Mad Men returns for a second season this coming Sunday on the basic cable channel AMC. If you haven't checked it out yet I would highly recommend doing so.

The series title is a reference to people working in a Madison Avenue advertising agency. Season one was set in 1960 and the second season finds the same characters in '62.

The series is truly first rate in every respect: acting, writing, directing - all the usual stuff that makes a television series or film satisfying. But one particular thing needs to be singled out - the attention to era detail. In short, it is fabulous and incredibly rare - at this level - for a television series.

What makes this series so fascinating is the time period in which it is set. It's a fabulous era in which to set a drama - and for some reason it has largely been unmined by playwrights, film directors and television producers.

What makes it great? For starters, it's like a strange time capsule that seems not that far removed from the present but also completely different. The characters look like us - especially the men - but their behavior is so 'out there' in terms of today's sensibilities it's hard to believe.

I remember literally gasping the first time I saw four guys light up - in an elevator with other people! And the rampant sexism that permeates absolutely everything - from unbelievably crude office remarks to a psychiatrist betraying the confidence of a female character by talking about her case behind her back with her husband - is both relentless and mind boggling.

However, the thing that is most fascinating about this era is that you can see the seeds being planted for a number of trends and movements that will ultimately transform society in ways that the characters in this series couldn't begin to fathom - at least when they were being planted in season one.

My favorite line from season one (I am paraphrasing) is when Don Draper (the main character) says to his mistress (who is the most sexually liberated, non-conformist woman on the show) - "I don't know whether you have everything - or nothing at all".

This is already one of my all-time favorite series. If the quality of the series can be maintained, and it stays on the air long enough to allow us to watch these characters navigate their way into the seventies - and I know that is a huge if - this has the  potential of being the greatest 'serious' television drama of all time. I know that there are other worthy candidates for such an honor but this series is that good.

Posted by Gregg Terry.