Unintended bloopers discovered in HBO Max's "Mad Men" 4K restoration: How did this happen?

Nearly twenty years after its debut, Mad Men is now streaming in 4K on HBO Max. However, viewers quickly spotted amusing production oversights, such as crew members accidentally appearing on screen.

The acclaimed series, which first aired in 2007 on AMC, follows the lives of New York advertising executives like Don Draper during the 1960s. It rapidly became a television classic, often mentioned alongside The Sopranos. Fans were thrilled when HBO Max announced that all 92 episodes would be available in 4K, according to ScreenRant.

Despite the excitement, viewers soon noticed that some post-production adjustments were missing. A screenshot shared on the subreddit r/MadMen revealed a crew member operating a machine to simulate a character vomiting after eating oysters, visible in the corner of the scene. X user @bigrackspart7 compared the 4K screenshot to the original to verify the oversight.

Fans also remarked on HBO Maxs updated color grading, which gave many characters an unusually red complexion, deviating from the shows original look. Even with these errors, some viewers appreciated the unexpected behind-the-scenes glimpse.

One X post commented: The new 4K transfer of Mad Men on HBO lacks post-production edits, letting you see the crew member operating the puke machine after Roger overeats oysters. Another wrote, Honestly funny how often this happens.

Reddit users joined in with humor. One joked, This is hilarious, and the extra hand on the crew member's shoulder is killing me. Someone is giving him emotional support while he shoots fake vomit from a tube. Another added, 4K so clear they forgot to hide the entire production team, while another pointed out, The way there's even a puke machine assistant.

Many viewers urged HBO Max to correct the mistakes and relabel episodes properly. Some called for re-edits of the affected episodes. An X user asked, Why does the 4K HBO Max release show a crew member holding the puke machine? Episodes are also mistitled. Has anyone else noticed? Another questioned, How did they not at least assign someone to review this before release?

HBO Max was contacted for comment. The story was originally reported by The Daily Dot.

Author: Sophia Brooks