TV: The salvation of summer

Increasingly, the reputation that summer TV has for being mindless entertainment is looking more and more outdated. Not only will August see the return of IFC’s hilariously cynical and bitter “The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman,” but AMC is polishing up its own tarnished rep with new original series “Mad Men.” Following the lives and misadventures of a group of Madison Avenue advertising execs (and the women who exist on their periphery) in 1960, this is the greatest new addition to an increasingly potent list of dramas on basic cable. And even better than the snappy rhythms of the dialogue and the sumptuous period costumes are the now taboo subjects that are discussed with relish. Not only is the racism of the time casually invoked, but the prevailingly misogynistic outlook of these men is openly flaunted.

In the first episode, brand-new secretary Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) finds herself being appraised loudly by her boss’ pig of a co-worker. Of course, Peggy then takes her lunch break to get birth control pills from a doctor who’s been around the block, so her primrose path is pretty well lit by neon lights. But for all the glee that the creators take in revealing the harsh truths of that world, “Mad Men” manages to have both its cake and eat it too—by imbuing it with a certain knife-edged glamor. Where else on television can one find a man desperate to conjure up a reason for Americans to continue smoking, even after the surgeon general has begun speaking out against cigarettes? Or secretaries who chastise each other for not showing enough leg to entice the boss into a little overtime? Forget those karaoke reality shows that are sprouting like weeds this month: “Mad Men” is can’t-miss-TV, summer or not.