For the next two Sundays, we will be gifted with the premieres of two hotly anticipated new seasons of two of the best TV series on television. This Sunday, Game of Thrones Season 3 begins on HBO. The next Sunday (April 7), Mad Men’s Season 6 begins. I actually think Mad Men’s popularity is on the down-swing while GoT seems more popular than ever. We’ll see where GoT’s fan-boys and fan-girls are when their sixth season comes, because I’m beginning to feel like it’s only the die-hards left amongst Mad Men fanatics. Like, I’m a die-hard. I don’t have any qualms about admitting that. I will stick with Mad Men until the bitter end because I have a deep investment in Joan, Peggy, Sally and Don. I’d like to see what happens with Pete, Trudy, Roger and Betty too, but for me it’s all about the women and Don.
Anyway, I’ve been surprised by the lack of hoopla surrounding the return of Mad Men. AMC has been trying to parcel out some teasers, but there are no major interviews or magazine covers or anything, which seems weird. Mad Men’s Facebook page posted these Season 6 portraits of the main characters (no more Fat Betty!) and AMC released a completely boring and tedious teaser for the new season yesterday. All of these clips are from last season!
Terrible, isn’t it? So boring.
So let’s talk about the portraits! I have high hopes that Peggy/Elisabeth Moss will have a significant storyline this season because her Season 5 wasn’t all that awesome (except for when she quit, which was awesome). Look at Peggy’s Season 6 hair!! I love it. Don Draper looks good and stiff (cough). Megan looks super-annoying, per usual. And I’m really sorry to all of you who don’t like or “get” Roger Sterling but I LOVE HIM. As for Joan… I want her to go back to her maiden name! Joan Holloway is such a great name.
Here’s another teaser:
Photos courtesy of AMC/Facebook.
I can’t wait!!!!!!!!
I am so excited!
I think that anyone who is watching season 6 kind of has to be a die-hard by definition. I mean, who else is going to sit through 5 seasons if they aren’t a die-hard fan?
This is one of my favorite shows of all time. I LOVE they way they shoot things, how there is so much that is left unsaid. The read-between-the-lines style I find to be really powerful. My favorite moment from last season was the empty elevator shaft. What other show would spend 20 seconds on a shot that wasn’t a punchline, violence, or sex? They are so great with mood!
I am not a fan of the character Megan, and I think that is part of the reason that people aren’t as excited about this season. I think people just need to realize that Princess Megan has been set up for a fall. If you are into schadenfreude, and you don’t like Megan, I think this will be a good season for you! 🙂
Me too! Roger is one of my favourite characters along with Sally.
Yep I’ll watch it.
I am still disappointed for Megan, who’s still here and Layne Price isn’t anymore. And I feel like Don, at a certain point, will be back with Betty.
I am glad to see they finally have fixed Peggy’s hair!!
Oh and I totally want to see more Sally.
Bleuuurgh I haaaated Lane Pryce. Glad he is gone! His voice was utterly ridiculous
While the entire “Britishness” of his old firm was downright idiotic (Weiner is clueless about everything non-American) I did think that Lane’s voice was very mid-century finishing school–people did take on different affectations back then, on both sides of the pond.
I actually disagree, I think Weiner and company got a lot of the British things correct. I’m talking about when they were first introduced back in season 3. Their coldness, passive aggressiveness, etc.
Yeah, pf, but he also made them downright cartoonish.
With regard to Megan…
Keep in mind that in drama, characters are built up to be brought down. I think Don is going to break her heart, and it will be ugly. And dramatic. And dirty. 😉
This is the final season too right? I’m so anxious to get it back. More Peggy less Meghan!
Nope…MM is going through 8 seasons so this one will be all set up to the finale next year.
Peggy! Sally!
Wow, they managed to make Betty look old.
I look forward to this!
I’m a die-hard fan, but I’m less enthusiastic about this season than past seasons. It could be because I’m finishing up grad school and totally stressed and distracted. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Mad Men. But I also think the writers got away from what is so great about the show by focusing too much on Megan. I need to see more of Joan and Peggy…and Don without Megan. I hope you’re right about Peggy/Elizabeth Moss. Would love to see more of her. Mr. Nanz is reading the new $cientology book (and is a MM fan). When I told him Peggy was a Xenu-lover, he was sooooo disappointed. It gives me the sads every time I think of her being sucked in by that cult. Anywyay, back to Mad Men – can’t wait to see Joan, Peggy, and Don again. Also love Roger Sterling. I’ll stop rambling now.
I did not know that about her. Disappointing!
I’m there till the bitter end!
“We’ll see where GoT’s fan-boys and fan-girls are when their sixth season comes…”
There’s a difference between that and Mad Men though–‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ is a book series. You can read ahead and see what is going to happen. I read the books back in the early 2000s (minus the ones that came out afterwards obviously, god I sound like a hipster.) so for me it’s, “How well do they do xyz?” is why I tune in.
I keep meaning to watch (well, finish) Mad Men and then I get distracted by ‘Eureka’ on Netflix. Completely different show but it’s adorable. I’m pretty sure I’ll watch it one day.
They’re probably going to do some big extravaganza next season when the show ends.
I’ll be there till the bitter end and for all the reruns. As for the trailer – they have always been spoiler-free, so I’m not disappointed. Can’t wait.
I’m a die-hard fan and there until its dead and buried.
I just started watching season 1 about 1/2 way through…love it! What a awesome show I love when Betty shot at the pigeons that was freakin great! Lol!
Yay, glad you are watching. And I have watched from the beginning, but I have recently been catching up on shows like you are with this. (Just watched the first 2 seasons of Downton Abbey as the 3rd season began) I LOVE doing that! I love having more episodes for whenever I want to watch, good tv is one of my favorite things.
Last summer before season 5 started I re watched it all on Netflix and it was a glorious 2 weeks of my life! Time well spent and I really enjoyed seeing everything again and fully understanding Don and Joan and Peggy. Then during season 5 I was totally engrossed and would watch every ep twice and listen to podcasts and get into discussions online. I loved it!
Diehard fan here too, til the bitter end. And unfortunately, I think the end will be bitter!
I was completely mesmerized by this show from the beginning.
Never realized how much I love seeing stuff set in the past.
I ♥ ♥ ♥ Roger too! He is awesome!
So love Sally too. I hope she has a lot of scenes this season.
I love this show and can’t wait for the premire. I love that pictur of Don and Megan in the office but I hate the picture of Megan alone. She confuses me! Sometimes so pretty and other times so not!
Am I the only person who finds Peggy SUPER annoying? I like her professional storylines, but as a person she is just so eyeroll.
Could be the Xenu influence.
HAHA, You know, it might just be.
Yes, that’s exactly what I feel about her too. I can’t stand her personal scenes also because she comes across annoying so I fastforward through them. She’s fine in the professional scenes.
I’m STILL laughing about Harry Crane from that “teaser” video. Of course he’d be all decked out in the best that the late sixties had to offer. Same with Megan and her Valley of the Dolls realness there.
I’m not enjoying the Don/Megan plotline as much as Weiner is. I like Megan just fine, but the show spent too much time on it when it’s the periphery characters who make the show. That being said, oh yeah, I’ll still be watching it anyways.
Weirdly, I’m getting “The Master”-vibes from Hamm’s portrait (or Don’s, I guess).
I’m strangely attracted to Pete Campbell. He looks so delciously smarmy in that picture.
It’s the shaved hairline for his balding character of Pete Campbell that I find ever so compelling!
Pete gets everything he wants, and it’s never enough…a damning portrait of consumer culture. The themes of Mad Man remind me of everything I love about classic literature as they are universally enduring.
I love Mad Men and along with True Blood are the only 2 dramas on t.v I watch.I can’t wait for it to come back.I really think this season is going to be amazing because I think Don is going to start cheating again and it will be fun to see how Megan deals with that.And I think they’re going to really address racism and integration alot more deeply.I would love to see Don’s secretary Dawn get a storyline too.
I’m excited! 😀
Hamm looks like a dork in his red carpet photos but in his Don role… those eyes… damn.
Roger is the hottest! Megan, pleeease die. Love all the cast except, well, you know.
I’ll watch, but I’m more anxious for the season finale of The Walking Dead. I am super worried about Hershel!!
Me too!!!! With the whole storyline of Glen and Maggie making up and him proposing I really think that the last of her family will be killed. I think either Beth or Herschel are gonna bite the big one. It’s funny because I didn’t like his character at first but I LOVED him by the end of last season.
Love Mad Men. I hate to see it end. It was about to get fun with Sally entering her teen years. All the shows I like have/are going away – Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Fringe, Merlin, Spartacus, The Big C…
There’s not much left that we watch – Dexter is ending soon, and I’m hoping Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead don’t go away next.
If the die hard fans are the only ones still watching, I’m kind of ok with that. I was a little annoyed at how Mad Men became the “it” show. I dunno, I get stingy with my stuff lol.
Die Hard & addicted. I only started watching last season after getting the previous seasons for Xmas but I love this show and I’m there forever and ever!
Can’t wait. Long live the Hammaconda. I’ll look for it in every episode.
I’ve seen a lot of talk and photos about it. Can’t picture anyone who watched this long not coming back to see season 6, especially after 5 was pretty good (despite some of the stupid Megan stuff).
Mad Men has gone from thought provoking to pretentious, but the trailer brought back some memories so think I might just watch it after all, was planning to give this a miss…
Die-hard fan. Will hang on till the end. The show is a great social commentary. I’m not as annoyed with Megan as everyone else is. She is a contrast to the 50’s Betty, whereas Don is the same. It’s interesting to see Don between Betty and Megan. I can’t wait for the season to begin and next up is Breaking Bad. Sadly all these shows are ending.
Pete and Roger are my favorites.
I for sure will watch. I think part of the problem with the hoopla dying down is that they waited too long between seasons. People have short attention spans in this day and age.
Kaiser, I agree about Roger. The screen pops when he is on.
I don’t care for Megan all that much but I think she’s there to compare and contrast her to Betty. Megan is living the life that Betty wanted to live (she was a model when she met Don) but she gave it up to move to the ‘burbs and do the family thing with Don. I don’t think it ever says if that’s what he wanted or if they both just thought that’s what the “should” do as a successful married couple. It will be interesting to see if Betty and Don discover that they actually want the same things and reconcile.
More Joan, sally and peggy! I love sally on suri’s burn book. so cute!
And Trudy, I love her.
Ugh, why do I always have to be the only one who hates Joan?
You’re not. She bugs.
GORGEOUS. Sally Draper is turning into a beautiful young woman (watch out Don). Betty is beautiful. Megan looks great. And love Peggy’s hair I REALLY HOPE TO SEE MORE OF HER. Joan as always is too drop dead gorgeous for words. I LOVE HER.
I think part of the lack of excitement is the Netflix viewership quotient. I just got an email in my box that said Season 5 is FINALLY streaming. I’ve been trying to avoid reading anything about Mad Men for the past two flippin’ years!
I went back and watched the first season again and I honestly enjoyed how much they showed Betty and the life of the women (wives), as well.
They really did the show a disservice with Megan and I hope we’ll see more of Betty again, besides just the normal grumpface cameos we’ve recently been blessed with.
Also? MORE TRUDY AND PETE CAMPBELL, please. Can’t get enough of those two.
I don’t think it’s fair to compare Mad Men’s and GOT’s audience size. GOT had a built in fan base from the books and it was massive from the get go. MM has always had a small but very loyal following and still has plenty of buzz.
What? Who doesn’t like Roger Sterling? He has all the funniest lines (or makes them the funniest) and the episode John Slattery directed was very witty, too (Peggy looking over the partition wall in the office).
I am die hard, too. I’m actually going to upgrade my cable to get the show when it starts. Even when the show irritates me, I love it. It’s one of the few shows with recognizable and somewhat aspirational intelligent (if tormented) adults. I’ve had it with the sub-Reality Bites whiny hipster shows — I get enough of that in my daily life.