In Mad Men, the men drink, and the women giggle. The men most often refer to women as "Sweetheart" or "Doll," only calling by name if there is more than one present, so as to avoid any confusion or if the one present wears a gold band on her left hand. In the politically incorrect fog of scotch and smoke lies the controversy at the heart of the show. In today's overly sensitive, politically correct society, how can such a show succeed? Should it?

Mad Men is AMC's first ever foray into original programming. Set in 1960's New York, the show focuses on the lives of those who work at the Sterling & Cooper advertising agency. As evidenced by its Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated rookie season, Mad Men captures the era and its people to a fault.

Broads and booze. Whiskey-soaked words gruffed out of smoke-filled lungs. Men reeking of pomade promenading across the office, tumbler in hand and cigarette stench lingering on the tongue. These men wear skinny ties and wool suits. They share beds with their wives and sleep with their mistresses. These men live in houses, work in offices and play in lounges. They keep their glasses half-full but do not see them so. They are too busy to see such things; there is work to be done, drinks to be finished, women to be had. These men are Mad Men.

The same year that saw a black man run against a white woman for the presidency has also seen Mad Men reach its much-heralded second season. In the same year that the race card and the sexist card came under heavy fire, Mad Men has continued to shuffle both cards out of its deck. When one of the show's characters starts dating a black woman, he is seen as merely trying to be different, trying to show that he is hip. Surely, he could not actually fall in love with such a woman, intones one of the secretaries. The only blacks that appear on the show are delivery boys or elevator operators.

And the women live lives of similar submission. They are secretaries or housewives. They take care of the men, then take care of themselves. They are meant to be devoted like dogs and delicious like pie. They are to be ever grateful to their bosses and husbands.

The wives spend their days at home. They are to care for the children their husbands so graciously bore them and the house their husbands so generously bought them. Breakfast and dinner are to be ready promptly. If the husband is running late and does not call, dinner should still be hot when he walks in the door. They must also note to ignore the faint scent of foreign perfume, to brush it off as his secretary's stench, not a lover's smell. On a similar note, the wives are only allowed to socialize with other wives. One wife learns the lesson after her husband berates her for opening her door for a window salesman to enter. With Mad Men, one is required to disregard the fact that the husband had spent the previous night at his mistress's apartment in the city. If the wives are to have their fun, it lies in the time they spend accompanying their husbands on business dinner. A pretty, little trophy wife is to put on a good show for the husband's clients. They are to giggle and wiggle, flirt, but remain in supporting roles to their husbands. If they play their parts and do not complain, the wives are often rewarded with a new apron to cook in, a new car to drive the kids in, or riding lessons to keep from salesmen. Ah, what charmed lives!

The secretaries may have it a tad easier as they at least have the opportunity to clock out. And they get paid for their servitude. The secretaries are the intermediaries between their bosses and anyone else, wives, co-workers, mistresses, anyone. They are to answer phones, type correspondence, file documents, arrange appointments, even babysit if the need be. They are to be discreet always. If the boss is out for a tryst, the secretary is to inform any concerned parties, i.e. wives, that he is in a meeting or having lunch with a client. If a mistress calls but the boss is no longer interested, the secretary is to inform the kept woman that the boss is away on business, he will call when he returns. All the while they are to dress professionally with a hint of sex. They are to nod and smile while retaining their femininity. Of course, they are rewarded handsomely: a new pen, a glass of scotch, on Valentine's Day a copy machine. The job is simply divine!

However, it is not the show's doing that truly aggravates the Tipper Gores of the world. The show is simply broadcasting an era as honestly as it can. The show does not insult women or blacks; it only admits that in the 1960s blacks and women were insulted. But they smiled about it. They carried on as nothing the matter. In the age of Kennedy and King, women and blacks were submissive. They are not today, but they were then. That is the truth of Mad Men. The whiskey, the women, the cigarettes, the racial tension, they are all part of the bygone world that has made Mad Men a winner in this day and age. Soak it up, tomorrow may not be so entertaining.

Mad Men can be seen on AMC: Sundays @ 10PM | 9C

Story by Tim Peterson

Starpulse contributing writer