Mad Men (2007– )

A drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.

Stars:

Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser

Won 4 Golden Globes. Another 87 wins & 261 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Jon Hamm	...	Don Draper (86 episodes, 2007-2015)
Elisabeth Moss	...	Peggy Olson (86 episodes, 2007-2015)
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Pete Campbell (86 episodes, 2007-2015)
January Jones	...	Betty Francis / ... (86 episodes, 2007-2015)
Christina Hendricks	...	Joan Harris / ... (86 episodes, 2007-2015)
Aaron Staton	...	Ken Cosgrove (86 episodes, 2007-2015)
Rich Sommer	...	Harry Crane (86 episodes, 2007-2015)
John Slattery	...	Roger Sterling (83 episodes, 2007-2015)
Kiernan Shipka	...	Sally Draper (83 episodes, 2007-2015)
Robert Morse	...	Bertram Cooper (74 episodes, 2007-2015)
Christopher Stanley	...	Henry Francis (48 episodes, 2009-2015)
Jessica Paré	...	Megan Draper / ... (43 episodes, 2010-2015)
Michael Gladis	...	Paul Kinsey (40 episodes, 2007-2012)
Jay R. Ferguson	...	Stan Rizzo (40 episodes, 2010-2015)
Bryan Batt	...	Salvatore Romano (39 episodes, 2007-2009)
Jared Harris	...	Lane Pryce (35 episodes, 2009-2012)
Alison Brie	...	Trudy Campbell (35 episodes, 2007-2014)

Storyline

The professional and personal lives of those who work in advertising on Madison Avenue - self-coined "mad men" - in the 1960s are presented. The stories focus on those at one of the avenue's smaller firms, Sterling Cooper, and its various incarnations over the decade. At the heart of these stories is Donald Draper, the creative genius of the company. That professional creative brilliance belies the fact of a troubled childhood, one that he would rather forget and not let anyone know about except for a select few, but one that shaped who he is as an adult and as an ad man in the need not only to sell products but sell himself to the outside world. His outward confidence also masks many insecurities as evidenced through his many vices, such as excessive smoking, drinking and womanizing - the latter despite being a family man - and how he deals with the aftermath of some of the negative aspects of his life.

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Plot Keywords:

new york | executive | advertising | 1960s | advertising agency | 

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Taglines:

Where The Truth Lies ...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 2008 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Ga Dien

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Center Studios - 450 S. Bixel Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate Television, Weiner Bros., American Movie Classics (AMC)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both actors portraying the principal partners at the Sterling and Cooper advertising agency - John Slattery (Roger Sterling) and Robert Morse (Bertram Cooper) hail from Newton Massachusetts.

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Goofs

IBM Selectric IIs are shown used in the offices. They weren't available until the 1970s. Mad Men takes place in the 60s.

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Connections

Referenced in Mastermind: Episode #37.8 (2014)

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Soundtracks

A Beautiful Mine
(uncredited)
Composed by Rjd2
Performed by Rjd2
[theme music performed over opening titles]

User Reviews

A Serious Show for a Serious Audience.........

The first episode of Mad Men honestly represents the drinking, smoking, sexist fifties, a time when Madison Avenue's attitude and control permeated our entire culture, including one international political blunder after another, a time before anyone ever heard of political correctness. Gays were still in the closet, women slept their way to wherever they wanted to go, and advertising executives ruled the world. Everyone smoked because we all just looked so damn good doing it.

Mad Men captures not only the look of the fifties, it grabs all the details along with it. Here's a show for Aaron Sorkin fans, a show that treats the audience as adults, smartly written, yet a show that avoids pandering. At first, characters appear one dimensional but there's a hint of turmoil below the surface, a promise of things to come in future episodes. This, my friend, is an expose.'

I suspect Mad Men will be a small audience success story. It's a quality show, for grown ups, and the fact that it's on AMC will mean it can live a full life with less than network audience numbers.

I really enjoyed the first episode and look forward to the next. Good job!