Cutler and Stan (Harry Hamlin and Jay R. Ferguson) rush to the nearest TV to see what’s in store for their characters.
My “Mad Men” Season 6 Finale Predictions, 100% Accurate on Some Alternate Earth
Tag Archives: Mad Men
The 2011-2012 Emmy Nominations That Actually Noticed My Shows, Great or Small
I’ve never watched a complete Emmy Awards ceremony. I follow several different TV shows each season, but I don’t watch nearly enough of the “right” shows to have a sizable stake in the proceedings. It’s with good reason that I don’t write about television seven days a week.
For fun, though, I decided for my very first time ever to read through today’s nominations and see if anything I watched in the 2011-2012 season qualified for honors. Any and all of them. The official Emmys site has a link to a handy PDF summarizing every single category and nominee for the media or obsessive TV stalkers to peruse at will. I encountered two surprises:
Madonna, Catwoman, Roger Sterling Headline Naughty-Old-Folks’ Week
Usually I skip past any news article whose title contains the words “to Pose Nude”, “Flashes Nipple”, “Sex Scandal”, or “Brokeback Pose”. I get testy whenever the media tries using sex or nudity to compete with my wife for my attention. Anyone signing up for that competition is gonna lose.
It’s downright aggravating when the incidents flock together, regardless of whether or not it’s the kind of nekkidness-based stunt that would actually do anything for me if I were single and in need of sinful stimulation. Oddly, this week’s early contestants are nowhere near the under-30 demographic that readers and viewers usually prefer in their eye candy. To wit:
* Madonna, age 53: Entertainment Weekly cheerfully posted footage of an apparent reprise of her “Justify My Love” post-glory days. I have no plans to watch or post the video (I feel conflicted enough merely linking to the article linking to the clip), but I’m prepared to take a tremendous leap of grossly unfounded assumption and just induce/deduce/whicheverduce that the clip features Madonna singing some old song no one wants to sing along to, rolling her eyes as the audience’s attention wanes, doffing the right article of clothing, yelling “Artistic relevance!”, and then tearing a photo of Janet Jackson in half, all while the audience brandish their earbuds and Google “lady gaga videos” on their smartphones.
* Catwoman, age 72: DC Comics announced their September 2012 initiative of revisiting their 1994 zero-issue stunt with their entire 52-series lineup (plus a few special guests). Standing out among the sample covers is Catwoman #0, striking one of the most improbable poses of her decades-long career, displaying a kind of extreme yoga that would have snapped all of Julie Newmar’s ligaments and rent several muscle groups asunder even in her prime. DC loves its male-majority audience, presumably doesn’t care if women read Catwoman or not, and will no doubt argue that her impression of Stretch Armstrong is somehow empowering. The fact that her face is in the picture at all is, I’m guessing, a concession to appease the licensed-merchandise division that has action figures to sell based on her entire body, not just the artist’s favorite parts.
* Roger Sterling, age 49. Last Sunday’s Mad Men season finale had its share of memorable moments. For me, the most indelible was the haunting tongue-lashing of Megan’s mom, intended to crush her daughter’s enviable ambition. For too many others, it was the sight of Roger Sterling dropping a second hit of LSD while gazing at his window reflection in his birthday suit. I don’t think this actually garnered any mainstream headlines; I’m just using this space to plead for some magical way to unsee this. I suppose I should be grateful that Sterling’s gold was mercifully facing away from the camera. One could debate it’s a telling sign of Roger’s deteriorating emotional state, but having him inexplicably don Howdy Doody boxers or maybe a Bo Peep costume in his stupor could’ve also accomplished that, albeit with a differently scarring effect.
My “Mad Men” Season 5 Finale Predictions, 100% Accurate on Some Alternate Earth
Mad Men has already thrown a plethora of unexpected twists and pivots at us this year, but has one more hour at its disposal to see if it can top itself even more outlandishly. One can only hope the season 5 finale, “The Phantom”, will join the ranks of “The Wheel” and “Shut the Door. Have a Seat” as another finale to end all finales.
I’m terrible at guessing what happens next in any given show. Like all other failed prognosticators, that never stops me from trying. I may look weird keeping a book by my side while I watch, for something to occupy my time during commercials or sex scenes, but rest assured I’m otherwise paying attention, keeping mental tabs as best I can with my aging memory, and harboring my own half-baked theories about what ought to happen next. Fortunately, whatever happens is usually much more stunning.
Momentary pause here for courtesy spoiler alert before I proceed. If you’re not caught up through the June 3rd episode “Commissions and Fees”, or if you just don’t care, your exit strategy should be executed right about now. Please allow me to have you escorted to safety by this authentic 1960s artifact, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
And now, on with my false prophecies about “The Phantom”:
* With Mrs. Pryce left behind in surprise financial dire straits, Pete offers to buy her green Jaguar as a gesture of charity, albeit for a song. For some reason the car starts just fine for him. Pete spends his long drive back to the suburbs with all the windows down, the radio cranked up, and imagining himself a Real Man. Halfway home he’s pulled over for doing 80 in a 25 MPH zone. The Jaguar is impounded. Pete is not happy.
* The funeral is a somber yet extravagant affair. With Lane’s overseas colleagues all declining to attend and Mrs. Pryce unable to speak, Don steps to the podium and delivers a eulogy that was written by Megan in about six minutes on the back of a funeral program. It is the Greatest Eulogy of All Time. Pete fumes with envy.
* A suddenly lucid and desperate Roger proposes to six different women: the twin models who witnessed his heart attack, Peggy’s brash friend Joyce, Don’s receptionist Dawn, his ex-wife Mona, and li’l Sally. We have to wait until next season to find out which one said yes. Pete overhears Roger’s end of the phone conversation, then stomps away muttering like an angry child about how he wishes he could go out and remarry every two years.
* Two months into her new job, Peggy is flourishing as a creative force at Cutler, Gleason & Chaough. Shockingly, Ted Chaough has proven not to be a lech. She later attends a business mixer with one of CGC’s major clients, the life insurance company that employs Pete’s commuter buddy. She has a chance encounter with Pete’s one-time fling, Mrs. Commuter Buddy, who’s attending the party dutifully with her husband. Casual small talk escalates into a tearful confession. Peggy somehow puts two and two together from the scant clues, makes a beeline for her old offices, kicks Pete right in his Campbell Soup Cans, and exchanges strained pleasantries with Don on her way out. Pete cannot breathe for the rest of the day.
* Don rehires previously laid-off copywriter Danny Siegel (Danny Strong) to handle the Jaguar account for him while he himself, emboldened by the Dow deal, decides go after a bigger fish than Jaguar: the great and powerful Rolls Royce. Don is convinced that their Phantom series (we have episode title!) is Where It’s At. By episode’s end, Don can’t close the deal without Megan’s help, but she refuses because of auditions and ambitions and such. The chase proves to be just another Dulcinea that teaches us the real “phantom” is the fleeting nature of happiness or business success or absolute manhood or whatever. Pete’s only moment of joy in the episode occurs when he realizes Danny is the first adult male he’s ever met who’s punier than he is.
* Betty and Henry have a mild argument or something. No one cares.
* Ed “the Devil from Reaper” Baxter calls Don, tells him he has some nerve!, and awards him with Dow’s business. All of it. After a series of fake meetings and fake intense arguments, Roger formally announces Ken will be handling the account under extreme duress, but totally solo due to fictional client mandates. Pete’s blood boils.
* The bigwigs at Heinz announce they’re so in love with the work that Michael Ginsberg and Stan Rizzo have done for their baked bean ads, they’re moving all of Heinz’ other accounts to the firm, including Big Catsup. Pete finds an excuse to leave the meeting abruptly with his face red and hot steam whistling out his ears, even though this subplot has virtually nothing to do with him.
* Trudy puts on the frumpiest dress she owns and announces she’s pregnant again. She wonders if perhaps they’ll need to move into a larger house even farther away from Manhattan, possibly as far as western New Jersey. Pete responds by climbing to the top of a water tower, wielding the trusty rifle that he obtained years ago in exchange for a duplicate chip-‘n’-dip set, and begins firing indiscriminately at innocent passersby. He doesn’t hit a single live target, but shatters the window of a beauty shop, where the bullet destroys a Clearasil display. Pete’s father-in-law is not happy. After he runs out of ammo, Pete throws his emptied gun at Trudy (missing by a wide margin), slips off his perch and onto the ground. The authorities toss him into a paddy wagon and wave him off. Our last sight of Pete is him clawing at the windows and frothing at the mouth. Trudy is later consoled by her new neighbors, Troy and Abed.
* The firm name is changed to Draper Sterling Cooper Harris. Pete’s head explodes.
Midlife Crisis Crossover! 