"Pictues of Matchstick Men" by Status Quo

This week I have felt tired and worn out all week, so tonight I will leave you with one of my favourite songs. "Pictures of Matchstick Men" was the first single for legendary British band Status Quo. It also happened to be their first major hit. The song reached no. 7 on the British singles chart. Status Quo would go onto chart many more times in the United Kingdom, so many times that they hold the record for the most hits on the chart of any band there. Surprisingly enough, "Pictures of Matchstick Men" would be their only hit in the United States, reaching no. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Late Great June Foray

June Foray, the legendary voice artist who provided the voice for such characters as Rocky J. Squirrel in the Rocky and Bullwinkle franchise, both Granny (originally voiced by Bea Benaderet) and Witch Hazel (also originally voiced by Bea Benaderet) and many other characters in Warner Bros. cartoons, the cat Lucifer in the Disney classic Cinderella, and many other cartoon characters, died yesterday at the age of 99.

June Foray was born June Lucille Forer on September 18 1917 in Springfield, Massachusetts. She made her radio debut in Springfield when she was only 12 years old. By the time that she was 15 years old she was regularly doing voice work in radio. Her family moved to Los Angeles two years after Miss Foray graduated from high school. It was not long before she had her own radio show, Lady Make Believe, which she not only hosted, but also wrote as well. June Foray worked extensively in radio. From 1944 to 1952 she provided the voices for Midnight the Cat and Old Grannie on The Buster Brown Program. From 1945 to 1947 she provided various voices for Smile Time. She was also regularly provided voices for The Jimmy Durante Show, CBS Radio Workshop, and The Stan Freberg Show. Her career in radio would continue after the age of Old Time Radio ended. She guest starred on Sears Radio Theatre in 1979 and then Adventures in Odyssey in 2007.

June Foray made her film debut in the Walter Lantz animated short "The Egg Cracker Suite' as the voice of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1943. She first worked for Warner Bros. on the short "The Unbearable Bear", providing various voices. She was also the voice of a cigarette girl in Tex Avery's classic MGM short "Red Hot Riding Hood" (1943). In addition to various shorts in the late Forties, Miss Foray also provided the voice of Lucifer the cat in the classic Disney film Cinderella (1950).


It was in the late Fifties that June Foray first provided the voice for Rocket J. Squirrel, better known simply as "Rocky". In 1959 the Jay Ward Productions TV show Rocky and His Friends debuted on ABC. It ran on ABC until 1961, whereupon it moved to NBC and was retitled The Bullwinkle Show. On NBC it ran for a single season in primetime before being moved elsewhere on the schedule. NBC cancelled the show in 1964, but it ran in reruns on various networks until 1973. June Foray would voice Rocky in various revivals of Rocky and Bullwinkle, as well as TV commercials and the 2000 feature The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. In addition to Rocky, June Foray also voiced Rocky and Bullwinkle's archenemy Natasha Fatale on the show, as well as Nell Fenwick in the Dudley Do-Right segments.

In addition to her work on Rocky and Bullwinkle, June Foray did other work on television in the Fifties. She provided voices for the animated series as The Woody Woodpecker Show, The Huckleberry Hound Show, and Mister Magoo. She also provided incidental voices for live action shows, including that of a dog on I Love Lucy, an operator on Father Knows Best, an operator on The Jack Benny Program, and the voice of a dummy on Johnny Staccato, as well a voice for Rawhide.  Miss Foray also made a rare appearance in front of the camera on television in the Fifties, appearing on The Ray Milland Show: Meet Mr. McNulty. As might expected, June Foray continued to provide voices for theatrical animated shorts. She first voiced Granny in the Bugs Bunny short "This is a Life" (1955). She first voiced Waner Bros.' Witch Hazel in the Bugs Bunny short "Broom-Stick Bunny" (1956).  In addition to her work with Warner Bros., she also provided voices for shorts produced by MGM, Walt Disney Productions, Walter Lantz, and  Hanna-Barbera Productions. Miss Foray also provided voices for animated features, including Disney's Peter Pan (1953) and the English dub of The Snow Queen (1955). She made a rare live action appearance in the feature film Sabaka (1954). She also provided incidental voices for live-action feature films, including Susan Slept Here (1954) and It's Always Fair Weather (1955).

In the Sixties June Foray continued to provide the voice of Rocky J. Squirrel. She also provided voices for other animated TV shows, including The Alvin Show, Calvin and the Colonel, George of the Jungle, Off to See the Wizard, Here Comes the Grump, and The Pink Panther Show. She provided voices for the Beetle Bailey and Krazy Kat television animated shorts. She also provided incidental voices for live action TV shows, the most famous perhaps being Talky Tina in the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll". She also provided voices for such live action shows as The Red Skelton Show, Gilligan's Island, 12 O' Clock High, Bewitched, It's About Time, Lost in Space, The Brady Bunch, and Get Smart. She made a rare live action appearance on Green Acres. She provided the voice of Cindy Lou Who in the classic TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the Rankin/Bass special Mouse on the Mayflower, Frosty the Snowman, and The Pogo Special Birthday Special. She continued to provide voices for theatrical animated shorts, as well as voices for the animated feature The Phantom Tollbooth (1970).

In the Seventies June Foray provided voices for the children's show The Curiosity Shop and the animated shows These Are the Days, The Pink Panther Laugh and a Half Hour and a Half Show, and Heathcliff. She provided voices for several TV specials, including The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't, The Cricket in Times Square, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and Mowgli's Brothers. She continued to provide voices for animated shorts.

 In the Eighties June Foray regularly provided voices for various Saturday morning cartoons. She was the voice of Aunt May on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, the voice of Jokey Smurf on The Smurfs, Grandma on Teen Wolf, Grandma Cavemom on The Flintstone Kids, and both Ma Beagle and Magica De Spell on DuckTales. She provided additional voices on such cartoons as The Incredible Hulk, Saturday Supercade, and Alvin & the Chipmunks. Miss Foray was a guest voice on The Simpsons. She also provided voices for animated television specials, including Faeries, Happily Ever After, and others. June Foray made a live action appearance as herself on the sitcom The Duck Factory. She continued to work in movie shorts, and provided voices for the feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

In the Nineties Miss Foray again worked on several animated television cartoons. She was the voice of Grammi Gummi on The Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Granny on Tiny Toon Adventures, Martha Wilson on The All-New Dennis the Menace, and Granny on The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries. She provided additional voices for yet other television cartoons. She also provided voices on episodes of the live action sitcoms Married...With Children and Weird Science. She provided voices for the feature films Thumbelina (1994), Space Jam (1996), Mulan (1998), and The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000). She also continued to provide voices for animated shorts.

In the Naughts June Foray provided the voice of Granny on the animated series Baby Looney Tunes. She made a voice cameo as Rocky on Family Guy. She was also a guest voice on such animated shows as The Powerpuff Girls, Duck Dodgers, and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. She was the voice of Granny in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Grandmother Fa in Mulan II (2004), and Mama Sasquatch in The Legend of Sasquatch (2006). She continued to provide voices for animated shorts.

In the Teens Miss Foray was the voice of Granny on The Looney Tunes Show. She was a guest voice on The Garfield Show. She continued to do voices for animated shorts. Fittingly, her last credit was as Rocky in the animated short "Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2014).

June Foray also provided voices for video games related to Warner Bros. cartoons and DuckTales, as well as the video game Lego Island. In the 1940s she recorded children's records for Capitol Records and in the Fifties she recorded comedy records with fellow voice artist Stan Freberg.  Miss Foray was also the original voice of Mattel's highly popular talking doll Chatty Cathy in the Sixties.

In additional to being the industry's foremost female voice artist, June Foray was one of animation's biggest champions. She was an early member of ASIFA-Hollywood (a branch of Association Internationale du Film d'Animation or the International Animated Film Association). As part of ASIFA-Hollywood, Miss Foray founded the Annie Awards, annual American awards for accomplishments in animation. She was also instrumental in the creation of an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Legendary animator Chuck Jones once said, , "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc, Mel Blanc was the male June Foray." Mr. Jones's quote shows just how good Miss Foray was as a voice artist. If she was not the greatest voice artist of all time, then she certainly numbered among them. Over the years she certainly voiced a wide variety of voices. She could do "little girl" voices, as she did with Talky Tina in the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll" and Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. She could also do old lady voices, the most famous of which was Granny in Warner Bros.' "Sylvester and Tweety" shorts. Miss Foray could even do the voices of young males. In fact, what may be her most famous character was male, Rocket J. Squirrel in the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" franchise. Over the years June Foray provided voices for an amazing array of characters, from Warner Bros.' Witch Hazel to Jokey Smurf.

Of course, June Foray wasn't simply a great voice artist. She was also one of animation's foremost champions. As noted above, she was one of ASIFA-Hollywood's earliest members and it was she who came up with the idea for the Annie Awards. As might be expected, June Foray had a legion of fans, some of them quite famous. When movie critic Leonard Maltin attended the 2007 Oscar nominees luncheon, he asked legendary director Martin Scorsese whom he was most excited to meet. Mr. Scorsese's response was "June Foray." Those fans who were fortunate enough to meet June Foray always came away with fond memories of her. Fans who met her always said the same things about her. She was a woman of class, a true lady, and one of the nicest people one could ever meet. Miss Foray leaves behind a legacy in animation that might never be matched. What is more, she was a truly great lady.

Deborah Watling R.I.P.

Deborah Watling, an actress perhaps best known for playing The Doctor's companion Victoria Waterfield on Doctor Who, died on July 21 2017 at the age of 69. The cause was lung cancer.

Deborah Watling was born on January 2 1948 in London. Her parents were actors Jack Wilding and Patricia Hicks. Her half-sister Dilys, her brother Giles, and her sister Nicky also went into acting. Deborah Watling grew up in Epping, Essex until the family moved to Alderton Hall in Loughton, Essex. She attended various schools and considered becoming a dentist until she found out how many exams would be required to do so. She then enrolled at the Italia Conti stage school.

Miss Watling made her television debut in 1958 as a regular on the TV show The Invisible Man. She played Sally Wilson, the niece of Peter Brady (the invisible man of the title). She was also a regular on the comedy A Life of Bliss. She guest starred on the TV shows William Tell and The Wednesday Play.

It was in 1967 that she began playing Victoria Waterfield, one of the companions of the Second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton) on Doctor Who. Deborah Watling appeared in 40 episodes of the series, and left the show in 1968. Sadly, because of BBC's policy wiping programmes at the time,  "The Tomb of the Cybermen" and "The Enemy of the World" are the only serials in which she appeared that have survived. Miss Watling was later a regular on the drama The Newcomers alongside her father Jack Watling. She guest starred on the shows The Power Game, This Man Craig, Out of the Unknown, Horizon, and No Hiding Place.

In the Seventies Miss Waterfield had a recurring role on Danger UXB. She guest starred on such shows as Crimes of Passion, ITV Sunday Night Drama, Doctor in Charge, Arthur of the Britons, Rising Damp, and Lillie. She appeared in the films That'll Be the Day (1973) and Take Me High (1973).

In the Eighties she had a recurring role on The Jim Davidson Show. She later reprised her role as Victoria in Dimensions in Time (a charity crossover between Doctor Who and EastEnders), Downtime, a direct-to-video spinoff of Doctor Who, and various Doctor Who audio dramas. She appeared as herself in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary homage and spoof The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

Even though only two of the serials survive in which she appeared, it seems likely that Deborah Watling will always be remembered as Victoria on Doctor Who. Victoria was a somewhat naive, young orphan taken in by The Doctor. It was not unusual for her to scream when frightened, something which proved to be of use in the last serial in which she appeared. In Fury from the Deep, the sentient and malevolent seaweed can only be repulsed by loud, shrill noises, including Victoria's screams. Of course, Deborah Watling was much more than Victoria. On Danger UXB she played a character very far removed from the innocent Victoria--the nymphomaniac Norma. In Take Me High she actually got to perform a duet with Sir Cliff Richard in his final film. Deborah Watling may always be remembered as Victoria, she appeared on several other TV shows and in films. 

Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies by Kendra Bean & Anthony Uzarowski

I was fourteen years old when The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) made its television debut on the CBS Sunday Night Movie. The film starred Paul Newman as real life Western character Roy Bean, who worshipped legendary actress Lillie Langtry from afar. At the end of the film Miss Langtry visited the self-appointed judge's hometown of Langtry, Texas. I was immediately taken by the actress who played Lillie Langtry. The sequence only lasted a few minutes at most, but Lillie Langtry in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean made an impression on me. The actress playing Miss Langtry was none other than legendary screen goddess Ava Gardner, and I was far from the only teenage boy who had become smitten with her. At the time I would have been shocked to have learned that when the movie was released, Miss Gardner was less than a week shy of her 50th birthday.  In a career spanning around forty years, Ava Gardner became one of the most recognisable names in film. Unfortunately, she was more often recognised for her beauty or her tumultuous personal life than she was her talent as an actress.

Kendra Bean & Anthony Uzarowski have written a biography, Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies, that goes a long way to correcting the view of Miss Gardner as little more than a pretty face who married three times and had several affairs throughout her life. While previous biographies of Ava Gardner focused almost exclusively on her personal life (in particular, her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra), Kendra Bean & Anthony Uzarowski devote a very large part of the book to Miss Gardner's career. The end result is that those who may be unfamiliar with her work will learn that Ava Gardner was not simply a sex symbol--she was a talented actress who gave quite a few great performances in her career.

That is not to say that Kendra Bean & Anthony Uzarowski do not deal with Ava Gardner's personal life, but they go well beyond her marriages and her problems with drinking that have been the focus of earlier biographies. In reading Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies one gets a real sense of who Ava Gardner was. She was a beautiful woman who was well liked by nearly everyone who knew her, even as various scandals dominated newspaper headlines during certain periods of her life. Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies is a very sympathetic look at Ava Gardner's life and career, all the while insuring the reader knows that Miss Gardner was a flesh and blood human being who even had her own doubts about herself (particularly her acting talent).

Kendra Bean & Anthony Uzarowski's text is complimented by what may be the largest collection of photographs of Ava Gardner in any single book. The photographs range from studio publicity photos to photos taken behind the scenes of her movies to photos from her personal life. I had thought I had seen nearly every single photograph of Ava Gardner ever taken, but Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies featured many that I had never seen before. Here I must point out that Running Press did a wonderful job with Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies. It is an absolutely beautiful book, from its layout to its typography. The look of Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies compliments both its subject and Kendra Bean & Anthony Uzarowski's text perfectly.

Kendra Bean & Anthony Uzarowski did meticulous research in writing Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies and it shows. This not only included interviews with those who knew and worked with Miss Gardner, but also examining her personal papers and correspondence. Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies looks like a coffee table book, but it is actually one of the most in-depth biographies of a legendary star that I have ever read. If one is already a fan of Miss Gardner, Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies will be a most enjoyable read. If one is unfamiliar with Miss Gardner and wants to learn more about the actress and her career, I can say with some certainty that Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies is one of the first places one should start.

(Those who enjoy Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies might want to check out Kendra Bean's earlier book on Vivien Leigh, Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait)

(I want to thank Running Press for giving me the opportunity to review this book.)

Les Diaboliques (Diabolique to We English Speakers)

(This blog post is part of the 'Til Death Do Us Part Blogathon hosted by Cinemaven's Essays from the Couch)

When people think of influential horror thrillers directed by a master filmmaker, they are usually inclined to think of Alfred Hitchcock's classic Psycho (1960). Those who are a bit more knowledgeable about film history might also think of Michael Powell's classic Peeping Tom (1960). While both Psycho and Peeping Tom were very influential, however, years before either movie was released there was a French horror thriller directed by a master filmmaker that would be as influential as either of them. Les Diaboliques (1955) was directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, who had earlier directed such classics as Manon (1949) and Le salaire de la peur (1953--in English The Wages of Fear). The film was released in English speaking countries as Diabolique. Not only would it prove to be a hit throughout the English speaking world, but it would have an impact that is still felt to this day.

At the centre of Diabolique is a love triangle, although one that is certainly atypical. Michel Delassalle (played by Paul Meurisse) is a schoolmaster of a school outside Paris that is owned by his wife Christina (played by Véra Clouzot). Deslassalle is abusive towards Christina, even to the point of physical violence. Delassale is carrying on an affair with a teacher at the school, Nicole Horner (played by Simone Signoret), to whom he is also abusive. Rather than being jealous of each other, Delassalle's wife Christina and his mistress Nicole bond over their mutual hatred of Delassalle. It is not long before the two of them hatch a plot to kill him. From there on out I really cannot reveal anything without spoiling the movie for those who have not seen it. Indeed, Diabolique has twists that make the twist in Psycho look small in comparison. Because of this the closing credits included a title card that read, "Don't be devils! Don't ruin the interest your friends could take in this film. Don't tell them what you saw. Thank you, for them."

Diabolique was based on the novel Celle qui n'était plus by Boileau-Narcejac. Henri-Georges Clouzot claimed that none other than Alfred Hitchcock himself tried optioning Celle qui n'était, but was beat out by Mr. Couzot by a mere matter of hours. Whether true or not, Diabolique would certainly have a influence on Alfred Hitchcock, as well as other English language filmmakers (as will be addressed below). 

It was planned that Diabolique would be shot in only eight weeks. Ultimately it would take sixteen weeks. Things were not always pleasant on the set. Henri-Georges Clouzot and Simone Signoret were constantly at odds with each other. Véra Clouzot alternately found herself either arbitrating Mr. Clouzot and Miss Singoret's fights in an attempt to get them to make peace or egging both of them on. To make matters worse, Simone Signoret began rehearsals for a production of The Crucible twelve weeks into the shooting of Diabolique. She had to go straight from shooting Diabolique to rehearsing The Crucible and as a result got little sleep over the next four weeks. By the time Diabolique wrapped up production, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Simone Signoret, and Véra Clouzot were no longer speaking to each other. Strangely enough, Paul Meurisse, who played the villainous Michel, was the only actor who remained on good terms with both the director and his two leading ladies!

Les Diaboliques was released in France on January 29 1955. The film proved to be a major hit in France.  What is more remarkable is that it also proved to be a hit in the English speaking world, where foreign language films often do not do particularly well. When it was released in the United Kingdom it was often part of a double bill with a Hammer film, X the Unknown (1956). When it was released in the United States it was often part of a double bill with another Hammer film, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), the film that would start a string of Hammer Gothic horror movies that would last for nearly 20 years. 

Diabolique not only made a good deal of money in the United Kingdom and the United States, but it also received a good deal of critical acclaim. It won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Film. It also won a special Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Foreign Film. Curiously, despite its critical acclaim in the English speaking world, Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard of the influential publication Cahiers du cinema disliked the film and regarded such older filmmakers as Henri-Georges Clouzot as playing it safe. What they failed to realise is that in making Diabolique in many ways Mr. Clouzot produced something as risky, if not more so, than the films they would make. 

The success of Diabolique would not be lost on other filmmakers. It was the success of French thriller Diabolique in the United States that inspired William Castle to produce his own low budget horror movie. That movie would be Macabre (1958), the first of Mr. Castle's many horror movies produced on shoestring budgets. Jimmy Sangster, both a screenwriter and director for Hammer Films, referred to Diabolique as one of his favourite films of all time. It should then come as no surprise that Hammer's psychological thrillers often owe more to Diabolique than they do Psycho. This is particularly true of Hemmer's first psychological thriller Taste of Fear (1961). Unlike Hammer's Gothic horror movies, Hammer's psychological thrillers were shot in black and white and often on low budgets. Their plots often resembled Diabolique more so than some better known, English language thrillers.Some have even seen the influence of Diabolique on Alfred Hitchcock himself. This is certainly true of Psycho, down to the film's director asking its audiences not to reveal its twist ending, but some have even seen the influence of Diabolique on Vertigo. Precisely how I can't reveal because, well, of spoilers.

As to the reason for Diabolique's success, there can be little doubt that it was a unique film at the time of its release. Very few films before Diabolique had ever blended the horror and thriller genres the way it did. And while spouses killing spouses was a common trope even in 1955 (indeed, it would be the theme of many episodes of a show that debuted that year, Alfred Hitchcock Presents), Diabolique played with the trope in a way that no other film ever had before.  Quite simply, Diabolique took a common trope (spouses murdering spouses) and did in a such a way that was downright shocking at the time.

Ultimately the influence of Diabolique is still felt today. From Silence of the Lambs (1991) to Seven (1995), it is no longer unusual for movies to blend elements of horror movies and psychological thrillers. Diabolique was the film that started it all. 

Mad Men Yourself

Yesterday marked ten years since the debut of Mad Men. Of course, no history of Mad Men would be complete without mentioning "Mad Men Yourself". For those of you who might not be familiar with "Mad Men Yourself", it was essentially an avatar generator. Using "Mad Men Yourself" fans could create their very own Mad Men avatars, down to choosing Sixties-style clothing and accessories for those avatars. What is more, one could place one's avatars in various places, such as the offices of Sterling Cooper, the avatar's home, a bar, an airport, and so on.

"Mad Men Yourself" was launched in 2009 as part of the promotion for the third season of the show. It was created by the digital marketing company Deep Focus. The designs for the avatars for "Mad Men Yourself" were created by Dyna Moe, an illustrator and comedienne whose style draws  heavily upon the Sixties. "Mad Men Yourself" proved to be a hit upon its launch, with thousands of Mad Men fans (myself included) using it to design their own avatars. It received coverage in a good many news outlets, including AdWeek, Entertainment Weekly, In Style, People, The New York Post, NPR, TV Guide, The Washington Post, and many others. In 2011 "Mad Men Yourself" was nominated for the Webby Award for Interactive Advertising.

"Mad Men Yourself" would be updated every season, adding new styles of clothing to reflect the changing fashions of the Sixties. A good number of Mad Men fans then updated their avatars on a yearly basis and some even more often, changing their looks to reflect the current year in which the current season of Mad Men took place. Not surprisingly, many fans use their "Mad Men Yourself" avatars as their profile pictures on such social media sites as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and so on to this day. Sadly, "Mad Men Yourself" appears to no longer be available. I'm not sure when AMC shut it down, but it must not have been long after Mad Men's final episode in 2015.

I have to confess that I was one of those fans who updated his "Mad Men Yourself" avatar fairly often. Below are the "full body" pictures of my avatar. I have arranged them in chronological order, from the first to the last.

The 10th Anniversary of Mad Men

Anyone who gets to know me soon realises that the vast majority of my favourite shows were made before 1980. In fact, if I were to make a list of my top fifty favourite shows of all time, there would probably be only one show on the list that was made after the Seventies. What is more, it would likely rank in my top five. That show is Mad Men. It was ten years ago today, on July 19 2007, that Mad Men debuted on AMC.

For those of you are not familiar with the show, Mad Men was a drama that aired on AMC from 2007 to 2015. It was set in the Sixties around the advertising agency Sterling Cooper. It's chief protagonist was Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm), who began the show as the agency's creative director. Equally important to the show was Peggy Olson (played by Elisabeth Moss), who began as Don's secretary and eventually became a copywriter and still later head of creative. While arguably Don and Peggy were the show's central characters, Mad Men was truly an ensemble drama with a fairly large cast, including not only the employees of Sterling Cooper, but their wives, relatives, and lovers. The series spanned the whole of the Sixties, beginning in late 1959 and ending in 1970.

The origins of Mad Men go back to 1999 when the show's creator Matt Weiner was one of the writing staff on Ted Danson's sitcom Becker. It was at that time that he conceived a TV show set in the Sixties. To that end he spent his spare time doing extensive research on the Sixties, including the fashions, the decor, and even what people drank during the decade. It was in 2001 that he wrote a spec script for an advertising agency called Sterling Cooper at the close of the Fifties, a script that would eventually become the first episode of Mad Men, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes".

Matt Weiner's spec script drew no buyers, but it did get the attention of the creator and executive producer of HBO's critically acclaimed TV series The Sopranos, David Chase. Impressed with the script, Mr. Chase hired Mr. Weiner as a writer. It was only a matter of weeks after Matt Weiner had joined the writing staff of The Sopranos that David Chase recommended Matt Weiner's script for "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" to HBO's development department. HBO decided that they would only make Mad Men if David Chase was an executive producer. At the time Mr. Chase wanted to move away from weekly television shows, so he declined. Despite this, David Chase still admired the script and continued to promote it when he could.

It was in 2004 that Matt Weiner resubmitted "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" to HBO's development department. Once more HBO turned the show down. Afterwards Mr. Weiner's agent shopped Mad Men around to various cable outlets, including Showtime (who, like HBO, had been doing their own original series for some time), the USA Network (then best known for such "blue sky dramas' as Monk and Pscyh), and FX. FX had already produced three critically acclaimed shows: The Shield, Nip/Tuck, and Rescue Me. It should then come as no surprise that Matt Weiner actually got a meeting with FX's president Kevin Reilly. Unfortunately, FX wanted to make Mad Men only as a half-hour show.

It was Matt Weiner's manager's assistant who sent "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" to AMC. AMC had originated as American Movie Classics, a classic movie channel that existed in the days before Turner Classic Movies. It was in 2002 that the channel ceased to be a classic movie channel and began airing movies from all eras. AMC was not known for original scripted drama at the time. In fact, they had only produced one original scripted show in their history, the comedy Remember WENN, which had aired from 1996 to 1998. That having been said, since it had ceased being a classic movie channel, AMC was struggling.  Its vice president in charge of programming and production at the time, Rob Sorcher, decided that what AMC needed was its own signature show, much like HBO's The Sopranos. He hired Christina Wayne as the channel's new vice president in charge of scripted programming. Years before Miss Wayne had wanted to option the novel by Richard Yates, which dealt with suburban life in the mid-Fifties. She saw similarities between Revolutionary Road and Mad Men. In the end, AMC bought Mad Men.

Mad Men would turn out to be a very expensive show. The first episode alone cost $3.3 million. Unfortunately for AMC, the channel could find no partners to help finance the show. AMC ultimately wound up financing the pilot themselves. It proved to be the best investment they ever made. One the pilot was finished Lionsgate, who had turned down the pilot, agreed to partner on the show.

As strange as it might seem now, Mad Men was not a hit in the ratings. It debuted to a paltry 1.65 million viewers. That having been said, while its audience would never be very large, the audience for Mad Men did grow over time. Not only was the audience for Mad Men small, but it also tended to be older. Relatively few people in the 18-49 demographic desired by advertisers watched the show. The majority of Mad Men's viewers were over 50.

While Mad Men had a relatively small audience made mostly of older viewers, it also had a good deal of critical acclaim. The Television Critics Association named it the best show of 2007. The American Film Institute named it one of the ten best TV shows several years in a row. In the Writers Guild of America's list of the 101 best-written shows in the history of television, Mad Men ranked no. 7. Mad Men also won a tonne of awards. For its first season it won the Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, and was nominated for several more. It became the first drama on an advertising supported cable channel to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series (previous winners had either aired on broadcast networks or premium cable channels). Ultimately Mad Men would win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row. Through the years it also picked up Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (for Jon Hamm),  and yet others.

Here it must be pointed out that it would probably be a mistake to consider Mad Men simply another low rated, but critically acclaimed TV show. Mad Men may have had a relatively small audience, but it was one that is fiercely loyal to the show. Over the years Mad Men developed the sort of fans usually reserved only for genre shows like Star Trek and Dark Shadows. Several different books centred on Mad Men have been published, from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook to Sterling's Gold: Wit and Wisdom of an Ad Man--the memoirs of Roger Sterling. There is also a tonne of Mad Men merchandise for fans to buy, including coffee mugs, T-shirts, notebooks, pinback buttons, laptop skins, and even clothing lines.

Indeed, fans were so fiercely loyal to the show that many inserted themselves into the show after a fashion. Several fans created their own Twitter accounts for various characters, tweeting in character. Almost no character was overlooked, not even Betty Draper's fainting couch. The various Mad Men Twitter accounts would even roleplay various events, such as the Great Blackout of 1965 and a funeral for Lane Pryce.

In the end Mad Men would prove to be a very influential show. Here it must be pointed out that it did not begin the current Silver Age of American Television (I refuse to call it 'the Golden Age" as to me that was the Fifties). By the time Mad Men had debuted, HBO had already aired Six Feet Under and The Sopranos, while FX had already aired The Shield and Rescue Me. That having been said, it certainly proved that cable channels were capable of producing quality dramas at the same level as HBO. Indeed, as mentioned earlier,  it became the first ever drama on an advertising supported cable channel to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. In this way Mad Men insured that the Silver Age of Television would not be confined to HBO and Showtime.

Given its status as a quality TV show, Mad Men certainly put AMC on the map. After AMC abandoned classic movies in 2002 it was often in danger of being dropped by cable operators. Mad Men changed all of that. It made AMC the home of quality dramas. Without Mad Men, such shows as Breaking Bad, Hell on Wheels, The Walking Dead, and Preacher might never have aired. After Mad Men, AMC went from a channel that was always in danger of being dropped by cable operators to a must-have channel that could win carriage disputes based on its prestige and popularity alone.

Mad Men would have an impact in other ways as well. In the years since its debut there has been an increase in period pieces in television, some of which could be considered outright imitators of Mad Men. In 2011 alone the broadcast networks tried two: The Playboy Club on NBC and PanAm on ABC.  Since 2007 there have been such other period dramas as The Hour on BBC Two, The Americans on FX, Masters of Sex on Showtime, Manhattan on WGN America, The Astronaut Wives Club on ABC, Halt and Catch Fire on AMC, and yet others.

Mad Men would also have an impact beyond television. Because of the success of Mad Men, in the late Naughts and early Teens, various fashions from the Sixties would make a comeback. The slim Brooks Brothers suits, ties complete with tie bars, and even fedoras came back into fashion for a time. In the wake of Mad Men, men's retail sales actually went up. Brooks Brothers even came out with a "Mad Men Edition" suit. Women's fashions were affected as well, with bodycon dresses, pencil skirts, kitten heels, and pearls even making a comeback. For a brief time in the late Naughts and early Teens, people were actually well dressed again.

Of course, the question for many may be, "What is the appeal of Mad Men?" I am not sure that can ever be adequately answered. Speaking as someone who spent his first seven years in the Sixties, I have to say that much of it is probably nostalgia. The show is a look at a bygone era that many people remember with some fondness. As a Gen Xer I can watch Mad Men and recognise relics from my childhood, everything from the Kodak Carousel slide projector to Burger Chef to the movie Planet of the Apes. Even the aforementioned fashions bring back memories. It was a time when suits weren't only worn for formal occasions.

While much of the appeal of Mad Men is nostalgia, unlike many other shows, Mad Men does not idealise or romanticise its era. Smoking is rampant, with only a few characters never lighting up. Many of the characters drink too much, a fact that sometimes causes problems for them (such as Don Draper getting in an auto accident while driving drunk). Sexism is rampant. Husbands (especially Don Draper) often cheat on their wives and many of the secretaries are often treated as sex objects. Racism is also common place. Dawn Chambers (played by Teyonah Parris) was the first African American ever hired by Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and for a time the only African American working there. Michael Ginsberg (played by Ben Feldman) was the first Jew ever hired by Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and the only one to ever work there as long as Mad Men aired. Sadly, in the offices of Sterling Cooper, sexist attitudes and racist attitudes are all too common. It is one of the great things about Mad Men in that just as one is thinking that the Sixties would be a great time in which to live, there is something to remind him or her that it really wouldn't be.

Regardless of the nostalgia the show creates or its somewhat realistic portrayal of its era, I have to suspect that the primary appeal of Mad Men is that it was very much a character driven show. The majority of characters were complicated and three dimensional, to the point that any given viewer's reaction to those characters could be complex. There were generally those characters one would be expected to like. I have trouble seeing anyone disliking Peggy Olson, the earnest yet determined young woman who in the early days of the show served as the audience surrogate. There were also those characters one liked despite his or her better judgement. Let's face it, Don Draper drinks too much, womanises, can be dismissive, and has a sometimes volatile temper, yet he is so charming that most fans like him anyway. And then there are those characters that fans love to hate: Pete Campbell (played by Vincent Kartheiser), for whom the word "smarmy" may well have been invented and Lou Avery (played by Allan Havey), who is not only extremely old-fashioned, but apparently lacking in any talent as well. Finally, there are those characters I suspect that fans are meant to like, but many fans simply do not. An example of this is Megan Draper (played by Jessica Paré). Most of the characters on the show apparently liked Megan, yet it seems many fans (myself included) never did. I personally found her immature, entitled, passive aggressive, and annoying.

Indeed, the characters of Mad Men were so complicated that one's feeling for them could change over time. Initially I didn't care much for Joan (played by Christina Hendricks) because I thought she was a bit catty with the secretaries and mean to Peggy. Despite this, by the end of the second season she became and remained one of my favourite characters. My feelings for Betty (played by January Jones) were a bit more complicated. I started out basically liking her, only to grow to dislike her, and then to start liking her again towards the end. Of course, even when I disliked Betty, I could sympathise with her. She was an intelligent woman in a time when there were a few opportunities for intelligent women, and one who had been emotionally abused by her mother, spoiled by her father, and emotionally abused by her first husband (Don Draper). I could understand why Betty was the way she was.

Personally I think it is too soon for Mad Men to be termed a classic, but I have no doubt that eventually it will be. As mentioned above, it received a number of accolades and it is still regularly ranked in lists of the greatest shows of all time. It still has a loyal following, one that continues to grow as new fans discover it on Netflix and Hulu. While some other shows from the Silver Age of American Television might eventually be forgotten, I think Mad Men will continue to be popular even once the Sixties are a distant memory.

(for a slightly more personal post on Mad Men, see my post on the show's ending from 2015 here).