Upstairs, Downstairs

One thing that knocks me out on this show is the class distinctions.

Top of the list and most obvious (set up in the very first scene of the series) is white/black. The only blacks ever seen in the series, to date, have been in service roles; the busboy, elevator operator, household help, etc.

And the Jews… that’s almost a whole different hierarchy.

The women. It’s right there within that first conversation in Smoke, between Don and the busboy… Ladies love their magazines. And they both laugh; white and black, at the silly ladies and their silly magazines.

But what fascinates me is the secretaries.

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AMC, you do NOT get points for this!

Today the Mad Men blog over at AMC posted a “deleted scene” from The Wheel. Yay. Great. Awesome scene.

According to Wikipedia:

Deleted scene is a commonly-used term in the entertainment industry, especially the film and television industry, which usually refers specifically to scenes removed from or replaced by another scene in the final “cut”, or version, of a film (including television serials). It is occasionally, but rarely, referred to as a “cut scene”, but due to the usage of “cut scene” in reference to video games, the preference seems to be to call it “deleted” instead. A related term is “extended scene”, which refers to scenes (such as fight scenes or montages) which were shortened for the final version of the film. Often extended scenes will be included in collections of deleted scenes, or also referred to as deleted scenes themselves

So to be clear, this scene did air in the premiere airing of The Wheel. I remember it well. AMC simply edited it out for every subsequent viewing. And other things. There are lines missing from that episode as well. Every single episode that we are currently watching (unless you’re getting them through iTunes or you are watching from the very first run, but only the 10pm run and not the 11pm “encore” presentation) is already butchered.

I wrote about this when I first discovered it. It tangles my yo-yo string more than any of their other (numerous) sins.

Anyway, whatever. Watch it. (For some reason I was unable to post the video itself.) It’s brilliant, of course, and kinda gross, ’cause Pete’s being all dirty in his little boy pajamas, and extra weasley in his ‘get me the Clearasil account’ ways.

But let’s not pretend AMC doesn’t suck for taking the scene away from us to begin with.

 

Alison Brie gets a movie

A quick bit in Variety says our beloved Trudy Campbell is stepping out; not with her publishing ex-beau, but with Olympia Dukakis in a movie called Montana Amazon. Looks like this is her first 2009 movie for Brie, and there are two coming out in 2008.

 

Ok, it’s the WRITERS who should be Red in the Face

“I like redheads. Their mouths are like a drop of strawberry jam in a glass of milk.”

Forgive me, MM writers. I love you all.

But this episode, about which I have so much more to say, seems to have a big fat continuity issue.

Thursday #1
It is the end of the workday. Roger speaks to his wife about the weekend plans. He is then told by Bertram Cooper that the Nixon boys are coming in at the end of the week. Joan has a bag packed and is taking a train with her roommate Carol for a weekend away. No mention that she is taking a Friday off, but okay so far.

How do I know it’s Thursday? Don says to Peggy, trying to make sure she’s not working too late, “Just because tomorrow’s Friday, doesn’t mean I expect to be pulling your head off the keys in the morning”. (God, that line is a mouthful!)

That night, it’s drinks for Don and Roger, and then the disastrous dinner at the Draper’s.

Thursday #2
The next morning, Roger offers Don a bottle and an apology. At lunch Pete exchanges a chip-and-dip for a 22-caliber rifle.