Comedic References Across Time

Having finally caught up to the current season of Mad Men, I found myself struggling to understand, why, in its first episode, Peggy and her new creative department employee keep purring “John” and “Marsha” back and forth to eachother.

After conducting some thorough Googling, I found that what they were doing was carrying on with an inside joke/popular comic reference from the era. This, of course, is not so surprising, but what does make it interesting is that, on the one hand, it further represents the fine toothed comb which the Mad Men creators use to ensure period accuracies, and on the other, it represents a very well placed gimmick by the writing staff to not just portray an organic and realistic workplace, but one that the viewer can also associate with.

The whole “John and Marsha” thing was a skit that satirized soap operas, recorded in 1951 by comedian Stan Freberg. The skit consists of two characters continually repeating each other’s names, a narrative is made out of the overindulged intonation that the actors apply to the speaking of their names, playing on the hammy, melodramatic acting found in soap operas. Though recorded in 1951, the skit would have maintained popularity through Mad Men’s 1964, and even to modern day where it is still occasionally performed.

In regards to how this is clever writing, representing an organic and easily relatable workplace, simply consider, how frequently in a given day (especially in this time of viral videos that are instantaeneously spread through emails and links on Facebook and Twitter accounts) you might repeat fad-like jokes or phrases with co-workers for a comic cathartic release. How many times did you refer to “Charlie bit me,” the grape stomp lady, “I like turtles,” or perhaps deliberately interrupt someone with “I’m really happy for you and Imma let you finish but...”? How often do (did) you reference shows like Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Family Guy or even How I Met Your Mother?

Though it was an obscure and out of the blue reference, kudos to the Mad Men writing staff on their insightful attention to detail, as well as effectively illustrating the cross-generational connection inherent in these sorts of workplace comedic quips.