Previously, “Mad Men,” which aired from 2007 to 2015 with seven seasons and 92 episodes, was exclusively available on AMC+, the streaming service of its original network. This upcoming availability on HBO Max opens up access to a broader audience. In a statement to Looper, Royce Battleman, EVP of global content acquisitions at Warner Bros. Discovery, expressed enthusiasm, saying, “‘Mad Men’ is a fantastic addition to the HBO Max collection of iconic series. We are excited to offer fans a new way to experience the series with an upgraded 4K presentation.”

Lionsgate’s president of worldwide TV distribution, Jim Packer, echoed this sentiment, praising the show’s enduring appeal. He remarked, “‘Mad Men’ continues to captivate audiences even a decade after its original network conclusion, and HBO Max is an ideal platform for it. Known for its premium entertainment, HBO Max offers the perfect venue to honor this landmark series, reaching new viewers and reacquainting longtime fans with ‘Mad Men’ in stunning 4K.”

This is a significant boost for HBO Max’s already impressive lineup, which includes HBO staples such as “The Sopranos” and “Game of Thrones,” along with other popular acquisitions like “The Big Bang Theory” and “Gossip Girl.” For those who are yet to discover “Mad Men,” here’s a brief overview.

Matthew Weiner, leveraging his experience as a writer and executive producer on “The Sopranos,” crafted “Mad Men,” set in the vibrant 1960s New York City. The series follows the lives within a Manhattan advertising agency, focusing on the enigmatic Don Draper, portrayed by Jon Hamm. Draper navigates both his professional realm at Sterling Cooper and his personal life, where he shares a family with his ex-model wife, Betty Draper, played by January Jones. At the office, Draper collaborates with partner Roger Sterling (John Slattery), mentors executives like Pete Campbell (Victor Kartheiser), and witnesses the rise of his secretary, Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), as she evolves into a formidable ad saleswoman.

After working on “The Sopranos” as a writer and executive producer, Matthew Weiner took his storytelling talents to New York City in the 1960s for “Mad Men,” which centers around an advertising firm in Manhattan. One of that firm’s ad guys, the handsome but overtly awful Don Draper — played by Jon Hamm — serves as the show’s focus, bringing us into the firm that, at the beginning, is named Sterling Cooper as well as Don’s home life, where he’s raising two children with his former model wife Betty Draper (January Jones). At work, Don comes up with pitches alongside the firm’s partner Roger Sterling (a stellar John Slattery), oversees underling executives like Pete Campbell (Victor Kartheiser), and watches as his secretary Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) rises from that role into becoming a genuinely great ad saleswoman in her own right.

Throughout the ten years in which “Mad Men” takes place, the audience watches as real historical events — like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy Jr. — unfold for the characters and as the culture around them radically shifts, with people like Don often needing to catch up to the times (especially when he divorces Betty and marries the much younger Megan, played by Jessica Paré). If you haven’t watched “Mad Men,” you should definitely check it out when it arrives on HBO Max, because it’s incredible; sure, the subject matter sounds a little dry at face value, but “Mad Men” can be hysterically funny, deeply emotional, and even shocking (and sometimes, it can be all of these things at once).

Ironically, HBO once passed on “Mad Men,” so it’s particularly interesting that the show is coming to this specific streamer. (According to a 2009 article about the show’s success in Vanity Fair, then-CEO of HBO Richard Plepler wanted David Chase, who worked with Matthew Weiner on “The Sopranos,” to serve as an executive producer if HBO agreed to pick up the series. Chase declined, HBO passed, and the rest, as they say, is history.) These days, “Mad Men” is, without question, one of the most acclaimed and lauded shows of its era — it picked up a whopping 16 Emmys, including four for outstanding drama series alone — and interestingly, it ran alongside another major AMC shows that helped define this time in TV history.

That show, obviously, is “Breaking Bad,” yet another show that HBO passed on before it found a home at AMC. Vince Gilligan’s epic tale of a high school chemistry teacher who starts making crystal meth — played by Bryan Cranston, who spent years at the Emmys beating out Jon Hamm for outstanding actor in a drama series until Hamm finally triumphed for the final season of “Mad Men” — helped usher in a golden age of television alongside “Mad Men,” with these two radically different but wholly excellent shows becoming huge hits for AMC and racking up awards nominations and wins. 

You’ll be able to watch all of “Mad Men” in remastered 4K on HBO Max on December 1, so go ahead and watch (or rewatch!) the entire series once it starts streaming.