re: Sell me on either Mad Men,Walking Dead, or Sons of Anarchy

Depends.

Mad Men is a character driven show. Slow at times but the best tv show of the three listed.

If you want an action packed, popcorn type show then SOA and TWD are excellent for that. TWD is the better of those two.

A little about each show.

Mad men is based on an ad agency and the big wigs that work there. set in NYC. I think it began set in the 50 but they are getting to the 70s now. It basically just follows the characters lives and their struggles. Lots of character development.

SOA is based on Hamlett. It is about a motorcycle gang with a lot of history. They run guns and do other illegal things. The main character Jax is the VP and the President is the man that may or may not have been involved in killing his father. The president is also married to jax's mom. If you watched the shield and enjoyed it, you'll enjoy this one. Sutter is the guy running SOA and he was a big part of the shield.

The walking dead....basically a survival show. But not just surviving zombies. It was initially, but now the bigger threat is other fellow survivors and the zombies are honestly the secondary threat.

Not sure if you watched Breaking Bad, but I think that is on netflix and superior to the shows you've listed. house of cards is also outstanding and a quick watch as they've only had one season.