Mad Men’ v ‘Boardwalk Empire’ has split opinion in American TV circles – a battle that can now be played out on a British stage after both received Bafta’s TV nominations in the 2011 ‘International Award’ category.
There are also Bafta nods for the saccharin charms of ‘Glee’ and the acclaimed Danish crime thriller ‘The Killing’ but it’s the merits of the two American heavyweights that intrigues.
HBO reportedly turned down ‘Mad Men’ when the series was pitched to them – and it was picked up by AMC instead. It has assumed the mantle of ‘Best Thing On TV’ a role previously filled by ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘The Wire’ and ‘Six Feet Under.’
‘Mad Men’ has won the Emmy for the past three years for ‘Best TV drama’ but the tale of the Madison Avenue advertising folk is not having it all its own way.
Round One in 2011 went to ‘Boardwalk Empire’ with the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards. In the category ‘Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Drama’, Steve Buscemi (Nucky Thompson in ‘Boardwalk Empire’) beat Jon Hamm (Don Draper in ‘Mad Men’). The cast of ‘Boardwalk Empire’ also triumphed for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a TV drama series. It’s SAG’s biggest prize for a drama series — effectively crowning them the best on TV.
The first episode of ‘Boardwalk,’ launched as HBO’s flagship show for their new British TV station Sky Atlantic, was directed by Martin Scorsese and was the most expensive pilot episode produced in television history. It duly won the Directors Guild Award for ‘Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series’.
Boardwalk’s first season was enjoyable and Buscemi’s quirky charm worked a treat. He really is the main attraction of the show and there’s no doubting its appeal. Buscemi is brilliant as the scheming corrupt ‘boss’ of Atlantic City, the sets and costumes are marvelous, the period music spot on (they have matched songs for years perfectly) but it simply does not have the subtlety or depth of ‘Mad Men.’
Michael Shannon is excellent as the crazed Federal Prohibition agent Nelson Van Alden but some of Boardwalk’s characters are a bit two-dimensional (Michael Pitt as mobster Jimmy Darmody for instance fails to convince) and there’s also a sense of gratuitous nudity being scattered about liberally to keep those with HD televisions from losing concentration.
But its plots do not rival ‘Mad Men’ for scope or emotional depth – and that series also has a brilliant lead actor in Hamm. His Don Draper is a complex character, a cynical and charming man who manages to be appealing and repellent at the same time.
As well as the crafted plots, another reason that ‘Mad Men’ should win in a stand-off between the two series is the quality of the female characters.
Boardwalk’s women are pretty flat and uninteresting. Kelly MacDonald’s Margaret Schroeder is tediously self-righteous and Jimmy’s wife and mother are little more than background characters. The women in ‘Mad Men,’ however, are gloriously technicolour.
Elisabeth Moss (two Emmys, one SAG for Outstanding Supporting Actress) is marvelous as Peggy Olsen; January Jones is deceptively good as the spoilt former model and ex-Mrs Draper Betty and Christina Hendricks is vivacious and engaging as office manager Joan Harris. Even the women in smaller roles, such as Alison Brie as Gertrude, the social climbing wife of Pete Campbell, excel.
‘Mad Men’ therefore, has a dominant position but it will be interesting to see who the Baftas favour.
