Mad Men (television program)
"Mad Men" is an acclaimed American period drama series that aired on AMC from 2007 to 2015, set against the backdrop of New York City's advertising world during the 1960s. The series follows Don Draper, portrayed by Jon Hamm, a complex advertising executive grappling with personal secrets and dissatisfaction despite his professional success. The show explores significant themes such as the dynamics of sexism and feminism, highlighting the experiences of women in a male-dominated workplace through characters like Peggy Olson and Joan Holloway. It also delves into themes of isolation and the societal changes of the era, reflecting on how the youth of the time began to challenge the established norms. With a focus on the advertising business, the narrative intertwines real-life companies and products, effectively depicting the industry's impact on consumer culture. "Mad Men" received widespread critical acclaim, earning numerous awards and becoming a cultural phenomenon, with many considering it one of the greatest television series of all time. Its finale in 2015 was met with universal praise, solidifying its legacy in television history.
Mad Men (television program)
Mad Men is an American period drama series that aired on the cable channel AMC for seven seasons from 2007 to 2015. The show followed the life and career of Don Draper, an advertising executive working on New York City's Madison Avenue during the 1960s. Mad Men garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout its run, with special praise reserved for the show's acting, writing, and attention to historic detail. Mad Men aired its final episode in 2015.
Origin of the Show
Mad Men was conceived by television writer Matthew Weiner in 1999. That year, Weiner began researching and writing a drama series to be set in the advertising world of 1960s New York. He spent the next two years completing his script but then could not find a television network to buy it. However, based on the script's strength, David Chase, creator of the successful crime drama The Sopranos, hired Weiner to write for his show for its final few seasons.
Weiner performed well on the Sopranos staff, and by 2006 the cable channel AMC offered to produce his Mad Men script. At the time, AMC was struggling to generate original content and saw Mad Men as an opportunity to improve its public standing. With The Sopranos ending in 2007, Weiner began devoting all of his time to creating his own show. After months of casting, writing, and set and costume designing, the first season of Mad Men premiered in the summer of 2007 to critical acclaim. The show only grew in prestige from that point.
Premise and Themes
Mad Men's pilot episode established the setting as New York City in March 1960. Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm, is the hard-drinking and smoking creative director at the Madison Avenue advertising agency Sterling Cooper. Over the show's first season, audiences were introduced to the various people in Draper's life. These included his wife, Betty (January Jones), and coworkers Roger Sterling (John Slattery), Peter Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), and Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks).
Though Draper seemingly possesses all the material wealth required to make him happy, he is in fact quite unhappy from the show's start. Audiences see later that this is because Draper is concealing several disturbing secrets from his past, secrets that erode his mental state throughout the course of the series.
Aside from Draper's inner turmoil and numerous extramarital affairs, Mad Men also focused heavily on the daily operations of the 1960s advertising business. Large portions of the show depicted Draper and his coworkers managing various Sterling Cooper clients, most of them real-life companies. The pilot episode, for instance, features Draper struggling to market Lucky Strike cigarettes after new research suggests smoking can lead to cancer.
For seven seasons, Mad Men also explored numerous themes and motifs—in subtle, literary ways, due to Weiner's understated writing style—that were both specific to the 1960s and relevant to the wider human experience.
Change
Mad Men used its setting of 1960s America, when the society and culture of the country were becoming ever more liberal, to depict the constancy of youth growing up to replace the old. In the show's second season, for example, the older, more mature Draper becomes disgusted when, in an elevator, two young men do not remove their hats in the presence of a female passenger and then loudly recount an explicit story for all to hear. Draper eventually demands that the men remove their hats, as a sign of respect.
Sexism and Feminism
The true-to-life sexism of the 1960s is rampant in Mad Men. The women of Sterling Cooper, who are employed only as secretaries, are treated condescendingly and objectified as sexual objects. In this time, men dominated both the workplace and the home, and women were not expected to provide their opinions. At one point in the show, Joan Holloway, the firm's executive secretary, is raped. She ultimately never discusses it with anyone.
Contrasting the sexism, however, is the feminism that rose up in the United States in this period, when women began demanding societal equality with men. Feminism permeates the experiences of the show's primary female character, Peggy Olson. She enters Sterling Cooper in the show's first season as a meek and pliable secretary, but she eventually proves her skill in advertising and joins the men in writing copy.
Isolation
The theme of loneliness is exemplified most prominently in Draper, who is a man struggling alone with his past. Account man Peter Campbell, though introduced to audiences as a conniving villain, is also shown later to suffer from persistent feelings of alienation. In his case, he arrogantly entered the professional world believing he could conquer any challenge. With time and defeat, however, he becomes wiser, contemplative, and more depressed.
The Show's End
Mad Men aired its final episode in May 2015 to nearly unanimous critical praise. By this point, the show had garnered numerous accolades from several award organizations. These included scores of nominations for Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe awards and multiple wins, including for Weiner's writing and the performances of several of the show's actors.
Over its seven seasons, Mad Men also became a cultural phenomenon in itself, with its backdrop of 1960s American counterculture suddenly resurging in popularity. The luxury clothing company Brooks Brothers even produced a $1000 suit fashioned after that worn by Draper. By the show's end, many media outlets were calling Mad Men one of the greatest television shows of all time. The show's themes, symbolism, and deeper meanings continued to be discussed after the series ended.
Bibliography
Barajas, Joshua. "Where Does Mad Men Rank Among TV's Greatest Shows?" PBS Newshour. NewsHour Productions LLC. 18 May 2015. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/mad-men-stand-among-tvs-greats/
Casserly, Meghan. "The Mad Men Effect: What's the Deal with Other-Era Sexism?" Forbes. Forbes.com LLC. 24 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/03/24/the-mad-men-effect-whats-the-deal-with-other-era-sexism/#139891b02a90
"Mad Men." Television Academy. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. http://www.emmys.com/shows/mad-men
Poniewozik, James. "The Time Machine: How Mad Men Rode the Carousel of the Past into Television History." Time. Time Inc. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. http://time.com/mad-men-history/
Rose, Lacey and Michael O'Connell. "The Uncensored, Epic, Never-Told Story Behind 'Mad Men.'" Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. 11 Mar. 2015. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/mad-men-uncensored-epic-never-780101