Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: WI
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Re: Mad Men
Interview with Robert Morse, from Rolling Stone, in which the episode's wonderful musical ending is discussed:
Quote:
How did Matthew Weiner pitch you on this idea?
Matthew, as you may remember, was a writer on The Sopranos — and you may also remember how they got rid of characters on that show. One in the head or dumped into the river! [Laughs] So when Matthew told me about eight weeks ago that "Bobby, your character is going to pass away," I immediately thought, "Uh-oh: who's going to shoot me! Is it going to be Joan? Or Roger? Who's takin' out the old man? [Laughs] I mean, there already was a hanging in our office! How am I going to go, Matt?!?"
And he just laughed and said, "No one is going to shoot you. You're not going to be found hanging in your office. You're going to go quietly and peacefully, it'll be handled sensitively." Then he paused and said, "But I have this idea…"
"You're going to sing something from the after-life."
You're very close! [Laughs] He said, "Ever since I hired you, I've always wanted to have you sing on the show. I never knew where I would be able to put it, but I have this notion of having you come back as a hallucination, Jon is going to see you and you'll sing to him." "Really, Matt?" "Yeah, and I know just the song."
So it was always "The Best Things in Life Are Free?"
Yes, that was what Matt wanted from the very beginning. It was always going to be [Sings loudly] "The stars in the sky/the moon on high/they're great for you and me/because they're freeeeee!" And I went, "Oh, yeah…I'm not so sure."
Wait, you turned it down?
At first; I wasn't sure it would work until I talked to him about it a little more. I was concerned, because I didn't want it to be Bobby Morse from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying or any of the other musicals I did on stage. You know, 30 years on Broadway and all they remember you by is How to Succeed….
There are worse musical to be remembered by.
True, but I was afraid that it would just look like something else entirely; I didn't want it to take you out of the show, you know? But then Matt said, "No, no…it's going to serve to emphasize the episode's message." "What?!?" "Really, Bobby, it's going to serve to emphasize the episode's message." "How's it going to do that?" "I'm working on it, trust me."
And ultimately, that's what I think he did. It wasn't just, go and sing a song, and au revoir Bobby. It was Bert telling Don: What are you doing? All this shit that you're doing, cut it out. The best things in life are free. We just landed on the moon. Calm down. Enjoy things while you have them. I saw how the scene fit into the whole picture, and thought: Wow. This gives things a lot of perspective here. Let's do it. We rehearsed for a few days and then just filmed it over the course of a day or so. No one else knew we were doing it — Jon was surprised, to say the least.
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http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/n...unset-20140527
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