Lionsgate's TV distribution honcho Jim Packer sat down with Variety to talk features, digital and "Anger Management" (see related), and he took a victory lap for the banner's "Margin Call," which earned a best screenplay nom from the Academy today. "We did day-and-date with theatrical for 'Margin Call,'" he said. "It worked with theaters, it worked with VOD, and now it has a best screenplay nomination. You had pundits saying, 'it's not a real theatrical movie!' Well, yes it is." The VOD promotion, he said, was just good sense for a brainy indie film. "Could you have spent $25 million advertising for P&A (promotion and advertising)? Well, maybe if money was silly and you didn't care, but there are a lot of great movies that just won't justify a $25 million P&A spend."

***

At a Tuesday NATPE session in Miami, Viacom Entertainment group prexy Doug Herzog admitted to an aud of TV industryites that the company had gone in the wrong direction with guy-centric cabler Spike. "We were so focused on young guys that we chased everybody else away," he said. "We were too young, and too guy." The net, he said, is in unscripted-only mode until its financials start to look up, and it's looking into content that will appeal to a broader base. On a lighter note, Herzog said the hardest thing about running Comedy Central was trying to be funny. "I found that being cool at MTV was a lot easier," he laughed. "I could fake that."

***

This year's Tartikoff honorees all held court on Wednesday after the gala awards cermony. Matt Weiner's Wednesday session was among the best-attended of the confab. The "Mad Men" creator talked about how the indirect inspiration for his hit series - Reganomics. "I was going to college during the Reagan eighties and all these people who had grown up in the sixties had gotten very conservative and were still talking about how they had invented sex." College, he said, was a weird experience in that environment, especially after the AIDS crisis hit. "It's not still the sexual revolution when they give you a dental dam in your freshman orientation kit," he said ruefully. "I'm not kidding."

He also gave with the show's direct progenitor - "The Great Gatsby." "It's like the Bible now," he said. "It's not a bad thing to say that you've been influenced by or stolen from, but if Fitzgerald was here now he'd be like, 'Hey, you stole my story!'"

Weiner also said that incorporating season-long arcs had helped ground the show, and that the sometimes absurd power plays between characters that drive a lot of TV drama weren't for him.

"There are people who do it amazingly, but I can't do it," he said. "Don would have been an astronaut by the end of the season. Really, he would have been. 'The space program is calling, Don!"

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:

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Since the decade is about to end in a mere few days, I figured this was a good time to document my favorite shows of the 2000's.

As you can see, I skew more toward drama than comedy, but that doesn't mean I didn't have a good laugh in the 2000's. Shows that often had me on the floor include "Arrested Development," "30 Rock" and "Everybody Loves Raymond," just to name a few. With only 10 slots, however, they barely missed the cut.

Anyway, enjoy my list and let me know what you think. What did I miss? What do you agree wth? 

10. Mad Men
Matt Weiner’s sometimes slow but always engrossing take on the politically incorrect 1960s workplace also acts as a history lesson, but minus the chalkboard and musty textbooks. Has there ever been a character as tortured as Jon Hamm’s Don Draper, who hid his troubled past as long as he could until wife January Jones finally learned the truth. Kudos to all the cast, but especially Elisabeth Moss, a woman wanting to move up in the working world and not waiting for a man’s approval to do it.

9. Curb Your Enthusiasm
Only the mind of Larry David could concoct such zany episodes, with the disparate stories all somehow reconnecting 30 minutes later. This last season especially, where he gathered the "Seinfeld" team in a pseudo-reunion, makes one realize how fortunate viewers are to have Larry continually find something that aggravates him. His brilliance is in separating “real” Larry vs. "Curb" Larry,
and making audiences believe they‘re both the same person.

8. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 
Ever since Jon Stewart took over Comedy Central’s nightly "news" show, there’s no way to watch the events of the day and not think about how Stewart and his remarkable team of writers and "reporters" will offer their unique spin. Sure, it leans to the political left — and you’ll enjoy it more if you do too — but that’s only because Stewart and his team find it nearly impossible to pass on such comic giants as George Bush and Sarah Palin.

7. Lost
The shipwrecked island thing has been done before, but nothing like this. Smoke monsters. Ben. The Others. Flash forwards. Hurley never losing weight. Exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have created a pseudo-reality where nothing is ever as it seems and manipulations, treachery and backstabbing between friends is as common as a morning shower. And don’t dare miss an episode — what you missed in season 2 could have major implications in a plot development four years later. Can’t wait to see how it all wraps up in starting in February.

6. The Sopranos
For all the mafia rough-housing of the fellas on "The Sopranos," my favorite moments always involved Carmela — the show’s tour de force, Edie Falco. While some were afraid of Tony’s venom, and rightly so, it was Carmela who held the power in the Soprano family. One particular scene stays with me, where she and Tony have a balls-to-the-wall argument and she tells him their marriage is over. There were lots of great characters who hung out in front of Satriale’s pork store — particularly Christofuh, Paulie and Silvio — but it was the Carmela and Dr. Melfi who told the boys when to play nice, or not.

5. The West Wing
I’m still not sure Martin Sheen wasn’t actually the president. Aaron Sorkin’s presentation of the political process was done in such an entertaining style, that it almost made you made wish you had a career in Washington, D.C. Meticulously offering the inner workings of the White House and how those in the Administration sacrificed much of themselves for the benefit of the American people, “The West Wing” was all about public service, and how there are still some politicians who actually care.

4. The Shield
Whether Vic Mackey was a good cop or not all depends on your point of view. He did whatever it took to take criminals off the street, and if that meant killing one of his own or pocketing a few hundred grand along the way, so be it. The series that put FX on the map was superlative in its grittiness in depicting the mean streets of L.A. Michael Chiklis won an Emmy for his work on the first year of the show, and with the addition of such stellar work from little-known actors such as Jay Karnes and Walton Goggins, “The Shield” has set the bar for future cop shows awfully high.

3. Friday Night Lights
Sometimes television gems come along when you least expect them. NBC might have fumbled the marketing opportunities when “Friday Night Lights” first came on the air a few years bck, but the few fans who watched realized they were witnessing greatness. And they still are. Thanks to DirecTV and the fans at NBC who keep the show on the air , audiences have come to love everything about the citizens of Dillon, Texas — its students, coaches, administrators and, most of all, the families that make is home. How Kyle Chandler has not won an Emmy, much not even nominated, is a primetime disgrace.

2. Deadwood
The term genius shouldn’t be thrown around loosely, especially when it comes to television. Yet, David Milch’s vision of those ebullient gold rushers settling into camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota, circa 1890, was mesmerizing at every turn. While Milch’s dialogue was Shakespearean in its verse, the actors who delivered it captured the spirit of the words brilliantly. Kim Dickens, W. Earl Brown, Timothy Olyphant, Paula Malcomson and, especially, Ian McShane as Al Swearengen brought so much life to their characters, it was as if viewers were allowed to go back in time and see how this country was shaped … one whiskey shot at a time.

1. The Wire
Simply put, there has never been, nor will there ever be, a series as good as David Simon’s “The Wire.” The way Simon and his fellow creatives were able to capture the ills of a metropolitan city on the decline — Baltimore, in this case — through its drug pushers, police, mayoral office, school system and newspaper was to watch Picasso and Michelangelo paint. Impossible to pick a high point from five seasons, many will offer the tragic destiny of the corner boys in season four, yet how does not one single out Bunk, Avon, Prop Joe and, of course, Omar. When asking folks about “The Wire,” the response was often, “Yeah, I’ve never watched, but I hear it’s great. I need to get that on DVD.” Yes, you do. Now.

Yowza. The only thing missing from "Mad Men's" season finale was the theme from "Rocky."

We were treated to the sight of Don Draper getting off the ropes, finally, after getting a big injection of his old smooth-but-smoldering fire back as he fights back and plots the course for the rest of his life. I'm guessing this episode, "Shut the Door, Have a Seat," will be popular with the fans, but crix may carp that it was a little too "Dallas" in terms of the tidy storytelling. The seg penned by Erin Levy and Matthew Weiner and helmed by Weiner (as he did for the previous season closers) seemed to offer much more in the way of conclusions and set a deliberate course for next season than past "Mad Men" finales. But I'm in the fan camp and can't complain. The lighter moments sprinkled throughout the episode offset some of the on-the-nose plot points - All in all, I loved this season. Sorry to see it end.

This episode was monumental for Don, natch. What the JFK assassination was to Betty, the jolt of  McCann-Erickson buying Putnam, Powell and Lowe (and Sterling Cooper) was to Don. (I kept thinking about Albert Brooks in "Lost in America," telling anyone who'll listen that he's a senior vice president at M-E.) All the hard knocks and hard lessons learned of the season came to a head in fueling his single-minded determination not to become a cog at what he considers "a sausage factory." It's also made clear by the flashbacks to his boyhood with his hot-headed father that he wants to do everything he can to avoid being beaten down by life, to literally getting killed by a kick in the head from a horse.

By the end of this episode, as Don moves into his new apartment, you realize that for the first time in years he's really making a fundamental change in his life. He's (mostly) let go of the ruse of Don Draper, he's letting go of his idyllic vision of the wife and family, even at the great cost of hurting his older children, and he's starting to actually think about how he treats other people.

From the start of this season, Don was backsliding into his old patterns of fooling around in varying degrees (the one-night stand with the stewardess, the deeper entanglement with Suzanne) and keeping everyone around him at arm's length. I thought it was interesting that we didn't see Don running back to Suzanne, or into another's arms even though nothing's really stopping him. He's pouring everything he's got into the new venture. As he told Bert, "I'm sick of being batted around like a ping pong ball. I want to work. I want to build something myself."

We’ve come a long way in 13 weeks. “Mad Men” covered an incredible amount of territory in its just-wrapped third season, weaving social, cultural and political issues of the day (mid-to-late 1963) into its tapestry of the lives, loves and ambitions of a wonderfully distinct group of characters. “Mad Men” creator/exec producer

Matthew Weiner was kind enough to spend an hour on the phone sharing his thoughts about the grand design of the season, though he was careful not to say a word about Sunday’s finale, which I hadn’t seen at the time we spoke (Nov. 5).

How did you wrap your arms around something as monumental as the Kennedy assassination?

We have an experience to measure it against. I think 9/11 is a very close experience – it’s very different kind of experience but I was definitely trying to recreate the sensation that we had on that day: The collective shock, the loss of faith in institutions.

That’s why I did the thing about the heating and the air conditioning going off in and Hildy saying ‘The building will take care of it.’ Right there it was a way to say that (Sterling Cooper) is an institution. Marriage is an institution, the wedding is an institution, work is an institution, family is an institution.

Dramatically I wanted to hit the audience by surprise. We were going to do it in (episode) 11 originally and then we had enough story to push it into 12. It was never going to be the last episode because I wanted it to hit the characters and the audience in the way that it did. The episode starts out as a regular episode and then it takes a left turn.

You telegraphed it through the glimpse of the invitation for Margaret’s wedding on Nov. 23.

It’s kind of a ‘Twilight Zone’ move. (Alerting the aud that) this is going to happen this year and these people don’t know it.

After a season of twists, turns, trysts and trips (Roma anyone?), we're in the home stretch for what should be a momentous third-season finale for "Mad Men" on Sunday night.

Yes, I know that Weiner is of the David Chase/"Sopranos" school where the big, big stuff usually happens in the penultimate episode. And certainly, the JFK assassination in last week's episode, "The Grown Ups," set a number of interesting things in motion. But it's folly to predict this show (remember, Roger Sterling actually turned down an opportunity for cheap-and-easy drunken sex just a few episodes ago) -- so why bother.

Watch this space on Sunday night for a Q&A with the maestro himself, Matthew Weiner. We had a nice long chat on Thursday morning about the big themes and the grand design of this season, though he said not a peep about the finale. I've been spoiled with advance screeners for episodes this season (usually landing on my desk on the Fridays) but not for the season finale. I'll watch it like a civilian and do my best to make sense of it before the bars close (L.A. time).

The Q&A will pop up right after the finale ends, or a little after 11 p.m. (L.A. time). Matt, as always, covers a wide range of territory -- he offers some particularly interesting insights into the foot fiasco from "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency."

Can you guess who he's talking about with this observation: "His use of silence is such an advanced concept of acting."

I don't know where to begin. I want to scream at you for ruining all of this...But then you tried to fix it, and there's no point. There's no point, Don.

A season of monumental changes for "Mad Men's" central players came to its near-conclusion with a storyline that grabbed those of us at home by the throat, shook us up and left us in mourning for the loss so profound, and yet still so hard to define, even 46 years on.

"Mad Men" is particularly involving for viewers because there's so much to choose from, between the stable of fantastically rendered characters and the period touches that can provoke so much thought about the way we lived then, and now. But there was no choosing in this episode. The JFK assassination is something we've all lived with as a part of our collective consciousness, in too many ways to detail here.

So, to borrow a phrase from the "Mad Men" blogger I admire most, Alan Sepinwall: Damn. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. This was an impossible assignment, very, very, very well done.

After my first viewing of this episode,"The Grown-Ups," I barely processed the developments for Betty and Don, Betty and Henry, Pete, Peggy and Roger. By the time the angelic, and so purely American, voice of Miss Skeeter Davis sang of heartbreak, with her 1962 hit "The End of the World," over the closing credits, I just felt incredible sadness -- not sobbing sad, but a kind of aching in my bones, no kidding. Because this was no dramatist's concoction. This all happened in the world as it was just six years before I was born.

For a week, after the cliffhanger ending of "The Color Blue" as Don was showered with applause, I've been imagining the fireworks that were sure to erupt when Betty finally confronted him with all the ammunition she gathered from the desk drawer. I was thinking of mega histrionics, screaming, furniture flying, glass breaking, binge drinking, etc.

I should've known better. When it really matters, this show is rarely predictable. That the showdown in "The Gypsy and the Hobo" between Betty and Don would come in whispers, in dimly lit rooms through gritted teeth -- fantastic. It was not at all what I expected but it was so right; kudos to scribes Marti Noxon, Cathryn Humphris and Matthew Weiner and helmer Jennifer Getzinger.

I've been hard on Betty this season, but she regained her humanity in this seg because she wasn't a screaming banshee. In fact, she was as good as Don could've hoped for -- much better than he deserved, what with his latest lover waiting in the car outside the house. The fact that Suzanne finally crawled away in the cold, dark night was just right too. A confrontation with Betty would've distracted from the real drama unfolding between a wife and husband coming to grips with the fact that she doesn't really know him, nor trust him, at all. "You're a very, very gifted storyteller," Betty tells him. And she knows his predilection for bailing when the going gets rough: "Are you thinking of what to say or are you just looking at that door?"

Betty was obviously considering staying a lot longer than a week in Philadelphia while she sorted out her future and her father's estate. Her exchange with the family lawyer was rough to hear on a human rights level -- the idea that a woman seeking a divorce in those days would basically be up a creek without a paddle -- but again, it rang true. The lawyer did give her sound advice. (Didn't it sound like he called her "Betsy"?)

For Don, I think that after the immediate W-T-F? shock of the confrontation with Betty (loved the scene when he staggers out from his den into the kitchen), he was still trying to work his best Don Draper mojo on her right up until the moment in the bedroom where she asks him about "Adam." Even as he was taking her through the story of his tortured parental experience, he didn't volunteer that he had a half-brother until she pressed him about the "boy in the pictures."

"I don't care about your marriage, or your work, or any of that. As long as I know you're with me."

Whoa, Don Draper. You'd better have a flak jacket on underneath that tuxedo because you're about to face incoming missiles from all sides: your wife, your lover and your professional family.

This was the rope-a-dope episode of "Mad Men," one that meandered along with great character bits until just about halfway through when ... wham! Betty hears the keys to Pandora's Desk rattling around in the dryer and she unlocks more of a mystery that she ever bargained for. I love the way this mammoth plot development was played so randomly -- what if she hadn't done laundry that morning? -- and without any hint (at least that I caught) that it was coming.

Leave to Don Draper to engender not one but two psycho femmes with cause to come after him with both guns blazing. I found the scenes between Don and his latest extramarital squeeze, school teacher Suzanne, to be kind of creepy, frankly. She's nuts, folks, and it's only a matter of time before it all spills out of her upstairs apartment and onto the sidewalks of Ossining and the halls of Sterling Cooper, for Betty and the neighbors and the office chipmunks to see.

At first as this episode unfolded I was having a little trouble buying the Suzanne-Don relationship, which we're seeing in full bloom for the first time in this seg, "The Color Blue," penned by Kater Gordon and Matthew Weiner and helmed by Michael Uppendahl. Suzanne's a budding feminist, artsy/craftsy type who's probably headed to Stonybrook or Haight-Ashbury in the next four years or so. What does she want with a married Mr. Establishment type (even one that handsome)? She oughta be dating Ken Cosgrove. But then I saw how they were hinting at her brewing discontent with the relationship and it made more sense.

This just in: It's true. Robin Veith will not be back for season four of "Mad Men." The assistant who was with Matt Weiner nearly a decade ago when he was writing the pilot on spec has decided to leave the nest. Robin's segs include some of "Mad Men's" best, including "The Wheel" (season one finale), "The New Girl," "A Night to Remember" and "The Mountain King." Good luck and godspeed to Robin.

Struggle seems to be the overriding theme of this seg of "Mad Men": The struggles of a changing society, the emotional struggles of men and women, of the powerful and the subservient and the classic id-superego struggle to balance impulse and reason. (As voiced by Harry Crane when he finds himself in a pickle: "I'm not going to panic and do something stupid like I usually do.")

There was a fair amount of plot movement to digest in "Wee Small Hours," even if at first blush it didn't seem so. Betty takes a big step forward with Henry Francis but then turns on a dime and jumps three steps back. (Run, Henry, run!)

Our beloved Salvatore gets battered and bruised, professionally and sexually, and we're left with a big hint that he's heading into the wilds at a moment when he's wounded and vulnerable.

Don's weird power tango with Conrad Hilton continues at a feverish pace, and I think his frustration with that relationship has a whole lot to do with how demanding he becomes of the coltish Miss Farrell later on. And we see that no one at Sterling Cooper is running hotter under the collar these days than Roger Sterling. He's reduced to yelling for recognition of what value he provides to the agency these days. (Roger: "What do you think accounts does besides limit your brilliance?" Don: "I'd tell you but I don't want to hurt your feelings.")

Perhaps most intriguing to me in this episode, penned by Dahvi Waller and Matthew Weiner and helmed by exec producer Scott Hornbacher, was the advancement of the Hilton-as-Don's-father-figure storyline. Where the heck is this going? Beats me, but I don't mind. I love watching Chelcie Ross work. The exchanges between those two after Don delivers his trademark killer sales pitch for the international Hilton campaign, when the batty cowboy is criticizing Don for not giving him "the moon," as he'd asked, was such a father-son encounter that they didn't even try to mask it.

"What do you want from me, love? Fine, your work is good," Connie says in a patronizing, fatherly tone. "But when I say I want the moon I expect the moon!"

Two things came to mind while I watched this "Mad Men" episode, "Souvenir," which unfolded at a much more leisurely and subtle pace than the last two installments.

One was "La Dolce Vita," Fellini's seminal romp through Rome with Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg.

The other was "Summer in the City," that turn-it-up AM radio classic by the Lovin' Spoonful. (Yes, "Summer in the City" is 1966 and thus not strictly of "Mad Men's" mid-1963 moment but "La Dolce Vita" is 1960, so I figure it all evens out.)

This episode, written by Lisa Albert and Matthew Weiner and helmed by Phil Abraham, found Don and Betty unexpectedly winging to Rome at Conrad Hilton's behest for a 48-hour jaunt that seemed to do wonders for their relationship at a pivotal moment for Betty -- at least until they got home. The other major subplot was Pete's struggle to deal with his internal emotional conflicts, his urges and, clearly, his habit of self-medicating with alcohol. And we got an answer to the question "Mad Men" fanatics have been asking since "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency" -- where's Joan?

"Souvenir" was a tour de force for January Jones, who was so good in so many moments, big and small, that they are too numerous to mention. Like her leading man, Jon Hamm, Jones can speak volumes without uttering a word. It was also a fabulous showcase for Vincent Kartheiser, who's overdue this season for a great spotlight seg. It starts on the page, for sure, but Kartheiser's talent has done so much to add dimension to Pete.

On paper, he's a character I should loathe -- especially after his inexcusable, border-line criminal behavior with the German au pair down the hall -- but I don't, because Kartheiser has humanized him so much.

But back to Betty. Jones was so good in this episode that I almost stopped hating Betty, at least until her natural petulance got the better of her at the end. We got a little bit of everything from Betty this episode -- past, present and the future she would like to have versus the future that she faces under her present circumstances.

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.

Let's call this the long, awkward pause edition of "Mad Men" There are some good ones in this third installment of the season,"My Old Kentucky Home."

It's also an insightful, oh-so-telling study of the nature of couplehood in all of its many stages. In another life, Matt Weiner surely would have been a marriage counselor. He has a keen eye for those little details and small gestures that reveal everything about a relationship. 

And any episode that gives us Joan playing the accordion ("C'est Magnifique") and Peggy Olson, proud graduate of Miss Deaver's Secretarial School, smoking her first joint has got to be a goodie. I nearly choked on her declaration to Paul Kinsey et al: "I'm Peggy Olson. I want to smoke some marijuana."

Overall, this is an interesting episode for the women of the Sterling Cooper mob. We're seeing more assertiveness, certainly from Peggy (when Paul tells her to go get the blender, she shoots back "You get it"), but in subtle ways from other characters -- even Carla, the Drapers' housekeeper, in her dealings with Gene, Betty's batty dad. I think it's all part of the theme of great social change enveloping our characters. The show is a Petri dish for all of these New Frontier experiments, and we get to watch how various personality types react. (Harry Crane is so voting for Goldwater. And Nixon.)

It's no accident that one of the two headline news items of the day that are referenced in this episode is the then-scandalous marriage of socialite Margaretta "Happy" Murphy to New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, barely a month after she got a divorce and had to give up custody rights to her four children. Betty has clearly followed this tabloid affair (she's a closet New York Post reader?) because she knows all the details when the surprise marriage is referenced.

The other news that seeps into this episode, penned by Dahvi Waller and Weiner, is the radio report that references Birmingham, Alabama. (Try as I might I could not make out the first part of the report, the sound was too muddy). If this episode is taking place on May 4, 1963 -- the date of the Rockefeller wedding -- then the radio report is clearly about the civil rights demonstrations led by Martin Luther King Jr. against segregation in Birmingham ("greatest city in A-la-bam," per Randy Newman). These were protests that yielded scenes of unbelievable brutality -- children and teenagers getting beaten with billy clubs, bitten by police dogs and cut down with fire hoses -- that helped turned the tide of public opinion and pave the way for landmark civil rights legislation in the years ahead.

Ouch. Everybody is uptight and angsty beyond belief in the second episode of "Mad Men's" third season. The title is "Love Among the Ruins," but it might've been called "Where Did Our Love Go?"

Perhaps the most shocking turn the seg is that Don Draper actually does something selfless in order to make Betty happy by taking in her dementia-troubled father, Gene. He pulls it off in pure Don Draper sotto vocedramatic fashion, pulling Betty's brother into the study of the Draper manse in Ossining and telling him how it's going to go down.

After Betty forces Don to accept the invasion of her brother, his wife, their children and her ailing father for the week of spring break, he gradually realizes that Betty's finely honed sense of guilt about caring for her father will eat away at her if she doesn't take care of him -- or worse, if her brother's wife winds up playing nursemaid. Goodness knows she's already enough of a b-i-t-c-h. Could she be any colder to her kids?

Don would have to be blind not to notice Betty's pain (though that's never stopped him before). Betty declares herself to be in a "foul mood" while worrying about her father, and she later declares herself "the world's worsta horrible daughter" just before Don takes matters into his own hands with Betty's waffly brother.

Having rendered himself rootless with no family, Don also instinctively understands that Betty can't bear to sell the family home in order to put the father in an old folks home, as Betty's brother suggests. (The brother Don referenced last week as being someone who's always borrowing things and putting his name on them, and whose name, WilliamHofstadt, Don assumed for his near one-night-stand in Baltimore.)

There was a heck of a lot going on in this episode -- written by Caryn Humphris and Matt Weiner and helmed by Lesli Linka Glatter -- but to me the stuff with Betty's father was the most weirdly intriguing.

After last week's season opener, I was hoping for an episode with more Betty and more Peggy, and darn if Weiner and Co. didn't deliver on both counts.

A triumphant return. I find it wonderfully confounding that for all the speculation in the ten months since "Mad Men's" second season closer about the big changes in store for Don, Betty, Peggy, Pete, Sal, Joan, et al, the major developments in the third season preem,"Out of Town," reinforce that nothing much has changed at all for our core characters.

Don is still a serial philanderer, attracted to ultra sexually aggressive Bobbie Barrett types who work outside the home. Betty is back to the blithe state of denial and I-just-want-everything-to-be-perfect mental state that can only mean she's in for a hard fall when life inevitably turns out to be less than perfect.

Peggy is still living in the deepest, scariest state of denial as she pursues her professional career above all else. Pete, even after learning last season that he has a child by Peggy, is still fueled by his status- consciousness more than anything else -- acknowledging that he's fathered a child out of wedlock or ending his marriage to Trudy (as was indicated in last season's finale) would be too much of a blemish on his social-climbing endeavors.

Sal by the end of this episode is shoved more firmly back in the closet than ever, after the cruel tease of very nearly experiencing sexual ecstasy at the hands of a Baltimore bellboy.

Joan is still the Machiavellian queen bee of Sterling Cooper, even if she's outwardly proclaiming her distance from office politics -- post British invitation -- and her desire to leave it all behind after her planned nuptials.

And in the larger scheme, the picture of mid-1963 America presented in this episode indicates that the Cuban Missile Crisis period -- when we last saw our heroes forced to face the threat of nuclear annihilation -- has not had a lasting impact on the New Frontier/Camelot zeitgeist of the moment.

(Doing the math based on Betty looking to be about seven-eight months pregnant, it would mean that at least six months have passed since the October 1962 period of the sophomore season finale.)

We at home, of course, know that trauma that is lurking around the corner (Dallas, the grassy knoll, a convertible limo -- you get the picture). But for now, life is all about empire-building, the march of capitalism, sex appeal and getting in good with the ladies from the docent program at the Met.

(Read Brian Lowry's take on this episode.)

"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...

What better way to kill time waiting for a flight at LAX than by finishing off the rest of the items I meant to file from Sunday's SAG Awards.

B.J. Novak made my night at the SAG afterparty by telling me that he is an On the Air reader. (I'm always surprised to hear it.). He's just now coming back to "The Office" after wrapping his work on Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds."

"Basterds," Novak assures, is going be to be incredible - an intense, bad-ass war pic but his character does have some dark humor to play too. And as for Ryan's return to the Scranton branch, Novak (flanked by "Office" compatriots Leslie David Baker and Mindy Kaling at the awards) says to expect Ryan to make a big entrance (I think he said in March) after his sojourn in Thailand.

Just like at the Golden Globes, it seemed like everytime I turned around on SAG's red carpet, there was another "Office" player. Kate Flannery took the time to share her insights into what SAG needs to do to right its ship (her prescription: merge with AFTRA) and we also chatted about the recent Meredith-centric seg "The Intervention." Flannery (pictured left) said she and Steve Carell mostly improvised the scene in the parking lot where Carell's Michael Scott tries to drag Meredith into a rehab facility.

 "It was the most fun I've ever had in front of a camera," Flannery said.

Ed Helms, aka the "Office's" clueless Andy Bernard, reported having a blast in shooting the "Duel" seg with Rainn Wilson as Andy and Wlison's Dwight battled for Angela's hand. It was an opportunity to show Andy's sensitive side. "It had some real drama and pathos to it, which is rarely part of Andy's world," Helms said.

"The opportunity to show those kind of visceral emotions was different" for the character, Helms said. There seemed to be as many "Mad Men" troupers out there on Sunday as "Office" workers. And those worlds collided when Rich Sommer ("Mad Men's" Harry Crane) walked by. Sommer had a brief role in "Office" earlier this season as a student in the art school that Jenna Fischer's Pam attended (and his character was very attentive to Pam.)

 Is there a chance that he comes back to "Office" to complicate things for Pam? Not that Sommer knows, but you never know. Sommer also wasn't shy about sharing his feelings about the state of SAG (get off the strike idea, already), and I so appreciated his candor.

Vincent Kartheiser (pictured right) was in full beard and fine spirits as he made the rounds with John Slattery. We talked about the great final scene in season two for his Pete Campbell character, which found him sitting in his office with a shotgun in his lap as the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolds.

Kartheiser said "Mad Men" boss Matthew Weiner freaked him out a bit by telling him that he could easily run that long pan shot backwards "and add a gun shot."

Oh, say it aint so, Matt Weiner! Thanks in no small measure to Kartheiser's skills (and great writing), Pete Campbell was the "Mad Men" character that grew on me the most last season.

Now that season three of"Mad Men" is all systems go, Matt Weiner says he's not expecting to make many changes in the writing staff from last season.

Fans will be happy to hear that the talented Robin Veith is definitely coming back for more adventures with the Sterling Cooper gang. (Veith last season penned three segs: "The New Girl" and co-wrote with Weiner "A Night to Remember" and "The Mountain King.")

Veith (pictured right) was Weiner's assistant nearly a decade ago when he first started writing the little spec that could. She bounced around a few jobs and was working in a behind-the-scenes role for a traveling circus when Weiner called her in 2006 to let her know the show was finally a go and she had a job if she wanted it.

Another "Mad Men" staffer getting a promotion for season three is Kater Gordon, who was the show's writers assistant for season two and has been upped to staff writer this year. Gordon's potential clearly impressed Weiner last season; Gordon was co-writer with the boss on the finale seg "Meditations in an Emergency."

Either AMC topper Charlie Collier has a great poker face or he is genuinely unconcerned that “Mad Men” creator-exec producer Matthew Weiner hasn’t signed up yet for the show’s third season.

“As long as we get the writers room up and running over the next three months, we’re fine,” said Collier after the network finished a panel for “The Prisoner,” a 1960s sci-fi series that’s getting a revision for a November launch. Collier added that the “Mad Men” isn’t behind production based on last season’s schedule and the show remains a firm go for a summer premiere.

Although the skein has never been a ratings magnet, its cache is vitally important to the network. The show has a slew of critical support, a rabid fan base and took home the Emmy in September as best drama.

“(Producer) Lionsgate continues to be in negotiations with Matt,” Collier said, with no other inside information to add. “We remain optimistic.”

That’s more upbeat than Weiner, who was upset when he spoke about the situation a few weeks ago when the show was nominated for a Golden Globe.

“This process has been going on for a long time. Everyone knew my contract was up at the end of the year. I did more than I promised I would do. It's frustrating that it's taking so long,” he said.

Weiner may add more from the podium at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday night if “Mad Men” takes home a Globe. Both the show and star Jon Hamm won last year, but with the writers strike canceling the show, nobody got a chance to speak.

— Stuart Levine

"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner enjoyed the attention the Golden Globes heaped upon his AMC show Thursday morning as he and his wife were in Milan, Italy, promoting the second season for European audiences.

Yet, while Weiner is proud of where the show has gone, he's more than concerned he might not be around for its future. He and producer Lionsgate haven't been able to come up with a deal for season three, and the clock continues to tick.

The lack of a contract is clearly eating away at him, and even gobs of pasta and gelato can't solve the impasse.

"We're supposed to start back in the writers' room in the middle of January," he said. "This process has been going on for a long time. Everyone knew my contract was up at the end of the year. I did more than I promised I would do. It's frustrating that it's taking so long."

Weiner has always acknowledged the team effort it takes in putting the elaborately detailed "Mad Men" together — from the cast to the scripts, from set and costume design and all below-the-line categories — but, make no mistake, this is his baby, and he doesn't want to hand off his child to someone else.

"People know the mythology of the script and know I wrote it in my basement," he explained. "People are shocked that the show could go on without me. Right now it's just frustrating."

As for what's ahead for Don Draper and Co., Weiner has thoughts about where the tale leads, but he may not get a chance to tell it.

"This is all a very confusing business," he reiterated. "There's a strange logic to how things are done. I have every intention of coming back and have lots of stories to tell. I'm not done yet. I can tell you that."

— Stuart Levine

I can totally see Pete Campbell going whole-hog for something like this.

"Mad Men" players Vincent Kartheiser (Pete), Aaron Staton (Ken Cosgrove) and Alison Brie took (Trudy Campbell) took part in TBS' Comedy Festival festivities at Caesars Palace this weekend.

Specifically they were contestants in Friday's "Celebrity Bagging Contest," held to promote the wacky TBS latenighter "10 Items or Less," a semi-improv skein set in a supermarket.

The "Mad Men" trio didn't win, but from the looks of these pics they had fun, and I'm guessing they all got to spend a weekend in Vegas on Time Warner's tab.

For the record, the winning team was John Lehr, Kim Coles, Robert Valderrama and Greg Davis Jr. from "10 Items." Sound fishy? Nah. The grand prize was a donation of $500 for DoSomething.org, a non-profit outfit that aims to encourage young folks to take action on causes they believe in. And all the food used in the bagging competish went to a Vegas food bank.

Fresh segs of "10 Items or Less," produced by Sony Pictures TV, bow Jan. 6 on TBS.

(Pictured above from left, Aaron Staton, Alison Brie and Vincent Kartheiser)

The Anti-Defamation League hosted an interesting discussion about how Jews are portrayed on television as part of the org's annual meeting this week at the Bev Hilton.

It was interesting mostly for the caliber of the people who were doing the discussing: Former Los Angeles Times chief TV critic Howard Rosenberg pressed "Mad Men" creator/exec producer Matthew Weiner and Roz Weinman, the former head of standards and practices at NBC and a former producer for the "Law & Order" troika, to go beyond the obvious and really examine the question of how the portrayals of Jews have changed over the years, and why.

The hourlong sesh, held Friday ayem, seemed particularly relevant given the milestone the country has reached in its long and tortured history of race relations with the election of our first black president. It was not, however, the kind of discussion that lends itself to snappy soundbites or easily distillation of main points.

Weiner made the observation that as part of the cultural assimilation process, Jews and every other ethnic, racial or religious minority at some point seek to downplay most of their differences from mainstream WASP culture in the effort to blend in and be accepted. On television it is only in the recent past that shows built around distinct ethnic subcultures have been widely accepted, Weiner said, citing the "The Sopranos" as a prime example.

"When the specificity of who people are is part of the commercial appeal -- that just means we've changed" as a culture, Weiner said. "I was surprised to see ethnic identity come back into entertainment with 'The Sopranos.' I guess it meant the public was ready for it."

In preparation for the "Mad Men" finale, I watched the season opener, "For Those Who Think Young," again.

Kathy Lyford, Stuart Levine and I have consistently marveled at the intricate craftsmanship of this show in these weekly blog posts. But it really is amazing to look back at the 13 segs in their entirety and to consider the care and planning that went in to stringing the threads and revealing a little bit more of the puzzle week by week. Kudos to Matthew Weiner, Robin Veith and the rest of the "Mad Men" team. We owe you.

It struck me that a whole bunch of season two is described in this quote from the book "Meditations in an Emergency" that is featured as a voice-over from Don as he reads the book near the end of the season opener.

"Now I am quietly waiting for the catastrophe of my personality to seem beautiful again...and interesting... and modern."

This season began on Feb. 14, 1962, with a breathless Jackie Kennedy leading us on a tour of the White House via the small screen, and ended eight months later on the heels of her husband's famed Oct. 22 televised address warning the world that a nuclear attack could well be brewing. Enough drama for you?

Think of how much the world for the Sterling Cooper-ites changes in that time -- from the boundless promise of JFK's New Frontier to the Cold War chill, the confrontation of racism and the civil rights movement, the budding awakening of what will be dubbed "women's lib," and the underside of celebrity culture laid bare by Marilyn Monroe's self-destruction.

I can't wait to find out where we go from here. It's gonna be eight long months, presuming AMC sticks with its summer skedding pattern.

Before we say goodbye to season two, it's worth taking a look back at a highlights reel. I'd love to hear some comments/criticisms/suggestions from others who are as obsessed with this show as Littleton/Lyford/Levine, LLC.

To start, a shout-out to a few of the supporting players whose work hasn't been as heralded as much as the that of the core ensemble.

Kiernan Shipka -- Sally Draper had so much to play this year. This is one talented moppet.

Alison Brie -- She always does so much with Trudy Campbell's limited screen time.

Joel Murray -- We miss Freddy Rumsen already.

Melinda McGraw -- Oooh, did I hate Bobbie Barrett, to the credit of Ms. McGraw.

GREAT LINES:

"What did you bring me, daddy?" -- Peggy Olson (Episode 1, "For Those Who Think Young")

"It's so obvious why you're seeing her -- A supermarket checkout girl? The conversation must be stimulating. 'Lettuce costs a nickel...You, out there in your poor little rich boy apartment, in Newark or wherever...Walking around with your pipe and your beard. Falling in love with that girl just to show how interesting you are." -- Joan Holloway (Episode 2, "Flight 1")

"God, I miss the 50s" -- Roger Sterling (Episode 3, "The Benefactor")

"God, I miss the blacklist" -- CBS executive (Episode 3, "The Benefactor")

"My people are Nordic" -- Betty Draper (Episode 3, "The Benefactor")

Remember how Helen Bishop told Betty Draper a few episodes back that the hardest thing about being divorced was getting used to the idea that "you're in charge?"

In her own twisted way, Betty has taken charge of her life by the time we get to episode 13, "Meditations in an Emergency," the denouement of the awe-inspiring second season of "Mad Men."

Betty isn't the only one who's coming into her own in this seg, written by Matthew Weiner and Kater Gordon and helmed by Weiner. Peggy Olson is capping an incredible period of personal growth with what is quite possibly the most grown-up thing she's ever done in her 22 (maybe by now she's 23) years.

It all unfolds against the backdrop of what is arguably the most tense six-day span of the atomic age. And near the end of this episode (that you don't want to end) is one of those gems of dialogue that will bounce around in our heads for the next nine months until season three arrives next summer.

"If the world is still here on Monday, we can talk."

But to start, let's focus on Betty. Her her storyline has been nothing short of gut-wrenching all season and, in contrast to season one, Betty's saga has been vital to the storytelling and our continued discovery of Don Draper/Dick Whitman. (Cynthia's thoughts continue after the jump.)

Kathy Lyford's thoughts:

Sunday nights just aren't going to be the same. Sniff.

I'm pretty sure my take on the end of the season is not what Matthew Weiner and the writers had in mind when they wrote it but I'm going to throw it out there anyway.

To me, the final three episodes are almost a trilogy, and they stand together, apart from the first 10 season 2 eps.

They had a very Dickensian feel to them to me, wherein all the core characters, most particularly Don Draper, are confronted with ghosts of their past, their present and their future.

Don got a glimpse of what his future might hold in episode 11, "The Jet Set." If he continued on the path he was on, he was in real danger of becoming one of those emotionally bereft gypsies, like Joy and her crazy family.

In episode 12, "The Mountain King," Don returned to his past, to Anna, the one person who "gets" him. In so doing, he was able to regain his bearings and remember what is important to him. And in this finale, which is still reeling around in my head, he faces his present -- uncertain though it may be -- particularly with the Cuban Missile Crisis looming. Does his life still include Sterling Cooper? Betty? Will he have another child?

I don't know. And I don't want to. I want to go along for the ride as it all unfolds in season 3, in its typically tantalizing "Mad Men" way.

Stuart Levine's thoughts:

Talk about going out in a blaze of glory, that’s exactly what the folks at “Mad Men” did in this revelatory last episode of season two.

What I got out of this wonderfully crafted finale is there are crises all over the map here: In the Draper household and at the office, but none greater than the one that President Kennedy is facing in trying to make sure the United States isn’t on the receiving end of a nuclear strike.

Relationships are both on the mend — Don and Betty — while others, like Pete and Trudy’s, feel like they’re falling apart. In the big picture, however, it all means little if Manhattan is a target of the Russkies, so everything’s relative.

Following Don’s baptism and rebirth at the end of the previous episode, he returns home and fully realizes the sin of his ways. He meets Betty at the equestrian center and tells her, “I had to have time to think about things” and adds “I was not respectful to you.” (Stuart's thoughts continue after the jump.)

Who knew Don Draper had a sense of humor?

By all accounts, "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm did a swell job as host of "Saturday Night Live" last night, even if he sounded like he had a slight head cold. I'm not gonna name names but one "Mad Men" insider I spoke with recently described Hamm, very lovingly, as being a kind of "big 15-year-old" with a sense of humor to match. He flexed a lot of comedy chops last night and appeared to be having a good time.

Among the highlights of the "SNL" seg was this clip below, "Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women."

This skit featuring Hamm's "Mad Men" cohorts Elisabeth Moss and John Slattery probably could've been punchier, but Hamm saves it at the end with a spot-on spoof of the show's trademark Draper-closes-the-deal speeches.

In preparation for Sunday's "Mad Men" season two finale, hop on over to Season Pass to read Kathy Lyford's fascinating Q&A with "Mad Men's" main man, Matthew Weiner.

Weiner loves nothing more than talking about his baby. In the excerpt below, he's responding to a question about how much of the Don Draper saga he had in his head eight years ago when he first wrote the spec script that was the crucible of this marvelous, Emmy-winning series.

"I told Jon (Hamm) the whole story before last year started. He was the only one I told, except for the producers, of course. And I told Jon about the brother and how the genealogy works and what kind of childhood it was and where he was from. There were a lot of these people. It’s an American story. You know mountain (folks), or whatever it is, coming to New York and shedding the whole thing. That’s the American dream on some level. Even though I didn’t finish the movie I did know where it was going. And I feel lucky to have that consistency and the audience can see that it’s not just being spun as it goes along."

Here's another interesting interview with Weiner that just came into my inbox. It's Weiner talking about the Jewish characters in the series, and it's just been posted as a podcast on Nextbook, a non-profit org dedicated to promoting "the discovery and discussion of Jewish literature, culture and ideas nationwide."

Posted by Jon Weisman

When I heard the name “Father John Gill” on "Mad Men" this season, I did a double-take. But once I realized that the show’s creator, Matthew Weiner, went to the same high school I did, it all made sense.

Father John Gill was a chaplain and teacher at what was then known as Harvard School in North Hollywood for roughly half a century, starting in 1941. He straddled the era that saw Harvard evolve from an Episcopalian military school to a non-military one that probably had about a 40-percent Jewish enrollment by the time Weiner and I were there in the early 1980s (graduating two years apart). The picture at right is from Weiner's senior year.

I didn’t know Weiner at Harvard (though I’ve since interviewed him for Variety), but it’s no surprise that Fr. Gill left an impression on him. He left an impression on everyone. In many ways, Fr. Gill was Harvard, embodying both the history of the school and the thirst for knowledge it encouraged. His religion, frankly, was the least of it for me, the unconverted, but he still was an endearing and engaging (if authoritative) man. His year-long elective, “History of World Wars I and II,” was one of the most popular classes at the school – a bonafide antidote to senioritis.

I have no idea whether there are any similarities between the younger days of the real Fr. Gill and the TV Fr. Gill. Not sure it even matters. (Given that it was at the time, sigh, an all-boys school, our Fr. Gill probably didn’t see very many Peggys.) I just wanted to note that I caught Weiner’s tribute, and I appreciated it. It’s a good excuse to remember a man who helped shepherd a bunch of us kids.

OK, it's official: The supporting players on "Mad Men" are the new Rat Pack.

The "Night on the Town with 'Mad Men'" musical revue the thesps pulled off tonight under the direction of David Carbonara, the series' in-house composer, at the El Rey Theater was a rollicking and slightly risque good time. Best of all, the performers seemed to be having a blast, and it rubbed off on the crowd. It's telling that so many of the show's cast and crew members were in the aud and working the event, which was a fundraiser for the local chapter of the Recording Academy.

Joel Murray, aka Freddy Rumsen (pictured left), was an inspired choice as emcee.

"You look downright classy," he complimented the crowd (many of us went with the spirit of the show by dressing retro). Drink in hand, Murray got the night off on the right note with a jazzy rendition of "Scotch and Soda."

Apropos of the tune, Murray noted that the night was made possible through the kindness of "Mad Men" producer Lionsgate, plus a big check and many gallons of free booze provided by Chivas Regal. (Indeed, the band Carbonara led was dubbed the "Chivas 13.")

"So keep sipping the Chivas -- the more you sip, the smoother it'll go down," Murray advised. But he didn't need to. Of the eleven performers who took the stage -- plus special guest Inara George -- there wasn't a clinker on the bill. And the song selection was perfectly matched to their characters. The night was the brainchild of Carbonara, but he had a lot of help in pulling it together in a matter of weeks from "Mad Men" scribe Robin Veith and helmer Michael Uppendahl (pictured on far left of group shot above).

Mark Moses, aka Duck Phillips (pictured right), followed Murray with a swing-y rendition of "Ain't Love a Kick in the Head." He noted that he was wearing his "Duck-edo -- which comes smelling of booze and covered with ashes."

Thrush George came out to lend her sweet voice to an uptempo take on "Manhattan" -- no need to explain why, for this show.

Michael Gladis (pictured below) looked every inch Paul Kinsey as he strolled out wearing an acoustic guitar and a his tux shirt open with the bow tie dangling around his neck. He launched in to "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" -- and promptly stopped after about 15 seconds.

"I fucked up the lyrics," he admitted. The second time worked just fine (I always choke up a little at the line "I wish there was something you could do or say/to try and make me change my mind and stay," and this version was no exception.)

Murray intro'd Alison Brie, aka Trudy Campbell, as a girl who really "looks good in pajamas." She wasn't in a teddy but rather a silky white dress, sexy gloves and faux fur boa that she put to good use while delivering a sassy take on "Daddy" -- ("I want a brand new car, champagne, caviar") -- that would've made Sammy Kaye proud. Brie belted in a Broadway-ish way, but after the show she swore she'd never sung in front of an aud before.

"The only thing keeping you from being happy is the belief that you are alone."

There were about a half-dozen lines in tonight's "Mad Men" seg, "The Mountain King," that reverberated around my living room and demanded to scratched down on my notepad. The quotation above is one of them. I've got whiplash from trying to keep pace with the plot developments and appreciate the craftsmanship of this stirring, wildly intriguing penultimate installment of "Mad Men's" sophomore season.

The themes and the visuals in "Mountain King" hark back to plot points and tidbits from earlier this season and in season one; it's no surprise the seg was written by Matthew Weiner and Robin Veith and helmed by Alan Taylor, the "Sopranos" alum who directed the "Mad Men" pilot.

We get a glimpse into how Dick Whitman crossed over into fully inhabiting the body, if not the soul, of one Korean War casualty, Don Draper. But of course, the glimpse only leaves us with a few million questions to fill in -- hello, season three.

Before trying to connect all those threads, it's worth a recap of what transpired in this action-packed seg for core "Mad Men" characters. (We'll leave Don for last.)

Peggy Olson: We are treated to the sight of Peggy Olson shedding her mousy I'm-not-worthy skin and sticking up for herself. She politely but firmly asks to be released from her banishment with the Xerox machine and to move into Freddy Rumsen's vacant office. It's appropriate, given that she's taken on so many of his duties.

We see her nail a new client in a heart-tugging pitch for Popsicles after she reaches back into her childhood for insights into how to sell those frozen treats as a year-round packaged good at the supermarket rather than a summertime treat bought off of an ice cream truck.
Peggy's flawless, supremely confident presentation to the Popsicle execs recalled Draper's killer pitch for Kodak's slide device in season one's closer "The Wheel" (also penned by Weiner and Veith). "Take it, break it, share it, love it." Sheesh, it almost sent me to the box of Popsicles in my freezer.

Peggy's haircut and wardrobe makeover that have been unfolding during the past few segs paved the way, but the last rocket-boost of confidence that got her the office upgrade stemmed from her score with Popsicle, and from the talking-to she receives from the Xerox repair guy. He's unwittingly prescient: "This is a sensitive piece of machinery. I you want it to work you have to treat it with respect."

The really beautifully shot, wordless scene of Peggy in the office alone after dark, stretching and rooting around in a secretary's desk for a cig (when did she start smoking, anyway?) signaled her ascent. She's a player now.

Heavenly shades of night -- this sounds like a blast. "Mad Men" cast members will host an old-fashioned, Rat Pack-style music and comedy revue next week at the El Rey Theater as a fundraiser for the L.A. chapter of the Recording Academy.

Lionsgate is calling it "a night of music, comedy and cocktails," and to facilitate the latter it has recruited Chivas Regal as a sponsor. Cast members set to appear include Bryan Batt (Salvatore Romano) pictured left; Michael Gladis (Paul Kinsey); Maggie Siff (Rachel Menken); Robert Morse (Bert Cooper); Mark Moses (Duck Phillips); Patrick Fischler (Jimmy Barrett); Melinda McGraw (Bobbi Barrett); Colin Hanks (Father Gill); Alison Brie (Trudy Campbell); Crista Flanagan (Lois Sadler); and Joel Murray (Freddy Rumsen). Also on tap are "Mad Men" scribe Robin Veith, director Michael Uppendahl, set designer Adam Rowe, set decorator Amy Wells and costume designer Janie Bryant.

"Mad Men" composer David Carbonara said he got the idea "A Night on the Town with 'Mad Men'" after hearing that BBC radio hosted a "Mad Men" night playing songs from the era. The fundraiser will benefit the local Recording Acad chapter's music education and professional development programs. (As an added bonus, the El Rey happens to be a stone's throw from Variety's office.)

"Since fans always say the show makes them want a cocktail, I thought the perfect way to quench that ‘Mad Men’ thirst would be to do a live, musical show featuring our actors and celebrating not just the music but the culture of the time," Carbonara said. "In the early 1960s these kind of shows were very popular; Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason and, of course, the Rat Pack loved to combine musical numbers with easy going banter and comedy – so why not bring back that format for all of us who watch the show and want to step into it for a night?”

Hey, I'm there.

Let's call this one "The Hobo Code," part II, in which our "Mad Men" hero Don Draper runs away from his problems in New York, runs away some more and then gets smacked in the face with Palm Springs heat and the reality of how his actions are likely to affect his kids.

Episode 11, "The Jet Set," is one of those intriguing hours of the show in which at first it doesn't seem like much is happening, but on reflection there's a whole lot of moving and shaking below the surface.

In this seg, penned by Matthew Weiner and helmed by Phil Abraham, we learn, to use Ken Cosgrove's shorthand, that "Kurt's a homo," and that Peggy Olson with her strict Catholic upbringing is a model of tolerance and respect for diversity (Can we enlist Peggy to help fight California's evil anti-same sex marriage initiative, Prop. 8?).

We learn that Duck Phillips really is an incredible schemer, with a few martinis in his belly, and it sure seems like he's been laying in wait for his attemped Sterling Cooper coup attempt for a while.

We learn that Jane Siegel really shouldn't be writing poetry. We learn that Pete Campbell is just not a West Coast kind of guy. And in the most tantalizing tidbit, we learn there's someone out there somewhere that Dick Whitman, not Don Draper, wants to see -- "soon."

There's lots more to digest.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE (Cynthia's thoughts below)

In this "Mad Men" episode titled “The Inheritance,” it isn’t so much the money that’s been left from generation to generation, but the mental trauma and screwed up parenting that leaves a lasting legacy.

For the first time, To start we get a very revealing glimpse of Betty’s family as her father, Gene, has suffered a second stroke — though, it turns out, Betty didn’t even know about the earlier one. Upon hearing the news in a latenight phone conversation, Don convinces Betty to be with her when she visits her family, but once they arrive it’s obvious why they would never come to visit on a regular basis.

While Betty’s mother died a while back, her stepmom is a cold, emotionless fish who doesn’t even attempt to have a relationship with her stepkids. Don looks at this family and finds it hard to imagine how someone could’ve grown up in a house so sterile and without feeling, though her mom was probably much more nurturing. It forces Don to have a better sense of who Betty is and how’s she gotten there.

After all the rip-snorting plot developments in the previous "Mad Men" episode, "A Night to Remember," we take time in this week's seg for a few then-and-now reflections on American culture -- capped by a blast of plot-thickening in the closing minutes.

Before we dive in to episode-dissection, a hearty congratulations go out to Matthew Weiner, Scott Hornbacher, Robin Veith, the ensemble cast extraordinaire and to everyone else involved with the show for last Sunday's Emmy win for best drama series. Well done and well deserved. (Trivia question: In which category did "Mad Men" win its first Emmy? Answer at the end of the post.)

So let's start at the end of tonight's episode, "Six Month Leave." (Quit reading now if you haven't seen it yet.)

As our hearts and minds are so focused on Betty and Don's travails, we're thrown for a loop by the news that Roger has left his wife Mona (played by John Slattery's wife Talia Balsam) for "a secretary" in this episode, written by Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton and Matthew Weiner and helmed by Michael Uppendahl.

Specifically, Jane, Don Draper's new-ish secretary who seems predisposed to rub everyone at Sterling Cooper but Roger the wrong way -- most of all her boss. Given Don's angry reaction to this news, I guess the big question is whether this is enough of a jolt to force him to try to repair his own marriage. He sure didn't seem to be leaning that way earlier in the episode.

Lotsa fun to be had out on the red carpet at the Nokia. Where else are you going to see moments like William Shatner apologizing to Glenn Close for stepping on the train of her dress? Melora Hardin and Tina Fey complimenting each other on their shows and predicting that each other's would win the top comedy prize.

Plenty of actors seemed to come in character, like most of the "Mad Men" troupe. Couldn't help but notice that Elisabeth Much Moss and Vincent Kartheiser came together -- Elisabeth looking lovely in silver sequins.

Christina Hendricks (pictured left) could stop traffic -- or more accurately, start traffic -- in a gorgeous emerald green clingly thing with a drop-dead neckline. Even her jeweled strappy heels were gorgeous.

Didn't get to see Jon Hamm or January Jones, but Bryan Batt (Salvatore), Michael Gladis (Paul) and Rich Sommer (Harrry) all came together, and in character it seemed (Gladis sported a silk polka dot scarf).

Most fun was running into Stephen Colbert, who was bragging about how he goes way back with Sarah Palin. "Sarah and I go way back together. We used to hunt together. She's all truthiness."

Most enlightening was running into Emilie de Ravin from "Lost." "Claire's not dead," she said when I gave her my condolensces. She won't be in the first few episodes of the fifth season, but "she's not dead." She said it twice so it must be true. Phew.

Brooke Shields (pictured right) is channeling Rita Hayworth tonight. She looked stunning with flowing curls and a maroon frilly dress. Va va voom.

We're in full-fledged countdown-to-Emmys mode now.

Show producers are putting the finishing touches on the stage and red carpet for the Emmycast's debut at the Nokia Theater. HBO's small army of party mavens are busy recreating Rio de Janeiro at the Pacific Design Theater. (HBO's bash will have a Brazilian theme, for no particular reason other than it's festivo.)

The TV aficionados in Variety's newsroom could not be more enthralled with the new season of "Mad Men," so you know who we're rooting for on Sunday night -- not that every nominee doesn't deserve to win and it's an honor to be nominated...sincerely. (And I've been very torn about it because "Lost" is also up for the big drama series prize, but as much as I dug "Lost" this past season, my gut tells me "Mad Men" deserves the gold this year.)

So watch this space starting at midday Sunday for dispatches from the red-carpet scene Nokia, and live blog color commentary on the main event starting at 5 p.m.

With any luck, the Emmycast will be so entertaining that at the end we'll all rise up and shout: "It's toasted!"

(Pictured above, from left, Emmycast producer Danette Herman, TV Acad chairman John Schaffner, Emmycast exec producer Ken Ehrlich, producer Ron Basile and helmer Louis Horvitz. Pictured below, from left, Emmy hosts Ryan Seacrest, Heidi Klum, Jeff Probst, Tom Bergeron and Howie Mandel)

"Mad Men" fanatics alert: Some swell tidbits were shared by series creator/exec producer Matthew Weiner and his assistant-turned-staff-writer Robin Veith during Wednesday night's panel sesh with Emmy-nommed writers at the Writers Guild Theater in BevHills.

Most awesome, to my ears, was the anecdote that Veith shared about the unforgettable scene in the seg toward the end of season one where a stressed-out Betty Draper shocks her children by picking up a BB gun to shoot the neighbors pigeons as they fly overhead against a postcard-perfect blue sky. The neighbor had threatened to shoot the Draper's new puppy after the dog got a hold of one of the pigeons.

Veith vividly remembers being a shocked at the age of 7 or 8 while growing up in "farm town Maryland"  when her own mother did the very same thing after her dog, Boo, snapped the neck of a pigeon kept by their very unpopular neighbor -- whose birds were the scourge of their cul-de-sac.

"It was the greatest thing I'd ever seen," Veith said, with obvious pride.

Veith (pictured left) gave us another insight relating to an element in this season's segs that has generated a ton of commentary in "Mad Men" blog-o-sphere.

"Sally Draper mixing cocktails for her parents -- that was me," Veith said, noting that daiquiris were among her specialties. There was a momentary hush in the aud.

Another funny bit relating to a plot point from the first-season finale, "The Wheel," for which Veith and Weiner (pictured above) are nommed (Weiner's also up for the pilot): Weiner bought an actual "Relaxercizer" machine that he found in a thrift store more than three years ago, before "Mad Men" was even set up at AMC, with the idea that he would use it in the show one day.

"That's how I work," he said.

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.

Lots of intrigue, if not a whole lot of action, in this "Mad Men" seg, "The Gold Violin."

For all the plot seeds that appear to have been planted in this hour, the one image that really stuck with me in this seg -- penned by the quartet of Jane Anderson, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton and Matthew Weiner and helmed by Andrew Bernstein -- was the shot of the Drapers packing up from their picnic. Litterbugs! Miscreants! Eco-terrorists!

It was one of those moments that  that took advantage of "Mad Men" being a period drama to get us to thinking about how far we've come in our attitudes about how we treat Mother Earth. It was bad enough that Don crumples up his beer can and pitches it as far as he can into the bucolic setting where this increasingly estranged family has stopped for a respite.

But when Betty shakes out their picnic blanket, letting the paper and food trash hit the grass without even giving it a second thought -- I shuddered. Yes, I know, the mind-set was very different back then -- interesting to note that Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" was published in 1962, same year as we're in on "Mad Men."

Still, I gotta believe plenty of people back then would've naturally been inclined to tidy up after themselves, if only because it's the right thing to do. I think trashing the countryside is a sign of Betty's growing detachment from reality. Certainly, she's becoming the ice queen as far as her children are concerned -- she seems to treat them more like a nuisance. It's quite a 180 from the picture-perfect mom she was striving to be in season one.

But let's back up a bit. I think the overarching theme of this seg is about materialism and the moral decay that conspicuous consumption represents.

Don buys his Cadillac and seems to worship it like a lover because he thinks it signals he's arrived. Bertram Cooper shells out $10,000 for a Rothko painting, not because he likes the red "smudgy squares," as new-girl Jane puts, but because he thinks it'll double its value in just a few years.

Ken Cosgrove, in his "Far From Heaven"-esque visit to Salvatore and Kitty's home for dinner, spells it out during their discussion the inspiration for his latest short story, and the title of this episode. "It was perfect in every way, except it couldn't make music," Ken tells them of the gilded fiddle he saw on display as an objet d'arte the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Posted by Kathy Lyford

One of the more haunting episodes of the season gives us further insight into the two sides of some of the characters – the one they present to the world and the real one. This parallels nicely with the client pitch of the week: “Nothing fits both sides of a woman better than Playtex.”

Don Draper: Irrationally jealous husband; unrepentant philanderer.
Master at burying his history; unable to escape his past.
Bookending the episode we see Don enjoying a family day at the country club, until the shame he feels when daughter Sally proudly applauds her “war hero” daddy sends him straight into the arms of barraduda Bobbie Barrett. At the end of the episode he’s once again overwhelmed with guilt when an innocent comment from Sally reminds him of his less-than-innocent cheating ways. And while Don doesn’t seem to want Betty, he still can’t control his jealously when he observes her talking to Arthur or when he sees her wearing a new yellow bikini, which he calls “desperate.” Concluding the hour with an image of Don and his reflection in the bathroom mirror was a lovely touch.

Peggy Olson, so sure of her ability to write copy, finds herself unsure of her place in the hierarchy when the men in the office decide “bras are for men” and leave her out of the creative process on the Playtex campaign. (When Paul mentions that his research for Playtex is a 24-hour a day job, are we to assume that will lead to the eventual 18-hour bra campaign?) Peggy didn’t quite seem to grasp Bobbie’s advice about not trying to be a man. However she finally sees the light after Joan boils Bobbie’s advice down to a blunt statement: “Stop dressing like a little girl.” Losing her sad little ponytail and modest frocks may work on the boys at the office, but it puts Peggy under the same disapproving eye of Pete Campbell that she experienced way back when she asked him to dance the Twist with her.

Pete Campbell plays the confident businessman when he beds the model and when he tells his brother “I’m very important to the agency. My absence is felt.” However we know Pete’s real feelings, which he shared last episode with his doctor: “I’m completely replaceable.” As Pete returns home after his indiscretion and stares at himself in the mirror, reflected half in dark and half in light, I wondered if Pete will pursue Peggy again, now that he’s opened the door to infidelity. By the way, the jets on TV during Pete’s tryst with the model provided a great dose of humor.

We get our first glimpse into the personal life of Duck Phillips when his ex-wife drops off his kids for the Memorial Day weekend. Although Duck seems to be a caring father he’s obviously more comfortable with his Irish Setter Chauncey than with his kids. And, as I had begun to suspect at the end of season one, it’s revealed that Duck is struggling with alcoholism, which may explain why he can’t even handle the responsibility of caring for poor Chauncey, who he heartlessly sends off into the night. Just another reason to dislike Duck, although I did feel for him during his heart-to-heart with Don.

(STUART LEVINE ADDS HIS THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE LATER ON IN THE POST)

Now I'm convinced -- Don Draper is losing his grip. I will never understand what our handsome anti-hero of "Mad Men" sees in the sleazy Bobbie Barrett.

After watching their further adventures in episode five, "The New Girl," I stand by what I said last week -- the woman is bad, bad news. But kudos are in order for thesp Melinda McGraw (pictured above) for playing her so, so well, or bad, in this case.

Although it feels like the twisted Don-Bobbie storyline dominates this seg, it's action-packed and includes the (brief) return of fan-fave Rachel Menken; a very emotional turn of events for Pete and Trudy; the introduction of what looks to be an important new character, Don's latest secretary; Don revealing himself to be an Antonioni fan; Joan delivering big news to Roger; and most significantly, at the 27-minute mark, we finally get a bit more info on what in the world happened to Peggy in the days immediately after she gave birth, at the end of season one.

It's a credit to Matthew Weiner and his team that the show's characters and stories are so strong that they've been able to wait this long to give us anything on this key plot point without fans howling. Peggy's flashback caught me completely off guard, as I was thoroughly engrossed on the Don and Bobbie storyline when it arrived. And the flashback is deftly woven in to shed light on another big turning point in Peggy and Don's relationship that comes in this seg.

Penned by Robin Veith and helmed by Jennifer Getzinger, the episode is titled "The New Girl," and it does introduce us to a young and very pretty new secretary for Don, Jane Siegel (sp?), but she doesn't get much screen time overall.

After giving it some thought, I think the title refers in part to the dynamic of Don's life, and in part to the changes that Peggy is undergoing. I think Don is a pathological Lothario in one sense, and hopelessly insecure (duh) in another. I don't think it's the power of the conquest that he's after, or even the sex per se, but just the insatiable desire to be liked, to be wanted, to be idolized. That's probably a lot of what he's responding to in Bobbie -- she's relentless.

I also think this episode is very focused on spotlighting the sharp contrasts between men and women in this era, which can't help but prod us to think about how much has, and has not, changed in contempo times.

Holy heck, this was a great episode of "Mad Men," packed with equal amounts of arresting visuals and razor-sharp lines of dialogue that will rattle around in our heads all week.

Seg "Three Sundays," superbly penned by Andre and Maria Jacquemetton and directed by Tim Hunter, is framed by three trips on successive Sundays to the parish church with Peggy's family. By the end of this episode, we're all fidgety little boys squirming in the pew and tugging at our starchy collars.There is enough repressed anger and nervous tension in this episode (actually in the Draper household, the anger is boiling over) to light up Broadway, if there were electrical sockets built in to the backsides of Don Draper, Betty Draper, Father Gill (in a fantastic guest shot by Colin Hanks), Peggy Olson and her mother, Katherine, and sister, Anita.

Was it my imagination or in the opening scene in Peggy's church was there an extra volume put on the Monsignor's admonition for his flock to "live worthily" and "bear the cross." These themes seemed to be significant in the episode.

(More after the jump.)

STUART LEVINE WEIGHS IN

If Matt Weiner and his team were concerned about a sophomore slump, they needn't worry any more.
Sunday's fourth episode of the season, "Three Sundays," was fabulous.

For me, the episode was all about children, and how parents treat a child affects those all around on the periphery. Let's start with Bobby. This adorable rascal keeps getting into trouble: breaking the record player, jumping on and breaking the bed, spilling his drink while playing with his robot. He looks to be about 6 or 7, and he's testing boundaries. A kid being a kid.

That's a concept Betty's completely oblivious to, and her reaction is to have Don smack Bobby around, thinking that will teach him right from wrong.

Don won't do it, however, still reeling from when his father beat him, and telling Betty that he wanted to murder his father when he grew older. It might not be a shocking revelation, as it was hinted about in a few prior episodes, but it does reinforce that Betty has no idea about the relationship between Don and his father, or much of anything about Don's past.

Posted by Kathy Lyford

Cynthia's comments after the jump.

The distance between Don and Betty may be growing but at least they have one thing in common - they both spend the better part of the episode fending off unwanted advances, one more successfully than the other.

After Don Rickles-like comedian Jimmy Barrett (not a real person) manages to insult the folks from Utz potato chips (a real product), Don goes into overdrive to fix things. Poor Lois gets caught in the crossfire and gets fired - setting up something I've been wishing for since the show began: Joan is now Don's secretary, at least until a suitable replacement can be found. Oh, the mind reels at the storylines that could emerge from that pairing.

Unfortunately, while trying to convince the comedian's wife/manager to apologize to the clients, Don falls back into his old ways and before getting down to business with Mrs. Barrett, he gets busy with her. In his defense, she did throw herself at him. But, for the first time we see genuine guilt from Don. Credit Jon Hamm, once again proving himself worthy of an Emmy, for wordlessly saying so much in the scene at the Draper's kitchen table.

Don finally wrangles an apology out of the Jimmy Barrett (pictured left, played by Patrick Fischler), by nearly getting violent with Mrs. Barrett. This makes me wonder what else we may eventually discover about Don's past... and his relationship with Betty. Remember after the incident in season one with a drunken Roger when Betty asked Don if he wanted to bounce her off the walls? Hmm.

Poor lost Betty. Arthur may not know much about riding horses, but he certainly seemed to have Betty pegged when he called her "profoundly sad." 

Oh and let's not forget Harry, who finally found his spine (with the help of his wife). While putting out feelers for a job at CBS, Harry stumbles on a great idea and pitches Belle Jolie lipstick a sponsorship on a controversial episode of "The Defenders." (In a nice touch, "The Defenders" episode in question is titled "The Benefactor," which is also the title of this "Mad Men" episode.) Belle Jolie takes a pass, but Harry lands himself a raise and a promotion. Sterling Cooper is taking on television, folks.

Buckle up -- episode No. 2 of "Mad Men" gets the plot engines revving.

(Kathy Lyford weighs in with some very smart observations after the jump.)

As slow and deliberate as the pace of last week's opener was, "Flight 1" takes right off -- with a plane crash at the outset that represents tragedy and opportunity for our anti-heroes at Sterling Cooper. This seg is packed with great performances from the core ensemble.

First, I was greatly impressed by Elisabeth Moss' self-assuredness as Peggy, both in her professional set and in the tense scene at her mother's home with her mother, sister and the infant son she'd just as soon forget sleeping in the next room.

"I work with them," Peggy corrects her suitor in the opening party scene when he asks if she works "for" the drunken ad men crawling around Paul Kinsey's apartment in out-of-the-way Montclair, N.J. (More on that later).

Then Vincent Kartheiser renders Pete Campbell in 3-D as he reacts, numbly, to the news of his father's death in the American Airlines crash. Campbell, as we know from season 1, is a craven, self-centered, conniving creep, and it is a credit to Kartheiser and the "Man Men" scribes that us viewers have any feeling for him at all. In Pete's scenes in this seg, we're shown (not told) why he is incapable of genuine emotion, or of having any selfless feeling for anyone else.

The scene with Campbell's shellshocked but ever-proper mother and brother and Trudy in the family living room was  wonderfully unnerving -- so many stifled emotions I felt the urge to loosen my own collar more than once.

And then wham! Here comes Jon Hamm's Don Draper, a guy you can never psych-out no matter how much you try.

We're as breathless as Jackie Kennedy was all those years ago about AMC's decision to offer web streaming of the entire Jackie-hosted tour of the White House that aired on CBS and NBC way back on Feb. 14, 1962.

The program is woven in to the "Mad Men" season opener in a way that could only be conceived by a great writer like Matt Weiner. I saw this historical gem years ago, on C-Span as I recall, and am tickled pink (Chanel pink, with a matching pillbox hat) to get the chance to see it again.

This just in from AMC: The premiere telecast of "Mad Men's" season two opener drew about 1.9 million viewers. That's up from last summer's preem, which drew 1.65 million viewers, and a big spike from the show's first-season average of about 915,000 viewers per seg.

It's not exactly gynormous growth, but the needle is moving in the right direction. And by AMC's standard, these are triple-digit spikes. Variety's ratings guru Rick Kissell has all the details right here.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE (Cynthia and Jon Weisman weigh in after the jump)

You can watch Don Draper for hours on end and still not figure out his relationship with women and determine what makes him tick.

Much of this first episode of season two offers small but vital hints as to how Draper relates to women, and it all goes back to his mother, of course. Then again, don’t all psychological dilemmas start with Mom?

In Don’s office, Peggy and Salvatore are discussing an ad campaign for Mohawk Airlines. When Peggy and Don offer up some revelatory ideas about addressing the campaign to businessmen, he looks at her like a proud father.

He admires Peggy very much, maybe because the way she earned her promotion as a junior copywriter after starting at Sterling Cooper as his secretary.

She’s garnered Don’s respect, and that’s not an easy thing to do — as any of the guys there could tell you.

In many ways, Don enjoys being around her more so than his wife, Betty, who he sees more as an accessory than an equal.

Betty is often a last consideration if Don needs to work late or wants to pal around after office hours, and certainly he didn’t give her much thought when he was having affairs with both Rachel Menken and Midge Daniels.

And while Don is quick to get into bed with others, when he and Betty have a romantic Valentine’s Day evening together at the Savoy Hotel, Don’s mind is elsewhere, and he’s unable to perform. Since he had a reserved the room in advance, it was obvious to him they’d end up having sex, but maybe the chance meeting at the hotel bar between Betty and her former roommate, Juanita, who is now a call girl, threw Don off his game.

Remember, his mom was a prostitute and seeing a friend of Betty’s in hooker mode might’ve brought up some serious childhood issues.

“Mad Men” creator Matt Weiner promises a seasonful of Draper revelations, so keep your eyes peeled.

Other thoughts while wondering how much it would cost today to fix a fan belt in the middle of the night on a rural road:

This time last year, we were all pleasantly surprised and comparing notes around the office. "Have you seen 'Mad Men'? It's really good. Jon Hamm is amazing."

"Mad Men" commanded our attention last summer as soon as the first screeners were sent out. Like most showbiz journos, Variety's resident TV fanatics approached the show with some skepticism because of what it was: the first foray into original drama series by AMC, and a period piece. We wondered how you could do a credible job on re-creating early 1960s Manhattan a la "The Apartment" on a basic cable budget.

We stopped worrying about halfway through Joan's tour of Sterling Cooper office with the new girl, Peggy, in the pilot seg, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."

"Mad Men" got better and better as its first 13-segs unfolded, as evidenced by the 16 Emmy noms the Lionsgate TV production raked in earlier this month. In a sign of its high-quality construction, "Mad Men" episodes hold up incredibly well in repeat binge viewing, as some of us are doing in preparation for season two and for what feels like inevitable Emmy night sidebars.

To make the most of season two, Variety's Stuart Levine, Cynthia Littleton and Kathy Lyford will be opining here on the show on Sunday nights (or by midday Monday) about each of its 13 episodes, starting this week with the opener, "For Those Who Think Young." (Please consider this fair warning for those who watch on their own timetables and want to avoid learning plot points.)

The three of us have had the pleasure of seeing the first two segs of the new season. We have a firm no spoilers policy in this space, but suffice it to say that we're in for a hell of a ride. (Here's Brian Lowry's review.)

"Mad Men" creator/exec producer Matthew Weiner was walking on air last week at the series' season two preem party at Musso and Frank, which followed a screening of "For Those Who Think Young" at the Egyptian Theater across the street. The Emmy nom glory and the continued critical hosannas are like an inch-thick coating of butter cream icing atop the three-layer chocolate mousse cake that he and his cast and crew get to feast on in doing the show of Weiner's (period) dreams.

As moody and complex, naughty and macho and wonderfully unshaven as Hamm's master manipulator Don Draper was last season --  we ain't seen nuthin' yet, Weiner promises.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

A few wandering thoughts while waiting for the season two premiere of "Mad Men" Sunday night. More on that later, but for now …
-- You can take the NBA Finals, Wimbledon and British Open, but I'll go for ESPN's World Series of Poker coverage every time. I find very few TV events -- even though this one is highly edited -- that has as much drama. Tuesday, the cabler premiered the tourney, with satellite games to start out with the main event to begin in a few weeks. (Pictured right is 2007 WSOP champ Jerry Yang and his $8.25 million in winnings. Cash.)
While attending the Cinevegas Film Festival at the Palms last month, I walked across the street to the Rio and caught part of the WSOP in person. Two massive rooms with hundreds of tables, the sound of chips rattling around like the white noise of honeybees busy in a hive. As a player, it was music to my ears.