10 Signature Moments of Season Four of "Mad Men" Reduced to GIFs

By Dustin Rowles | Lists | October 14, 2010 |

The good folks over at Slate have an excellent article up today on the GIF renaissance. I have been noticing, myself, the resurrection of the GIF and the mainstreaming of the old-school web kitsch. It was the Brendan Fraser dork laugh that hooked me to the fringes of the of the phenomenon, and Slate’s article blasted me into half a dozen sites, where I lost an hour of my day staring, transfixed, at 5-second loops of goofy winks, spectacular kills, shirtlessness, toplessness, jiggliness, and high fives.

It was a very productive morning.

My favorite of the sites was the GIF Party Tumblr account, where Molly Lambert collects fantastic GIFs, many of which come from “Mad Men.” I encourage you to check out the site not only because it’s fantastic, but because I pilfered part of her collection for the list below.

With the season finale of “Mad Men” approaching this Sunday, I thought the ten GIFs below would provide something of a refresher for some of the best moments of the season. It’s amazing how you can successfully distill an entire season of one of the most complex dramas on television into ten 3-second loops. I’m convinced, however, that there’s a hypnotic power to the GIFs, so you should probably avoid watching them near anyone that might use the opportunity to plant suggestions in your subconscious.









Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.