6. MAD MEN (AMC)
Like Gossip Girl, Mad Men is a style-obsessed series about the emotions that roil beneath the clever banter and casually immoral behavior. Unlike Gossip Girl, Mad Men aspires to be art, which this season meant slowing the show to a glacial pace, allowing creator Matthew Weiner's finely honed ironies to be better savored. Jon Hamm was a natural from the start, but heightening the show's fascination were the increasingly weird, zombielike disconnection January Jones' suburban wife Betty felt from her privileged existence, and the poignance of Christina Hendricks' Joan, engaged to a man unworthy of her even before he raped her in the office, her primary place of power. They could have called this season Mad Women.
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.