Happy 10th Anniversary to Mad Men
Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at 1:27PM by Nathaniel R
Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the only series I've ever watched twice all the way through. I know I will eventually follow suit with my other favorite series of all time: Matthew Weiner's Mad Men. But the time is not yet. I still miss it terribly, especially on Sunday nights. The very first episode, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" premiered on this day 10 years ago...
GOD I MISS THIS SHOW SO MUCH
Over the course of Mad Men's life on AMC it won 16 Emmys which might seem like a lot until you stop to consider that 4 of those were for Best Drama Series and it rarely won anything else, including acting trophies. Jon Hamm was given a sympathy statue at the series end, despite deserving the trophy multiple times during the run.
Most Emmys For Drama Series is a 4 way tie until you factor in OTHER wins. The Emmy ranks go like so. Nothing can join them this year since literally NONE of this year's nominees have won Best Series yet -- for the curious those are: Better Call Saul (3rd season), The Crown (1st season), The Handmaid's Tale (1st season), House of Cards (5th season), Stranger Things (1st season), This is Us (1st season), and Westworld (1st season)
MOST DRAMA SERIES WINS. (RANKED BY ALL WINS)
- Hill Street Blues (7 Seasons. 1981-1987)
4 Consecutive Series Wins. 98 nominations. 26 wins, 8 of which were for acting - The West Wing (7 Seasons. 1999-2006)
4 Consecutive Series Wins. 95 nominations. 26 wins, 9 of which were for acting - Mad Men (7/8 Seasons. 2007-2015)
4 Consecutive Series Wins. 116 nominations. 16 wins, 1 of which was for acting - L.A. Law (8 Seasons. 1986-1994)
4 Series Wins. 89 nominations. 15 wins, 4 of which were for acting)
NATHANIEL'S FAVORITE EPISODES OF MAD MEN
From memory - this would undoubtedly drastically change were I to rewatch and take notes.
the suitcase
- The Suitcase (4.7)
- Shut the Door. Have a Seat (3.13)
- The Other Woman (5.10)
- Waterloo (7.7)
waterloo - Far Away Places (5.6)
- The Wheel (1.13)
- The Beautiful Girls (4.9)
- Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency (3.6)
- Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (1.1)
- The Gold Violin (2.7)
gold violin - The Phantom (5.12)
- The Crash (6.8)
- Shoot (1.9)
- Signal 30 (5.4)
- Babylon (1.6)
Babylon - Public Relations (4.1)
- The Better Half (6.8)
- Christmas Waltz (5.9)
- The Marriage of Figaro (1.3)
- The Flood (6.4)
the flood - Field Trip (7.3)
- Waldorf Stories (4.6)
- Person to Person (7.14)
person to person - Long Weekend (1.10)
- The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (4.5)
When was the last time you thought of Mad Men and what do you miss most about it?
10|25|50|75|100, Emmy, Jon Hamm, List-Mania, Mad Men, TV
Reader Comments (16)
The last couple of minutes/final montage of the series finale are perfect. It's one of those for me where I can't just watch it on YouTube randomly, only if I watch the full season (or dare I say SERIES?). Six Feet Under's finale is the same.
I adored it from first episode to last, I have all the DVDs. I can't imagine only having watched it once: I ended up turning so many people onto it in binge sessions over the years that I watched the earlier seasons around five or six times. "Only" two or three times for the last season.
One of the all-time greats!
I'm always thinking about Mad Men, best show ever, for sure. The Suitcase is the best hour I ever watched on TV, I've watch it twice and it moved me both times in ways I would never have expected, I love movies, but that episode!!! Genius.
It's finally on Netflix here and I'm tempted but having heard so many good reviews, I'm afraid I will only be disappointed.
Ah! Great post. Love this show so much - definitely miss all those Sunday nights I used to go out to the theatres with my fiends and/or gf and watch live with an audience. So many great episodes - easily my favorite drama of all time. I've seen quite a few episodes twice, but I'm looking forward to a start to finish rewatch sometime too! I'll often find that Mad Men colors my expectations of other shows.. for instance in House of Cards season 4 when they're still trying to expose the sordid past of the Underwoods, part of me is thinking wow I am sick of this storyline... where is Burt Cooper to just tell Pete Campbell, "who cares?"
Nothing compares to Mad Men.
1. The Sopranos
2. 6 Feet Under
3. Mad Men
Although I've never attempted to watch any of them through a second time.
I was thinking about MAD MEN last night while watching Jon Hamm in KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES. He has the looks, charisma, and talent to be a film star, and I have no complaints about anything he's done, but I find it curious that TV (including his guest appearances in comedies) has always used him better than film.
I could watch the lives of this characters to they very end and beyond.
I miss then very much! 😭😭😭😭
The Suitcase
The Other Woman
Lost Horizon
The milk and honey route (How I cry in this Episode!!!)
Person to Person
The Gipsy and the Hobo
The beautiful Girls
Far away places
A little Kiss
Commissions and fees
Are my favorites by mind.
Its funny, I started re-watching a few weeks ago. I loved Breaking Bad, but I tell everyone that Mad Men was the better show.
Really good list. I'd take off Chrysanthemum and the Sword which is my least favorite and add The Milk and Honey Route which has one of the most devastating scenes in the whole series. To me, the crown jewel of the series will always be The Other Woman.
I'm fairly certain Mad Men has ruined me for other shows. I barely watch any TV since it ended, and I don't look forward to anything with the excitement I always had for new Mad Men episodes.
It's the finest show in the history of television (well, certainly within my lifetime). And while it can't quite lay claim to the best TV pilot or series finale (that honor goes to Twin Peaks or Battlestar Galactica and Six Feet Under or Newhart, respectively), it definitely had unforgettable episodes and even entire seasons! My personal, impossible-to-rank top 10:
Lost Weekend (S1:E10)
The Wheel (S1:E13)
The New Girl (S2:E5)
The Gypsy and the Hobo (S3:E11)
The Suitcase (S4:E7)
The Other Woman (S5:E10)
For Immediate Release (S6:E5)
The Better Half (S6:E8)
The Strategy (S7:E6)
The Milk & Honey Route (S7:E13)
On second thought, the Gypsy and the Hobo, the Suitcase, and the Other Woman may be my top three. How January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, and Christina Hendricks didn't win an Emmy for those respective episodes *alone* is beyond me. (And Melinda McGraw wasn't even nominated for playing Bobbie Barrett!)
"16 wins, 1 of which was for acting"
one. singular. that is insane
the only thing more ridiculous than that stat is its 0 wins for costumes
@par - that is so true
@Brevity - I wonder if that's because Mad Men used his looks and talent so perfectly (I mean, he was MADE for that time period) that anything he does now, especially set in a modern time period, will always be slightly disappointing or generic.
Although I sometimes push against this show's most devoted fans (the show is NOT the second coming of Christ people's), looking at it objectively the show was still a very good one for the majority of its run, and with tremendous performances to boot.