Mad Men Review

Mad Men (Seasons 1 - 6)

My investment: I have watched around 60 hours of this show in about 3 weeks, and I have chosen to watch another episode instead of an extra 45 minutes sleep on numerous occasions.

The sales pitch: Follow Don Draper, his business associates and many (many, many) lovers through the 50s and 60s while he flourishes at his job in advertising, and tackles his personal life with less grace.

The reality: People have conversations with each other, sometimes they smoke while having these conversations. Sometimes they have conversations about smoking. There are lots of men. There is not a lot of madness, and even the little madness that happens is often quite tame.

The good: The show is undeniably well made. It is well written, (generally) well acted, beautifully costumed, highly detailed and never overly cliché. Despite the characters making many questionable choices, I still need to watch the next episode because I care about them and where their stories are going. The writers deal with some hard issues, such as civil rights, but also don't dwell on those subjects to the point where the show becomes overly self-righteous. You can enjoy every episode for the drama, jokes, and bites of reality that are presented. It's a version of The Office, set in the past, with less jokes and higher stakes.

My highlight: I love Joan as a character and Christina Hendricks' performance. 

The bad: As I have previously said, this show mostly comprises of talking. I read on the IMDb page that the actors aren't allowed to deviate from the script unless it is first agreed with the writers. I do feel that  the writers are sometimes too self-indulgent. They throw in jokes that are difficult to understand if you're not au fait with 1960s American politics. They have lengthy speeches about the character's deep thoughts, or a clever advertising idea, but often these moments don't hit home for me. It is well written, but not as well written well written as the writers believe.

My lowlight: A minor annoyance I have with Mad Men is you often know who is going to become a major character because you recognise the actor's face. This ruins plot surprises and seems lazy from a show that could help unknown talent rather than providing easy guest spots.