M(ad) Men

Have you seen Mad Men? First heard about it when it won the Golden Globe for Best Drama series this 2007.

I can't say much about the show since I've only watched the 2nd episode of Season 1. I missed the Pilot on 2nd Avenue which aired on the 17th. I'll try to search torrents for this show but I'll download the Pilot only. I'll follow it on TV since there aren't much "must sees" on TV for me nowadays.

From what I've seen, it's hard to judge whether its outstanding or anything other than that.
But I must say it's interesting just because its about advertising (hehehe). The only catch is it's set in 1960's New York, the golden age of advertising. The second episode was okey, it portrayed racism and feminist issues of the times. Though there were lots of smoking, sex, and dining out. Not to mention money, deceit, power struggle etc. It's all fun to watch on TV but in the real world? Nah.

I can't stop imagining myself being the series' protagonist Don Draper--"the greatest ad man ever", Sterling Cooper's creative director. You know, me holding a bottle of scotch--smoking in my corner office overlooking Manhattan while the suits & creatives--my minions, do my bidding. Awesome. Though the imagery might not entirely be accurate cause I might have to replace the scotch with milk and chocolate chip cookies.

It was weird to see the office in the series dominated by men. Women were either secretaries or telephone operators. Not unlike today, like from my ad agency before our company president is female. It was also interesting seeing the copywriters and art directors pitching in front of the boss. The presentation materials were all hand made, to me, something unimaginable. Laborious w/o much guarantee of actual production. Yikes, I hope they were paid a lot.

But interesting of all, is the protagonist's secret. He's not who he says he is. Like Jean Valjean or Sweeney Todd. The Count of Monte Cristo vibe is good but I hope they put it to good use.

Let's see.