Posts Tagged Mad Men

STEELE PICKS: BEST TELEVISION of 2015

I like to think I don’t watch all that much television– that I read and watch films more than I watch TV programs. And it’s true particularly with television seasons starting several times throughout the year. At times I can be watching several shows and at other times only a couple. Then there’s Netflix of course and either binge-watching or watching at-will. I also don’t get any cable channels so I couldn’t watch season two of The Knick (which I adore), the most recent season of Homeland and have yet to check out The Affair. I did manage to watch the final season of Nurse Jackie during a free preview weekend and I think it ended perfectly. Other perfect series endings included Justified and Mad Men.

[listed in alphabetical order]

Being Mary Jane [BET]
created by: Mara Brock Akil
starring: Gabrielle Union, Lisa Vidal

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Call the Midwife [PBS]
created by: Heidi Thomas
starring: Helen George, Jenny Agutter, Laura Main, Judy Parfitt, Pam Ferris, Miranda Hart

call the midwife

Getting On [HBO]
created by: Jo Brand, Mark V. Olsen, Vicki Pepperdine
starring: Laurie Metcalf, Alex Borstein, Niecy Nash

getting on

Halt and Catch Fire [AMC]
created by: Christopher Cantwell, Christopher C. Rogers
starring: Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishe

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Jessica Jones [Netflix]
created by: Melissa Rosenberg
starring: Krysten Ritter, Rachael Taylor, Eka Darville

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Justified [FX]
created by: Graham Yost
starring: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Walton Goggins, Jacob Pitts

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Longmire [Netflix]
created by: Hunt Baldwin, John Coveny
starring: Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, Lou Diamond Phillips

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Mad Men [AMC]
created by: Matthew Weiner
starring: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, Kiernan Shipka, Aaron Staton, John Slattery, Jessica Pare

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Master of None [Netflix]
created by: Aziz Ansari, Alan Yang
starring: Aziz Ansari, Noël Wells, Lena Waithe, Kelvin Yu, Eric Wareheim

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Nurse Jackie [Showtime]
created by: Liz Brixius, Evan Dunsky, Linda Wallem
starring: Edie Falco, Merritt Wever, Paul Schulze, Dominic Fumusa, Anna Deavere Smith, Peter Facinelli, Ruby Jerins

nurse jackie

Orange is the New Black [Netflix]
created by: Jenji Cohen
starring: Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Taryn Manning, Laura Prepon, Kate Mulgrew, Uzo Aduba, Dascha Polanco, Samira Wiley

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Orphan Black [BBC America]
created by: John Fawcett, Graeme Manson, Alex Levine
starring: Tatiana Maslany, Dylan Bruce, Jordan Gavaris

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Rectify [Sundance]
created by: Ray McKinnon
starring: Aden Young, Abigail Spencer, J. Smith-Cameron, Adelaide Clemens, Luke Kirby, J.D. Evermore

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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt [Netflix]
created by: Robert Carlock, Tina Fey
starring: Ellie Kemper, Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess

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STEELE PICKS: 12 Best Television Programs of 2014

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Rectify

Perfectly written and acted. dark. intense. riveting. Excellent cast and complicated story-lines. A thinking-person’s program.

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Homeland

S4 excellent. Now in Pakistan where Carrie Mathison [Claire Danes] serves as deputy director of the CIA. Claire Danes dazzles as Carrie Mathison. She depicts mental illness better than anyone I’ve ever seen. It’s not a crutch. It’s not a disability. It’s part of Carrie’s personality.

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Justified

there’s something off-the-reservation wild [and inherently sexy] about this show about U.S. Marshals in Kentucky. It’s quite masculine. It’s a male-dominated setting but there’s nothing sexist about it. Timothy Olyphant superb. Also I enjoy Alicia Witt’s turn as a bold, kick-ass law student who keeps defending her deadbeat trouble-maker redneck brothers.

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The Knick

medicine in the early 1900s. I’m in. It’s early days at the Knickerbocker hospital in Manhattan.

Orphan-Black

Orphan Black

generally I don’t like sci-fi however this series about clones fascinates me. Plus Tatiana Maslany vividly acts out all the clones. They all have peculiarities that make it fun to watch.

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Orange is the New Black

everything to say about this show has been said. diversity, humor and pathos.

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Call the Midwife

Child-free by choice. Never wanted children. No interest in being pregnant but this female-centric show is wonderful. written by women, directed by women, centered on stories about women. friendships and careers.

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Mad Men

almost over and it’s as brilliant as ever.

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The Honourable Woman

a twitter friend asked me how this show was and I said it was complex and confusing. Stylish and powerful. In college I majored in Political Science and English. Took a class called The Arab/Israeli Conflict. That helps a bit. Maggie Gyllenhaal is phenomenal. All the women are power players and run this show from Gyllenhaal as CEO Nessa Stein embroiled in the Arab-Israeli conflict to Eve Best [Nurse Jackie] and Janet McTeer and Lindsay Duncan.

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Happy Valley

Sarah Lancashire is a genius. Here she’s a police officer in a small UK town. See also: Last Tango in Halifax a sweet and funny show about an aging couple who rekindle a high school romance.

Nurse Jackie

Nurse Jackie

flawed and caring Jackie. the outstanding Edie Falco. excellent writing by women because honestly who better to write such a layered, complicated female character than women.

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Getting On

Dry comedy about the day-to-day in a rehab facility. Aging and death couldn’t be handled any better than this. Maybe I can relate because I’ve worked in healthcare/eldercare. It’s smart and the troupe of actors including Niecy Nash, Laurie Metcalf and Alex Borstein is fantastic.

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STEELE Picks: Best Television Series of 2013

enlightened

Enlightened
created by: Laura Dern, Mike White
starring: Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Mike White, Sarah Burns, Luke Wilson

orange-is-the-new-black-poster

Orange is the New Black
created by: Jenji Kohan
based on the memoir by: Piper Kerman
starring: Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Taryn Manning, Kate Mulgrew, Uzo Aduba, Laverne Cox, Alysia Reiner, Laura Prepon, Dascha Polanco, Jason Biggs, Matt McGorry

house of cards

House of Cards
starring: Kevin Spacey, Michael Gill, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Constance Zimmer, Corey Stoll

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Mad Men
created by: Matthew Weiner
starring: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, John Slattery, January Jones, Aaron Staton, Kiernan Shipka, Christina Hendricks

reign poster

Reign
created by:Laurie McCarthy, Stephanie Sengupta
starring: Adelaide Kane, Megan Follows, Torrance Coombs, Toby Regbo, Caitlin Stasey

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Top of the Lake
written by: Jane Campion, Gerard Lee
directed by: Jane Campion
starring: Elisabeth Moss, Thomas M. Wright, Peter Mullan, Holly Hunter

girls

GIRLS
created by: Lena Dunham
starring: Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet

downton abbey2

Downton Abbey
created by: Julian Fellowes
starring: Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, Rob James-Collier, Maggie Smith

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Treme
created by: Eric Overmyer, David Simon
starring: Khandi Alexander, Melissa Leo, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Kim Dickens, Steve Zahn, India Ennenga, Lucia Micarelli

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The Carrie Diaries
starring: AnnaSophia Robb, Austin Butler, Katie Findlay

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Call the Midwife
created by: Heidi Thomas
starring: Jessica Raine, Bryony Hannah, Helen George, Vanessa Redgrave, Judy Parfitt

mindy project

The Mindy Project
created by: Mindy Kaling
starring: Mindy Kaling, Chris Messina, Ed Weeks

trophy wife

Trophy Wife
created by: Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins
starring: Malin Akerman, Bradley Whitford, Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins, Natalie Morales, Bailee Madison, Ryan Lee, Albert Tsai

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The Fall
created by: Allan Cubitt
starring: Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, Niamh McGrady, John Lynch

justified

Justified
starring: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Erica Tazel

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VEEP
created by: Armando Iannucci
starring: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale

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MAD MEN: the fashion

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Megan Draper [Jessica Pare] wears the best clothes– vibrant, hip, fun and lovely. Peggy Olson [Elisabeth Moss] has stepped up her look to reflect her career advancement. More professional and flattering. Better color choices. I also like some of what Trudy [Alison Brie] wears. Costume Designer Katherine Jane Bryant does a brilliant job bringing the 60s to the small screen on Mad Men.

MEGAN:

jessica pare

megan and don

megan fashion

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PEGGY:

elisabeth moss as peggy

elisabeth moss in green

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peggy

peggy blue

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TRUDY:

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mad men pete and trudy and ken

trudy and pete

THE GUYS of MAD MEN:

guys of mad men

don draper

john slattery

harry and don

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Choice Quote: Mad Men

“I thought you married Jane because I’d gotten old but then I realized you had.”
Mad Men Season 5

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Christina Hendricks’s LIST for MEN

Oh, Esquire and MEN suddenly love “curvy women.” Curvy is usually code for overweight and/or big boobs.

But that’s not what this is about. In Mad Men‘s Joan-style, Christina has compiled a list for men.

We love your body.
Amy: not always

Speaking of your body, you don’t understand the power of your own smell.
Amy: interesting. yes, sometimes. other times, men are gross. But Christina it’s also perhaps pheromones.

We remember forever what you say about the bodies of other women.

We also remember everything you say about our bodies, be it good or bad.

Never complain about our friends — even if we do.

Remember what we like.

We want you to order Scotch.
Amy: to me this screams “I’m an alcoholic.” And hard liquor does.

Stand up, open a door, offer a jacket.

No shorts that go below the knee.

Also, no tank tops.
Amy: absolutely not. tacky.

No man should be on Facebook.
Amy: I definitely wouldn’t want a man I was dating to be on Facebook. I would not friend him.

You don’t know this, but when we come back from a date, we feel awkward about that transition from our cute outfit into sexy lingerie.
Amy: most guys I’ve known just want your clothes OFF. period.

Panties is a wonderful word.
Amy: yes, please say to me “Are you wearing the panties your mother laid out for you?” and I’m all yours. ha.

About ogling: The men who look, they really look.

There are better words than beautiful. Radiant, for instance.

Marriage changes very little.

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