The End of an Era

Man Men returns next month for its final season and there are celebrations going on in various cities including New York. Tonight I went to the Film Society of Lincoln Center to see "Mad Men: The End of an Era," a conversation with the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, and Jon Hamm, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, and John Slattery, moderated by Chuck Klosterman.

My terrible photo taken from the back of the orchestra at tonight's event.

Jon Hamm may be the handsomest man I have ever seen in person. He was also very funny (and wore red-striped socks). John Slattery told a hilarious story about filming the infamous scene where he wore blackface. January Jones was gorgeous and spoke the least but got in one good zinger.Christina Hendricks explained how the Joan walk came about (tightness of the dresses) and at one point left the stage and returned with drinks for her and Jones. And Matthew Weiner told tons of stories like how his son, Martin, came to be cast as Glen and how he wanted to give his characters things to do while delivering their lines but didn't want them to walk and talk like in The West Wing. 

The evening included screenings of clips that each of them had chosen. The first one up was from Mystery Date from Season Five (above). Weiner picked it because he had always wanted to see it screened in front of an audience. It's classic Mad Men and a great example of the humour on the show. The event served as a reminder of not just how brilliant the show is but how sad I'm going to be saying good-bye to the employees of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

Mad Men returns to AMC on April 5, 2015.