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Bob Dylan said it best: “The Times They Are a Changin´”. Remember the old days of both TV and film, when the coolest cat in the whole block smoked? Well, that is the magic of a good TV Cigar. It still has the same value of being cool. It´s not as common as it used to be. We don´t have a John Hannibal Smith leading The A-Team and saying that he loves it when a plan gets done while lighting a Cigar. We don´t have the typical scene in which a cigar is offered and the characters smoke it together while being cool and talking about something.
Heck, even in sitcoms the things happened while on cigar breaks. I mean, don´t you remember the episode of Friends in which Rachel needs to start smoking as not to be left out of conversations with her boss? Or the need of Chandler to get some nicotine going?
Even in sports there´s a saying in the NBA about the Victory Cigar, when a team is so ahead that the player in the bottom of the bench gets to play some garbage minutes. It´s the basketball equivalent of lighting a relaxing cigar.
In TV these days, it´s not so easy. Smoking cigarettes is left for the broken characters. It´s even more accepted for a character to drink than to smoke; and as I said cigarettes are left out. Cigars are not at all down; they are still a sign of TV power or coolness. It´s just used less than in years past. And since this year is the last season of Mad Men, one of the biggest users of the cigar symbol is going out with a bang. Cigars are Mad Men, Mad Men without cigars would not be the same. A vegan, non smoker Don Draper would be unwatchable. So, now, let´s take this last season of Mad Men as a testament to all those cool cats from seasons past, ranging from John Wayne to Captain Smith, to Orson Wells, to the mobmen.
After a thorough internet search I finally found some great hood wraps that also come in many flavors too, so I´ll roll myself one, turn on Mad Men´s final season and remember all the coolest cats on TV and film from a golden era.
Maybe later, I´ll put it out.