Get ready for the booze-guzzling, nicotine-addicted, super suave sexists to grapple with the '60s again as Mad Men launches its fifth season. Devoted fans waiting 17 long months for the Madison Avenue ad men—and Peggy—to strut again will be rewarded tomorrow with a "brilliant" two-hour debut, and a continuing "precise and articulate" series, writes Jace Lacob in the Daily Beast. The show that began quietly has cultivated a powerful following and sent pop culture spinning backward with malls sprouting '60s suits again, and fans donning "period dress" for time-travel parties, notes the Guardian.
"The 1960s have always resonated in America. We think that it was such a cool place to be. So we look at them through the show with this nostalgia, but also a knowing eye," said pop culture expert Professor Jennifer Dunn of Dominican University. The pressure's on for the series to continue to satisfy fans with exacting standards. "Success can be a double-edged sword. Expectations are very, very high for this show," said Lacob, who warns that the Twitterverse will jump on any '60s-era decor, dress or history faux pas. Bring it on, says Don Draper. (More Don Draper stories.)