You know you’ve truly reached icon status when Sesame Street makes you the target of its youngster-appropriate satire. Such is the case with Mad Men, who, thanks to the seminal PBS show, now has its very own Don Draper muppet. And not to do a cheesy play on words or anything, but he’s quite dapper as well. Even if he does slip on a banana peel in the opening sequence. He still does it with aplomb.
With all the smoking, drinking, sex and lies on Mad Men, you’d think it wouldn’t exactly be kid-friendly.
To a tiny extent, you’d think wrong.
The Emmy-winning AMC show is getting the Sesame Street treatment on fictional network EMC (E is for emotional). That’s right, Jon Hamm’s Don Draper dons a felt suit.
The mysterious ad hero is hard at work coming up with a campaign for the Happy Honeybear account. He’s working with two “sycophants,” but we’re not quite sure which one is supposed to be smarmy Pete Campbell and which one represents Sal Romano.
Together, they get mad, they get sad and then, like us watching this clip, they get happy.
[From E! News]
The Sesame Street folks really nailed how obnoxious and suck-uppy all of the guys are to Don. I’m not quite sure why they’re wearing hats and coats inside, but I’ll let that one slide. And I’ve got to be honest, though once in a while Don busts out an emotion, it’s surprising when it happens. It’d be nice if he were always as clear with what he’s thinking as muppet Don. Mad/sad/happy. We see the mad and sad a lot, but I think we normally only see the happy when Don’s going to town on some woman that’s not his wife. Probably best Sesame Street left that one alone.
That’s really cute! I don’t think kids will really get it though. I think they did this for the parents.
Soooo cute. I thought it was a great way of getting kids to understand simple emotions and how people express them. The bear is sad because he’s crying, the bear is happy because he’s smiling, the bear is mad because the raccoons have run off with his honey.
Of course, the adults watching are cracking up at the reference and the “sycophants” bit which literally made me laugh out loud.
I adore Sesame Street so very much; I loved it as a child and still love it now.
Mad Men is inappropriate for children, they should not have done this, period.
Oh lord !, get over yourself. This is funny. Its not the real “Mad Men” you know. When the Guy Smiley reincarnated muppet lights up, then you got a legitimate beef.
Get over YOURSELF. Who the fuck are you to tell me to do anything? Mad Men is misogynistic and I’d rather it not taint children’s programming, thanks. If its for adults, then leave it to adults.
Love it! 😀
@! It’s not like they took the plot from Mad Men and plugged it in. It’s just using mad-sad-happy. Watch some Sesame Street from the 70/80/90’s, and they do the same thing. Making kid’s entertainment appropriate for that age group, and then doing a slight wink to the parents that no kids are going to get. Actually most successful kid’s entertainment has that aspect.
But hey, if you don’t like it and think it’s not appropriate, you can always not watch Sesame Street. ‘Sup to you. Good luck with that if you have a 5 year old though. 🙂
!: Lighten the fuck up, geez…I have a 7 year old kid and she has no idea what the hell Mad Men is, but she saw the You Tube clip right now and found it cute. And with regards to Mad Men being misogynistic, HELLO, it’s a SHOW, and a lot of the attitudes in the 60’s were surprise, surprise, MISOGYNISTIC. I’m completely with Delilah on this one.
I worked for Jim Henson studios throughout college, and the people that worked there were by far some of the most off-beat, funniest people I’ve ever met– average age about 35, with that Gen X sense of irony. They loved working at Sesame Street because it’s what they grew up on, but they were savvy enough to know that kids today grow up on far different subject matter. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that they’d come up with this.
“Get over YOURSELF. Who the fuck are you to tell me to do anything? Mad Men is misogynistic and I’d rather it not taint children’s programming, thanks. If its for adults, then leave it to adults. ”
Er– wow. I won’t bash your opinion, but for someone saying that a show is a bad influence on children, you’re not exactly using kid-friendly language yourself.
“Hi-ho, Kermit the Madman here.”
Mad Men is inappropriate for children, they should not have done this, period.
I’m sure there are a lot of savvy six year olds out there who will understand what TV show they are referencing. 🙄 Sometimes kids’ shows will toss out something for the adults who are (hopefully) watching the TV show and interacting with their children to help them learn.
Thanks for posting this. Jon Hamm must feel so honored!
Yeah, I think this was using the title of the show for a skit for kids about emotions… mad-sad-happy. (As well as hinting about the manipulative potential of advertising, which is important to talk to kids about.)
But the skit is for adults with the making fun of the underlings’ smooching Don’s behind. (Which of the puppets is Pete, do you think?) Proved by the Don puppet using the word “sycophantic” (behind-smooching) at the end — hardly a word for toddlers!
@i what show are you watching? Mad Men is not at all misogynistic. It does at times highlight the misogynistic views of most men during that time period. However, in doing so it clearly illustrates the struggles that many women were facing. The women (Betty, Joan, and Peggy) are in many ways the heroes of this show. They provide Mad Men with much of its heart and moral compass.
Loved it. Mad Men is really funny.