The Psychology of Betty Draper Francis

If there is one character on Mad Men that almost everyone loves to hate, it is Betty Draper Francis (January Jones), ex-wife of advertising account executive Don Draper and current wife of political advisor Henry Francis. She has been described as "self-absorbed," "emotionally immature," "petulant," "abusive," and even "psychotic," and that is just a short list of the more polite terms used of her. A Google search for "Betty Draper" or "Betty Francis" reveals that she could easily be the most disliked character on Mad Men (even more than Pete Campbell).

I must admit that there was a point where I outright hated Betty.  At times Betty seemed wholly indifferent or even hostile to her children. She was constantly telling them to, more often than not yelling at them to, "go watch TV," "go outside," and "go upstairs." Betty could also be verbally abusive to her children, a situation that increased as the seasons of Mad Men passed. She once famously told Bobby, "Go bang your head against the wall." While that comment Betty made to Bobby might seem shocking, most of her vitriol is reserved for her daughter Sally. Betty once told her friend Francine Hanson that Sally looked fat. One has to wonder that she hasn't said the exact same thing to her daughter. After Sally is caught touching herself while watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E. at a friend's slumber party, Betty threatens to cut Sally's fingers off.

Worse yet, by the fourth season of Mad Men it appears that Betty is even being physically abusive towards Sally. When Sally cuts her hair because she wants to look beautiful (something most parents would laugh about), Betty responds by slapping her daughter across the face. After Betty catches Sally smoking with neighbour boy Glen Bishop, she locks her daughter in a closet as punishment. When Betty and her new husband Henry Francis have Thanksgiving dinner at the in laws, Betty forces Sally to eat sweet potatoes, even though Sally dislikes sweet potatoes. Henry's mother, overbearing though she may be, makes an observation many probably have but never spoken aloud--Betty's children are terrified of her.  Even in the Sixties, when spanking was still widely accepted as a punishment for children, slapping a child across the face (especially for something so minor as cutting his or her hair) or locking them in a closet would have been considered abuse.

Not only does Betty treat her children poorly, but she is not much better to the adults around her. Oh, I think most people can forgive her for yelling at Don given his treatment of her, but it seems more often than not Betty's wrath is reserved for people who are good deal nicer to her. Betty's treatment of the Drapers' housekeeper Carla is often unforgivable (Carla continued to work for Betty after Betty had divorced Don and married Henry Francis before being fired). Indeed, it goes much further than Betty ordering Carla around as if she were more a slave than the hired help. When Carla allowed Glen Bishop to say goodbye to Sally, Betty fired her, even though Carla had kept the Draper house for years and had more or less raised the Draper children. Worse yet, Betty does not even give Carla a written reference, something for which she must go to Henry (who is justifiably disgusted by his wife's behaviour). Of course, Henry is also the victim of Betty's vitriol more often than not. Despite the fact that he is much more emotionally accessible than Don ever was, despite the fact that he has never cheated on her as Don has, despite the fact that he is not verbally abusive as Don sometimes was, Betty treats Henry worse in many ways than she did Don. Sadly, while Henry does stand his ground with Betty many times, there are many other times that he simply stands there and takes it.

Given Betty's behaviour, particularly as the seasons of Mad Men passed, it should be no surprise why many have treated her as a bad mother, if not an outright monster. Now it is true that there are other characters on Mad Men who are equally despicable. Pete Campbell would seem to have little in the way of redeeming qualities and, in fact, I have always despised him more than I ever have Betty. Roger is openly racist and self centred to the point that only his charm and his concern for his friends makes him even a little likeable.  I suspect Betty has garnered so much more attention than either Pete or  Roger is because of her treatment of children and individuals who certainly do not deserve such mistreatment (Carla and Henry).  It is hard to imagine even Pete or Roger mistreating children (in fact, both seem to be fond of them). While Betty has often been treated as a monster or a younger version of the  characters from a psycho-biddy film, she is hardly either. It is not entirely Betty's fault that she is the way she is, as whatever personality disorders and psychoses she may have are largely the product of her life from the day she was born through her marriage to Don Draper.

First, we must consider Betty's upbringing. Betty was the victim of what even at the time would have been considered child abuse at the hands of her mother, the beautiful Mrs. Ruth Hofstadt. In the episode "The Arrangements," Betty's father Gene told Sally how her grandmother (Betty's mother) would take Betty shopping and then force her "fat" daughter to walk all the way home to keep the weight off (here I must say that until recently I very seriously doubt Betty was ever fat...). In the episode "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" Betty told Sally how whenever she was bad as a little girl, her mother would threaten to cut her hair off. While Betty is giving birth to youngest son Gene Draper, she has hallucinations (probably more due to her own psychosis than the twilight sleep she had been put under) that are quite revealing about her mother. While holding a bloody rag, Ruth Hofstadt told Betty, "You see what happens to people who speak up?" In the hallucinations she also told her daughter to shut her mouth or she would catch flies. It is in the first season that Betty stated, "My mother wanted me to be beautiful so I could find a man. There's nothing wrong with that. But then what? Just sit and smoke and let it go 'til you're in a box?"

Unfortunately, it would appear that Betty would take her mother's words to her and her treatment of her to heart. Quite obviously Ruth Hofstadt thought that it was important for a woman to marry and she must be beautiful to insure that she did. Betty's mother did not simply tell her daughter this, but she also reinforced it with actions. She made her walk home in order to keep any extra weight off and threatened to cut her hair if she was bad. At the same time that Ruth Hoftstadt was indoctrinating young Betty with the idea that physical appearance was everything, one must also suspect that she was teaching her that women are better seen and not heard. "You see what happens to people who speak up?" As sad as it might seem, I could rather see Ruth Hofstadt telling her daughter that a woman must know her place. It does not seem inconceivable that Ruth Hofstadt was responsible for her daughter's conflicting views on sex. From Betty's reaction to Sally's unfortunate behaviour at her friend's slumber party, it would seem Betty has definite ideas on what good girls do and do not do. Given everything else we know about Ruth Hofstadt, it would not be surprising if we found out that she is not where Betty got these attitudes from.

While Ruth Hofstadt was downright abusive towards her daughter, it seems likely that Eugene Hofstadt spoiled Betty.  In fact, Betty's brother William indicated that Betty was their father's favourite child. In "The Arrangements" Eugene Hofstadt tells Sally that he believed that he had shielded Betty from too much. He expounds on this by explaining that he wanted Betty to be a princess, to be "Scarlett O'Hara."  In the same episode Betty responded adversely to her father Eugene explaining his final wishes to her with words to the effect of "I'm your little girl!"  Whether this was because Betty was their only daughter or because Eugene Hofstadt was trying to make up for his wife's abuse of her is hard to say, but it is clear that he may have spoiled Betty.

At the same time that Eugene may have spoiled Betty, he also appeared to be disappointed that she turned out simply be a housewife. Betty's father quite obviously had some very progressive views when it came to women. In "The Arrangements" he told Sally that her grandmother Ruth was a drafting engineer in the Twenties and went onto tell Sally, "You can really do something. Don't let your mother tell you otherwise." In the hallucinations Betty had during son Gene's birth, her father Eugene told Betty,"You're a housecat. Very important with not much to do." While Betty's mother Ruth appeared to have simply wanted her daughter to be beautiful and get married, her father Eugene appeared to want a life for her beyond being a housewife. Indeed, it is quite possible that Betty could have become something other than a housewife, difficult though it may have been at the time. She attended Bryn Mawr College and received a degree in anthropology. Betty has also been shown to be fluent in Italian. Betty may not be the sanest person in the world, but she is quite clearly very intelligent.

Given Betty's upbringing, it should be little wonder if she had a few mental problems. This would only be complicated by the fact that she married the wrong man, namely Don Draper. Don may be a great person with whom to work, but he is not exactly someone to whom a woman would want to be married. First one must consider the fact that Don has an entire hidden past about which he wants no one to know. Because of this Betty actually knows very little about her husband. Indeed, it was one of the reasons that Betty's father disliked Don. In the episode "The Inheritance," he complained to Betty that Don had "...no people. You can't trust a person like that." It should have been no surprise that Don's secret life should play a pivotal role in the break up of their marriage. Second, perhaps in a large part because of his secret life, Don is emotionally distant with Betty. It is a rare thing for Don to express his feelings to Betty and a rare thing for him to confide anything to her. Betty then does not receive much in the way of communication from the person who should be closet to her in her life. Third, Don was often verbally abusive towards Betty. It is not hard to find episodes in which Don does not yell at or at least talk condescendingly towards her. This obviously grew worse after their marriage fell apart. In The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" Don yelled at Betty and accused her of being a bad mother (well, it is true that she is a bad mother, but then he did not have to yell to get the point across). In "Tomorrowland" Don yelled at Betty for not being honest with him (the man with an entire secret life is actually angry at someone else for not being honest...).

Fourth and finally, Don had all the marital fidelity of a tomcat. During their marriage Don had at least five affairs that we know of, and one has to suspect that there weren't more. So much cheating on the part of a husband would seriously damage a marriage in which the woman was totally sane. In the case of Betty, one has to wonder if it was not one of the primary factors in pushing her over the edge. Consider that Betty was taught that she had to be beautiful in order to get a man. Once she does get a man, the handsome and charming Don Draper, he does not remain loyal to her. This would not only been a blow to her already fragile ego, but it would also have an outright insult to her. This particularly appears to have been the case with Don's inexplicable affair with Bobbie Barrett, as Betty rather undiplomatically says, "She's so old!"

Even though Don never, ever raised a hand to Betty, his relationship to her would almost have to be considered abusive. He never really communicated with Betty, whether it was confiding his own feelings or dealing with the problems in their marriage. He constantly berated her and spoke to her condescendingly. He cheated on her multiple times. When combined with her upbringing (the conflicting messages of "get a man" from her mother and "do something" from her father), it is actually surprising that Betty did not have a complete psychotic break. It also explains why Betty often treated Carla and Henry Francis so poorly. Angry at Don and unable to direct that anger towards Don (who would only yell back), she directs that anger at people who are unlikely to yell back or will at least still accept her if they do. If Betty abused Sally and Bobby because her mother abused her, she perhaps abused Carla and Henry because Don abused her.

Of course, here we must take into account that it probably was not only her upbringing and her marriage to Don that pushed Betty over the edge. It was probably also the times. While feminism had existed in some form since the late 19th Century and started to gain ground in the 1960's (Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963), it was still expected that women would marry and become housewives. Even as recently as the Sixties there were only a few occupations generally open to women, such as nursing, teaching, or office work. Even then it was often expected that if a woman got married, then she would give up her career. Even though Betty was a model when Don first met her, it should not be surprising that she gave up her career when they married. It should also not be surprising that Betty should go from her marriage to Don almost immediately to her marriage to Henry Francis. It was not simply that her mother had programmed her that a woman's primary purpose in life was as wife and mother, society also dictated that this was ideal for women at the time as well. While there can be little doubt that Betty would have had problems even if she had remained a model or became an anthropologist, I cannot suspect that they would not have become quite so severe. First, she would not have been a disappointment to her father. She would not have been a "housecat" and would have had plenty to do. This would certainly eliminate one source of stress in her life. Second, she would have been able to put her considerable intelligence to use in something that she actually enjoyed. One has to suspect that many of Betty's problems stem from the simple fact that she has little to do that actually challenges her. Third, if she had pursued a career in anthropology or something else, she would have never married Don Draper. As pointed out above, Betty would have probably had problems without marrying Don, but in doing so it only exasperated what was already a bad situation.

While Betty would appear to be a monster, then, she is not one of her own creation. Any psychoses and personality disorders were the creation of multiple factors. Her upbringing, her marriage to Don, and even the milieu into which she was born all played a role in Betty's mental instability. While Betty is still not a very likeable character, then, I think she is still one who is worthy of some degree of sympathy. To a large degree Betty's behaviour is not something for which she was responsible. She is simply behaving in the way that her parents, Don, and society had taught her to.

It is difficult to say what the fifth season of Mad Men holds for Betty. The second episode of the season, "Tea Leaves," finds her calmer and to a small degree more at peace. She actually shows affection towards her children. And while she is still a bit cranky with Henry Francis, she is not the screaming harpy she once was. Unfortunately, she is also overweight and quite obviously depressed. It is difficult to say what happened to Betty. Perhaps therapy dissolved much of the anger in her life, but not the unhappiness. Regardless, it will be interesting to see what has brought Betty to this point in her life as the season unfolds.

Godspeed Earl Scruggs

Earl Scruggs, the bluegrass banjo player best known for his long partnership with guitarist Lester Flatt, passed on 28 March 2012 at the age of 88.

Earl Scruggs was born on 6 January 1924 in Shelby, North Carolina. He began playing the banjo at age 4 and would later learn to play the guitar as well. Eventually he began playing with various bands, among them Lost John Miller and His Allied Kentuckians. Once Lost John Miller and His Allied Kentuckians broke up, Mr. Scruggs quit school in December 1945 to join Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. It was there that he met guitarist Lester Flatt.

Earl Scrugg would remain with the Blue Grass Boys until 1948. By that time both he and Lester Flatt were weary of the low pay and an often gruelling schedule. The two left the Blue Grass Boys and formed their own band, The Foggy Mountain Boys. More often than not in the following decades, the band would simply be known by the names of its founders "Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs" or, more simply, "Flatt and Scruggs."

It was in 1949 that Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs would make their first impact on music. Their song "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" went to #9 on the Billboard Country charts. Over the years they would have several more hits, including "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered," "Cabin in the Hills," "Go Home," "Just Ain't," "You Are My Flower," and "My Sara Jane." What might be their best known song of all time came from a television show. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs performed the theme song to the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies (it was sung by Jerry Scroggins), "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs released "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," which went to #1 on the Billboard country charts and #44 on the Billboard Hot 100. They would also release another song from The Beverly Hillbillies, "Pearl, Pearl, Pearl," which went to #8 on the country charts and #113 on the Hot 100. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs also performed the theme song to Petticoat Junction. It was also released as a single and went to #14 on the Country chart.

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs not only performed the theme song to The Beverly Hillbillies, but they appeared on the show as recurring characters as well. They essentially played fictionalised versions of themselves.  Their wives were played by actresses Joi Lansing (who played Gladys Flatt) and Midge Ware (who played Louise Scruggs).

Despite their success, the team of Flatt and Scruggs would not last. Earl Scruggs took a progressive approach to bluegrass music, while Lester Flatt tended to be more of a traditionalist. These creative differences would eventually lead to the break up of the partnership in 1969. Earl Scruggs formed a new band, The Earl  Scruggs Revue. The Earl Scruggs Revue would often play on the same bill as rock and folk acts, something unusual for bluegrass groups at the time. Earl Scruggs continued to release albums into the 21st Century. His last album, Lifetimes: Lewis, Scruggs, and Long (recorded with Little Roy Lewis and Lizzy Long) was released in 2007.

Earl Scruggs was quite literally an innovator in the field of bluegrass music. He introduced a fingerpicking method of playing banjo known as the three-finger style, but perhaps better known as "the Scruggs style." After Earl Scruggs introduced it in 1946, it became the most common method of playing the banjo. Indeed, it is arguable that Earl Scruggs was the greatest banjo player of all time. He had a virtuosity with the instrument that few others could match, even in his later years. Indeed, Earl Scruggs' impact would not only be felt on bluegrass music, but on such other genres as country, folk, and rock. Over the years he would collaborate with such musicians as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Steve Martin, John Fogerty, Sir Elton John, and others. Quite simply, Earl Scruggs was a music virtuoso whose sheer talent transcended any genre.

Cartoonist Al Ross R.I.P.

Al Ross, whose cartoons appeared in The New Yorker for decades, passed on 22 March 2012 at the age of 100.

Al Ross was born Abraham Roth 19 October 1911. While most sources state that he was born in Vienna, according to his son David, he was actually born in Romania but grew up in Vienna. After World War I the family migrated to the United States, settling in New York City. Both he and his brothers started drawing early   (who would also become noted cartoonists) . During the Depression, when Mr. Ross was in eighth grade, he dropped out of school to work as a messenger. He and his three brothers studied at the Art Students League.

It was during the Thirties that Al Ross first began to sell his cartoons. Initially his work appeared in Colliers, The Saturday Evening Post, and Esquire. It was in 1937 that his work first appeared in the venue in which he would become best known, The New Yorker. He would continue to be published in The New Yorker for literally decades. His last cartoon to be published in the magazine was in 2002, 65 years after his first.

Even while his cartoons continued to appear in The New Yorker, Mr. Ross also published cartoons elsewhere. His cartoons appeared in Cosmopolitan, Maclean's, and such humour magazines as Snappy. He would publish two collections of his cartoons, The Love Life Of The Modern Homo Sapiens, published in 1953 and Bums Vs. Billionaires published in 1972. He illustrated the book Bedside Humour by Howard Stackman (published in 1953) and the book What Every Supervisor Should Know by Lester Bittel in 1959. His work also appeared in numerous anthologies of the cartoons published in The New Yorker and other anthologies.

Al Ross's cartoons were known for their droll sense of humour, not to mention their often intellectual and sometimes whimsical content.  Mythological figures, anthropomorphic animals, snatches from famous paintings, historical figures, and ordinary people all appeared in his cartoons at one time or another. Mr. Ross's style also emphasised the actions of the figures in his cartoons, right down to their facial expressions. An excellent artist, his talent becomes all the more amazing when one realises he almost never worked from preliminary sketches. More often than not he would just sit down and draw a cartoon. He was one of the best cartoonists to ever draw for The New Yorker, a magazine known for some of the greatest cartoonists of all time.

Screenwriter Tonino Guerra Passes On

Tonino Guerra, who wrote the screenplays for such classic films as Blowup (1966), La Avventura (1960), and Amacord (1973), passed on 21 March 2012 at the age of 92.

Tonino Guerra was born Antonino Guerra on 16 March 1920 in Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy. During World War II he was captured and sent to a German concentration camp. It was there that he began writing poetry. Following the war, in 1946, a collection of his poetry was published under the title I Scarabocc. He worked as a teacher for a few years before he moved to Rome. It was there that he met future director Elio Petri. Mr. Guerra would share his first screenwriting credit with Mr. Petri and others, the 1957 film Uomini e lupi. For the next few years he would write screenplays for Cesta duga godinu dana (1958), Un ettaro di cielo (1958), and La garçonnière (1960). It was 1960 that Tonino Guerra's first collaboration with director Michaelangelo Antonioni, the classic L’Avventura, was released. The film would essentially make both of their careers. Mr. Antionioni and Mr. Guerra would collaborate many more times over the years, including on the films La notte (1961), L'eclisse (1962), Il deserto rosso (1964), Blowup (1966), Zabriskie Point (1970), Il mistero di Oberwald (1981), Identificazione di una donna (1982), Al di là delle nuvole (1995), and Eros (2004).

Over the years Mr. Guerra worked with most of the major Italian directors. He collaborated with director Elio Petri on L'assassino (1961), La decima vittima (1965) and Un tranquillo posto di campagna (1968). He collaborated with Federico Fellini on Amarcord (1973), Il Casanova di Federico Fellini (1976), E la nave va (1983), and Ginger and Fred (1986). With director Francesco Rossi he worked on C'era una volta (1967), Uomini contro (1970), Il caso Mattei (1972), Lukcy Luciano (1973), Cadaveri eccellenti (1976), Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (1979), Tre fratelli (1981), Carmen (1984), Cronaca di una morte annunciata (1987), and La tregua (1997). With director Mario Monicelli he worked on Casanova '70 (1965), Caro Michele (1976), and Il male oscuro (1990).

Not only would Tonino Guerra work many of the greatest directors in Italian film history, but he would have a particularly long career. His first film was released in 1957. His last film, Everybody's Fine, was released in 2009. In his later years he worked on such films as Nostalghia (1983), Kaos (1984), Good Morning, Babylon (1987), Il sole anche di notte (1990), To vlemma tou Odyssea (1995), Le chien, le général et les oiseaux (2003), and Um Ano Mais Longo (2006).

In his later years Mr. Guerra took up writing and publishing poetry again, as well as working in fiction. He would also paint and sculpt.

In any language Tonino Guerra was arguably one of the greatest screenwriters of all time. Indeed, not only were his screenplays always intelligent and possessed of a poet's sensibilities, but he was also extremely versatile. My best friend and I often noted that co-writers Michelangelo Antonioni (who also directed) and Tonino Guerra scripted the quintessential film about Swinging London, Blowup; they were two Italians who captured the time and essence of the place where native Englishmen had failed. This was not an isolated case in Mr. Guerra's career either. With co-writer Lino Iannuzzi, Tonino Guerra was able to capture the feel of Prohibition New York City in Lucky Luciano. Tonino Guerra had a singular talent for capturing the essence of any time and any place with his screenplays.

Another example of Tonino Guerra's versatility was the fact that he began writing films that fell firmly in the Italian neo-realist camp, he would go onto write one of Federico Fellini's more stylised and symbolic films, Il Casanova di Federico Fellini. He also wrote in a number of genres, from sword and sandal films (Perseo l'invincibile, released in 1963) to crime (L'assassino) to science fiction (La decima vittima) to comedy (Anonima cocottes, released in 1960). Given the sheer variety of genres in which he worked and how prolific he actually was (IMDB lists 104 films on which he worked in some capacity as a writer), it is even more amazing when one realises that not only did Tonino Guerra produce a number of classics, but most of the movies he wrote were quite good. A bad film written by Tonino Guerra was indeed a rare thing. Versatile, intelligent, and possessed a poet's view on life, Tonino Guerra was a great screenwriter in any language.

Mad Men Season Five Spoilers

Everyone knows that bloggers have access to information that the average person does not. And everyone know that bloggers are just like responsible, professional journalists in every way, including the fact that we cannot reveal our sources. It is for that reason that I cannot reveal to you how I came upon the scripts for every single episode of the long awaited fifth season of Mad Men. I can tell you that this will be by far the most interesting season so far, as the following spoilers will reveal.

1.  Peggy Olson, growing tired of Don Draper stealing her ideas and taking credit for them, devises an advertising campaign that will surely torpedo his career. She creates an advertising campaign for J. C. Penney that blatantly insults their customers as "old farts, hillbillies, and the hopelessly unhip." Don takes the bait, thinking that as the proposed campaign came from Peggy it must therefore be brilliant, and steals it. Naturally, Don Draper being Don Draper,  J. C. Penney loves the campaign and it proves to be successful, increasing their sales by 100%.

2. Jane Sterling learns of Roger's dalliance with Joan Harris and promptly divorces him. Neither is worse the wear for their experience. Roger simply finds another younger woman to marry him. Jane simply marries Bert Cooper.

3.  Pete Campbell grows increasingly unhappy with his position at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and looks towards greener pastures. He accepts a position from rival advertising firm McMann and Tate. It is not long afterwards that Pete is mysteriously transformed into a toad.

4. Unhappy with her life and her marriage to Henry Francis, Betty Draper Francis embarks on a journey of self discovery. This ultimately leads her to join the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

5. Megan Calvert deserts Don Draper at the altar when she decides to return to Montreal. As a result a broken hearted Don Draper gives up on women entirely, but not on having affairs. While mixing drinks in his apartment, he realises his blender is very beautiful...

6. The truth as to why Bobby Draper has been played by four different actors is finally revealed. The real Bobby was killed in an accident years ago and Betty has been hiring child actors to take his place lest Don find out the truth. The Beatles would later use Betty as a consultant when they needed to replace Paul McCartney for similar reasons. Here I must note that Don never noticed that Bobby (and Paul, for that matter) kept changing.

7.  Harry Crane, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce's Head of Media, proposes the agency launch a television channel consisting of nothing but music promotional films (later dubbed music videos). The new channel, to be called Music Television or MTV, is vetoed by Don Draper, who worries that the channel might cease playing music videos one day in favour of insipid, poorly made reality shows.

8.  Roger Sterling, in the mistaken belief that he is still young and hip,  tries out for a new TV show called The Monkees. Needless to say, he is not cast in any of the parts.

9. Don Draper realises he has gone as far as he can at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. What is more he decides that he is tired of advertising and decides to pursue a new vocation--world conquest. He joins an organisation called THRUSH where he swiftly rises up the ranks to become the organisation's leader. In possession of several nuclear warheads, Don very nearly achieves his dream of becoming Emperor of the World when he is foiled by two U.N.C.L.E. agents named Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin.

If you haven't guessed by now, these really aren't spoilers for the fifth season of Mad Men. Even if I knew the spoilers for the fifth season I wouldn't reveal them (I hate it when people spoil a show for me). That having been said, with Mad Men returning tomorrow night, I thought I would have a bit of fun. And if you did happen to believe any of these "spoilers," then I only have to point out that a certain day is only a little over a week away--April Fool's!

My Living Doll Finally Comes to DVD

Most people remember Julie Newmar as Catwoman from the Sixties series Batman, but before playing what became her signature role Miss Newmar had her own series. My Living Doll ran for one season on CBS from 27 September 1964 to 8 September 1965. Since that time a few episodes have surfaced on bootleg VHS tapes, DVDs, and more recently on YouTube, even though it has not been seen on television for decades. On 20 March 2012 the show finally saw its first DVD release. My Living Doll: The Official Collection Vol. 1 collects twelve episodes of the classic series (although one is included as a bonus) and includes several bonus features.

I have already discussed the history of My Living Doll elsewhere on this blog, but for those of you who have never heard of the show I will give a brief run down on the series. My Living Doll was produced by Jack Chertok Television Productions, the same company behind the hit show My Favourite Martian from the previous season (1963-1964). The series was created by Bill Kelsay and Al Martin (who had both worked on My Favourite Martian), based on an idea suggested by Leo Guild.  It centred on a prototype robot designated AF 709, built for the United States Air Force and  in the shape of a very attractive woman (Julie Newmar). When the robot's creator, Dr. Carl Miller (Henry Beckman) found himself being transferred to Pakistan, he left the AF 709 in the care of his friend, psychologist Dr. Bob McDonald (played by movie and television star Bob Cummings). Dr. McDonald passed AF 709 off as Dr. Miller's niece Rhoda and took it upon himself to teach her to be the "perfect" woman, all the while trying to keep her true nature as a robot secret from the rest of the world.

My Living Doll debuted on CBS on Sunday, 27 September 1964, at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00 PM Central. Unfortunately this placed it opposite NBC's Bonanza, then the #1 show on American television. Its ratings were then understandably low. In December My Living Doll was moved to Wednesday nights at 8:00 Eastern/7:00 Central. Unfortunately, this placed the show opposite another high rated Western on NBC, The Virginian. The show's ratings were probably not helped a great deal when Bob Cummings decided to leave the show. It was decided not to replace Mr. Cummings on the series, so that his sidekick, Dr. Peter Robinson  (Jack Mullaney) became Rhoda's guardian. Bob Cummings last appeared on the show on 27 January 1965. With ratings for My Living Doll extremely low, it came as no surprise that when CBS issued its tentative 1965-1966 schedule in February it did not include My Living Doll.  CBS would revise the schedule several times before it took its final form in May, but at no point did My Living Doll appear on it. Quite simply, My Living Doll was cancelled. The series would be rerun during the summer and its last episode aired on 8 September 1965.

While My Living Doll had been cancelled, it was hardly forgotten. Indeed, the mention of My Living Doll to men and even women between the ages of 52 and 60 will often elicit fond memories of the show. What is more, according to The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the phrase "does not compute" originated on My Living Doll (it was a bit of a catchphrase for Rhoda).  It would seem possible that the Nielsen ratings never truly reflected the popularity of  My Living Doll. Indeed, it seems that it is better remembered than many shows with longer runs. For those wondering how a 48 year old show that ran only one season can warrant a DVD release, that is how.

Many today would probably consider the premise of My Living Doll to be extremely sexist, but the show really does not come off as sexist at all (especially when one considers it was made in 1964). First, the whole idea of Dr. McDonald teaching Rhoda to be the "perfect woman" seems to have largely disappeared after the first episode, so that the show became much more about Dr. McDonald trying to get the incredibly intelligent but also incredibly naive and innocent Rhoda to adapt to human society. Second, while a show with Julie Newmar as an incredibly sexy robot would seem custom made for sexual innuendo, there is actually very little in the show. In fact, I dare say the concurrent Bewitched contained much more in the way of sexual innuendo (and sex in general)! Third, like the contemporaneous Bewitched and the subsequent I Dream of Jeannie, more often than not it is Rhoda who comes out on top. This gives My Living Doll a slight feminist subtext much the same as Bewitched (although as Rhoda is a robot perhaps "individualist" rather than "feminist" would be a better word in the case of My Living Doll--despite her appearance, Rhoda is essentially genderless).

As to the quality of the show itself, My Living Doll compares favourably to both My Favourite Martian and I Dream of Jeannie. In fact, the dynamic between the lead characters on My Living Doll foresees the dynamic between the lead characters on I Dream of Jeannie in the days before Roger knew Jeannie was, well, a genie. Bob is trying to get Rhoda to adjust to human society and at the same time must keep her true nature as a highly advanced robot secret. At the same time Peter does not realise Rhoda is a robot and has a crush on her, so that he is always trying to get her alone. While the debt Sidney Sheldon owed Bewitched in creating I Dream of Jeannie has often been acknowledged, one has to wonder that I Dream of Jeannie doesn't owe more to My Living Doll.

Like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie (and Three's Company, for that matter) , My Living Doll is essentially a comedy of errors. in which Rhoda's naivete about human society or her many incredible abilities (she can learn almost anything in a matter of seconds) or the very fact that she is a robot creates complications that Bob and the other characters must then seek to resolve. This makes for some very funny comedy. Indeed, much of the comedy in My Living Doll is very sophisticated, so that in the end the series was in some ways better than My Favourite Martian and I Dream of Jeannie (although not Bewitched, which was arguably one of the best comedies of the Sixties). In "The Uninvited Guest" Rhoda develops the equivalent of a computer virus after reading the works of Lewis Carroll ((it seems that Lewis Carroll's mathematically precise rhymes interefered with her programming) at the very same time a fellow scientist is visiting Dr. MacDonald to investigate materials missing from Dr. Miller's lab (in fact, the materials he used to build Rhoda...). In "Something Borrow, Something Blew (Julie Newmar's favourite episode)," Rhoda naively accepts a millionaire's marriage proposal, with complications upon complications mounting throughout the episode. In "The Love Machine" Bob uses Rhoda's computer brain to perform the equivalent of a computer dating service, finding the perfect match for Peter from the various female employees at the Air Force base. Unfortunately, Bob's coaching the shy and awkward Peter in the matters of the opposite sex tends to complicate things. In "The Witness" Peter hits Bob's car and is told by his insurance company that he must sue Bob to prove it was not his fault or lose his insurance. Unfortunately, Rhoda's flawless memory, her inability to lie, and her ignorance about the proper behaviour expected of humans in a courtroom tends to complicate matters. Over all the quality of writing on My Living Doll was very high. This should come as no surprise, as many of the writers on My Living Doll also wrote for Bewtiched, Gilligan's Island, and fellow Jack Chertok production My Favourite Martian.

Not only did My Living Doll  have good writing, it also benefited from a sterling cast. Although the producers thought Bob Cummings was miscast (it was CBS who insisted upon his casting--the producers wanted Efrem Zimbalist Jr. or a young DJ named Bob Crane, later of Hogan's Heroes), he actually does very well as Dr. Bob MacDonald. His easy going charm suits the character quite well and his comic timing is impeccable, as might be expected of an actor with a good deal of experience in film and television. Doris Dowling was also very good as Dr. MacDonald's sister Irene (this being 1964, Dr. MacDonald moved his sister in with him and Rhoda, it being unseemly for a bachelor to be living with a robot who looks like a young woman), who is clueless as to Rhoda's true nature. Jack Mullaney is great as Peter, the shy and awkward physicist who likes to think he is a great ladies man. Of the male leads Mr. Mullaney was actually the funnier of the two, so that Bob Cummings is more often than not playing his straight man. Of course, the star of the show beyond a doubt was Julie Newmar. Miss Newmar's performance as Rhoda could well be one of the greatest in the history of sitcoms. As a robot Rhoda has no emotions and is totally clueless as to most aspects of human society, yet Miss Newmar endowed her with a warmth and innocence all her own. She was very convincing as a robot with no real knowledge of human behaviour. There can be no doubt that much of this was due to her background as a dancer. Having trained in dance, Julie Newmar was likely more aware of her movements than most performers, to the point that she can move like something that is not quite human (she also put this skill to use as Catwoman on Batman, where her movements were very feline). What is more, in My Living Doll Miss Newmar has an incredible vocal and emotional range rarely seen in other actresses in sitcoms of the time. A running joke on the show is that someone would say something to Rhoda, whereby she would mimic it right back at them right down to the tone of voice. If one needs no further proof of Miss Newmar's talents, one need only look at the episode "Something Borrowed, Something Blew," in which she goes from a New England lockjaw to a Southern "hillbilly" accent in a matter of seconds! Given the writing and the cast on My Living Doll, it is sad that the show lasted only one season. With a new male lead, I rather suspect the show could have lasted several seasons as Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie did.

As to the DVD presentation of My Living Doll: The Official Collection Vol. 1, it is one of the best I have ever seen for a TV series (especially one that only lasted one season). The DVD set features a lot of bonus features, including:  a documentary retrospective on the series featuring Julie Newmar, producer Howard Leeds, and guest star Jackie Jospeph; an interview with Julie Newmar from 1964 from Lucille Ball's radio talk show Let's Talk to Lucy; the notorious alternate opening to My Living Doll (in which Miss Newmar was only wearing a teddy); a soundtrack of the music from the series; an episode of The Bob Cummings Show; vintage commercials that actually aired on the series (one episode is even presented with the commercials intact); and a photo gallery. In fact, I can only think of two bonus features that they could have included. First, it would have been nice if on at least one of the episodes they had included an audio commentary from Miss Newmar. Second, it would have been nice if they had included a booklet detailing the history of the series, as many DVD sets of television series do. In the end, however, even without audio commentaries or a booklet discussing the history of the series, they did an impressive job with the bonus features, which are many more than series that lasted longer and in some cases series that are still on the air!

In the end I only have one real complaint with My Living Doll: The Official Collection Vol. 1. The cover is only glued loosely at the long ends of the case, so that it could quite easily get torn. For those of us who wish to keep their DVD case covers in pristine condition, this is a major concern. I do hope that when and if they reissue My Living Doll: The Official Collection Vol. 1 that they take greater care with the cover!

In the end I would say My Living Doll: The Official Collection Vol. 1 would be a great buy for anyone who loves vintage television, who loves the fantasy sitcoms of the Sixties, or who loves Julie Newmar. It is a very well done and very funny sitcom that was very original for its time and still holds up very well. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the series actually did survive, so I am looking forward to the release of ;My Living Doll: The Official Collection Vol. 2!

Web Based Alternatives to Twitter

As many of you on Twitter probably already know, Twitter recently forced its new interface (dubbed "New New Twitter" by us long time users) on its users. Sadly, this interface removed much of the functionality of older interfaces. The tweet box is much too small and is set on the left side bar rather than at the top. Worse yet, one's mentions, retweets, and follows are now all combined. Needless to say, if one gets very many retweets and mentions in a day, this can get very confusing very quickly.

This has forced many long time Twitter users to find other Twitter applications to use than Twitter itself. Now there are many Twitter applications out there for phones, as well as several for home computers. Unfortunately, if you are like me and prefer to use a web based application for a computer rather than a separate programme, one's choices narrow considerably. There have been three web based Twitter applications I have used. Each has their strengths and weaknesses and I rather suspect that almost everyone might find them better than Twitter's current interface.

HootSuite is what I am currently using instead of Twitter. Strictly speaking, HootSuite isn't simply a Twitter client. Instead it is a social media publishing dashboard that can publish to Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Wordpress as well as Twitter. I started using HootSuite to schedule tweets when I was away from my computer. Even then, when I was still using the Twitter interface, I liked HootSuite's interface. The nice thing about HootSuite is that you can create separate tabs (they call them "streams") for your Twitter feed, your mentions, tweets you have retweeted, your tweets that have been retweeted, direct messages, and so on. What is more, one can adjust the size of the various windows containing one's streams to whatever size one wants.

Given that I currently use HootSuite instead of New New Twitter, I obviously think it is superior to Twitter's new interface. The fact that one can view his or her retweets separate from one's mentions alone makes it better than the current Twitter interface in my mind. What is more, HootSuite's tweet box is bigger than that of the current Twitter interface and located conveniently at the top of the page. Now there are some downsides to HootSuite. If you're one of those who likes to see what is trending (it was never a big deal for me), then you have to click on the cross hairs by the search box. HootSuite also refreshes less frequently than other Twitter clients. Still, it is far superior to what Twitter has tried to pass off as an interface of late.

Another Twitter client I have used is Seesmic. Like Hoot Suite, Seesmic is actually a publisher for social media. In addition to Twitter, it can handle Facebook and LinkedIn. And like HootSuite, Seemsic is much better than New New Twitter. Seesmic is capable of displaying one's various streams in individual windows, so that one can have windows for his or her twitter stream, retweets, mentions, and so on. Like HootSuite, then, Seesmic has the advantage of displaying one's mentions and retweets separately from each other. One big advantage Seesmic has is a long tweet box at the very top of the page. Of the various clients out there, it is probably the easiest to compose tweets in. If you are one of those who likes to keep track of what's trending, trends are conveniently located on Seesmic's left sidebar.  As to Seesmic's updating, it is nearly the same as that of Twitter.

Now there are some downsides to Seesmic. The biggest is that one cannot adjust the size of the windows. This can make reading tweets a bit hard if your eyes are not particularly good. Another problem I have noticed is that, even though there is a "remember me" box to click on the log in, I have to log into Seesmic between sessions.

The third web based Twitter application I have used is Echofon. Now Echofon has one serious disadvantage as a web based app--namely it is only available for Firefox. Now this doesn't bother me, as Firefox is my browser of choice. That having been said, if one prefers Internet Explorer or Chrome for whatever reason, he or she simply isn't going to be able to use the web based version of Echofon.

Anyhow, Echofon is installed as an add on to Firefox and displays as a panel in one's browser. One can vary the size of the panel or close it entirely. Echofon is very easy to use an refreshes as swiftly as Twitter's interface does. What is more, it alerts you any time you get a direct message or a mention. The tweet box is also conveniently located at the bottom of the panel and is decently sized. That having been said, Echofon has two big disadvantages that prevent me from using it regularly. The first is that one can display Echofon as the default panel or even in a separate window, but I have yet to figure out how to simply display it in a tab of Firefox. This is a serious drawback for we Firefox users who prefer to have all of our pages displayed in separate tabs rather than separate windows. True, one can use the panel, but that takes up a bit of space in any given window. The second drawback with Echofon is that if there is a way to view one's retweets, I have yet to find it. This pretty much keeps me from using Echofon on my computer, as I do like seeing if one of my tweets have been retweeted. Of course, if one does not mind not seeing if any of his or her tweets have been retweeted and they don't mind part of their Firefox windows being occupied by the Echofon panel, then they might well enjoy Echofon.

Regardless, all three of these Twitter clients are far better than Twitter's current interface. HootSuite and Seesmic allow one to see his or her mentions separate from their retweets, while Echofon allows one to see his or her mentions separately. All three have tweet boxes that are bigger and more conveniently located. While I have not seen any numbers confirming this, it would not surprise me given the superiority of these apps to New New Twitter that all three have seen a huge jump in usage since New New Twitter was inflicted upon Twitter users. In fact, I rather suspect both people who use Twitter from their phones and those who use it from their computer have probably deserted the new Twitter interface en masse. I rather think it would behoove them to change it as soon as possible.