1-hour interview with "Mad Men" creator

Good to see that Matthew Weiner isn't letting success (or hair plugs) go to his head -- he's still engaging the media more fully than just about any other show creator out there. Here's a new longform interview he did with Jim Benson of TV Time Machine. PR below.

The Method to his Mad Men - Interview with Mad Men Executive Producer Matthew Weiner on the Internet radio show TV Time Machine at www.tvtimemachine.com

December 3, 2008 - Mad Men Creator and Executive Producer Matthew Weiner reveals the fascinating, behind-the-scenes story of the creation and production of his Emmy Award-winning AMC TV series, in an interview on the Internet radio show TV Time Machine (http://www.tvtimemachine.com).

TV Time Machine host Jim Benson is also joined by co-host Lisa Rothstein, whose Madison Avenue career included positions as copywriter and creative director for such advertising firms as Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy & Mather. In this one-hour interview, Matthew Weiner discusses his early career in television including writing and producing The Sopranos, and the cultural and creative influences that have helped shape the world of Mad Men.

Mad Men is a unique and innovative one-hour drama about the lives of men and women toiling in the cut-throat world of Madison Avenue advertising in the early 1960's. The series is also an exploration of a time when American society was still struggling with issues of race, gender-even the habit of smoking.

"I've been shocked by the reaction to the smoking in the series," says Weiner. "People are in cultural denial to its existence, when it really didn't disappear in the workplace until the 1990's. There's a real moral superiority about it now, but back then it was really as common as eating. I wanted the smoking in the show because it was such a great irony. To see a society in this mass denial, where adults are unaware of what they're doing. The image of who we are and what's being sold to us and what the reality of it is-it's such an integral part of that irony."

On TV Time Machine, Executive Producer Matthew Weiner talks about working with Mad Men stars Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, and Robert Morse, as well as revealing fascinating behind-the-scenes stories of the making of several of the show's best episodes. Mr. Weiner also discusses his admiration for such legendary TV writers as Rod Serling (The Twilight Zone) and Paddy Chayefsky (Network), and his fascination with the era of the 1960's that helped shape his vision of Mad Men.

In addition to his work as creator, executive producer, and writer on Mad Men, Matthew Weiner's Emmy-winning television career includes producing and writing for such shows as The Sopranos (starring James Gandolfini), Becker (starring Ted Danson), and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Recently, Mad Men has been the recipient of six Emmy Awards, including Best Drama Series.

Lisa Rothstein's advertising career began on Madison Avenue with Young & Rubicam and eventually took her to Paris, France, writing for Lowe, Ogilvy and again for Y&R. Her campaigns for Hanes, IBM, Colgate and others have been seen all over the world. Ms. Rothstein is also an award-winning screenwriter, represented by The Bohrman Agency in Beverly Hills and manager Andrew Kersey. She is the co-author of the upcoming book, The Da Vinci Dilemma, for creative people managing multiple talents. Her website is www.yourwriterforhire.com

TV Time Machine is a unique Internet radio show that explores classic TV and its influence over the past five decades. Beyond nostalgia, TV Time Machine spotlights TV's impact on our culture and society, and explores how present-day television and its movers and shakers have been -and are still - influenced by the stories, programs, and characters of television's past.

TV Time Machine host Jim Benson has interviewed a multitude of legendary TV celebrities, authors and experts of all stripes on his radio program, covering shows ranging from Mr. Ed to Meet the Press and topics such as Technology on TV and TV's Turning Points. A TV historian for over twenty-five years, Mr. Benson has contributed to dozens of TV productions- including a recent appearance on Penn & Teller's Bullshit!, and is a Historical Consultant on Universal Studios' DVD release of Rod Serling's Night Gallery: Season Two. He is also the co-author, with Scott Skelton, of the book Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-HoursTour, published by Syracuse University Press.

Comments

[Kim D]

I love this show! I bought the first season on DVD and just bought season 2 on Apple TV. Too funny about the complaints about the smoking. I was in grade school in the early to mid 60's and remember rides in my grandparents' car as riding in a gas chamber. Do some homework folks, smoking was part of the era; there were no warning labels about cancer on cigarette packages until later in the decade. Get over it and enjoy the show!