‘Mad Men’ Finale Fails To Set Records [Video]
Series finales are always in a tricky position, and for Mad Men, the situation was no different. Although Mad Men has been the darling of the cultural crowd since it premiered, the show failed to break its viewership records for the much-ballyhooed series finale. The Mad Men finale achieved only its third highest ratings ever — a high note, as far as ratings go, but still trailing behind the season 5 and season 6 premieres — with 3.3 million viewers saying goodbye to Don Draper, according to USA Today.
‘Mad Men’ Finale draws in 3.3 million live and same-day viewers http://t.co/71SwWZ09ep
— CMO Today (@wsjCMO) May 19, 2015
Mad Men historically hasn’t been a high-ratings earner for AMC. By comparison, The Walking Dead brings in 15.8 million viewers a week, according to Time. But Mad Men, the show that’s all about secrets, has been critically acclaimed in ways that other AMC shows haven’t, and it has four Emmy awards, 3 Golden Globes, and countless other awards to prove it.
Even though viewership skyrocketed for the series finale (the penultimate episode had only 1.43 million viewers), Mad Men‘s audience was less than charmed with the finale, which included Don Draper crying and doing yoga, with the episode finishing on a meditative twist on the iconic 1971 “I’d Like to Buy The World A Coke” commercial ad. According to the New Yorker, this meditation was actually an insight into the advertising mind of Mad Men‘s Don Draper, but audiences aren’t buying it.
Even though, as previously reported by the Inquisitr, fans are in tears over the loss of Don, Betty, Joan, and the rest of the Mad Men gang, some viewers have responded with less than favorable retorts, such as “that’s it?” and “I laughed for 30 seconds solid” over the less-than-stunning ending.
To boost ratings for the final season, AMC did what it did with Breaking Bad: it split the final season over two years. The plan worked with Breaking Bad, which bolted to 10.3 million viewers for its series finale. But Mad Men is no Breaking Bad, and lacking the intriguing plot twists and high-drama drug dealer shoot outs (instead, Mad Men focuses more on Don Draper’s hidden past and neuroses), Mad Men failed to perform the same in its last season.
In a special @nerds_podcast, @kentonlarsen & I review the Mad Men finale. Is it the best "boring" show on television? http://t.co/FK2RTkkpy7
— Dan Vadeboncoeur (@danvadeboncoeur) May 19, 2015
At least the Mad Men finale didn’t leave us with that empty feeling so many viewers felt at the end of The Sopranos, which some viewers felt ended abruptly with no real closure. Although that was the point of the Sopranos finale, that Tony will have to watch over his back forever, at least Mad Men fans are left understanding the fates of their favorite characters.
