

  7. #51
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  8. #52
    Pre-tty, pre-tty good!! MWM's Avatar
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    Re: Mad Men is back!

    Quote Originally Posted by MWM View Post
    I will say this, the perception within ad agencies that they are the smart ones and have all the great ideas while the clients are dumb and stubborn and can't see what's obviously best for them is pretty accurate even to this day. That's how agencies think. Most of the casting and directing of those on the client side consistently makes them look slow and unintelligent, lacking real business sense. If a show was created from the client side of the relationship it would look a lot different.
    Case in point tonight with the Topaz meeting. The client guys looked a couple of nitwits. The one agency guy said, "we love it and the client hates it. That's how we know it's good." This is the commonly held view of agency creatives. It's also why you see so much bad advertising out there. Agencies want to create stuff they'll have fun doing or makes them feel "artistic". Good marketing people from the clients have to make sure the creative is meeting the strategic objectives they laid out in the creative brief. It's very common for this to be a somewhat contentious relationship.

    If someone like Ginsberg ever spoke to a client like he did these guys even one time, his desk would be packed for him before the meeting was over and he'd likely not be able to find work another good agency. Actually, Ginsberg is the one character that seems completely unrealistic to me. He's more a caricature.
    Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David


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