Fri, 09/16/2011

Matthew Weiner on "Mad Men"

Matthew Weiner, Nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, was interviewed for four hours about his entire career to-date by the Archive of American Television in 2010.  He discussed the creation and development of Mad Men (also nominated for Outstanding Drama Series) in great detail, including decisions about the style and costuming of the show, the direction, the editing, and casting of the main characters and storylines. See Matthew Weiner’s full interview here.

On the philosophy behind the show's style and attention to detail:

On Mad Men's "Don Draper":

On how Jon Hamm almost wasn't cast as "Don Draper" on Mad Men:

On the character "Joan Holloway" played by Christina Hendricks on Mad Men:

On the unintended sex appeal of "Joan Holloway":

On why writing for The Sopranos helped make Mad Men possible:

On the Season 4 finale of Mad Men:

On his advice to aspiring writers:

More videos and a full list of nominees are up at emmytvlegends.org/interviews/shows/emmy-awards-the-63rd-annual-2011

The 2011 Emmy Awards will be held this Saturday, September 18 and telecast on FOX. Other nominees interviewed by the Archive of American Television are:

David Crane, Nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Episodes) on his advice to aspiring writers:

Michael J. Fox for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (“Louis Cannin” on The Good Wife)

Christopher Lloyd, Nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series (co-creator of Modern Family), on what Modern Family is about:

Tim Van Patten , Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Game of Thrones) on working with Boardwalk Empire' (also nominated)s executive director Martin Scorcese