The Emmys are coming up this weekend, and of course "Mad Men" is a favorite to win everything again, as it has before. Finally some other networks are wise to its early 1960s ways, rolling out shows based on an airline that was supposed to tackle commercial space travel ("Pan Am") and a chain of clubs launched by a pin-up magazine ("The Playboy Club") OK, that's oversimplifying it. But, it's a reflexive move, considering the success, except for maybe the part that the success of "Mad Men" might have as much to do with its writing, acting, characters as its setting in time and space.
I'll plunk down my child of the 1980s credentials to roll my eyes at the idea that the 1960s and baby boomers deserve more mass media attention, even though I'm a fan of "Mad Men." But if for some reason these two new shows succeed, what semi-touchstone moment of the 1960s will provide the next TV or film drama? Camelot will always be done. What about NASA, now that we don't have a manned space flight program of our own? Of course, Hollywood has done great treatments of that already, with "The Right Stuff" and "Apollo 13." Integration of U.S. schools and colleges? Will you be able to do that without having to deal with a controversy like "The Help" faced in equating the troubles of whites and blacks? Here's one great idea: How about "The Al Davis Story," and the rise of the AFL as it takes on the NFL? What say you?
Meanwhile, yes, that is Christina Ricci above at right in the "Pan Am" publicity push, last seen in "Speed Racer" and a long ways away from "Sleepy Hollow," "Monster" and "The Opposite of Sex."
