Mad Men Arrives on HBO Max with Glaring Errors and Barf Machine

The highly anticipated 4K release of Mad Men on HBO Max has sparked a flurry of attention due to unexpected production errors. Viewers quickly noticed that several episodes seemed to feature unfinished edits, with behind-the-scenes elements visible in the footage.

The series began streaming on HBO Max earlier this week, but instead of the polished final version, audiences were met with apparent rough cuts. These included crew members and on-set equipment that were never intended to appear in the broadcast episodes.

Fans first spotted the mistakes when the episodes went live on Monday, December 1. In Season 1s Red in the Face, for instance, viewers could clearly see crew operating a machine used for Roger Sterlings vomit effect. Clips showing these unintentional behind-the-scenes moments quickly spread across social media.

One viewer commented on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out that the 4K transfer lacked the usual post-production edits, highlighting the scene with the vomit machine. Reports indicate that HBO Max mistakenly uploaded the wrong 4K files, resulting in the unedited episodes being accessible on the platform. Lionsgate is currently preparing the correct files to replace the flawed versions.

In addition to visible production equipment, fans noted issues with episode titles and sequence order in the 4K release. While labeling errors were corrected within hours, the unpolished footage remained online for some time.

Prior to this HBO Max debut, the 4K version of the Emmy-winning drama was only available on AMC+.

Author: Logan Reeves