LOS ANGELES — From IBM Selectric typewriters on clunky desks to cigarette butts in circa-’60 ashtrays to authentic girdles and garters beneath the actresses’ vintage wardrobes, everything on the set of “Mad Men” meticulously matches the period.
“Don’t take anything,” creator Matt Weiner warned critics before leading a tour of the production at the L.A. Centers Studios downtown. “This is like Pompeii.” The relics of 1960s Manhattan are irreplaceable.
The critically adored, Emmy-nominated original series has won a small but devoted following and catapulted AMC to the forefront of attention based on its pitch-perfect depiction of the period, as well as its finely wrought characters.
“Mad Men” returns for a second season tonight at 8 on AMC, hitting themes of youth and excess in the period now called Camelot. The story’s relevance to the present is not the least of its charms.
Weiner doesn’t want his drama to be eclipsed by the props, but the set itself is a terrific co-star.
A backdrop simulates New York office buildings across the street. Weiner, formerly a writer on “The Sopranos” for HBO (which passed on the series) writes makeup, dress and prop notes into each script when dramatically relevant. The appearance of the show, a filmic look rather than too-perfect high-definition video, is quite studied. Weiner took inspiration from industrial films and home movies, in addition to films of the era like “Executive Suite,” as well as Doris Day movies.
Period props, attitudes
His adherence to the period resonates with sticklers who like to argue about what they see as anachronisms. The manufacture of particular objects can be confirmed, but fans will argue about the date of the coinage of the term “play date,” he conceded.
On Stage 4, visitors find the Draper family kitchen stocked with vintage brand-name products, avocado-toned appliances and print curtains a rich source of nostalgia.
“We won’t let them get the most cherry thing,” Weiner says, pointing to a tarnished ’60s teakettle. “We want to keep a certain level of reality.” (He brought last season’s chip-and-dip set from his own collection at home.)
This season, the Draper living room has been slightly modernized with a white sectional sofa. “It’s what we grew up with, except no slipcovers because the Drapers are not Jewish,” Weiner said.
Everywhere, the importance of what Weiner calls “bar culture” is evident. The Drapers are well stocked with a cocktail cabinet, glassware, coasters and vintage-label liquor bottles (the plentiful booze on set is fake).
In the portion of the set that is the Draper bedroom, a new aqua telephone sits on the nightstand. He specifically chose the Colonial-style headboard “not to overdo the ’60s,” he said.
This season, the story will reveal more about Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) and Pete (Vincent Kartheiser), the young woman copywriter and the now-married young ad executive. The couple had an affair resulting in a baby last season.
“I’ve gone out of my way not to do the TV thing, where everybody becomes friends,” Weiner said. “Season 2 is not Joan (Christina Hendricks) and Peggy as roommates.”
Part of the series’ genius traces to Weiner’s deep consideration of the way history happens versus the way it is perceived. When you’re in the midst of it, he observes, time does not provide clear demarcations in attitudes and events. Only later can we assign significance.
The Kennedy assassination marked a divide in the same way Sept. 11 changed the telling of history. But to most of the population at those times, each day went on with barely recognizable differences.
“Change is really gradual,” Weiner said.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
About those wardrobes . . .
“Mad Men” costume designer “Janie” (Katherine Jane) Bryant holds that “the death of American style was casual Friday and elastic.”
Born in Tennessee, Bryant was raised to believe the axiom “pain before beauty.” That means pledging allegiance to undergarments that minimize, cinch and boost: “It’s all in the foundation,” Bryant said.
Bryant won an Emmy last year for her costume design on “Deadwood.”
If she can encourage a return to dressing through the popularity of the styles displayed in “Mad Men,” she said, she’ll be happy.
Fashion designer Michael Kors recently launched a women’s line based on the “Mad Men” styles — sweater sets, pencil skirts, printed silk dresses and the sheath dress. No word on whether he’ll also produce the impossibly tight suits worn by Jon Hamm as Don Draper.
Joanne Ostrow
