ELLEN CHRISTIANSEN : We did a lot of shopping to get the furniture right. I’d go to antique centers in Connecticut and the Hudson Valley in New York and into New Jersey. I like seeing things in person to really get a sense of it. In many cases, I had things re-upholstered or changed the color to enhance them. Of course, Midge loves pink, so we sourced dining room chairs and upholstered them with pink silk and pink buttons on the back to give it a fresher look. Gradually, I’d change things up a bit over time. I love the cabinet with a set of drawers and glass doors from Season 4. CAROLINE AARON : My husband would say to me, “Do you think the set decorator would come up to our apartment?” BILL GROOM : For the downtown look, I would say we looked through thousands of pages of research, either in books or from the Library of Congress or people’s photographs. It was very bohemian, and the look was not that much di ff erent from today. So, for the Gaslight, we worked from the photographs that existed and made it a little bigger. ALEX BORSTEIN : When we’re filming in all those clubs sets like the Gaslight, you could tell that people had done their homework. Everyone who worked for that show was an artist and a historian. We always felt transported. BILL GROOM : Joel’s club was my favorite. I based the space on an old room that I had seen years ago in Queens that had once been used for Democratic rallies. The place was a former button warehouse in the story, and we managed to find a button warehouse that had been out of business and bought a bunch of buttons and used them as decoration. ELLEN CHRISTIANSEN : I love Joel’s club. There’s so much atmosphere, and I love the glass with metal detailing. I actually found the big arch between the two rooms in an antique store. We hung lights over the bar and got tabletops with old iron bases from a few di ff erent vendors. The chairs look like they’ve been there for a while, but they’re not shabby in any way. It’s all very downtown-looking. MICHAEL ZEGEN : It was so cool having my own set. And each episode, you could see it get a little more de- tailed. Eventually this old warehouse is a thriving club.
The Look RACHEL BROSNAHAN : From its inception, the show felt like a love letter to New York. We got to time-travel to a city that I live in and love so dearly. And to bring back the most beautiful parts of New York in the 1950s and ’60s was such a dream. It was totally surreal to walk out of the trailer and look and own a street and see nothing but vintage cars and women in beautiful dresses and men in smart suits. It never got old. MICHAEL ZEGEN : When you read a script, you never know what the production is going to look like. Then I showed up for the first episode — it was all these rows of old cars and this apartment that looked quintessential 1950s to a T. BILL GROOM ( production designer) : We found our look in the pilot and just went from there. It’s funny — with these projects, you don’t necessarily impose an idea; the idea sort of reveals itself. So, you find colors and fabrics and furniture and interiors and locations that just seem right for the show. It’s not like Amy and Dan would call out colors in the script. It just becomes clear. I once heard Tony Shalhoub refer to the process as “collaboration by shared sensibilities.” ELLEN CHRISTIANSEN (set decorator) : I’d describe the original look as lots of rich color and classic furniture mixed with 1950s modern. BILL GROOM : In the pilot, we didn’t have the time or budget to build anything, so we started looking for an apartment that just felt right for Joel and Midge. We found it in a well-established building on Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side, and it was perfect. Amy and Dan thought so, too. Coincidentally, the Weissmans’ apartment is in the same place. CAROLINE AARON : We have really good friends who live in that building. And my husband is a real estate broker. The original apartment has been chopped up into three along the way. Oh, my God, they’re all so gorgeous. BILL GROOM : Once we went to series, we spent about eight weeks building the apartment on a soundstage. It’s cheaper to do that, and you have total control.
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JOEL’S CLUB WAS MY FAVORITE. I BASED THE SPACE ON AN OLD ROOM THAT I HAD SEEN YEARS AGO IN QUEENS THAT HAD ONCE BEEN USED FOR DEMOCRATIC RALLIES.
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BILL GROOM production designer
SEASON 3
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