Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #143 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-06-30
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 592 minutes

Synopsis
Matthew Weiner, a writer and executive producer for THE SOPRANOS, may have set this series in the picture-perfect 1960s, but his characters are just as scheming as the mobsters on his last show. MAD MEN begins in 1960 on Manhattan's Madison Avenue at the fictional ad agency of Sterling Cooper. Creative director Don Draper (Jon Hamm) rules the halls of his company and the hearts of every woman he meets, while his wife, Betty (January Jones), struggles to be the perfect mate and mother back in Connecticut. But just as in the world of advertising, Don may not be all that he appears.


In MAD MEN, the glass ceiling is dangerously low, and sexism reigns in a way that may shock modern viewers. But this isn't the prim '60s of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW; Weiner's characters seduce, smoke, and swig with abandon--often within the walls of Sterling Cooper. MAD MEN takes equal parts substance and style to create an addictive cocktail that fully earned its freshman season wins at the Golden Globes for Best Dramatic Series and Best Actor in a Drama.

Customer Reviews

A stunning series!
What a stunning series! The ad men of Madison Avenue portrayed here are not people one would expect to like, given their flaws and cruelties, but this is subtle television, which draws you in and makes you want to know more about them and even sympathise with their secrets and lies.

They lead lives of wantonness and drunken chauvinism which hurts all around them. It hurts to watch the submissiveness of most of the women in the series, but change is always in the air - JFK's election year haunts much of this first series - and it's that sense of impending change that makes one want, need even, to keep watching.

Mad Men is a fascinating, thoughtful and taut portrayal of how attitudes and perceptions changed in the 1960s. The production values are sumptuous, the acting and writing superb. This deserves a much better slot on the BBC when the second series is aired. In the meantime, I cannot recommend the DVDs highly enough!

Mesmerising TV
This is a fascinating series. It initially focuses solely on an elusive ad man, Don Draper, his work and family life. But gradually the focus spreads to all those he works with and particularly, his wife. The acting, writing and directing is superb, mature and subtle. Each episode is like a brilliant play, gradually revealing more about their lives. It explores the sexism and racism of the age, with hints of the changes that will occur in the years to come. Stands out against the fast paced TV programmes that are so popular. This is intelligent, thoughtful. And it looks fabulous as well.

Loks great, and you'll have plenty of time to appreciate that.
Got to agree with a lot of what's been written already. For a start, it look stunning! But it's just as well: the plot's slow. Very. The characters are brilliant, as it the scripting and acting. But nothing much ever seems to happen. It's not going to have you sitting on the edge of your seat or wondering what's going to happen next where you're day dreaming at work. But it says a lot that despite this, it's perfectly enjoyable.

A great insight into the world of the mad men of the 60's, and beautifully executed for what it is, but not a series you'll be talking about a couple of years after you watch it.