Series creator Matthew Weiner said he knew how the series would end, even before it had started and what Draper's fate would be. "I knew what would happen if we got long enough to get there ... I told my wife first, then the writers, and I told Jon Hamm very early on. I think he liked it," Weiner said.
Weiner's pilot episode was actually rejected by pay-TV channels HBO and Showtime before being taken up by AMC, which at the time was known more for re-running classic films.
While anti-heroes have become nearly the norm on critically acclaimed programmes, nearly all of the main characters on Mad Men are riddled with faults. Everyone - even Draper's long-suffering and courageous protege Peggy Olson (played by Elisabeth Moss) - commits morally questionable acts, whether it be adultery, betrayal, lies or abandonment.
"The show didn't shy away from the basic human condition," said Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete Campbell, a young ad man from a wealthy family battling for the respect of his peers and affections of his female companions.
Mad Men also won over critics with its big screen-worthy cinematography and production design. "There was a glamour assigned to the 60s in America - it was the Jackie Kennedy era," said John Slattery, who plays self-centred dandy Roger Sterling.
The series also depicted an era ruled by casual racism, sexism, alcoholism and nicotine and where child discipline sometimes verged on abuse.
But as several of the actors noted, while today's society may be more open, time hasn't necessarily cured all its ills.
There is a scene in the final season where Peggy and Joan (Christina Hendricks) try to sell an ad idea to three potential clients who make repeated degrading comments about Joan's ample bosom.
"I can absolutely relate to that," said Hendricks. "I've been in rooms when sexual innuendo has been made when I'm talking about my work."
When asked what the present-day versions of her character would be, Hendricks said Joan, an ambitious, feminist single mother, "would be pretty much the same." Pete Campbell would be forced to keep some of his comments to himself, but would "still be a douchebag", said Kartheiser.
And Don Draper, could he exist in 2015?
"God no!" said Hamm.
Where: SoHo
When: Tuesdays 7.30pm from April 7; encores Sundays 8.30pm from April 12
What: The seventh season's last seven episodes takes us towards the 70s.
- AFP/AAP
