TV Club

The TV Club Has Been Sold to McCann-Erickson

The TV Club Has Been Sold to McCann-Erickson

Mad Men

Patrick, are you guys staying at the Paris Hilton?

A few final items before we turn out the lights here at Turner Swansburg Radden Keefe. Readers who are still puzzling over Don’s cryptic pitch to Peggy might want to check out the interview Matthew Weiner gave theDaily Beast earlier this week, though frankly I found Patrick’s interpretation more compelling. Weiner does confirm your instinct, Julia, that the subtext was the Kennedy assassination.

Asked whether we’ve seen the last of Ken, Paul, and Sal, Weiner responds “I don’t know.” Despite Weiner’s indecision, I agree with you guys that it’s hard to imagine Mad Men won’t find a way to bring back Sal, though I’m less sanguine about his hopes for joining Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce than Julia is. Roger’s got 23—sorry, 24—million reasons to keep Lee Garner Jr. happy, and it’ll be a lot harder to hide Sal at SCDP than it would have been at Sterling Cooper. I suppose you could discreetly tuck the art department into the closet at the Pierre, but that would be a little on-the-nose even for Mad Men at its worst. 

Ken’s always got his fiction writing to fall back on, but what about Paul? He emerged as a colossally pompous ass this season, but I can’t help but love the big guy, and not just because I admire his beard. His rivalry with Peggy was one of this season’s best subplots, and it came to a great, if bitter, end for Paul. As the secretaries and executives left behind at Sterling Cooper try to sort out what’s happened over the weekend, Kinsey bursts into Peggy’s deserted office, where his worst fear is confirmed: beat by a girl. To any AMC executives who happen to be reading this: I would totally watch a spinoff series featuring Paul Kinsey and Tiger Tone turned dope pusher Jeff Graves. Paul could quit advertising and pursue his dream of writing for the stage—book by Kinsey, songs by Graves. They’d be an off-off-Broadway sensation. But maybe between now and whenever Weiner decides to set Season 4, Paul will remember his brilliant Western Union campaign and open a boutique firm of his own. I know he’s got some ideas for the Kleenex account.

Looking forward to buying that round of old-fashioneds soon. Unless, of course, you want to make it double or nothing. I’ve got this theory about how Weiner’s going to handle the Beatles …

Patrick, Julia, this has been great fun. Or in the words of our friend Lane Pryce,

I’ve quite enjoyed it here,
John