The McGuffin DVD Review: Mad Men Season 1

Posted by Cory Johnson on 08.14.2008

Can a show with this much smoking, drinking, whoring, and racism possibly be the most critically hyped show of last year?

Welcome to the McGuffin DVD review, I’m your host Cory Johnson and today we are going to cover one of the most critically acclaimed new series on cable-Mad Men Season 1. So take that bottle out of your desk drawer and let’s look at the crazy "Golden Age" of the advertising world-Madison Avenue in the 1960’s.

MAD MEN SEASON 1
Starring:
Jon Hamm as Don Draper
Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson
Vincent Kartheiser as Pete Campbell
January Jones as Betty Draper
John Slattery as Roger Sterling
Created by Matthew Weiner (no really, that’s his name)
Original Air Dates-7/19/07-10/18/07

The Series
Mad Men is a dramatic series from creator/writer/director Matthew Weiner, a producer/director on The Sopranos, about the crazy world of advertising in the 1960’s. Don Draper is the creative ace at the Sterling Cooper advertising agency with a complex hidden past. Everyone in the ad game acknowledges that Don is one of the best, but no one truly knows him. Don has trouble connecting with people, and is always looking for his next idea, his next drink, and his next girl. Peggy Olson is Don’s fresh new wide-eyed secretary, working her first job. Pete Campbell is the young hotshot adman who thinks that everyone, and especially Don Draper, is holding him back. Betty Draper is Don’s pretty, young housewife who is living the American Dream with two kids, a great house in the suburbs, and a case of chronic anxiety and depression.

Mad Men focuses as much on the advertising industry as it does on the 1960’s itself. This show revels in it’s authentic 1950’s-1960’s styling. The sets and wardrobes are an amazing visual worth watching themselves.
Mad Men stays true to the timeframe by taking an unflinching look at office life. The show is not politically correct and loves to show characters smoking and drinking in the office and harrassing the women.

The series was passed on by HBO and Showtime, despite the endorsement of Sopranos creator David Chase. AMC took a chance on the show and Mad Men became the channel’s first orignal scripted Drama (followed by the exceptional Breaking Bad). Mad Men repaid AMC by becoming the first basic cable series to be nominated for the best drama Emmy, as well as winning Golden Globes for Best Drama and Best Actor (Hamm), and a spot on almost every critic’s top 10 list.

The Video
This series is all about visual style. Everything pops out and there is an amazing amount of small period details (think authentic wallpaper and tiles). The series is presented in the widescreen format with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The series transfers seamlessly to DVD.

The Audio
This is strictly a drama series, with a primary focus on dialogue. The dialogue itself is authentic/very “Leave it to Beaver”, but I needed to turn up the volume to catch everything. I usually prefer subtitles on, and this set is kind enough to put the subtitles in the bottom black bar of the widescreen. The score is fantastic and clean. The audio is 5.1 Dolby Digital.

The Packaging
In keeping with the smoking theme, the four disc set comes packaged in a replica Zippo lighter. Some have complained that the foam in the packaging will scratch the discs, but I haven’t seen any issues with this. The menus are stylized with the same animation and music on each disc.

The Extras
Every episode features commentary by cast and/or creative forces behind the episodes. The commentary is good, but like all commentary, not essential. They do a nice job of pointing out some of the little details that you may have missed in the backgrounds. I really enjoyed the first and last episode commentaries where the cast was enthusiastic but uncertain that they would ever work on this project again.
There is also a feature on the musical score, a music sampler, and a preview of Season 2. The musical score feature does a nice job highlighting how the musical themes tie the characters together. Slightly more interesting than it should be.

Disc 2 has the best special features, including a look at the legacy and history of advertising in “Advertising the American Dream”. This is a very academic, but fascinating look at the advertising industry. There is also a feature on the clothes and set designs of Mad Men that is about what you would expect.

Top 10 Moments of Season 1
1. Don pitches Kodak
2. Betty shoots the pidgeons
3. Pete gets his new copywriter
4. Peggy explains the rejuvenator
5. Don digs in his desk and goes to meet his brother (amazing tension)
6. Panty check
7. Don tries to rationalize his pitch to Harry, while Harry is in his underwear
8. Don's Purple Heart (explained)
9. The hobo code
10. Pete gets "published"

Final Thoughts
Mad Men isn't for everyone, as this series is really heavy on the drama and inner conflicts of the characters. This is one incredible show, one capable of taking you into another world, one where you recognize little elements of, but it still feels foreign and fascinating. For a show that is light on the "action" moments, they do a great job of presenting cliffhangers and leaving you wanting more. This show is all about the little details and all of them are well done. There were a couple of episdes where I went "great episode, but nothing happened, right?". That is not a bad thing to me, I find it interesting and challenging as a viewer. This show is addictive and I hope that it finds a huge audience, I would love to see what happens if they make it to the 70's.

The 411: Mad Men is a phenomenal series. It isn't the Sopranos, despite all of the same creative people, but it comes closer than any series since of creating a mini-movie with each hour. I understand the gripes people have about the pacing of the show, but I love that nothing is predictable here. Believe the hype, Mad Men lives up to it's advertising.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]