Mad Men

Mad Men is an Emmy-winning American television series set in New York City in the 1960s that focuses on the dramatic world of advertising agencies on Madison Avenue. The main protagonist of the show is Don Draper, a chisel-jawed man's man who is well-respected in the advertising world--and is known for enjoying ladies and alcohol a bit too much. In the earlier seasons Don works for the advertising agency Sterling Cooper, and eventually makes the move to help start a new agency (at the end of season 3), Sterling Cooper Draper Price. He is surrounded by other characters at his agency including the suave and alcoholic executive Roger Sterling, busty secretary Joan Harris, weasley ad man Pete Campbell, and up-and-coming ad woman Peggy Olson. The show also follows Don's home life with his wife and three children--from Don's many infidelities to divorce. All of the conflict on the show is set against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s.

The show was created by The Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner, is broadcast on AMC and is produced by Lionsgate Television.http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen The show is currently in its fourth season.

At the 2010 Emmy Awards, Mad Men took home the award for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing--each for the third year in a row. The writing duo Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy won the Emmy for their writing of the season 3 finale in which most of the characters walked out of Sterling Cooper forever. Mad Men also received Emmy Awards for Outstanding Casting and Outstanding Hairstyling in 2010.http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2010/08/emmy-awards.php

In addition to the several Emmy Awards, Mad Men also won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Television Series in 2008 and 2009.

The show highlights such social issues as cigarette smoking, drinking, sexism, feminism, shifting political paradigms, and racial bias as examples of how society, not so long ago, was radically different from the present. The series also observes advertising as a corporate outlet for creativity for mainstream, middle-class, young, white men.

• Jon Hamm as Don Draper
• Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson
• Vincent Kartheiser as Pete Campbell
• January Jones as Betty Draper
• Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway

The eleventh episode of Mad Men's fourth season, entitled "Chinese Wall," aired on October 3, 2010, on AMC.

The tenth episode of Mad Men's fourth season, entitled "Hands and Knees," aired on September 26, 2010, on AMC.

The ninth episode of Mad Men's fourth season, entitled "The Beautiful Girls," aired on September 19, 2010, on AMC.

The eighth episode of Mad Men's fourth season, entitled "The Summer Man," aired on September 12, 2010, on AMC.

The seventh episode of Mad Men's fourth season, entitled "The Suitcase," aired on September 5, 2010, on AMC.

The sixth episode of Mad Men's fourth season, entitled "Waldorf Stories," aired on August 29, 2010, on AMC.

he fifth episode of Mad Men's fourth season, entitled "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword," aired on August 22, 2010, on AMC.

The fourth episode of Mad Men's fourth season, entitled "The Rejected," aired on August 15, 2010, on AMC.

This video recaps episode 3 of season 4. For more recaps, check out Mad Men Season 4 Recap and Spoilers.

This video recaps episode 2 of season 4. For more recaps, check out Mad Men Season 4 Recap and Spoilers.

This video recaps episode 1 of season 4. For more recaps, check out Mad Men Season 4 Recap and Spoilers.

Season 4 was launched on July 25, 2010 with the episode, "Public Relations". In this episode, Don Draper is interviewed by a trade magazine, Advertising Age, in which he struggles to define himself. Peggy suggests to Pete to stage a mock fight between two women in a supermarket over Sugarberry Ham as a way to increase exposure for the client and potentially keep the client. Roger and Don also meet with executives from Jantzen swimwear about a potential advertising campaign. When the fight goes bad, the staff is left to try and hide the evidence that the act was staged. Romantic interludes between many of the characters including Henry and Betty.http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/episode401

Mad Men's third season kicked off on August 16, 2009, with an episode entitled "Out of Town." The poster for the season featured lead character Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm) seated in a room that was slowly filling with water, and indeed, much of the action of the season focused on Draper's life, and the lies that held it together, slowly falling apart. The season ended on November 8, 2009, with the episode "Shut the Door. Have a Seat.," which brings into doubt the entire future of Sterling Cooper.

The show's recreation of the early 1960s has majorly influenced contemporary American fashion and style. Many influential designers, including Donatella Versace and Isaac Mizrahi have discussed being fans of the showhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204908604574332793869039568.html, and the term "Mad Men Look" has become a universally understood way to reference the style of the era.

Popular fashions that have been "brought back" by Mad Men include pencil skirts, fitted sweaters, slim suits with skinny ties and slim-fitting white shirtshttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204908604574332793869039568.html. Suit-makers Brooks Brothers have even introduced a Man Men line of clothing influenced directly by Draper's style from the show.http://www.brooksbrothers.com/madmen/madmen.tem

• Every Mad Men episode closes with a song appropriate to the period and the episode's theme. The song used over the opening credits, however, is of a more recent vintage - "A Beautiful Mine" by RJD2.

• YouTube & Google Video: Mad Men Search

• Yahoo! Video: Mad Men Search

• AMC: Mad Men Video

• NPR: Creating a New Work History: Mad Men (Audio)

• YouTube Video: Mad Men Preview (Time: 1:31)

• YouTube Video: Mad Men Opening Credits (Time: 0:37)

• YouTube Video: Mad Men Pilot Cut Down to Its Smoking Scenes (Time: 3:53)

• YouTube Video: Mad Men Preview: "Advertising" (Time: 0:30)

• YouTube Video: Mad Men Preview: "Green Ambition" (Time: 0:30)

• iTunes: Mad Men Downloads