Posted by Kathy Lyford

One of the more haunting episodes of the season gives us further insight into the two sides of some of the characters – the one they present to the world and the real one. This parallels nicely with the client pitch of the week: “Nothing fits both sides of a woman better than Playtex.”

Don Draper: Irrationally jealous husband; unrepentant philanderer.
Master at burying his history; unable to escape his past.
Bookending the episode we see Don enjoying a family day at the country club, until the shame he feels when daughter Sally proudly applauds her “war hero” daddy sends him straight into the arms of barraduda Bobbie Barrett. At the end of the episode he’s once again overwhelmed with guilt when an innocent comment from Sally reminds him of his less-than-innocent cheating ways. And while Don doesn’t seem to want Betty, he still can’t control his jealously when he observes her talking to Arthur or when he sees her wearing a new yellow bikini, which he calls “desperate.” Concluding the hour with an image of Don and his reflection in the bathroom mirror was a lovely touch.

Peggy Olson, so sure of her ability to write copy, finds herself unsure of her place in the hierarchy when the men in the office decide “bras are for men” and leave her out of the creative process on the Playtex campaign. (When Paul mentions that his research for Playtex is a 24-hour a day job, are we to assume that will lead to the eventual 18-hour bra campaign?) Peggy didn’t quite seem to grasp Bobbie’s advice about not trying to be a man. However she finally sees the light after Joan boils Bobbie’s advice down to a blunt statement: “Stop dressing like a little girl.” Losing her sad little ponytail and modest frocks may work on the boys at the office, but it puts Peggy under the same disapproving eye of Pete Campbell that she experienced way back when she asked him to dance the Twist with her.

Pete Campbell plays the confident businessman when he beds the model and when he tells his brother “I’m very important to the agency. My absence is felt.” However we know Pete’s real feelings, which he shared last episode with his doctor: “I’m completely replaceable.” As Pete returns home after his indiscretion and stares at himself in the mirror, reflected half in dark and half in light, I wondered if Pete will pursue Peggy again, now that he’s opened the door to infidelity. By the way, the jets on TV during Pete’s tryst with the model provided a great dose of humor.

We get our first glimpse into the personal life of Duck Phillips when his ex-wife drops off his kids for the Memorial Day weekend. Although Duck seems to be a caring father he’s obviously more comfortable with his Irish Setter Chauncey than with his kids. And, as I had begun to suspect at the end of season one, it’s revealed that Duck is struggling with alcoholism, which may explain why he can’t even handle the responsibility of caring for poor Chauncey, who he heartlessly sends off into the night. Just another reason to dislike Duck, although I did feel for him during his heart-to-heart with Don.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

The Paley Center for Media announced their new fall lineup today for its Los Angeles branch, and it's an interesting mix of serials, comedies and even a major film project. Yet, the most tasty dish of all is a night with foodie Giada De Laurentiis. Yummy.

As part of its Inside the Writers Room series, scribes from popular comedies "The Office," "Family Guy" and "Pushing Daisies" will talk about their respective skeins.

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer will come discuss their highly anticipated awards season possibility "Frost/Nixon" in late November.

Other shows to be bantered about include "Monk," "Eli Stone," Criminal Minds," "True Blood" and "Prison Break." Plus, there's "An Evening With Cat Cora," "A Salute to Leonard Goldberg" and an evening with the above-mentioned De Laurentiis, with a tasting reception and book signing.

For further information, go to the Paley's website at www.paleycenter.org.

(STUART LEVINE ADDS HIS THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE LATER ON IN THE POST)

Now I'm convinced -- Don Draper is losing his grip. I will never understand what our handsome anti-hero of "Mad Men" sees in the sleazy Bobbie Barrett.

After watching their further adventures in episode five, "The New Girl," I stand by what I said last week -- the woman is bad, bad news. But kudos are in order for thesp Melinda McGraw (pictured above) for playing her so, so well, or bad, in this case.

Although it feels like the twisted Don-Bobbie storyline dominates this seg, it's action-packed and includes the (brief) return of fan-fave Rachel Menken; a very emotional turn of events for Pete and Trudy; the introduction of what looks to be an important new character, Don's latest secretary; Don revealing himself to be an Antonioni fan; Joan delivering big news to Roger; and most significantly, at the 27-minute mark, we finally get a bit more info on what in the world happened to Peggy in the days immediately after she gave birth, at the end of season one.

It's a credit to Matthew Weiner and his team that the show's characters and stories are so strong that they've been able to wait this long to give us anything on this key plot point without fans howling. Peggy's flashback caught me completely off guard, as I was thoroughly engrossed on the Don and Bobbie storyline when it arrived. And the flashback is deftly woven in to shed light on another big turning point in Peggy and Don's relationship that comes in this seg.

Penned by Robin Veith and helmed by Jennifer Getzinger, the episode is titled "The New Girl," and it does introduce us to a young and very pretty new secretary for Don, Jane Siegel (sp?), but she doesn't get much screen time overall.

After giving it some thought, I think the title refers in part to the dynamic of Don's life, and in part to the changes that Peggy is undergoing. I think Don is a pathological Lothario in one sense, and hopelessly insecure (duh) in another. I don't think it's the power of the conquest that he's after, or even the sex per se, but just the insatiable desire to be liked, to be wanted, to be idolized. That's probably a lot of what he's responding to in Bobbie -- she's relentless.

I also think this episode is very focused on spotlighting the sharp contrasts between men and women in this era, which can't help but prod us to think about how much has, and has not, changed in contempo times.

Oh Snoop, we hoped you'd given up the thug life.

Felicia Pearson, who played the cold-hearted Snoop on HBO's "The Wire," was arrested Wednesday in Baltimore on a minor drug charge (allegedly, two cigar-size joints and some shake) on Wednesday. According to the Associated Press, B-more P.D. went to her home to serve a warrant to detain her for refusing to cooperate as a witness in a murder trial.

According to the AP, authorities say Pearson was a witness on the night the defendant stabbed three men, one of whom died, back in 2005. No, this isn't p. 35 of a "Wire" script.

One of the reasons she was so arresting in her role as Snoop, the linchpin of the (freezing) cold-hearted muscle team shielding dope kingpin Marlo Stanfield, was that she was that person, a total byproduct of Baltimore's corners. Born a crack baby and raised in the city's tenements, she ran the gamut of selling dope, doing prison time and watching friends and family members die in the never-ending carnage of the thug life, as "The Wire" so expertly detailed.

As detailed in this New York Times feature on Pearson from 2006, she was introduced to "Wire" producers through her friend Michael K. Williams, who played the show's enigmatic, Robin Hood-esque street bandit Omar. Her death scene in the second-to-last seg of "Wire's" final season was heartbreaking, and Pearson brought a warrior's noble stoicism to the moment. "How my hair look, Michael," she asked her killer right before her brains were splattered all over the cab of her SUV.

For Pearson's sake, let's hope this arrest is a minor hiccup.

What do "Lost," the U.S. Open golf tourney and "So You Think You Can Dance" all have in common? Click on over to this post on the Season Pass blog to find out.

Hint: It involves TiVo viewing and commercials, and the people who love them both.

"Entourage" gets its fifth season off to a swell start. The first two segs, sent out this week by HBO, breeze by in what feels like about 10 minutes.

There's a clear story arc building for our stubbly hero Vince, who's south of the border licking his wounds (with tequila and bikinis) from the devastating reviews that are still rolling in on "Medellin" in the season opener.  Ben Silverman's cameo as himself comes in the first seg, and if you look closely you can also see his NBC Entertainment lieutenant Teri Weinberg by his side.

You don't have to look closely to spot Endeavor's Richard Weitz. He pops up early on in the opening seg and nails the part of an MGA agent offering Ari Gold a little post-"Medellin" empathy.

As always, "Entourage" really belongs to Jeremy Piven's Ari. By the end of episode two, Piven has pretty much clinched his fifth consecutive Emmy nom for the role he seems born to play. He's greatly aided by punchy writing and directing in both segs, "Fantasy Land" and "Unlike a Virgin," from series creator Doug Ellin and helmer Mark Mylod.

"Entourage's" 12-episode run begins Sept. 7.

Very curious. CW has officially informed reporters today that it won't be sending out an advance screener on its Great Remake Hope of the new season, "90210," from CBS Paramount Network Television.

Of course, we automatically assume the worst in these situations. Insiders maintain that it's absolutely not the show has canine qualities, but they want to keep the pilot on a short leash until its Sept. 2 preem. In fact, CW and CBS Par TV aren't all that worried about bad reviews dissuading the target "90210" viewer from tuning in, because they don't think the target "90210" aud gives a hoot about reviews. (However, let's face it, a preponderance of bad reviews would be dent the consciousness even of those whose only reading material these days is text messages and TMZ.)

There is also genuine concern at the network and studio about bootleg versions popping up on the Internet, which is a hazard of sending review screeners out to hundreds of media outlets. So in an effort to get as many eyes as possibly tuned to the CW on Sept. 2, the pilot will stay in the can until then. Which is not to say that a few choice "90210" clips won't make their way on to the Web in the next few weeks.

"The CW and our studio partner CBS Paramount Network Television have made the strategic marketing decision not to screen "90210" for any media in advance of its premiere.  We're not hiding anything . . . simply keeping a lid on 90210 until 9.02, riding the curiosity and anticipation into premiere night, and letting all our constituents see it at the same time," the network and studio said in a joint statement Monday.

"Constituents?" Well, it is an election year...

(Me, I still can't get over the thrill of seeing Michael leave his B-more troubles behind for the lazy life of luxury in BevHills. "Wire" fans, Tristan Wilds fans -- you feel me?)

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and ABC are adding an anniversary sheen to this year's 60th annual Emmycast by holding an online poll to determine television's 40 greatest "moments."

The problem with these kind of tallies is that no finite list can do justice to the bazillion hours of television programming that have flown through the air since commercial network television took root in the '47-'48 period.

But even accepting the limitations of these kind of list-y efforts, I gotta say that the selections that ATAS and ABC have come up with -- 20 apiece for comedy and drama -- are a little thin, in my book.

First off, they have the Beatles' first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" under comedy. Huh? The finale of the first edition of "American Idol"? Huh?

The "All in the Family" where Sammy Davis Jr. kisses Archie -- OK. "The Carol Burnett Show" with the "Gone With the Wind" spoof -- OK. "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" with then-candidate Richard Nixon delivering the "sock it to me" line -- well, OK, though I'd call it more historical curiosity than a comedy moment. But the coming out episode of "Ellen" and a "Mork and Mindy" seg, even with the talents of Jonathan Winters -- c'mon! No "Cheers"? No "WKRP in Cincinnati"? No "Odd Couple"? No "Soap"? No "Barney Miller"? I could go on (and on).

Same beef goes for the drama selections: No room for "I Spy," "St. Elsewhere," "The Wire," "Homicide: Life on the Street," "The Rockford Files," "Adam-12," "Lou Grant," "Hill Street Blues," "Northern Exposure," "NYPD Blue."

But "Little House on the Prairie," "L.A. Law," "Dynasty" and "Moonlighting" make the cut?

Oh well. The top comedy and drama vote-getters will be revealed during the Sept. 21 Emmycast, just before this year's top series winners are announced. From the choices at hand, I'd have to vote for the "To Serve Man" seg of "The Twilight Zone" for drama (pictured top left), and the series finale of "Newhart" on the comedy side (pictured right).

Holy heck, this was a great episode of "Mad Men," packed with equal amounts of arresting visuals and razor-sharp lines of dialogue that will rattle around in our heads all week.

Seg "Three Sundays," superbly penned by Andre and Maria Jacquemetton and directed by Tim Hunter, is framed by three trips on successive Sundays to the parish church with Peggy's family. By the end of this episode, we're all fidgety little boys squirming in the pew and tugging at our starchy collars.There is enough repressed anger and nervous tension in this episode (actually in the Draper household, the anger is boiling over) to light up Broadway, if there were electrical sockets built in to the backsides of Don Draper, Betty Draper, Father Gill (in a fantastic guest shot by Colin Hanks), Peggy Olson and her mother, Katherine, and sister, Anita.

Was it my imagination or in the opening scene in Peggy's church was there an extra volume put on the Monsignor's admonition for his flock to "live worthily" and "bear the cross." These themes seemed to be significant in the episode.

(More after the jump.)

STUART LEVINE WEIGHS IN

If Matt Weiner and his team were concerned about a sophomore slump, they needn't worry any more.
Sunday's fourth episode of the season, "Three Sundays," was fabulous.

For me, the episode was all about children, and how parents treat a child affects those all around on the periphery. Let's start with Bobby. This adorable rascal keeps getting into trouble: breaking the record player, jumping on and breaking the bed, spilling his drink while playing with his robot. He looks to be about 6 or 7, and he's testing boundaries. A kid being a kid.

That's a concept Betty's completely oblivious to, and her reaction is to have Don smack Bobby around, thinking that will teach him right from wrong.

Don won't do it, however, still reeling from when his father beat him, and telling Betty that he wanted to murder his father when he grew older. It might not be a shocking revelation, as it was hinted about in a few prior episodes, but it does reinforce that Betty has no idea about the relationship between Don and his father, or much of anything about Don's past.

By now NBC must be thinking about trying to cast Michael Phelps in an episode of "Heroes," if not a starring vehicle of his own (maybe "Aquaman" rights are available?).

Phelps' quest for the record-busting gold medal No. 8 at the Beijing summer Games gave the Peacock its most watched Saturday night in 18 years, since George Bush the elder was in office. Nearly 40 million people (39.9 mil to be exact) tuned in to the 11-11:30 p.m. half-hour to watch Phelps and his teammates clinch the 100 meter men's relay event.

Peacock's primetime coverage average 31.1 million viewers. NBC estimates 70 million folks watched some portion of Saturday's 8:30-11:45 p.m. Olympics coverage.

NBC is duly proud of its perf during the past week nights with boffo numbers harvested from the Beijing summer Games.

The primetime average for the first seven nights is an eye-popping 30.6 million viewers, up 13% from the comparable period in the 2004 Athens summer Games.

In adults 18-49, the Olympic pageantry and competish has delivered an average 10.5 rating, up 12% from the perf at this point in the Athens games. The numbers are up, Beijing vs. Athens, in the elusive younger demos as well: up 10% in adults 18-34 (8.9); and 8% in persons 12-34 (8.0). The biggest bounce has come in the male demos -- thank you, Michael Phelps -- with viewership posting a lofty 23% spike in men 18-34 (8.6); a 17% gain in men 18-49 (9.9); and a 20% jump in males 12-34 (7.8).

So NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker can be forgiven for frothing a bit in an interview Friday morning with CNBC's "Squawk Box" about the ratings and the additional $10 million in ad coin that NBC U has booked since the Games began. Zucker has spent the past year talking up NBC Universal's cable and international portfolio and how it's transforming the House that Sarnoff Built. But he did a verbal victory dance celebrating the unparalleled reach of broadcast TV in his gushy interview with CNBC's Carl Quintanilla, Joe Kernan and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

(For really gushy dispatches from Beijing, check out NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman's reportage for Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM show. "Beijing Ben" sounds like he's having an "amazing" time in China, but it kinda begs the question of who's minding the store in Burbank as Silverman's first slate of shows prep for launch next month?)

Pictured above: "Today" co-host Meredith Vieira flanked by members of the U.S. women's gymnastics team.

Strike TV is getting closer to its close-up.

The website devoted to showcasing original works from Hollywood union-repped folks is planning a private beta launch starting Monday. If you're curious, go sign up for updates and info about the venture at www.strike.tv and they'll be sending out log on and password info soon.

The plan is to let a 1,000 or so people into the site to help break it in and work out the bugs before they mount a full-blown launch. Until then, clips and trailers for some of the Strike TV fodder already produced can be found on this Strike TV blog.

Who knew jokes about proctologists and urologists could be so charming? It's all in the delivery, and writer-producer Donna Kanter's docu short "Lunch" has the goods.

The pic documents a social phenomenon that has been taking place every other Wednesday for 40 years at the Valley Inn in Sherman Oaks. A small group of showbiz scribes, an actor, a comic and  sportscaster or two have been gathering there to break bread, swap stories and generally enjoy one another's company, and the hospitality of their longtime waitress, Valerie.

The group includes Shelley Berman, Rocky Kalish, Gary Owens, Paul Pumpian, John Rappaport, Gil Stratton and Kanter's dad, famed multihyphenate Hal Kanter. The 38-minute doc, which screens Friday night at the WGA Theater in BevHills, is a sweet tribute to these industry vets who still have plenty of good lines in them. (Hal and Donna Kanter pictured right)

The project grew out of a Directors Guild of America workshop that Donna Kanter attended with famed docu maker Chuck Workman. It was designed to be "a rewarding exercise...I didn't expect it to be more than an etude," she says.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

It hardly seems possible, following all the accolades David Simon and Ed Burns received for the final season of "The Wire," but the duo's current seven-part miniseries "Generation Kill" seems to be chugging along far underneath the radar.

I can understand why: Iraq War films have been having a difficult time breaking through theatrically for awhile now, and the same reasons for their failure on the bigscreen -- uncomfortable subject matter, violent, many view our invasion of Iraq as wrongheaded — make it a tough sell on TV too.

While watching anything Simon and Burns (pictured above) create is a given — the pair are currently putting together "Treme," about the post-Katrina situation in New Orleans — the first "Gen Kill" episode wasn't the easiest piece of material to digest. Characters were hard to distinguish from one another, dialogue was dense, there were a ton of military acronyms and the language was coarse.

Posted by Kathy Lyford

Soapnet.com is not just for sudsers anymore. As part of its relaunch of Soapnet.com, Disney-ABC Television Group is offering a few lucky On the Air readers some terrific prizes. Be one of the first to comment on this post and you could receive one of these prizes:

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Comment now to claim one of these great prizes. We will contact the winners via email.

Befitting the man, the Bernie Brillstein memorial on Monday night ran the emotional gamut from naughty to nice, from respectful to irreverent, from silly to sweet.

When none other than Kermit the Frog closed the two-hour tribute with a heartfelt rendition of "Rainbow Connection," there wasn't a peep in Royce Hall, other than sniffling and the rustling of tissues. The crowd for the event organized by Brad Grey and Lorne Michaels was large and high-powered, with virtually every major studio, talent agency, network represented, as well as an eclectic mix of top talent.

Royce Hall seats about 1,800 people, and it was packed all but for a few rows of the balcony so I'm guessing there were at least 1,200 or so who came out to salute the man variously described as a father figure, a trusted friend, a source of sage wisdom and "Santa Claus." The outdoor reception in the quad afterward was elegant and full of conversation, including talk of pending deals and new clients and projects to pitch -- the hum of a hopping showbiz party that no doubt would have made the honoree, who died Thursday at 77, very proud.

The Blues Brothers -- Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd -- even reunited for the occasion, pulling out the shades and skinny ties to romp through two numbers, "Messin' with the Kid" and "Flip, Flop and Fly." "That was for you, kid," Aykroyd called out as they shimmied off the stage.

Most of the speakers noted Brillstein's fondness for "kid" as a term of endearment, or as a conversation-starter.

"For the first time, I get to say, 'Don't let 'em get you, kid," Grey said, with a catch in his voice, in closing his remarks.

Grey told an only-in-showbiz story about having to work fast over the weekend to secure a funeral and burial service at Hillside Memorial this past Sunday. When the mortuary informed the Brillstein family that they were overbooked for the day, Bernie's widow, Carrie, reached out to Brad, who reached out to Lorne Michaels for advice, who suggested that Brad simply "bump someone."

Brad's first response was "I don't think you can do that -- these people are dead." But he thought about it some more, made some calls and, amazingly, got it done.

"We apologize and thank the Cohen family of Encino, who will now be burying their beloved grandfather Sherman on Tuesday," Grey explained.

Every speaker had a great Bernie story or two, and most had a great line, or two. To wit:

Posted by Kathy Lyford

Cynthia's comments after the jump.

The distance between Don and Betty may be growing but at least they have one thing in common - they both spend the better part of the episode fending off unwanted advances, one more successfully than the other.

After Don Rickles-like comedian Jimmy Barrett (not a real person) manages to insult the folks from Utz potato chips (a real product), Don goes into overdrive to fix things. Poor Lois gets caught in the crossfire and gets fired - setting up something I've been wishing for since the show began: Joan is now Don's secretary, at least until a suitable replacement can be found. Oh, the mind reels at the storylines that could emerge from that pairing.

Unfortunately, while trying to convince the comedian's wife/manager to apologize to the clients, Don falls back into his old ways and before getting down to business with Mrs. Barrett, he gets busy with her. In his defense, she did throw herself at him. But, for the first time we see genuine guilt from Don. Credit Jon Hamm, once again proving himself worthy of an Emmy, for wordlessly saying so much in the scene at the Draper's kitchen table.

Don finally wrangles an apology out of the Jimmy Barrett (pictured left, played by Patrick Fischler), by nearly getting violent with Mrs. Barrett. This makes me wonder what else we may eventually discover about Don's past... and his relationship with Betty. Remember after the incident in season one with a drunken Roger when Betty asked Don if he wanted to bounce her off the walls? Hmm.

Poor lost Betty. Arthur may not know much about riding horses, but he certainly seemed to have Betty pegged when he called her "profoundly sad." 

Oh and let's not forget Harry, who finally found his spine (with the help of his wife). While putting out feelers for a job at CBS, Harry stumbles on a great idea and pitches Belle Jolie lipstick a sponsorship on a controversial episode of "The Defenders." (In a nice touch, "The Defenders" episode in question is titled "The Benefactor," which is also the title of this "Mad Men" episode.) Belle Jolie takes a pass, but Harry lands himself a raise and a promotion. Sterling Cooper is taking on television, folks.

"You can't trust people who haven't walked through kitchens."

That was a vintage Bernie Brillstein-ism, according to his longtime friend and client Lorne Michaels. Michaels translates the Bernie bon mot to mean that talent needs to be honed through hard work and experience, and for comics, that often means the grueling biz of working nightclubs. And in many nightclubs, you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the stage.

Having spent most of the day talking to people about Brillstein (pictured with his wife, Carrie), who died Thursday at 77, I think I can safely say that the single-most defining aspect of his character was his "love of the game," as so many of his friends put it. He enjoyed the shoe-leather work of going to see a comic, or a play, or reading a spec script, or bumping into a promising staff writer on the set of a flailing TV show.

The latter scenario is how he met Michaels, 40 years ago on a Burbank soundstage that was briefly home to "The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show." The show was anything but beautiful, but it did mark the first U.S. job of a young Canuck scribe who was destined to meet his manager and mentor while working on that NBC show (and the two of them were destined to link arms and muscle "Saturday Night Live" on the air seven years later).

"The first night (on 'Beautiful') the taping went to 2:30 in the morning. We all spent a lot of time in the halls waiting around. And there was this guy Bernie who was both funny and profane and smart in a way that I'd never really experienced before," Michaels remembered.

Michael Feinstein did a special rendition of "Of Thee I Sing," and everyone called her a "national treasure." And they meant it, and then some.

Thursday night's tribute to Betty White at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on the occasion of her 60th year in television was Woodstock for Betty-philes.

(Hundreds were turned away at the door, causing some tense moments for security, but to my knowledge there were no reports of bad acid going around. Special thanks to ATAS staffers for hearing my pleas and letting me in a wee bit late -- infernal Hollywood Bowl traffic!)

It's no accident that everyone who came out on the stage, decked out with a living room sofa (the natural habitat of her fans), went on and on about how much they "adore" her. She is, in fact, adorable. Other superlatives that got a workout by longtime friends and coworkers trying to describe how much they love her Betty White-ness included: Kindness. Generosity. Joie de Vivre. Cheerful. Funny. Lively. Dedicated. A pro. Genuine. Spectacular. Animal savior. Always a lady. First Lady of Television.

The more than two-hour Betty bonanza included a reunion of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" cast. MTM, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Georgia Engel, Ed Asner and Gavin MacLeod -- the sight of them together again brought the sold-out crowd to its feet and a lump to my throat for sure. And it was telling about the spirit of that great MTM Prods. show that when "Mary Tyler Moore" co-creator Allan Burns was spotlighted in the audience, the cast got on its feet and gave him a standing o.

Betty's big night also commanded a rare public speaking appearance (and visit to the Valley) by "Golden Girls" co-creator Susan Harris. Harris announced that she'd downed a few tranquilizers for the occasion and instructed moderator Pete Hammond not to talk. (Ever the gracious host, Hammond kept quiet.)

Harris spoke of how Betty never failed to "lift everyone up" every day she was on the set during the seven seasons of "Golden Girls." She confessed that the writers got lazy writing scenes for Betty's Rose character because of her skill at making even mediocre material sing.

And then Harris drop a few Montana-sized hints about the one person on the set that didn't entirely care for Betty's "up-ness," and it wasn't Rue McClanahan, who sent in a vid message, and it wasn't Estelle Getty, who was remembered with a round of applause at Betty's instigation.

"No lie, I love her and I admire her," Betty said of Bea Arthur, without mentioning her by name.

"They don't know who we're talking about," Harris said. "The hell they do," Betty replied.

Good to finally get a proper look at this year's "Lost" vid from Comic-Con now that it's popped up on ABC.com.

"Secret Candle" drops a lot of hints, though I just don't know if I buy that Marvin Candle (aka Edgar Halliwax) is Pierre Chang, professor of astrophysics from Ann Arbor, Mich.

"Time isn't just of the essense, it is the essense," Candle/Halliwax/Chang pleads, from 30 years in the past (or is it his future and our past?). The audio of the "Lost" panel with Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and Matthew Fox from Comic-Con is also posted on the show's podcast page.

I'm grateful for any morsel of fresh "Lost" material, but it's also kinda harsh to see the "returns in early 2009" posted on the show's home page, given that it's the dog days of August and we still have to wait another Six Months at Minimum for the next full-length adventure with the Flight 815's once-and-future castaways.

Brenda Hampton has been here before.

Critics don't have a lot of affection for her new ABC Family drama "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," but viewers do. After five airings "American Teenager" has busted ABC Family ratings records and generated a strong Internet following with the demo that matters most to the cabler.

"Who knew teens would watch a show about sex?" Hampton quips. "I just had a feeling..."

"American Teenager" revolves around a 15-year-old girl, Amy, "a nice girl" at Ulysses S. Grant High School, a shy French horn player in the marching band, who winds up pregnant after an encounter with the school stud at band camp.

"I didn't exactly realize what what happening until, like, after 2 seconds and then it was just over. And it wasn't fun," a shaken Amy explains to her friends in the pilot seg.

As she did for 11 seasons on "7th Heaven," Hampton's aim is to tell reasonably real-world family stories, leavened with humor, and as much of an authentic voice as she and her staff can muster for the teenage characters. There are a whole bunch of them in "American Teenager," from the band geeks to the reverent Christians taking chastity vows to the geeky-geeks to the naughty girls to the B.M.O.C.s

"American Teenager" has been gestating for years. It was first set up at Fox, when Hampton's pal Susanne Daniels, former WB programming prexy, was a 20th Century Fox TV-based producer and the two of them decided to answer the network's call for a "new '90210.'" (Hmmm, sound familiar?)

"A few nights later I had this idea of a girl in a band uniform holding up a pregnancy test," Hampton recalls. "It kind of all came from that image."

The project never gelled at Fox ("they decided the girl should not be pregnant"), so Hampton relocated it to Lifetime (where Daniels wound up as head of programming), but it didn't come together there either.

By the time the curtain fell on "7th Heaven" last year, Hampton pulled the "American Teen" script out one more time and decided that "this time I was going to write it like I wanted to write it."

(Pictured above, from left, Brenda Hampton, script supervisor Gail Bradley and director Keith Truesdell.)

True tales of adventures in online dating will be shared Wednesday night at the Pico Playhouse.

It's not a group therapy session, but a staged reading for "The Good, the Bad and the Unbelievable: Real Life Stories of Online Dating," a book-in-progress by Robin Mesger, senior veep of the Lippin Group, and Stacey Levin, director of current programming at 20th Century Fox TV.

Mesger and Levin have been pals and professional colleagues for years. "Unbelievable" grew out of a plan for a chapter in a novel on which Mesger was toiling. When Mesger and Levin put their heads together, they realized they had more than a chapter involving online dating; they had a book.

With the book almost complete, the pair hope to generate buzz among lit agents for the property as they finish it off and prepare to shop it to publishers. Actor pals who have volunteered to help them with buzz-generation at the reading include Pamela Adlon, Krista Allen, Mike Bortone, Kimberly Caldwell, Jessica Collins, Sarah Michelle Gellar (pictured top left), Tony Hale (pictured top right), Amy Sloan and Liza Snyder (pictured right).

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE
For years I've watched the Comedy Central roast and, while trying to catch my breath in-between laughs, I often wondered how much funnier it would be in person and witness the unedited version.

Sunday night I got my wish.

Bob Saget received a vicious skewering from the dais, which included Greg Giraldo, Gilbert Gottfried, Norm MacDonald, Susie Essman, Jeff Garlin, Cloris Leachman, Jon Lovitz, Jeffrey Ross, Jim Norton and Brian Posehn ("The Sarah Silverman Show").

Roastmaster John Stamos, who co-starred with Saget on "Full House," did a workmanlike job hosting the gala, and got off some nice zingers of his own.

Saget took it all in stride, with vile jokes concerning everything from his "association" with the Olsen twins, to his new own bawdy standup routine, to the kids of "America's Funniest Home Videos," to his appearance on "Entourage" and, of course, questioning his heterosexuality.

It was all in good jest, of course, and while most of the roastees were hysterical — though MacDonald and Lovitz shouldn't quit their day job, whatever that is these days — no one rocked the house as much as 82-year-old Leachman, who was as blue and filthy as any of the boys.

In her first comments after reaching the podium, the Oscar and Emmy winner openly pined — in a very blue way, of course — for a one-night stand with Stamos, who offered up a big smooch (photo above) immediately after she finished her routine. Good for her!

One of her best riffs might've gone over the heads of the prime Comedy Central demo.

"When Mary Tyler Moore has an orgasm, she throws her hat in the air." Priceless.

Show, which taped on the Warner Bros. lot, airs Aug. 17, and I'm curious to see what makes the final 90-minute cut. Whatever does survive the edit, be sure the kids are out of the room.

Buckle up -- episode No. 2 of "Mad Men" gets the plot engines revving.

(Kathy Lyford weighs in with some very smart observations after the jump.)

As slow and deliberate as the pace of last week's opener was, "Flight 1" takes right off -- with a plane crash at the outset that represents tragedy and opportunity for our anti-heroes at Sterling Cooper. This seg is packed with great performances from the core ensemble.

First, I was greatly impressed by Elisabeth Moss' self-assuredness as Peggy, both in her professional set and in the tense scene at her mother's home with her mother, sister and the infant son she'd just as soon forget sleeping in the next room.

"I work with them," Peggy corrects her suitor in the opening party scene when he asks if she works "for" the drunken ad men crawling around Paul Kinsey's apartment in out-of-the-way Montclair, N.J. (More on that later).

Then Vincent Kartheiser renders Pete Campbell in 3-D as he reacts, numbly, to the news of his father's death in the American Airlines crash. Campbell, as we know from season 1, is a craven, self-centered, conniving creep, and it is a credit to Kartheiser and the "Man Men" scribes that us viewers have any feeling for him at all. In Pete's scenes in this seg, we're shown (not told) why he is incapable of genuine emotion, or of having any selfless feeling for anyone else.

The scene with Campbell's shellshocked but ever-proper mother and brother and Trudy in the family living room was  wonderfully unnerving -- so many stifled emotions I felt the urge to loosen my own collar more than once.

And then wham! Here comes Jon Hamm's Don Draper, a guy you can never psych-out no matter how much you try.