An All-Time Great TV Classic Finally Makes Its 4K Streaming Comeback Next Month
Draper looks sharper: Mad Men makes its 4K streaming debut on HBO Max this December.
Well, this is a flex. HBO Max is bringing Mad Men to the platform in 4K for the first time ever, with all seven seasons dropping on December 1. If you needed an excuse to revisit the Carousel speech again, there you go.
The basics
- All seven seasons of Mad Men hit HBO Max on December 1
- First time the series will be available in 4K
- Originally aired on AMC
- Distributed by Lionsgate; created by showrunner Matthew Weiner
- Ran from 2007 to 2015
"Mad Men continues to show truly remarkable staying power with audiences a full decade after concluding its network run, and we couldn't imagine a better home for it than HBO Max," said Jim Packer, Lionsgate's president of worldwide television distribution. "HBO sets the bar for premium entertainment, making it the perfect place to celebrate one of television's defining series while introducing Mad Men to new viewers and reintroducing it to longtime fans in 4K."
What you’re getting into
Set in 1960s New York, Mad Men follows the ad sharks of Madison Avenue, anchored by Don Draper (Jon Hamm) — a Korean War veteran turned pitch savant whose brilliance sells everything except peace in his personal life. His past is not what it seems, and that secret fuels a lot of the show’s tension.
But if you’re asking me, the stealth lead is Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), who starts as a secretary at Sterling Cooper and aims squarely at the creative ranks. Through her — and Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks), the office manager who is both the backbone and the blunt instrument when needed — the series tracks how the workplace treats women, and how those women push back. Peggy begins as the punchline to every lazy sexist jab, then slowly leaves those guys in her rearview. Watching that climb is one of the show’s best engines.
It’s not just suits, smokes, and scotch
Yes, there’s plenty of mid-century style, but the show’s real subject is post-war America charging into the so-called swinging 60s. You get seismic cultural shifts, the assassination of a president, the space race culminating in the moon landing — all refracted through people who make their living selling the dream. It can be funny, it can be brutal, and it’s always human. The acting is stacked, and the writing is as sharp as TV gets.
Receipts, if you need them
The industry agreed. Mad Men won the Best Drama Emmy four years in a row and racked up 116 nominations over its seven-season run. That puts it firmly in the all-timer category.
Why 4K matters here
This is the show’s first time in 4K, and it’s a good fit. The production design and cinematography were already museum-piece level; the upgrade should make the period detail pop without turning anyone into a wax figure. If you’ve never watched, this is the best way to start. If you have, consider it a very classy excuse to go back.