The best part of watching a period-piece TV show is pulling out the old inflation calculator anytime someone mentions money. Take for instance that scene in "Mad Men" season 4 where Peggy hustles $400 out of Roger: it's a great Peggy moment regardless, but it gets better when you realize she just haggled her way into a surprise $4,000 bonus, and even crazier when you realize that Roger casually carries $4k cash with him wherever he goes. 

When it comes to being up front about money, "Mad Men" is much better than most, because a lot of TV shows (contemporary or otherwise) want to keep their characters vaguely, relatably middle-class. So for a scene where someone's offered a new salary, shows will often only give us the character's reaction to the number to work with, not the number itself. "How I Met Your Mother," for instance, will have the gang talk excitedly about getting "a big fat check,...