Mad Men – Season 1

Archived review

This period-piece about advertising agents in 1960s New York has started on small cable channel AMC, hoping to follow the footsteps of HBO, FX and showtime in producing quality edgy material that would be deemed too unsuitable for the big networks. Mad Men deals intelligently with all the cultural trends of the time, including casual sexism, casual racism and other casual isms. Sadly, the subtletly and intelligence used in the writing means I found the show quite inaccessible to start with, but I was glad I stuck with it as, much like The West Wing, it becomes a lot easier once the characters are established and well-known. Jon Hamm is fantastic as the lead character Don Draper, an enigma whom after an entire season it's still clear not enough has been revealed, and Christina Hendricks steals every scene she's in (sadly too few) as the knowing secretary Joan. There was a huge (and quite dubious) plot twist in the final minutes of the finale, which has put me in great anticipation for when the show returns (probably next summer, and hopefully not affected by the strike).

As regards these smaller cable shows, I'm going to start paying them much more attention in future, because (a) they can be better than most network shows (b) they often air over the desolate summer months and (c) I can play catchup with them as the writers' strike stalls all the network shows Rescue Me and Weeds are first on my to-do list.

NB – Weeds fell off my radar, but Rescue Me (despite a less than stellar fourth season) is recommended, and I will do its fifth season justice once it has been fully broadcast.