Mad Men and Bewitched...

[Warped9]

What could Mad Men and the original series Bewitched possibly have in common?

Well, superficially, both leading men (Don Draper vs. Darrin Stevens) are dark haired and their (onscreen) wives (Betty Draper vs. Samantha Stevens) are blonde. Both couples live in the suburbs. Both men work at an advertising agency (Sterling Cooper vs. McMann & Tate) and each of their bosses are silver haired (Roger Sterling vs. Larry Tate). Their bosses' wives are both brunettes (Mona Sterling vs. Louise Tate). The leading men have each been seen driving a blue GM made convertible (Cadillac vs. Chevrolet).

From there things start to diverge. Darrin Stevens is a faithful and average looking guy vs. Don Draper being a handsome looking womanizer. Samantha Stevens is a good hearted witch vs. Betty Draper being an icy immature bitch. Larry Tate is faithful to his wife and a sycophant to his clients vs. Roger Sterling being a lech and something of a sycophant to his clients.

After that the shows really diverge.

Strangely, though, back when I started watching Mad Men I was drawn by some of these superficial similarities and half wondered if it was really that coincidental. In the beginning I kept thinking of Mad Men as something of a corrupted version of Bewitched. For a short while I found myself trying to imagine the Bewitched characters behaving like those of Mad Men. That quickly wore off.

Recently I watched a few episodes of early 1st Season Bewitched and was again struck by the broad similarities yet this time I found myself trying to envision the Mad Men characters on Bewitched. Very weird.

Odd the thoughts that can go through your head.

 

[sojourner]

No comparison for Gladis?

 

[Warped9]

No comparison for Gladis?

I did think about that, but I really couldn't think of an appropriate analogy to her on Mad Men.

Of course there's also Endora. Who could she compare to? Maybe Peggy's mother or sister?

 

[J.T.B.]

Odd the thoughts that can go through your head.

The thoughts that go through my head are: I personally think of Kasey Rogers as Louise rather than Irene Vernon, even though Vernon was the original. OTOH, I think of Alice Pearce (the original) as Mrs. Kravitz.

Also, I think Don Draper's Caddy was a hardtop Coup de Ville, not a convertible. His Buick was a drop-top, though.

--Justin

 

[Warped9]

I think Don Draper's Caddy was a hardtop Coup de Ville, not a convertible. His Buick was a drop-top, though.

--Justin

Yep, you're right. I had a moment of brain cramp.

 

[J.T.B.]

I always liked when they'd show Darren's car. My folks drove a blue 1969 Camaro (350, auto) when I was a kid. Not a convertible, of course, but it was close enough to impress me when I saw one on TV.

--Justin

 

[T'Girl]

I wonder if Darren's "choice" of cars was determined by the show's advertisers.

 

[23skidoo]

It just occurred to me that if you knock a couple decades off Agnes Moorhead's (Endora's) age, she and Christina Hendricks wouldn't be that far apart either.

Alex

 

[Dar70]

There was finally a reference to bewitched last season when the show entered the years bewitched was on the air. Something about Don meeting Bill Asher at the brown derby.

http://tvhowl.com/2010/07/23/1964-when-mad-men-collides-with-bewitched/

There has been much talk about the similarities in these show. Of course the only real one is both revolve around advertising.

Im assuming many Mad Men fans are bewitched fans and vice versa.

 

[Chris3123]

And on top of all that they both take place in the 60s.

 

[J.T.B.]

I wonder if Darren's "choice" of cars was determined by the show's advertisers.

You better believe it. Bewitched was a Chevy show, you'll rarely see another make onscreen. In addition to Darren's Chevelle or Camaro and Samantha's wagon, Larry Tate usually had a new Corvette. The original run of the show had a version of the end credits with cartoon Samantha and Darren sitting on the Chevrolet bowtie logo.

Similarly, on The Andy Griffith Show you'll see Fords almost exclusively around Mayberry, but that was through a promotional deal with the automaker mentioned in the end credits; General Foods was the only commercial sponsor.

--Justin

 

[Admiral2]

What could Mad Men and the original series Bewitched possibly have in common?

Well, superficially, both leading men (Don Draper vs. Darrin Stevens) are dark haired and their (onscreen) wives (Betty Draper vs. Samantha Stevens) are blonde. Both couples live in the suburbs. Both men work at an advertising agency (Sterling Cooper vs. McMann & Tate) and each of their bosses are silver haired (Roger Sterling vs. Larry Tate). Their bosses' wives are both brunettes (Mona Sterling vs. Louise Tate). The leading men have each been seen driving a blue GM made convertible (Cadillac vs. Chevrolet).

From there things start to diverge. Darrin Stevens is a faithful and average looking guy vs. Don Draper being a handsome looking womanizer. Samantha Stevens is a good hearted witch vs. Betty Draper being an icy immature bitch. Larry Tate is faithful to his wife and a sycophant to his clients vs. Roger Sterling being a lech and something of a sycophant to his clients.

After that the shows really diverge.

You've forgotten the most fundamental difference. Bewitched is actually entertaining. Watching Mad Men is like watching grass grow. In slow motion.

 

[CoveTom]

The thoughts that go through my head are: I personally think of Kasey Rogers as Louise rather than Irene Vernon, even though Vernon was the original. OTOH, I think of Alice Pearce (the original) as Mrs. Kravitz.

Same here for Louise Tate. I tend to think of Sandra Gould's Mrs. Kravitz because that's the first one I ever saw -- I grew up on the color episodes of Bewitched and only got to see the black-and-white ones when they were run on Nick at Nite. But, in retrospect, I think Pearce makes the better Mrs. Kravitz.

The original run of the show had a version of the end credits with cartoon Samantha and Darren sitting on the Chevrolet bowtie logo.

There's also this:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnDF3-Forms&feature=player_embedded[/yt]

And, BTW, it bugs the snot out of me that, in syndication and even on the DVD's, they just take the third season opening credits and convert them to black-and-white rather than showing us the actual opening from seasons 1 and 2!

 

[the G-man]

I wonder if Darren's "choice" of cars was determined by the show's advertisers.

You better believe it. Bewitched was a Chevy show, you'll rarely see another make onscreen. In addition to Darren's Chevelle or Camaro and Samantha's wagon, Larry Tate usually had a new Corvette. The original run of the show had a version of the end credits with cartoon Samantha and Darren sitting on the Chevrolet bowtie logo.

Similarly, on The Andy Griffith Show you'll see Fords almost exclusively around Mayberry, but that was through a promotional deal with the automaker mentioned in the end credits; General Foods was the only commercial sponsor.

--Justin

On a similar note, anyone remember the old FBI series and how all the good guys drove shiny new Fords? The lead character, a civil servant, ended each episode driving away in that year's Mustang. It was so obvious on that show that Mad made it part of the parody.

But, anyway, back to Bewitched. From what I've read, the creator of Mad Men is about 46 or 47. He would have grown up on shows like Bewitched and, I would guess, when he had to cast the role of Don and Betty there was at least a subconscious recognition of the archetypes that Darrin and Samantha have become.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Biggest difference: Darrin, Larry, Samantha et al. looked and acted like they were wearing clothes.
The Mad Men actors look and act like they're in a period piece wearing costumes. Uncomfortably.

 

[doubleohfive]

Did anyone catch the news item on Deadline last night about CBS buying a new remake of Bewitched?

 

[Warped9]

Biggest difference: Darrin, Larry, Samantha et al. looked and acted like they were wearing clothes.
The Mad Men actors look and act like they're in a period piece wearing costumes. Uncomfortably.

I never really got that sense, but then it wouldn't be unusual simply because in Bewitched they were wearing what was then contemporary attire. Today they are trying to emulate what was once contemporary attire.

 

[the G-man]

Biggest difference: Darrin, Larry, Samantha et al. looked and acted like they were wearing clothes.
The Mad Men actors look and act like they're in a period piece wearing costumes. Uncomfortably.

I never really got that sense...

Me neither. The only who looks a little uncomfortable (to me at least) on Mad Men is Pete and I chalk that up to him being something of a dork on the show in general. The only other "discomfort" I see is the general sense of tension that the characters experience from the show being a drama (as opposed to the comedy on Bewitched). And to me some of the actors, especially Draper, Sterling, Betty and Trudy, look completely normal in those clothes, as if they'd stepped out of an old movie.

 

[Warped9]

One of the subtle things that impressed me on Mad Men was how the characters smoke. They've managed to mimic that totally casual and nonchalant manner in how they smoke as it was back when so many people smoked openly in society. Today when I see people smoke they seem rather self-conscious about it particularly since they are often restricted to smoking areas that are often set aside out of sight. Back then it was common and considered almost natural while today it's widely seen as a dirty habit.

 

[the G-man]

The show is full of clever things like that. A few more I remember:

• The kids fighting in the backseat and jumping back and forth between the front and the back with no seat belts while the mom kept turning around to yell at them.
  
  The family picnic where they just casually left the trash on the ground for someone else to pick up (this was about ten years before "keep America beautiful" and the crying Indian).
• Don's DWI, which was, but for the need to have someone pick him up, was handled like a speeding ticket. Pay a fine and no one cares.
• The pregnant neighbor drinking and smoking (doctors back then sometimes actually told expectant mothers to do both to deal with nausea).