Mad Men is one of the greatest television shows of all time, with a fantastic storyline following the life of Don Draper, focusing on his work, relationships, and family life and all the ups and downs that come with that. However, one big reason why the show was such a hit is because of the detailed side characters.
The show does a fantastic job of building up various characters, telling tons of different stories alongside the main featured one, which is why it is easy to invest in every character that appears.
However, there is no doubt some characters get a lot more screen time than others. And while that is because they are fun to watch, it does mean some excellent characters get passed over. So within this list, we’re ranking 10 characters that deserved more on-screen time.
Trudy Campbell
We kickstart this list with Trudy Campbell, who was played to perfection on Mad Men by Alison Brie, and while she does make plenty of appearances on the show, she isn’t as heavily featured as other women such as those who end up in relationships with Don Draper.
The relationship between Trudy and Pete is a very complicated one with plenty of difficult moments, which eventually leads to her kicking him out for cheating on her, which was something fans loved to see.
However, Trudy was always hilarious when she appeared, and her warm personality was great to see on the show, and having her appear more would not have been a bad thing at all.
Guy Mackendrick
Simply putting Guy Mackendrick in more than one episode would have meant he appeared more on the show, as he only featured once on Mad Men, but he certainly made an impact as he is part of one of Mad Men’s most memorable moments.
Unfortunately for Guy, that isn’t good for him, as it is his foot that gets cut down by a lawnmower, which quickly brings an end to his character on the show, but that was far too soon.
It seemed set that Guy was going to play a big part considering how Mad Men showcased him, but then all of a sudden, he was gone. While he didn’t need to become a major character, keeping him around for a season would have made that lawnmower pay-off even better.
Rachel Menken
It is a real shame that Rachel Menken didn’t get more opportunities to shine on the show, especially after playing such a key role in the first season. Menken is one of Don Draper’s first major love interests on the show, as he falls for her despite being married to Betty.
Rachel has the same feelings,but when the affair ends she makes sure that it ends, and isn’t seen again until a second season cameo where she has a new husband. We then have to wait until season seven for her to be mentioned again, when it is revealed she has passed away.
However, it would have been interesting if Don had potentially reached out to her after splitting with Betty originally, as she was such a headstrong character that it would have provided a great challenge to him.
Anna Draper
Another very important woman in Don Draper’s life is Anna Draper, who makes sporadic appearances until she dies of cancer partway through the show. While her passing away isn’t a problem, it felt like Mad Men could have gotten more from her prior to that point.
Anna was married to the real Don Draper before Dick Whitman takes his identity, and despite the strange circumstances, Anna works as his sounding board and as one of Don’s only true friends who he can be honest with.
It would have been nice to use her a little more on the show, even if it was just through a phone call to Don, with her character being fun-loving and carefree, there was more that could have been achieved here.
Henry Francis
Henry Francis was an incredibly important character at one point in Mad Men when he first comes in to sweep Betty Draper off her feet, taking her out of her marriage with Don Draper and into a marriage with him. But after that point, he really struggles to get any air time.
To that point, once they get together Betty Draper really starts to be underutilized by the show as well, only appearing on and off, which shouldn’t have been the case for two of the most interesting characters.
It would have been nice if Mad Men had shown what life was really like for the Francis household when Henry was officially the stepfather and husband, but that never really happened, instead, he was kept to making odd appearances.
Allison
Mad Men did give Don’s assistant Allison a nice little storyline when she ended up sleeping with Don Draper, but the show really could have dragged it out a little longer than they did, rather than just getting rid of her.
Perhaps they could have had a small relationship, or they could have put her onto someone else’s desk and continued the awkward tension between her and Don, which was a lot of fun to play out for the few episodes it did. She seemed to be a compelling character, but never quite got the chance to go all the way.
Marie Calvet
This is a character everyone wishes had been introduced sooner to the show, as Marie Calvet, who was Megan’s mother, really did provide some major humor to Mad Men.
She quickly won the heart of Roger, with their romantic relationship being one of his better storylines later on in the series, and she did feel like a more complex, well-rounded character than her daughter at times.
It is only a shame that she wasn’t part of the show earlier on, as there is no doubt that Mad Men could have done more with her if that had been the case.
Freddy Rumsen
Early on in Mad Men, Freddy Rumsen is featured quite a lot, as he acts as a mentor to Peggy during the early stages of her career as a copywriter and he quickly became a fan favorite because of that (as well as his pants zip musicals).
His character does have quite a nice story arc as it is revealed he is an alcoholic, with his problem becoming so bad that the company has to actually cut ties with him in what is one of the show’s most emotional episodes.
Thankfully, Freddy does return later on in the series when he is sober again, but he doesn’t get the same kind of attention as before, which is a shame as his story really could have continued to get more focus.
Harry Crane
It might seem strange to put someone who is part of the show from the beginning to the very end as a featured member of the firm on this list, but out of all the ‘main characters’ there is no denying that Harry Crane got the least screen time.
Crane was certainly well developed, but it would have been great if the show could have explored his character in a little more detail outside of being someone who is a kiss-ass and desperate to rise up the ranks of work.
Fans wanted to learn a little bit about the non-work side of Crane’s personality, but that was never really touched upon in the same detail that other characters had been.
Sal Romano
This always felt like Mad Men’s biggest missed opportunity, as there were so many ways the show could have taken Sal Romano’s excellent character, who was the fantastic art director who had a major secret (which was that he was actually homosexual).
Despite the fact he was married to a woman, deep down Sal preferred men, and this was something that was frowned upon during that time, which eventually did lead to him being fired as it is claimed he made advances on a male client.
In reality, he actually turns down the client’s advances. But when he leaves everyone always hoped that he would return at some point, with his secret being revealed to everyone at some point being a major storyline that the show missed out on.
