ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 discusses television narrative as if the characters involvedwere pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, depersonalized components fitted into abstract patterns. This is misleading. While it is, of course, important to understand narrative structures, it is equally important to understand the characters that inhabit those structures. In a sense, these characters can exist even before the narrative action begins. The first time we see Don Draper (Jon Hamm) in the opening shots of Mad Men’s pilot episode (2007), we immediately begin to construct an idea of his character: an overworked businessman in the 1960s (Figures 3.1-3.3). Even before this character does anything in the plot structure, we begin to make assumptions based on setting, props, and his appearance. Furthermore, characters such as Draper exist after the narrative action concludes each week. For instance, when we pick up a copy of Us Weekly because we respond to a picture of Jon Hamm as Draper, we are carrying Draper’s significance beyond the storylines of Mad Men. Draper has begun to take on a “life” of his own. Of course, such magazine coverage of television introduces us to the actors who embody the roles, and it nurtures the process of turning common actors into genuine stars. Typically, the Us Weekly issue is more about actor Jon Hamm than it is about character Don Draper.
