Mad Men: Season 7

[Buftex]

I myself truly absolutely loathe Bill Maher, and do point to his monologues as just horrible. I haven't watched enough of him in conversation to know how funny he is that way. But, I do know the only times I've laughed at anything he's ever said is during a conversation.

 

I'm kind of weak in knowing stand up. I know IMO the best I've seen was Seinfeld. I think he was genius...........I think I may be the only person in the world who thinks his stand up and the bits they showed at the beginning and end of Seinfeld - are actually better than the show.

 

What the hell ever happened to the kid that Peggy had via Pete? I pretty much forgot about that until she was bringing up not being a mother at 30, and then they're together at the end there.

 

As I recall, Pegy's sister "adopted" the baby.

[Maury Ballstein]

Bill Maher and Sarah Silverman's fame boggle me. I don't think either is funny at all.

 

If ya like Seinfeld Bbb, I'd try to get ahold of the 2nd or 3rd episode of Louie which featured Seinfeld recently. Was heeeeeeelarious.

[bbb]

As I recall, Pegy's sister "adopted" the baby.

 

Yeah, I thought it was her mother or sister or something. I can see the baby being totally out of the picture if it was put up through an adoption agency. But, since it's still in the family, you'd think there would be a storyline there.

 

Bill Maher and Sarah Silverman's fame boggle me. I don't think either is funny at all.

 

If ya like Seinfeld Bbb, I'd try to get ahold of the 2nd or 3rd episode of Louie which featured Seinfeld recently. Was heeeeeeelarious.

 

Thanks!

[Buftex]

Okay, after digesting the "mid-season finale" of "Mad Men", I gotta say... I was a little disappointed. As always, there were great moments... but, yet another season ending with a merger and acquisiton...what used to be kind of a cool, unexpected move, I feel, they have gone to the well with a few too many times now... but whatever...that is business I guess.

 

Of course, there is the whole Don/Bert scene at the end, to muddy things up. Will Don go along? He has already told the other partenrs, that he is all in on the buy-out from McCann...even talked Ted into going along...remember, they said they needed Don and Ted, in order to make the buy-out work. But, just as everyone is celebrating, Don sneaks out, has his Bert-vision, and you wonder if he has any intention of going along with it. Don seems to have turned a corner, of sorts, and has been treating everyone as though he appreciates them a bit more than he has in the past (except Cutler!), so this seems a little going against the grain. What was it that Ted wante to announce to everyone, before Cutler cut him off? Just that he wanted out? Or was there more?

 

One quibble I have had with the show, this season, and last, is maybe they have just too many characters to give all of them enough face time...so there are a number of unexplained things. At the beginining of the season, Ted seemed like Ted...when he would visit the office in New York, even though he and Peggy had some awkward moments. But, the few times we see him in California, or when Pete talks about him, he is useless, and is, essentially, in California, just to answer phones. So, what happened with him? What seeemed like, essentially, a pretty grounded, decent guy, strayed from his marriage, and then moved with his family, to get things back on track. So, did that not work out? They don't really tell us, just that he is depressed, and hates his job. Is it just the California, hippy vibe setting in? Just kind of odd... seems like they have been leaving the viewer to fill in a lot of blanks as of late.

 

As much as I like the Draper/Francis household story, it seems as those scenes are just kind of tacked on to the show, and don't really have much to do with the rest of the show. I think they are trying to show us how Don & Betty screwed up their kids... but again, not completely sure. For some reason, the words January Jones and "contractual obligation" keep coming to mind.

 

Don and Meagan's break-up was pretty gut-wrenching...and handled well. Is that the last we will see of zoobie-zoo? You never know...

 

Also really liked the way they incorporated the moon landing into every day life...it was a big deal (as I am sure it was at the time, for those old enough to remember...I was 4), but this huge human event, by the magic of television, is just kind of crammed into the every day mundaneness of life. Really loved them showing Don, Peggy, Pete and Harry watching it in the hotel room.

 

I have a hunch that the final 7 episodes (in 2015!!!) are going to leave people feeling dis-satisfied, if they are the types that need things wrapped up nice and neatly. I am wondering if we will see much more of some of these characters in the final installments. The way the "mid-season finale" ended, it seems like Don is about to leave this world behind... maybe he goes back to being Dick Whitman. He seemed a lot more comfortable as Don Draper, in 1962 than he does in 1969.

 

Funny, Matthew Weiner was on the "Colbert Report" this past week, to talk about the finale. Weiner didn't sound super-jazzed about a "mid-season finale", and pretty much conceded it was just the result of AMC wanting to milk it for all it was worth, because it did so well with "Breaking Bad". Too bad, I loved "Breaking Bad" as well, but it was/is a totally different kind of show...it leaves you with real-time cliff-hangers..."Mad Men" is not that kind of show. I just think this abbreviated, 2 part season thing, is really a bad decision on their part. If, like I predict, the show ends in an unconventional way, and leaves a lot of questions, I think it will hurt the legacy of the show. It really put AMC on the television map, and was a legitimate, adult show, that was a great pop-culture phenomenon. Kind of like the other show Weiner did, "The Sopranos". It was such a great show (still my favorite all time), but it lost some of it's momentum by taking over-long breaks between seasons, and its' ambiguous ending really left some people pissed off. As if the ending ruined the entire series. I think that is silly, but it happened. Colbert suggested to Weiner that he should have "Mad Men" end, speeding ahead in time, having Don Draper explain, with his dramatic flair in presentatons, for once and all, what happened in the final episode of "The Sopronos".

 

Oh well...until next spring...

[birdog1960]

Okay, after digesting the "mid-season finale" of "Mad Men", I gotta say... I was a little disappointed. As always, there were great moments... but, yet another season ending with a merger and acquisiton...what used to be kind of a cool, unexpected move, I feel, they have gone to the well with a few too many times now... but whatever...that is business I guess.

 

Of course, there is the whole Don/Bert scene at the end, to muddy things up. Will Don go along? He has already told the other partenrs, that he is all in on the buy-out from McCann...even talked Ted into going along...remember, they said they needed Don and Ted, in order to make the buy-out work. But, just as everyone is celebrating, Don sneaks out, has his Bert-vision, and you wonder if he has any intention of going along with it. Don seems to have turned a corner, of sorts, and has been treating everyone as though he appreciates them a bit more than he has in the past (except Cutler!), so this seems a little going against the grain. What was it that Ted wante to announce to everyone, before Cutler cut him off? Just that he wanted out? Or was there more?

 

One quibble I have had with the show, this season, and last, is maybe they have just too many characters to give all of them enough face time...so there are a number of unexplained things. At the beginining of the season, Ted seemed like Ted...when he would visit the office in New York, even though he and Peggy had some awkward moments. But, the few times we see him in California, or when Pete talks about him, he is useless, and is, essentially, in California, just to answer phones. So, what happened with him? What seeemed like, essentially, a pretty grounded, decent guy, strayed from his marriage, and then moved with his family, to get things back on track. So, did that not work out? They don't really tell us, just that he is depressed, and hates his job. Is it just the California, hippy vibe setting in? Just kind of odd... seems like they have been leaving the viewer to fill in a lot of blanks as of late.

 

As much as I like the Draper/Francis household story, it seems as those scenes are just kind of tacked on to the show, and don't really have much to do with the rest of the show. I think they are trying to show us how Don & Betty screwed up their kids... but again, not completely sure. For some reason, the words January Jones and "contractual obligation" keep coming to mind.

 

Don and Meagan's break-up was pretty gut-wrenching...and handled well. Is that the last we will see of zoobie-zoo? You never know...

 

Also really liked the way they incorporated the moon landing into every day life...it was a big deal (as I am sure it was at the time, for those old enough to remember...I was 4), but this huge human event, by the magic of television, is just kind of crammed into the every day mundaneness of life. Really loved them showing Don, Peggy, Pete and Harry watching it in the hotel room.

 

I have a hunch that the final 7 episodes (in 2015!!!) are going to leave people feeling dis-satisfied, if they are the types that need things wrapped up nice and neatly. I am wondering if we will see much more of some of these characters in the final installments. The way the "mid-season finale" ended, it seems like Don is about to leave this world behind... maybe he goes back to being Dick Whitman. He seemed a lot more comfortable as Don Draper, in 1962 than he does in 1969.

 

Funny, Matthew Weiner was on the "Colbert Report" this past week, to talk about the finale. Weiner didn't sound super-jazzed about a "mid-season finale", and pretty much conceded it was just the result of AMC wanting to milk it for all it was worth, because it did so well with "Breaking Bad". Too bad, I loved "Breaking Bad" as well, but it was/is a totally different kind of show...it leaves you with real-time cliff-hangers..."Mad Men" is not that kind of show. I just think this abbreviated, 2 part season thing, is really a bad decision on their part. If, like I predict, the show ends in an unconventional way, and leaves a lot of questions, I think it will hurt the legacy of the show. It really put AMC on the television map, and was a legitimate, adult show, that was a great pop-culture phenomenon. Kind of like the other show Weiner did, "The Sopranos". It was such a great show (still my favorite all time), but it lost some of it's momentum by taking over-long breaks between seasons, and its' ambiguous ending really left some people pissed off. As if the ending ruined the entire series. I think that is silly, but it happened. Colbert suggested to Weiner that he should have "Mad Men" end, speeding ahead in time, having Don Draper explain, with his dramatic flair in presentatons, for once and all, what happened in the final episode of "The Sopronos".

 

Oh well...until next spring...

wow. i thought it was one of the best tv episodes i've ever seen. it was truly a moral tale and included a pretty startling but accurate critique on american and corporate culture. the moon walk as a central theme was genius. peggy's presentation was profound. the part about tv's being within 6 feet of every dinner table and on most of the time was sad but true. her appeal to our inner hunger for more satisying life events. don's question to his daughters cynical take on the moon landing was great. and she went after the geek and not the hunk - looks like she's not a clone of her mother after all. surprising but refreshing. and tying it up with "the best things in life are free" was brilliant. the last partner signing of on the merger after fighting it rabidly cuz "it's a lot of money" was priceless. i think it just stopped short of being preachy. are we to believe that characters other than peggy will develop a conscience in the break? i hope so but then again it might get boring. Edited May 27, 2014 by birdog1960

[Maury Ballstein]

Me and the lady both loved the finale. I could do with less Ted and Cutler as more time could always be devoted to Roger/Pete/Don/Joan or even Cosgrove.

 

Less Betty and Henry Francis would be ideal as well.

 

Jessica Pare was beyond hot on the breakup scene with Don. She was killing that bikini !

 

MVP of the season goes to Roger IMO. His path in life to this point and his talk with Don (post Cooper news)were great.

 

[Buftex]

wow. i thought it was one of the best tv episodes i've ever seen. it was truly a moral tale and included a pretty startling but accurate critique on american and corporate culture. the moon walk as a central theme was genius. peggy's presentation was profound. the part about tv's being within 6 feet of every dinner table and on most of the time was sad but true. her appeal to our inner hunger for more satisying life events. don's question to his daughters cynical take on the moon landing was great. and she went after the geek and not the hunk - looks like she's not a clone of her mother after all. surprising but refreshing. and tying it up with "the best things in life are free" was brilliant. the last partner signing of on the merger after fighting it rabidly cuz "it's a lot of money" was priceless. i think it just stopped short of being preachy. are we to believe that characters other than peggy will develop a conscience in the break? i hope so but then again it might get boring.

 

I meant I was disappointed, mainly, because it won't continue for another year.

 

Your last point, are the reason I htink the last 7 episodes will deal primarily with Don Draper, and we might never know what happens with the rest of the characters. I mean, they keep hinting and playing with all these high-minded concepts, so to go back to more back-stabbing and fighting, for the last 7 episodes would just be kind of silly...at some point, the cycle will have to change, or there really isn't a point in extending things longer... I just feel like the merger/buy-out was kind of an end-run move that they have used a few too many times on the show. I didn't really like it as a "cliff-hanger" contrivance.

 

Me and the lady both loved the finale. I could do with less Ted and Cutler as more time could always be devoted to Roger/Pete/Don/Joan or even Cosgrove.

 

Less Betty and Henry Francis would be ideal as well.

 

Jessica Pare was beyond hot on the breakup scene with Don. She was killing that bikini !

 

MVP of the season goes to Roger IMO. His path in life to this point and his talk with Don (post Cooper news)were great.

 

Agreed there...the "When old men start talking about Napoleon" line was pretty outstanding!

[KD in CA]

But, just as everyone is celebrating, Don sneaks out, has his Bert-vision, and you wonder if he has any intention of going along with it. Don seems to have turned a corner, of sorts, and has been treating everyone as though he appreciates them a bit more than he has in the past (except Cutler!), so this seems a little going against the grain.

I read that scene differently; I thought Roger was just announcing Bert's death to the staff. He wouldn't announce a merge before it actually happened. The last scene seemed like Bert's death finally hitting Don for real. He meant a lot to Don too.

 

Other highlights:

-The official crowning of Betty Jr., right down to the arm position while smoking.

-Roger telling Harry "too late, get out". Perhaps the most consistent relationship on the whole show -- Roger has never liked Harry from Day 1.

-If that's the last we see of Meagan, thank you for that bikini. Oh my!

-And of course, Don beaming with pride at Peggy's success.

 

 

Agreed on the drawn out season 7. I think that's why there hasn't been more buzz about this season; they've overplayed their hand and I bet it's cost them viewers. 7 episodes is not enough with a year break on both ends. Oh well....we'll certainly be watching in 2015. Maybe we'll find out what happened to the Chechnyan guy Paulie and Chris chased in the snow.

Edited May 28, 2014 by KD in CT