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Mad Men
SERIES: AMC, Thursday 10:00p (60 minutes)


8.7

based on 31 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 89 votes
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

Starring Jon Hamm, Vincent Kartheiser, John Slattery, Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Staton, Rich Sommer, and Michael Gladis

In the 1960s, Don Draper is the man in charge at one of the top advertising agencies in New York.

GENRE(S):	Drama
CREATED BY:	Matthew Weiner
FIRST AIR DATE:	July 19, 2007

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

The acting (from a mostly unknown cast), cinematography (you can just stare at this series) and especially Weiner's writing carry the series to exceptional heights.

100

Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker

Wit and glamour sell this top-quality product.

100

USA Today Robert Bianco

Mad Men is a joy to watch - the clothes, the clocks, the furniture, it's like a mid-century night's dream. But this is no mere period piece. It's a smart, complex drama that attempts to get through the facades that have always hidden the truth.

100

New York Post Adam Buckman

If you check out Mad Men tonight, I guarantee you'll be back next week.

TV Guide Matt Roush

This sleek, sexy, smartly cynical drama about selling everything from cigarettes to Nixon also nails the era's attitudes of casual prejudice and sexual manipulation.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

A really extraordinary new drama.

San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum

The series is a funny, knowing, sometimes dark, sometimes romantic take on the time just before the power of advertising was fully realized.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

"I'm living like there is no tomorrow because there isn't one." Not a pretty sentiment, to be sure, but it makes for an intriguing character in what's likely to be the best new summer series of 2007.

Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara

Mad Men has found a strange and lovely space between nostalgia and political correctness and filled it with interesting people, all of them armed with great powers of seduction.

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

It's hard for an artistic entity to balance that kind of American duality. Mad Men does so in a subtler and more natural way than "Natural Born Killers" did satirically.

Christian Science Monitor Gloria Goodale

It's very filmic both in execution and ambition as it explores life before Betty Friedan and the Surgeon General's warnings on cigarette packs.

Entertainment Weekly Ken Tucker

What gives Mad Men its zing is that play is part of work, sexual banter isn't yet harassment, and America is free of self-doubt, guilt, and countercultural confusion.

LA Weekly Robert Abele

Mad Men may thrive on a certain heartless suspense, but it’s definitely got a brain, one that’s interested in how our lives are a battle between the narrative we imagine for ourselves and the path we happen to be on.

The New Yorker Nancy Franklin

Mad Men is smart and tremendously attractive, and it stirs you more than it probably should.

Arizona Republic Randy Cordova

The premiere is so well constructed in every department, it would be near-impossible to skip the next episode. If the show can keep up this level of quality, it could wind up being one of the greats.

Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy

As a witty social history viewed through the tempestuous prism of office and sexual politics, Mad Men is big fun ... classy entertainment with a brain.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

It is something rare and wonderful, a remarkable, original vision.

The New York Times Alessandra Stanley

Mad Men is both a drama and a comedy and all the better for it, a series that breaks new ground by luxuriating in the not-so-distant past.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

Mad Men is first and foremost an intelligently made character drama.

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

Mad Men is a captivating experience.

Salon Heather Havrilesky

Mad Men is smart, funny, eye-opening, and probably 10 times better than anything you'll see this fall, so don't miss it.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

This show, and the world it reconstructs, gets much better, and more comfortable, as it goes along.

Slate Troy Patterson

Some us also go in for TV shows that have the potential to ripen into astringent Billy Wilder-style examinations of what lust can do to the white-collar soul.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall

The show does such an amazing job of evoking a world not that long-gone, and in a way that makes it equal parts alluring and appalling.

Variety Brian Lowry

As a serialized drama, the program's situations aren't especially stirring, even with its solid, perfectly outfitted cast. The sheer atmosphere, however, proves intoxicating.

Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz

Mad Men is infinitely more concerned with entertainment, an effort at which it succeeds, thanks mostly to its first-rate cast, disarming humor and period detail.

Newsday Diane Werts

To steal from the old beer slogan, (this show) looks great, (but it's) less filling (than it intends).

Hollywood Reporter Randee Dawn

There's much to admire about Mad Men, and much worth tuning in for. But so far, it's all soft sell.

New York Magazine John Leonard

This series feel like a fifties leftover, chock-full of unimportant secrets.

The New Republic Sacha Zimmerman

The mood is serious, not campy, and there aren't laugh-out-loud moments, just a lot of groaners--at which point, the show simply becomes a reflection of its characters: depressing.

Washington Post Tom Shales

The costumes and sets are just ducky and highly evocative, but the people in and around them spoil the show, gum up the works and shatter veracity.

The average user rating for this tv show is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 89 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

William gave it a10:
Superb! Simply the best writing, acting and production on TV today. Astounding and subtle detail on the Way We Were in the early 1960s. WOW !

margaret m. gave it an8:
Just watched the complete series One this weekend over 3 nights. At first I was repulsed at the ugliness (not of the film itself, its setting etc they were stunning) but of an era I had the misfortune to experience...I cringed as I watched one scene after another riddled with the sexual politics I either experienced or witnessed. However I had to watch the next episode to see if things got better and by the third episode I was hooked! Am not a fan of TV series usually - but this one is very addictive - great acting too....I think the episodes relied a bit less on stereotyping as they developed and the characters became more fully developed. 8.5

Big Shooter gave it a6:
Have only watched 2 episodes so far, and, it's losing me... ...hopefully it picks up a bit.

Harper A gave it a7:
Fascinating premise, lush and gorgeous cinematography, some excellent dialogue -- but wobbly execution at times. There are moments when the "oh, look at how terribly different the 1960s are!" tone becomes distracting and sophomoric. It's all a little too pat, and feels false. But this is true more in the early episodes than in the later episodes; the show is better when it digs deep into being a character drama. And like many of the other reviewers here, I think I become so intrigued by the premise that I am willing to overlook some of the eye-rolling moments. (FYI: if you think of this show as being a satisfying comedy, or a nostalgic look at "the good old days" when marriages worked and women knew their place, you are sincerely misunderstanding most of the serious themes of the show. But please continue to watch so that the show will stay on the air.)

Mark S gave it a9:
Phenomenal insight into the American psyche in 1960. Cinematography absolutely divine. I can practically smell the hairspray and Lucky Strike from the TV. Characters fit their roles wonderfully. Robert Morse is the perfect bridge character from that era. Good going!!!!!!!!!!!

Martin S. gave it a10:
I couldn't take my eyes off of this show.

Duncan B. gave it a9:
This is certainly the best drama since the first season of the Sopranos. Mature, elegant, exquisite writing and art direction. And compelling, voluptuously braided story lines.

Mad Men SERIES: AMC, Thursday 10:00p (60 minutes)

Mad Men
SERIES: AMC, Thursday 10:00p (60 minutes)