It’s taken a long time, but Mad Men, the always-awarded US drama series, will soon have its premiere on Australian free to air TV.
Set in the boardrooms of New York’s 1960s advertising agencies, this exquisite series premieres on SBS at 8:30pm on Thursdays April 16. The production design is outstanding.
Created, executive produced and written by Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner the 13-part series depicts America ‘before the loss of innocence, the assassinations, the Vietnam backlash, the Summer of Love…a time when the workplace is a hotbed of casual, cavalier misogyny and racism, of non-stop all-day drinking, flirting, backstabbing and smoking’ … a lot of smoking!
January Jones, who was here for the AFI Awards, told me they used herbal cigarettes for the scenes, to get around union rules. And she was pretty happy about that too.
Showered with Emmy and Golden Globe Awards, it stars Jon Hamm (We Were Soldiers), Elisabeth Moss (The West Wing), Vincent Kartheiser (Angel), January Jones (We Are Marshall) and Christina Hendricks (Kevin Hill), and guest stars John Slattery (Desperate Housewives), Rosemarie DeWitt (Standoff), Talia Balsam (All the Kings Men) and legendary stage and screen star Robert Morse (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying). Michael Gladis (Third Watch), Aaron Staton (The Nanny Diaries), Rich Sommer (The Devil Wears Prada), Maggie Siff (Michael Clayton) and Bryan Batt (La Cage Aux Folles).
Two series have already aired on Movie Extra. But if you’ve never seen it here’s your chance (pace yourself, it’s a bit of a slow burner).
Good timeslot, I have Foxtel (but not the premium movie channels where this airs) and have been keen to check it out – since Seven shafted Lost to late night there has been nothing at 8.30 Thursdays worth watching so this will be a treat!
Hopefully it’s as good as all the press.
Interesting it is on SBS, because channel nine were selling viewing rights on their website http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/01/mad-men-marathon-coming.html originally. Glad it is finally being screened FTA though.
So glad it is on SBS, so it can get a full run and not be axed by Nine.
Why wait for FTA, you can buy it on iTunes, and Season one is on special too I think.
It’s impossible for me to think of ’60s advertising men without thinking of McMahon & Tate
I’m certain this will be a slightly different depiction of advertising agencies in that era though!
@Bernadette –
you’re probably right, they would rather 2.5 men five times a week!
If ch9 got this it would either be axed after a few weeks or pushed to 11:30pm Sunday.
@Craig – I doubt the FTA commercial networks are kicking themselves – it’s an intelligent, well-written show which means it won’t appeal to the masses and therefore won’t attract advertising $$
Great show this one! Good on SBS for taking the plunge.
I hope even though it’s been on PayTV and DVD that SBS gets some good ratings with this fantastic show, I’m sure some of the networks are kicking them selves they didn’t get the rights to this gem sooner.
Great news – one of the best written shows sice West Wing. Too bad its been on dvd release for months…