“Mad Men” continues its long goodbye with a comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at the series at the Museum of the Moving Image.
“Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men,” opening Saturday, explores the writing and collaborative process in creating the AMC drama, as well as displays costumes and full sets from the iconic show.
Since debuting in 2007, “Mad Men” has become “a cultural touchstone,” museum director Carl Goodman said. “When you have President Obama referencing ‘Mad Men’ in a press conference, you’ve gotten somewhere with culture that other shows haven’t.”
The depth of the creative process and research for the 1960s-set drama is especially clear in the “Origins” part of the exhibit. Here visitors can read scribbled notes of plot ideas by series creator Matthew Weiner and early scripts, as well as watch clips from movies that served as inspiration for the show, including Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment” and Arthur Hiller’s “The Americanization of Emily.”
A recreation of the Los Angeles writers’ room explores the “very hard-to-pin-down notion of creative collaboration in film and television,” Goodman said.
“That orchestration, in a very tight time frame, and execution of that vision from the brain to the writer’s room … to research, to what you see on the screen — that is kind of what this [exhibition] is about,” Goodman said.
The exhibit also features 33 outfits created by award-winning costume designer Janie Bryant for the show’s main characters, shown alongside episode clips featuring the costumes and mood boards created by Bryant.
Visitors can further get drawn into the world of “Mad Men” through recreations of the full sets, including Don and Betty Draper’s kitchen and Don’s office from season four.
Through April 26, the museum is also screening 10 films that influenced Weiner, from Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” to David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet.”
If you go: “Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men,” opens Saturday and runs until June 14 at the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, 718-777-6888. Admission is $12 adults, $9 students and seniors, $6 children. For more visit movingimage.us.
