https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/mad-men-stream-hbo-max-4k-1236581005/

The 2007-2015 Emmy-winning AMC period drama, which is currently available to stream on AMC+, will make its 4K streaming debut on HBO Max on Dec. 1.

Mad Men’s HBO Max 4K release showing crew members with a vomit hose is being fixed (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/mad-men-hbo-max-4k-stream-roger-sterling-barf-tube-errors-1236439517/)

The Emmy-winning AMC series has gone viral (https://x.com/bigrackspart7/status/1995756905755549751) this morning after the 4K release failed to crop out two crew members holding a vomit hose (https://x.com/uncle_june/status/1995880552126447989) behind John Slattery’s Roger Sterling on a Season 1 episode. (The original vomit hose scene edited out the crew members (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvRHzvoCf_s).) “In the 4K stream that released on HBO Max, a crew member was very visibly operating a barf hose behind Sterling, in full view of the camera. There was even a second man in frame supporting the puke-hose tech,” says The Hollywood Reporter’s Tony Maglio. “So, what happened? Lionsgate delivered the wrong 4K file to HBO Max, The Hollywood Reporter was told. The non-4K files were fine as delivered. At the time this story first published, Lionsgate was working on getting HBO Max the correct file(s), THR was told. HBO Max planned to swap out the wrong file(s) for the right one(s) upon receipt. They were then in the process of being swapped out around 10 a.m. PT on Tuesday. Lionsgate did not immediately comment on the fail; HBO Max referred THR back to Lionsgate.” The exposed vomit machine isn’t the only problem with the 4K release. Season 1’s sixth episode, which featured the vomiting, and the seventh episode are mislabeled (https://bsky.app/profile/firebunicorn.bsky.social/post/3m6zbpgqnsk2r). And the opening title card (https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fthe-opening-they-coined-it-title-card-in-the-pilot-was-v0-7dkhe5keto4g1.jpeg%3Fformat%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D9dd5805d7dfba54fdc410301ef2a482fdc6d3054) in the pilot explaining the term “Mad Men” has been omitted (https://x.com/GentleDoofus/status/1995852546012053715) from the HBO Max version.
ALSO:


Mad Men was supposed to be “built to last”: What happened? (https://www.vulture.com/article/mad-men-hbo-max-4k-rerelease-problems.html): “There’s something ironic about Mad Men joining the ranks of classic shows like Gilmore Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (https://x.com/UsernameWords/status/1995795845950718119), and The Wire — beloved titles made for one format and then rereleased in another only for the carefully removed vomit machines, boom mics, and other warts to show,” says Vulture’s Eric Vilas-Boas. “For plenty of shows, this sort of thing is probably fine and maybe even a little funny. But Mad Men’s whole deal was that it was, in our own words, ‘built to last.’ In many ways, the details were the show, and interrupting its office-life fantasies with a subpar presentation is a colossal self-own on the part of the entities distributing it. Mad Men’s original HD presentation, the one we’ve all been watching for 15 years, still looks amazing, and its relevant details, like the books on Don’s shelf, were always more than legible in the frame. The 4K version’s errors and lack of care yank the viewer out of the story and yield nothing new in return.”