"Mad Men": Writers' room opens Monday with new faces

The "Mad Men" writers' room opens on Monday, and there'll be some new faces in the room this season following the departures of Robin Veith and Kater Gordon.

Among Matt Weiner's new recruits are hired Keith Huff, who wrote the play "A Steady Rain" that has been a hit for Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman on Broadway this season. Jonathan Abrahams comes to "Mad Men" after a stint on Steven Bochco's TNT legal ensembler for "Raising the Bar." He's also worked on ABC Family skeins "Greek" and "Wildfire."

It's interesting to note that Abrahams is one of the participants in this year's Showrunner Training Program run by the WGA West. So are "Mad Men" scribes/co-exec producers Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton, who have penned some of the finest "Mad Men" segs, including last season's awesome "Seven Twenty Three."

The Showrunner Training Program is a six-week series of daylong seminars with industry pros. The program, jointly run by the guild and the majors, is designed for scribes who have experience working on shows and can benefit from training to get to the next level in their careers. This year's program began Jan. 9.

Writers have to submit work samples and recommendations from industry insiders just to get into the program. Its alumni include budding hot shots Matt Nix, Glen Mazzara, Sam Baum, David Hudgins, Jennifer Johnson and Janet Tamaro, among others.

Here's the list of this year's Showrunner Training Program participants: