Since the dawn of the new millennium the best TV has cost you. It seems like almost all of the hottest shows -- from dramas such as "The Sopranos" and "The Wire," to comedies including "Sex and the City" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" -- have appeared on premium cable channels.

Fortunately, DVD has blossomed at the same time, allowing the rest of us to see what the other half watches. So I was more than a little excited to learn that "Mad Men: Season One" is now available (Lionsgate, 4 discs).

Set in 1960 in the booze-soaked world of Madison Avenue advertising, the drama has won Peabody and Golden Globe awards while being hailed by the New York Times as the "smartest show on television."

The reviews were so strong, I just assumed it was on HBO or Showtime. Turns out both pay stations turned down the program, which was created by "Sopranos" writer and executive producer Matthew Weiner (pronounced WHY-ner). That's how it ended up on the basic cable channel AMC.

What does this mean for you?

You have more than enough time to watch all 13 first-season episodes before the second season kicks off July 27. The show is so addicting, my wife and I downed them all in a crazy four-night binge.

The show revolves around Sterling Cooper, a mainline WASP firm where white males enjoy their privileges: They drink like sailors, smoke like chimneys, sling racist and sexist comments, and commit adultery with abandon.

This might be dreadful but for the show's many saving graces -- not least of which are fine acting and sharp writing. Their distasteful behavior was largely true to their time and place, making "Mad Men" an illuminating piece of social history. Because the show is set in 1960, we know their smug days are numbered.

Above all, their arrogance is tempered by unhappiness. Although "Mad Men" has several subplots -- including a secretary's rise through the ranks (Elisabeth Moss), a young patrician's growing frustrations with the responsibilities of marriage and work (Vincent Kartheiser) and the dangerous dalliances of one of the firm's owners (John Slattery) -- its chief story depicts Americans getting the first whiff of 1960s change that will explode later in the decade. The executives have everything they were told would make them happy -- successful careers, nice homes, beautiful wives -- but are beginning to sense that this is not enough, that their lives might be as inauthentic as their advertising campaigns.

This plotline is developed with Cheeveresque pathos through the unwinding life and marriage of the firm's creative director (Jon Hamm), a wholly self-made man who moves toward a nervous breakdown along with his lovely, stay-at-home wife (January Jones).

The DVD -- also available in Blu-ray format -- includes audio commentaries for every episodes and featurettes about the show and the "Golden Age" of advertising.

Don't miss it.

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