Mad Men...Does it get any better?

[JRS]

Does it get any better or is it pretty much like the first two episodes?

Yes, it gets better..and the show moves forward nicely.
Since the seasons are so short, there is none of those filler episodes than many other longer shows have.
I have seen seasons 1-3 so far

It's like a book. You can't judge after only a few pages. Give it time.

I agree 100 percent with this statement
The show really rewards if you follow it.

Don's a philandering asshole a thousand times over..

This is very true..butt he is damn interesting character to follow(not without soul)..
and I think he has become more responsible as the series has moved forward, though you cant take fish out from water..

At this point there isn't a single cast member that interests me, they are all hum drum and boring

The cast is great..besides IMHO these characters evolve very nicely, even during the first season. And they even might surprise you.

It was just boring and while I understand it all goes hand in hand with the time and setting of the show all the blatant sexism, cheating and silly enough the smoking all rubbed me the wrong way.

Alicia, could you explain bit more of why these things bugged you so much?
I think is great that the show is period specific in tons of its details.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If you find it boring early on, just forget about it. It never becomes more exciting than the early eps. I stuck with it for a couple years then finally gave up when I realized that I truly didn't care whether these people lived or died or if an asteroid landed on them and wiped them all out. Which was true from the first, so I guess I was just watching out of mild curiosity and because the production values are gorgeous.

I don't care how artsy a show is, it needs to have at least ONE character that I give a shit about, or I'm out. If Mad Men had made one slight change -

Spoiler: from last season

if they'd kept Sal in the cast, because I liked him and found his dilemma interesting

- they could have kept me as a viewer for just that one element. Which shows that my standards ain't that demanding, if I'm willing to hang in there for just one character who isn't even a major character.

Betty Draper is a bitch.

Don's a philandering asshole a thousand times over who couldn't be bothered to have a cup of coffee with his long lost brother, who was all alone in the world. We know how that ended.

Frankly I loathe both the Drapers. They should have stayed together, they deserve each other.

I don't know, I think Pete Cambell is an excellent scoundrel.

Early on, I had high hopes for him at least becoming a fun villain, but he's just gone nowhere.

 

[PKerr]

Ok, then don't, whatever. Life will go on without you liking Mad Men.

wow, perhaps you should follow the advice of your sig.

 

[Roger Wilco]

I try to, sometimes I fail, admittedly.

But I just don't understand why some people go on and on about tv shows they hate. Ok, whatever, there's lots of stuff on tv, just watch something else. Everything's not for everyone.

 

[AliciaD496]

It was just boring and while I understand it all goes hand in hand with the time and setting of the show all the blatant sexism, cheating and silly enough the smoking all rubbed me the wrong way.

Alicia, could you explain bit more of why these things bugged you so much?
I think is great that the show is period specific in tons of its details.

I dunno...even in the first episode when Peggy was being shown around and then later when they had lunch with some of the men, she was basically a fresh piece of meat on display. Then they go into the women's restroom and just ignore the girl that's crying. The confrontation with the woman owner of the department store and how Don dismissed her opinions and ideas just because she was female, his idea of making it up to her is a date? Then there was the woman doctor that gave them advice for the smoking campaign that he just (rightly) threw out. I suppose I'm just too much of a 'modern' woman and I've watched too many sanitized versions of that period to think it was that hard to be a woman during that period. It just...bothered me enough for it to distract from the main story I suppose.

 

[Roger Wilco]

But it's supposed to bother you! The writers of that show aren't saying it was good that people acted that way, they just say "that's the way it was".

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yeah, that's the point.

 

[Mooch]

I think it's a great show, but I don't remember the first few episodes being much different from the rest.

 

[Thestral]

Somehow, Kartheiser always made me like him in spite of everything, and it isn't matinee idol good looks. Kartheiser is criminally underrated.

Kartheiser? As in Vincent Kartheiser? As in Angel's son Connor whose only expression was mostly vacant and vaguely angry and whose tone of voice was always monotone no matter what was happening?

 

[Garak]

Ok, then don't, whatever. Life will go on without you liking Mad Men.

wow, perhaps you should follow the advice of your sig.

That's not douchey, life will literally go on without you liking Mad Men.

 

[Atticus]

Kartheiser? As in Vincent Kartheiser? As in Angel's son Connor whose only expression was mostly vacant and vaguely angry and whose tone of voice was always monotone no matter what was happening?

That's him... and the difference in his performances in Angel and Mad Men is amazing. He's brilliant in Mad Men, next to Hamm he's the finest performer, which given the calibre of nearly everyone in the show is saying something,

To the OP, if you've not enjoyed it after four episodes I don't think you're going to like it, they are pretty representative of the series as a whole.

 

[Maurice]

I think it's one of those shows that you either like or don't. I "got" it from the first episode I watched. I could see the thematic things they were touching on, and how they'd cleverly use the pretext of an ad campaign to comment on it, as exemplified by series highlight episode "The Wheel".

My favorite character is Peggy Olsen, who from the get-go isn't satisfied with the expectations of what a woman is supposed to do, and constantly pushes against those limitations, sometimes timidly, sometimes ferociously.

As to Don, he exemplifies his business: his whole life is a serious of illusions designed to sell a product (him) that isn't quite what it seems.

I think the show goes astray mostly when they wander away from how the Madison Avenue thinking affects everything else. It has displayed a slightly increasingly tendency towards soap-opera type plotting that doesn't add much to the themes of the season.

Arguably, the best episodes include "The Wheel" and "The Grown-Ups". If those don't grab you, I think it's a safe bet the show's not for you.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I found "The Wheel" stunning.

 

[Dac]

It's like smoking. It doesn't do anything for you, but after trying it a few times you just need it.

That fact that everyone smokes doesn't help too. And yes, Betty Draper is a bitch.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I try to, sometimes I fail, admittedly.

But I just don't understand why some people go on and on about tv shows they hate. Ok, whatever, there's lots of stuff on tv, just watch something else. Everything's not for everyone.

The OP isn't going on and on about anything. He's trying to determine whether it's worth his while to stick with Mad Men.

I think folks here are giving him bad advice if they want him to keep watching the show. People stick with shows to the extent they find something to identify with in the characters. Dorian identifies with Betty, so she sticks with the show. Other people identify with Don or whoever, and that's enough for them.

But someone who doesn't click with any of the characters isn't going to find that changing, at least not over the three seasons I watched. The characters don't change that much from how they start out. If you don't like them in S1, you won't like them in S2 or S3. I sure didn't.

But it's supposed to bother you! The writers of that show aren't saying it was good that people acted that way, they just say "that's the way it was".

That's really not the point. I like other antihero shows - Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, etc - so the fact that they're not perfect or always nice is not the issue. It's whether or not an individual person finds anything to sympathize with, in those individual characters. If the OP doesn't find anything sympathetic, then there's no point in watching further.

A different show, with even scummier characters, might suit him better. It's the sort of thing only the individual can decide for him or herself. But what we can tell him is: the characters aren't going to change enough for your opinion of them to change. Stop watching now.

 

[PKerr]

I try to, sometimes I fail, admittedly.

But I just don't understand why some people go on and on about tv shows they hate. Ok, whatever, there's lots of stuff on tv, just watch something else. Everything's not for everyone.

The OP isn't going on and on about anything. He's trying to determine whether it's worth his while to stick with Mad Men.

I think folks here are giving him bad advice if they want him to keep watching the show. People stick with shows to the extent they find something to identify with in the characters. Dorian identifies with Betty, so she sticks with the show. Other people identify with Don or whoever, and that's enough for them.

But someone who doesn't click with any of the characters isn't going to find that changing, at least not over the three seasons I watched. The characters don't change that much from how they start out. If you don't like them in S1, you won't like them in S2 or S3. I sure didn't.

But it's supposed to bother you! The writers of that show aren't saying it was good that people acted that way, they just say "that's the way it was".

That's really not the point. I like other antihero shows - Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, etc - so the fact that they're not perfect or always nice is not the issue. It's whether or not an individual person finds anything to sympathize with, in those individual characters. If the OP doesn't find anything sympathetic, then there's no point in watching further.

A different show, with even scummier characters, might suit him better. It's the sort of thing only the individual can decide for him or herself. But what we can tell him is: the characters aren't going to change enough for your opinion of them to change. Stop watching now.

Thank you Temis, spot on.
BTW the other shows you mentioned I absolutely love.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

Except that's not true at all. The format of the series doesn't change much, but the characters definitely do change and/or reveal more of who they really are, rather than the act they put on for others.

I thought I was going to hate Don and felt really bad for Betty for the first couple episodes, then I started seeing their motivations and true personalities/serious faults and ended up doing precisely the opposite.

I fucking hate Betty and quite enjoy Don. That wouldn't have happened if I'd left it at a couple episodes.

Now, if you watch the whole first season and are still getting nothing out the show, yeah, move on. Rent The Wire, Justified, The Shield, shit, there's a million great series you could be enjoying.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Finally starting The Wire this weekend. I'm stoked!

 

[Thestral]

Kartheiser? As in Vincent Kartheiser? As in Angel's son Connor whose only expression was mostly vacant and vaguely angry and whose tone of voice was always monotone no matter what was happening?

That's him... and the difference in his performances in Angel and Mad Men is amazing. He's brilliant in Mad Men, next to Hamm he's the finest performer, which given the calibre of nearly everyone in the show is saying something,

I might have to start watching Mad Men just for him then... because god damn, he was fucking atrocious on Angel and made a rough enough Season Four much worse.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Yeah he really shines as Pete Campbell. Alison Brie's Trudy Campbell is also kind of different than her Annie character over on Community.