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Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its third season on November 8, 2009. Season 4 premiered on AMC July 25, 2010, at 10/9c. Mad Men is set in the 1960s, initially at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City, and later at the newly created firm of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The show centers on Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director at Sterling Cooper and a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, as well as those in his life in and out of the office. Mad Men has received critical acclaim, particularly for its historical authenticity and visual style, and has won multiple awards, including nine Emmys and four Golden Globes. It is the first basic cable series to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning the award in 2008 and 2009. Weiner set the pilot script aside for the next seven years during which time neither HBO nor Showtime expressed interest in the projectuntil The Sopranos was completing its final season and cable network AMC happened to be in the market for new programming. Pre-production Tim Hunter, the director of a half-dozen episodes from the show's first two seasons, called Mad Men a "very well-run show". The writers, including Weiner, amassed volumes of research on the period in which Mad Men takes place so as to make most aspects of the seriesincluding detailed set designs, costume design, and propshistorically accurate, producing an authentic visual style that garnered critical praise. Scott Hornbacher (who later became an executive producer), Todd London, Lisa Albert, Andre Jacquemetton, and Maria Jacquemetton were producers on the first season. Palmer, Albert, Andre Jacquemetton, and Maria Jacquemetton were also writers on the first season. Bridget Bedard, Chris Provenzano, and writer's assistant Robin Veith complete the first season writing team. Albert, Andre Jacquemetton, and Maria Jacquemetton returned as supervising producers for the second season. Hornbacher replaced Palmer as co-executive producer for the second season. Consulting producers David Isaacs, Marti Noxon, Rick Cleveland, and Jane Anderson joined the crew for the second season. Weiner, Albert, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Veith, Noxon, Cleveland and Anderson were all writers for the second season. New writer's assistant Kater Gordon was the seasons other writer. Isaacs, Cleveland and Anderson left the crew at the end of the second season. Albert remained a supervising producer for the third season but Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton became consulting producers. Weiner, Albert, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Veith, Noxon and Waller were all writers for the third season. New writer's assistant Erin Levy, executive story editor Cathryn Humphris, script co-ordinator Brett Johnson and freelance writer Andrew Colville complete the third season writing staff. As of the third season, seven of the nine writers for the show are women, in contrast to Writers Guild of America 2006 statistics that show male writers outnumber female writers by 2-to-1. As Maria Jacquemetton notes:
Mad Men focuses mostly on Don Draper, though it features an ensemble cast representing several segments of society in 1960s New York. Mad Men places emphasis on showing each character's past and their development over time. The season ends around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, in October 1962. Season 3 begins in spring 1963 and ends on December 16 of the same year. Episode 12 covers the Kennedy assassination and Episode 13, the season finale, involves Don, Roger, Bert, and Lane Prycein conjunction with Peter Campbell, Harry Crane, Peggy Olson, and Joan Harrisengineering their departure from Sterling Cooper after the agency is sold along with its British parent company to the larger, publicly traded firm McCann Erickson. Themes Mad Men depicts parts of American society and culture of the 1960s, highlighting cigarette smoking, drinking, sexism, feminism, adultery, homophobia, racism and antisemitism. 1 was released on January 13, 2009 Reception Ratings The first season's premiere attracted 900,000 viewers, a number which more than doubled for the heavily promoted second season premiere. A major drop in viewership for the episode following the second season premiere prompted concern from some television critics. However, "the second season finale posted significantly higher numbers than the series' first season finale, and was up 20% over the season two average. The third season premiere, which aired August 16, 2009, gained 2.8 million views on its first run, and 0.78 million with the 11 PM and 1 A.M.
In 2009, Mad Men was second in Nielsen's list of Top 10 timeshifted primetime TV programs, with a 57.7% gain in viewers, second only to the final season of Battlestar Galactica. The reaction at Entertainment Weekly was similar, noting how in the period in which Mad Men takes place, "play is part of work, sexual banter isn't yet harassment, and America is free of self-doubt, guilt, and countercultural confusion." The American Film Institute selected it as one of the 10 best television series of 2007, 2008 and 2009 and it was named the best television show of that year by the Television Critics Association and several national publications, including the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, TIME Magazine, and TV Guide. On June 20, 2007, the consumer-rights activist group Commercial Alert filed a complaint with the United States Distilled Spirits Council alleging that Mad Men sponsor Jack Daniel's whiskey was violating liquor advertising standards since the show features "depictions of overt sexual activity" as well as irresponsible intoxication. Don Draper's rendition of the Frank O'Hara poem 'Mayakovsky' from Meditations in an Emergency at the end of season two, episode one, led to the poet's work entering the top 50 sales on Amazon. Awards
In 2010, 2009 and 2008, Mad Men won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Drama and in 2008, Jon Hamm won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama for his performance as Don Draper. In all three seasons, Jon Hamm was nominated for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series while the cast of Mad Men won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2009 and 2008. The show also won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series, and the first-season episode "Shoot" won the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Single Camera Television Series. Mad Men also received a special achievement Satellite Award from the International Press Academy for Best Television Ensemble. Mad Men was the most-nominated drama series and the third most-nominated series overall at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2008, receiving 16 nominations total behind the NBC comedy 30 Rock and the HBO miniseries John Adams, with 17 and 23 nominations, respectively. Alongside the concurrently nominated FX drama Damages, it became one of the first basic cable series ever to be nominated for the award for Outstanding Drama Series, an award that it subsequently won. Series creator Matthew Weiner also won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his script for the premiere episode, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". In the technical categories, Mad Men won Emmys for Outstanding Hair-Styling for a Single Camera Series (episode: "Shoot"), Outstanding Art Direction for a Single Camera Series (episode: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"), Outstanding Main Title Design, and Outstanding Cinematography for a One-Hour Series (episode: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"). On September 20, 2009, Mad Men won its second Primetime Emmy for Best Drama series, along with its also second Primetime Emmy for Writing in a Drama Series. Also on January 23, 2010, Mad Men won its 2nd consecutive Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Parodies Jon Hamm was the host of Saturday Night Live on October 26, 2008, an episode during that show's 34th season. In one skit, "A-Holes: Pitch Meeting," Hamm is joined by two other Mad Men cast members in cameo appearances, Elisabeth Moss (who was called the morning of the show and asked to play Peggy, since Amy Poehler, who was going to do it, went into labor)and John Slattery. The Simpsons' episode "Treehouse of Horror XIX", which first aired in the United States on November 2, 2008, included a segment called "How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising" The segment, an adaptation of the Mad Men animated title sequence, was the "inspiration" of executive producer Al Jean; The children's television show Sesame Street ran a parody of Mad Men, a child-friendly skit that lasts 2 minutes and 15 seconds, sometime in late 2009. Sesame Street's plans for having its own parody of Mad Men were announced in August 2009 before its 40th anniversary season aired. Marketing In promotion for the series, AMC aired multiple commercials and a behind the scenes documentary on the making of Mad Men before its premiere. The commercials mostly show the one (usually brief) sex scene from each episode of the season. For the second season, AMC undertook the largest marketing campaign it had ever launched, intending to reflect the "cinematic quality" of the series. The Grand Central Station subway shuttle to Times Square was decorated with life-size posters of Jon Hamm as Don Draper, and quotes from the first season. Inside Grand Central, groups of people dressed in period clothing would hand out "Sterling Cooper" business cards to promote the July 27 season premiere. Inspired by the iconic Zippo brand, the DVD box set of the first season of Mad Men was designed like a flip-open Zippo lighter. it features a total of 23 audio commentaries on the season's 13 episodes from various members of the cast and crew. For the third season, Banana Republic has partnered with Mad Men to create window displays to be displayed at Banana Republic stores nationwide. Another clothing promotion from the series' third season includes a "Mad-Men Edition" suit offered by American clothing retailer Brooks Brothers. The third season also saw the creation of the web-based application "Mad Men Yourself" which enabled users to create avatars based on the outfits and accessories of the show, drawn in the sixties-inspired style of illustrator Dyna Moe. For instance, in a second season episode, the beer manufacturer Heineken is seen as a client seeking to bring its beer to the attention of American consumers. The closing episode of season two was broadcast (for its premiere) with only one brief commercial interruption: a short ad for Heineken beer. Can you bring great storytelling?'
Donald Francis "Don" Draper (Jon Hamm): Former creative director and junior partner of Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency and now a partner of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, he is the series' main character. He is married to Elizabeth "Betty" Draper and has three children with her, but his history of infidelity, along with his revelations to her about his past, led to her announcing at the end of Season 3 she intends to divorce him. Campbell and his wife Trudy have been unable to conceive a child, and he remained unaware of his child with Olson until the second season finale, and as the series progresses, they become closer. Betty gradually becomes aware of her husband's womanizing over the first two seasons. She leaves for Reno at the end of season 3 with the intention of divorcing Don, after which she plans to marry Henry Francis. In Season 2, she dates and becomes engaged to Dr. Greg Harris, with early signs the relationship is not healthy. By Season 3, they have married, and Joan quits her job at Sterling Cooper in the middle of the season at Greg's request. She is ultimately hired by the agency formed by Don, Roger, Bert and Lane in the third season finale. In Season 2, Bertram Cooper mentions "the late Mrs. Cooper" introduced Sterling to his wife, Mona, whom Sterling is in the process of divorcing in favor of Don's former secretary, the 22-year-old Jane. However, numerous episodes in the third season imply he is genuinely happy with Jane, as shown when he turns down an old flame trying to rekindle their relationship. He first appears in the first episode of Season 3. Through most of the second season, Paul dated Sheila White, an African-American woman from South Orange, New Jersey. Ken was promoted in the beginning of Season 3 to Account Director, a role he shares with Pete Campbell. By the end of Season 3, he has been promoted over Campbell to Senior Vice President of Account Services. In the premiere of Season 3, Sal has a brief interrupted homosexual encounter with a hotel employee while in Baltimore, the end of which Don witnesses. In Episode 9 of Season 3, Sal rebuffs the sexual advances Lee Garner Jr, the tipsy son of Lucky Strike's founder and a key client. Don shakes his head at Sal, saying "you people", implying that both the client and Sal are at fault for not keeping their distasteful proclivities out of sight and mind.At the end of the episode, Sal is seen calling his wife Kitty from a phone booth (presumably in Central Park), in an area frequented by gay men cruising for sex. Sal did not appear again during the rest of the third season, and will not appear in the fourth season. Don approaches him about buying back the agency at the end of the third season, which evolves into them forming their own. As a reward for his role in the sale, Duck was to have been promoted to company president under the new Sterling Cooper, but Don's opposition and Duck's intemperate display in a high-level meeting between the two agencies leaving promotion in doubt as season two concluded. After being absent in the first four episodes of Season 3, it is revealed that Duck now works at Grey, another New York agency. After trying unsuccessfully to poach Pete and Peggy at the start of the third season, he develops a sexual relationship with Peggy which continues through that season. He quickly proposes out of the blue one morning in the episode "The Jet Set", and as she accepts his offer of marriage, they become engaged towards the end of Season 2. By the start of season 3 she and Roger are married. She is one of more supportive people of Betty, throughout her separation from Don in the second season, her pregnancy and helping with the children in the early part of the third season, and supporting her in approaching Henry Francis throughout the third season. Although Sally was a fairly minor character through the first two seasons, she started playing a larger role during season three.
The West Wing (2001) The West Wing (2002) The West Wing (2003) The Sopranos (2004) Lost (2005) 24 (2006) The Sopranos (2007) Mad Men (2008) Mad Men (2009)
Twin Peaks (1990) Northern Exposure (1991) Northern Exposure (1992) NYPD Blue (1993) The X-Files (1994) Party of Five (1995) The X-Files (1996) The X-Files (1997) The Practice (1998) The Sopranos (1999) The West Wing (2000) Six Feet Under (2001) The Shield (2002) 24 (2003) Nip/Tuck (2004) Lost (2005) Grey's Anatomy (2006) Mad Men (2007) Mad Men (2008) Mad Men (2009) Complete List (1969-1989) (1990-2009)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
NYPD Blue (1994) ER (1995) ER (1996) ER (1997) ER (1998) The Sopranos (1999) The West Wing (2000) The West Wing (2001) Six Feet Under (2002) Six Feet Under (2003) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2004) Lost (2005) Grey's Anatomy (2006) The Sopranos (2007) Mad Men (2008) Mad Men (2009)
The term man (pl: men) is used for an adult human male (the term boy is the usual term for a human male child or adolescent). Sometimes it is also used to identify a male human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "Men's rights". The term "manhood" is used to refer to the various qualities and characteristics attributed to men such as strength and male sexuality. The Old English form had a default meaning of "adult male" (which was the exclusive meaning of "wer"), though it could signify a person of unspecified gender. Age and terminology
The term manhood is used to describe the period in a human male's life after he has transitioned from boyhood, having passed through puberty, usually having attained male secondary sexual characteristics, and symbolises a male's coming of age. The term manhood is associated with masculinity and virility, which refer to male qualities and male gender roles. Some examples of male secondary sexual characteristics in humans, those acquired as boys become men or even later in life, are:
Sexual characteristics In mankind, the sex of an individual is generally determined at the time of fertilization by the genetic material carried in the sperm cell. The term primary sexual characteristics denotes the kind of gamete the gonad produces: the ovary produces egg cells in the female, and the testis produces sperm cells in the male. Secondary sexual characteristics include everything from the specialized male and female features of the genital tract, to the brilliant plumage of male birds or facial hair of humans, to behavioral features such as courtship. Since sperm that enters a woman's uterus and then fallopian tubes goes on to fertilize an egg which develops into a fetus or child, the male reproductive system plays no necessary role during the gestation. For males during puberty, testosterone, along with gonadotropins released by the pituitary gland, stimulates spermatogenesis, along with the full sexual distinction of a human male from a human female, while women are acted upon by estrogens and progesterones to produce their sexual distinction from the human male. In hunter-gatherer societies, men were often if not exclusively responsible for all large game killed, the capture and raising of most or all domesticated animals, the building of permanent shelters, the defense of villages, and other tasks where the male physique and strong spatial-cognition were most useful. Model A describes total separation of male and female roles, while Model B describes the complete dissolution of barriers between gender roles. Exclusively male roles Some positions and titles are reserved for men only. Men are often given priority for the position of monarch (King in the case of a man) of a country, as it usually passes to the eldest male child upon succession. See also
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