Mad to the Bone

Ryan and I recently became 100% addicted to Mad Men. Here's how it happened.

Over Christmas break, we started Friday Night Lights (which is awesome by the way. At least before Season 3 while the show was still actually ABOUT football and not abortion). We powered through it in less than 3 weeks. It was great. Everyone had gone home for the holidays, and we sat on the couch with no curfew and nowhere to be for hours and hours. We loved it.

After that, we watched all of Parks & Rec (Ryan hadn't seen many of them), and obviously plenty of The Office. We even tried a little Veronica Mars and a few episodes of Dexter. But nothing was OUR show yet.

Arrested Development came closest. Classic. I can't say enough good things about Arrested Development. If you've never seen it, I don't know why you're reading my blog and not watching it right now. Between Hulu and Netflix online streaming you have no excuse.

But then we were married, with tons of boring married time to fill. Kids? Psh. No. We're looking for a TV show. I noticed that Mad Men recently became available, so we decided to give it a try.

AND IT BLEW OUR MINDS.

The style. The class. The chivalry and chauvinism. The drama. The love. The betrayal. The hope. The comedy. The irony. The heartbreak. The sarcasm. All of it unreal. It's really like no other show I've ever seen. I gush about their clothes and makeup every single episode. I still melt when I see Don Draper opening doors and lighting cigarettes and taking coats from women. (When did we lose such courtesy in society?) Sterlings' smooth charm and biting wit is fantastic. Even the annoying characters (Pete Campbell) leave you with a false sense of friendship, like  you know them in real life and their douchebaggery is occasionally excusable.

True. All they do is drink, smoke and cheat on their wives. But it's in a suprisingly conservative manner. Oh? There are consequences for drinking too much and adultery? This show demonstrates a part of that. Definitely glamorized. But awful things happen to these men for their awful decisions on occasion, much like real life. (Not smoking, though. Science really hadn't caught up with it yet. I feel like I got secondhand smoke just from watching it.) It shows semi-real life in a watchable and interesting way, sparing no characters or emotions.

But my favorite part? Her.

Joan. Joanie. The color and life of the show. She is the girl to go to. At one point she left the office (covered in blood, not her own, no less), and I was considering not watching anymore. Thankfully, she returned, all her charm and wit with her. I love her confidence. Her active mind. Her comfortable demeanor and earned respect with the big wig men. And I LOVE her curves. A girl after my own heart (and body). Who would pick a straight boyish physique over her red hot (pun intended) curves? I love her. She's fantastic. Watch it, if only for Joan.

A few weeks ago Courtney gave me the best compliment of my life. She said "You're totally a Joan." Tears to my eyes, you guys. Tears to my eyes.