Mad Men

What people are saying

• "What’s intriguing and partly amazing about the two hour "movie” called “The Doorway” that opens the season April 7 is that Weiner has not lost his touch at writing a beautifully crafted script--jammed with the sadness and humor and personal revelations we’ve all come to appreciate. But in addition to that, he’s decided to really hit home Mad Men’s key theme in the first two hours with a kind of ferocity of intent we’ve rarely seen from him." The Hollywood Reporter (Tim Goodman)
• "Foremost, the series operates on a number of levels, beginning with its effortless, nostalgic cool and subtle re-litigation of the culture wars -- revealing how the pre-Vietnam era wasn't always so grand for women and minorities. Those tiers smartly coexist with big-business shenanigans and sudsy family drama--an intoxicating stew for demanding viewers, but one likely forever destined to blunt the show's broad mainstream appeal." Variety (Brian Lowry)
• "As with any great series, Mad Men is becoming richer as these plot strands grow, establishing an engrossing serialized life beyond the hip, reverberating cultural references that demonstrate the smoking-drinking-closeted '60s aren't necessarily "good ol' days" to be mourned, despite the cheery Norman Rockwell image that cultural conservatives proffer." Variety (Brian Lowry)
• "Matthew Weiner's stylish soap opera continues to be both stylish and sudsy in about equal parts, and, as always, I'd be happy to spend most of my time at the office with Don, learning the secrets of advertising and ignoring his mess of a personal life, if not for Don's precocious daughter, the inimitable Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka)." Philadelphia Daily News (Ellen Gray)
• "The premiere suggests that the only other show that belongs with it in the discussion for the best drama on television is the same one we were talking about last season. At the top level, there is "Breaking Bad," and there is also--finally, thankfully, exceptionally--Mad Men, and then there is everything else." Hitfix (Alan Sepinwall)
• "Viewers who cringe at pathos may miss the occasionally lighter tone of earlier Mad Men seasons. But these are the circumstances the characters find themselves in. Besides, at this point in a series' run, most viewers are tuning in for the character stories, where some grace and positivity still pop up." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Rob Owen)

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  88

  Boardwalk Empire

  HBO | 2010 - present | Crime, Drama, History

  "Beautifully rendered as the series is, there's a high-concept conflation of the two shows here in the way it marries the mob melodrama of "Sopranos" with "Mad's" period fetishism. It's a savvy programming strategy but robs Boardwalk of a certain freshness that would otherwise elevate it to the same echelon as those TV classics." The Hollywood Reporter (Andrew Wallenstein)
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  99

  Breaking Bad

  AMC | 2008 - present | Crime, Drama, Thriller

  "There's no question about the quality of this relentlessly suspenseful drama about former high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston), who turns to drug dealing to raise money for his family after he receives a terminal cancer diagnosis. Whether viewers can stand the nerve jangling they're in for as season two begins will be decided on an individual basis." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Rob Owen)

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