Why I don't Watch Mad Men

Everyone loves Mad Men. The clothes, the drinking, the smoking. The casual sex, the casual misogyny, the casual sexism. Ah, the good old days, when guys could do whatever they wanted and t was okay. That's not why I don't watch it, by the way. the period is fascinating to me and they pretty much get all the details right (as far as I can tell when I've watched, which hasn't been often). Here's why I don't watch:I loathe every person on this show. I don't care that Don Draper picked up a dead man's identity during the war the reinvent himself. I do care that he sleeps with almost everyone he's attracted to and is fine with that. yes, Jon Hamm makes Draper very appealing and he's very good at his job but he is ( to quote Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday) "wonderful in a loathsome sort of way". His one redeeming quality is that he's kind to his children-who he doesn't seem to want. He leaves them with Betty and has his bachelor pad in the West Village. And he leaves them with one of the worst mothers ever. Does he really think the kids will be okay with a Mom who seems to view them as accessories with no feelings? Betty doesn't care about her children, she cares about what she wants and how she looks (both personally and socially) and that's pretty much all that matters. Sal is gay and torturing his wife by ignoring her. Pete would sell his soul to be as good as Don Draper. Joan likes to come across as the modern gal who knows how the world works (but who also wants to marry a doctor) but she's engaged to the same man who raped her. Peggy? Ah, Peggy. She is probably the most sympathetic character on the show, as she is ambitious, isn't really afraid to show and also has the brains (mostly) to back it up. Peggy is doing pretty much the best she can. I don't want to comment on everyone else on the show because they are all pretty loathsome in their own way. John Slattery left his wife for Don's assistant (this sort of thing really didn't start happening until the 70's), Pete is married to the rich girl because he covets her cash and standing in society, what-isname lives in Montauk and is quite pretentious (but he dates a black girl, which makes him a little more open that the others-Joan showed her vicious side in her comments about her).
But here's the thing-these people don't seem to be human, with human failings that make their flaws understandable. And they aren't likable, which magnifies their flaws. Would you want to friends with any of them? I might have a drink with almost any of them, or sleep with Don Draper or John Slattery, but do I actually like ANY of them? Hell, no. Why would I want to be friends with a woman who pinches her child to make her behave? Or Joan, who makes awful comments about the black woman whatisname is/was dating-saying he must have met her when she was clerking at the grocery store? And can you actually be friends with Don Draper or John Slattery? Not as a woman, you can't because they would either want to sleep with you or ignore you-they seem to have only the two categories. And therein lies the problem. I'd love to meet any of the characters on Lost. I'd hang out with Mulder and Scully, meet up with the characters on Warehouse 13 or Eureka or go hunting bad guys with Michael, Fi and Sam on Burn Notice. They all have their flaws but I like them. I can't say the same for Mad Men.