I work in a closet all day, so just to come out and walk around is wonderful.

Mad Men - "The Hobo Code"

Mad Men has surprised me. I was prepared for the setting in the privileged world of Madison Avenue to annoy me and I thought based on the hubbub before and during its first broadcast on BBC Two that it would be unbearably sexist. Like I said before, it does portray sexism (as well as racism and anti-Semitism) but that doesn't mean it condones it.

The setting is perfect because it is all about selling dreams, telling lies, hiding the truth, and maintaining the lucrative status quo. And, of course, the setting is the background while the focus is on how people are.

I love that a drama can pulls you in and make you gasp as you watch people talk. I felt as breathless as if watching an action sequence while Elliott and Sal ate dinner and talked.

I think it is a tremendous series. My other favourite current series is Battlestar Galactica but I think this is better in that I feel it understands its own direction better than BSG and the characters behave more consistently (admittedly, after half a series I think BSG's characters weren't messed up too much). I like its moral greyness and its lack of simplicity while at the same time it isn't obscure. It is so well written

I find I problematic that I don't really like anybody. Just when I thought I had found my one character to cling to she has sex with Pete in his see-through office or she keeps going on about her daughter being fat or she isn't in every episode or, …

I don't know why Peggy cares about Pete but I do believe in their relationship. His jealous behaviour is consistent with his character and the fact that she still looks to see if he looks her way is consistent with her character. If I am disappointed with how a character behaves then that's just like real life.

I wish they would stop Don from being so clever and witty and giving him the best lines. If they show any more of his miserable childhood then maybe he will become my character and I'll have to ignore the mistreatment of his wife and his philandering.