Mad Men: Season Three

Winner of multiple awards (including Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series for two consecutive years), AMC's portrait of the changing culture of America in the 1960s as seen from the perspective of the employees of a Madison Avenue advertising company and their families has established itself as one of the most intelligent and perceptive shows on cable. In the 2009 third season, Sterling-Cooper is sold to a British firm; the marriage of the suave, successful, and philandering Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and his steely suburban-princess wife, Betty (January Jones), unravels due to his cheating and her frustration; and Roger Sterling (the pitch-perfect John Slattery) weds a woman his daughter's age. Just as the characters threaten to slip into complacency, they're roused from their funk when Don steels himself to make a change with a small crew of conspirators, creating an energy that buzzes through the final episode and promises new possibilities for the next season. Throughout, the series effectively captures the era's shifting views on sex, race, and social roles, along the way expressing a certain disenchantment with some aspects of the American Dream. Compiling all 13 episodes, DVD/Blu-ray extras include episode commentary tracks by creator Matthew Weiner (with members of the cast and crew), and a slew of featurettes on key historic moments referenced in the series (including the Civil Rights-era March on Washington), as well as a look at the artist who creates the ad art for the pitch meetings on the show. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)