Now in it’s fourth season, Mad Men has made a name for itself as one of the, if not the, best TV shows on air. Providing a satisfying mix of scandal, lies, creepy co-workers, and chauvinism, Mad Men has found  a home in millions of TV sets across America.
When the show first aired in 2007, it was hailed as a phenomenon. How could a second-rate network like AMC come up with the creativity and money to produce a show as good as Mad Men? Surely it couldn’t last. But the answer to the quality and longevity of the shows success is simple: get a down-on-his-luck television writer to hire unknown actors that have great potential, but just don’t know it yet, and give them a script, and see what happens.

Mad Men’s producer and chief writer Matthew Weiner (who was recently featured in a Rolling Stone article) had the idea for Mad Men in the late 1990’s, but networks kept rejecting his script. That is, until the mid-2000’s, when AMC showed interest in his show.

Before his gig as Mad Men creator and writer, Weiner was a writer for sitcoms and, most notably, The Sopranos. After his run on The Sopranos, he sent out a script for a show called “Mad Men” about an advertising executive living in 1960’s New York City. Initially, networks like HBO and Showtime kept rejecting it. However, AMC eventually showed interest, offering to make a 13-episode first season. And it’s a good thing they did, too; in 2008, 2009, and 2010, Mad Men won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Drama.

Weiner cast many unknown actors and actresses for main character positions. Jon Hamm was cast as the charming, but misguided, Donald Draper, the best creative advertising director in New York City. Elisabeth Moss was cast as Peggy Olsen, the ambitious underling to Draper, who rose through the ranks at Sterling Cooper, fighting chauvinist co-workers all the way. Vincent Kartheiser plays Pete Campbell, a young, ambitious accounts man who comes across as creepy and selfish. January Jones plays Betty Draper, Don’s wife up until the end of the third season.

She is very insecure and troubled, especially after finding out her husband has been lying about his past and infidelity for years. Christina Hendricks plays Joan, the head secretary at Sterling Cooper who is unable to change with the times during the tumultuous sixties, and ends up marrying the man who rapes her. Lastly, John Slattery, who plays Roger Sterling, is a hard-nosed, and occasionally racist,  executive who is good friends with Draper.

The show is full of intrigue, especially after the viewer finds out that Draper is not actually who he says he is; he took the name of a man in his platoon who died during an attack during the Korean War. While viewers want to sympathize with Draper for the hard life he has lived, starting with his mother (a prostitute) dying at childbirth. But his flagrant infidelity makes that difficult.

As Mad Men has progressed, and characters have developed, the show has only become more addicting. After each episode ends Sunday night, I am left counting the days until the next Sunday, when I can once again lie on the couch, turn on the TV, and watch televisions undisputed best show.