Jon Hamm

Hamm is the kind of actor whose later career is more interesting than the role that made him. Don Draper is iconic. Everything since has been him picking weird, often very funny projects on purpose. The best work is mostly the stuff people skipped.

Start with Mad Men, obviously

It's still one of the five best American TV series of the century. Seven seasons. If you've never watched it, start at season 1 episode 1. Don't trust anyone who tells you to skip to the good stuff — the slow burn is the point.

Mad Men is on AMC+ in the US. The complete series Blu-ray is around $70 and the picture quality on disc is better than the streaming version, which has had inconsistent grading over the years.

For the right viewing setup: Mad Men is a quiet show. Dialogue and music are everything. A decent soundbar with sub at $300-500 makes the difference between hearing the writing and missing it.

The post-Mad Men work worth watching

Baby Driver. Edgar Wright movie, 2017. Hamm plays a charming sociopath and steals the film off Ansel Elgort, which isn't hard but is still satisfying. Available on most streaming services and on Baby Driver Blu-ray.

Confess, Fletch (2022). Greg Mottola comedy that nobody saw. It's the closest Hamm has come to a Cary Grant impression and it works. Genuinely one of the funniest detective movies of the decade.

Top Gun: Maverick. He's the antagonist in a $400m blockbuster and he plays it perfectly straight. Watch it on the biggest screen you can find. A 4K Blu-ray player in the $130-200 range is worth it for movies like this.

The supporting roles that landed

30 Rock — recurring as Drew, Liz Lemon's stupidly handsome boyfriend. Funniest he's ever been. Streaming on Peacock.

Marriage Story. Five minutes of screen time, plays a lawyer, perfect. Watch the whole movie — it's hard but it's great.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — the cult leader. The bit where he sings is the best comedy run of his career.

Reading on the era he came up in

Matthew Weiner's Mad Men: The Illustrated World is the coffee-table book — beautiful, oversized. The official Mad Men companion is around $40 and worth it if you're rewatching.

For the cultural context, Mad Men Unbuttoned by Natasha Vargas-Cooper walks through the real history each episode references. It's the book you wish was a podcast.

What to skip

The Fletch reboot has merit but the Million Dollar Arm-era romantic dramas don't. Hamm has had some genuinely poor decade where he was clearly taking paychecks. Skip Friends With Kids. Skip Bridesmaids if you're only watching for him — his role is small.

Watch Mad Men. Watch Confess, Fletch. Watch Baby Driver. That's the trilogy. Everything else is dessert.