Bewitched/Mad Men

[Neon Maniac]

I don't think I've posted this here, but I have talked about it with other people.

From other threads, I've said I have Antenna TV on for noise while I'm working from home. This is another observation thread about old shows, so if you don't like it please leave and stop spamming me.

Anyway...

I'm convinced that Matt Weiner ripped off Bewitched when he created Mad Men. This is no stretch, I'm actually being serious about this.

Darren Stevens and Don Draper both work in advertising.
Larry Tate and Roger Sterling are their respective bosses.
Darren and Don both wear the exact same suits.
Larry and Roger both wear the exact same suits.
Larry and Roger both have young wives.
Larry and Roger both have the same hair.
Larry and Roger both love drinks, fast cars, and the ad game.
Darren and Don are both married to blondes.
Darren and Don both have a son and daughter.
I'm going to end this here, because you can literally keep paralleling all of the superficial things here ad infinitum.

McMahon (of McMahon and Tate) was only on a couple of episodes. He was portrayed as a rich, eccentric, aged alcoholic who goes around with really young women. He was Larry's Dad's partner. Remember Bert Cooper from Mad Men? Yep, exactly the same and he was Roger's Dad's partner.

Like on Mad Men, they all drink like crazy. It's odd to see it in a sitcom, but we don't pay attention to it as it was from the 60's. But really, they drink a crazy amount. In the office, at home, and at bars.

Start watching it, watching the characters and situations, and I think you'll agree. It's honestly like Weiner just said, Let's take Bewitched, only Betty's not literally a witch, but she is figuratively. And instead of Darren accepting Samantha for being a witch, Don despises Betty for acting like a witch.

BAM.

End of story. Totally serious about this. If I ever meet Weiner I'm having this discussion with him.

[shiki-jitsu]

I am picking up everything you are putting down here. This is dead one. At the very least he must've used as a reference point (if not much more).

[Neon Maniac]

Right now they're in the first season or two which was in B&W. When they switched to color, that's when I started noticing the suits. I would say the wardrobe people at Mad Men copied a lot from them. Larry and Roger have the same gray suits, Darren and Don the same blue ones. Same cuts, everything.

And the odd thing here is, when Bewitched changes the actors for Darren after original actor Dick York gets terribly injured in a western, they switch to actor Dick Sargent. We know that Don Draper is a stolen identity too. Don's real name was Dick Whitman. I don't think that's a coincidence, I think that's a clue or an homage.

[Neon Maniac]

Last thing, and then I'll stop for the day.

Darren is a mortal trying to make his way through the world of witchcraft, while the witches look at him as a hayseed mortal. Most of the comedy is based on this, with Darren often being at the mercy of the witches.

Draper is a hayseed trying to fake his way through the sophisticated business world of New York, knowing they'd disown him if they found out he was a hayseed. Most of the drama is based on this, with Draper often being put in a situation where he's over his head or outclassed.

Bewitched isn't set at the ad agency, it's set at Darren's home. So most of the characters are from outside of the agency. Mad Men is set at the agency, so most of the characters come from there. Mrs. Kravitz is the nosy neighbor gossip who sees everything and tries to expose the witchcraft, and everybody hates her. Joan is the nosy office worker who gets the dirt on everyone and threatens to expose them in order to increase her own status at the agency, and everybody hates her.

Regardless of the home or office focus on these shows, the plots of both are mainly driven by ad campaigns both Darren and Draper are working on.