Back When Bras Were Conical And Men Smoked In Elevators: "Mad Men" Season One On DVD

When "The Sopranos" came to its much-anticipated conclusion last summer, HBO tried in vain to plug the breach. Its opening gambit -- "John From Cincinnati," a surf noir drama with a metaphysical subtext -- flopped. "Tell Me You Love Me," an emotional rollcoaster that blended soft-core porn with relationship anguish, didn't quite capture "The Sopranos" audience (although it did have my three female roommates glued to the TV like nothing since "Sex And The City"). "Flight of the Conchords," with its deadpan humor and parody sing-a-longs, was an instant hit, but we're still waiting impatiently for its second season. And did anybody actually get through all the daily installments of "In Treatment"?

Enter AMC, with its first ever scripted series, "Mad Men." Created by Matt Weiner, an executive producer and writer for the last seasons of "The Sopranos," the show touted itself as manna to succor the entertainment-starved.

Set in the early 1960s, during Madison Avenue's supposed "Golden Age" of advertising, "Mad Men" follows the dreamweaving ad executives of fictional agency Sterling Cooper as they lie, cheat, drink and smoke (and, as an incidental byproduct, create ad campaigns). The ensemble cast is led by John Hamm as Donald Draper, an ad man at the top of his profession who is restless, yet ambivalent. While not quite "The Sopranos" -- no one gets killed -- "Mad Men" filled the void by creating a mood so captivating that you could curl up on your couch and almost feel the haze of cigarette smoke settle in the room.

The show is nostalgia-ridden with a cheeky twist, because it mocks its characters and their time, while trying to capture them in all their glory. As The New York Times wrote last summer,

Men wore white shirts, drank Manhattans and harassed compliant secretaries in the elevator. Everybody read Reader's Digest. Jews worked in Jewish advertising agencies, blacks were waiters and careful not to seem too uppity, and doctors smoked during gynecological exams. Women were called "girls." Men who loved men kept it to themselves.

USA Today also had high praise for the show:

On a pure visual level alone, Mad Men is a joy to watch -- the clothes, the clocks, the furniture, it's like a mid-century night's dream. But this is no mere period piece. It's a smart, complex drama that attempts to get through the facades that have always hidden the truth.

Entertainment Weekly called "Mad Men'" a "ripe fantasy":

What gives Mad Men its zing is that play is part of work, sexual banter isn't yet harassment, and America is free of self-doubt, guilt, and countercultural confusion.

The New York Post said "Mad Men" was addictive:

If you check out "Mad Men" tonight, I guarantee you'll be back next week. Or, to paraphrase a classic slogan for potato chips, nobody can watch just one.

Season one is finally out on DVD and Blu-ray. The four-disc set comes with the requisite audio commentaries and "making of" featurettes but little else -- which reflects the fact that the show stands on its own merits, and didn't need to be dressed up with any extras to coax viewers into buying it. The box is shaped like a lighter, and the only gimmick inside is an ad for "Mad Men"-engraved Zippo lighters.

The second season of "Mad Men" is scheduled to begin on July 27 on AMC.

Comments

[PollyTics]

I think that the series MAD MEN is one of the television's finest accomplishments! One of the very best in writing, producing and tackling topics that haven't been done in that time frame.

LOL, I too lived during the 60's and even remember ironing my bra's into that always needed "point". Yes, we actually did that...

[Sportswoman]

I think if you read Sloan Wilson's novels, you'll find the characters lifted somewhat from the essence of his. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (later a B movie with Gregory Peck) and The Best of Everything tells us all we need to know about the first wave of bourgeoise boomers whose parents sought to give them everything and deny them nothing. Money first, conscience 2nd. The counterculture movement had its roots in late 40s and early 50s babies ; these were Depression and post -Depression of the early 30s. There was no such thing as too much of anything.

[Charity]

i'm sorry but i disagree with your time frame in regard to those depicted in Mad Men (love the series btw) as being the "first wave" of the baby boomer generation. i was born in 1948; this show depicts 1959-1960 (kennedy is running for president in the later shows of this series). i was 11 and 12 during that time. the first wave of baby boomers - those born in the birthing boom after WWII - were born from about 1946 - 1950. in 1959-1960, those born in 1946 would have been 13 and 14 years old.

what you are looking at INSTEAD are those who came back from the Korean War and WWII - that is the age group of the adults you see on Mad Men. it is THEIR children with whom you might take issue as "first wave'" of baby boomers - if you watch the show you will see the lead character and the name change he took from a buddy during the Korean war. and all those kids running around on the show can be considered baby boomers.

[VictorAndTim]

This was the best new show on TV last season. It captures the period perfectly, had great writing and the musical soundtrack was right on target.

Oh...and the fact that Jon Hamm is just breathtakingly handsome, doesn't hurt one bit.

[leftLibertarian]

I just finished watching the first DVD. A TV show which doesn't treat the audience like an idiot.

[FatherWolf]

The bras of the 50s and early 60s were truly fearsome machines. As a kid, I was awestruck and a little afraid of them.

And the twin-spear busts they produced were like nothing that young people today have ever seen.

"Lifts and separates..."

[SparXaFire]

This show is fabulous! A favorite scene for me (not verbatim):

Girl, age 8 or so, runs up to mom while playing with a flimsy dry-cleaning bag loosely over her head.
Mom says: Young lady, if I find the dress that was in that bag on the floor, you'll be in big trouble!

I laughed so hard, I almost needed to reupholster my sofa!!!

[PollyTics]

Yes, that was particularly hilarious and I actually remember my Mom saying similar things to me! that's why it is so funny to so many of us.

[Charity]

god, how they have captured that time. i'm not sure, but have they attached a character yet to the Corvair? LOL.

you know, when i went to work in the late 60s and early 70s in offices, smoking at your cubicle was quite routine; also, in the bathroom - and really, anywhere else (i didn't smoke.) and i also was periodically on the receiving end of such sexism - touching, verbiage, degradation -as not to be believed, all in the name of fun and acceptance by almost everyone. it was uncomfortable but who dared to speak up for fear of losing one's job? actually, that still does exist in offices, though not to the extreme portrayed on mad men.

i also grew up seeing friends' mothers hugely pregnant and puffing on a marlboro. yikes. jackie kennedy also smoked though it was not widely known at the time. word was it was the leading unfortunate cause of their newborn son patrick's death from hyline (sorry about the spelling) membrane disease. it was thought to be due to an underweight mother/smoker. that's from memory; not sure if that is accurate.

the show also captures truly well the upper middle class relationship of father to wife to children, i believe.

great show. can't wait til it returns!

[ebethgay]

That was my favorite scene as well, especially as the mother's very pregnant friend puffed away on her cigarette.

[gevan]

This show (I saw three or four episodes) is to white collar 1960 as Jose Jimenez is to the Mercury program.

[jukesgrrl]

I disagree. I watched all the episodes of the show with older family members who are the same age as those characters would be now. The "look" of the show is exactly on target as I remember my childhood. And while the behavior of the characters might not be indicative of everyone, it certainly depicts the same Connecticut society that was portrayed in Cheever novels and Updike stories of that period. For that matter, a lot of what goes on in ad agencies today isn't all that dissimilar. Some of the execs might be women now, but they're still gaming each other and mistreating underlings in the same way.

[dawlishgal]

I worked in a big ad agency in the 1960's, and I think the show does a fairly good job of depicting what it was like. I am surprised, though, that the show's agency doesn't have separate departments for copy writing and for servicing of accounts, plus art and research departments. I can't imagine a secretary being given a copywriting task by an account person, and the research department was where the questions got asked about both the products and the ads. The other thing where I worked was that the gossip came from the mail room. where the low-level employees read the memos and squealed to anybody who would listen..NOTHING was a secret for very long. I can remember watching high powered execs going out to lunch and knowing that they were going to be fired when they got back.

Maybe I missed something in this show, but the agency I worked for was far more compartmentalized. And affairs were not encouraged.....an account exec's wife had an affair with another account exec. and the owner of the agency fired both account execs...one for messing around and the other for not being able to hold onto his wife..

[PollyTics]

Remember, this agency is one of the smaller what they now consider "boutique" agencies on Madison Avenue, not one of the biggies in the day.