Television in the 1960s was less sophisticated than Mad Men might lead you to believe. Here's an 'at-home' interview with Ray Bradbury, which includes footage of his family life and a process analysis of his method of short-story writing. You may find it interesting, and possibly amusing in unintended ways.

Bradbury seems a bit stiff, but we suspect he's camera-shy. The wife and kids do better. We also get a bit of dramatisation of his story in progress, complete with some reading aloud and feedback from a writing group.

Full disclosure: I do not like the story he's writing here. I agree with the critic in the group. Bradbury's Luddite tendencies could be irritating. I felt that way as a teenager, too, and although I liked Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury wasn't my favourite writer.

Me, I would have made that voice on the telephone belong to a lonely AI, looking for a friend. See where that went. But I'm not Bradbury.

Another non-fan of Bradbury's was Philip K Dick. Dick found Bradbury's Martian Chronicles so irritating that it inspired him to write his own version. In Dick's stories, the Martian 1950s-style suburban dwellings have been replaced with 'hovels', bleak underground dugouts. The Mars colonists are so depressed that they take drugs. And collect Barbie doll set-ups, with which they worship the ideal past, a world of 1950s consumer elegance. In other words, the Martian colonists would have Mad Men parties, if they could. Perhaps Bradbury's greatest achievement was to have inspired Perky Pat, the transcendental Barbie.

And, of course, the utterly un-cute, but terribly philosophical, Martian wub. If you've got the time, you might enjoy listening to this well-read audio version of Dick's 'Beyond Lies the Wub'.

Enjoy the film, and the story if you choose, and make up whatever utopia/dystopia your heart desires.

PS: It turns out that a virtual game now provides Ikea furniture. This article explains the connection between that and Perky Pat. Dick fans often experience Schadenfreude when things like that happen.