The booze! The backstabbing! The illicit affairs and tawdry hookups! No, I’m not talking about my last family reunion. I’m talking about the brilliant drama Mad Men. Season 4 just came out on DVD and I am reminded again just how phenomenal this show is. If you are still a virgin to Mad Men, you are missing out. In brief, the show follows a group of Madison Avenue advertising executives at the agency Sterling Cooper Draper Price during the 1960′s. Anchored by super star creative director and lothario Don Draper, the ad men launch household brands, make questionable business deals and bed many, many women. Along the way alliances are made, secrets are uncovered, betrayals are revealed and untold quantities of cocktails and cigarettes are consumed. Quite simply, it’s the best damn television around.

The writing is sharp and the production quality is stunning in its detail. If you are a fan of 1950′s and 1960′s fashion and interior design, that alone is worth watching the show.  At this writing , show creator and writer Matt Weiner is in a heated contract dispute with AMC channel over Season 5.  Recent updates have the show returning in early 2012. But there is speculation the show may be cancelled all together. That would be a shame because in the desert that is television, this show shines.  Lucky for you, you can rent or buy seasons one through four and find out what all the fuss is about. So go ahead pour yourself a cocktail, slip off your shoes and take a long, deep drag of Mad Men. I promise you’ll still respect yourself in the morning.