2. About
The drama is about one of New York's advertising agencies Sterling and
Cooper at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most
mysterious but extremely talented advertising executives, Donald “Don”
Draper.
Season one takes place between March and November 1960
It shows the contrasting roles of woman at home and in the work place.
Characters like Peggy and Joan work in a office for the ad men characters
like Betty Draper is the epitome of a house wife of the time.
It also shows how women were very much second class citizens at that
time, the women in Sterling Cooper work for the men and are there to be
patronised and flirted with.
3. Facts
Created by Matthew Weiner, who is also the showrunner, head writer and the
executive producer
The first season premiered on July 19, 2007 and concluded on October 18, 2007
It consisted of thirteen episodes, each running approximately 47 minutes.
AMC broadcasted the first season on Thursdays at 10:00 pm in the United States
and it received 900,000 viewers.
Main actors Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones,
Christina Hendricks, Bryan Batt, Michael Gladis, Aaron Staton, Rich Sommer adn
Maggie Siff receive main cast billing.
The pilot episode was shot at SilverCup Studios and various locations around New
York City; subsequent episodes have been filmed at Los Angles Center Studios.
4. Main Characters
Jon Hamm: Don Draper
Elisabeth Moss: Peggy Olson
Christina Hendricks: Joan Holloway
Vincent Kartheiser: Pete Campbell
January Jones: Betty Draper
5. Crew
Executive Producer: Matthew Weiner
Assistant to M. Weiner: Gennifer Hutchison
Co-Executive Producer/Writer: Tom Palmer
Producer: Scott Hornbacher
Assistant to S. Hornbacher: Marcy Patterson
Producer/Writer: Lisa Albert
Producers/Writers: Andre & Maria Jacquemetton
Staff Writer: Bridget Bedard
Staff Writer: Chris Provenzano
Writers Assistant: Robin Veith
Script Coordinator: Joanna Lovinger
Script Coordinator: Parul Agrawal
Advertising Consultant: Josh Weltman
Mental Health Consultant: Hilary Jacobs Hendel, LCSW
Producer: Todd London
Co-Producer: Blake McCormick
Unit Production Manager: Dwayne Shattuck
Production Coordinator: Ben Waesche Assistant Production Coordinator: Matthew
Hadfield
7. Costumes
One of the things the show became famous for was the glamourous costumes,
especially the females. Christina Hendricks and January Jones both appear in
constantly changing outfits including frocks, negligees, cocktail dresses and
elegantly dressed hair.
In 2012, costume designer Janie Bryant told ‘Slate’ that she always repeats one
costume of Peggy’s from the previous season during the next season’s premiere.
Bryant said that she “(loves) that tradition for Peggy because I think that that is
all is really based on reality. That’s what we would do in real life: We repeat our
clothes.”
8. Props
The actors do not smoke real cigarettes, they smoke Ecstacy herbal cigarettes
which are tobacco and nicotine free. On the scenes featuring smoking, Weiner
stated: "Doing this show without smoking would've been a joke. It would've been
sanitary and it would've been phony."When ask what it’s like to smoke herbal
cigarettes, Jon Hamm (who plays Don Draper) told Vulture, “Terrible. They taste
like a mixture between pot and soap.”
9. Worldwide Release Dates
United States: 2007 July
United Kingdom: 2 March 2008
Sweden: 17 January 2008
Italy: 18 March 2008
Argentina: 19 April 2008
Spain: 8 May 2008
Canada: 8 June 2008
Ireland: 1 September 2008
Hungary: 7 September 2008
Finland: 29 October 2008
Australia: 16 April 2009
Netherlands: 24 June 2009
Germany: 6 July 2009
Russia: 7 June 2011
10. Reviews
Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reported said each episode "unfolded like a
small movie", calling it "one of the best character studies anyone has put on
television in some time -- an adult drama of introspection and the inconvenience
of modernity in a man's world."
The New York Times called it "both a drama and a comedy and all the better for
it, a series that breaks new ground by luxuriating in the not-so-distant past."
11. Awards
It was highly praised for its excellence in writing, acting, and art design. It was
acknowledged with numerous honours from industry awards, including the:
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, the Golden Globe Award
for Best Drama Series, and a Peabody Award.
Overall 67 Wins and 166 nominations
12. Favourite Female Character
Joan Holloway, played by Christina Hendricks, is the bombshell of Sterling
Cooper, the advertising firm the show revolves around. Yes, she’s fun and is not
looking for a husband anytime soon and is sleeping with one of the older and
married partners in the firm, Roger Sterling, but she actually has a heart. Even
though she is mean to Peggy, the new girl, sometimes. She always means well.
She truly wants to help her.
We get to see that soft side of her especially when Roger has a heart attack.
She’s weak and even more bitchy than usual. She loves him even though she
doesn’t want him to know. After he has a heart attack, Roger comes to work to
assure his ‘Lucky Strike’ clients that he’s okay. You can see the worry and the
fear on her face when she sees him, making the audience warm to her.
13. Favourite Male Character
Don Draper is the lead protagonist of the show. He’s the popular creative director
at Sterling Cooper that everyone loves and respects. Well, almost everyone. Jon
Hamm plays him so well. Alternating between the cheating husband, the loving
man, and man hiding away his past, Jon Hamm pulls Don Draper off perfectly.
Don Draper is adored by every woman that knows him.
Every time Don remembered that life he once had, you could see him weak and
afraid human, and you could see the real Don Draper that he is trying to hide.
14. Favourite Episode
My favourite episode was episode 12 ‘Nixon Vs Kennedy’ the show tackled the
1960 presidential election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. I would
imagine that in any other show, they would be rooting for Kennedy as we all
know that he wins, but the characters in Mad Men were rooting for Nixon
especially that Sterling Cooper was handling his campaign. The suspense build
up was incredible not because I wanted to see the reaction of the characters
when they found out that Nixon lost to Kennedy.
Another reason I enjoyed this episode is because they threw a massive office
party to celebrate
The other reason I loved this episode so much is because we got to see the
other side of Don Draper. It was in that episode that we discovered who he truly
is because Pete Campbell tries to blackmails him. The flashbacks revealed all, I
wasn’t a huge fan of the flashbacks of him when he was a kid, but I enjoyed the
his memories as an adult in the army.
