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According to Rolling Stone, Mad Men is the fourth-greatest television show of all time – bested only by Breaking Bad, The Wire and The Sopranos. But before Sterling Cooper ever opened its doors, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner was rejected by every major network. Including HBO, FX and Showtime. Weiner was told no one would watch a series about advertising, that his main character was an unlikable smoker slash philanderer and that viewers hated period pieces. Mad Men gathered rejections, then dust. Then Weiner’s agent got a phone call from a basic cable movie channel.
Major sources for this episode include:
1) Television Academy Archive of American Television interviews with Matthew Weiner
2) Hollywood Reporter – “The Uncensored, Epic, Never-Told Story Behind ‘Mad Men’”
3) Variety – “‘Mad Men’ 10th Anniversary: AMC Alum Christina Wayne Remembers the Show’s Birth”
4) Vanity Fair – “Don and Betty’s Paradise Lost”
5) TV Insider – “Mad Men’s True Story, From Start to Finish”
From the creators of Under the Influence:
Writer & Host: Sidney O’Reilly
Executive Producer & Co-Host: Terry O’Reilly
Research: Allison Pinches
Director: Callie O’Reilly
Supervising Producer: Debbie O’Reilly
Engineer: Geoff Devine
Theme music: Ian Lefeuvre & Ari Posner
This show is brought to you by the Apostrophe Podcast Network and powered by Acast.
According to Rolling Stone, Mad Men is the fourth-greatest television show of all time – bested only by Breaking Bad, The Wire and The Sopranos. But before Sterling Cooper ever opened its doors, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner was rejected by every major network. Including HBO, FX and Showtime. Weiner was told no one would watch a series about advertising, that his main character was an unlikable smoker slash philanderer and that viewers hated period pieces. Mad Men gathered rejections, then dust. Then Weiner’s agent got a phone call from a basic cable movie channel.
Major sources for this episode include:
1) Television Academy Archive of American Television interviews with Matthew Weiner
2) Hollywood Reporter – “The Uncensored, Epic, Never-Told Story Behind ‘Mad Men’”
3) Variety – “‘Mad Men’ 10th Anniversary: AMC Alum Christina Wayne Remembers the Show’s Birth”
4) Vanity Fair – “Don and Betty’s Paradise Lost”
5) TV Insider – “Mad Men’s True Story, From Start to Finish”
From the creators of Under the Influence:
Writer & Host: Sidney O’Reilly
Executive Producer & Co-Host: Terry O’Reilly
Research: Allison Pinches
Director: Callie O’Reilly
Supervising Producer: Debbie O’Reilly
Engineer: Geoff Devine
Theme music: Ian Lefeuvre & Ari Posner
This show is brought to you by the Apostrophe Podcast Network and powered by Acast.