Mad Men: Seasons, Cast, Emmys and Behind the Scenes

Mad Men found a fresh audience at the end of 2025 when HBO Max added a new 4K version of the series, giving fans a sharper look than ever at the sharp suits and smoky offices of Sterling Cooper. A decade after its finale, it remains one of the most stylish dramas ever made.

Here is our fan-to-fan look at Matthew Weiner's 1960s masterpiece: the seasons, the cast, the awards and how it was made. Browse more classic shows in our TV series collection.

Mad Men Fact File

Title	Mad Men
Original run	19 July 2007 - 17 May 2015
Creator	Matthew Weiner
Network	AMC
Studio	Lionsgate Television
Seasons	7
Episodes	92
Main cast	Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery
Setting	Madison Avenue advertising agencies, New York, 1960-1970
Filmed	Los Angeles Center Studios (pilot at Silvercup Studios, New York)
Signature item	Don Draper's sharp grey suit and fedora

Seasons and Episodes

Season	Year(s)	Episodes
1	2007	13
2	2008	13
3	2009	13
4	2010	13
5	2012	13
6	2013	13
7	2014-2015	14

The table shows each season's original US broadcast years and episode count; season seven was split into two halves of seven episodes, for 92 episodes in total.

From Script to Screen

Matthew Weiner wrote the pilot script while working as a writer on other shows, and it later helped him land a job on The Sopranos. After HBO passed, AMC, then best known for showing classic films, decided to take a chance on it.

The pilot was shot at Silvercup Studios in New York, before production moved to Los Angeles Center Studios for the rest of the series.

Pour yourself into the 1960s with our Mad Men Men's Hoodie.

Meet Sterling Cooper

Jon Hamm, then a little-known actor, won the role of Don Draper, the brilliant and secretive creative director at the heart of the story. Elisabeth Moss played Peggy Olson, who rises from secretary to copywriter, while John Slattery's Roger Sterling and Christina Hendricks' Joan Holloway stole countless scenes.

January Jones played Don's wife Betty, Vincent Kartheiser was the ambitious Pete Campbell and Kiernan Shipka grew up on screen as Sally Draper.

Dress like a creative director in our Mad Men Men's T-Shirt.

Award-Winning Run

Mad Men won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in each of its first four seasons, from 2008 to 2011, making it the first basic cable series to win the award. It also won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series three years running.

The show's attention to period detail, from the costumes to the cars and the cocktails, inspired a wave of 1960s fashion revivals.

The Finale and Legacy

The series followed the agency and its people through the whole of the 1960s and ended in 2015 with Don on the California coast. Jon Hamm finally won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor that year, after eight nominations for the role.

Mad Men is now widely ranked among the greatest TV series of all time and helped turn AMC into a home for prestige drama.

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards (16 in total, including)

Outstanding Drama Series (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for Jon Hamm (2015)

Other Honours

Five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Drama Series three times
Peabody Award

Behind the Scenes

The production was famous for its research, with writers and designers studying magazines, adverts and catalogues from the period to get every detail right. Some props from the show, including items from Don Draper's office, are now held by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.