The world of Mad Men ended in 1970, but it’s not hard to imagine what the show would’ve looked like had it kept going. Vinyl doubles down on that premise by changing the ad pitchmen to record company execs—which means more sex, more drugs, and more rock ‘n’ roll.
HBO’s new show—from Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, writer Rich Cohen, and Boardwalk Empire‘s Terence Winter—is set in New York City in 1973, although flashbacks to the 1960s dot the narrative, sketching Richie Finestra’s (Bobby Cannavale) rise to success. His label, American Century, is about to be sold to a German media conglomerate, and Vinyl depicts, in varying degrees of fact and fiction, the music industry of the era, including payola, the schmoozing of talent, and the contracts that direct volumes of cash away from musicians.