Mad Men - A Hard Sell

Trying to get someone to watch Mad Men is not an easy sell. It's not like The Wire where all you have to say is: "It's about cops and drug dealers in Baltimore" and you will probably get a bite. You can leave out all the complexities and let them discover that as they progress through the seasons. But Mad Men all you can really say is "It's about this Advertising Agency in the 60's." Then just wait for the "And?" 

The trouble is it can't really be elaborated upon, because Mad Men, for me, is about little moments. Don't worry I won't be giving anything away from season five, in case you have it all stored up for a marathon. But often it is the small things that stick in the head, like this season, where Don calls the lift and the doors open but the elevator isn't there, he just looks down the lift shaft puzzled. I was convinced someone was going to tumble down it in a later episode but it was just another Mad Men moment. 

I might be selling the grandeur of the show short because it does have its stand out, set piece, moments, I mean, who saw the lawn mower scene coming? I'll bet I wasn't the only person who did a swift rewind there. Don making Roger violently sick after a lunch of oysters and booze and a million flights of stairs and who can shake Megan doing her Zou Bisou Bisou from their mind? It was a real show stopper. 

Actually I'm talking myself out of my original thoughts, Mad Men is a show of both grand and small gestures. Also, a lot like The Shield we have a massive central performance from John Hamm but we never lose the ensemble feel of the show. Unlike say The Sopranos where you had two power house performances from James Gandolfini and EdieFalco and the rest of the cast were there for support. 

So, Mad Men shows no signs of flagging as we are now in 1967 which will bring Sgt Pepper and the Summer of love and how all the changes will change our characters is something I am looking forward to. But I'm kind of  hoping they don't take it through to the 70's do we really want Don and Co looking like Ron Burgundy?

Over