Mad Men Discussion Thread

[trip]

Deborah Walley was my favorite Gidget. (Gidget Goes Hawaiian)

 

[Mimi1965]

Am I the only one who thinks its a much younger woman who plays Ms Blankenship?

I read the actress who plays her is not listed

 

[gometros]

Am I the only one who thinks its a much younger woman who plays Ms Blankenship?

I read the actress who plays her is not listed

The actress who plays Mrs. (there was no Ms. in 1965 ) was the same actress who played Ralph Maccio's mother in the Karate Kid.

 

[NotUrsula]

Am I the only one who thinks its a much younger woman who plays Ms Blankenship?

I read the actress who plays her is not listed

The actress who plays Mrs. (there was no Ms. in 1965 ) was the same actress who played Ralph Maccio's mother in the Karate Kid.

Actually it's MISS Blankenship, which makes it just that much funnier.
(Hellcat? Queen of Perversions?)

Her name is Randee Heller, and she's 63.

 

[gometros]

Actually it's MISS Blankenship, which makes it just that much funnier.
(Hellcat? Queen of Perversions?)

Her name is Randee Heller, and she's 63.

Thanks. I thought it might be Miss. I didn't have access to IMDB to double check that and Randee Heller's name.

 

[Mimi1965]

Poor Ida Blankenship=may she rest in peace

I never laughed OUT loud while watching mad Men before

 

[LexiC123]

Poor Ida Blankenship=may she rest in peace

I never laughed OUT loud while watching mad Men before

And just when she got her own Facebook page and everything!

Watching what was going on at her desk, from inside the conference room, was hysterical. My favorite was...My mother made that afghan!

 

[FloraFauna]

Poor Ida Blankenship=may she rest in peace

I never laughed OUT loud while watching mad Men before

I laughed out loud when she asked "Are you going to the toilet?"

Poor Sally, to have such clueless parents

 

[antmaril]

Poor Miss Blankenship. We are going to miss her so.

I was roaring with laughter when Roger said "She died as she lived -- surrounded by people she answered the phone for." I was a secretary for 36 years and this line just cracked me up.

Loved this episode!

 

[Mimi1965]

Calling all Mad Men experts!!!!

How does Peter Campbell know about Don's real identity?
I remember they both went out to California together-is that when?

 

[malibuconlee]

It was when the younger brother came and found Dick. He ended up killing himself, but not before having a package with pictures from when they were kids mailed to the office. Campbell intercepted it and tried to hold it over Don's head. Didn't work. Campbell told Sterling who told him off. That was the end of it back then.

 

[sparklynails23]

I miss Betty. She's beautiful and mesmerizing. Can't they show more of her?

Dr. Faye could not possibly be more annoying. She's a terrible actress and makes weird noises with her mouth (possilby because of a bad nose job). Ugh.

Show more Betty and more Roger. Roger's hilarious.

 

[NotUrsula]

It was when the younger brother came and found Dick. He ended up killing himself, but not before having a package with pictures from when they were kids mailed to the office. Campbell intercepted it and tried to hold it over Don's head. Didn't work. Campbell told Sterling who told him off. That was the end of it back then.

It went a bit further than that, though. Pete had a college friend who worked at the DOD, and he asked the college friend to look up Don Draper's service record. Several things about it were off, so Pete knew that whoever else he was, he wasn't Don Draper. (The photos referenced "Dick" but nothing more than that; so it is possible that it could have been a nickname; it was the dates on the photos that did it. Based on the dates on the pictures, "Dick" could not have been old enough to have been an officer during the Korean War.)

I've often wondered about what Anna told her family about Dick vis-a-vis her husband Don. I don't think that she told them the truth; I suspect that she told them that he was a relative of her late husband's who had felt bad about his death and offered some support in addition to the Army pension, and introduced him as Dick Draper. That way all of the paperwork would line up with the lie. As Don pointed out, the fly in the ointment would be the real Don's siblings/parents, though I'm thinking that there must not have been very many of them, or Dick would have known something about them based on Anna having to run some interference with them.

My favorite line from this ep was when Joan said that "Greg dying is NOT a solution to this." Well, actually, Joan, yes, it would be; probably the best solution, actually. Also, how on earth could 7 weeks have been disastrous in 1965? There is no way that she could not have explained away a due date that was "off" by no more than 4 weeks. There was no ultrasound back then, no doctor would even test you until you were at least 8 weeks late. (Which is, of course, how we came to say that pregnancy lasts 9 months. It actually lasts 10, but in the old days you had to be at least 2 months gone before they could get the condition confirmed.) There were LOTS of very big and bouncing "7-months" babies in that era. (Actually, there were lots of very scrawny-looking full-term babies, too. My sister had a baby almost exactly at the same time that Joan's would have been due, and I remember that most of the full-terms at the time were well under 7 lbs. Doctors tended to encourage Mom's to diet a lot at the time, and smoking was still more common than not. All she would have had to have said was that she didn't follow her doctor's diet recommendations, and everyone would have believed her.)

Oh, and Lane is so darned dashing? Tee-hee.

 

[Mimi1965]

It went a bit further than that, though. Pete had a college friend who worked at the DOD, and he asked the college friend to look up Don Draper's service record. Several things about it were off, so Pete knew that whoever else he was, he wasn't Don Draper. (The photos referenced "Dick" but nothing more than that; so it is possible that it could have been a nickname; it was the dates on the photos that did it. Based on the dates on the pictures, "Dick" could not have been old enough to have been an officer during the Korean War.)

I've often wondered about what Anna told her family about Dick vis-a-vis her husband Don. I don't think that she told them the truth; I suspect that she told them that he was a relative of her late husband's who had felt bad about his death and offered some support in addition to the Army pension, and introduced him as Dick Draper. That way all of the paperwork would line up with the lie. As Don pointed out, the fly in the ointment would be the real Don's siblings/parents, though I'm thinking that there must not have been very many of them, or Dick would have known something about them based on Anna having to run some interference with them.

My favorite line from this ep was when Joan said that "Greg dying is NOT a solution to this." Well, actually, Joan, yes, it would be; probably the best solution, actually. Also, how on earth could 7 weeks have been disastrous in 1965? There is no way that she could not have explained away a due date that was "off" by no more than 4 weeks. There was no ultrasound back then, no doctor would even test you until you were at least 8 weeks late. (Which is, of course, how we came to say that pregnancy lasts 9 months. It actually lasts 10, but in the old days you had to be at least 2 months gone before they could get the condition confirmed.) There were LOTS of very big and bouncing "7-months" babies in that era. (Actually, there were lots of very scrawny-looking full-term babies, too. My sister had a baby almost exactly at the same time that Joan's would have been due, and I remember that most of the full-terms at the time were well under 7 lbs. Doctors tended to encourage Mom's to diet a lot at the time, and smoking was still more common than not. All she would have had to have said was that she didn't follow her doctor's diet recommendations, and everyone would have believed her.)

Oh, and Lane is so darned dashing? Tee-hee.

Yeah-That cracked me up too

I agree-she could have kept the baby-now i bet she will never have one-IF the Agency survives!!!!

 

[LilyLake]

Pete told Cooper, not Sterling. I'm not trying to be snippy, it's just something that could be a plot point later. Bert Cooper knows, and Roger doesn't (that we know of.)

Yeah, I enjoyed seeing Betty last night - especially her reaction to Sally finding out she's going to a Beatles concert. Personally, I've never understood the loathing that is commonly expressed for Betty. She's no Mother of the Year candidate, but she's not as horrible as some people have decided she is. I was glad that she didn't divulge Don's secret to the DoD reps. or to Henry, but I understand that it's really in her best interests (and the kids') for his secret to not be revealed. Henry's starting to make me nervous. He used to seem okay to me, but the way he's been behaving toward Don lately make him seem petty and insecure. I hate to think what he would do with information about Don's/Dick's desertion.

I wonder how long it will take for Don to rue the day he told Faye about his secret. He probably already regrets it.

Poor, poor Joan... I don't even have an opinion as to whether she terminated the pregnancy or not. I guess I think she did, but I hope she didn't (just because she seems to really want to be a mother.) We've got 3 episodes left this season. Will we have to wait until season 5 to know for sure?

And how cute was Trudy in that ridiculous nightgown? Cute, but not as perky as usual. She looks ready for the pregnancy to be over.

 

[bunny]

Was that Joan's third abortion? I remember she mentioned something about two previous ones to her OBGYN at the beginning of the season. Doesn't she know anything about birth control? Maybe that is why she didn't seem too upset.

 

[NotUrsula]

Pete told Cooper, not Sterling. I'm not trying to be snippy, it's just something that could be a plot point later. Bert Cooper knows, and Roger doesn't (that we know of.)

Good catch; yes, it's Cooper that knows. Telling Roger would not be the best idea; he has real hangups about his military service and finding out that he enabled the career of a deserter would likely send him over the edge.

...
And how cute was Trudy in that ridiculous nightgown? Cute, but not as perky as usual. She looks ready for the pregnancy to be over.

Ridiculous is right -- it was WAY up there on the awful chart. When she said to Pete, "LOOK AT ME!" I half-expected him to say, "I can't; that nightgown is blinding me."

 

[malibuconlee]

Pete told Cooper, not Sterling. I'm not trying to be snippy, it's just something that could be a plot point later. Bert Cooper knows, and Roger doesn't (that we know of.)

NO worries about being snippy. I hadn't finished my morning caffiene yet and I wondered if I remembered which of the partners it was, if I had it right.

 

[Mimi1965]

Was that Joan's third abortion? I remember she mentioned something about two previous ones to her OBGYN at the beginning of the season. Doesn't she know anything about birth control? Maybe that is why she didn't seem too upset.

You know "The Pill" didnt become really popular until the mid to late 60's-so there probably wasnt great birth control available.

WEren't the Beatles At Shea Stadium like 1964?-I LOVED Sally's reaction to getting the tickets!!!

 

[LexiC123]

You know "The Pill" didnt become really popular until the mid to late 60's-so there probably wasnt great birth control available.

WEren't the Beatles At Shea Stadium like 1964?-I LOVED Sally's reaction to getting the tickets!!!

Wasn't that awesome? I would've done the same thing. I was also pleasantly surprised at Betty's reaction. It was nice to see her happy for her daughter for once.

Actually, the date is spot on: the Beatles played at Shea on August 15, 1965. Their first US appearance was on the Ed Sullivan Show in February, 1964.