On a Sunday afternoon the writing staff of hit drama “Mad Men” gathered in supervising producer Lisa Albert’s sunny dining room. Over homemade guacamole and a pitcher of mojitos, they debated whether Betty Draper, the fictional 1960s housewife of advertising executive Don Draper, should have a one-night-stand in a smoky Manhattan bar.
The men were against it. Betty would never compromise her integrity like that, consulting producer André Jacquemetton recalls saying. Most of the female writers disagreed. After all her husband’s infidelities, “how the hell is she going to take Don back if she doesn’t do this?” executive story editor Robin Veith argued.
Mr. Jacquemetton was outnumbered. From this discussion came a pivotal scene in the final episode of season two: Betty sleeps with the stranger. The writers will reveal what’s next for Betty when the show’s highly anticipated third season starts Sunday, Aug. 16 on AMC.
Behind the smooth-talking, chain-smoking, misogynist advertising executives on “Mad Men” is a group of women writers, a rarity in Hollywood television. Seven of the nine members of the writing team are women. Women directed five of the 13 episodes in the third season. The writers, led by the show’s creator Matthew Weiner, are drawing on their experiences and perspectives to create the show’s heady mix: a world where the men are in control and the women are more complex than they seem, or than the male characters realize.
Mr. Weiner says he didn’t set out to hire female writers. That said, he likes what he describes as the writers’ emotional honesty. It influences the freewheeling nature of the writers’ room, he says.
H/T to a few people, but Peter Rowley's the one I read it on first.
Meanwhile, just in case you're thinking "oh, how much has changed since those heady Mad Men days" -- uh... yeah. Right.
1 rumbles:
That's great to know! I was actually going to write on your previous post and cite Mad Men as a show with rich, interesting female characters. I also think Nurse Jackie is a stellar example of women on TV. Each one is funny, flawed, complex, messed up, brilliant and compelling to watch. Pretty rare! Strangely, Hung, a show you'd think women would enjoy, has the saddest, least believable and ugliest women I've seen in a long time. The actress who plays his pimp is attractive - somebody works hard to make her look that bad.
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