‘Mad Men’ Viewer Spots Weird Error in New HBO Max Version

Mad Men’s arrival on HBO Max has raised some eyebrows.

The AMC serial drama finally hit the streamer on Monday in 4K.

However, that 4K version has not been for the best. Viewers have noticed that crew members are popping up in the background and were not edited out. Notably, X user @bigrackspart7 shared that there’s a moment in the Season 1 episode where a crew member can be seen manning a puke machine used for John Slattery’s Roger Sterling, who vomits after eating too many oysters.

the new 4K transfer of mad men on HBO somehow does not have any of the post-production edits added in, which means you get stuff like this where you can see the crew member manning the puke machine after Roger has too many oysters lmao pic.twitter.com/HNgPRNOsla

— johnny (@bigrackspart7) December 2, 2025

Fans also analyzed the scene on a Reddit thread, with some pointing out how funny it is and others sharing that it’s likely due to the changes in aspect ratio. The original version was edited, but it seems like the one sent to HBO Max was pre-altered. Some have also noted that the same thing has happened for shows such as Friends and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where occasional crew members, etc., can be seen because a different ratio is used for streaming than the original format on television.

It’s unknown if a new version of Mad Men will be uploaded to HBO Max that removes the crew members, but in any case, it’s not too much of a nuisance. And it’s always interesting to see what happens behind the scenes. It’s just a funny error that doesn’t harm the series much, and getting confirmation that Slattery wasn’t actually puking makes it all the better.

Created by Matthew Weiner, Mad Men ran for seven seasons from 2007 to 2015 on AMC. It covers the advertising industry centered on Madison Avenue in 1960s New York City, primarily following the professional and personal life of Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a creative director and partner at a Manhattan law firm. The ensemble cast also includes Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Michael Gladis, Maggie Siff, Jared Harris, Kiernan Shipka, Christopher Stanley, Ben Feldman, and more.

Regardless of the mistakes, fans can watch all seven seasons of Mad Men on HBO Max. Premium subscribers can watch the series in 4K, so there will be even more to watch and look out for. How long the show will stay on the streamer is unclear, but fans shouldn’t have to worry about it going away any time soon.