What is it about the 60's that has the television industry all abuzz?
The easy answer would be Don Draper and his bedroom escapades, or the way Joan Harris fills out her dresses. But if it is simply sexual glorification that gives Mad Men its juggernaut energy, then why is it that so many attempts to copy-cat AMC's crown jewel have resulted in crash-and-burn failure? Several things come to mind, especially in light of recent attempts by other television networks to ride on the series's coattails.
Take for example, ABC's Pan Am, otherwise known as that show with the air stewardesses. Though it premiered a few short weeks ago, its publicity campaign was so successful that it was one of the most highly-anticipated shows to premiere this fall.
Pan Am's weakness comes from the heavy-handed direction of writer Jack Orman, of ER fame, and director Thomas Schlamme, of The West Wing fame (we expected better of you, Mr. Schlamme).
While the show gets some leeway - it's the age of exploration! flying is fun! - the bright-eyed idealism apparent in the go-forth-young-soldier music and forgiving lighting is, quite frankly, over the top. Pan Am lacks subtlety and verisimilitude.
Really, who'd believe becoming a secret agent for the CIA was as easy as switching out a passport, as suggested in the pilot episode?
While the women and their savoir-faire appeal may keep viewers at home glued to the TV screen, the direction of the show seems as ham-fisted as a novice's first attempt. Strange, considering the show's weighty credentials.
Let's move on to the other retro-contender, NBC's The Playboy Club, which also premiered quite recently. The show follows Amber Heard's character as she tries to rise from the anonymity of her past to gain recognition on the cover of Playboy Magazine. Where most of the women's sensuality in Pan Am stems from a kind of Victorian peep-show kind of thrill, The Playboy Club takes quite another approach; clad only in corsets, their bunny ears and black stockings, the "Bunnies" put everything on display (though the only real naked flesh is that of face, neck and arms).
Enjoyment of this show is rather similar to the enjoyment of Miss America pageants, or Miss Universe pageants - completely graituitous and not necessarily founded on any kind of personal investment on the part of the viewer. Pretty people meet more pretty people and compete for dominance within the space of a nightclub. It's not exactly intellectually stimulating;the plot of each individual episode lacks believability.
Luckily, the show has already been cancelled, only two episodes into the season.
The shortcomings of Pan Am and The Playboy Club certainly make us yearn for the days of Mad Men, whose Season 5 premiere is now slated for a 2012 release.
Though it's certainly true that the Emmy darling has its fair share of issues, the show makes conscious effort to depict a realistic, if highly sexualized, reflection of 1960s America, flaws and all. Despite much debate over the blatant misogyny displayed by several of the characters, there is nonetheless a historical context must be considered; furthermore, within this carefully constructed fictional world, however, the characters move with all the agency they are due. The writers of the show seem, to me at least, attempt to give the women of the show personality and purpose to balance the misfortunes of the times.
It is this consideration, in conjunction with the fully realized pacing and apt direction, that has launched Mad Men to the success it enjoys today.
Since Mad Men's premiere in July of 2007, the 60s fever has spread from television, to fashion, to the cultural consciousness of American audiences. After all, if advertising of the show has (in all irony) taken on a life of its own via the Banana Republic Mad Men Collection, well, it must be doing something right.
