# Just started watching Mad Men **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802 "2010-01-13T17:50:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/1 "2010-01-13T17:50:29Z")
My wife and I have finished the first 4 episodes and aren’t sure if we’re going to continue watching it or not. Frankly, I was expecting more of a fun vibe from the show, but instead I feel sort of like I felt after watching a few of the Sopranos episodes where nothing much happened. I’m inclined to give the show a few more episodes due to its critical reputation but if the show retains this sort of sterile, slice-of-life feel I’m not sure we’ll go much farther with it. My wife has had a hard time staying awake through some of it. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/2 "2010-01-13T17:54:44Z")
> [@unwashed\_brain](#): > > My wife and I have finished the first 4 episodes and aren’t sure if we’re going to continue watching it or not. Frankly, I was expecting more of a fun vibe from the show, but instead I feel sort of like I felt after watching a few of the Sopranos episodes where nothing much happened. > > I’m inclined to give the show a few more episodes due to its critical reputation but if the show retains this sort of sterile, slice-of-life feel I’m not sure we’ll go much farther with it. My wife has had a hard time staying awake through some of it. _Mad Men_ is a fairly serious show with flashes of fun. The “slow” episodes let us really learn about the characters. Periodically, the action speeds up. Then events can really blow your mind ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/3 "2010-01-13T18:01:51Z")
The first four episodes are pretty reflective of the series as a whole. The show is an examination of the social (and business) mores of the time, not a sitcom. If you’re not enjoying it now, it’s not worth continuing. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/4 "2010-01-13T18:13:21Z")
I disagree with **twickster**. I initially watched just the first disc’s worth of episodes and said “meh,” and wrote off the rest of the series. A few months later I was having dinner with my family and my sister was so enthusiastic about the show that she convinced me to give it another shot, so I Netflixed the rest of the season and it really clicked. This was when season 2 was just about to come out on DVD, so I devoured those in short order. Now I’m happily awaiting the release of season 3. I think it just takes a few episodes before you really start feeling involved with the characters. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/5 "2010-01-13T21:09:19Z")
Tim Goodman in the San Francisco Chronicle described the show as “essentially a slow character study of one man’s existential crisis.” Now, given that, I’m not surprised that you’re not getting a “fun vibe” off of it. I like it, partly for the look at life in the early 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/6 "2010-01-13T21:24:13Z")
I am only 9 episodes in because I only watch them on my iPod while I do cardio at the gym, so it’s been slow going lately. I think the show is very interesting but I am inclined to like serious, character-driven shows rather than action-driven ones. I am no longer giving up on any critically acclaimed TV show I am interested in watching after I tried The Wire, 2 eps in was bored and gave up, and went months before I tried again and LOVED IT! Mad Men sucked me in because I wasn’t even alive until the 1980s so it’s very interesting to see a modern show set back then. Some shows take a bit to get into but then you get sucked it and it’s a great payoff. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/7 "2010-01-13T22:27:23Z")
There are some scenes that I would describe as “fun” (e.g. most of the episode “My Old Kentucky Home” from season 3), but more of it is character-driven drama. I especially appreciate the costume and set design, which are fantastic. The advertising agency setting is especially interesting to me, because I am a graphic designer, and I started my career in the late 80’s, before computers took over everything. There’s a bit of nostalgia in that aspect for me. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/8 "2010-01-14T00:27:50Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > There are some scenes that I would describe as “fun” (e.g. most of the episode “My Old Kentucky Home” from season 3) Sure, if you’re into minstrel shows. I was hooked a few minutes into the first season (though it wasn’t the first episode). I don’t think I’d continue a show if it hadn’t hooked me after four episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/9 "2010-01-14T01:05:09Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Sure, if you’re into minstrel shows. > > I was hooked a few minutes into the first season (though it wasn’t the first episode). I don’t think I’d continue a show if it hadn’t hooked me after four episodes. That musical number was so wrong, it was hilarious. The look on Don’s face was priceless. Roger consistently makes me laugh. I agree that the OP should give up on the show. Why struggle through it of you don’t like it? In my opinion, it’s the best show on television. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/10 "2010-01-14T01:21:39Z")
It’s one of my favorite shows, so I hate to say don’t continue it. Have you gotten to the part with Joan in that red dress? I remember that being where I just said, “Wow, this is awesome”. But I mostly liked it then, anyways. It does stay very consistent in tone and action throughout the series, in my opinion, so if it isn’t for you now, it might not be for you. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/11 "2010-01-14T02:18:51Z")
Yeah, fun as in “funny,” it is not. Incredibly well-written, it is. Every episode has a theme – sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle – and every single scene in that episode contributes to that theme, in sometimes surprising ways. There are no throw-away scenes, moments, or lines. Everything contributes to the meaning of the whole. Figuring out the themes and the ways in which each scene fits into them is really fun for me. Really good writing (and acting and directing and art design) is a big televisionary turn-on of mine, and this show delivers in spades. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/12 "2010-01-14T08:01:46Z")
“Funny” humor is not the main forte of Mad Men. It can be amusing, but it’s usually pretty pointed, and can even be quite brutal. Still one of the best shows out there. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/13 "2010-01-15T09:03:38Z")
More than most tv shows, Mad Men is thematic in the way that literature is thematic. If you don’t like thinking about layered implications and themes in, say, novels or other literature, I’d imagine the show’s appeal would be rather one dimensional (nice costumes!) ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/14 "2010-01-15T10:32:50Z")
While I love period pieces that explore culture as it was ‘back in the day’ I just can’t get into Mad Men. I’ve tried watching a few episodes, but it’s just so boring. Not even Christina Hendricks could keep me interested in watching the show, and she’s going to have my love-babies. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/15 "2010-01-15T12:12:26Z")
I completely lost interest after the riding lawn mower incident, did Joan ever come back and what happen to the guy with the chopped off foot? The big draw for me were the office scenes, good good stuff there but then I became completely bored with Don’s personal life - and his constipated facial expressions. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/16 "2010-01-15T12:38:53Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I completely lost interest after the riding lawn mower incident , did Joan ever come back and what happen to the guy with the chopped off foot ? There! Fixed your post for you out of respect for the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/17 "2010-01-15T13:05:57Z")
Oh, and to answer your questions. Yes and He never played golf again ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/18 "2010-01-15T13:10:01Z")
Ok, thanks, but you have perfectly captioned what bugs me about MM and Don Draper, slow dialogue impregnated with hidden spoilers. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/19 "2010-01-15T13:17:51Z")
We watched the whole first season, and liked it, kind of. I wouldn’t say we’re too likely to watch the second season. It was OK. If you’re not loving the first 4 episodes, I doubt you’ll get more involved as it goes on. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802/20 "2010-01-15T14:32:19Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > There! Fixed your post for you out of respect for the OP. Or, use the “report this post” button and ask a mod to add a spoiler box. Please don’t eff with material inside quote boxes, other than to snip out parts (which you should indicate you’ve done with either “…” or [snip]). Thanks for your cooperation. twickster, Cafe Society moderator [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-started-watching-mad-men/524802.md?page=2)