Mad Men (Season 2 Premiere, Tonight, Sun. 7/27, 10pm), is the story of “ad men” of the early 1960s (before flower power).  It’s the story of the beginning of our age when advertising is everywhere.  It’s the beginning of focus groups and market testing.

Mad Men is not for everyone. It definitely has an old-fashioned flavor.  But, if you want a picture of what it was like in the early ’60s when people drank, smoked, and slept in the office, when the men held all the important positions and the women all worked as secretaries and believed it was their duty to make the men look good (and to give them things they weren’t getting satisfactorily at home), then Mad Men is worth a look.  It’s a very different world than ours, but it’s surprisingly the same because the show also depicts how those conventions were changing and who was challenging them.  Also, not all is how it seems.  The suits and skirts hide a lot.  It’s a study in a society-in-transition, and it’s entertaining too.

The acting is exceptional.  Jon Hamm, a virtual newcomer whose only significant role was a supporting cast member in the fairly obscure Lifetime drama, The Division, plays Don Draper, a man trying to get past the guilt of stealing a dead man’s identity by burying himself in his work as advertising creative director and indulging his urges any way he can.  Among the supporting cast, John Slattery (a veteran character actor whose most significant roles have been in Desperate Housewives and the moderate hits Jack and Bobby and Ed)as Roger Sterling, is a stand-out.

If you have certain cable providers, you can even watch the first season free on demand to catch up.  Give it a try in any case.