Mad Men vs. The Playboy Club

  

   

Original Channel

Mad Men: AMC

The Playboy Club: NBC

Creators

Mad Men: Matthew Weiner

The Playboy Club: Chad Hodge

Stars

Mad Men: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery

The Playboy Club: Eddie Cibrian, Laura Benanti, Amber Heard, Naturi Naughton, Leah Renee, Jenna Dewan, David Krumholtz

Air dates

Mad Men: July 19, 2007 - present

The Playboy Club: September 19 – October 3, 2011

Season structure (Season One)

Mad Men: 13 episodes of 47 minutes

The Playboy Club: 7 episodes of 42 minutes (4 unaired)

Why?

Dashing, charismatic men in the 1960s

Similarities

Charismatic leading man: Mad Men has Don Draper, and The Playboy Club  has Nick Dalton. They’re practically one and the same. Ambiguous backgrounds (Don’s involves war, Nick’s the mob) that we’re sure to learn more about. Charming, handsome, love women, drinking and smoking, good with people, confident. They are the draw of the show, since neither the audience nor the other characters can take our eyes off of them. They feed off the attention from others, and can’t commit themselves to just one woman.

Sexism: Both shows explicitly address the sexism that women faced in the 1950s and 60s, as well as briefly refer to homosexuality and ethnic discrimination. On Mad Men, the secretaries face sexism at work, talk about married life and how it affects the ability to work, and even the gynecologist treats Peggy like a floozy for her request for birth control. Don gets upset at an assertive female client, and says “I’m not going to let a woman talk to me like this,” even though he should be treating her with respect due to her role. On The Playboy Club, the women are objectified by customers. One of the central plotlines is kicked off due to a customer trying to sexually assault one of the Bunnies.

Differences

Based on franchise: The Playboy Club exists with approval (and occasional voiceover) from Hugh Hefner. It can’t maintain its objectivity and explore unsavory angles. Yes, it shows the sexualization and objectification of women, yet at the same time, tries to say that they’re using their sexuality in order to get ahead and attain success or freedom. While this may be true in some senses, the show will never be able to present an accurate and comprehensive depiction of the Playboy franchise and those involved. Mad Men has this distance from the ad agencies. It’s not like an agency is involved with the show and giving approval.

Women empowerment: While both shows address sexism, sexuality is given a bigger focus on The Playboy Club, understandably, given the source material. On Mad Men, even though the women are marginalized, they aren’t being taken care of. We get the sense that they’re actually in control somewhat. Peggy chooses to sleep with Pete, not because she feels pressure to. Joan basically runs the office, even if she doesn’t hold the highest title. Rachel isn’t fazed by Don and his persona. While on The Playboy Club, women need the men. They may be using these positions to empower themselves, but Maureen needs Nick to help her get rid of the mob head’s body. The others need their husbands and boyfriends for support. There’s a greater focus on interactions and relationships between characters than on the individual character development.

Crime angle: There’s a whole other storyline involving the mob and a covered up murder on The Playboy Club, that just seems out of place and unrealistic.

Conclusion

Coming 4 years after Mad Men, The Playboy Club was clearly trying to capitalize on Mad Men’s success and popularity. It’s essentially a rip off, with backing from the Playboy enterprise itself. This obviously makes a difference and gives the show a different angle. But, because it airs on network TV, it’s like someone thought it needed an injection of danger and excitement (because Mad Men is a bit of a slow burner, like many cable shows), so the murder/mob storyline was added. Deeper character development and less forced plot lines are two of the advantages Mad Men has over The Playboy Club, which in my view, are common characteristics of successful cable shows. They don’t feel the need for a quick pace.


The difference in where the shows find conflict can be found by looking at the end of the pilots. In Mad Men, it's revealed that Don Draper is married with two children. In The Playboy Club, it's revealed that Nick is related to the head of the mob and is still involved. 

Girls vs. 2 Broke Girls

      

Original Channel

2 Broke Girls: CBS

Girls: HBO

Creators

2 Broke Girls: Michael Patrick King, Whitney Cummings

Girls: Lena Dunham

Stars

2 Broke Girls: Kat Dennings, Beth Behrs

Girls: Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet

Air dates

2 Broke Girls: September 19, 2011 - present

Girls: April 15, 2012 - present

Season structure (Season One)

2 Broke Girls: 22 episodes of 22 minutes

Girls: 10 episodes of 30 minutes

Why?

Young 20something women making a go of it in NYC

Similarities

“Girls”: Yes, the word is in both shows’ titles. These characters are young 20somethings, so technically they should be called women. Yet, none of them have it figured out yet: not careers, boyfriends, finances, apartments. While 2 Broke Girls shares the creator of Sex and the City, these characters are most definitely not the women of that show.

Deadbeat boyfriends: Hannah has a hookup that she refers to as her boyfriend, but most definitely is not. He never calls or even texts her, and is obviously just using her. Max’s boyfriend is hits on other women, is in a band that’s going nowhere, and even cheats on her. Marnie’s boyfriend is perfect on paper, but is bland and a little too eager-puppyish for her. These girls are still looking for a good fit, and their dissatisfaction in their love lives represents the general searching they’re still going through at this time in their lives.

NYC References: The characters in both shows work in Brooklyn, and there are references to the city littered throughout, from immigrant neighborhoods like Greenpoint to high cupcake prices, to the names of actual bars. See below for how well these references actually work.

Differences

Topicality: All of the jokes in 2 Broke Girls feel about 3+ years too late. For example, regarding everyone’s favorite butt of a joke: hipsters. 2Broke Girls Max talking to hipster customers: “I wear a knit cap when it’s cold out, you wear a knit cap because of Coldplay.” No self-respecting hipster likes the way-too-mainstream Coldplay. The pseudo-boyfriend on Girls: “I do woodworking because working with my hands is just more honest.” SPOT ON. Example 2: Max says that’s it’s dangerous to wear a nice leather jacket in Williamsburg. Yeah right. That neighborhood is gentrified and has a very low crime rate. Stale jokes.

Minority inclusion: Girls has been criticized for only representing upper middle class white girls and not including minorities. They haven’t been present at all on the show. For my two cents, it’s not accurate to not have a minority presence on the show when we’re a multi-cultural society and NYC is so diverse. However, 3 episodes in, it’s completely believable that 4 white girls are friends, and dating white guys. On the other hand, 2 Broke Girls very much represents minorities, but for what it’s worth, in just as offensive a way as not including them at all. A lot of the humor relies on politically incorrect jokes and racial stereotyping.

Approach to financial problems: The main character on Girls, Hannah, is broke and cut off from her parents’ financial support. On 2 Broke Girls, Max comes from a working class background, and Caroline’s father just lost all their assets. The way they approach these money issues is completely different. Girls explores the entitlement that our generation, the Millenials if you will, has in spades. Hannah wants to publish a book of her own essays, and has an unpaid internship two years out of college with a publisher. She wants the career she wants, now, even if it’s not the most practical. Marnie is a gallery assistant, which can’t be paying much. Jessa flits around the globe, picking up jobs as she goes to sustain herself. As frustrating as it can be for older generations, young adults can totally relate. We work hard, but not always in financially viable ways. We expect to get what we want. On 2 Broke Girls, it’s a different story. They work two jobs in order to save enough money to open up a cupcake shop. Those jobs are babysitting and waitressing, both of which aren’t too pleasant. While this may be more appealing, it’s not exactly the first option for a lot of 20somethings.

Conclusion

Besides their basic premises, these shows couldn’t be more different. And no, it’s not because of the laugh track (although it makes a big difference). I attribute these differences to the channels they’re on. HBO allows Lena Dunham more creative freedom, not caring as much about appealing to the wide audience that CBS comedies cater to. Girls represents an accurate, although sometimes painfully so, depiction of a 20something female experience in NYC. We laugh because we know it’s true, even if we don’t want it to be. 2 Broke Girls feels like a older person writing about those young kids these days. The comedy is too broad and the storylines too unrealistic. Lena Dunham is writing about her own generation, whereas Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings are years removed. It's all very sitcommy, and that form only contributes to its staleness. A show that aims to be current needs to have a current form. We don't know where we're headed on Girls, with its loose/almost nonexistent plot structure, but that's ok, because it's all too real and refreshing.

Sex and the City vs. Lipstick Jungle

Original Channel

Sex and the City: HBO

Lipstick Jungle: NBC

Creators

SATC: DeAnn Heline, Eileen Heisler

Lipstick Jungle: Darren Star

Stars

SATC: Sarah-Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis

Lipstick Jungle: Brooke Shields, Kim Raver, Lindsay Price

Air dates

SATC: June 6, 1998 – February 22, 2004

Lipstick Jungle: February 7, 2008 – January 9, 2009

Season structure (Season One)

SATC: 12 episodes of 30 minutes

Lipstick Jungle: 7 episodes of 47 minutes

Why?

NYC women balancing love and careers in their 30s

     

Similarities

Female friendship: SATC has 4, LJ  has 3, but female friendship in a tight-knit group ties the shows together. Even though we see their respective story lines, the characters are always brought back together at certain points to discuss their problems and get advice from each other. That support is what helps them through the ups and downs of their relationships and careers.

SATC as a predecessor: Lipstick Jungle isn’t an exact SATC copycat. Rather, it picks up where SATC left off. These are women at the height (or almost) of their careers. They’re in their late 30s, married with successful careers, and even a few children. When SATC started, they were all single and in their early 30s, doing well in their careers but not quite at the point of the LJ ladies. LJ is less “single girl” than SATC was at its start.

Differences

Work Focus: We see Carrie et al. in their various jobs at certain points, and Carrie’s column serves as the voiceover for SATC. However, Lipstick Jungle’s main theme is the ups and downs of women pursuing careers. That idea of power and how it affects all aspects of their lives, including relationships, is the main focus, whereas in SATC the focus is solely on relationships. For example, Wendy is a career woman; she and her husband struggle with her being in the position of power and her husband dealing with the kids. This is similar to Miranda and Steve later in the series for SATC, but her work isn’t referred to quite as much. There’s a lot of talk on LJ of the ways women have to deal with failure and success.

Sex: It’s in the name for one of them. LJ refers to it and shows bits and pieces, but it definitely does not take center stage like it does in SATC. SATC’s central focus and theme is really female friendship and navigating relationships, but part of that involves sex. While it’s not always realistic, the way it’s discussed and shown is still far more realistic than in LJ, where the friends talk around it rather than tackle it head on. Because of this, it does seem watered down and less revolutionary for television than SATC was, not just because it came 10 years after.

Conclusion

These really are two very different shows, even though they may seem similar on the surface due to their “glamorous women in NYC” vibe. Lipstick Jungle is more about careers, with friendship and relationships on the side, while Sex and the City is the reverse. SATC is also more comedic, and doesn’t try so hard to, you know, say, something about women. It just does it. This probably has to do with it coming first, and making a statement that LJ then tried to follow and copy somewhat. SATC also benefits from its depiction of sex in relationships, which doesn’t seem superfluous as it is so often on cable. This time, it exists for a reason, and makes the show better for it. 

Weeds vs. Desperate Housewives

    


Original Channel

Weeds: Showtime

Desperate Housewives: ABC

Creators

Weeds: Jenji Kohan

Desperate Housewives: Marc Cherry

Stars (Season One)

Weeds: Mary-Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins, Tonye Patano, Romany Malco, Justin Kirk, Hunter Parrish, Alexander Gould, Kevin Nealon

Desperate Housewives: Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, Nicollette Sheridan, Steven Culp, Ricardo Antonio Chavira

Air dates

Weeds: August 8, 2005 - present

Desperate Housewives: October 3, 2004 – May 13, 2012

Season structure (Season One)

Weeds: 10 episodes of 26 minutes

Desperate Housewives: 23 episodes of 42 minutes

Why?

Suburban Ladies

The Similarities

Secret lives: The central theme of both shows is that there is more to the suburban housewife than meets the eye. They try to present a picture of the perfect, happy life to everyone else, but they all have their own secrets. On DH: Gabrielle is having an affair, Rex wants a divorce from Bree, Susan burns Edie’s house, Lynette can’t handle her children alone. On Weeds: Nancy is a drug dealer. On the pilot of DH, the idyllic neighborhood of Wisteria Lane is shown, and we see Mary Alice performing standard housewife tasks. Then she kills herself. On Weeds, the credits show identical houses, cars and people, then we see Nancy getting her drugs after a parent association meeting. There’s more than meets the eye.

Struggle to be happy: All the women are trying to present a version of themselves that looks good to everyone else, but they’re all unhappy. As Gabrielle says, “We wouldn’t want them to think we’re not happy.” To everyone else, Bree looks like the perfect wife and mother, but her family hates her. Cecilia’s husband is cheating on her. Nancy is trying to gain control over her life, and has to turn to her dealers for a support system. None of these women are perfect, even though they feel pressure to have control and make it look easy to others.

Dark comedy: Two examples follow.

DH: 1:00 mark

Weeds

The Differences

Drugs: It’s obvious by looking at the respective plots of the shows, but Weeds revolves around the main character being a drug dealer, and Desperate Housewives does not. Some of the main characters are her suppliers, and the others are the people she deals with (who also happen to be people in her social circle). There’s a whole other side to the story than just the suburban housewife activities. Nancy has to face her own moral dilemma about being a dealer, yet not wanting young kids to smoke. While there will be storylines revolving drugs in later episodes of DH, they don’t have the same focus as on Weeds. This involves racial issues, since she and her friends are white but the dealers are black.

Neighborhood & Friendships: Weeds is somewhat about the frenemy dynamic between Nancy and Cecilia, but it doesn’t have the friendship focus that DH has. There’s competition among women in both, but you can tell the women all support each other on DH. The show is about an ensemble of various housewives, where Nancy is the sole main character on Weeds. We feel she’s more alone. This extends to the idea of the neighborhood. Wisteria Lane is almost like another character on DH, since the women are constantly going from house to house or interacting in the street. It feels more internal on Weeds.

Conclusion

Weeds is offered a lot more freedom to go darker and more ambiguous on cable. It can explore the drug culture, in how it relates to a suburban mom’s life. It’s not clear how we should feel about Nancy being a dealer. On DH, even though we may find Gabrielle’s affair or Susan burning Edie’s house immoral, we can kind of look at it as, “Oh, that’s just a fun thing they’re doing, but there aren’t any real consequences!” Because it’s so soapy, it’s all in good fun. There’s a somewhat dangerous/sinister side to the drug dealing on Weeds though that being on cable affords. Because DH has pressure to be more entertaining, it actually is. Even though the episodes are longer, the pacing is quicker and it's more fun to watch.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. The Vampire Diaries vs. True Blood

Original Channel

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The WB and UPN

The Vampire Diaries: The CW

True Blood: HBO

Creators

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Joss Whedon

The Vampire Diaries: Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec

True Blood: Alan Ball

Stars (Season One)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Stewart Head

The Vampire Diaries: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Sara Canning, Katerina Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Michael Trevino, Matt Davis

True Blood: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Nelsan Ellis, Alexander Skarsgard

Air dates

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: March 10, 1997 – May 20, 2003

The Vampire Diaries: September 10, 2009 - Present

True Blood: September 7, 2008 - Present

Season structure (Season One)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 12 episodes of 43 minutes

The Vampire Diaries: 22 episodes of 43 minutes

True Blood: 12 episodes of 50-60 minutes

Why?

Vampires

The Differences

Origins: The Vampire Diaries and True Blood are based on young adult and adult fiction book series, respectively. Buffy originated in a feature film that was also written by Joss Whedon. While the book-to-TV series stay quite faithful to the books, the Buffy TV series differed greatly from the original movie. Also, this lends a different relationship between the viewers and the shows. Because readers of the books also watch the shows, they have a general idea of what would happen next and the answers to some of the biggest mysteries. If you want them, the spoilers are out there. With Buffy, there was no way of knowing what was coming next, since it wasn’t following a source material. That completely changes the viewing experience.

Graphic violence and sex in connection with humor: As with most premium cable shows, True Blood takes many liberties with its lack of restrictions, using a lot of nudity and blood that is not as graphic on the other two shows, even though violence and sex are a large part of their plotlines. Despite some small moments of tenderness, True Blood seems to approach this freedom with a type of glee, using it in a campy, over-the-top humorous way. Buffy is very humorous as well, but through witty wordplay. The Vampire Diaries uses the smallest amount of comedy of the three, but does insert some humor.

Attractiveness of evil: All shows cast attractive actors to play the vampires and other supernatural creatures. But, once the creatures turn and feed, it’s different. On Buffy, the vampires gain grotesque facial ridges in addition to their fangs. On The Vampire Diaries, it’s a lesser effect, with veins appearing around the eyes. On True Blood, it’s just the fangs. This makes a difference for how the audience feels towards these characters. The scarier they look, the more scared we’ll feel. This probably isn’t due to differences in network and cable, but rather, the evolution of the vampire in pop culture from monster to sex symbol.

True Blood

The Vampire Diaries

Buffy

         

The Similarities

Special female lead: All three shows feature strong female leads who have a special characteristic that makes them more than just your normal young girl. Buffy is a vampire slayer, the Chosen One. She has extra strength and a duty to protect the world. Elena on The Vampire Diaries is a doppelganger, which makes her and her blood valuable to a lot of people. Sookie on True Blood is a fairy with light that is desired by many. They are the main characters for a reason. While Buffy is the strongest physically, they all stand up for what they believe in and fight against evil, yet still succumb to it every once in awhile (see below). Also, all three have suffered in their past and with their family, leaving them even more alone and on their own. Buffy has divorced parents, and her mother dies in the middle of the series.  Elena’s parents died in a car crash, and she suffers other family losses later in the series. Sookie’s parents are dead, and her Gran is killed in the first season.

Love Triangle between good and bad vampires: All three have it. The main girls fall in love with the morally good vampire, then are tempted by the bad one who exhibits signs of goodness: Buffy has Angel and Spike, Elena has Stefan and Damon, and Sookie has Bill and Eric. They are battling evil yet succumbing to a side of it by falling in love.

Extended metaphors: Buffy is a genius metaphor for the challenges of high school, and storylines stood for so much more than what they seemed. She sleeps with her boyfriend, and with a twist on the classic teen girl fear, he turns into a huge jerk. This time though, it’s because he loses his soul and becomes an evil vampire hell-bent on destroying the world. She can fight off any supernatural being, yet her mother dies from the one thing she can’t protect her from: a natural brain aneurysm.
True Blood compares the plight of vampires, newly outed in the US, to the plight of homosexuals and the discrimination they face, with signs in the opening credits that state “God hates fangs.” Take out one “n” and you can easily see.
The Vampire Diaries  doesn’t have as clear of meaning as these two.

Conclusion

Much like Homeland and 24, there are few differences in theme and style. The ones that do exist are more in tone, which lends me to believe it's due to the creative choices by the show runners instead of airing on network or cable TV. Some differences can also be attributed to the evolution of vampires’ place in pop culture. For three distinct shows, they are remarkably similar without feeling like you’re watching the same show. 

Homeland vs. 24

Original Channel

Homeland: Showtime

24: Fox

 

Creators

Homeland: Gideon Raff

24:Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran

Stars (Season One)

Homeland: Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Morena Baccarin, David Harewood, Diego Klattenhoff, Jackson Pace, Morgan Saylor, Mandy Patinkin

24:Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Hope, Sarah Clarke, Elisha Cuthbert, Dennis Haysbert

Air dates

Homeland: October 2, 2011 - Present

24: November 6, 2001 - May 24, 2010

Season structure (Season One)

Homeland: 12 episodes of 50-60 minutes

24: 24 episodes of 43 minutes

Why?

Both shows are about preventing terrorist attacks on US home soil. 

The Differences

Main characters: There’s  an ambiguity of morality (Sergeant Brody) and mental stability (Carrie) in Homeland that isn’t as present with Jack in 24. We know Jack is the hero, and even though he may be violent and do questionable things, it’s all for the greater good and will lead to the right end. Carrie and Sergeant Brody represent anti-heroes. We’re constantly questioning if what they’re doing has good intentions or will lead to the right result. There’s an unfailing trust with Jack, but with Carrie and Sergeant Brody, we just don’t know. There is no “good guy” and “bad guy.”


An example of a time when we know Carrie is right but can't trust her because she's off her meds:

Pacing: 24 has a distinct structure: Each episode is an hour in a 24 episode (and 24 hour) day. The episodes begin with “The following takes place between … and … on the day of … Events take place in real time.” This is more creative than the timing of Homeland, which spans months, and even jumps 10 months in just the opening scene. This lends 24 a faster pace since all the events have to take place on one day, and the audience is reminded of the time throughout the hour with a count down. There are a lot of split screens to show what’s going on at the same time. However, this also limits 24’s structure somewhat, since everything does have to happen in one day. Homeland offers more time for relationships to build and change and for characters to develop within an episode or a season.

The Similarities

Both pilots explore the family-work strain. Carrie is so busy she doesn’t have time for a social life. Sergeant Brody is returning from being held in captivity for years, so the show devotes time to his readjustment with family. In 24, Jack has just reconciled with his wife, and they have a rebellious teenage daughter. Similarly, in Homeland the teenage daughter is found smoking out of a bong and the teenage daughter on 24 has joints hidden in her desk. 

Sense of loneliness and distrust: In 24, Jack is told “Don’t trust anybody, not even your own people.” Jack, Carrie and Sergeant Brody are on their own. They have mentors, but they have to rely on themselves to make the ultimate decisions because they can’t trust anyone. 

Overarching story: We as an audience know what’s planned (a terrorist attack or assassination) most of the time, but we don’t know who’s going to do it. The seasons build up to big events that have to be stopped, with tiny yet shocking reveals at the end of each episode.

Conclusion

The shows have overall very similar themes. There’s an ambiguity with the main characters in Homeland that isn’t as present in 24, but this is probably more likely due to 24 airing directly after the September 11^th attacks and Homeland airing 10 years later, reflecting the American consciousness towards war and the conflict in the Middle East. There are differences in style, but most differences don’t seem to be related to the shows airing on network vs. cable.