The Mad Men Are Back

I've spent the last month or so watching "Mad Men" seasons 1-3 on my wonderful Kindle Fire.  Tonight I begin Season 4 expecting to finish before the now delayed 18 months Season 5 begins March 25th.

Getting my fix while the show has been on hiatus due to contractual disputes between the creator and the network (or whatever) has forced me to renew my acquaintance with a show I originally deemed a "very well written soap opera dramatization" of the early 1960s.  I have greater respect for the writing and character development and psychological turmoil of said characters sent against the backdrop of the turbulent Sixties in which I was growing up.

I may be an addict, but I'm now an informed addict.

Johnny Carson and The Rat Pack

Nobody can or ever will replace Johnny Carson. I tolerate but have never really liked David Letterman.  When Leno took the reins of the "Tonight Show", I was grinning and bearing it. I am now bored by both.

My idol, Jon Stewart, is at least topical and funny so he is my new King of Late Night. But, there will always be only one Johnny Carson. A friend of mine found this video on YouTube.  I've never heard Carson sing. Now I know why. 

This was shot at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis in 1965. I think it was a charity event.  Shades of Mad Men with all the smoking and drinking and who knows what else.  They sure had fun.