As with most television dramas of note, Mad Men has begat more than its fair share of spoofs, take-offs, and mash-ups. We collected our favorites of the latter last season; in anticipation of Sunday’s big season premiere, we though it’d be fun to round up some of the strangest, smartest, and funniest Mad Men parodies to date. Check them out after the jump, and add your favorites in the comments.
“Roger”
The CBS sitcom is a pretty easy target these days (what with the inanity of the writing and the ubiquity of the laugh tracks and so on), but still, hats off to the genius who got the bright idea of re-cutting several of Roger Sterling’s one-offs and one-liners, adding in a roaring laugh track, and turning it into a commercial for the Tiffany Network’s newest Monday night hit.
“On the Next Mad Men“
Every week, Mad Men ends with a teaser for the next week’s episode that is, without fail, totally vague and utterly inexplicable and leaves us without the faintest idea of what’s going to happen, what just happened, who we are, or what we’re doing here. The folks at the Press Play Video Blog decided to see how abstract they could go.
Mad Men of the Future
Mad Men’s creators have said that this season is the show’s second to last, but over at Vulture, Dan Meth and Margaret Lyons decided to think ahead a little further than that, envisioning the characters far past Season 7. Disco Don is our favorite, but you can check out their whole gallery here.
“Meshugene Men”
Michael Ginsburg, Mad Men’s first regular Jewish character, didn’t arrive on the scene until Season 5. But a few years back, the funny folks at the Shushan Channel gave us “Meshugene Men,” which imagined Dan Draperberg and his team working up the perfect campaign for mayonnaise (“Apparently the gentiles eat it. On everything”). Bonus: Amy Sedaris and Ellie Kemper round out the ensemble.
“MA Men”
Former NKOTB Joey McIntyre heads the cast of “Massholes” in this Funny or Die video, imagining what Sterling Cooper would look like if it were located in Southie rather than midtown Manhattan.
“Roommates With Don”
Sexy, moody, contemplative, and complex, Don Draper makes a perfect antihero for a challenging television drama. As a roommate, though, you can probably guess that he’d leave a little something to be desired.
“Mad Men in Sixty Seconds”
Just last week, at one of our editorial meetings, a member of your Flavorwire’s staff had to admit, somewhat shamefully, “I’ve never seen Mad Men.” It happens every season, right around this time; the hype accumulates, and you’re talking about it and getting excited, but that one friend still hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon. Sure, they can shotgun the whole show on Netflix (and that’s the catch-up method we recommend). But if you don’t have that kind of time, Landline TV’s one-minute summary gives you the basics.
Alternate Openings
Mad Men’s stylish opening has become one of the most recognizable of modern credit sequences, so the clever ladies and gents at College Humor were able to cook up several funny twists on the animated falling-man scene.
“Mad Women”
Mad Men’s gender issues and dramatization of/commentary on sexual objectification have spawned more think pieces than we can count. The site Casual Mafia made its own statement by re-jiggering the show and imagining how it would play if the gender roles were reversed.
“Milk Men”
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“I own you. I literally own you. I bought you, at a farm.”
With the Season 6 premiere coming up on Sunday, it’s Mad Men Week at Flavorwire. Click here to follow our coverage.