Mad Men: Season 1
  • Network: AMC
  • Series Premiere Date: Jul 19, 2007
  • Season #: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6
User Score
8.6 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 334 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 310 out of 334
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 334
  3. Negative: 15 out of 334

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  1. EricS
    Jun 16, 2009
    3
    My wife and I watched two episodes. We won't be watching a third. Mad Men is a hamfisted portrayal of a some of the more obvious biases and blindnesses of the early 60s. As if every day dawned in 1960 in order to provide white men with opportunities to manifest their sexual and racial biases and -- along with all the women and negros -- to smoke all the day through. I can only explain the positive reviews of this show by surmising that the critics like to be assured -- as this show does minute by minute -- that we in the early 20th century are so much more enlightened than those Neanderthals in the mid 20th. Don't waste yout time on this one.… Expand
  2. ednrder
    Dec 13, 2010
    3
    overrated. just started watching the show. the first season was average. i should stop here. but since its "the best show on tv" i'm guessing it gets better in the second season.
  3. MarkS.
    Aug 14, 2007
    0
    I gave this an unbaised shot at first, the show proved slow, akward, boring, and seemingly uncomfortable with itself, thus I wrote it off without a negative word to be said or written. However, I get innundated with nonstop self-aggrandizing commercials, "making-of" mini-movies, and bold quotes from professional critics whom I now USED to have respect for singing the praises of this ridicilious piece of trash, so I feel compelled to dissertate in order to create, if even in only some marginally fractional inconsequential way, some balance to this very unwarranted hype. First off all the depictions of female stupidity, weakness and superficiality, of chauvinism, bigotry, racism and antisemitism, of simplistic "bad-habits", of manipulation and philandering in business and life, of unprepared, unmotivated, simple-minded advertising agency employees and typical office-politics are regressive and totally uninteresting to begin with, let alone when they are executed with bland, amateurish acting, bad timing, bad, nonsensical, inaccurate and even utterly incorrect writing when it tags itself as so totally realistic. And secondly, since when is it such an accomplishment to dress a period-piece accurately, especially with such simple props, locations and attire? Has this not been done in TENS OF THOUSANDS of television & film productions in the "pre mad-men" era, even "gasp" going back to the 1940's and "OMG" even prior to then! WOW! I find it amazing that some big critics are wiling to put their professional reputations on the line by assigning "perfect 10's", in other words "the absolute epitome of media production", to such a totally ineffectual, inconsequential waste of time.… Expand
  4. tomw
    Jul 20, 2007
    3
    what it lacks: a gritty directorial and production style, to service a gritty, shark's den of a subject. what it has: the potential to be all it claimed it was and possibly all it could be.
  5. MikeB.
    Aug 1, 2007
    4
    A silly story wrapped in a gimmick. Actually, there hardly is a story -- mostly just the gimmick of the period costumes and the sexist, racist dialog. Well worth a miss.
  6. EM
    Aug 25, 2007
    2
    All the subtlety of a campaign commercial: there's nothing but preaching to the converted here. If you don't believe that everything good and holy in this world was invented sometime in -- and by -- the Kennedy administration, you won't believe this show. I found it particularly disappointing since the advertising leading into the premiere led me to expect a naughty (but fun) show about naughty people doing naughty things with alcohol, cigarettes and sex at work before we decided (correctly) that these were all very bad. But still fun. Except no one on this show is having any fun at all. And neither will you (unless you require endless validation on how much better you are than your parents -- or their parents).… Expand
  7. lindab
    Jul 25, 2007
    0
    The in-your-face-over-exaggeration of sexually overcharged or weak females in the workplace as meat for carnivores in power is insulting. Gynecologists "smoking" during a naive woman's pelvic exam, then more or less saying that her wanting birth control meds makes her "easy" and if he sees she's abusing them, she'll be limited in their use??? Ridiculous...all of it. I was in the legal field, had few friends or co-workers who smoked and if someone of power made a suggestive remark, they were told it wasn't appreciated...and it never happened again. The sexual remarks, smoking and naivety is so exaggerated in this series it's laughable. I was very attractive, with a great body and on BC meds. So I was shocked when I saw this portrayal. As with today, you either can or can't control a situation. The one thing that's different is that in the 60's we didn't hide behind the fear of "sexual harrassment" charges to those in higher power. We simply took care of any problem ourselves...and were much stronger women for it. Feminism has not helped the female gender...and it has helped to emasculate the male. Sad.… Expand
  8. MarieG
    Aug 18, 2009
    3
    I anxiously awaited the second season. I was greatly disappointed in the homosexual scene. I was offended by the visual content. I felt that it crossed the line and was very inappropriate.
  9. Ravenous
    Oct 8, 2010
    0
    Mad Men is poorly written, it spews continually lackluster dialogue, and it struggles with one boring plot line after another. The show boasts quite the cast, but this only underscores how poorly the writers have done in utilizing the talent at their disposal. When it first came out I was intrigued, and subsequently watched several episodes, but it didn't take long to come to the realization that there is simply no "there" there. Short of the somewhat unique premise of the series, there is absolutely nothing about this show that warrants the attention it is getting. Are people really so shallow that they fall for this sophomoric, gimmicky drivel? When I heard that it was actually winning awards I couldn't even believe by ears. Mad Men is every bit as trite and pathetic as our modern movies and music. Style over substance, nothing more.… Collapse
  10. kelsikelsi
    Sep 5, 2011
    3
    Let me preface with this statement: I wanted to like Madmen. I really really wanted to like it. I have been in a horrible lull in television. All of my staples are off air for a while and NetFlix has been making me question its loyalty to distracting me from being stuck in rural hell. I started Madmen because I religiously check Metacritic for show ideas and it just kept coming up on great shows lists.

    Let's begin with what I do like. I constantly mental note the fashion. Jane is a bad ass **** Jon Hamm's acting skills aren't horrendous... thinking... thinking... grasping... I've got nothing. I can honestly think of nothing more. I couldn't even finish the available episodes because I simply can't give a **** about a single character or story line. Please allow me to go further.

    I suppose Madmen writers and creators will say that the show is a bit of a satire. But it's satire like blackface is satire. It is... but you're a dick if you do it because you're not hitting your point. Shows in the 1950's/60's like Leave it to Beaver and I Love Lucy, flooded the airwaves with subservient domestic wives. The effects of this plus the push from lady's magazines caused an era of repressed, sad women that felt that their red lipstick and roasts were the only glue that kept their families together. Madmen does poke a little at this past sociological dark period, but at times I feel the glorification and glamorization of Mrs. Draper leans a little towards the promotion of the doormat wife. Madmen further punches women in the proverbial snatch by making Jon Hamm's incessant affairs so god damn acceptable all the while Mrs. Draper's perfectly reasonable reactions to her husband's affairs are portrayed in a way that make her seem difficult and nosy.

    Yes, Madmen is a period piece. Yes, the period was one of psychological and sociological repression of women, but where the show takes a wrong turn is in a further promotion of the misogynistic attitudes that should not be apparent in the 21st century. Why does the show make Mrs. Draper so **** when she kicks her cheating husband out of the house? Why is Mr. Draper shown to be such a classy, evolved man, when his behavior is modeled after Hank Moody of Californication (or the real David Duchovny for that matter.)

    I feel that in order for Madmen to pull the audience into the 1960's, they have lost integrity in their characters and their story. They have taken the fictional Leave it to Beaver Cleaver family as the reality for the 50's/60's family. When truly, by this time in American history nearly 40% of women and mothers were already in the workforce, most families were lower middle class, and many families adhered deeply to their cultural/ethnic heritage. Sociologist and TV aficionado Stephanie Coontz writes, "Contrary to popular opinion, Leave it to Beaver was not a documentary." Madmen missed that message.

    to read more of my reviews go to: televisionhypnotism.blogspot.com    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Gloria Goodale
    83
    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.
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  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    83
    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.
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  3. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Robert Abele
    80
    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.
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