There was a lot of talk of science fiction this year, with Ken's stories, with Ginsberg talking about Mars, Paul writing a "Star Trek" script, and one of Megan's friends auditions for "Dark Shadows." I'm curious why you wanted to hit science fiction so hard. And also, was it purely a coincidence that she's auditioning for "Dark Shadows" in an episode that aired the weekend the movie came out.
Matthew Weiner: That was a total coincidence. (In terms of science fiction), you have to realize that we do look at the calendar and do look at what's happening. There are certain times when I key into things. The amount of UFO sightings in New York City from 1959 to 1970 are huge. Science fiction starts in the 50s and it's always seen as a Cold War phenomenon, but it really comes into fruition and reaches the mass culture — look at "Star Trek" getting on national TV — in the mid-'60s. It's something we found that was everywhere. And it was a way for people to talk about very profound things. "The Twilight Zone," I'm obviously a huge fan. I always love seeing that interview of Rod Serling saying, "Oh, I'm just telling little stories..." And he's getting to do this incredible cultural critique every week. We're talking about a society that is subversive and, in the midst of success, sort of overwhelmed with deeper issues, like what is our purpose and can we be a better society? That's sort of what happened by the end of the '60s: a lot of ideological things come into play because the financial needs are being met. Science fiction's a part of that. It was really derived from that period. And Ken gets to tell a story about his life, or about Pete's, the genre he picks is science fiction, because – just like the rest of his life — he can hide the deeper meaning under this fantastical story. I am a huge science fiction fan, and I loved it when I started seeing it was really, really on everyone's mind. Once something gets on national television, it's everywhere. When we started the show, I thought how big all of the beatnik jokes were. Oh, this is not a small thing anymore, by 1960, the whole culture is laughing about it. When you have Maynard G. Krebs on a national TV show, then my mom and dad know what a beatnik was.
