Matthew Weiner created a masterpiece with Mad Men and secured a place in the TV hall of fame with the period drama. Set in the ‘60s and in the advertising world of New York, the show followed Jon Hamm’s Don Draper and his rise and fall. The series won several Emmys and is among some of the greatest shows ever made.
The immediate success of the show gave Weiner a lot of fame and access to more work, but he chose to stick with on till the end of the series to keep his vision intact. Mad Men’s consistency can be largely credited to his dedication to the series and his willingness to say ‘no’ even when the network demanded changes from him.
Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner stuck to his guns and did not compromise on the show
If there is anything that Matthew Weiner learned from his time on The Sopranos, it was to stick to your guns and make the best show possible. Network TV usually banks on longevity and appealing to the masses. But AMC’s Mad Men did not go that route and went with a more harrowing and realistic drama that was a gamble that paid off in bulk.
Weiner was a writer on the HBO show and even showed the spec pilot script to The Sopranos creator David Chase. While HBO passed on the show (they were almost onboard with the condition that Chase be an executive producer, which he declined), it was later picked up by AMC years later, and the rest is history.
However, it was not easy for Matthew Weiner to keep the vision of the show intact. The series reportedly cost roughly $30 million a year, with each episode costing up to $2 million.
While it is extremely common for shows to be dictated by ‘the money’, Weiner reportedly stayed committed to his vision. He said to Fast Company,
They [the team] are presenting things to me in a very autonomous way. But the real temptation is to cash in on your popularity in a way that can destroy the fabric of the show. I was committed to not doing that.
This reportedly included saying ‘no’ to the top brass of the show, declining repeated requests from stars to be included in the show, and giving up control of the series and moving on to other projects while the momentum was still running.
Matthew Weiner admitted to having doubts during Mad Men, but still chose to stick to his guns
Art is all about making decisions and hoping they are right. A show like Mad Men tasting success changed Matthew Weiner’s life. However, with success comes a lot more stakeholders coming in to sway the series to more tried and tested ways of earning money. Though tempted, Weiner mentioned that he often stuck to his guns.
However, even the best of artists can get doubts, and Weiner was no stranger to them. The showrunner had to approve several creative decisions, and he admitted to having doubts about his decisions many times. Still, he could not admit that with millions on the line. He said,
I think it’s reflected in whatever personality has come across to people who don’t know me. I had to fake it a lot that I knew what I was doing. We had a modest budget, but even at that rate, when you’re running a $30-million-a-year business, you can’t say, ‘I don’t know.’ You just can’t. It becomes a posture.
He invoked a Mike Nichols quote that basically said that being the boss was to ‘live in the not knowing’. The quote was reportedly also mentioned in the show. Weiner said that, barring his friends and family, nobody else was privy to his indecisiveness.
Mad Men is available to stream on AMC+.
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