Mad Men - Season One [Blu-ray]

While lacking as big a budget as Rome and Deadwood it still has everything else. The acting and writing are superb. Definetly the best show in a few years =].

I don't watch a whole lot of television. As a grad student in literature, I watch a few shows now and then that people tell me are "revolutionary" or "amazing", and most of the time, I've been disappointed.

What makes Mad Men so great is not just that the writing is incredible, the actors are great, the sets and costumes are so immaculate and colorful, the sense of time is so shocking and so believable. It's that this show transcends what normal television seems to hit--even the "great" shows are watchable once, maybe twice before they seem to lose their edge. I've watched several of these episodes three times or more, and the sense of art and space around the characters and their inner psychology is fascinating to watch.

These characters and these plots aren't just about something amazing happening; that's what makes them so special. These are normal, powerful men and women in ideal and slightly-less-than-ideal situations, and many of them have no idea why their lives are falling apart around them.

Explorations of capitalism at its most brutal, its funniest, its most dramatic and real.

For once, I was onboard with a fascinating series right from the get-go. On a syndicated PBS afternoon interview program called "Fresh Air," someone associated with MAD MEN was the guest. The host played some audio segments from one of the episodes. This was radio, so I had only the words and ambient sound to go by. The intelligence of the dialogue belied the nearly languid cadence of the speech. This was something very different; very different indeed.

As it turned out, the dialogue I heard was from the very first scene of the very first episode, between Don and the black waiter, the discussion over the Old Gold cigarettes. What a hook, in retrospect. That scene sets the tone for all the episodes that follow. It was a flash of brilliance that Matthew Weiner set his series in an advertising agency in the 1960s, a critical juncture in the social history. Advertising concerns itself with appearances, associating a product with an image with no regard to its true value. Meanwhile the characters are suffering beneath the appearance of propriety, with the knowledge that nothing is really as advertised. There was the IMAGE of American life in stark contrast to the REALITY of American life, with its racism and sexism and everything else that was wrong. The series is a complete theme with a distinctive visual style. And that's why the Blu-ray edition is a must-own for any fan of the show. Where I live, AMC isn't offered in HD, so seeing this series in this format, with all those 60s-era sets and styles, was like seeing it afresh. It truly enhanced my appreciation, and gave me a good excuse to watch it all over again.

The features are replete with enough to keep you going back for more for a very long time. Fans of the series will enjoy the revelations from the actors and creative forces via commentaries and documentaries. It's always fascinating when artists discuss the processes that have delivered to us so much satisfaction. This is no exception.

I am sometimes disappointed by TV that is highly lauded by critics and viewers, because my expectations become unrealistically high. This show does not disappoint. It is the best show I have seen since The Wire. The character studies are wonderful, and the historical context is almost a character in its own right. The evolution of gender roles is richly explored. Bravo to Mad Men's creators.

Missed the first season so I just had to catch up. It brings back so many memories of the 60's. Really great show, but you need to see it from the beginning.