In 2007, Lionsgate Television and AMC Network debuted the show “Mad Men,” and it became an instant cultural phenomenon. On December 1st, HBO Max added all seven seasons, for the first time ever in 4K. However, despite the superb definition of the episodes, they were ridded with some interesting errors.
One of the biggest issues was all of the episodes were mislabeled and out of order. But even if audiences could sort out which episodes were which, there were still errors in the episodes themselves. The more egregious being in the episode “The Hobo Code” (it wasn’t called that on Max) from the first season.
In the episode, Roger Sterling (John Slattery) drinks a bit too much and vomits oysters in front of several prospective clients. In HBO Max’s 4K release the shot is too wide, and we can see not one but two crew members operating Slattery’s vomit hose.
The “Mad Men” Fumble
So this all begs the question, how on earth did this happen? Well, HBO Max is pointing the finger at Lionsgate saying the files were misdelivered. This is despite the non-4K files they were sent being right.
But now we have to ask, did no one at HBO watch the 4K files before they were put up for a huge release? Otherwise how did so many errors make it through?
“Mad Men continues to show truly remarkable staying power with audiences a full decade after concluding its network run, and we couldn’t imagine a better home for it than HBO Max,” Jim Packer, the president of worldwide television distribution at Lionsgate, said when the release was announced. “HBO sets the bar for premium entertainment, making it the perfect place to celebrate one of television’s defining series while introducing Mad Men to new viewers and reintroducing it to longtime fans in 4K.”
Either way, HBO is currently working with Lionsgate to get the whole situation sorted. You can check out the vomit hose action above.
