You know summer is here, even unofficially, when there is nothing on television.
That isn’t completely true this year. There are a couple of interesting series that I have sampled. I love “Mad Men” on CTV. It runs on AMC in the U.S. where it’s already into it’s second season. It’s set in a Madison Avenue advertising agency in the 1960s and is so politically incorrect, you almost cringe.
The men publicly assess how the women look and dress. The women talk about “making it” by marrying a doctor. My favourite moment was when a doctor lit up a cigarette just before doing a gynecological exam!
It feels like ancient history and yet it was just half a century ago.
We have come a long way, baby!
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The other new series is called “Swingtown” and is set in the 1970s. I love the horrible fashions and brown and avacado appliances. My favourite bit was when a character popped open a tin of Tab cola, remember that?
I can’t imagine how much the series pays for music rights but the soundtrack is terrific.
“Swingtown” is kind of like a cross of “Boogie Nights” and the “Ice Storm” for the small screen and suggests key parties and wife swapping was rampant in the suburbs.
The creator maintains he’s based the series on his parents’ circle of friends. He lived in a much different neighborhood than mine.
I remember my mother being upset because my best friend was Protestant and her mom wore sleeveless blouses in public!
The only swinging in my childhood was on swing sets in the backyard.
But I appreciated the freedom my friend’s parents allowed the two of us. We would go for ice cream in their convertible.
We got to stay up late and watch frowned upon tv shows like “Peyton Place” in colour!
And on Friday night sleep-overs we were allowed to bunk down in the living room and watch Fright Night horror flicks. It was then I developped my affection for Joan Crawford in “Straight Jacket” and Boris Karloff as “The Monster” in ” Frankenstein”.
My friend is long gone but my affection for that relationship lingers on.
Mary Ellen Beninger
