The Mad Men (and Women!) of Morning Joe

You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that Mad Men debuted its third season tonight. For the past month fans have been inundated with Mad Men Twitter avatars, Mad Men window-dressings, and Mad Men-themed websites. All that smoke-filled, sexed-up, whiskey-splashed glamour could make an asthmatic teetotaler long for the heady days of the early '60s -- who knew advertising could be so compelling? We know who: the folks at Morning Joe, currently representing the most harmonious blend of advertising and editorial on the airwaves. Don Draper himself couldn't have topped it (and he might even have switched out his whiskey for a Venti Frappucino). From there, the comparisons suddenly seemed obvious. So, in the tradition of merging the media beat with whatever pop culture sensation has captured the Zeitgeist (Harry Potter and the Media Muggles, anyone?), I and my colleagues at Mediaite thought it would be fun to cast the Mad Morning Men (and Women) of Morning Joe. Hey, what else are you gonna do until next Sunday at 10?

Don Draper - Joe Scarborough

Just as Don Draper's voice can dominate a hushed conference room filled with clients, so too does Joe's voice dominate the show that bears his name, though it's decidedly not hushed. Scarborough, a former Congressman, is certainly no stranger to selling, nor does he lack for Draper-esque confidence. We've noticed he's traded in his zipper sweatshirts for dark suits of late, but that's not all it is -- of any character on Morning Joe, he's the one we can most easily see sitting in a darkened bar with a glass of something amber at his side. Besides, couldn't his book on the GOP just as easily have been called Meditations on an Emergency?

Joan Holloway - Mika Brzezinski

And what is Don Draper without a beautiful woman nearby? Mika puts the "Joe" in "Joanie," who keeps things moving at Sterling Cooper with brisk (and bodacious) efficiency. Similarly Mika keeps the trains running on Morning Joe, as well as being the resident sex symbol (and she's got the Peggy Noonan-shocking shoes to prove it). No word on what Mika's college roommate might think.

Pete Campbell - Willie Geist

Oh, we're on to you, Willie Geist. You with your affable smile and quickness to joke -- we've watched your rise through the ranks at MSNBC, always with an eye on the top spot. Like a junior ad executive doing what's necessary to bring in that Clearasil account, you scored that plum 5:30 anchor spot -- just another feather in your cap while you bide your time. Somewhere under your bed, we know there's a box of photographs that will finish Joe Scarborough once and for all. You don't fool us.

Peggy Olsen - Erin Burnett

There she is, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, chipper but professional, girlish but savvy with an eye on the prize. Peggy Olsen? Erin Burnett? Exactly. Both have risen meteorically in their respective workplaces, making the heads of more seasoned types whip around, but they don't mind the gawking (or whispering), they'll just work a little harder like they always do. How else can you get ahead in a man's world?

For more, including Roger Sterling, Betty Draper, that guitar-playing priest — and Pat Buchanan! — continue reading here.

Follow Rachel Sklar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rachelsklar

Comments

[kamiron269]

I miss Courtney Hazlett on Morning Joe, too, but I don't think she's coming back. (To Morning Joe, that is. She still comes on other MSNBC shows, and the more the merrier, I say.) Mika's too much of a snobby priss to want an entertainm­ent/celebr­ity news segment--she probably felt it demeaned the show when it was on, and I can't see Blow Hardborough and CH getting along--she's a lot smarter than him, and you could tell she had to fight the impulse to talk back whenever he said something stupid around her. (Like all of the time.) No wonder she never talked to anyone but Willie G. toward the end.

A vixen, though? CH isn't intimidati­ng-looking­; she's cozy-pretty--the kind of woman you immediately relax around. Although if that black-and-white photo online of her surfing is the real deal, she has got a smoking-hot bod.

[wonkguy]

Well, the only thing Rachel hasn't pointed out is that Morning Joe is just as scripted as Mad Men is. I stopped watching when they got that stupid deal with Star Bucks. What kind of news show has an product placement?

[bluestatehog]

The most overrated shows on television:
1) Entourage
2) The Simpsons (21st century seasons)
3) 30 Rock
4) The Office
5) Mad Men
6) Big Brother
7) Desperate Housewives
8) Law & Order (recent seasons)
9) Saturday Night Live (non-election years)
10) Ugly Betty


Numbers 1 through 4, 9, and 10 are simply not funny. 5 through 7 are dull, and 8 is living on notoriety achieved by previous casts from a decade ago.

[Winthorpe]

Oh, well, now that bluestatehog has declared that Entourage is not funny, I can stop watching.

By the way, it's not a comedy by that limited definition.

[bluestatehog]

Who ever stated that shows are in need of a genre to be watchable?

[DMHendrix]

Thanks Rachel, after that..it is pretty much guaranteed that I will never watch Mad Men just like I never waste my mornings watching that crew of mental giants.

[tasukibeth1]

No. No, no, no.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

Sorry, Rachel, but "Morning Joe" has used up its entire lifetime of wasting my early morning time.

[stacib]

Check out the you tube from this morning's show. Joe got his butt handed to him by Anthony Weiner, the D congressman from NY. Joe was actually speechless which made for some very entertaining teevee. Several seconds of really, really quiet on the set.

[Winning09]

Uhhh ... no.

Who cares about "Morning Joe?"

[LetsGetToWork]

Co-sign.

[redsongia]

LOL! Joe Scarborough WISHES.

[comatoast]

All this cast needs now is a media-savvy, ultra-hot brunette vixen to send it over the ratings roof. Hmmm, now who might that be?