What is the fuss about Mad Men?

godscop

Mad men, any good ? Thinking of buying the boxset.

Basq

Personally.. I've tried to watch it 3 times and given up before the end of the first season.

I know plenty of people love it.. and it's acclaimed and all that, but it's clearly just not for me.

There's only so much slow-burning drama I can take.

What other shows do you like?

godscop

basquille wrote: »

Personally.. I've tried to watch it 3 times and given up before the end of the first season.

I know plenty of people love it.. and it's acclaimed and all that, but it's clearly just not for me.

There's only so much slow-burning drama I can take.

What other shows do you like?

The sopranos, the wire, band of brothers, the pacific, hated the shield. Prison break 1st season..

Boom_Bap

If you are looking for something spectacular, Homicide: Life on the Streets is the one to get. 7 seasons and cheap at the moment in the larger retail stores.
It's from the creators of The Wire and was filmed in the early to mid 90's.

As Basq said, Mad Men is slow and takes a bit of dedication.

Sad Professor

Mad Men is the best show on television right now as far as I'm concerned. Fourth season was brilliant and really shook up what could have become a tired formula. I can't wait for the 5th season.

Give the first season a go. I was hooked from mid-season.

telekon

The attention to detail is what makes it. Quality stamped all over it. Oozes style.

Slow burner alright but once you get into it, it suddenly becomes your favourite show. Took a good 5 episodes to get into myself so give it a chance.

pickarooney

It's a damn sight better than The Wire anyway, that's for sure.

Sad Professor

pickarooney wrote: »

It's a damn sight better than The Wire anyway, that's for sure.

Oh my...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDegjfVi-Aw

They are coming...

:pac:

mike65

Mad Men is a total delight if you appreciate the texture of the series, its as much about the art and costume design and photography/lighting as it is about the people.

Sadly the baxtards at SKY have got their grubby mits on it, so its box sets from now on.

xalot

It's not good it's great.
You cant compare it to the wire, It's a completely different kind of show.
I love it - and it has the most intersting lead character since Tony Soprano

godscop

Thanks everyone so Homicide: Life on the Streets, madmen, that should keep me going. Hard to top the sopranos and the wire tbh..

sink

Only started watching it a few weeks ago and i'm now mid way through the second season. It's an excellent piece of period drama, you really get a feel for the era, it's fashions and the differing attitudes, especially towards women. The main character is fascinating and complex, good looking and likable but with serious flaws. The story is very slow with not much of a central arc, it's more a character study than a story. If you like slow burning dramas with top notch acting and well written characters but perhaps lacking in the excitement of some of it's contemporaries it's well worth the watch.

fred252

i bought the first few seasons a couple of months ago.

i watched for first 3 episodes the night i bought it but haven't watched it since. its not compelling viewing. i've paid for it so i will watch them at some point. fingers crossed it gets better.

watching empire boardwalk at the moment. quality.

EricPraline

telekon wrote: »

The attention to detail is what makes it. Quality stamped all over it. Oozes style.

Slow burner alright but once you get into it, it suddenly becomes your favourite show. Took a good 5 episodes to get into myself so give it a chance.

Agree that the combination of attention to detail and great acting make it quite compelling. IMHO it's the best series I've seen in years.

Personally I found that I got into it quickly - many of the first few episodes are quite self-contained. It's only towards the end of the first season that larger story arcs come in to play - and as Sink says it's more of a developing character study than well-defined plotlines.

OP as with any series, I'd recommend buying/renting/borrowing the box set and watching them in quick succession.

Dman001

basquille wrote: »

Personally.. I've tried to watch it 3 times and given up before the end of the first season.

I know plenty of people love it.. and it's acclaimed and all that, but it's clearly just not for me.

There's only so much slow-burning drama I can take.

What other shows do you like?

Have to agree. I got through the first season, and half way through the second season and had to ask myself why am I bothering? I was waiting for it to pick up and for something good to happen. Was much to slow paced for my liking.

That said, many people love the series and has a huge following.

FreudianSlippers

basquille wrote: »

Personally.. I've tried to watch it 3 times and given up before the end of the first season.

I know plenty of people love it.. and it's acclaimed and all that, but it's clearly just not for me.

There's only so much slow-burning drama I can take.

What other shows do you like?

Exactly the same for me. I can see why people would like it, but I just can't stay into it.

PhiloCypher

Mad men is most certainly an aquired taste if your bread and butter is the likes of the propulsively entertaining Shield(awsome show), but if the slow burn of the Wire is more your thing you will likely take to Mad Men easier.

I wasn't all that impressed initially and just about persevered to the end of the first season before dropping it , it wasn't till I impulse bought and watched the blueray boxset of the first 3 seasons a few months ago that it really clicked for me how nuanced it was and how ****ing hilarious Roger Sterling is .

It's one of my fave shows now .

homerun_homer

Mad Men is excellent. I always wondered what the draw was myself and only recent months got watching it all the way through and got hooked by halfway through season 1. I bought a friend the 3 season box set and he finished season 1 in 3 days.

It's a show you can't describe why it's good. It's just a good drama, great characters, it's funny and wonderfully shot. There are no epic twists or anything like that but it does make you think at times that it'll go one direction, and then go somewhere else.

darragh666

Im a big fan of mad men.

I found when I first watched it that I liked it but did not know why. Then with the third series it starts to get really good and the fourth series is great.

The first two series really just set up the characters and the setting.

Travel is good

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Mad men is most certainly an aquired taste if your bread and butter is the likes of the propulsively entertaining Shield(awsome show), but if the slow burn of the Wire is more your thing you will likely take to Mad Men easier.

I wasn't all that impressed initially and just about persevered to the end of the first season before dropping it , it wasn't till I impulse bought and watched the blueray boxset of the first 3 seasons a few months ago that it really clicked for me how nuanced it was and how ****ing hilarious Roger Sterling is .

It's one of my fave shows now .

I think it's all about the characters. Roger & Pete are my favourites. I can't take to the Betty character, but I can understand why when I watched series 4. And who could not love Joanie?

It's worth buying the box set, you'll want to watch this again.

Lady Chatterton

Hi Guys, I watch a bit of TV but I love nothing more than to purchase a good boxset that I can look forward to watching in the evening after a hard day in the office.

I've heard people at work talk about Mad Men but I have never seen an episode of it myself. I'd love to hear the views of fans and people who have actually seen it, I believe it has been around a few years. Cheers!;)

jighooligan

Its just a fantastic show, plain and simple. While at the beginning it may seem like a slow burner, looking back after watching the 4 seasons its just so well done. The writing and acting is flawless, every character has depth and no episode is filler.

telekon

Style, style, style.

Its just plain gorgeous to look at, acting is top notch and the lack of political correctness is so refreshing.

Starts off slow so make sure to stick with it.

fonecrusher1

I think its a load of rubbish.

Short description of the program; Set in the 60's, a few men & some very attractive women walk around in 60's style clothing in a 60's style office building smoking cigarettes & have sex with eachother a lot. Theres a particularly attractive red haired woman in it. ....ah???...its set in the 60's?

Its basically an american costume drama.

ixoy

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

I think its a load of rubbish.

You're just wrong

Short description of the program; Set in the 60's, a few men & some very attractive women walk around in 60's style clothing in a 60's style office building smoking cigarettes & have sex with eachother a lot. Theres a particularly attractive red haired woman in it. ....ah???...its set in the 60's?

You can give flippant descriptions of many shows though. Example:
'The Wire': Set in the '00s, a few men (and some women) sit around and listen to other people's conversations. When they're not allowed they talk to some other people about how they should be allowed to listen to these conversations because it will stop these people doing things.

Its basically an american costume drama.

It's a strongly character driven show. It's not so much about plot twists, or anything like that, but how these people change both due to the events of the time (hence the '60s as it's a rich cultural era in the US) and how they interact.
It's a sublime program - looks great and acted impeccably and has some of the most intricate characters on TV today.

fonecrusher1

ixoy wrote: »

You're just wrong


You can give flippant descriptions of many shows though. Example:
'The Wire': Set in the '00s, a few men (and some women) sit around and listen to other people's conversations. When they're not allowed they talk to some other people about how they should be allowed to listen to these conversations because it will stop these people doing things.


It's a strongly character driven show. It's not so much about plot twists, or anything like that, but how these people change both due to the events of the time (hence the '60s as it's a rich cultural era in the US) and how they interact.
It's a sublime program - looks great and acted impeccably and has some of the most intricate characters on TV today.

Its more of a chicks program.

don ramo

been meaning to watch this*, its seems a lot of people have picked it up year on year,

from what i understand its a drama series, following interaction between people working together, and a bit of home life 60s style, it suppose to be a pretty acurate representation of the time, + a lot of drama,

damn i wanna watch it now, but dont have the time:D

*for a really long time

djc1616

I've started watching season 4 in the last week after having watched seasons 1-3 boxset in a short period. I too thought it was slow and pointless at first, but it does become better and I think the main character is excellent. He manages to be the main character, yet say less than any other regular character.
To be honest, it's not up there with The Wire or the Sopranos but I don't expect anything to be for a while.
I'd recommend it anyway, enjoyable and well-written.

johnny_ultimate

Quite simply, it's the most thematically complex TV show at the moment. Nothing else - or at least, nothing I've seen yet, please feel free to direct me - on right now has the same powerful storytelling Mad Men manages week after week. It's the way each of the subplots in each episode interplay with each other to illustrate differing sides of that week's theme. It's the way that when you question the show's direction you realise in hindsight that it all slotted in perfectly to the overall season vision. It's the way the characters have interacted and grown over four seasons. It's how awesome Peggy Olsen is. And, of course, the setting is so wonderfully realised, and not merely a backdrop: the 60s are an integral part to the show. With our contemporary knowledge of what things were like then compared to what they are now, it's fascinating to see how the writers continually wring insight out of the setting. The consistently strong female characters are fighting against inequality and rampant sexism. The males are battling alcoholism, health risks, and frequent disruptions to their comfortable lifestyles. And yet the show never rubs this stuff in, instead happy to take alternate takes on these well worn issues.

Mostly, though, it's the characters, and how engaging pretty much everyone of them is. Don is the vocal point but often not even the most interesting (although I loved the directions they took him in during the last series): it's the likes of Peggy, Roger, Jane, Sally (rarely has a child character been so endlessly complicated) and the others who inject this show with life. Without them, it wouldn't be so hypnotic. I just can't miss a week of Mad Men because it means missing the small character moments that stick with you in this show. The central narrative is sometimes flawed - the early seasons particularly tended to dip into soap opera territory to resolve some plots, which was occasionally disappointing - but everything else about this show is wonderful. It's fun just being spending time in Sterling Cooper. It's TV that that is of constantly high standard, with a relaxed pacing and willing to take its damn time. And it's what makes it so engaging. TBH I was pretty much hooked from the first episode, but I can see this pace frustrating some: it truly is worth sticking with because the most recent series is addictive television with a stupidly high standard from week to week. In the absence of the Wire, I'd have little reluctance saying it is the best thing on television at the moment.

Geansai Rua

its just amazing...

The girls are fab, especially joan and betty.

I wish I worked there... smoking and drinking ALL DAY!

Bliss

grungepants

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Its more of a chicks program.

too true it just screams "greys anatomy"..."sex and the city"..."all saints"..."ashes to ashes" and "house".

They all have a certain crushing bordem about them that really makes you feel "I REALLY WONT EVER GET THIS TIME BACK WILL I?"

But thats a good thing cause it makes me change channel and watch family guy...

johnny_ultimate

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Its more of a chicks program.

grungepants wrote: »

too true it just screams "greys anatomy"..."sex and the city"..."all saints"..."ashes to ashes" and "house".

They all have a certain crushing bordem about them that really makes you feel "I REALLY WONT EVER GET THIS TIME BACK WILL I?"

But thats a good thing cause it makes me change channel and watch family guy...

I hope at least one of you is being sarcastic.

Geansai Rua

grungepants wrote: »

too true it just screams "greys anatomy"..."sex and the city"..."all saints"..."ashes to ashes" and "house".

Its really not like any of them.... Its cooler; more sophisticated..
Men generally wouldnt understand.. joke

grungepants

i know im not i think the other guy might be but i dont like mad men....

And its good that i dont....Im not into series like the sopranos or anything.

fonecrusher1

grungepants wrote: »

too true it just screams "greys anatomy"..."sex and the city"..."all saints"..."ashes to ashes" and "house".

In all fairness its not as bad as that list of utter tripe in your post^ With the exception of house because i haven't watched it so i'l hold fire on it. But i agree with your i'l never get this time back again comment.:)

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I hope at least one of you is being sarcastic.

Nope. To expand on my remark. I have noticed this program seems to be more appreciated by women. This has nothing to do with my opinion on the show itself. I just don't like it. Its dull. It seems to be non stop yip-yap accompanied with very convincing 60's paraphernalia. A+ on the latter, im sure 60's culture experts are impressed. That doesn't appeal to me.

To answer the OP's question, i don't know what the fuss is about.

Richard Dower

Blah!...i don't care how acclaimed it is, i've never seen a stitch of it but just know it would never be to my taste, same as Breaking Bad.

mrsdewinter

Well, I'm not a big fan of these hyped-to-death US shows. I really resent that I'm expected to give hundreds of hours of my life over to a New Jersey gangster/Baltimore police division/fictional White House staff. But I love Mad Men. I found myself getting drawn in by the style and the overall look of the piece, but what I love about the show is the fact that the characters develop in an organic way, they don't suddenly develop an interest in rock-climbing to facilitate an episode about rock-climbing. If a character has a heart attack, he doesn't bound into the office a week later looking as if nothing happened to him. (Well, apart from the central character, Don, but - and I'm not giving anything away here - he's seriously damaged goods.)
Honestly, whether it's just to gasp at the pre-PC world, sigh at the clothes, or ogle Christina's figure, you can't go wrong by catching it on RTE Player.

Jimmy Iovine

Richard Dower wrote: »

Blah!...i don't care how acclaimed it is, i've never seen a stitch of it but just know it would never be to my taste, same as Breaking Bad.

Says the chap who seems to be in love with Glee. If that's your idea of television then it's best you don't watch Mad Men, the plots and characters would go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over your head.

There's so much to love about it. Jon Hamm is brilliant as Don. I thought the episode with him and Peggy at the beginning of last season was possibly the best bit of television I've ever seen. Great to see the transition as the series moves through the decade and styles change, women get more independence and music tastes change. Up there with The Wire challenging for my greatest show of all time

Richard Dower

Glee is mush, has been since the back 9 of S1 + all of S2, it was fantastic in it's first 13 eps. - i'd NEVER claim Glee as quality tv, but it's entertaining.

pickarooney

ixoy wrote: »

You're just wrong


You can give flippant descriptions of many shows though. Example:
'The Wire': Set in the '00s, a few men (and some women) sit around and listen to other people's conversations. When they're not allowed they talk to some other people about how they should be allowed to listen to these conversations because it will stop these people doing things.


It's a strongly character driven show. It's not so much about plot twists, or anything like that, but how these people change both due to the events of the time (hence the '60s as it's a rich cultural era in the US) and how they interact.
It's a sublime program - looks great and acted impeccably and has some of the most intricate characters on TV today.

I thanked you as much for your accurate description of The Wire as your accurate description of Mad Men.

Richard Dower wrote: »

Blah!...i don't care how acclaimed it is, i've never seen a stitch of it but just know it would never be to my taste, same as Breaking Bad.

...and this is probably the strongest recommendation for watching Mad Men in this thread

Diddler1977

I love the lengths that the makers go to make this a fabulously authentic watchable experience.

eg. Ice

When Don is in a bar the ice in his drink is made in a 1960's commercial ice machine that would be commonly used in bars at this time.
If Don is having a drink in a family home the ice in his drink will be made in a family ice maker (you know those metal trays with the big hinge to pull out the ice)

Another example...

The writers have written the programme in real 60's time. Each day is replicating a certain date. eg. When filming something like the Nixon-JFK debate the writers will go back and look at the weather on this actual day. If the weather was unseasonably warm for example they will make sure that Betty is wearing a short sleeved dress or on the otherhand if the weather was cold they will put Peggy in a high necked warm dress.

I just find Mad Men so beautiful to watch.

But it is the storylines (slow moving on first appearance) that keep me watching.

BTW, it is not a chicks program - my husband is more in to it then me.

I do not like The Wire but I do like Breaking Bad.

townparks

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tv3-hopping-mad-at-rtes-midnight-slot-for-us-hit-2501843.html

johnny_ultimate

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Nope. To expand on my remark. I have noticed this program seems to be more appreciated by women. This has nothing to do with my opinion on the show itself. I just don't like it. Its dull. It seems to be non stop yip-yap accompanied with very convincing 60's paraphernalia. A+ on the latter, im sure 60's culture experts are impressed. That doesn't appeal to me.

To answer the OP's question, i don't know what the fuss is about.

I'm just concerned that anyone wouldn't watch this show based on concerns about what gender would prefer it. Now, whatever about not liking the show because of the tone or pacing or whatever, that's fine. But dismissing a show as a 'chick's show' (whatever that means) is bizarre. Obviously some shows are designed to appeal to a female audience, but how Mad Men could possibly be perceived that way is perplexing to me. If 'no stop yip-yap' turns you off genuinely rewarding television, fair enough, I'm not one to argue. But if people are ignoring TV's most complex, involving and well made show in favour of the likes of Family Guy (not that there's anything wrong with watching Family Guy, but I'm sure everyone can agree it's in a significantly different league to Mad Men) under the false perception that they should be because "it's for girls", personally I just feel it is a damn shame.

pickarooney

Just for curiosity's sake, I did an average count of the number of words of dialogue in 3 Mad Men episodes and the same for 3 Sopranos episodes and the Sopranos was about 10% higher. There isn't a huge amount of talking in Mad Men; I'd say each line is carefully written to avoid yip-yap.

Diddler1977

Richard Dower wrote: »

Blah!...i don't care how acclaimed it is, i've never seen a stitch of it but just know it would never be to my taste, same as Breaking Bad.

Wow that is quite a talent you have their - I'd love to know something is not to my taste even when I have never tried it!

fonecrusher1

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I'm just concerned that anyone wouldn't watch this show based on concerns about what gender would prefer it. Now, whatever about not liking the show because of the tone or pacing or whatever, that's fine. But dismissing a show as a 'chick's show' (whatever that means) is bizarre. Obviously some shows are designed to appeal to a female audience, but how Mad Men could possibly be perceived that way is perplexing to me. If 'no stop yip-yap' turns you off genuinely rewarding television, fair enough, I'm not one to argue. But if people are ignoring TV's most complex, involving and well made show in favour of the likes of Family Guy (not that there's anything wrong with watching Family Guy, but I'm sure everyone can agree it's in a significantly different league to Mad Men) under the false perception that they should be because "it's for girls", personally I just feel it is a damn shame.

Christ almighty in all fairness did you genuinely not see this in my post; "This has nothing to do with my opinion on the show itself" or are you simply looking for thanks from fans of the show? Also i never once mentioned family guy in any of my posts?!

Look the title of this thread is What is the fuss about mad men? Its an invitation to discuss the show in general & why it seems to be popular amongst certain people. Im expressing my opinion on why i don't like it & why i don't know what all the fuss is about it. Ok you find it involving & well made. Good for you but you have to respect the fact that other people may not share your enthusiasm for the program.

I just find it dull thats all.

johnny_ultimate

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Christ almighty in all fairness did you genuinely not see this in my post; "This has nothing to do with my opinion on the show itself" or are you simply looking for thanks from fans of the show? Also i never once mentioned family guy in any of my posts?!

Look the title of this thread is What is the fuss about mad men? Its an invitation to discuss the show in general & why it seems to be popular amongst certain people. Im expressing my opinion on why i don't like it & why i don't know what all the fuss is about it. Ok you find it involving & well made. Good for you but you have to respect the fact that other people may not share your enthusiasm for the program.

I just find it dull thats all.

I can happily accept that you and many others don't like it, and yeah in fairness it wasn't you who brought Family Guy into the equation, I will concede both those points.

But you did bring up the issue of gender in the first place, I'm just trying to counter a sub-debate you started. I just wouldn't like to think anyone (not you) would dismiss a decent show based on the fact that it is (wrongly, IMO) perceived as not gender appropriate!

fonecrusher1

pickarooney wrote: »

Just for curiosity's sake, I did an average count of the number of words of dialogue in 3 Mad Men episodes and the same for 3 Sopranos episodes and the Sopranos was about 10% higher. There isn't a huge amount of talking in Mad Men; I'd say each line is carefully written to avoid yip-yap.

Yeah but theres good story developing yip-yap & theres boring obscure yip-yap.

One of the things i liked about sopranos is that you could watch pretty much any episode & thoroughly enjoy it regardless of how many episodes you had watched previously.
And its for the exact oppposite reason i don't like shows like madmen & 24. There may as well be a little sign in the corner of the screen saying; longterm members only.

Diddler1977

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Yeah but theres good story developing yip-yap & theres boring obscure yip-yap.

One of the things i liked about sopranos is that you could watch pretty much any episode & thoroughly enjoy it regardless of how many episodes you had watched previously.
And its for the exact oppposite reason i don't like shows like madmen & 24. There may as well be a little sign in the corner of the screen saying; longterm members only.

Did you start watching Mad Men from the start? Or did you attempt to hop in the middle of a series?

liah

I think it's kinda hilarious that fonecrusher called it a 'chick's program', considering it's one of the most infuriating things I have ever made myself sit through!

The first season had me fuming an awful lot of the time, and I still have very little respect for some of the characters (Don, namely), but it's so goddamn interesting I can't really help myself. It is remarkably well-written and just stunning to look at. But as a girl I found it incredibly, incredibly hard to put up with some of it without going into a mild rant about sexism :pac:

I always thought it was a man's program, considering it's about men getting to do whatever the hell they want, treating the girls like crap, drinking and smoking all day, manipulating and sleeping with as many women as possible, etc.

The idea of it being a chick's program tickles me, frankly.

voxpop

liah wrote: »

I always thought it was a man's program, considering it's about men getting to do whatever the hell they want, treating the girls like crap, drinking and smoking all day, manipulating and sleeping with as many women as possible, etc.

Are those points above not one of the main themes throughout the program - how life was in the 60s. How sexism was rampant, how it was normal to get hammered, drive home, crash your car and then just pay a fine. How everyone smoked, that drinking at work was accepted and nearly expected.

I dont see how it could make you angry really, its the setting for the show - its like getting angry at the Sopranos, because they are gangsters and you are against crime