Duck and cover. This was the gloves-off, throw-it-in-your-face edition of "Mad Men."

Our master manipulator, Don Draper, finds himself in the very unfamiliar position of being pushed around and jerked around by seemingly everyone he comes into contact with -- from Conrad Hilton to Sally's school teacher to the sleazy hitchhikers he picks up on the lonesome road to nowheresville.

The episode titled "Seven Twenty Three" ends with the ultimate indignity for "Mad Men's" man of mystery. Bert Cooper puts aside his crazy old codger routine to bend Don to his will by using Kryptonite -- the knowledge that Don Draper isn't who he says he is at all. A lot of old demons come back to haunt Don in this episode -- and you get the feeling that the witching hour isn't over for him, not by a long shot. The solar eclipse motif had obvious symbolism in an episode in which Don's mental health seems to be spiraling out of control, again.

Don was the white-hot center of this riveting hour, but we also got some heavy duty material for Peggy and Betty. This episode was beautifully written -- noticeably good even by "Mad Men" standards -- by Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton and Matthew Weiner and directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer. There wasn't a bad line in it, as far as I'm concerned, and the plot development seemed to gallop along, even though we don't really know everything nor where things will end up. (We do know one thing -- the escalation of the Vietnam war is definitely looming as a transformative and traumatic event for American culture. We know, unfortunately, how that storyline ends.)

"When it comes right down to it, who's really signing this contract anyway," Bert Cooper tells Don with a malevolent grin. Oh cut him to the quick, Bert. Jon Hamm is incredible in registering the agony of this moment for Don with barely a word. It seems as if Don made himself forget that way back in season one Pete Campbell picked up a few threads of the Don Draper/Dick Whitman subterfuge and tried to butter his own bread by outing Don to Bert.

"One minute you're on top of the world. The next minute some secretary is running you over with a lawn mower."

This was quite possibly the most action-packed, darkly comic and confounding episodes of "Mad Men" yet. I've been trying to sort it out for two days now and I still don't have many conclusions about "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency." From the title on down, it's a rip-snorter. But what does it all mean??

I know the story thread about Sally Draper and her need for a night light was symbolic of being afraid of the dark, or fear of the unknown. I know it wasn't accidental that Joan's big moment with her creepy husband came in the dark, after she fell asleep waiting for the bastard that she supports even after she calls him out for being drunk and for telling her an abject lie.

I know it had to be a conscious decision by scribes Robin Veith and Matthew Weiner (I noticed Veith got top billing) that this episode had more uses of the term "Mrs. Harris" than any other, as it to reinforce to Joan as she's on her way out the door that she is no longer herself, but her husband's wife.

I know that Harry Crane's line "What just happened here?" after the board room coup instigated by the doomed Brit executive Guy was clearly meant to encapsulate the randomness of life in the business world and life in the cosmic scheme of things. It takes someone else to explain to Harry that he's the only one who got an actual boost in responsibility in the reorg that was so cheerily and quickly detailed by Guy Smiley.

It took me longer than that to realize that the hierarchy laid out by the Brit emissaries not only leaves Roger Sterling out (duh?) but also essentially demotes Don as he would have had to work under share authority with Guy Mackendrick. Yes, I know Don's crestfallen look should have made this clear but I can be a little Harry-ish at times, especially when engrossed in this show.

And then what happens next in this show is straight out of "The Twilight Zone." The lawn mower that Ken Cosgrove so playfully rides into the office to illustrate his latest account snaring coup becomes the lethal weapon that takes Guy's foot and kills his career, in the eyes of his corporate overseers. Office parties at Sterling Cooper are just plain dangerous. And of course, it would be Lola! Lois! Of course!

The scene in which Lois and the lawn mower go out of control was as jarring a scene of random violence as anything I've ever seen on TV.

If Tom Selleck had his way, Jesse Stone would be the new Lt. Columbo.

Selleck at present is in Halifax, Nova Scotia shooting the seventh installment of the "Jesse Stone" telepic series for CBS and Sony Pictures TV. The made-fors, based on the series of crime novels by Robert B. Parker, revolve around the maverick police chief of the fictional town of Paradise, Mass.

The telepics are standalone hard-boiled crime stories, but Selleck has gotten under the skin of his unconventional character who battles personal demons as well as criminal adversaries. Selleck, who is a longtime devotee of Parker's work, has an active role in shaping the scripts and producing the pics in the secluded environs of Halifax.

With so much invested in the role, Selleck would love to see CBS sked two "Jesse Stone" pics a season, which would allow fans to check in regularly with the character in the same way NBC and ABC skedded Peter Falk's "Columbo" telepics in the 1970s and '80s (though "Columbo" in its mid-'70s heyday did as many as six to eight episodes per season).

The aud for "Jesse Stone" has been mature but dependable since the first pic, "Stone Cold," bowed in 2005 with more than 18 million viewers. The subsequent titles have hovered between 13 million-15 million viewers. It's the closest thing to a recurring original movie franchise that network TV has at a time when longform fare is at a low ebb on the broadcast airwaves.

NBC's "ER" capped its farewell season on Sunday with a win in the drama directing category for helmer Rod Holcomb.

Holcomb (pictured) deftly handled the series' two-hour closer, "And in the End," just as he sent the show off on its storied run back in 1994 by helming the pilot, "24 Hours." He was Emmy nommed for the pilot (he won the DGA Award that year) and one other "ER" seg, but the statuette eluded him until Sunday night.

But Holcomb wasn't at the Nokia Theater to pick up his award. Ever the consummate pro, the helmer was on the other side of the country in Gotham, getting ready for the start of shooting today on an episode of CBS' frosh Julianna Margulies drama "The Good Wife."

So here's one last hearty congrats to Holcomb and to "ER." The show holds the Emmy record as the most-nommed series with 124 bids, and a total of 22 -- let's make that 23 -- wins.

 

Hard to believe my feet held out but I managed to hit the trifecta of post-Emmy parties -- "Entertainment Tonight"/People, HBO and AMC. To paraphrase Leo Tolstoy (with apologies), all happy families are alike, and all Emmy after-parties are fun in their own way.

The "Entertainment Tonight"-People magazine bash at Vibiana was bouncy and upbeat -- a good place to eat with Susan Feniger making the rounds and plugging her eats. I ate my share of those mini ice cream sandwiches and mini chocolate-dipped cones provided by Milk (yum!).

A few laps around the venue where you can still see plenty of evidence of the cathedral that it once was and just as the night's surprise guest, Mary J. Blige, got cranking, we made a dash for the 40-pound swag bag and the valet line. (I had good luck with valet parking all night -- no tortuous waits at all.)

HBO was the spectacle of spectacles, as always -- HUGE crowd at the Pacific Design Center. Big dance floor with a very energetic Afro-Cuban percussion band perched on the second story to keep the atmosphere pulsating. A short set of vintage Michael Jackson tunes also got people off their seats.

AMC was a nice post 1 a.m. capper at the Chateau Marmont. It was quite busy -- the "Flight of the Conchords" dudes arrived shortly before 2 a.m. -- but somehow still intimate, and of course had the winner's aura that was visible from Sunset Boulevard. It also had more smokers per capita than any other event (why am I not surprised?).

Matt Weiner was soaking up the congratulations and promising us that we ain't seen nothing yet as far as this season was concerned. Two sweet moments observed while squeezing my way around the crowd: Jon Hamm and January Jones playfully going it at as if they were, well, an old married couple, and Hamm

administering a bear hug to Bryan Cranston for winning in the category in which Hamm was nommed. They say character is what you do when no one's looking, and I'd also say that character is what you do as 2 a.m. approaches on an awards night after (presumably) a few drinks.

I enjoyed the heck out of each event, but was most touched by a moment with actress Shohreh Aghdashloo

at the HBO party. After talking about her win for "House of Saddam," I asked her about the comments she made backstage about the green rubber bracelet (pictured right) she was wearing as a symbol of support for her fellow Iranians who are fighting for democracy and protesting the official results of the June presidential election.

Her eloquence on the situation facing her homeland is facing was quite stirring, and it reminded me that the problem hasn't gone away just because it's moved off the front pages of U.S. newspapers. As we spoke, she took off her bracelet, inscribed "I Am Iran," and slipped it onto my wrist. I'm honored to wear it.

(More to come on the Emmy party scene once I get a second wind and maybe 20 winks...)

5:01: Opening with a funny newsreel type cheeky discussion of television.

Big entry for Neil Patrick Harris with -- what else? -- a musical number, "Put Down the Remote". He looks adorable in a white tux. We'll have to get the transcipt of this tune. Already we've got more laughs than last year. Whoo hoo!

5:05: "I grew up on television." It's true, he did.

5:06: "It's my job to make sure things run smoothly tonight. Here's hoping Kanye West likes "30 Rock."

5:07: Neil gives us a tour of the stage -- band out front, and we even get a window on the control room. He explains the division of the presentation of awards by genre. Now a comedy clip package.

5:10: Clip ends with Jon Hamm from his guest shot on "30 Rock." Is this a sign? And now Hamm and Tina Fey are our first presenters. "Comedy is just drama with less smoking," Hamm explains of his guest shot on "30 Rock."

5:12: All the supporting comedy actress nominees have glasses props. Except Vanessa Williams. Kristin Chenoweth wins for "Pushing Daisies." She tells us that the glasses was her fellow nominee Amy Poehler's idea. I'm unemployed now so I'd like to be on Mad Men. I also like "The Office" and "24." Tearful and adorable. Fey looks like she's holding Chenoweth up as they walk off stage. She's tiny!

5:15: Big plug for CBS' TV.com service. Sending viewers there to go vote for their 'Breakthrough" moment of the year in TV, the winner to be announced later in the night. Seems awfully self-serving but I suppose you can't blame them for trying to get some added-value from the Emmycast.
 

5:21: "How I Met Your Mother" gang comes out to present. Harris promises he won't spend the whole show plugging his show. Matt Hubbard of "30 Rock" wins the comedy writing Emmy. Walter Patterson, why'd you punch this guy? (Hubbard thanked him for punching him in the 8th grade and "turning me into a comedy writer.")

5:21: Interesting that they're doing little flash promos during the show plugging what's upcoming. "Justin Timberlake and Gossip Girls in 6 minutes."

5:24: Julia Louis-Dreyfus presenting, saying she's honored to present on "the last official year of network television." Hey, "Old Christine" got picked up and in it's in syndication. Why the negativity? Maybe she's been watching Leno.

5:25: Jon Cryer wins for supporting comedy actor. Good for him! He's earned it and so has "Two and a Half Men." He seems like he's rehearsed his jokey remarks about awards being the "only true measure of  a persons's real worth as a human being." But as he walks off, Cryer looks pretty stunned.

5:32: We're getting our first winner backstage, Jon Cryer. Applause. Apparently his backstage remarks are going live on the show? At least that's what they just told us. "They're doing a bit apparently, that they're setting me up for," he explains. He can't believe he beat out Harris. "Neil Patrick Harris is killing it and he does that every week on the show."

5:35: Jon Cryer's yakking and Toni Collette of Showtime's "United States of Tara" wins for lead comedy actress. Now that's a surprise. "I attribute it to wearing a sweater vest on one of the hottest days of the year," Cryer says in response to the question about what he attributes the win to. He's vamping while they wait for the 'bit' to begin.

5:37: Now we're seeing Cryer backstage on the telecast. He's bantering with Harris. Begs the question of whether this bit was reserved for a CBS winner.

5:41:A segment with non-star nominees talking about what it's like to be nommed for an Emmy. Jeffrey Blitz wins comedy series helming for "The Office," the "Stress Relief" seg. I'm surprised that so far no snarky mentions of the plan to time shift some award categories.

5:48: Here comes itty bitty Kristin Chenoweth. She's all sequins. "Were you expecting to cry?"

5:50: Oh for pete's sake. Alec Baldwin wins comedy actor. JIM PARSONS people JIM PARSONS. What's wrong with you voters!!! Now I'm seriously bummed.

5:53: Chenoweth is choking up again, talking about her mother. On the big stage it's a reality clip package.

5:56: Dance number from the "Dancing With the Stars" hoofers whose names I can never remember, let alone spell. A good chance for everyone to catch up on their writing. 

5:58: Toni Collette looks radiant. Bright pink strapless number with lots of ruffles. She's so Austraaaallllyan. (Hey look, Jeff Probst just won reality host for "Survivor.") Ooh love Toni Collette. She just shot back to an idiotic question, 'Is there a question in there?" Oh, the whole cougar phenomenon. She's not having any of it. "That's someone else's fantasy."

6:05: Tracy Morgan presents the reality-competition award. He wonders why "30 Rock" wasn't nommed in this category. "The Amazing Race" for the 900th time. (Actually it's the seventh.)

6:09: Harris gets a laugh out of the "Amazing Race" win. "Unbelievable. Upsets at every turn!"

6:12: Shohreh Aghdashloo wins for "House of Saddam" for supporting longform actress. She's got a sexy deep voice. Hey there's a siren going off backstage. No kidding. Oh, it just stopped.

6:14: Ken Howard wins longform supporting actor for "Grey Gardens." He may also win the SAG presidential election next week. He's got a sense of humor. "I'm going to make my speech as brief as possible in the hopes it won't be interrupted by a Congressman or a rapper." Awww, he dedicates it to his wife, today's her birthday.

6:22: Brendan Gleeson for "Into the Storm" for lead longform actor.

6:26: Jeff Probst backstage talking up his win, but we're taking him to task for the bad hosting job on last year's show. "Five people hosting a show is not a good idea. As Howie (Mandel) said, Everybody knows six is the magic number. It was just a failure."

6:30: Probst is going on and on while there's a cute bit on the show with Neil Patrick Harris in his Dr. Horrible persona. But I can't hear it. I do now know, however, that Probst is not on Twitter. "I'm not there yet."

6:33: Wow. Jessica Lange wins over Drew Barrymore for "Grey Gardens" Drew Barrymore is smiling big but I can't believe she's not flummoxed.

6:35: "The Amazing Race" mob was just backstage talking up Lucky No. 7 -- which I'm going to whip into a sidebar in my spare time.

6:42: "Grey Gardens" wins. I told you back at press tour in January people this one was going to go far. I'm so happy for Michael Sucsy, the director-writer behind this rendition of the Bouvier story.

6:45: "Little Dorrit" wins for miniseries. Damn, Emmy voters really do hate David Simon, whose "Generation Kill" was the only other nominee in the category.

6:49: Shohreh Aghdashloo is talking about important stuff for sure, Middle Eastern issues, as dealt with in "House of Saddam." But darnit we're missing the "Big Bang Theory" thesps presenting an award.

6:55: "Daily Show" wins again for comedy writing. If the show wins again it'll be seven in a row for them too.

6:59: Alec Baldwin is back with us. He looks very mellow, for Alec Baldwin. Especially since he's hit immediately with an inane question about whether he can get Robert Pattinson for a guest shot on "30 Rock." What about running for political office? "Not something I'm prepared to do with my life -- now." Who's the one guest star you'd like to have on "30 Rock." Without a pause -- "McCartney." He says they're "working on" getting the cute Beatle on the show. Baldwin says he loves "Flight of the Conchords," calling out Jemaine Clement.

7:08: Ricky Gervais on stage, "Little Dorrit" team backstage. You do the math.

7:14: "American Idol" director Bruce Gowers has no regrets about Paula Abdul's departure. With Ellen DeGeneres coming on board, he tells us backstage, "It will be a lot more fun and the ratings will be higher than ever before.

7:15: "Thanks for agreeing not to speak," Harris tells TV Acad prexy John Shaffner. Nice touch!

7:20: Ben! Michael Emerson wins for supporting drama actor, second year in a row. "One day I flew to Hawaii to do a guest shot..." His is a good story and he's a fine actor.

7:23: Dan Harmon, creator of "Community," is backstage for his win for music and lyrics for the Oscars opening number this year. He's plugging his show because there aren't too many questions for them.

7:25: Nice "In Memoriam" segment with Sarah McLachlan doing "I Will Remember You" live. It included our own Army Archerd.

7:35: Ellen Burstyn and Michael J. Fox presenting the drama directing award. I admire Fox more than I can express. He is a brave man.

7:41: The "Grey Gardens" mob is backstage. Jessica Lange is doing all the talking. No Drew. And Glenn Close has just won lead drama actress for "Damages" -- over Elisabeth Moss??

7:49: Bryan Cranston for "Breaking Bad" wins lead drama actor. I was hoping for a slice of Hamm. "I'm a poor kid from the Valley I don't know what I'm doing up here."

7:51: Bob Newhart presents the comedy series award. "30 Rock" -- again. Wow. "That was a nail-biter," Tina Fey says. Even she's not terribly excited.

7:54: Brendan Gleeson is going on and on. With all due respect...

8:00: "Mad Men" wins for drama. Can't argue with that even if an upset would have been better copy.

(FYI, the blogging had to take a backseat to sidebars for tomorrow's print editon but I'll fill in more later...)

On the red carpet in front of the TV show stands was : "Is there a shine?"

It's hot out here folks!

Is strolling down the carpet with a bright yellow tie and a mile-wide smile. So Locke-like.

Walked by hand in hand with his wife. I overheard him say "Why did they move it here?" My thoughts exactly. He must've been caught in traffic too. Drew Barrymore just floated by. She's looking like a movie star - and a winner - tonight. A pale rose colored ankle length dress with a poofy skirt and strapless halter top. She truly turned heads.

But Leslie Moonves is not here. Julie is due in two weeks, and she surely did her part in hosting "Big Brother" right up til the end.

Has a fantastic beaded vintage dress. It makes the most of everything she's got.

Cicely Tyson is in the house, wearing a sequined hat that looks like a swim cap but she wears it well.

Ben Silverman is here. With a velvet bow tie and funky tuxedo shirt. He's enjoying working with the "amazing" Barry Diller again. And of course, he's rooting for "The Office."

Herself as a Paul Williams fan. She's gushing over the songwriter-thesp and took a quick pic with him. For her it's "Rainbow Connection." For me it's "Rainy Days and Mondays."

I'm the only reporter out here talking about net neutrality. Just chatted with MPAA chief Dan Glickman about the policy speech that FCC chief Julius Genachowski is going to make tomorrow in DC. Glickman sez he's "looking forward to working with the chairman" on the issue. Which I suspect is code for: "We don't like it but not enough to bash it just yet."

Yes, Simon Baker is actually more handsome in person.

Is happy that John Wells won the WGA West prexy race. He says the "Lost" scribe tribe is hard at work on the fifth and sixth hours of the show.

Alec Baldwin and Kyra Sedgwick just had a fender bender at the Access Hollywood booth. Baldwin was magnanimous and let Sedgwick go first. My goodness, she's petite.

Jorge Garcia on the red carpet. He cuts quite a swath in a vast expanse of black tuxedo.

Am just now standing between Ricky Gervais and Chris O'Donnell exchaning "I'm such a big fan" compliments. I sense and NCIS: Los Angeles guest shot coming on ...

Ricky is excited about his upcoming 13-episode animated series for HBO. "The world is going to have a new Homer Simpson," he promises.

... but not without the usual hassle of the parking directions being completely wrong and the security force being utterly unfamiliar with the term "press room." And a momentary panic over computer problem that was, mercifully, easily fixed.

For some reason, the P.A. in the press room is pumping the Greatest Hits of the '80s. Who did "Jenny 867-5039" again? Lemme out of here. Like they couldn't have sprung for the remastered Beatles box set?

I'm headed out to the red carpet ... because I haven't sweltered enough walking the mile from the parking lot to the Nokia Theater press room, which is still a mile away from the theater itself.

... and already my feet hurt.

Had a blast making the Saturday night party rounds, starting with the Evening Before fundraiser for the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home. High-level schmoozing in the courtyard area behind CAA for a good cause, plus fantastic eats. (Heed my words, Chuck Lorre, and run, don't walk, and go buy those Beatles remastered discs. You won't be disappointed.)

From Century City I scooted down Wilshire Boulevard to NBC Universal's party at Spago. It was packed, as usual, and hotter than usual, thanks to the weather. But how can I complain? I ate still more fantastic food and sweets, and I got to catch up with some Peacock folks who I usually only communicate with by email or phone. I also made a citizen's arrest of Michael Cudlitz to tell him how much I dig "Southland."

A few Spago pics have popped up on NBC U's press site.

Top one is a group gaggle with the new big boss Jeff Gaspin and NBC programming prexy Angela Bromstad flanked by talent: "The Office's" Angela Kinsey, Rich Sommer ("Mad Men's" Harry Crane, who also guested on "Office" last season), Ken Jeong and Joel McHale of newbie "Community." 

Middle one is the sublime meets the ridiculous, or Jeff Gaspin, "Law & Order: SVU's" Mariska Hargitay and "30 Rock's" Alec Baldwin.

And the bottom one is birds of a feather, or "30 Rock's" Jack McBrayer and "Office's" Ed Helms.

Emmy weekend is upon us.

I'm looking forward to Saturday's pre-Emmy bashes, after my daughter and I do some grunt work for California as participants in Heal the Bay's annual Coastal Cleanup Day event. We had so much fun at our favorite beaches this summer, it's the least we can do. (I swear, there's a special place in purgatory for people who decide to bury broken beer bottles in the sand. We came thisclose to stepping on one a few weeks ago.)

I don't do Emmy predictions -- just like I don't play the slots in Las Vegas. But I am rooting for certain contenders to prevail at the Nokia Theater on Sunday night.

Perhaps the closest one to my heart this year is "The Big Bang Theory's" Jim Parsons for lead comedy actor. I'm still sore that "Big Bang" didn't get a comedy series nod. Recognizing Parsons is an absolute must, or I'll be pretty grouchy in the press room afterward. Parsons is everything that the Emmys should celebrate -- a star home grown by TV, not the other way around.

In the drama series heat, I wouldn't be totally shocked if "Breaking Bad" pulled off an upset win. I'm torn between rooting for "Mad Men" and "Lost." I would love it if "Lost" was recognized for the enormity and the incredible quality of the work that cast and crew put in week in and week out. Of course, a "Mad Men" win would also be well, well-deserved.

For comedy series, I would give it to "Weeds." In a perfect world I would give it to "Big Bang," because I think that show embodies all the great elements of a classic, evergreen make-me-laugh sitcom, something the small screen doesn't have enough of these days. But among the nominees, I would give the nod to "Weeds," in recognition of the quirky half-hour that set Showtime off on its hot streak.

This is such sweet news. The Screen Actors Guild will fete Betty White with its life achievement award in January.

Is there anything Betty White can't do?

Oh Don Draper, you heart breaker.

After a long and boozy night in a hospital waiting room with an antsy first-time father who's bursting with epiphanies, the handsome enigma that is Don Draper heads right back to the office on the day Betty gives birth to their third child. A whopping half a day to exult in the arrival of the baby that saved, at least temporarily, the Drapers' marriage. This is one of the many confounding points to ponder in this fifth seg of "Mad Men's" third season, "The Fog,"written by Kater Gordon and helmed by Phil Abraham.

Don seemed touched by witnessing the emotional roller coaster that the younger man rode as he sweated out the birth of his breach baby. By the end, Don is serving as father-confesser to Dennis Hobart, a guy who's paid to be professionally tough, as a prison guard in Ossining's local landmark, Sing Sing.

"I'm going to be a better man," Hobart swears to Don. He's not a religious guy per se ("I don't know who's up there, so I'm telling you," Hobart explains), but he needs to be heard. "Tell me you heard me," he implores. Don's cold but not cruel. He bears witness, and a rejuvenated Hobart goes off to see his newborn son.

It's not hard to discern the overriding themes of this episode -- they're worn on the sleeves of most scenes.

Birth, rebirth (more so than death, I think) and the struggle for equality. Not only the struggle for minority groups to achieve equality, but the great struggle for mainstream society to wrap its collective consciousness around the radical idea that Negroes and women deserve equal protection under the law, in the workplace, at the ballot box and in the marketplace.

And whoopdeedoo -- Duck's back! And he's wearing a turtleneck!

The conversation was a little more subdued than usual at the WGA West's "Sublime Primetime" yakfest Thursday night with a cross-section of Emmy-nommed writers.

Moderator Rainn Wilson opened the sesh at the WGA Theater, co-hosted by Variety and the Writers Guild Foundation, by asking panelists Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof if he could be on "Lost." Darlton put their heads together for a split second before Lindelof answered: "No."

Biggest laugh of the night came from Cuse. After it was noted that "Mad Men" maestro Matt Weiner had a fair number of Emmy writing noms (four to be exact), Cuse joked with "Mad Men" panelists Andre and Maria Jacquemetton that Weiner (who was not there) had "asked us if he could have his name our script as well" -- the "Lost" finale seg that earned Darlton an Emmy writing nom this year. It was a gentle ribbing, not mean-spirited. By the end of the sesh it was clear the "Lost" and "Mad Men" scribe tribes have a mutual obsession society going on. As well they should ...

The Jacquemettons, who are married, were queried on how they do the work/home life tango and whether they ever step on each toes as writers. Maria admitted that they spend so much time together that "if we analyzed it, we'd be divorced." The worst fights they ever have are usually about scripts. "If we didn't write together, we'd fight more," she said, confidently.

Betty -- I hate you.

By the end of this episode of "Mad Men," dubbed "The Arrangements," I wished it was Betty who had dropped dead. She's utterly inhuman. Unfeeling. Cruel. Narcissistic in the extreme. She's torturing her children with her psycho self-indulgence as surely as if she were beating them with whips.

It all ended for me and Betty in the scene in which she and Sally are informed by the police officer of the sudden death of her father, Gene, while he was out the A&P market. That Betty could leave a stunned Sally alone on the steps after such a blow was the last straw. Even after Sally cries out in shock and pain. Where is Betty's nurturing gene? How could the mama bear not instinctively move to comfort her cub? I've never wanted to claw through the TV screen and smack a character so badly.

Betty does not deserve to be a mother, no matter how well her reproductive system works. Gene calls her "Scarlett O'Hara" in their early scene when Betty gets so upset when he tries to go over his will and funeral arrangements. But that's an insult to Scarlett O'Hara. "I'm your little girl," she whines. Pathetic. She accused her father of being "selfish and morbid" -- two things she sure knows a lot about.

Don Draper has no excuse either, frankly. Sally is an open wound, raw and bleeding from the pain she's feeling of the loss of the only adult in her familial world who paid a bit of attention to her as a person, and gave a bit of positive reinforcement rather than treating her like a two-dimensional prop with no feelings. And even when Sally bleeds out right in front of his eyes, he does nothing. When Betty cruelly tells her distraught daughter to "go watch TV," he does nothing. I wanted to shake him by his skinny tie, and by this point I wanted to dismember Betty. It was painful to watch the scenes with Sally in this episode.