{"id":69,"date":"2009-10-25T21:59:25","date_gmt":"2009-10-26T04:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=69"},"modified":"2026-03-02T02:58:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T06:58:01","slug":"the-other-don","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=69","title":{"rendered":"The Other Don"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mad_men2.gif\"\"mad_men.gif\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I finally got around to watching some episodes of AMC’s “Mad Men” and I’m finding it strikingly similar to HBO’s “The Sopranos”.\u00a0 Both about powerful men, alienated by their own success and\u00a0 pitted against themselves.\u00a0 Both feature conflicted wives who have\u00a0 ‘made a deal’ in order to get what they think they want.\u00a0 I recently learned that the executive producer of “Mad Men”, Matthew Weiner, was a writer on “The Sopranos” so this is starting to make sense.<\/p>\n

These series titillate the viewer with vicarious views of internecine battles: in “The Sopranos” someone usually ends up getting whacked, while in “Mad Men” they are simply humiliated and sent down the pecking order.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s like being in the court of the Borgias without the personal risk.\u00a0 Yet the melodrama of a “Dallas” or “Dynasty” is avoided though good writing, the lofty theme of tragedy, and a comprehensive view into a subculture.<\/p>\n

In both “Mad Men” and “The Sopranos” the societal rules of modern life don’t apply.\u00a0 The cultures they portray are politically incorrect in the extreme, and that offers a sense of definitiveness and strangeness that is compelling .\u00a0 I recently read a series of blog<\/a> entries<\/a> in Slate magazine by married couple Michael Agger and Susan Barton, describing their experience “trading places” for two weeks: she gives up taking care of the the kids to work at his job as an editor, and he becomes a stay-at-home Dad (note: they have a part-time nanny who remains silent).\u00a0 The entries are written with painstakingly care,\u00a0 neither lifestyle is described as “better”,\u00a0 no judgments made, and\u00a0 basically nothing happens. \u00a0 On “Mad Men” and “The Sopranos” judgments are made every 10 minutes, with devestating consequences.\u00a0 What a relief!<\/p>\n

The lack of resolution in the finale”The Sopranos”was a disappointment to me.\u00a0 I’m hoping that now that David Weiner has his own show, “Mad Men” will follow through on its tragic promise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I finally got around to watching some episodes of AMC’s “Mad Men” and I’m finding it strikingly similar to HBO’s “The Sopranos”.\u00a0 Both about powerful men, alienated by their own success and\u00a0 pitted against themselves.\u00a0 Both feature conflicted wives who …<\/p>\n

Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,132],"tags":[18,57,55,58,56,54],"class_list":["post-69","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-sopranos","category-mad-men","tag-60s","tag-borgia","tag-mad-men","tag-political-correctness","tag-slate","tag-sopranos"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Other Don - eKrap - Roy Zornow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Other Don - eKrap - Roy Zornow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I finally got around to watching some episodes of AMC's "Mad Men" and I'm finding it strikingly similar to HBO's "The Sopranos".\u00a0 Both about powerful men,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=69\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eKrap - Roy Zornow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-10-26T04:59:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-02T06:58:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/mad_men2.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Roy Zornow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The Other Don - eKrap - Roy Zornow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"I finally got around to watching some episodes of AMC's "Mad Men" and I'm finding it strikingly similar to HBO's "The Sopranos".\u00a0 Both about powerful men,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/mad_men2.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Roy Zornow\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=69#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=69\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Roy Zornow\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e\"},\"headline\":\"The Other Don\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-26T04:59:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-02T06:58:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=69\"},\"wordCount\":326,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=69#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/mad_men2.gif\",\"keywords\":[\"60's\",\"Borgia\",\"Mad Men\",\"political correctness\",\"Slate\",\"Sopranos\"],\"articleSection\":[\"\\\"The Sopranos\\\"\",\"Mad Men\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=69#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=69\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=69\",\"name\":\"The Other Don - 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