‘Mad Men’

In 2007, AMC premiered a new drama series that was nostalgic and an immediate critical hit: Mad Men.

It may seem silly to reflect on this series, being it was the most recent, but it has been ten years—with its premiere date July 19, 2007—since AMC was able to stake a claim in original programming that grabbed America big time with Mad Men.

Created by Matthew Weiner, whose previous credits included a couple seasons of HBO’s The Sopranos, Mad Men was a blast from the past that reflected on a particular way of life—which included some politics on display both professionally and personally—which play out during the 1950s and primary the 1960s. According to Wikipedia.org, “According to the show’s pilot, the phrase Mad men was a slang term coined in the 1950s by advertisers working on Madison Avenue to refer to themselves, a claim that has since been disputed.”

The series, which lasted eight seasons, won the Emmy for outstanding drama series its first four seasons, writing for its first three seasons and, eventually, just one statue for acting—Jon Hamm, for the last season (2014–15), for outstanding lead actor in a drama series (playing top character Don Draper).

I am going to end this here. On October 2, 2017, the first series among these anniversary salutes—blog-entried every Monday—was CBS’s Lou Grant, which premiered 40 years ago in 1977. (Co-star Jack Bannon died Wednesday, October 25, 2017.) From October 9, 2017, I saluted ABC’s thirtysomething, which debuted 30 years ago in 1987. October 16, 2017 was a tribute to CBS’s Picket Fences, which premiered 25 years ago in 1992. October 23, 2017 covered two more David E. Kelley creations, ABC’s The Practice and Fox’s Ally McBeal, both which debuted 20 years ago in 1997. And, in the case of AMC’s Mad Men, we have a series that premiered 10 years ago in 2007. But, with this October 30, 2017 entry of Mad Men, which ended less than five years ago, there is no need for a deep write-up on the series. It is still very fresh in the minds of many. (Side note: One series’ anniversary, which I did not include for a blog entry, was CBS’s The Carol Burnett Show. It debuted 50 years ago on September 11, 1967. It is a personal favorite. But, it was not that political in a senses associated with those other series.)