It’s been over a year since many of us bid adieu to some of our favorite imaginary friends: the cast of Mad Men.
It was a bittersweet ending, filled with sad goodbyes, surprising new couples, pleasantly unexpected plot twists, and a semi-ambiguous ending (spoiler alert: he totally came back and did Coca-Cola). Even better, there were no (on-screen) deaths and no rapes (I’m looking at you disapprovingly, Game of Thrones).
By the end of the episode, many were left wondering: Well, now what?
It’s okay, y’all. There is still life after Mad Men. If you’re wondering how to make it through the next 2…5…50 years of your life (as you wait anxiously for another 1960s revival to occur), here are a few things that’ll keep you sane.
Build Your Home/Office Bar
Ever since I started watching Mad Men, I have dreamt of becoming a pro at mixing classy cocktails and only purchasing quality scotch/bourbon/gin/vodka/etc. I even went through a phase of only ordering Manhattans at bars. Buy yourself a copy of The Ultimate Bar Book, hit up a Total Wine, thrift yourself some sweet bar furniture and make your Draper Household dreams come true.
Conversely, just learn how to order classy drinks and hit the bar with your BFF.
Follow The Careers Of The Cast
I know, I know. It’s not Don and Peggy and Joan and Roger, etc. But the actors that brought these amazing characters to life will play other roles soon enough.
Check it out:
Don-er I mean, Jon Hamm appears on Netflix’s Wet Hot American Summer television series, was recently seen in Keeping Up With The Joneses, and has some upcoming films, including Aardvark and High Wire Act.
Elisabeth Moss (a.k.a. Peggy) has starred in several movies in recent years including Truth (about Dan Rather) and High Rise (with Jeremy Irons). Not to mention you can watch her brilliance on Top of the Lake or in the quirky and bizarre movie The One I Love, if you’ve got Netflix Instant Watch, anyway. She’s also about to appear in the television adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale.
Vincent Kartheiser channeled his inner Pete Campbell for his role in The Blunderer, about an architect who gets tangled up in an unsolved murder in the 1960s. He’s also on the show Casual over on Hulu.
And if you need more, just hit up the ol’ IMDB and look up your favorite cast members.
Write (Or Seek Out) Some Fan-Fiction
The internet is already ablaze with ideas for Mad Men spin-offs (which, let’s face it, won’t happen beyond poorly written fan fiction posted on old Livejournal pages).
Pete and Trudy will be swingers. Key parties in Kansas. #madmenfinale
— Nichelle Stephens (@niche) May 18, 2015
I’m probably going to try and keep the spirit of Mad Men alive by writing erotic fan fiction about Stan Rizzo pic.twitter.com/qngc2pbvwn
— Mel (@Melabeee) April 29, 2015
All I want in life is to be Roger Sterling and be in love with Joan #MadMenFanFiction
— Eric Joellenbeck (@EricJoellenbeck) April 9, 2015
Peggy & Stan later had a son. #MadMenFinale pic.twitter.com/gOxUIUX7WD
— Diane N. Sevenay (@Diane_7A) May 18, 2015
You get the idea.
Learn How To Perfect Those Sweet 60s Looks
Wondering how to look as stylish as late-60s Peggy? Hit up Pinterest! Or if Joan’s look is more your style, this sweet Tumblr page has a bunch of images to Hollowayesque outfits, complete with links to their ModCloth shop pages. And if you want to reminisce about Don’s look, GQ has you covered with a slideshow of everything Don ever wore. Seriously, though. Who wouldn’t want to revamp their closet with these threads?
Betty Draper will always look good.
And if all else fails…Netflix now has every episode of Mad Men on Instant Watch, where you can relive the time that guy’s foot got run over by the lawn mower at Sterling-Cooper and the time Betty started shooting her gun outside while wearing her nightgown and the time Peggy found out she was pregnant (and subsequently had a baby) and the first truly poetic and amazing speech by Don (The Carousel) and the best scenes between Peggy and Don (The Suitcase) and and and…you get the picture.
How will you fill this new void? Game of Thrones? Orange Is The New Black? By actually going out and getting a job as an accounts man or copywriter? By giving up smoking? Let me know in the comments.
(This post originally appeared in my old WordPress blog).
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