The sixth season of the American television drama series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

'' premiered on April 7, 2013, with a two-hour episode and concluded on June 23, 2013. It consisted of thirteen episodes, each running for approximately 48 minutes. AMC broadcast the sixth season on Sundays at 10:00 pm ( ET) in the United States. The season premiered in the UK on

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HB ...

on April 10, 2013. The sixth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on November 5, 2013. Season six takes place between December 1967 and November 1968, with characters struggling to adjust to the changing office dynamics based on the

counterculture movement The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed throughout much of the Western world in the 1960s and has been ongoing to the present day. The aggregate movement gained momentum as the civil rights mo ...

Cast

Main cast

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televis ...

Don Draper Donald Francis Draper, born Richard “Dick” Whitman, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), portrayed by Jon Hamm. Up to the Season 3 finale, Draper was creative director of fict ...

Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...

as Peggy Olson *

Vincent Kartheiser Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor. He played Pete Campbell on the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', for which he received six Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a ...

Pete Campbell Peter Dyckman Campbell (born February 28, 1934) is a fictional character on AMC's television series '' Mad Men''. He is portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser. Kartheiser has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensembl ...

January Jones January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and model. She played Betty Draper in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Pr ...

as Betty Francis *

Christina Hendricks Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

Joan Harris Joan P. Holloway Harris is a fictional character on the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15). She is portrayed by Christina Hendricks. Hendricks has received six consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Ac ...

Aaron Staton Aaron Staton (born August 10, 1980) is an American actor. He played Ken Cosgrove on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015) and voiced Cole Phelps in the video game ''L.A. Noire'' (2011), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best ...

Ken Cosgrove This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Mad Men'', all of whom have appeared in multiple episodes. Overview ;Cast notes: * Maxwell Huckabee and Aaron Hart have split the role of Bobby Draper in the first season, whil ...

Rich Sommer Rich Sommer (born February 2, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Harry Crane on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men''. He is also known for his roles in the comedy-drama films '' The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006), '' Celeste an ...

Harry Crane Harry Crane (April 23, 1914 – September 13, 1999) was an American comedy writer who helped to create the concept for ''The Honeymooners'' and its signature characters.Kiernan Shipka Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress, best-known for her roles as Sally Draper in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix series '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' (2018 ...

Sally Draper This is a list of fictional characters in the television series '' Mad Men'', all of whom have appeared in multiple episodes. Overview ;Cast notes: * Maxwell Huckabee and Aaron Hart have split the role of Bobby Draper in the first season, whi ...

* Jessica Paré as

Megan Draper This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Mad Men'', all of whom have appeared in multiple episodes. Overview ;Cast notes: * Maxwell Huckabee and Aaron Hart have split the role of Bobby Draper in the first season, whil ...

* Kevin Rahm as

Ted Chaough TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

Christopher Stanley Christopher Stanley (born December 1965) is an American film and television actor. He appeared in the Ben Affleck-directed film ''Argo'' and in ''Zero Dark Thirty''. His most notable TV role was as politician Henry Francis, the second hus ...

as Henry Francis *

Jay R. Ferguson Jay R. Ferguson (born July 25, 1974) is an American actor, known as Taylor Newton in '' Evening Shade'' (1990–1994), Stan Rizzo in ''Mad Men'' (2010–2015), and Ben Olinsky in '' The Conners'' (2018–present). Biography In 1990 Ferguson pla ...

as Stan Rizzo *

Ben Feldman Ben Feldman (born May 27, 1980) is an American actor and producer. Throughout his career, Feldman has undertaken roles on stage, including the Broadway play ''The Graduate'' along with more prominent roles in television series such as his role ...

Michael Ginsberg This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Mad Men'', all of whom have appeared in multiple episodes. Overview ;Cast notes: * Maxwell Huckabee and Aaron Hart have split the role of Bobby Draper in the first season, whil ...

* Mason Vale Cotton as Bobby Draper *

Robert Morse Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor, who starred in ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', both the 1961 original Broadway production ...

Bert Cooper Bertram Cooper (January 10, 1966 – May 10, 2019), nicknamed Smokin' Bert Cooper, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2012. He fought Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, Ray M ...

John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director widely known for his role as Roger Sterling Jr. in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award fo ...

Roger Sterling Roger H. Sterling Jr. is a fictional character on the AMC television series '' Mad Men''. He formerly worked for Sterling Cooper, an advertising agency his father co-founded in 1923, before he became a founding partner at the new firm of Sterling ...

Recurring cast

Guest stars

Talia Balsam Talia Balsam (born March 5, 1959) is an American television and film actress. Early life Balsam was born in New York City on March 5, 1959, to actors Martin Balsam and Joyce Van Patten. Her ancestry is Russian Jewish (father) and Italian, Dutch, ...

as Mona Sterling *Pamela Dunlap as Pauline Francis *

Peyton List Peyton List may refer to: * Peyton List (actress, born 1986) Peyton List (born August 8, 1986) is an American actress and professional model, known for roles on ''Mad Men'', ''FlashForward'', ''The Tomorrow People'' and ''Frequency''. She be ...

as Jane Sterling * Joe O'Connor as Tom Vogel *

Julia Ormond Julia Karin Ormond (born 4 January 1965) is an English actress. She rose to prominence by appearing in ''The Baby of Mâcon'' (1993), ''Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' First Knight'' (1995), '' Sabrina'' (1995), ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'' (199 ...

as Marie Calvet * Danny Strong as Danny Siegel * Marten Holden Weiner as Glen Bishop *

Ray Wise Raymond Herbert Wise (born August 20, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Leland Palmer in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and its prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), Vice President Hal Gardner i ...

as Ed Baxter

Episodes

Production and writing

Matthew Weiner Matthew Hoffman Weiner () (born June 29, 1965) is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series ''Mad Men'', and as a writer and executive producer on ''The Sopranos''. ...

and the rest of the writers began work on the sixth season in July 2012. Principal photography for the sixth season began in October 2012. Cast members

and

each again directed episodes this season; Slattery directed two, while Hamm directed one episode. Slattery had previously directed three episodes for the series, while Hamm made his directorial debut in season five with the episode " Tea Leaves". The two-hour premiere had portions shot on-location in Hawaii. Weiner commented on the structure of the premiere, saying, "it's really constructed like a film. It is its own story and hopefully it foreshadows the rest of the season." Weiner said regarding the final 26 episodes of the series, "I can feel the end coming. I also felt like I'm not going to do 13 episodes of set-up; it should set itself up as it goes, as it always does." Executive producers and writing team

Andre Jacquemetton Andre Jacquemetton is an American television writer and producer. He served as a producer for the first season of ''Mad Men''. He and Maria Jacquemetton co-wrote three episodes of the first season. Alongside his colleagues on the writing staff, he ...

and Maria Jacquemetton, the only writers besides Weiner to be on the writing staff for every season, departed the series after the conclusion of the sixth season to develop new projects.

Crew

Series creator Matthew Weiner also served as

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

and executive producer, and is credited as a writer on 11 of the 13 episodes of the season, often co-writing the episodes with another writer.

Erin Levy Erin Levy is an American television writer. She has worked on the AMC drama '' Mad Men'' and has won an Emmy Award and a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award. Biography Daughter of television writer Lawrence H. Levy, Erin Levy took a screenw ...

was promoted to producer and wrote two episodes.

Semi Chellas Semi Chellas is a director, writer, producer who has written for film, television and magazines. She was born in Palo Alto, California and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She is known for her work on the television series ''Mad Men'' and her film ...

was promoted to supervising producer and wrote two episodes.

Janet Leahy Janet Leahy is an American television executive producer and writer, whose name is often associated with prestige television. She has worked in both capacities on the AMC drama series '' Mad Men'' and won a WGA Award for her work on the show. Biog ...

was promoted to executive producer and wrote one episode. Writing team Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton continued as executive producers and co-wrote one episode together.

Jonathan Igla Jonathan Igla is a writer and producer. He is currently the head writer and executive producer for the Disney+ series ''Hawkeye''. Igla has written and produced for numerous shows, including '' Mad Men'', ''Pitch'', ''Sorry for Your Loss'', '' ...

was promoted to story editor and wrote one episode. New additions to the writing staff included co-producer Tom Smuts; staff writer Jason Grote and

Carly Wray Carly Ann Wray is an American television writer and producer. She is known for her writing on the AMC drama ''Mad Men'' and '' The Leftovers'' on HBO. She won a Writers Guild of America Award for Dramatic Series for ''Mad Men'' in 2016, and was ...

, who served as an assistant to the writers. Scott Hornbacher, Michael Uppendahl,

Jennifer Getzinger Jennifer Getzinger (born September 26, 1967) is an American director and script supervisor of film and television. For much of her career she worked as a script supervisor on a number of notable films including ''The Prophecy'' (1995), '' Phant ...

, John Slattery, and

Phil Abraham Phil Abraham is an American cinematographer and television director. He worked on all six seasons of ''The Sopranos'', initially as a camera operator, then as a cinematographer and eventually as an episodic director. He won the 2008 Primetime Emm ...

each directed two episodes for the season. The remaining episodes were directed by cast member Jon Hamm, cinematographer Christopher Manley, and series creator Matthew Weiner, who directs each season finale.

Reception

Critical response

The sixth season of ''Mad Men'' received widespread critical acclaim. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reports that 97% of 38 critics have given the season a positive review. The site's consensus is: "The passage of time has done little to dull ''Mad Mens rich cast of characters, who continue to confound." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the sixth season scored an 88 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". David Hinckley of ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...

'' had high praise for the show's longevity, claiming that "While many shows that have reached this point in the road have left their creative peak behind, ''Mad Men'' shows no such erosion. It still has things it wants to say and it still has the poetry to say them well. With regard to the season's first episode, Tim Goodman of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' stated "What’s intriguing and partly amazing about the two hour "movie" called "The Doorway" that opens the season April 7 is that Weiner has not lost his touch at writing a beautifully crafted script—jammed with the sadness and humor and personal revelations we’ve all come to appreciate. But in addition to that, he's decided to really hit home ''Mad Men's'' key theme in the first two hours with a kind of ferocity of intent we’ve rarely seen from him." Jeff Jensen of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' had a decidedly more mixed reaction, stating "Like Betty's frumpy frocks, ''Mad Men'' supersize episodes aren't flattering. Weiner should stick with tighter, denser storytelling packages. I hope he also delivers the season of change that the premiere seems to promise."

Matt Zoller Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and film-maker. Career Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for ''New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as w ...

of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' says that "It's a clever, at times tricky season opener. In "Lost"-like style, it strategically withholds key information that would help us make immediate sense of Don's behavior, which by turns suggests a prisoner, a sleepwalker, and a ghost." Jace Lacob of the ''

Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' stated that "Weiner is both archeologist and astronaut, and Season 6 of ''Mad Men'' is no exception, a beautifully realized and dazzling re-creation of our collective past and a glimpse of the infinite and unknowable."

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

said "It continues to be one of the most satisfying dramas in the history of the medium." David Wiegland of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' said that "Don Draper's journey has been and remains maddening, in a very good way as far as what makes a great TV show" and that "Like a great novel, ''Mad Men'' has character depths yet to plumb." In a rave review, Maureen Ryan of ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' stated that "The AMC drama is full of sharp writing, ambiguous segues, effective surprises and the usual array of pitch-perfect performances."

Accolades

For the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, the sixth season received 12 nominations, including for Outstanding Drama Series,

for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series,

for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series,

for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series,

and Harry Hamlin for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, and

Linda Cardellini Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her leading roles in the teen drama '' Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), the medical drama '' ER'' (2003–09), the drama thriller '' Bloodline'' ...

for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. The season was nominated for Best Drama Series for the 2014

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility ...

References

External links

* * {{Mad Men 2013 American television seasons Television series set in 1967 Television series set in 1968