TVSquad

Part of the fascination with Mad Men is the way it plunges the viewer into another time, another place. In the second season premiere last week, the story of Don Draper picked up about a year and a half after the end of the first season. It was February 14, 1962, and while everyone was celebrating Valentine's Day, on the TV was a documentary special in which First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy gave a tour of the newly redecorated White House. Interest in those few clips shown on Mad Men has resulted in a response. AMC is showing the entire Jackie documentary on their web site.

By the way, you might be interested to know that Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner didn't just arbitrarily choose to show this as a backdrop to the episode, even though it was the main thing on TV that night on February 14, 1962. It was being shown on both NBC and CBS (like the first Super Bowl was broadcast on both networks!) and ABC got to rebroadcast it four nights later.

It was then shown around the world in syndication. In many ways, this program elevated Jackie Kennedy from a quiet, beautiful and little known spouse of a dynamic new president, to a glamorous star.

Weiner chose the special because of how Jackie was presented and the on screen characters responses to what they were seeing. Joan couldn't keep her eyes off the set. Betty told Don not to change the channel. Salvatore watched and wanted to know where President Kennedy was. The fixed eyes on Jackie in the White House was all about how they felt watching her and how she presented herself.

This was the first primetime TV documentary narrated by a woman, and she was put in a position of prominence. CBS correspondent Charles Collingwood stood adjacent to Mrs. Kennedy, letting her lead the way. This was significant for women in the pre-Women's Lib days. Jackie was presented as an authority figure, as well as a wife, mother and expert on the art and decor.

In Mad Men fashion, in which nearly everything is symbolic, in which all the images are there for a reason, Weiner's choice of the Kennedy tour was a stroke of genius.

For me, the use of the documentary perfectly set the time and place, advancing the Draper storyline from where they were to where they are now.