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AMC’s flagship drama Mad Men came back strong last night but might be plateauing in the ratings. Last night’s Season 4 premiere drew 2.9 million viewers. That was 5% higher from the 2.8 million who tuned in for the Season 3 debut last summer when the show’s audience grew 34% year-to-year. The 2.9 million mark marks a new series high for Mad Men and a new viewership record for an AMC original series.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Last night episode was decent but not great. It dragged quite a bit until the ending. It’s still better than the CW… anything is.
Apples and Oranges, man. I appreciate the quality of MAD MEN, but at the same time, I can love the fluffy entertaiment value of Gossip Girl! (And, as sexy as Christina Hendricks is, she is definitely no Blake Lively).
You’re right: Christina Hendricks is definitely NOT Blake Lively. Christina Hendricks can act wonderfully, stars in one of the best shows on TV right now, and may well be the most beautiful creature on this planet Earth. Blake Lively is a talentless hack, starring in one of the worst shows on TV right now (Gossip Girl), and compared to Christina Hendricks she looks like a goddamn rock troll.
AMEN.
2.9 million is 5% more than 2.8 million?
2.94 is 5% more…so, yeah…pretty much dude
It’s possible if those are rounded numbers, and increase from 2.8 to 2.94 would equal 5%.
I guess you’re fans of Bang Bang Theory?
Or I can just do simple math in my head. Unless you’re telling me you have no idea how to get 10% of 2.8 and then divide by two.
I starting to think you favorite is the Mentalist? Am I correct?
Pretty solid premiere. The ending was badass…
Mad Men along with True Blood are the best shows on tv. True Blood is much better this season than last, much better.
No, just no. True Blood and Mad Men are not on the same playing field at all. Ever.
Nah, I agree with Paula. Why do you think True Blood got nominated for best drama?
I love pretentious television fans.
I think what Paula was hat saying was that True Blood was one of the best. I think her point was that Mad Men is better.
Everyone I know watched each episode multiple times….
Great ending for Mad Men. Don Draper at his best!!
It’s gonna be a less-than-thrilling season if each episode focuses so heavily on Don and Betty. They are growing tedious. It’s the interaction in the office where the show comes alive so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that future episodes will be in that vein.
I agree completely….watching Draper come up with creative is riveting. Interestingly I thought the storyboard for Jantzen sucked and looked very unlike anything from that era. His questions in the first meeting with the Jantzen folks were so interesting I though he was going to hit a big score and change their point of view…
I agree with you Paula. True Blood has been absolutely magnificient this season.
I agree with you, Tommy, True Blood is one of the best, but Mad Men is better.
Nice to see the uptick but I’m always surprised that more people don’t tune in, considering the avalanche of press and marketing. But, then again, this is a show that appeals to a smart, adult audience and that audience not only uses their DVR a lot but tends to be in bed at 10 pm on a Sunday night.
I’d like to see the numbers on subsequent airings this week and DVR stats, if available.
I agree. It seems like a movie out of the 60′s that looks sort of familiar, but where something is just a little off. I think Phil should stick to DP until he gets his chops up. John Slattery is gonna direct one. Jon Hamm was asked, but he declined due to the prep time involved.
2.9million = Cancelled on a real network. Boy it’s nice to live in cableland where ratings and actually delivering a big audience doesn’t matter
And that my friend, is why you see so much more innovation on cable and pay networks than you do on broadcast; broadcast nets have to make the same formulaic trash to guarentee their numbers while cable shows can try to break new ground because the standard of success is lower.
With the exception of shows like Lost, 24 and some of the comedies, most “successful” net prime shows are just not very innovative
And conversely THAT, my friend, is why all of our collective Cable TV bills keep getting higher and higher.
Because that which is not sufficiently subsidized by advertising dollars gets subsidized by the subscribers…*sigh*
When Don threw the Jantzen clients out of the office-so great
i cant believe 2.9m viewers tuned in to watch this premiere on AMC. i cant believe anyone ever tuned in to watch this show on AMC period. it was the first time that i did and i vomited on my screen after the first few seconds of the disastrous image quality. they make this sleek, sexy, smart, outstanding show look like a 1960′s prudish tv movie. Don Draper would fucking kill you AMC. hello iTunes.
I may be the only one here who says this … but I thought last night’s opening show was terrific. Very surprising, with twists I never saw coming. To me, the writing & direction was excellent. The art direction for the period was spot-on (I lived it & felt like I was back in a time machine). And the continuing revelations of the characters’ personalities, their growth (and deviations – and boy, are they getting psychologically warped), revealed in sharply written scenes, was a testament to Matt Weiner’s expertise as a scripter. I realize this show ain’t everyone’s cup-of-tea, and that’s fine. But for those of us who get it, the show couldn’t be better. It more than lived up to my expectations, and – to tell the truth, surprised the hell out of me. And talk about throwing a bunch of characters into STRESS! Jeeze, with all the yelling & nastiness, it was like working at Joel Silver’s joint…
quite frankly…I am disappointed with the direction Draper is heading. obviously the opening was terrific…and while I understand how little Henry’s move is by allowing Betty to manipulate him into staying in Draper’s home, I’m sad to see Draper so affected by his personal life. this new “badass” approach is, IMHO, too “ahead of the time”, too Ari Gold, for the 50′s. quite unnecessary, actually. I absolutely loved the bakini ad, though it was so not-Don to blow his cool like that. COME ON MAN! Draper, you’re supposed to be the man, the humble, confident stud who wouldn’t tell the WSJ he’s the heart of the company. oh, and stop paying for sex dude.
It’s not the 50s. It’s 1964. That is only the very beginning of what is wrong with your post, but I’m in a hurry so you’ll have to figure out the rest by yourself.
Good points Nellie. Mad Men gets a lot of buzz, but you are correct in noting that the increases are plateauing, and the tiny number of viewers in total.
Is there a rule, the amount of publicity a show gets is inversely correlated to the number of viewers? I never hear anything about “the Mentalist” but it seems to be a hit show with viewers in the 15 million range.
“Is there a rule, the amount of publicity a show gets is inversely correlated to the number of viewers?”
OK, that made me laugh.
Boardwalk Empire is about to give Mad Men a run for its money come awards time. Those who’ve seen the pilot say its fantastic. Of course, nothing could go wrong with Steve Buscemi, Terrence Winter and Martin Scorsese. HBO has a winner with Boardwalk.
Love this aesthetic so much, did a short animated film inspired by the series and the new line of Barbie Dolls!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clCviP6krNM
I guess not everyone can or needs to get on the bandwagon of hype. Madmen VS Gossip Girl just shows a divide in the demographics of television; you have to be able to get into a show in order to keep watching it. Reruns through on demand or DVD aren’t much help to first time watch ratings. I knew of Madmen only through billboards on the bus, for two years, then saw the awards shows, then finally caught all three seasons on demand, and I’m kinda glad I saw it that way; not just week after week. Mad Men, with its slight hints of modern attitude, basically brings back memories of a simpler time, in which some parts I kind of miss.
Otherwise it is the best show since M*A*S*H. But if I was younger, I would probably say, did you see Gossip girl last night?
Pick your poison. It’s ONLY TV.