You wouldn’t know it to talk to Matthew Weiner, but it’s fair to say that without him, AMC might still be known purely for showing old movies. With the 2007 premiere of his signature creation Mad Men, AMC ventured for the first time into original scripted programming. The show was a smash, and helped convince Bryan Cranston to take the part of Walter White in the network’s next big triumph, Breaking Bad. Now, four Emmys for Best Drama (and dozens of nominations) later, Weiner’s baby is once again nominated for the top prize, following a shortened, seven-episode season that saw something of a rebirth for main character Don Draper. The final seven episodes will air next year.
SSN: Over the years, one of the things that’s been interesting is how you, your writers and the show have repeatedly been recognized, while none of the actors have ever won anything. Weiner: Yeah, it’s frustrating. They’re getting recognized in that they’re being nominated, so I can’t really act like they’re being ignored. Why they’ve been unable to win? I don’t vote in that category, so I don’t know what actors are looking for, but from my end of things, I could not ask for better performances. Do they have to cry more? Do they have to scream more? Do they have to have a more dramatic situation? I do know one thing, it was disturbing to me to not see Elisabeth Moss in it this year. Especially after the performance she gave.
SSN: You’ve always been very diplomatic about people getting recognized or being snubbed over the years, but it seemed like Elisabeth’s performance really peaked this year. She felt like a co-lead. It was a surprise she wasn’t nominated. Weiner: I was shocked by that. So much of the season focused on her, and in terms of screen time and degree of difficulty, it’s some of the best work she’s done here. I can’t imagine other actors don’t see it. There’s certainly a disconnect between how the actors are perceived by their peers and the way the awards recognize them, that’s for sure. They are certainly well respected by other actors and are treated like they’ve won everything. (laughs)
SSN: Elisabeth’s performance seems like a great way to get into the season itself. The passing of the torch from Don to Peggy with the Burger Chef storyline felt like something that was coming for a long time. Was that planned from the beginning? Or was it developed over the course of years of story-breaking? Weiner: It definitely developed. I knew one thing, which was that Don’s behavior toward Peggy in season six was on many levels both the biggest problem in his life and also in the show’s life. This season was about repairing that relationship. To me, it was fun to play with the tension, to see, how could this possibly work out? Had he actually changed? If he had, then that meant, in the end, not thinking about himself. Was Peggy ready for that? Was he ready to hand it over to her? It was fun to investigate the reality of her really being responsible for something, finding her own version of it, and growing creatively. The Burger Chef pitch was important in that it was good, that it was the best thing she had ever done and it wasn’t anything like Don.
SSN: Well, Peggy started out looking up to Don, and has slowly seen him fall. And now, everything’s been stripped away from him, which has to happen to someone before they can make a change. Weiner: That is definitely what it was. You are absolutely right. That was what the Hershey pitch was about for me. At the end of season six, that scene he has with Sally where he says, “That’s where I grew up,” I said to people, “I don’t know what the resonance of that moment is, I just know it’s a huge moment of reconciliation to Don for himself.” A lot of us never get that moment with our parents, but the fact that Don just did that one little thing meant that he was committed to change.
"Think on it intently, and then forget about it, and the idea will pop up in front of you." - Matthew Weiner's favorite advice
SSN: Part of Peggy’s journey to success was in how she was able to use something personal and make it work for her professionally. That was always part of Don’s success, as well, right? Weiner: Traditionally, all of Don’s successful pitches have come from our attempts to show how the creative process works. There is always something in his life that informs him in solving the problem. I am a firm believer that that is how creativity works, how problems are solved. Don gives Peggy some advice in the first season, something I wish people had given me and it always makes me a little emotional when I think about the scene, when she’s trying to solve the problem with the Relaxicizer. He says, and I can’t get the quote exactly right but it’s basically, Think on it intently, and then forget about it, and the idea will pop up in front of you. And that has to do with living life.
SSN: In each of the previous seasons, it always felt like there was some kind of turning point or climax about halfway through the season, where certain story elements would start to converge. With that in mind, did you treat these final 14 episodes—split into two sections—as one normal season, or two smaller ones? Weiner: That is actually a really good question, because I have never done this before. A lot of the problems that came up were new, and that’s kind of exciting 90 episodes into a show. It was conceived as these 14 episodes being one season, but there had to be this extra thing which was two premieres and two finales. The shortest answer is that I think it functions as a whole season. It was conceived that way. I hope you like it. (laughs) It’s totally antithetical to the experience of series television to resolve things. It’s just not part of our job. You’ve got to come back next week for another episode, so ending the series was a totally undiscovered country for all of us. I hope we pulled it off.
SSN: My feeling on it as a viewer is that I can’t wait to see it, but I’m not looking forward to the end of the show. I’m conflicted. It was like that with Breaking Bad, too. Weiner: I get it. I watch TV. I understand it completely! (laughs) All I can tell you is, as you have seen in the first seven episodes, and this is not a spoiler, I am trying to use as much of the emotion in the story as we had ending the show. And I think the audience who loves the show, or is at least attached to it, will resonate with those feelings as well. I hope so, anyway. And it’s really happening! There’s no going back now. (laughs)
