Is Megan's 'Mad Men' Soap A Nod To 'One Life To Live'?

Is Megan's 'Mad Men' Soap A Nod To 'One Life To Live'?

Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 6, Episode 1 of AMC's "Mad Men," titled "The Doorway."

One of the big developments that happened in between "Mad Men" seasons was Don's wife Megan landing her first TV role on a fictionalized soap opera called "To Have And To Hold." On the soap, Megan (Jessica Pare) has a small, but increasingly more prominent role as a maid named Corrine. But characters and events in the soap seem to have a few similarities with "One Life to Live."

The most obvious connection was a reference to the show's central character Victor. When a "To Have And To Hold" fan asked Megan for an autograph in Hawaii, she told her, "I can't believe Victor won't acknowledge you." Victor Lord was the patriarch of "One Life To Live," the wealthy father of Erika Slezak's multiple-personality character Viki Lord.

There's another soap-staple similarity in the "someone gets pushed down the stairs" storyline. On "Mad Men," Megan was excited to get a big break when her character pushed Derek's mother down the stairs. In an early "OLTL" storyline, a pregnant Eugenia fell down the stairs while arguing with Victor. Eugenia would eventually die from the fall after giving birth to Meredith, and a psychiatrist would determine that the trauma from the violent episode played a role in Viki's development of multiple personalities.

There's also the timeline: "One Life To Live" premiered in July of 1968, and although "Mad Men" picks up in late 1967, most of its season will take place in 1968.

What do you think, soap fans? Is "Mad Men's" fictional soap "To Have And To Hold" an homage to "One Life to Live"? Let us know in the comments.

"Mad Men" airs Sunday nights at 10 p.m. ET on AMC.

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