The nominations for the 67th annual Primetime Emmys were announced recently, and like all nominations in recent memory, it’s just as notable for what was snubbed as for what did end up nominated. With this becoming an increasing trend, many have taken to questioning the importance of the Emmys, and whether they’re relevant in this day …
Part Three of Sound on Sight’s list of the Best TV episodes of the year so far includes entries from Game of Thrones and Inside Amy Schumer.
Some works will last–without the help of critics–as long as the civilization which bred them lasts, as Shakespeare’s plays have done. At times, Matthew Weiner has channeled Shakespeare in Mad Men, portraying the multifaceted nature of what it means to be human.
“The Milk and Honey Route” is one of those episodes that plays off the [soap opera] formula, but delivers meaningful scenes that gain importance from the years of work Mad Men has put into these characters.
Following last week’s “Time & Life,” which featured what will certainly be the final classic Mad Men shakeup of business, Matthew Weiner’s characters find themselves adapting (or failing to adapt) to their new lives at McCann Erickson.
“Severance” is haunted by the ghosts of Mad Men’s past and wonders about the lives of its central characters…
Part 3 of our listing of the best television episodes of the year to date looks at shows such as Louie and Game of Thrones, along with the individual picks of the contributors.
AMC hopes to score an Emmy after two years without a statuette for their hit series Mad Men. And to help the network secure a victory, they began rolling out an aggressive, and nostalgic campaign for the Matthew Weiner drama. What better way to promote a show about advertising, than with these 1960s-inspired one-sheets. Enjoy!
Speaking in general, arbitrary terms, this probably isn’t the strongest Mad Men (mid-)season finale, but Mad Men isn’t a series that deals in that kind of product—trying to craft individual episodes. It is, simply and powerfully, the end to another chapter in Matthew Weiner’s magnum opus.
With an episode like “The Strategy,” the former perennial Emmy-winner still proves it can outshine the best of contemporary television even when contemporary television is becoming increasingly high quality.
Million Dollar Arm Written by Tom McCarthy Directed by Craig Gillespie USA, 2014 There’s a scene roughly halfway through Million Dollar Arm that speaks to the film’s inherently generic nature. In it, our ostensible hero, workaholic agent/pitchman Don Draper—er, J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) is brought in to talk with USC baseball coach Tom House (Bill …
God’s Pocket Written by John Slattery and Alex Metcalf Directed by John Slattery USA, 2014 Whatever its initial intentions were, it’s now impossible to watch John Slattery’s feature directorial debut God’s Pocket without feeling intensely depressed due to the presence of its leading actor, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. It’s not his last film overall–that’ll …
The Ginsberg storyline isn’t the only one in “The Runaways” that feels odd. The whole episode functions almost like a collection of vignettes, capped by a sequence that is both the episode’s most powerful and most important.
“The Monolith” is one of many Mad Men episodes that shows how certain characters react to change. Rather than limit those ideas to the new IBM computer being installed at the offices, the episode focuses more on how Don Draper and Roger Sterling deal with changes in status quo.
Don’s journey in “Field Trip” builds up to his sit-down with the partners, when he is given the chance to say “Okay.” He’ll take whatever they give him. There’s some genuinely upsetting scenes along the way, though.
What I think the episode does is simply encourage us to be aware of those things–to notice when we are immersing ourselves in self-pity and to remember that we are not suffering alone
As the United States swears in its new president, Richard Nixon, the country finds itself in a transition period, caught between the two worlds of its past and uncertain future. “Time Zones” splits is central characters up in a similar way that exposes just how noticeable the precipices are that they stand on.
5. Orange is the New Black (Netflix) After the much-hyped release House of Cards and return of Arrested Development, Netflix released Orange is the New Black with little fanfare, seemingly unaware of just how great a series they had on their hands. Based on the true story of a white, privileged thirty-something who is sentenced …
The beginning of the year had a wealth of TV riches, a trend that continued through the spring. Here’s part two of Kate Kulzick, Simon Howell, Ricky D, and Randy Dankievitch’s list of 2013’s best TV episodes.
As my Televerse cohost Simon Howell and I discussed in our Top 10 TV Series of 2013 (So Far), this has been a spectacular year for television, with many shows delivering remarkably consistent seasons (or half-seasons) of memorable, moving television. A number of series were in contention for our Top 10 but didn’t quite make …
The third track on one of my favorite rock records of the last decade, Okkervil River’s The Stage Names, is called “A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene.” Without context, its lyric is a bit of a tough nut to crack. Will Sheff sings about events unfolding on a TV screen in the first verse, recaps …
Leave it to Mad Men to make the inevitable seem surprising. The way Don has acted this season—from Jaguar, to warring with Ted, to his Hershey pitch—it’s unfathomable that he would escape without reprimand, yet the moment he is asked to step away from his job is truly shocking. Perhaps because more than anything else—his wife, his family, his relationships—his job is what defined him as Don Draper. Part of me expected the episode to end as the elevator doors closed in front of his face, the man brought in as his replacement smugly asking “going down?” It would have been unbearably dark, but fitting for a season that began with Don reading Dante’s Inferno on the beach.
“You’re a monster,” is the key line of tonight’s episode. It’s almost comically literal when you think about it alongside the exchange between Duck and Pete. Duck claims he’s never seen anything like Bob Benson before, and Pete chillingly intones “I have.” You can almost hear the theme from Phantom of the Opera in the background as it cuts to Don. Variations on this theme have been strung throughout the season. Think back on the moment Peggy walked into Ted’s office only to find Don there. He was reintroduced to us in the premiere reading Dante’s Inferno, suggesting a descent into hell, but now it seems as if he would feel at home there, a monster among monsters. Maybe he and Walter White could get a beer.