Featured | Posted by TV Time Machine 08.01.11
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Jim Benson interviews Mad Men creator/producer Matthew Weiner about his classic Emmy Award-winning 1960’s era advertising drama.

TV Time Machine is proud to present an interview with creator and executive producer of Mad Men, Matthew Weiner. Mr. Weiner’s career also includes executive producer on The Sopranos, and also writing and producing Becker and Andy Richter Controls the Universe.

In the following audio segments host Jim Benson honors this extraordinary series, as he’s joined by co-host Lisa Rothstein, whose Madison Avenue career has included positions as copywriter and creative director for Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy and Mather.

Listen to the interview below

Mad Men Matthew Weiner Audio interview Segment One

In this segment, host Jim Benson and advertising executive Lisa Rothstein discuss with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner his days growing up in Baltimore, and how he eventually broke into show business, ultimately working on such shows as Becker and the classic HBO TV series, The Sopranos. Mr. Weiner also discusses the genesis of Mad Men, and how writers such as Paddy Chayefsky and Rod Serling, and classic TV plays such as Patterns, have inspired him as a writer.

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Mad Men Matthew Weiner audio interview Segment Two

For the second segment, host Jim Benson and advertising executive Lisa Rothstein discuss with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner the genesis of the classic Mad Men episode “The Wheel,” the enigmatic layers of the character Don Draper played by Jon Hamm, and the attention to detail that Mr. Weiner employs on his show. The Mad Men producer also talks about how audiences sometimes misinterpret his historic references as making a particular statement or championing a cause, and also delves into the eccentric character of Bertram Cooper, played by legendary actor Robert Morse.

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Mad Men Matthew Weiner audio interview Segment Three

For the final segment, host Jim Benson and co-host Lisa Rothstein discuss with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner such classic advertising drama touchstones as The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and Executive Suite and how they helped inspire a new interpretation in the form of Mad Men. Mr. Weiner also talks about the personal lives of his characters and how visual elements incorporated in the show help symbolize a character’s personality and inner story. The Emmy Award-winning producer also explores the characters of Pete Campbell and Peggy (played by Vincent Kartheiser and Elisabeth Moss), Peggy’s personification of the future women’s equal rights movement, and his surprise at the reaction of TV viewers to the depiction of a significant norm in the 1960’s–smoking.

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  • Anonymous

    Love the Mad Men/Twilight Zone mash-ups.

  • JahnGhalt

    No Transcript?