I am not getting Mad Men...

[jamaisjedors]

I bought the box set of season 1.

Admittedly have only watched two episodes so far, but it seems so forced.

Everything seems really set-up as a period piece, kind of "look at the fifties/sixties, weren't they terrible shock horror".

EG Episode 2

Focus on kids roaming around the car: cue viewer is supposed to think "look how different things were then".

Random shot of child wearing plastic bag on head - Mother says "I hope my dry-cleaning isn't on the floor".

Viewer is supposed to think "look how different parenting was then".

I can't see any characterisation and all the men look the same to me in their suits.

Convince me to stick with it?

It gets better.

I started watching around ep. 6 the first time around. I watched the first 5 eps on iplayer recently, and found it comparitively boring. I was amazed that so much was spelled out early on, and would reccommend skipping till the characters develop a little complexity and the actors are more comfortable half way through.

Really enjoyed the second and third series.

Ok. good to know that I'm not the only one who thinks the characters lack complexity for the moment.

Thanks for the warning - I've recorded the 1st series and not watched it yet.

Agree with sauce. I really didn't think much of Ep1 but watched the next as had nothing else on the go. Sucked me in! And once you get to know the characters/differentiate the men in suits it's fantastic.

Stick with it!

It's a slow burn - a bit like The Wire takes a while to suck you in. But the accents are more understandable.

It's art. I remember reading a review that praised it as a series of beautifully crafted vignettes.

I must admit the only thing that got me through the first two episodes was the eye candy that is Jon Hamm!! after that, I was hooked. It gets better, Im only annoyed that the first three series werent shown back to back so that I could catch up before season 4 started.

What I want to know is, how come the big fuss now? Its been on for ages.

Well it took me ages to get around to buying it (I live overseas) and I missed it on the BBC.

I have to say I watched the first half of series one when it was originally shown and I really persevered with it as it is very much my kind of 'thing' but then I gave up. The phrase 'still waters run shallow' rings a bell...
I don't fancy John Hamm so his glacier-like performance intrigued me not a jot and everyone was so enigmatic that I ended up not giving a toss.
Various people insinuated - rather rudely I thought - that in these days of quick-resolution TV I obviously was incapable of concentrating on something slow, but as I re-watched - & enjoyed - Brideshead last year, I beg to differ!

I've taped the re-runs of series one but haven't got round to watching them yet, and our sky-plus box is probably going to be replaced today so I never will!