What Else Do We Watch?

It happens. Sometimes you get to the end of the seventh season of Mad Men and you're looking for something different. So you try a new show, and it feels hollow because the gap between the writing in Mad Men and the writing in the new show is too big. You might decide to re-watch Mad Men again (and we support that)! However, if you are looking for something good and new-to-you, we've pulled together a few of our recommendations.

Of course we like shows like The Office, Schitt's Creek, Ted Lasso, The Princess Bride, Breaking Bad, and The Sopranos, but those are such huge hits they don't need any amplification from us. We decided to include titles that modern audiences might not know, especially shows that are near and dear to us.

When we were thinking about some of our favorite shows, we had to acknowledge we're old, and we're owning it. But we still think they hold up and have value, even if nothing is quite like Mad Men.
Here's the short list - see details below.

Steve & Jenna's Choices:
The Wire, Lonesome Dove, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Jenna's Choices:
Never Have I Ever, What Dreams May Come, Juno

Steve's Choices:
High Noon, Lawrence of Arabia, Snatch

1) The Wire

2002 TV Series
Starring: Dominic West, Lance Reddick, Sonja Sohn, Wendell Pierce, Clarke Peters, Michael Kenneth-Williams, Wood Harris, Idris Elba, Aidan Gillen, Michael B. Jordan, Chris Bauer, Amy Ryan, Isaiah Whitlock Jr., Deirdre Lovejoy, John Doman, and many more.

What it Has in Common with Mad Men
Both shows are well-known for outstanding writing, and the top of all-time best TV lists. Both have large ensemble casts with complex stories that aren't encapsulated in single episodes. Both require attention from viewers to fully appreciate the details, and both try not to create pure villains or heroes. The main characters - Don Draper and Jimmy McNulty - are both incredibly flawed and undermine their own well-being so much it would require more than a blog post to dissect it all.

Neither show makes you feel good about yourself, because they display ugly truths and systemic problems that are uncomfortably familiar, and both leave you thinking about ethics and conflicts and what it really means to do the right thing for the right reason long after a scene ends.

Why You Might Hesitate
The Wire is dated, and unlike Mad Men, it was created to be contemporary. The titular technology and some of the language is laughably old-fashioned, so you have to watch around that. There is a lot of merciless violence in The Wire, but it's not a shoot-out, car-chasing adventure fest - it's mostly about gamesmanship, society, dreams, and finding ways to beat the system.

If you're not well-versed in Baltimore street and cop slang of the early 2000s, you might want to watch with captions on until your ear gets the rhythm - we've recommended this show to friends and relatives who couldn't keep up with the dialogue. It might hook you immediately, but it might take about three episodes before you're really in the groove of the show.

Another piece of advice - when you begin the second season, the show leaves you completely untethered without any familiar characters. You want these people you've come to care about, and instead, you get a brand new group of cast members, and you're not sure you want to invest in their stories. Push through the early episodes of the second season and just be ready for that discomfort - they will get the band back together. The fourth season is our favorite (and the most difficult).

Why It's Worth It
The writing in The Wire is phenomenal. Jenna gives the edge to Mad Men overall - and part of that is Mad Men's accessibility, since its historical setting actually ages better. Steve can't choose a favorite, likening the challenge to comparing The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Wire's cast is outstanding, and the stories feel unique - especially since it isn't set in L.A. or New York. The institutions - police departments and illegal drugs, seaports and unions and organized crime, government and politics, education, and journalism - become characters themselves.

No one is a hero, but no one is all villain, either. In the same way that Don Draper disappoints you and you love to hate Pete Campbell, Jimmy McNulty will let you down over and over again, and you might be disgusted with Stringer Bell in one scene and unable to keep from admiring him in another (until he asks you for a rundown or challenges you to play soccer in the parking lot). Each character is memorable and complex, with individual goals and challenges, but they all bump up against existing limits - even when all of them agree the limits are illogical. The exploration of different institutions credibly illustrates the challenge of changing them for the better, which can seem depressing and overwhelming. It's not a feel-good show. It pushes viewers to think and compels them to care about people they might never get to know off-screen.

Fun catches: See Michael B. Jordan (one of The Wire's most memorable characters) before he became a Hollywood star, look for Idris Elba (season 1) and Amy Ryan (season 2), who guest-starred on The Office - among many other projects, and the rest of the incredible cast's extensive body of work.

See more about The Wire on HBO Max

2) Lonesome Dove

A 1989 T.V. mini-series based on the 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Larry McMurtry, who also wrote The Last Picture Show and Terms of Endearment.

Starring: Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Angelica Huston, Chris Cooper, D.B. Sweeney, Robert Urich, and Rick Schroeder.

Why You Might Hesitate
It's violent in every possible way, and it's a Western (these are both strengths to Steve and drawbacks for Jenna). It was a TV mini-series in 1989, so it's not exactly current. Urban viewers might find it challenging to immerse themselves in a story about drawling cowboys driving cattle, or characters named Pea-Eye and Lippy (but if you can accept Duck and Crab, you're halfway there). It can also be frustrating that the characters often don't express their feelings or opinions verbally, relying on their actions to communicate values and concerns.

Why It's Worth It
It's an epic tale of a cattle drive, survival, friendship, vengeance, and dreams deferred. With complex relationships that make you care about characters, and plot elements that shocked audiences well before the Red Wedding was ever scripted, it's a story about how people are (and aren't) ready to step up in challenging moments.

Gus McRae is an iconic character with more than a passing resemblance to Roger Sterling - a womanizer full of witticisms, an organizational leader, capable when he needs to be, but happy to lounge and enjoy the good things in life when he can. His friendship with Woodrow Call has endured for decades, and their crew members have individual weaknesses and goals as they all work together to battle hardships on the journey from Texas to Montana. 

Fun catch: See Barry Tubb, who plays cowboy Jasper in Lonesome Dove in the original Top Gun movie as Wolfman; and see Janey grown up in The West Wing and as Sydney Ellen Wade's sister Beth in The American President.
Read more about Lonesome Dove at Rotten Tomatoes

3) Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind

2004 Movie
Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, David Cross, Jane Adams
See Roger Ebert's review of this film

Why You Might Hesitate
It's a weird, dark movie, and it's not going to make you feel light or cheery.

Why It's Worth It
Pitch-perfect performances from the entire cast contribute to this unique story, told through jumps in time. The premise is that there's a business that can remove an ex entirely from your memory, as if they never existed. But what if you decided, at the last minute, that you reconsidered, and you grabbed your ex by the hand to hide in the recesses of your mind, so you could hang on to the memories - both the beautiful and the painful?

It's an uncomfortable movie because it shows the worst parts of a couple in their relationship - but it isn't gratuitously awful. The irritation they feel is recognizable, even if banal - he's a bit too predictable, she's a bit too incautious. The truth is that these qualities also contribute to the most beautiful parts of themselves, and even if they aren't ultimately Meant To Be Together, there's something special in the honesty of loving someone else.

Jenna's #1: Never Have I Ever

2020 TV Series created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher
Starring: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Darren Barnet, Jaren Lewison, Lee Rodriguez, Ramona Wong, Richa Moorjani, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Niecy Nash, Utkash Ambudkar, and, somewhat inexplicably, John McEnroe.
Where to Watch: Netflix - 4 Seasons

Why You Might Hesitate:
It feels like it's for kids - or, since the language and subject matter is not kid-friendly, like it's for a teen audience. If you watched Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club when they were in theatres, it might feel like regression or irrelevant to watch a teen-angst show. 

Why It's Worth It:
Fast-paced dialogue, relatable character struggles in a smart comedy, and a fantastic heroine who regularly torpedoes herself, in spite of her brilliance. The main character could not be any more competitive or ambitious if she tried, and she wants to be popular, but (usually) not at the expense of her authenticity. Her relationship with her mother is a struggle, and whether you're a parent or a teenage viewer, you feel the pain and frustration of both characters. The coming-of-age tale gets a fresh take in this binge-able show that alternates between generating cringe, laughs, and tears.

Jenna's  #2: What Dreams May Come

1998 Movie
Starring: Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, Cuba Gooding Jr., Rosalind Chao

Why You Might Hesitate
It's a little weird, and it's dark. The death of immediate family members and suicide are both tough to take. It's an unusual film that's just not for everybody - it's got low Rotten Tomatoes scores, but it also has rave reviews and won an Oscar. After the death of their children and her husband, a woman commits suicide, and the man embarks on a quest from heaven to retrieve his wife from hell.

Why It's Worth It
This is a visually gorgeous film with an unusual premise. It's a difficult movie that tackles painful things, but it also examines love and care in the small moments that make up a life full of love on a legendary scale. Some of the most thoughtful scenes capture authentic relationships between parents and children. It will demand your full attention, make you cry more than once, and prompt you to think about it for a while afterward.
See more on IMDB

Jenna's #3: Juno

2007 Movie
Starring: Elliot Page, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Allison Janney, Michael Cera, and J.K. Simmons

Why You Might Hesitate
The main character is sometimes crass and mean, and if that's too incongruous coming from a pregnant teen (as opposed to a bunch of white male advertising executives), you might have a hard time cheering her on. Unlike many of our other recommendations, this film is almost entirely centered on one character.

Why It's Worth It
This is a story of imperfect people and their love for each other, and how they fail each other, and then how they move forward after that. A smart, funny teen becomes pregnant and plans to place her baby with an adoptive family she's just met. Juno's humor is acerbic, and in spite of multiple obstacles and heartbreaks, the movie is full of comedic moments. The distinctive soundtrack includes a number of gems, and I have yet to watch the Sea of Love sequence without crying. 

With outstanding performances (Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, and Michael Cera are especially noteworthy), authentically written characters, and smart, quotable dialogue, it's interesting because it's full of honest contradictions and humor.

Steve's #1: High Noon

1952 Movie     See more about High Noon at the Siskel Film Center
Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado

Why You Might Hesitate
The plot is extraordinarily simple: bad guys are coming to town, and the outgoing sheriff has to decide - should he stay, or should he go? It's notable that Gary Cooper is so much older than Grace Kelly, yet they're presented as a newlywed couple. Viewers may tire of the musical theme, which plays through most of the movie, except for the inclusion of "Buffalo Gals" a couple of times.

What Makes it Worth It
There is always an excuse not to do the right thing, and this movie shows how some people have bad excuses and some have reasonable excuses, but societies crumble when no one steps up. This movie packs a lot of scenes into a short run time, and Katy Jurado's memorable turn as Helen Ramirez is especially strong. The dialogue is the focus of the movie.

Fun Fact: This movie is Grace Kelly's breakout role - watch and compare her overall look to January Jones and see if Jim Hobart's comparison in S1:E9 Shoot truly applies.

Steve's #2: Lawrence of Arabia

1962 Movie     See more about the real T.E. Lawrence at the Smithsonian
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins

Why You Might Hesitate
This is a long film, and the content is much darker and more depressing than you might expect. In three hours and 47 minutes, there is only one brief scene including women, in which they are ululating from a distance. Nobody comes out looking much like a hero.

Why It's Worth It
This might be Steve's all-time favorite film. It's a thrilling adventure, and if you stopped watching after the first act, you might feel rather satisfied with the adventure story. The second act depicts a heartbreaking destruction of a man. The source material is written by Robert Bolt, the author of A Man for all Seasons, and the screenplay is full of memorable dialogue. Epic cinematography, culture clashes, and a fundamental exploration of ethics and power make this Academy Award-winning film one for the ages.

Steve's #3: Snatch

2000 Guy Ritchie Movie     See more about Snatch at IMDB
Starring: Jason Statham, Stephen Graham, Brad Pitt, Vinnie Jones, and Benicio Del Toro

Why You Might Hesitate
The variety of British and Irish accents might give North American viewers pause at first, and there's a significant amount of violence.

Why It's Worth It
Everyone's running a game in this British gangster film, and losing is not an option. This heist movie is less about the action (although there's plenty), and more about the characters and how they interact. Brilliantly written and acted, with a talented ensemble cast, this quotable, action-packed movie is funny and clever.

Back to Mad Men

Of course, after exploring some other great films and shows, you can always return to episodes of Mad Men. Re-watch with us!