Recasting Mad Men
March 26, 2012
It came to me in a dream: A final exam of some kind, where the only question was to recast Mad Men as if it were produced during the time period (the early sixties) in which the show is set.
Most dream-ideas seem kinda stupid when you wake up – but I thought this one was pretty cool. Especially since I aced that dream-exam. My subconscious remembered a whole lot of the characters by name (even Freddy Rumsen!) and came up with some good actors to match. When I woke up, I added some conscious choices to fill out the list. Take a look, imagine some Mad Men moments with these actors playing them, and see what you think . . . .
Ben Gazzara as Don Draper (Jon Hamm)
Gena Rowlands as Betty Draper (January Jones)
Gig Young as Roger Sterling (John Slattery)
Collin Wilcox as Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss)
James Franciscus as Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser)
Tina Louise as Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks)
William Daniels as Sal Romano (Bryan Batt)
Robert Morse as Harry Crane (Rich Sommer)
Linden Chiles as Paul Kinsey (Michael Gladis)
Roger Perry as Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton)
Patrick O’Neal as Duck Phillips (Mark Moses)
Roddy McDowall as Lane Pryce (Jared Harris)
Tim O’Connor as Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley)
John McGiver as Bert Cooper (Robert Morse)
Martin Balsam as Freddy Rumsen (Joel Murray)
Susan Oliver as Midge Daniels (Rosemarie DeWitt)
Bethel Leslie as Anna Draper (Melinda Page Hamilton)
Lee Grant as Rachel Menken (Maggie Siff)
Suzanne Pleshette as Trudy Campbell (Alison Brie)
Joyce Van Patten as Mona Sterling (Talia Balsam)
Claire Griswold as Jane Siegel (Peyton List)
Robert Culp as Archie Whitman (Joseph Culp)
Ruth McDevitt as Miss Blankenship (Randee Heller)
Shelley Berman as Jimmy Barrett (Patrick Fischler)
Pat Hingle as Conrad Hilton (Chelcie Ross)
You’ll notice that I’ve fudged the issue of whether our hypothetical Mad Men was filmed in New York or Los Angeles, a critical issue that would have influenced casting in the early sixties. Gazzara and Rowlands – my pairing an indulgence in Cassavetesphilia; Cassavetes himself would have been a profound, if angry, Don Draper – were bicoastal, but probably more New York-centric in 1960; the ideal Los Angeles teaming might have been David Janssen and Inger Stevens as Don and Betty.
Having been immersed lately in the world of Marion Dougherty, the visionary New York-based casting director who discovered so many future stars on the Off-Broadway stage, I can picture a Mad Men cast by Dougherty and starring Gene Hackman as Don, Sandy Dennis as Betty, Robert Redford as Pete, Robert Duvall as Roger, Dustin Hoffman as Paul, Martin Sheen as Harry, James Caan as Ken, Robert Loggia as Sal, and Walter Matthau as Duck. All of them were working on television and on Marion’s radar by 1961, at the latest; so it’s legit but still too much of a cheat, even for funsies.
Now it’s your turn to kibitz. Come up with your own list, or “cast” even more of the minor characters than I did. But I’m gonna be real strict about this. Anyone you pick has to have been a viable candidate for a regular or recurring role on an American television series during the early sixties. Do not annoy me by naming movie stars who didn’t do television during that time, or actors who died in 1958 or debuted in 1970, or actors who were unavailable because they were already starring in some other series for most of the time between 1960 and 1965. (Sorry, you can’t have James Arness as Don Draper.)
Now: get to it!
Ben and Gena together in 1966 on Run For Your Life (screen grab stolen from this detailed Run For Your Life fansite).
March 27, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Gazzara maybe codes as too “ethnic” for Don?
If it weren’t for Psycho and subsequent typecasting, I can imagine Tony Perkins as Pete.
March 27, 2012 at 9:23 pm
Leslie Nielsen as Don Draper
Lois Nettleton as Betty Draper
Ed Nelson as Roger Sterling
Diane Baker as Peggy Olson
Mark Goddard as Pete Campbell
Carol Rossen as Joan Holloway
George Maharis as Sal Romano
Robert Drivas as Harry Crane
Martin Milner as Paul Kinsey
Roy Thinnes as Ken Cosgrove
Richard Long as Duck Phillips
Murray Matheson as Lane Pryce
Robert Lansing as Henry Francis
Robert Keith as Bert Cooper
Jack Klugman as Freddy Rumsen
Tuesday Weld as Midge Daniels
Janice Rule as Anna Draper
Diane Brewster as Rachel Menken
Pamela Tiffin as Trudy Campbell
Vera Miles as Mona Sterling
Louise Sorel as Jane Siegel
Andrew Prine as Archie Whitman
Virginia Gregg as Miss Blankenship
Peter Falk as Jimmy Barrett
James Whitmore as Conrad Hilton
Stephen – let me know what you think!
March 27, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Ed Robertson couldn’t see Gazzara as Don Draper, either. But I think he’s one of the only leading men of that moment who has the same air of mystery as Jon Hamm. He seems like a guy with secrets, and he’s reserved in a way that exudes power.
George C. Scott would’ve been a fascinating Don Draper, too — obviously more angry and expressive than Jon Hamm, but full of the same contempt/impatience for everything around him that Draper has. And Scott (again, unlike most of his contemporaries) was, on the screen, really good at seducing women on screen (a key Draper attribute) — he always seemed really interested in them, rather than just macho and entitled.
March 27, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Larry,
Yeah, some good work there; I can see most of those. I had thought of Nielsen as the kind of leading man who could play Don — he had the authority. But, you know, Robert Lansing is really perhaps a better choice — he had that icy quality, and his characters never seemed to be at peace with themselves.
And George Maharis as Sal … Heh.
March 27, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Thought you’d like the Maharis casting (wink, wink, nod, nod).
March 27, 2012 at 10:25 pm
And Maharis is a sharp guy. If you could’ve had a character like Sal in 1960, and if Maharis had the courage to play him, he’d have gotten it right.
March 28, 2012 at 12:02 am
Great choice on your list with Tina Louise as Joan. I tried to think of another early 1960’s sex kitten for that role, but the only one I could think of was Joanna Moore. I just don’t think she’s a very good actress, though.
March 28, 2012 at 12:44 am
Julie Newmar!
March 28, 2012 at 8:34 pm
Genius!
March 28, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Love this Stephen. Strongly agree with you on Tina Louise and Roddy McDowall. Less so with some of the others. LOL
Here are my choices for the top 3 mad men and all the mod women (from my stable of starlets):
Tom Tryon as Don
Diane McBain as Betty
Tony Franciosa as Roger
Beverly Washburn as Peggy
Sal Mineo as Pete
Francine York as Joan
Marianna Hill as Jane
Janet Margolin as Trudy
Sue Casey as Mona
March 28, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Hi, Tom! Glad you thought this was fun, too. You can say who you don’t like among my lineup if you want to!
I can see most of these, too. Diane McBain and Sal Mineo are great, although putting Mineo opposite the closeted Tom Tryon creates an interesting … subtext! Janet Margolin actually would’ve been a good Peggy. Not too many leading ladies who could play “plain” from that period, and very few young male actors of prominence who were both smug and doughy like Rich Sommer and, uh, the other guy whose name I always forget.
The other person nobody’s mentioned, to my surprise, is Robert Webber — the quintessential Mad Men type after playing one to hilarious perfection in 12 Angry Men. I kind of crossed him off as too obvious but I would’ve enjoyed seeing him play Don, or Roger, or even Sal (remember how effectively Webber played gay later on for Blake Edwards).
March 28, 2012 at 9:09 pm
Studio: Warner Brothers
Producer/writer/director: Robert Altman
Season: 1961-62
Ray Danton as Don Draper
Diane McBain as Betty Draper
Jason Evers as Roger Sterling
Rhonda Fleming as Joan Holloway
Robert Vaughn as Pete Campbell
James Coburn as Duck Phillips
Andrew Duggan as Henry Francis
Dean Jagger as Bert Cooper
Keenan Wynn as Freddy Rumsen
Sherry Jackson as Trudy Campbell
Julie Adams as Mona Sterling
Peter Breck as Sal Romano
Adam West as Ken Cosgrove
March 28, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Wow, that is very specific — I love it! Altman’s contempt for that whole world would’ve been coruscating (and mildly hypocritical). Some of those actors are second-raters but that’s what you get if you go to Warner Bros. Jagger and Keenan Wynn are great ideas, Vaughn would’ve been scarily apt as Pete Campbell, and that’s two votes for Diane McBain! You need Ted Knight in there somewhere though — Altman’s TV-era mascot!
Now, somebody cast it at Universal circa 1968, with all their borrrrrring young contract players….
March 28, 2012 at 9:26 pm
Tom, you’re the expert … who should play the new wife, circa 1965-1966? I kind of blew her off but now she’s a major character, apparently. Yvonne Craig comes to mind but she’s not quite right. And don’t say Pamela Tiffin.
March 28, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Actually when I Blogged on my site about Mad Men opener on Monday I thought Megan channeled Yvonne Craig. My second choice would be Gila Golan.
March 28, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Oh, that’s right — I probably stole that idea from you!
March 29, 2012 at 7:51 am
Just had a second thought about someone for Henry Francis; in fact, in the right light they look eerily like separated at birth twins: Joe Maross.
March 29, 2012 at 10:21 am
Cliff Robertson as Don Draper
Dina Merrill as Betty Draper
Natalie Wood as Megan Draper
Suzy Parker as Joan Holloway
Roddy McDowall as Pete Campbell
Barbara Parkins as Trudy Campbell
Lee Marvin as Roger Sterling
All I have so far!
March 30, 2012 at 3:22 am
Robertson occurred to me as well. Lee Marvin didn’t, though, and he’d have been wonderful.
March 29, 2012 at 7:23 pm
Studio: Four Star
Executive producer: Dick Powell
Writer/producer: Richard Alan Simmons
Director: Samuel Fuller
Season: 1962-63
Peter Falk as Don Draper
Inger Stevens as Betty Draper
Jackie Cooper as Roger Sterling
Robert Redford as Pete Campbell
Susan Kohner as Peggy
Patricia Barry as Joan Holloway
John Payne as Henry Francis
Jack Carson as Freddy Rumsen
Ed Begley as Bert Cooper
Wayne Rogers as Ken Cosgrove
Larry Blyden as Harry Crane
David Niven as Lane Pryce
Michael Parks as Father Gill
Fabian as Sal Romano
Telly Savalas as Duck Phillips
March 30, 2012 at 3:26 am
Brian, clearly you’re a fan of “Last of the Big Spenders,” as am I. Dick Simmons is a favorite (and was an acquaintance) of mine, and I’ll be writing more about him soon. Wayne Rogers is great; he would’ve been perfect to play one of those junior ad agency weasels.
I dunno about Sam Fuller — that would’ve been a gonzo show — just as the Sam Peckinpah version would’ve been. Among the Four Star gang, probably Geller-Kowalski would’ve had the greatest affinity for Mad Men.
March 30, 2012 at 3:28 am
Now give me the Jack Webb version!
March 30, 2012 at 4:39 am
Dick York as Don Draper
Elizabeth Montgomery as Betty Draper
David White as Roger Sterling
March 30, 2012 at 4:50 am
And Paul Lynde as Sal and Bernard Fox as Lane Pryce, of course. Funny … although Mad Men has kind of trumped that by working in its own Bewitched in-jokes.
(And Elizabeth Montgomery was really more of a Joan type, although she wasn’t often cast that way.)
March 30, 2012 at 9:12 am
Nobody’s even suggested Clu Gulager yet?!
March 30, 2012 at 11:15 pm
As who … Don? Oh, man: Clu is big with some of my friends in L.A., but I have such an aversion to his Method-monkey antics, I can’t even tell you.
March 30, 2012 at 2:16 pm
Maybe Richard Egan -circa ‘Empire’- as Don Draper. But I find the idea of Ben Gazzara in that role absolutely fantastic… a man running to get away from his previous life, before Run For Your Life.
March 30, 2012 at 11:12 pm
Empire reunion: Ryan O’Neal as Pete Campbell!
And don’t forget, the exec producer of Empire, Frank Pierson, actually worked on Mad Men for a while….
March 30, 2012 at 5:03 pm
A Daystar production
Executive Producer: Leslie Stevens
Writer: Harlan Ellison
Director: Gerd Oswald
Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Season: 1963-64
Jack Lord as Don Draper
Introducing Rosemary Forsyth as Betty Draper
Ralph Meeker as Roger Sterling
Salome Jens as Joan Holloway
Mariette Hartley as Peggy
Bruce Dern as Pete Campbell
Lloyd Nolan (without toupee) as Bert Cooper
Richard Egan as Henry Francis
Gary Merrill as Duck Phillips
Donald Pleasance as Lane Pryce
John Considine as Paul Kinsey
Edward Asner as Freddy Rumsen
Elizabeth Ashley as Trudy Campbell.
I originally considered Diana Hyland for Betty. Diana guest starred on “Stoney Burke”, and she and Lord didn’ t get along. That could have led to interesting tension in the acting. But I eventually felt Diana didn’t quite have the right quality for Betty.
Martin Landau and Shirley Knight could also have been a fine Don and Betty.
March 30, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Brian — That’s really cool. Especially Pleasence. And I think Diana Hyland would’ve been perfect. Either way, I would’ve watched your show.
Maybe Cedric Hardwicke as Bert Cooper, though….
March 30, 2012 at 6:01 pm
My knowledge of early ’60s telefilm doesn’t hold a candle to any of the folks above, so I can only express my appreciation make piecemeal suggestions…. How about Ralph Bellamy as Duck? (Casting him as Bert Cooper seems a bit cruel, somehow, even though it could work.)
March 30, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Duck is sort of the all-purpose, train-wreck, spineless Madison Avenue hack, so the possibilities are really endless for him. Kevin McCarthy? Murray Hamilton? Or, of course, Robert Webber.
March 30, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Studio: Universal
An NBC Mini-Series
Executive Producer: Roy Huggins
Producer: Jo Swerling, Jr.
Writer: Halstead Wells based on a story by John Thomas James
Director: Michael Ritchie
Music: Pete Rugolo
Stuart Whitman as Don Draper
Barbara Anderson as Betty Draper
Darren McGavin (without toupee) as Roger Sterling
Jill St. John as Joan Holloway
James Farentino as Pete Campbell
Burl Ives as Bert Cooper
Lloyd Bochner as Lane Pryce
Joseph Campanella as Duck Phillips
Gene Barry as Henry Francis
Ben Murphy as Ken Cosgrove
Susan Saint James as Peggy
Katherine Crawford as Trudy Campbell
Jack Kelly as Connie Hilton
March 30, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Oof, Huggins doesn’t leave you with many A-listers, does it?
James Garner’s Don Draper would have been … actually, kind of interesting. Hard to see him as an ad man but he could’ve done Don’s fuck-it attitude beautifully, and sold the Dick Whitman backstory in a way that the actual show has (I think) never completely managed.
Meanwhile, I’ve been watching Ironside lately, and boy, is Barbara Anderson a zero, looks notwithstanding. Maybe get Kathie Browne in there instead, for the McGavin package deal.
March 31, 2012 at 7:16 am
John Cassavetes as Don Draper.
Gena Rowlands as Betty Draper.
Lee Marvin as Roger Sterling.
Angie Dickinson as Joan Holloway
Ronald Reagan as Henry Francis.
Clu Gulager as Pete Campbell.
Norman Fell as Freddy Rumsen.
March 31, 2012 at 8:17 am
… and Claude Akins as Conrad Hilton!
April 1, 2012 at 12:06 pm
A Herbert B. Leonard/Screen Gems production
Writers: Stirling Silliphant, Howard Rodman, and Frank Pierson
Director: Ralph Senensky
Season: 1961-62
Filmed entirely on location
Music: Nelson Riddle
David Janssen as Don Draper
Inger Stevens as Betty Draper
George C. Scott as Roger Sterling
Norma Crane as Peggy
Burt Brinkerhoff as Pete Campbell
Dorothy Malone as Joan Holloway
Barry Morse as Lane Pryce
George Grizzard as Henry Francis
Chester Morris as Bert Cooper
Robert Sterling as Duck Phillips
Dan Duryea as Freddy Rumsen
Constance Ford as Mona Sterling
Sylvia Sidney as Miss Blankenship
Richard Jordan as Ken Cosgrove
Rip Torn might also have been good as Don.
Rip Torn might have also been a good Don Draper.
April 2, 2012 at 3:55 am
Well, I stand corrected on my first comment. Forgot how many great actors were hanging around waiting for the big break in the early 1960s. As for the casting in later time frames, Barbara Anderson was actually pretty good substituting for Lynda Day George during the last season of “Mission: Impossible”. So maybe not such a bad choice for Betty. But speaking of Ms. George, how about her and husband Christopher as Betty and Don in the early ’70s version from CBS.
April 2, 2012 at 8:45 am
“The Richard Boone Show”
Produced by Buck Houghton
Written by Clifford Odetts
Directed by Lamont Johnson
Guy Stockwell as Don Draper
Laura Devon as Betty Draper
Richard Boone as Roger Sterling
June Harding as Peggy
Robert Blake as Pete Campbell
Bethel Leslie as Joan Holloway
Lloyd Bochner as Lane Pryce
Warren Stevens as Henry Francis
Jeanette Nolan as Miss Blankenship
Ford Rainey as Bert Cooper
Harry Morgan as Conrad Hilton, Jr.
April 2, 2012 at 9:46 pm
That really fits, doesn’t it? Stockwell might not have had the chops for Don Draper but everyone else could’ve pulled off those characters beautifully.
April 2, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Here are my new choices if done by 20th Century-Fox ca. 1963-65. Again only the top 4 mad men and all the mod women.
Gardner McKay as Don
Carol Lynley as Betty
Stuart Whitman as Roger
Juliet Prowse as Peggy
Barbara Eden as Joan
Richard Beymer as Pete
Millie Perkins as Trudy
Roddy McDowall as Lane
Jane Wald as Jane
Dana Wynter as Mona
Wende Wagner as Megan
April 3, 2012 at 6:52 am
As long as it’s Tiffin-free, Tom, your list is fine by me. I just can’t believe that it took you over a week to nominate Carol as Betty Draper!
April 6, 2012 at 10:21 am
A Quinn Martin production
Robert Lansing as Don Draper
Tuesday Weld as Betty Draper
Jack Cassidy as Roger Sterling
Julie Sommars as Peggy
Andrew Prine as Pete Campbell
Sheree North as Joan Holloway
Michael Rennie as Lane Pryce
Steve Forrest as Henry Francis
Dabney Coleman as Duck Phillips
Ellen Corby as Miss Blankenship
Joanne Linville as Mona Sterling.
Melvyn Douglas as Bert Cooper
Quinn Martin fired Robert Lansing after the first season for “creative differences”.
Rip Torn was brought in as Don.
Torn was fired after the second season for “creative differences.”
Bradford Dillman was excellent as the third Don, but was eventually replaced by Christopher George.
Burt Reynolds played Don for the last five seasons.
Betty Draper was murdered in the second season by ………
Gerald S. O’Loughlin was brought in as the cop on the case.
.
April 6, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Nothing to do with Mad Men, but related to the concept: David Boreanaz would have been perfect as Ben Casey… he completely reproduces the mannerisms and surly looks of Vince Edwards.
April 7, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Great suggestions….not much to add – maybe Robert Culp and Don and Cliff Robertson as Roger.
April 8, 2012 at 10:23 am
A Cayuga production.
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Fielder Cook
Music: Bernard Herrmann
Lee Marvin as Don Draper
Diana Hyland as Betty Draper
Kevin McCarthy as Roger Sterling
Collin Wilcox as Peggy
Dennis Hopper as Pete Campbell
Elizabeth Montgomery as Joan Holloway
George Sanders as Lane Pryce
Rod Taylor as Henry Francis
Robert Cummings as Duck
Roger Davis as Ken Cosgrove
Ed Begley as Freddy Rumsen
Everett Sloane as Betty’s father
Burgess Meredith as Bert Cooper
Agnes Moorehead as Miss Blankenship
Hazel Court as Mona Sterling
Mary Badham as Don and Betty’s daughter
Billy Mummy as the kid trying to seduce Betty
April 8, 2012 at 10:56 am
An ITC production.
Producer/writer/director: Patrick McGoohan
Music: Ron Gainer
Patrick McGoohan as Don Draper
Julie Christie as Betty Draper
Roger Moore as Roger Sterling
Jill Ireland as Peggy
David McCallum as Pete Campbell
Diana Rigg as Joan Holloway
Donald Sutherland as Lane Pryce
Donald Gray as Henry Francis
Patrick McNee as Duck
John Gielgud as Bert Cooper
Shirley Eaton as Mona Sterling
Pamela Franklin could have been a fine Peggy if she had been a few years older.
April 14, 2012 at 11:41 am
Sean Connery could have been a good Don in an early 60’s English version with McGoohan as Roger.
McGoohan, Connery, David McCallum, and jIll Ireland were in a 1957 movie called “Hell Drivers” with Stanley Baker.
May 23, 2012 at 6:45 am
Just came across your site–Fantastic! And I had a similar dream several months back which inspired me to make this movie style poster for the site Basket of Kisses! Enjoy, Therese Bohn
May 29, 2012 at 10:46 am
Just went through all 49 comments …
Am I the only one to notice that in your original essay, you gave Talia Balsam’s role to her real-life mother, Joyce Van Patten?
(Do I get a gold star or what?)
May 29, 2012 at 11:41 am
Well, you’re the only one to point it out … and while I don’t have any gold stars, there’s a no-prize in the mail for you.
July 4, 2015 at 3:13 am
Just came across this site and wanted to take Mad Men into a more action-adventure/sci fi direction…
Seasons: 1964-1968
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Supervising Producer: William Self
Producer: Irwin Allen
Directors: Sutton Roley, Justus Addiss, Harry Harris, Felix Feist, Jerry Hopper, Gerald Mayer, Robert Sparr, Sobey Martin.
Richard Basehart as Don Draper
June Lockhart as Betty Draper
Deanna Lund as Joan Holloway
Susan Flannery as Peggy Olson
Gary Merrill as Roger Sterling
David Hedison as Pete Campbell
Angela Cartwright as Sally Draper
Barbara Bouchet as Megan Draper
John McGiver as Bert Cooper
James Darren as Sal Romano
Paul Carr as Ken Cosgrove
Robert Dowdell as Harry Crane
Special Guest Star: Jonathan Harris as Lane Pryce
Whit Bissell as Duck Phillips
Terry Becker as Freddy Rumsen
Recurring Guest Stars:
Jack Lord as President John F. Kennedy
Mark Goddard as Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
Jan Merlin as Ford Motor Company President/Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara
Will Geer as President Lyndon B. Johnson
Regis Toomey as Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey
Jack Dodson as former Vice President Richard M. Nixon
Andrew Duggan as General Maxwell D. Taylor
George Takei as South Vietnamese Prime Minister, Air Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky
Edward Asner as Nikita Khrushchev
Lon Chaney, Jr. as Leonid Brezhnev
The Beatles as themselves
Robert DuVall as Zar, a friendly alien
Notable episodes:
“Cyborg” – set in 1959, Don visits the Ford Motor Company to consult on an ad campaign and discovers to his horror that company engineers have replaced Ford president Robert S. McNamara with a cyborg. Guest star: Jan Merlin as Robert S. McNamara.
“Hail To The Chief” – set in 1960, Don and Roger meet with the Democratic candidate for President, the senator from Massachusetts, and his campaign manager brother to discuss an ad campaign for the upcoming election.
Guest stars: Guy Williams as John F. Kennedy, Mark Goddard as Robert F. Kennedy.
“The Deadly Dolls” – set in 1964, puppeteer Professor Multiple pitches a set of light-hearted dolls for an upcoming ad campaign, and one-by-one, replaces almost everyone in the agency with his dolls, which are capable of growing and assuming the staff’s physical, if not their complete mental characteristics. Draper eventually learns that Multiple is but the mouthpiece for a galactic supercomputer, which on an information gathering mission, has inadvertently crashed on Earth, becoming stranded. The machine, through Multiple and his puppet replacements, seeks to forcibly take Sterling Cooper as a new home, as a hermit crab might appropriate a snail shell. Guest star: Vincent Price as Professor Multiple.
“Time Lock” – set in 1966, Draper is timeknapped by silvery aliens and sent to the future where an ordinary looking human named Alpha explains that he wants to drain Draper of his intelligence and will to rebel, and then to add him to his collection of great business leaders. Rumsen sneaks into Draper’s office, where the aliens have set up their time bridge, and is accidentally sent into the future just in time to disrupt Alpha’s efforts to convert Draper. The remainder of the hour is taken up by a seesaw series of escapes and recaptures and Alpha’s attempts to convert Draper into a mindless Zombie. Finally, a wounded Rumsen is able to write a message in blood on a handkerchief and toss it into the time bridge. Soon, a grenade-launcher toting Sterling steps through the time bridge and rescues Draper and Rumsen. Before they leave Alpha’s world, they set explosives that destroy the time bridge seconds after they return to Sterling Cooper.
“The Deadly Amphibians” – set in 1968, Sterling Cooper comes under fire from a sonic cannon leveled by amphibious creatures that have emerged from a subterranean lair, intent on taking command of the world’s oceans. They could care less about the humans, but want Sterling Cooper and its’ nuclear reactor to power their sonic weapon. After much see-saw action and a partial conversion of Harry Crane into a mind-controlled amphibian, Draper retires to his office and concocts a counter-weapon to the amphibian’s sonic oscillator. The invaders are vanquished, their underwater installation blown to smithereens and Crane returned to human form just in time for the end credits.