Unlike many drama series on television today, it isn’t necessary to suffer through the first few hours of ‘Mad Men,’ waiting for the story to hit its stride. From the opening volley of the first episode, viewers are thrust into the sexist, racist, and anti-Semitic culture that dominated American corporations in the early ‘60s. Business executives were WASPs, housewives were the naïve property of their husbands, and working women were secretaries, sex objects, and office play things. Weiner doesn’t pull any punches, exposing the show’s fictional firm for what it is -- an impenetrable boys’ club whose existence is fueled by other successful boys’ clubs. As a result, the show’s plotlines, character development, and central themes generate plenty of unsettling reactions that make it difficult to root for the whole of Sterling Cooper’s greedy and distasteful workforce.

Mad Men Merchandise, Blu-ray and DVD - Zavvi UK Mad Men Merchandise, Blu-ray and DVD - Zavvi UK

I'm not saying that a big pretty red bow is placed on top of every story line, but there is a sense and feeling that almost everyone and every thing will be okay, even if certain characters are just simply moving on to something new, with the exception of Betty Draper, who seemed to take a hit for the team. These final seven episodes of one of the greatest shows ever created, reminds us of that fact, pure and simple.Laurel Canyon (HD, 3 Mins.) - Things are focused on the hippie movement and certain place in California, where some of the show took place this season. Part of what makes ‘Mad Men’ such a fun watch is the period detail. Here, with the set’s sublime MPEG-4 AVC 1080p transfer (aspect ratio: a cinematic 1.78:1), this detail has never looked better. Time Capsule: Historical Events of the 1960’s This is a really cool little feature. Basically, it lets you go through each episode, if you stop on an episode, you can then look and see a small video or series of images pertaining to the historical importance of that episode. Sometimes it’s something as simple as “The Top 10 Television Shows of 1962,” or sometimes it’s heavier like “Space Race” or “Cuban Missile Crisis.” This is a wonderful feature and one that I hope they take forward with future seasons of ‘Mad Men’ (season 3 is even more historically centered). The series finale, which has been widely discussed almost as much as the finale of ' The Sopranos', leaves us with an image of Don Draper that seems to tell us that this character has been met with as much success as he's had failures, but he has finally found his place in the world, and who he really is, which is followed by one of the most famous ads to ever come out. There have been a ton of theories on how fans and critics should interpret this, but I'm guessing that the true fans of the show know the true outcome, which is a good one.

Mad Men Complete Collection Blu-ray Review | AVForums

All 92 episodes of the period drama series, set in a prestigious advertising agency in 1960s New York, where sexism is a way of life and everyone smokes like a chimney. In this highly competitive, all white, male-dominated environment, the indefatigable Don Draper is the top ad executive, but there are plenty of young guns eager to topple him from his perch. All the extras presented on this set are also on the DVD version. Thankfully, there are a whole bunch (and here they’re in sparkly HD). Show your advertising skills by building your own collection of Mad Men merchandise to show off to your friends and family. There aren’t any technical issues, either. There is a fine layer of grain, however, which actually adds some authenticity to the show, and in a way adds to the period detail. Is ‘Mad Men’s’ second season as compelling as its first? Well, no. It’s a little too oppressively dark, and the final story arc, which sees Don attempt spiritual rebirth in the sunny state of California, is unnecessarily baggy, self-indulgent and overcooked. Also, the kind of fizzy, ratatat energy that was so key to the first season’s establishment of time and place, has flattened out somewhat. Everyone still looks fabulous, drinking and smoking and wearing thin ties, but without the bubbly electricity.For those of you who live in some kind of subterranean lair (or reside in an orbiting space shuttle), let me recap the basics of AMC’s award-winning series ‘Mad Men:’ The show takes place in the early 1960’s in an ad agency in New York. Our main character is creative director Don Draper (Jon Hamm). Draper has a beautiful wife (January Jones), a couple of cute little kids, and a kind of wizardly ability to come up with the perfect way to sell a product, no matter how bland it may be. Season Five - Audio Commentary, Mad Men Say the Darndest Things, What Shall I Love If Not the Enigma?, The Party of the Century, Scoring Mad Men: Themes of Season Five, Scoring Mad Men: Inside a Session and The Uniform Time Act of 1966. Earth Day 1970 (HD, 3 Mins.) - This focuses on the start of the movement that wanted to make the planet better, ecologically. Mad Men’ is a dialogue heavy show, for sure, so most of the action is in the front, with little use for the more dynamic surround sound elements we all clamor for. (The rear channels mostly handle the score and finely chosen songs.) But this is okay when the dialogue is reproduced as crisply and clearly as it is here. Occasionally other channels get used, and generally the effect is one of subtle immersion – you feel as though you’re just down the hall from the steno pool. This award-winning show was pure class from start to finish and if you haven't seen it yet, now's your chance.

Mad Men: Season Two Blu-ray Review | High Def Digest Mad Men: Season Two Blu-ray Review | High Def Digest

Set in the amoral arena of advertising executives in the early ‘60s, ‘Mad Men’ focuses its eye on Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a junior partner at the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency who has become extremely successful at wooing the firm’s toughest clients with brilliant, revolutionary ad campaigns. His good friend and direct manager, Roger Sterling (John Slattery), has big plans for Don and readily embraces his thoughts and vision for the company. However, Don doesn’t have it as easy as his colleagues assume. He has to contend with a young office upstart named Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), a psychologically troubled wife (January Jones), a feisty mistress (Rosemarie DeWitt), and the truth of his own secretive past. Advertising the American Dream (HD, 20 minutes) -- This marketing featurette explores the many ways American advertising has evolved over the decades. It digs into the early beginnings of product propaganda ushered in by the execs and firms of the early ‘60s and looks at their influence on modern materialism, culture, and merchandizing. Widely labelled as one of the greatest television series of all time, Mad Men is an unmissable piece of live-action American period drama. Assemble your Mad Men collection The Final Season Part 1 - Audio Commentaries, Technology: 1969, Gay Rights, The Best Things in Life Are Free, Gay Power, Trial of the Chicago Eight Part 1 and Trial of the Chicago Eight Part 2.One criticisms of the show was that, for all its arty direction, it was something of a soap opera at heart: the complicated love life of an alcoholic shagger whose behaviour is more often than not legitimised by the fact that he looks good in a suit. It’s not a completely unfair criticism. Rewatching, you wonder how many times Draper can fall in love, break hearts (including his own) and then turn around and do it all over again. But both of the marriages he trashes over the seven series tell important stories. His first, to anthropology-student-turned-model-turned-anxious-housewife Betty is one of male power and the latent tension of late 1950s/early 1960s suburbia. The other – to Québécois secretary-turned-actor Megan – slowly, painfully shows a redress in power, as she gradually outgrows their uneven relationship (while the world surrounding Draper does the same). Season Two - Audio Commentaries, Mad Men Season Two Music Sampler, Birth of an Independent Woman Part 1, Birth of an Independent Woman Part 2, An Era of Style and Time Capsule - Historical Events of the 1960s.