A couple of weeks ago I posted about Mad Men — how I had waited until right before the start of its fourth season to see what the hype was about. I caught up shortly after the season premiere aired, yet I waited and watched the first and second episodes back-to-back on AMC On Demand. I’m not sure what my plans are for tomorrow evening, but I doubt they’ll involve waiting in front of the television for Joan Holloway Harris’ face to appear on the screen (judging by the preview, tomorrow’s episode promises a shocking Joan storyline).

Treme has been the only show that I can think of, over the past few years, that has dictated my plans. I’m sure that’s partly because I’m so emotionally invested in the topic and theme, but also because I started watching it from the series premiere. Not the first episode on the Season One DVD. I think of the great shows I discuss with friends — Arrested Development, The Wire, Six Feet Under — all shows I watched more on DVD or On Demand than I did when they first aired. I make a point to watch every episode of 30 Rock, but rarely on Thursday nights.

This makes me wonder whether ratings even mean anything anymore. These days the programs with the largest audiences are sporting events and reality shows. American Idol is the top-rated show in the U.S. for the sixth straight year. These types of shows are the only ones I can think of where you actually benefit from watching as it happens because there is a “spoiler factor” involved. As in, everybody is talking about the Super Bowl on Monday morning. So its advantageous not to wait and watch it on TiVo or DVR later.

So why, then, do shows still get canceled after one or two seasons? Take The Wire for example, which is considered one of the greatest dramas of our time (or ever, by hyperbolists) by both critics and viewers. When it was on the air, it struggled to pull in viewers. Season 4 (“the one with the kids,” my favorite) almost didn’t happen. But it’s the Dark Side of the Moon of DVD box sets. The fact that The Wire was on HBO, a premium channel not sustained by advertisers, definitely was a factor in its survival. But there are programs with lower production costs and passionate followings that get cut off just as things are getting good (see Whedon, Joss) that make a compelling argument for continuing On Demand or on DVD after they’re pulled from air.

I try not to watch the shows people ask you if you watch when they’re trying to make small talk. Shows where you call or text your vote to prolong some marginally talented person’s 15 minutes of fame, or where some fading star or faux celebrity attempts to dance her way to relevance. Shows whose characters force you to choose sides. Shows that aren’t on HBO or don’t involve Anthony Bourdain. Shows whose cult followings have silly names. Etc. I managed over six years never to watch an entire episode of Lost. I was happily ignorant of all the speculation about the finale and I did not give a damn about those people on that island.

Yet for the second time this year I have let my guard down and fallen victim to a popular television program.

This time, it only took about two years of recommendations, a vigorous hype campaign from AMC and a Jon Hamm crush cultivated by 30 Rock and his turn hosting SNL.

Since Friday, July 16, I have watched approximately 1,739 minutes of Mad Men. Each episode clocks in at about 47 minutes so I’ll let you math whizzes figure out how many episodes I have left to watch before I’m completely caught up. You win this round, culture.