Mad Men
Freshman drama series in Emmy contention
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"I try to make the show the way real life is," says the AMC skein's creator and showrunner, who emphasizes that he is blessed in his life but adds, "I am still filled with things that I want that I don't get. And that to me is the drama of the show.
"Salvatore (Bryan Batt) says, 'If you stop and ask if you're happy, then you're not.' ... Drama is made out of conflict, and these people do not get what they want."
Frustration permeates the '60s-set drama, illustrated by the plight of Betty Draper (January Jones), who has an unforgettable scene shooting a next-door neighbor's pigeons while she is in her bathrobe and a memorable season finale monologue as well.
"It's Thanksgiving, and I'm grateful for things," she tells her psychotherapist. "Like this. This has helped. Don doesn't think so, but it has. Being able to talk. Just me and you and your little pad. It has helped. Still, I can't help but think I would be happier if my husband was faithful to me."
Further complicating matters is how characters often stumble through "Mad Men" unaware of what their true needs and desires are. Only at the end of a season that takes him through two mistresses and a tragic reunion with a long-lost brother does lead character Don Draper (Jon Hamm) become compelled to reconnect with his wife and children.
The revelation comes during his pitch for how to market a new Kodak slide projector.
"In Greek, 'nostalgia' literally means 'the pain from an old wound,' " Don says. "It's a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn't a spaceship. It's a time machine. Goes backward, forward -- takes us to a place where we ache to go again."
Considering all this melancholy, you'd think Weiner would have no trouble being disappointed in the relatively small audience "Mad Men" gets on AMC, which had no track record for original series programming. Instead, he was almost defiantly pleased.
"We have really broadened the audience for AMC, and I think we're making headway there," he says. "If you start at zero, and you have a place where there is no (series) programming, you start without a budget and you don't have any big stars, to come out of the gate and get any audience at all is miraculous."
Best episode: Though the "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" pilot merits due credit for locking in viewers from the get-go, the season-ending "The Wheel" is irresistible.
Underrated character: "I don’t think he’s underappreciated," Weiner says, "but I think people have a very strange relationship with Pete (Vincent Kartheiser). I love Pete, and I think he is a very fascinating and real person."
Great line: "What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons," Don says. Notes Weiner: "That is the character."
