Matthew Weiner drafted the Mad Men pilot while writing for the sitcom Becker.
Weiner began developing the idea around 1999–2000, when he was a staff writer on Becker, the CBS comedy starring Ted Danson. He wrote the project at night as a spec script rather than as an assignment for the sitcom. That early script eventually became the foundation for Mad Men’s premiere, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”
The pilot did not immediately become a television series. Weiner sent the script to David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, who was impressed enough to recruit him. Weiner then set Mad Men aside for several years while working on Chase’s HBO drama.
The sitcom connection can be misleading because Mad Men is a serious period drama, not a conventional comedy. Becker nevertheless gave Weiner the professional setting and time to create the script. The pilot’s long path from spec script to AMC series is a major part of the show’s origin story.