"Mad Men" hit the trifecta on Saturday at the TCA Awards, snaring the prizes for best drama, best new show and program of the year, as Variety's Stuart Levine reports. This is probably a good warmup for the Emmycast on Sept. 20.

Stars John Slattery and Jon Hamm (pictured left) already look very comfortable doing the acceptance remarks thing.

It's also good to see "The Wire" (cast members and series creator David Simon goofed around for a WireImage photog prior to the awards, see below) getting some respect. HBO drama was recognized with the Television Critics Assn.'s Heritage Award for programs that are gonna stick around for a while in our collective memory.

TCA kudos were hosted at the Bev Hilton by the Smothers Brothers (pictured right). I'm kinda sorry I missed it, I'll be Tom and Dick were great -- it's an election year after all.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

It was probably the earliest ayem panel the folks at "Mad Men" have ever participated in, but the crusty eyes and uncombed hair didn't stop any of the actors or creator Matt Weiner from offering some insight into AMC's buzz skein.

Season two, which starts up on July 27, won't be an immediate follow-up to last season's finale. Time will have lapsed, and Peggy's baby isn't even addressed in the first episode. That will come as the season progresses.

"Trust me," said Weiner, who is adamant about making sure plot points aren't revealed before an episode airs. "I’ll give you the information you need in the most entertaining  fashion possible."

Despite all the well-earned glory Weiner has received, including a big New York Times Magazine piece, he's still concerned about keeping the quality at the same high level as seen in season one.

"The truth is, the success still hasn’t sunk in,” confessed Weiner. “I’m an artist who can only hear bad things. I’m tightly wound and want to please myself. This is where I feel the pressure. I don’t want these people to get a script and say, ‘Oh, it’s a dud.’”

So far, no one has been disappointed. In fact, the cast, which has given flesh and blood to Weiner’s scripts, can’t really relate to their leader’s pessimism.

Said John Slattery, who’s been seen in a bunch of shows lately, including “Desperate Housewives”: “With TV, you sign on in the beginning and hope for the best. At the table readings, everyone is ooing, aahhing and laughing. It’s a surprise every week. The characters go places you didn’t expect them to go.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen and are afraid to ask. It could be your own death. Especially for me.”

Added Jon Hamm: “You think it’s going one way but the material takes you in another direction.”

Hamm offered some interesting analysis of his character’s relationship with his co-workers, especially Peggy, his former secretary who got promoted and is now slugging it out with the big boys.

“Don has a lot of respect for Peggy," Hamm revealed. “His relationship with women are complicated. The women he’s attracted to are women who are independent, and Peggy has an essence that’s appealing to Don. He’s not sexually attracted to her but respects her. He sees in Peggy a co-worker to be trusted. That’s very high praise from him.”

While Weiner is waiting for the other shoe to drop and can have a hard time envisioning a rosy future, he’s happy to talk up the scripted-programming future of AMC, the home of “Mad Men,” in glowing terms.

“It can take five to 10 years for some channels to get to where AMC is now,” Weiner touted. “I don’t hear A&E anymore. I hear AMC.”

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.