I've just completed the third of five planned seasons of Mad Men, AMC's hit summertime show. It shares the same network and timeslot (Sundays at ten) as AMC's other smash hit drama, Breaking Bad. Naturally, the two are commonly compared to each other, and everyone who has seen both of them has some kind of opinion to give. Including me. And mine is that Breaking Bad is the better show. But that's no knock on Mad Men. In fact, I think Mad Men is the easier show to get into, to watch, and to enjoy. Beautiful people working in a 1960s office building - what's not to love? Breaking Bad places more demand on the viewer's attentiveness and patience. It really isn't a show you can watch out of the corner of your eye while perusing the Internet. Mad Men is much more forgiving of brief spells of inattentiveness, and I think ultimately it appeals to a wider audience because of that. Anyway, Season 3 of Mad Men was a whole lot like Seasons 1 and 2. I still can't say I'm sure just what the show is truly about. Is it the changing American social landscape of the 1960s? The struggle for powerful men from the '50s to adapt to these changes? I really couldn't tell you. Fortunately, the "main purpose" of a TV series doesn't matter when individual episodes never fail to entertain. Whatever the show is, I enjoy it. Season 3 takes place in 1963; a few notable things occurring in the background were King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the Kennedy and Oswald assassinations. Main character Don Draper continued to struggle with his marriage and things finally took a big tumble when his wife discovered some secrets he'd been hiding from her (much like in Breaking Bad, coincidentally enough). The finale was very typical of most drama series' third season finales in that it totally shook, broke, and began to restructure several components of the show. I look forward to Season 4 this summer and know that it will be different from the first three. Once again, I heartily recommend Mad Men to basically everyone. It's just such a cool and inviting show. Check it out.April 17, 2010
Mad Men: Season 3
I've just completed the third of five planned seasons of Mad Men, AMC's hit summertime show. It shares the same network and timeslot (Sundays at ten) as AMC's other smash hit drama, Breaking Bad. Naturally, the two are commonly compared to each other, and everyone who has seen both of them has some kind of opinion to give. Including me. And mine is that Breaking Bad is the better show. But that's no knock on Mad Men. In fact, I think Mad Men is the easier show to get into, to watch, and to enjoy. Beautiful people working in a 1960s office building - what's not to love? Breaking Bad places more demand on the viewer's attentiveness and patience. It really isn't a show you can watch out of the corner of your eye while perusing the Internet. Mad Men is much more forgiving of brief spells of inattentiveness, and I think ultimately it appeals to a wider audience because of that. Anyway, Season 3 of Mad Men was a whole lot like Seasons 1 and 2. I still can't say I'm sure just what the show is truly about. Is it the changing American social landscape of the 1960s? The struggle for powerful men from the '50s to adapt to these changes? I really couldn't tell you. Fortunately, the "main purpose" of a TV series doesn't matter when individual episodes never fail to entertain. Whatever the show is, I enjoy it. Season 3 takes place in 1963; a few notable things occurring in the background were King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the Kennedy and Oswald assassinations. Main character Don Draper continued to struggle with his marriage and things finally took a big tumble when his wife discovered some secrets he'd been hiding from her (much like in Breaking Bad, coincidentally enough). The finale was very typical of most drama series' third season finales in that it totally shook, broke, and began to restructure several components of the show. I look forward to Season 4 this summer and know that it will be different from the first three. Once again, I heartily recommend Mad Men to basically everyone. It's just such a cool and inviting show. Check it out.
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