Rejecting Mad Men

Published: Sept. 2, 2023, 7:12 p.m.

In case you missed it, the team behind Under the Influence has more podcasts. Five, to be exact. Executive produced by Terry O', meet the Apostrophe Podcast Company.


Apostrophe brings you Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe, Surviving Life with Survivorman Les Stroud and We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast \u2013 where we tell stories of how the world\u2019s most celebrated people overcame debilitating career rejection to achieve mammoth success.


We Regret To Inform You has 2 million downloads across 70 episodes \u2013 and there's one in particular we think you might enjoy. Brylcreem those strands, suit up and take a stroll down Madison Avenue. This week, we tell the rejection story of AMC's Mad Men:


According to Rolling Stone, Mad Men is the fourth-greatest television show of all time \u2013 bested only by Breaking Bad, The Wire and The Sopranos. But before Sterling Cooper ever opened its doors, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner was rejected by every major network \u2013 including HBO, FX and Showtime. Weiner was told no one would watch a series about advertising, that his main character was an unlikable smoker slash philanderer and that viewers hated period pieces. Mad Men gathered rejections, then dust. Until Weiner got a phone call from a basic cable movie channel.


Listen to Part 2 here.


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