F.Y.I.

Mad Men second season makes free-to-air premiere on SBS1

The second season of advertising drama Mad Men will return to SBS1 for its free-to-air premiere.  

The announcement:

The sexy, stylised, provocative and multi award-winning drama Mad Men makes a welcome return to SBS ONE as season two makes its Australian free-to-air premiere.

Created by Emmy Award-winning executive producer Matthew Weiner, Mad Men delves into the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Sixties advertising agency Sterling Cooper – a place where power struggles, hard drinking and clandestine sexual exploits define the workplace and close the deals.

On the second series, Matthew says:

“If you had asked me at the beginning of it I would have been hedging a lot more, and talking about how I hope people don’t discover I’m a fraud.

“I actually think that we built on that, and I think it is a lot deeper and maybe the timing, also, seems to be very much related to what is going on right now, even unintentionally on some level.

I was writing about something I was interested in, but it really seems to have resonated. I’m really proud of the storytelling – all aspects of the production and the writing and action – everything seemed to be clicking.

It is a totally new story with the same people, it is the next chapter in their lives and it is on the level that they seem more confident and both more bewildering and shocking.”

On his comparisons with George Clooney, John Hamm says:

“It is all very subjective and it can all change in a minute. To use a very overused phrase, “it is what it is”. It is a nice way of complimenting somebody and I certainly do take it as a compliment. I would trade careers with George Clooney in a heartbeat. I would certainly trade houses with him, especially if he threw in the one in Italy. It is a tremendous compliment and I hope to have a career like his.”

Series One recap

Series one revealed uber ad man Don Draper’s secret identity. Far from being the stereotypical war hero and upstanding American, Don is Dick Whitman, the son of a prostitute with a drunken and abusive father.

Sterling Cooper’s super-efficient secretary Peggy is also hiding a dark secret – she has given birth to Machiavellian account director Pete’s baby.

At the finale of series one, the cracks in the Draper marriage really start to show when Betty plans a family Thanksgiving trip which Don refuses to go on. Taking control for once, Betty takes the children away leaving Don feeling very alone.

Series Two – Episode 1 – For Those Who Think Young

It is 1962, two years since the end of the last series. Set to the back drop of the Kennedy’s White House tour, For Those Who Think Young opens with Don Draper undergoing an insurance medical.

At first glance, not much has changed in the lives of the employees of Sterling Cooper – Don Draper is still a man at the top of his game.

However his marriage to Betty is far from harmonious. Don is trying to be a better husband and father. He even makes a romantic gesture for Valentine’s Day – dinner and a hotel stay at the Savoy. As their evening slowly descends into disaster it’s clear that the unspoken problems in their marriage still remain.

Peggy has returned newly slim to her copywriter’s job at Sterling Cooper. There’s much speculation among the men in the office as to Peggy’s obvious weight loss. Pete thinks she has been to a fat farm, others speculate she has had Don’s baby – what else could explain Peggy’s meteoric rise up the corporate ladder?

Episode 2 – Flight 1

The episode opens on a party at Paul’s for Sterling Cooper junior staffers.

On Monday the staff listen to a radio broadcast reporting that an American Airline flight has crashed. Don orders their Mohawk ads be pulled. After making a joke about the crash, Pete learns that his father was on the flight.

Later in Cooper’s office, Duck suggests Sterling Cooper drop Mohawk to better position the firm to pitch for American Airlines, which is trying to save its image.

Elsewhere Peggy goes to visit her mother and sister. Peggy’s mother tries to convince her to go to church. As Peggy prepares to leave she briefly peeks in on a blond-haired blue-eyed baby.

The next Sunday, Peggy attends Mass. At communion time her sister hands Peggy the baby, who starts to cry. Peggy bounces the boy on her knee but he continues to cry.

Source: SBS press release

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