okay, can someone help me out here? i’m about 9 episodes into mad men: season 1.  and here’s the deal - i’m just not getting into it. what am i doing wrong?  everyone i talk to says that it’s so fucking good and they love it.  people swear up and down about how good this show is. i got over the over-the-top misogyny pretty quickly.  i got over the subtle “haha it’s the early 60’s” jokes and whatnot.  i tried to appreciate the story for what it is, but when the smoke clears, there’s just nothing to care about. you’ve got pete campbell, who seems like he’s in 24/7 competition to out-douche himself.  in each scene, he has to act like more of a superdouche than he did in the previous scene.  my hatred for him is exhausting. then you’ve got don draper.  instead of following the douche route, don is in a “self-torture” contest.  and he’s totally winning.  in each scene he has to look more haunted by his mysterious slowly-revealing past.  what’s the best way to self-medicate your way out of a haunted past?  fuck everyone!  fuck the hippy artsy chick and the department store girl and whoever else comes along.  but definitely not your hot lonely depressed housewife.  and then make sure to smoke a cigarette when you’re done fucking and give the camera that good thousand-yard-stare to show how broken you are inside. the rest of the dudes at sterling cooper are all just clones of each other with slight variations - ad guy with glasses, ad guy with silver hair, ad guy who published a book, ad guy who is secretly gay. the women are equally boring characters.  except for the redhead… you know,  whatsherface.  i’ll be honest, she’s gorgeous. anyway, the real problem is that this show isn’t making me CARE about the characters.  i keep thinking back to the best shows HBO had to offer - six feet under, deadwood, carnivale.  within thirty minutes into the pilot episodes of these shows, you cared about the fate of the characters and you wanted to learn more.  it’s compelling.  i am nine episodes in to mad men and i still don’t really care about anyone. i might try to finish out the season, but i don’t know. mad men fans, am i totally off-base here?  what’s the deal?

okay, can someone help me out here?

i’m about 9 episodes into mad men: season 1.  and here’s the deal - i’m just not getting into it.

what am i doing wrong?  everyone i talk to says that it’s so fucking good and they love it.  people swear up and down about how good this show is.

i got over the over-the-top misogyny pretty quickly.  i got over the subtle “haha it’s the early 60’s” jokes and whatnot.  i tried to appreciate the story for what it is, but when the smoke clears, there’s just nothing to care about.

you’ve got pete campbell, who seems like he’s in 24/7 competition to out-douche himself.  in each scene, he has to act like more of a superdouche than he did in the previous scene.  my hatred for him is exhausting.

then you’ve got don draper.  instead of following the douche route, don is in a “self-torture” contest.  and he’s totally winning.  in each scene he has to look more haunted by his mysterious slowly-revealing past.  what’s the best way to self-medicate your way out of a haunted past?  fuck everyone!  fuck the hippy artsy chick and the department store girl and whoever else comes along.  but definitely not your hot lonely depressed housewife.  and then make sure to smoke a cigarette when you’re done fucking and give the camera that good thousand-yard-stare to show how broken you are inside.

the rest of the dudes at sterling cooper are all just clones of each other with slight variations - ad guy with glasses, ad guy with silver hair, ad guy who published a book, ad guy who is secretly gay.

the women are equally boring characters.  except for the redhead… you know,  whatsherface.  i’ll be honest, she’s gorgeous.

anyway, the real problem is that this show isn’t making me CARE about the characters.  i keep thinking back to the best shows HBO had to offer - six feet under, deadwood, carnivale.  within thirty minutes into the pilot episodes of these shows, you cared about the fate of the characters and you wanted to learn more.  it’s compelling.  i am nine episodes in to mad men and i still don’t really care about anyone.

i might try to finish out the season, but i don’t know.

mad men fans, am i totally off-base here?  what’s the deal?