{"id":335,"date":"2009-08-16T14:58:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-16T14:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/maddening.html"},"modified":"2009-08-16T14:58:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-16T14:58:00","slug":"maddening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/maddening.html","title":{"rendered":"Maddening"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SohYXJ3s1LI\/AAAAAAAAGAE\/7qN6HHQOoyQ\/s1600-h\/sterling-cooper.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 289px;\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SohYXJ3s1LI\/AAAAAAAAGAE\/7qN6HHQOoyQ\/s400\/sterling-cooper.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370639710449095858\" \/><\/a>Our long national nightmare is almost over. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amctv.com\/originals\/madmen\/\">&#8220;Mad Men&#8221;<\/a> returns tonight at 10. <\/p>\n<p>What started for me as a guilty pleasure two summers ago has become as addictive as nicotine and as intoxicating as a Bloody Mary.  It also happens to be sensationally good TV, with a look and sensibility that are swanky and eerily true-to-life.  (I&#8217;ve seen that kitchen at the Drapers.  I ate at that table.  I talked on those telephones.)  The writing is both clever and mysterious &#8212; who are these people, <i>really?<\/i> &#8212; and the show continues to remind us, in subtle and ironic ways, just why what we now know as &#8220;The &#8217;60&#8217;s&#8221; had to happen.  <\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll be watching.  Looking for a quick fix?  Below is AMC&#8217;s Season 2 recap.  <\/p>\n<p><center><embed src=\"http:\/\/c.brightcove.com\/services\/viewer\/federated_f8\/1119352258\" bgcolor=\"#FFFFFF\" flashVars=\"videoId=33387771001&#038;playerId=1119352258&#038;viewerSecureGatewayURL=https:\/\/console.brightcove.com\/services\/amfgateway&#038;servicesURL=http:\/\/services.brightcove.com\/services&#038;cdnURL=http:\/\/admin.brightcove.com&#038;domain=embed&#038;autoStart=false&#038;\" base=\"http:\/\/admin.brightcove.com\" name=\"flashObj\" width=\"440\" height=\"373\" seamlesstabbing=\"false\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" swLiveConnect=\"true\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/shockwave\/download\/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash\"><\/embed><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our long national nightmare is almost over. &#8220;Mad Men&#8221; returns tonight at 10. What started for me as a guilty pleasure two summers ago has become as addictive as nicotine and as intoxicating as a Bloody Mary. It also happens to be sensationally good TV, with a look and sensibility that are swanky and eerily&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,11,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links-r-us","category-media","category-this-and-that"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Maddening - The Deacon&#039;s Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/maddening.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maddening - The Deacon&#039;s Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our long national nightmare is almost over. &#8220;Mad Men&#8221; returns tonight at 10. What started for me as a guilty pleasure two summers ago has become as addictive as nicotine and as intoxicating as a Bloody Mary. It also happens to be sensationally good TV, with a look and sensibility that are swanky and eerily&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/maddening.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon&#039;s Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-08-16T14:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SohYXJ3s1LI\/AAAAAAAAGAE\/7qN6HHQOoyQ\/s400\/sterling-cooper.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"deacon greg kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maddening - The Deacon&#039;s Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/maddening.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maddening - The Deacon&#039;s Bench","og_description":"Our long national nightmare is almost over. &#8220;Mad Men&#8221; returns tonight at 10. 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