Posted by Kathy Lyford

I've watched a lot of television in my life but I do not believe I've ever seen a series so intricately complex and painstakingly crafted as "Mad Men." Not a detail is left to chance. It is therefore very difficult to recap. Forgive me for the length of this post.

This episode is all about the women and, with the help of outstanding performances from January Jones, Elisabeth Moss and  Christina Hendricks, we see the ladies' facades start to crumble.

Let's start with Betty.

It's been an undetermined amount of time since Jimmy Barrett let Betty in on the secret that their respective spouses have been involved in more than just business. We open with her, clearly frustrated, taking an early morning ride on her horse. And it must have been very early because she returns home to find Don still in bed. He's in a playful mood, even calling her "Birdy" at one point, but she's having none of it. She's as cold as the ice in one of his cocktails.

Preparations are under way for the big dinner party the Drapers are throwing for Rogers and Cowan exec Crab Colson and his lush of a wife Petra, the Sterlings and Duck. Much as she will later confront her troubled marriage, Betty confronts a wobbly dining chair, deciding in the end that it's easier to dismantle it than fix it. It struck me during this scene how utterly accustomed to dysfunction Sally and Bobby have become as they watch with mild curiosity as their mother destroys the offending furniture before they just go back to watching TV.

It was a pleasure to see the cast of "Mad Men" out of their workday outfits last night. They were featured at the Paley Center for Media's Beverly Hills locale to talk about about the stellar AMC series.

Christina Hendricks, who plays Joan, and Elizabeth Moss (Peggy) weren't attired in those long and restraining dresses they wear on the show, but rather in much more comfortable duds. At one point, Hendricks was commenting on the clothes she needs to wear all day long and said that after 17 hours in costume, all she wants to do is go home and put her flip-flops on and veg on the couch.

The guys, too, always fashionably attired on the show in classic Brooks Brothers suits came in sweaters and loosely fitting shirts. Jon Hamm, always the most dapper, came in a sports jacket, natch.

But enough about what's on the exterior for these actors and more about what makes them tick on the inside and how "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner birthed this show as, basically, a second job.

"I wrote the script at night while I was a comedy writer," said Weiner, who was working on "Becker" at the time.

"Mad Men" could've been under HBO's umbrella and a great post-"Sopranos" addition but the pay cabler never got back to Weiner after he submitted the script, which he sent off with blessings from friend and "Sopranos" supremo David Chase who told him "don't change a word."

"The plot I shot was exactly the same, word for word, as the way I wrote it," he said.

Weiner, a producer and writer on "Sopranos," says he's heard comparisons between the two shows in that, sometimes, the plots take too long to develop and that it's too dialogue heavy. No car crashes, no dead bodies. He doesn't buy the critique.

"We like to focus on the private moments," he said, "and you don't know what's going to happen. If that's not action, I don't know what is. … Although on 'The Sopranos,' we would throw a murder in there once in a while. I admit it."

For Hamm, whose signature role as Don Draper (or is that Dick Whitman?) has quietly become the talk of TV, said afterward that he's getting lots of calls from folks around town looking to cast him in a slew of projects.

He's certainly more than deserving of praise. It's hard to think of many other actors whose character would be so well liked, despite cheating on his wife with more than one woman, barely spending a moment with his kids and often being a bit unsociable in the office. Hamm has mastered the art of mixing debonair with a bit of diabolical and deviousness.

After reading the script, he figured he could fit the bill, but was far from confident he'd win out other more familiar actors.

"This was the best thing I had ever read and said, Too bad they won't cast me,'" he told the sold-out crowd. "It's the only job where I said out loud that I want it. And I'm glad I got it."

(Pics by Kevin Parry/Paley Center)

— Stuart Levine

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Everywhere I turn, I keep bumping into John Slattery.

Well, not literally, but turn on the TV and or head to the movies and there he is … again and again.

He's doing a stellar job as Roger Sterling, one of the partners of the Sterling Cooper ad agency in AMC's pitch-perfect original series "Mad Men." He's also appeared in recent episodes of "Desperate Housewives," played a Republican in the WB's short-lived "Jack & Bobby" and just yesterday I saw a screening of the new film "Reservation Road," where he was an attorney in a small, tony Connecticut town.

And he'll be appearing in the upcoming Aaron Sorkin-written/Michael Nichols-directed film "Charlie Wilson's War," starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. So, obviously, they'll be little to no fanfare about that one.

If the man doesn't have a publicist, he needs one. Pronto.

I probably first noticed Slattery in NBC's Tom Cavanagh series "Ed," which he followed up with a role in the HBO George Clooney-produced "K Street." Throw in last year's Clint Eastwood pic "Flags of Our Fathers" and you've got a guy who knows how to get around.

But back to "Mad Men," where all the actors — starting from Jon Hamm as the mysterious Don Draper — bring 1960 to life like few other series ever have.

If there's an actor whose career may skyrocket now that "Mad Men" is receiving raves, it's Hamm, who, with long hair, looks extremely un-Draper-like in the LA Film Fest Audience Award winning indie film "Ira and Abby" that stars his girlfriend, Jennifer Westfeldt.

Elizabeth Moss, finally, gets a chance to show her chops as Don's secretary, Peggy. Moss was most recognizable in recent years as Martin Sheen's daughter on "The West Wing," but the role was never fleshed out, and now she finally has a character which makes us wish she was used more on the Peacock's Emmy-winning series.

I interviewed Rosemarie DeWitt last year, thinking she was an actor to keep an eye, as she was starring in the Fox series "Standoff," with Ron Livingston. The show didn't make it, but not because of her. Nice to see her land a plum role here as Midge Daniels, Draper's mistress. There scenes are on the short side, so it would be great if creator Matthew Weiner could give us a bit more depth on what makes her tick.

And then there's Christina Hendricks, left, who supplies the va-voom to shapely redhead Joan Holloway. Joan knows all about the blatant sexism in the office … and works it beautifully to her advantage. Which brings us back to Slattery's Roger Sterling, the boss with whom she's having an affair.

I'm glad "Mad Men" launched in summer, where it wasn't forced to compete for attention with the onslaught of fall shows, and was allowed to find an audience that demands something more substantial than the reality glut we get every time of the year temperatures rise.

"Mad Men" and FX's "Damages" give us reason to turn the AC on and plant ourselves on the couch, with clicker in hand.