'Mad Men' And 'Game Of Thrones' Comparisons: Are The Characters Separated At Birth? (PHOTOS)

Both shows feature perfectly constructed costumes and elaborate sets meant to transport us to other worlds -- and they do so successfully, week after week. But these fine cable dramas are so much more than the sum of their exceptional production values: They're complex and realistically contradictory explorations of the games people play to get ahead or to just hang on to what they've got.

 Both "Mad Men" and "Game of Thrones" spend a lot of time meditating on the nature and use of power -- how those who don't have it try to get it, the wise and unwise ways in which those in authority wield it, how those with lower status fight to preserve a scrap of autonomy, and how people can give the impression of having control even when they're unsure of where they stand. To be a character on either drama is to face constant flux and change -- not all of which is bad, mind you.

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'Mad Men' And 'Game Of Thrones' Comparisons: Are The Characters Separated At Birth? (PHOTOS):