After years spent streaming on Netflix, Mad Men left the platform back in June 2020. For a long time, the only way to watch the beloved drama was with a subscription to AMC+ — admittedly, a less popular streamer to pay for.
But just this month, fans could finally rejoice: on December 1, all seven seasons of Mad Men were added to HBO Max.
The highly acclaimed series follows the fictional advertising firm of Sterling Cooper on Madison Avenue in New York City.
Watch With Us breaks down why there’s no better time to fall in love with Mad Men than right now.
The Characters are Nuanced and Deeply Flawed
Mad Men centers on Sterling Cooper and its advertising executives, copywriters, artists and secretaries, as well as their families, lovers and clients. The series’ chief protagonist is Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a gifted creative director who is eventually moved up to partner. He is also an unrepentant serial womanizer and hides a secret, shameful past. Draper is what some might call an “anti-hero,” in that he’s our protagonist, but he’s not really a good person — and that’s not a bad thing.
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In fact, every character in Mad Men is far from the ideal citizen. Characters cheat on their spouses, they abuse each other verbally or physically, they sexually harass women, they lie, they steal, they connive and much, much more. And it’s not just the men, but the female characters too, who are refreshingly afforded rich interior lives.
Mad Men is, thus, a gorgeous tapestry of the many shades of gray that human beings exist in, and therefore, it’s a rewarding character drama. The show’s writers give their characters color, depth and realism in just how flawed they are. Characters can be eminently likable without being perfect; in fact, it’s far more satisfying when they aren’t. Mad Men is a great example of this.
The Attention to Period Detail Draws You in
Mad Men is set in New York in the 1960s, and the sets, art direction and costuming work together hand-in-hand to allow audiences to totally fall into the recreation of this period in history. The fashion styles — from the trim ad executives to the downtown beatniks, to the suburban housewives and modest secretaries who are still required to show a little bit of skin — every character looks and feels like they were born and bred in this era.
But it’s not just physical aspects, like clothing and mid-century modern furniture: Mad Men also excels in replicating the cultural atmosphere of the time, between men and women, between the wealthier and the less well-off, and between Black people and white people. In particular, Mad Men is adept at portraying how sexual harassment and misogyny were not only rampant in work culture at the time, it was basically a requirement — and everyone fell in line. So too did people fall in line with excess drinking and smoking, the latter of which was still not widely considered harmful to health. All these aspects come together to bolster the meticulous authenticity of the show.
It Deftly Explores American Identity and Societal Change
The show begins in 1960, with post-war traditionalism still nipping at the heels of the radical and revolutionary 1960s, as the cultural and political tides turn just as JFK is being sworn into office by the end of season 1. Throughout Mad Men’s seven seasons, we shift with the changing times alongside our core characters, who experience upheaval in norms surrounding workplace gender dynamics, race relations, sexuality and expectations of husbands and wives.
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The characters reluctantly, but slowly, adapt to these culture-defining shifts, and the writers do an excellent job at articulating how these gradual, macro-level changes reshaped not just everyday life in American society, but also people’s personal identities. Characters are eventually forced to confront the new gender roles and rise of the feminist movement; the Civil Rights movement and racism; the death of the idealism of the 1950s, giving way to harsh realities. Along the way, advertising and consumerism nevertheless shape and define these changes.
Stream Mad Men now on HBO Max.
