Mad Men Season 3

[Cruikshank]

Lucky Strike may not be their biggest client by the time season 4 begins. I believe it was sometime around the mid to late '60s when the federal government outlawed cigarette ads on television and the way they were marketed took a radical change.

[Phil]

Neat thought, but I don't think it will impact the immediate future:

In June 1967, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that programs broadcast on a television station that discussed smoking and health were insufficient to offset the effects of paid advertisements that were broadcast for five to ten minutes each day. "We hold that the fairness doctrine is applicable to such advertisements," the Commission said. The FCC decision, upheld by the courts, essentially required television stations to air anti-smoking advertisements at no cost to the organizations providing such advertisements.

In April 1970, Congress passed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act banning the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio starting on January 2, 1971. [2] The Virginia Slims brand was the last commercial shown, with "a 60-second revue from flapper to Female Lib", shown at 11:59 p.m. on January 1 during a break on The Tonight Show.[32]

Smokeless tobacco ads, on the other hand, remained on the air until a ban took effect on August 28, 1986.[33]

[Parker]

Originally Posted by Phil

Neat thought, but I don't think it will impact the immediate future:

Heh, well that all depends on how big of a jump they take, I guess. Considering they've already taken huge risks with this season finale, I doubt they'd abandon the 60's all together by the start of season 4. Although you never know.

About the jump: every season so far has climaxed in parallel with a major event in the Kennedy administration. Do you guys think it'll keep that going with Johnson? Nixon? Bobby Kennedy? The Civil Rights movement? Or do you think that structure is somewhat abandoned?

[stelios]

I didn't want to believe this was the season finale. If always leaving the audience wanting more is a basic guideline for show business, I guess this has to be one of the most effective hours of TV ever.

And I'll be damned if it wasn't Don fucking Draper himself coming out of the bedroom in the scene before last. The real one, well at least as close as possible.

[Sharpel007]

F'ing solid top to bottom, but Don getting in to bed with Sally hit me the hardest.

The Roger line about LBJ had me laughing for about 3 minutes.

Harry Crane better count his blessings and man up.

[EdHocken]

Originally Posted by Cruikshank

Lucky Strike may not be their biggest client by the time season 4 begins. I believe it was sometime around the mid to late '60s when the federal government outlawed cigarette ads on television and the way they were marketed took a radical change.

I'd be curious as to when Marlboro becomes the premier brand.

As for the Kennedys, there's Bobby's senate run but that's a stretch.

[Jason P. Thompson]

What I really liked about this last episode that it had a very "fun" vibe to it. This season was particularly... depressing in various ways. (But that's Mad Men for you.) It was nice to see most of the characters get their way (for the most part) and stick it to everyone else.

Love the injection of "new blood" for next season even though the characters are all the same.

[Fafhrd]

One thing that didn't occur to me until a while after: Pete got Clearasil back as an account. Does that mean he's finally agreed to adopt a kid with Trudy (also explaining how involved Trudy became almost instantly)? Assuming he's a junior partner in the new firm, that level of being his own man might have freed him from the shackles of his mother's threats to disown him if he adopts.

[Will Kane]

Originally Posted by Fafhrd

One thing that didn't occur to me until a while after: Pete got Clearasil back as an account. Does that mean he's finally agreed to adopt a kid with Trudy (also explaining how involved Trudy became almost instantly)? Assuming he's a junior partner in the new firm, that level of being his own man might have freed him from the shackles of his mother's threats to disown him if he adopts.

I would think that if Pete agreed to adopt a child, we would see that on-camera. There would be some mention of it, it wouldn't be something we would have to assume/speculate about. I think he got Clearasil because his wife was impressed with the way he was thought of by Roger & Don and how he was handling things, so she talked to daddy and he decided to go with Pete.

I bet that's a deleted scene on the DVD---Pete on the phone with his father-in-law.

[Will Kane]

Originally Posted by Jason P. Thompson

What I really liked about this last episode that it had a very "fun" vibe to it. This season was particularly... depressing in various ways. (But that's Mad Men for you.) It was nice to see most of the characters get their way (for the most part) and stick it to everyone else.

Love the injection of "new blood" for next season even though the characters are all the same.

Yes, I agree, the fun vibe of it all made the episode that much better. Alan Sepinwall mentioned in his blog (must reading for any fan of the show) that the soft jazz helped make the episode feel like a caper movie and he's 100% right. It reminded me so much of a big bank heist film where a couple guys are going around recruiting their crew to pull the job. Kudos to Weiner & staff for giving a fun & light feeling to an episode where the Draper family falls apart.

ETA: Sepinwall's blog, where he covers numerous TV shows: What's Alan Watching

[Bitches Leave]

I didn't even realize this was the final episode but holy hell what an ending. Probably my favorite one yet. This will test my patience for sure.

"No it's your birthday, congratulations"

[Mangy]

Mad Men S3 Post-Mortem Interview with Matthew Weiner.

My intention from the beginning of the season was to accentuate the corporate nonsense that is unrelated to work: the acquisition by the British, which was done for money… and the fact that the British company acquired them with no understanding of why they were doing it… I felt that Don Draper would get sucked into this thing because he wanted his whole life to be that guy in the suit… in the end, the work is what mattered. That firm was not fully taking advantage of Don’s talent… if we believe that Don is as good at what he does as he says… he could not continue working in the place. And to me, that meant him being in a new place and the rest of that was working backward from there.