History Trivia / MadMen

* TheCastShowOff: ChristinaHendricks was learning how to play the accordion during the early years of the show and that talent was incorporated into the 3rd Season when Greg begs Joan to perform for his guests to distract from the reveal that he's a failure as a surgeon, Hendricks even gets the chance to show off her singing skills. Said episode even has Vincent Kartheiser dancing to the Charleston, and Michael Gladis's capella singing.

** There was also a deal struck to give the final season 14 episodes instead of the usual 13. It was then split up, like ''BreakingBad'' before it, so that the first half of the season would be filmed to air in the Spring of 2014, while the latter half would be set to air in early 2015.

** Creator/ElisabethMoss had shown off a lovely singing voice when Peggy Olson imitated Ann-Margret singing ByeByeBirdie, but we as viewers get to see evidence of Moss's old ballet training whether dancing the Twist or roller skating to Roger Sterling's rendition of "Hi Lo, Hi Lo" on an organ.

* FontAnachronism: The show takes place roundabout the sixties. The sign on the Sterling Cooper building is Gill Sans, which was not in popular use in the United States until the 1970s. There are other future fonts, mainly in shots of print ads: Fenice (1980), Balmoral (1978), Amazone (1958), ITC Kabel (1975), Bookman Old Style (1989), Zapfino (1998), and Gotham (2002) (although this one is tricky, as Gotham ''intentionally'' [[{{Retraux}} mimics the signage on American public buildings from the 1930s-1960s]]). Notably, the first episode of the show features an advertisement in the aforementioned Zapfino. Of course, there were similar fonts—sometimes quite similar—to all of these in existence in the 1960s; presumably, this was a measure to save time and money.

** ElisabethMoss had shown off a lovely singing voice when Peggy Olson imitated Ann-Margret singing ByeByeBirdie, but we as viewers get to see evidence of Moss's old ballet training whether dancing the Twist or roller skating to Roger Sterling's rendition of "Hi Lo, Hi Lo" on an organ.

* FanNickname: "Dr. Rape" and "[[GreysAnatomy Dr. McRapey]]" for Greg Harris, Joan's husband.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Mad Men is a show with a penchant for using both That Guys and actors from 90s kid's shows/movies
** Elisabeth "[[Series/TheWestWing Zoey Bartlet]]" Moss
** Christina "[[Series/{{Firefly}} YoSaffBridge]]" Hendricks.
** While we're on Whedon shows, Vincent "[[Series/{{Angel}} Connor]]" Kartheiser
** And now [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Jonathan]] has gotten a job at SCDP in a stunning combination of nepotism and drunkenness. (ItMakesSenseInContext.)
** In a magnificent case of ActorAllusion, Robert Morse as Bert Cooper, well-known for being J. Pierpont Finch, the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything deceptive, self-centered, rapidly rags-to-riches businessman in the early '60s]] musical farce ''Film/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying''.
** Don had an affair in the first season with [[Series/SonsOfAnarchy Tara Knowles-Teller]].
** A number of cast members floated over from ''Series/JackAndBobby'' - Roger is Peter Benedict, Megan is Courtney Benedict, Joey is Jack [=McCallister=].
** One of the recurring switchboard operators was Flo, The Progressive girl.
*** Another is Creator/KristenSchaal.
** Jimmy Barrett would go on to join [[Series/{{Lost}} The Dharma Initiative.]] And Bobbie Barrett is [[Film/TheDarkKnight Barbara Gordon]].
** Betty cheats on Don in the season two finale with [[Series/{{Chuck}} Captain Awesome]].
** Betty's brother is [[VideoGame/Left4Dead2 Ellis]] - or [[Series/TheKilling Jamie]].
** [[Series/{{Bones}} Mr. Nigel Murray]] was Lane's secretary. Daisy Wicke is Peggy's roommate.
** Francine Hansen is [[Series/{{House}} Amber "Cutthroat Bitch" Volakis]] as well as [[Series/BigLove creepy Alby's creepy wife]].
** [[Series/TheSopranos Finn DeTrolio]] is a Lenny Bruce-esque stand-up comic in "Christmas Comes But Once A Year", Kelli Moltisanti is Dr. Faye and "Little" Carmine Lupertazzi Jr. is the concierge at Don and Megan's condominium. No surprise, since Matthew Weiner was basically Number Two after David Chase on ''The Sopranos'' in the late seasons.
** Lois's actress, Crista Flanagan, is possibly the only person who can say they've been in both Mad Men and Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg movies.
** Wait, is [[Series/{{Heroes}} Eden McCain]] really just Don's neighbor, or is she spying on him for Primatech Paper?
** [[TheKarateKid Lucille LaRusso]] is Ms Blankenship.
** I guess Jason Stackhouse isn't the only one [[Series/TrueBlood Mrs. Newlin]] is trying to help find his way back to joy. And what the hell is Jane Bodehouse doing being Sally's psychiatrist?
** Ken Cosgrove is the future son-in-law of [[{{Reaper}} The Devil.]]
*** Don't you mean [[TwinPeaks Leland Palmer]]?
*** Or [[Film/GoodNightAndGoodLuck Don Hollenbeck]]? Or [[Series/TwentyFour the Vice President of the United States]]? Or [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 the President of the United States]]?
*** And is married to [[Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack Alex Mack]].
*** And used to work [[VideoGame/LANoire as a detective]].
*** A fun fact about that is that many of the Mad Men cast actually made cameo appearances in the above mentioned game.
** [[Series/TheNanny Maxwell Sheffield]] is one of Lane Pryce's bosses at PPL.
** [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Lisa Simpson]] works at the hospital where Betty had Eugene.
** Lane Pryce is an AlternateUniverse [[Film/LostInSpace Will Robinson]], [[Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse Dr. Ashford]] AND [[spoiler:a bio-terrorist]] on Series/{{Fringe}} not to mention his spectacular rise from [[Series/TheRiches criminal life]].
*** Don't forget he's also Creator/{{Andy|Warhol}} [[IShotAndyWarhol Warhol]] and now [[Film/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]]. Oh, and [[NaturalBornKillers he's a big fan of Mickey and Mallory Knox]].
*** Plus, his wife is Miss Honey from the film version of Matilda
** [[Series/{{Community}} Annie Edison]] is married to Pete.
*** And her father is [[Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll Marshall Darling]]
** [[FlashForward2009 Sexy Babysitter]] is married to Roger.
** [[Series/DesperateHousewives Paul Young]]? What are you doing at Sterling-Cooper? Or did you forget you are also [[TheGoldenGirls Blanche Deveraux's]] late husband's illegitimate son?
** Pete has an affair with [[GilmoreGirls Rory Gilmore]] (and later married her IRL)!
** [[Series/SavedByTheBell Mr. Belding]] was one of the bigwigs at Cool Whip.
** Hey, when did Joyce (the confident lesbian photo editor at ''Life'') get transformed into an [[Series/{{Girls}} insecure, straight college student]]?
** And why the hell does [[AwesomeMcCoolname Reed Rockwell]] (AKA [[AlternateUniverse Bizzaro]] [[Series/{{Leverage}} Nathan Ford]]) look like a clean-shaven Paul Kinsey?
** Don is having an affair with [[FreaksAndGeeks Lindsay Weir]]/[[Film/ScoobyDoo Velma Dinkley]], who's married to a doctor and lives in his building.
** Don and Megan almost have a four way with [[MarriedWithChildren Jefferson Darcy]] and his wife!
** New partner Jim Culter [[ClashOfTheTitans slayed Medusa and a Kraken]]!
*** He also killed [[Series/VeronicaMars Lilly Kane]].
*** And he was [[Series/LALaw a lawyer]] at one point.
** Don meets [[Franchise/{{Scream}} Sidney Prescott]] on a plane in the Season 7 premiere.
** Anna Draper's hippie pregnant niece is [[Series/{{Arrow}} Sara Lance aka the Black Canary]]
** [[{{Literature/Twilight}} Esme Cullen]] plays a waitress who reminds Don of Rachel Menken.
** [[OneTreeHill Dan Scott]] is [=McCann=], one of the SC&P's new owners.
** One of the war veterans who beats up Don is [[BarneyMiller Detective Wojo]].
*** And the other one who beats him up is [[Series/TheOffice Pam's ex-fiance Roy]]
** Supergirl is the head of the pivotal seminar in the finale
** In the United States, the TheEeyore daughter of Diana the Waitress, is played by [[Disney/{{Frozen}} Maria Bella a.k.a. Young Elsa]]
* HeyItsThatVoice: In the Japanese dub:
** [[Creator/KoichiYamadera Don Draper]] is [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ryoga Hibiki]] and [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Ryoji Kaji]].
** [[SanaeKobayashi Peggy Olson]] is [[Manga/ElfenLied Lucy]] and [[Manga/DGrayMan Allen Walker]].
** [[Creator/AkiraIshida Pete Campbell]] is [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Kaworu Nagisa]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Athrun]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Zala]] and [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Gaara of the Desert]].
** [[Creator/YumiTouma Betty Draper]] is [[Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar Deedlit]], [[Manga/AhMyGoddess Urd]] and [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Aya Kobayashi]].
** [[NaoyaUchida Roger Sterling Jr.]] is [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Madara Uchiha]]
** [[Creator/AtsukoTanaka Rachel Menken]] is [[Franchise/GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi]], [[Anime/QueensBlade Claudette]] and [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Caster]].
** Jimmy Barrett is [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Shukaku]] and [[Franchise/StarWars C-3PO in Japanese]].

** [[YumiTouma Betty Draper]] is [[Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar Deedlit]], [[Manga/AhMyGoddess Urd]] and [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Aya Kobayashi]].

*** And used to work [[LANoire as a detective]].

** Don had an affair in the first season with [[SonsOfAnarchy Tara Knowles-Teller]].

* StarMakingRole: For practically everyone on the show since the majority of the cast were unknowns or only known on niche shows before the series launched. The notable exception is Robert Morse, who has been a name for decades.
** Including {{RJD2}}, the artist behind the theme song.

* CastShowOff: ChristinaHendricks was learning how to play the accordion during the early years of the show and that talent was incorporated into the 3rd Season when Greg begs Joan to perform for his guests to distract from the reveal that he's a failure as a surgeon, Hendricks even gets the chance to show off her singing skills.

** ElisabethMoss had shown off a lovely singing voice when Peggy Olson imitated Ann-Margret singing ByeByeBirdie, but we as viewers get to see evidence of Moss's old ballet training whether dancing the Twist or roller skating.

* DirectedByCastMember: Jon Hamm and John Slattery (Don and Roger, respectively) have directed several episodes. Jared Harris (Lane Pryce) directed "Time & Life", although that episode was produced after Harris left the show.

** In the United States, the {{Eeyore}} daughter of Diana the Waitress, is played by [[Disney/{{Frozen}} Maria Bella a.k.a. Young Elsa]]

** Lois's actress, Crista Flanagan, is possibly the only person who can say they've been in both Mad Men and SeltzerAndFriedberg movies.

*** Or, "[[GirlInterrupted A facially-burned mental patient]]"

*** And is married to [[TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack Alex Mack]].

** Lane Pryce is an AlternateUniverse [[Film/LostInSpace Will Robinson]], [[Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse Dr. Ashford]] AND [[spoiler:a bio-terrorist]] on Series/{{Fringe}} not to mention his spectacular rise from [[TheRiches criminal life]].

* FakeAmerican: Deliberately averted by Matthew Weiner, who refused to cast English actors as Americans (thus making him the American answer to J.K. Rowling in that sense). Hence Jared Harris being a seemingly rare English actor on an American series who gets to keep his regular accent.

** [[TheNanny Maxwell Sheffield]] is one of Lane Pryce's bosses at PPL.