"Mad Men": We've got the fever

"Mad Men" fever is upon us.

Although I've already seen the season opener, I'm still excited for Sunday's preem because it's the official start of season three -- and it means I only have another week to wait for fresh meat. If the first seg is any guide, we're in for a heck of a ride.

Please watch this space on Mondays for episode recaps. I enjoy doing them, even though it keeps me up late on Sunday nights, because writing helps me sort out the intricacies, cultural and literary references and foreshadowing of this most intricately crafted series. At least on my best recaps. However, the oh-so-prolific Alan Sepinwall of the New Jersey Star-Ledger and the What's Alan Watching blog always puts me to shame with his insights and analysis.

There's not much I can add here to the tsunami of pre-launch coverage that "Mad Men" has received in the past few weeks. The most intriguing thing I've heard about the show's future was an offhand comment from creator-exec producer Matthew Weiner during the cocktail party that AMC hosted during the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena.

Weiner was talking about how happy he was to go into the third season knowing from the get-go that the show was assured of having a fourth season. When asked how long he would ideally like the series to run, Weiner paused for a moment and then replied: "I'd like to see us do the decade" of the 1960s.

Betty at Woodstock? Sal at Stonewall? Paul at the Monterey Pop Festival? Sally joins a commune? Don Draper joins the Nixon administration? I can just see Pete Campbell getting stomped by Hells Angels at Altamont.

Can't wait for Sunday...