Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men is one of the best shows to come out of the so-called “Golden Age of Television.” From its richly drawn characters to the nuanced performances from the cast to the production designers’ impeccable attention to historical detail, the tale of Don Draper and his fellow Madison Avenue-dwelling ad men of the ‘60s spent seven seasons continually topping itself.
A show like this doesn’t just come together like magic. It’s the result of a lot of hard work being done by a lot of talented people to bring a unique vision to life. So, here are 10 Suave Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Mad Men.
Matthew Weiner wrote the pilot as a staff writer for Becker
Matthew Weiner wrote the script that would eventually become the pilot episode of Mad Men when he was working as a staff writer on the Ted Danson-starring sitcom Becker. Tonally and stylistically, Mad Men is about as far-removed from Becker as possible.
In 2002, Weiner used his spec script for the Mad Men pilot as a writing sample when he applied to write for The Sopranos. That show’s creator, David Chase, was taken by the fact that Weiner’s script managed to tackle current issues through its 1960s setting, and it ultimately earned him a job writing episodes of The Sopranos.
Jon Hamm’s face sometimes had to be shaved three times in a day
During production on any given episode of Mad Men, one of makeup artist Lana Horochowski’s full-time commitments was making sure Jon Hamm was clean-shaven in every take. Hamm’s facial hair apparently grows out a lot faster than the average man’s, and sometimes his “five o’clock shadow” would show up before five o’clock and appear visibly on-camera.
If a shooting day went on particularly long, Horochowski could find herself shaving Hamm’s face three times a day. When this information got out and some male viewers wanted to imitate Hamm’s shaving schedule, dermatologist Dr. Peter Hino warned fans that shaving multiple times a day can be damaging to the skin.
John Slattery initially auditioned to play Don Draper
When the auditioning process for Mad Men began, John Slattery initially auditioned to play Don Draper. However, the producers felt that he would be better suited to the role of Roger Sterling and asked him to audition for that part instead.
Slattery has the charm and suaveness to play either of these roles, but he arguably played Roger – the dark flip-side of Don who was born into money, had everything handed to him and has even less of a conscience – better than he would’ve played Don. Or, at the very least, he wouldn’t have played Don as well as Jon Hamm did.
The pilot episode was the only one shot in New York
Mad Men is set almost entirely in New York City. The title even comes from Madison Avenue, the heart of the advertising industry in the city at the time. However, only one episode of the entire series – the pilot episode – was actually shot in New York. Every single other episode was filmed in Los Angeles.
Almost a full year passed between the production of the pilot episode, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” and production of the second episode, “Ladies Room,” as executives at the network mulled over giving the show a full first-season order, despite its lack of traditional mainstream appeal.
Bobby Draper was played by four different child actors
The role of Don Draper’s son, Bobby, was played by four different child actors over the course of Mad Men’s seven-season run. Maxwell Huckabee was the first actor to play the part, but his tenure was short-lived as he was replaced by Aaron Hart by the end of season 1. Hart went on to become the youngest ever SAG Award winner for his performance as Bobby.
At the beginning of season 3, Jared Gilmore was cast to replace Hart. When season 5 began, Gilmore was replaced by Mason Vale Cotton. By contrast, Sally, the other Draper kid, was played by the same performer, Kiernan Shipka, for the show’s entire run.
The opening titles were inspired by the iconic work of Saul Bass
The opening title sequence of Mad Men is one of the coolest and most interesting in recent memory, as a silhouette of Don Draper falls through an ad-filled skyline before landing in a chair with a glass of scotch. The title sequence was made as an homage to the iconic work of graphic designer Saul Bass, who designed posters and titles for movies throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s.
Specifically, the sequence pays tribute to the use of skyscrapers in the opening titles of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, while the image of the falling man was taken from the poster for Hitchcock’s Vertigo.
January Jones almost dropped out of playing Betty in season 1
After January Jones auditioned twice for the role of Peggy Olson, series creator Matthew Weiner asked her to read for the role of Betty Draper, instead. In the pilot episode, Betty wasn’t very well-developed and Weiner didn’t have any plans to flesh out her part.
Although she aced the audition and landed the part, Jones got cold feet and almost pulled out, fearing that Betty would remain underdeveloped and therefore unchallenging. However, she went with her gut and gambled that some interesting storylines involving the character would come up. And lo and behold, save for the unusual weight gain storyline the writers added to cover up Jones’ pregnancy, that’s what happened.
The show’s writers were allowed “three ‘s**ts’ a show”
Matthew Weiner initially tried to sell Mad Men to HBO, but the network turned it down. Then-network head Richard Plepler later said that passing on the show is his biggest regret from his time at HBO. In a 2011 Q&A with Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Jeff Garlin, Weiner talked about how the language used on the show would be different if it was picked up by HBO.
The creator explained, “Mad Men is [rated] TV-14, not even TV-MA. I’m allowed three ‘s**ts’ a show. I can say ‘Jesus,’ I can say ‘Christ,’ but I can’t say ‘Jesus Christ,’ unless he’s actually there.”
The actors didn’t smoke real cigarettes
Pretty much every character in Mad Men smokes heavily, but the actors didn’t use real cigarettes on-set. Series creator Matthew Weiner explained that when actors smoke real cigarettes in scenes that need a few takes, they can end up throwing up from inhaling too much smoke. Plus, sometimes there were child actors on the set and their lungs needed to be protected from tobacco.
Instead, the actors smoked herbal cigarettes that didn’t contain any tobacco or nicotine. When Vulture asked Jon Hamm what these herbal cigarettes tasted like, he said, “Terrible. They taste like a mixture between pot and soap.”
Network executives were skeptical about Jon Hamm
Early on in the audition process, series creator Matthew Weiner could tell that Jon Hamm was the ideal choice for the role of Don Draper, but network executives were skeptical. The executives wanted Thomas Jane for the role and only considered Hamm when they were told that Jane wasn’t interested in doing any TV shows. (Jane would later star in the underrated and short-lived HBO dramedy series Hung.)
When this came to light and the executives realized they couldn’t get Jane, Hamm was made to audition a few times before they relented and decided he was right for the part.
