Remember the days when everybody smoked in the workplace and fanny-patting was acceptable conduct for male executives? Mad Men, one of the smash TV hits of 2007, will return viewers to those halcyon days of 1960, when the military-industrial complex was in full swing and Madison Avenue's supremely confident advertising executives were coming up with new and effective ways of persuading the American people to buy more products. If you thought vintage films such as The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and Madison Avenue depicted this milieu faithfully, wait till you watch Mad Men, which does for ad execs what Oliver Stone's Wall Street did for stockbrokers: portray them as ruthless, rapacious, oversexed, stress-ridden, fiercely competitive, and—on occasion—vulnerable and likable people. The lead dog in Mad Men's pack is unquestionably the Sterling Cooper agency's Don Draper (Jon Hamm in a Golden Globe-winning characterization), a smart smoothie who fends off younger competitors while enjoying a lifestyle that even the young Hugh Hefner would have envied. Other characters include Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss), the talented new secretary who aspires to be a copywriter and executive herself; Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), the unscrupulous junior account manager who makes a play for Peggy and eventually tries to blackmail Don into promoting him; and Roger Sterling (John Slattery), one of the firm's two partners and a drunken womanizer. A consistent theme running throughout the 13 first-season episodes is Sterling Cooper's stake in the upcoming Presidential election between Kennedy and Nixon—a contest in which Don has some personal involvement. Although occasionally too smug in its portrayal of contradictory and often hypocritical social mores of the time, Mad Men generally does a superb job of shining light in the dark corners of Eisenhower-era corporate culture. DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentaries on all episodes, an hour-plus behind-the-scenes documentary, a featurette on the ‘60s advertising world, interviews with various crew members, and more. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)
Mad Men: Season One
Lionsgate, 4 discs, 616 min., not rated, DVD: $49.98, Blu-ray: $49.99 (3 discs) Volume 23, Issue 5
Mad Men: Season One
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